Ok, I know it has been forever since I have posted…anything…I recently talked with a person that actually reads my blogs…my 1 fan:)…so back to my 49 and turning 50 posts…I have really enjoyed my evaluation process of my life…have not liked everything that I have noticed about myself but I guess that is the whole point of an evaluation…learning about the good, the bad, the ugly…sounds like a movie:)….but as I learn about myself I can make the necessary changes to be a better person….I am learning that identifying my character defects and then with God’s help dealing with them is giving me freedom that I have never experienced before….and with that freedom comes peace…I am more at peace then I have been in a long time…maybe ever…and it is all because of God and His working in my life…actually I feel much like Moses…after 40 years in the wilderness learning about life….and now being revealed God’s plan….I know that there are many challenges ahead for me…and I am more excited than ever to meet them head on…no…I’m not pretending that I’m a crash dummy….but you know what I mean:)….I have  a great wife, a loving family…a fantastic God that cares enough to through challenges at me to help me grow…life is good….peace…dave

What are your plans for 2010?…have anything different in mind for your life?…how about goals and dreams?….have you given those up?…I hope not.  The world in which we live is filled with those who didn’t give up on their dreams.  They continued to dream…try that dream…see it fall apart…then dream again.  We need more dreamers for 2010.  We need those who are going to dream outside of the normal box of life…the normal day to day existence and dream of a better 2010…what can make it better?…what can help mankind?….what can advance the Kingdom of God?….are you a dreamer?….I am….come dream with me this 2010 and see what God is going to do….peace….dave

I was sitting looking out my office window….had my cup of java in one hand…bible in the other…reading…thinking…praying….then I looked up to see the trees across the street.  They were a…blur!!  I knew that they were trees but could not make them out….my vision was not clear…until I took off my glasses.  I need glasses to read….but not see far away.  Then it came to me….our direction from God is much like me wearing my glasses….what is right in front of me….where I am standing and the next step I need to take is clear as could be…better than 20/20…but when I look farther down the path…all is a blur….I can see but cannot make any clear decisions…because my vision is not clear.  When following Christ it is much like my glasses….you will be able to see where you are…and the next step…but the ones following are blurry….unless you take a step.  God will make clear the path He has for us…while we walk…not while we stand….so start walking and begin to see things that you have never seen before happen in your life…peace….dave

I think the thing I struggle with the most at 49 is the inability to do some of the things in sports that I used to do….if you have ever been an athlete you understand…even if you can still play basketball, volleyball, etc….you know you can’t jump as high as you used to…your reaction time is still not quite as fast as it once was…even if you can still do these things…it is still slower.  I’m at that point where it hurts to even be on the court….I used to run 6 minute miles for 5 miles…now I can’t run at all…my body is giving up on me….so I have to find what I can do…I have to change my mind….change my mind to the realization that life starts at 49…it doesn’t stop…it will change a bit but never end.  There is so much more to do and be a part of that stopping is just not an option…so this I have learned…change of mind is important to the growning older process…not hanging on to what was…but excepting the here and now and doing something positive with it….so I’m off to join the gym again….find out something that I can do and really go after it….besides….golf is about over and I have to get ready for next year….peace out….dave

Throughout the next year you may see more posts with just the title “49″….this is how old I am…well…almost…close enough to all it 49….during this next year I am going to be doing a l0t of reflecting on my life…past….present…future.  I’m going to be on a journey that will help me see how I can best use the next 50 years of my life…make them mean something…count for something.  God has granted me these past 49 years…what have I learned?…what are the other things I need to learn?….how can I be most effective for Christ?…I am going to look at how I can be effective each day, and how each of those days translates into weeks, months and years.  I’m only looking at the next 50 years….at age 99 I’ll tackle the next 50….peace….dave

I’m reading a new book by Erwin McManus….”Wide Awake”….so I will be dropping some quotes every once in a while…sorry to all my fans…or should I say “fan” for not writing since July….bad, bad David….anyway…here is a thought provoking quote…peace….dave

“Life is not a color-within-the-lines project; life is a work of art.  You have to keep mixing colors, creating new blends, and seeing things in fresh ways.  You must be willing to get paint all over you.  Life is about growth.  Growth demands change.  Change requires humility.  Sometimes you need to bring change; sometimes you need to be changed.”

