wow has it been that long??

well as of late this blog has gone the way of the "back burner". it's been almost 3 weeks since i last posted. and had i been diligent about it there were lots of great things to write about in that time.

let's recap quickly . . . we got back from mexico and then the following week we had all the cousins over for 3 days and 3 nights. we decided to take them all camping for two of the nights. so that was and adventure. deb and i (who don't normally camp - at all!) in the woods with 7 kids! (ages 9mo, 2-3yr olds, 5yr old, 2-6yr olds, and a 9yr old)

the following week the girls had a week of VBS at a local church. what was exciting about this one was that on the last day (friday) the church was going to take all the kids to a water park in moses lake. anna and danielle were old enough to be a part of the vbs, but julia wasn't quite old enough. but the older girls had a blast doing something "on their own" - we didn't go with them the day of the water park. and we had fun spending time with the younger two (julia and rachel) for a couple hours each day.

and this past week has been spent with wedding preparations. my sister, elia, drove over from minnesota with her fiancé because they're getting married here tomorrow. so we've spent time with them. went shopping for various wedding things. and basically have had a great time with "all the family".

and this morning anna woke up at the same time that i did. i was really looking forward to getting up before anyone, getting ready, and then coming to the church to get some work done before the wedding rehearsal tonight. but while i was shaving she came in to use the bathroom and then asked if i wanted to play scrabble with her. i had a decision to make . . . would i somehow justify all the work i had to do and get out of playing a game with her that i knew in the end i'd end up helping her so it'd be like i was playing against myself. or do i put all my own things aside and take the time to spend with my six year old in the early morning while everyone else is asleep?

it's easy to write about that today because today i did make the right choice. i played scrabble with anna and yes i did end up helping her. and i even set it up so that she would win. but if truth be told, i don't always make the right choice. there are times that i'm selfish and instead put my kids, and/or wife aside so that i can do what "i want".

to that's how our last 3 weeks have been spent together as a family. it isn't always easy, but in all actuality, if it's a priority, it's not all that difficult either.


// today i'm thankful for:
1. my sister getting married
2. new bible
3. new shoes
4. new shoes (i got two pairs) :)
5. quietness

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(this post was written because of a one day contest being sponsored by the parties listed below. the contest was to answer the following questions:

What are your favorite family activities and how do you find the quality family time? And if you don’t have quality family time, how do you make up for it? What challenges do you face?

feel free to enter the contest on your own blog or simply post responses in the comment section below.)

This post is brought to you in conjunction with Parent Bloggers Network & EA’s Wii-Boogie, a family gaming experience. Shake it. Sing it. Create it.
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back home

(pictures at the bottom of the post)

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7.16.07 -- 8.35 am
well a lot has happened since my last update. saturday we did a youth outreach. it was the church's first attempt at doing an outreach specifically for youth instead of kids. i don't know if it went as well as they might have hoped. attendance was low and the location was odd. let me explain.

members of the congregation had gone into the neighborhood the night before to pass out flyers to invite people. so when we got to the neighborhood they didn't have us go out to invite people, they did announce the event was about to start over the loud speakers, but that only reached those within earshot.

and then the location was odd because i don't think it was where they (the members of the local church that set up the event) originally intended it to be. i think they wanted to do it at a park in the area but because we were going to have "live" music for this youth event we needed to get a special permit. i don't think they were able to get it or didn't hear back from the officials in time. so we ended up having it in the parking lot or courtyard of another church. which may not have been so bad but that church was having their youth worship band practice for their service later that evening. so there was noise coming from inside the church. we were making noise in the courtyard. the people from the other church didn't really seem interested in what we were doing there. and then the fact that we were inviting those that came to go to a different church, not the one that they were at. weird, huh?


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7.17.07 -- 8.29 am
anyways back to the "weekend wrap up". also on saturday we got to go out to eat for the first time. we went to a little taco stand type place. it was a little bigger than a taco stand but not very much seating and even that was outdoor seating. but the place was packed and once you tasted the little tacos you could tell why. they were mmm mmmm good. that's all they served was little tacos about 4 inch diameter and then beverages. i wasn't sure if danielle was going to like them or not. but she had some of the "bistec" tacos and loved them. which was great since the next night we went to a different taco restaurant. this second place also had bigger tacos, about 7-8 inch diameter tortillas. and she again ordered some carne asada (bistec) tacos and eat them all. she loves them. in fact she said when we return to grandview and go to a taco truck she'd like to get those kind of tacos. (so yes deb, she is eating)

sunday morning was church. they have a sign in the sanctuary that says the service times. it says that service starts at 10am on sundays. but we didn't leave the missionary's house until 10.30. and we got there at 11. so i'm not sure if that's just "mexican" time or if they were waiting for us to get there. it was pretty typical of other hispanic services i've been a part of. about 45 min of worship or more. then 20 minutes of alter time. (which was quite a unique experience for those who've never been a part of one) let me just say there was a lot of crying and people being slain in the Spirit. and then ending with a sermon, which this time was probably shorter than normal since the youth pastor from the other church preached so it wasn't an hour or longer.

we were planning on doing an outreach sunday afternoon after lunch, but some of the folks from the other team were feeling quite sick - not sure if from the tacos we ate out or something else. anyways they (the local church or the engage missions people) said we should probably take the afternoon off. so we went back to the hotel after eating lunch. we got there around 3.45pm and had until 7pm when they were going to pick us up for dinner. which was really nice, i got a long nap. maggie went with nancy to the mall to try to find her some more clothes.


9.47 am
monday morning came and we were ready for our last day of ministry. we planned to do two separate programs today, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. well the morning one didn't get started until 11 am so when we got back to the church for lunch we decided to have our afternoon outreach be in the neighborhood right around the church. it seemed kinda odd to me to go to other neighborhoods and invite them to the church and then not invite those that live right near by.

it went great and i asked the pastor's son (enrique) and daughter (citlali) (24 & 16 respectively) if any of the kids that were there already went to the church. and the son said none. when i asked citlali she looked around and said only 2. so i hope this will bring more awareness for the church to those around the church.

we finished just in time too, because within 20 minutes it started raining hard. so hard in fact that some of the roads were flooded and some cars were getting stuck.

dinner was bbq chicken and jojos and corn. i was glad to be able to 'chat' with deb online during our dinner break. i love you babe.

after dinner the Missionary Associate took myself and the other two pastors out to starbucks. we did have to wait for him for quite a while since he was getting work on his van done all day and it still wasn't finished by after dinner time. anyways, we finally went and had a great time to just talk about missions in general, his family's experience with raising funds, and just our past missions trips and experiences.

we got back to the hotel around 9.30 pm and we ready to go to bed fairly quickly. i didn't hear it that much but it rained all night and around 2 am there was really loud thunder. i woke up around 5.30 am and it was still raining. so we're almost to the church now and it's a bright and sunny day. i'm sure the ground and grass is still wet so we'll see how many people come.

the church moved it's mid-week service from wednesday to tuesday so that i could preach tonight. i'll be preaching a message i preached at our church on april 15th, 2007 called "Power to Change". you can find it on iTunes podcast page if you look up "grandview sermons" or you can go to our church website www.grandviewag.com and click on the media link at the top.

i'll write more later and let you know how it all went.


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7.21.07 -- 8.55 am
well, we're back in the usa and are glad to be home. sorry (mom) it took so long to write an update. but here it goes.

the service went fine. just like any other hispanic service. the only thing that made it memorable was the fact that it rained. and i mean RAIN! the church had a metal roof and you could hear the rain very easily. it started raining about the time the pastor was wrapping up the prayer time and getting ready to introduce me. well once i got up to speak it really started raining. in fact it seemed that the louder i got to be heard over the rain the harder it rained. finally i just said we should take a 5 minute break to experience the rain. after about 10 minutes the rain subsided and the service continued.

wednesday was our free day. we went to a huge catholic cathedral for a little while and then we went to an open market. it was a three story building with vendors of all sorts of crafts, candies, souvenirs, electronics, food, clothes, shoes, and pirated dvds. it was huge and crowded (skinny isles and lots of people). we found some great things to bring back to our loved ones, but it was nice to get out of there. after that we went to a modern mall. prices weren't that different at the mall, but it was air conditioned and cleaner. oh and they had a VIP movie theater there. we didn't go because all the movies were in spanish. (they were showing ratatoullie - but it was dubbed in spanish) according to the engage students it's an "extra nice" theater where you sit in lazy boy seats and they bring a menu to you for your snacks. and the price is only about $10, so about the same as the price of a regular theater in the states.

thursday was our travel home day and we were ready. our flight was supposed to leave around 2.35pm but for some reason got delayed. and then the airline was having trouble find us connecting flights out of phoenix. they ended up putting us on a different flight on another airline. the only thing was that it didn't leave until 8.05 pm! so we got time to hang out at the airport. the flight was nicer than the one we came on and it was a non-stop flight to portland. and since it was such a long flight we got a meal and a movie.