We are always learning…whether we apply that learning to our lives will determine how we will live.  Coming back from Estonia left me with many life lessons.  Now comes the task of applying those lessons to my everyday life here.  Sometimes it is a matter of evaluating what lessons apply to life here and what are more cultural.  One lesson is that the teens in Estonia love to stay up late during the summer…since there is only night about 2 hours a day…the sun rises around 2:30am…they love to stay up late….there is ministry done during these hours…lesson…I can spend some good quality time with a teen late into the morning….can that translate here…of course…if I want to spend a lot of time in the hospital recovering from exhaustion….some lessons just don’t translate or need to be adapted.  So for me and the rest of our team now that we are back is to take these life lessons and make applications that translate into our everyday lives here….if we don’t then we will just be wasting valuable lessons lived…but never applied….peace out….dave…oh…be watching…we will be announcing soon an event for all to attend to learn more about our trip and to see slides and hear from each member of the team….later….dave

Hey everyone, we are back!!  We landed in Pittsburgh Sunday evening around 8:00pm…all 3 of our flights were great.  Our team was amazing in traveling so much, being tired, giving when there was nothing left to give, depending on God’s strength and not their own…usually had nothing left so God’s strength was all there was….isn’t it funny…many of us generally wait until exhausted to ask for God’s strength instead of asking before the task at hand begins…just a side note but something we faced as well and began learning that it was better to ask for God’s strength on the front end of the work He called us to.  Be watching and listening for a “recap” evening planned for sometime in August.  We look forward to presenting, in person, what God did in our lives and in the lives of many teens in Estonia.  Many of us…even those of us who have had little church experience….can’t really imagine not knowing something about God…Jesus or the Bible.  So many Estonian youth have never heard of Jesus, His plan of salvation for our lives….nothing.  This has nothing to do with their formal education…they are very intelligent…what we deal with in Estonia is a generaltional skip if you will….the Baby Boomers are generaly not Christ followers so they did not teach their children, who did not teach their children.  KOMA, Risttee and Going Up America Ministries are trying to begin with a generation that will come to know Him…live and teach this to their children so that a whole generation will begin a new culture…this one with a God who loves them and sent His Son, Jesus.  All of us are very tired but very energized in remembering what God has done this past week.  We are all humbled to have played a small part in His vision for mankind.  We have also challenged each other to taking what we have learned to our churches and communities.  God is at work in our world…He wants to be at work where we live….we are ready to take on this challenge of sharing our faith with others….there will be more about our trip to come but I’ll be honest…I’m a bit jet lagged so not sure how much more I can write, right now….peace out….dave

I will probably blog a bit after our trip as we as a team think about our time together here in Estonia.  It is now 5:21am in Estonia…I have been up for an hour and am ready to head home…the team is slowing moving and we will be getting in our taxi van and heading to the airport in less than 1 hour…by the time many of you read this we will already be in the air or Stockholm waiting for our connecting flight.  God as been good to us and this ministry.  There is so many stories to tell of God’s working in this extremely dark country…God needs more workers here that is for sure but those who are here in the trenches need encouragement as well…keep Estonia in your prayers.  Our last day was a great day of hanging out in Tallin the capital city.  The first mention of Tallin in writing is 1142 but Tallin was here long before then…being a port city on the Baltic sea, much of Europe used Tallin for trade.  It is a interesting city combining the ancient, old and new.  We were again able to rest and also spend some more time with some of the Estonian missionaries we worked with this week.  Well, I’m looking at the clock…well…really the time on my cell phone and it is time for me to wake up a few people and get moving towards our taxi.  May God bless you this day as you worship and serve Him….peace out…dave

Hey, it is about 11:20pm my time on July 4th..I get up in 4 1/2 hours so this will be probably a jumbled mess but we’ll see how it goes…camp went very well…7 gave their hearts to Christ…which is about 25% of the teens…some not know much at all about God so it was great to see them come to know Him…we now pray for the follow up with the church that they will be able to shepherd these new children of God….we have been out in Jogeva at the church again…Thursday was just a chill day and try and rest up…12 of the teens from camp came to play volleyball so the rest was over…this is what a long plane ride is for anyway:)…on Friday we had a great team meeting, debrief and prep work for the teens coming to the church at 2:00…we ended up with 21 out of the 30 from camp come to the church for a cook out and games as well as our final meeting…this was a surprise to the Estonian leaders..they did not expect such a turnout…after many games, songs, campfire…which is kinda weird when at 11:00pm it is still light out…some of us older ones….me that is…went to bed about 10:30 while the rest stayed up to play more with the teens…the last teen finally left at 1:45am…we got up to catch the train at 7:11…the work has continued and we praise God for allowing us to work in the land considered to be the least religious country in the world…ok…it is way past my bed time now and I’m a bit tired but refreshed in what God is doing in hearts and lives…now, with a broken window and the wind blowing we will attempt some much needed sleep…we fly out at on July 5th….peace out….dave