we got in to portland at 10.49pm and then finally made it out of the airport and on our way home. we stopped briefly to get gas a little after midnight on the outskirts of portland and then i slept most of the way home. we were dropped off around 3.45am. it was nice to be home.

on friday night we had our "thank you dessert" for those who had helped and supported us. we shared pictures and stories and even did some of the dances that we had done for the kids in mexico.

so it's nice to be done with our trip. now it's back to all my other duties. being a husband, father and pastor. (i'm preaching on sunday)

oh . . . i almost forgot i found out from deb that my imac was messed up after moving it from the church to the house and only showed a black screen for a while. and then after her and pastor fixed that it would turn on but the colors were all 'neon' looking. anyways i came home and got that fixed, thankfully. (it needed the PRAM reset - i'm not sure what that is or does, but i read it on an apple discussion thread and it worked) but i'm still without a laptop. i'll be saving up this time for a macbook pro.

here's some pics:

and some more:

and just a few more:

// today i'm thankful for:
1. a soft bed
2. air conditioning
3. being home
4. being a whole family again
5. being with my wife again

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friday the 13th in mexico

7.13.07 -- 6.36 pm
we're all on "the bus" now on the way back to the missionaries house for dinner. we've completed our third kids outreach. overall the word i would use to describe it is - HOT! now it's not the 105+ that it's been in grandview, but in our defense it isn't as humid there as it is here too. AND we aren't spending all day outside walking the streets, playing soccer, and doing choreographed dances either. no, instead we run from our air conditioned house to our air conditioned car to our air conditioned work place and then back again. needless to say we are all ready for a rest and some good food.

the other thing that i was struck with today was just how 'unifying' the Body of Christ can be. what i mean is that by being in the Body can make best friends and partners and co-laborers out of otherwise strangers. to give you a little picture, at the last outreach we completed there was our team from grandview, another team from yakima, four students from the 'engage' ministry, and then another handful of 5-7 young people from the church we are partnering with. we all participated in the presentations today (it was even vernice's turn to give her testimony and it was great.) 

we were the Body! we had one faith, one Spirit, one baptism, one Father, and one purpose today. the moment that hit me today i just about started crying. (but i thought that would seem kinda odd to all the kids that we were playing soccer with) :-)

this truly is a different kind of trip for me than the others i've participated in before. before we always had prepared in advance what we were going to be doing and then went and did it. this time we didn't have anything planned. not one drama, song, dance, skit, or puppet routine. we were completely open to doing whatever became available to do. and oddly enough the yakima team also came with no preset agenda either. so it makes it that much more significant and almost necessary that we all work together, all doing our share, all serving the Lord.

and the other thing that's different from this trip is that i've missed my family (deb in particular) more than any other trip i've ever been on. most trips i was so excited to go and loved every minute of it. and then at the end of the trip i was surprised that the time had gone by so quickly. all the while not thinking very much of my family. and when i was a teen or single i didn't really think of my family back home at all during my trips. but with this trip i began missing deborah on the drive over to portland. and i haven't really stopped missing/longing for her. if it were not for the fact that i know that God still has more prepared for me/us to do and learn on this trip i'd be just fine leaving tonight.

i miss you deborah. i miss you anna. i miss you julia. i miss you rachel. and i miss you some more deb.

much love and we'll see you soon.

// today i'm thankful for:
1. deborah
2. anna
3. danielle
4. julia
5. rachel

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notes so far from mexico (updated)

[UPDATED: i added the part that was missing from the july 12th entry)

7.10.07 -- 5.11 am

it's 5.11 am and we're finally here. "here" is on a plane on our way to guadalajara mexico. it's been many months ago when i was discussing with our church staff if we should even consider going on a trip this year. and know we're on a plane getting ready to take off. there's 7 of us: myself, danielle, maggie, cathy, nancy, vernice, & keven. we are so excited, maybe a little anxious, and a big dose of tired right now. (we had to wake up at 2 am to be at the airport on time -- my room didn't get to sleep till between 10-11pm) well we're about to take off. more later.


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7.10.07 -- 4.00 pm

right now i'm on a bus with some of the "engage missions" students and the other team from stone church. we're running low on sleep. this bus is very bumpy, thus the reason for the sloppiness - not the lack sleep. (although i'm typing this after writing this and it's not sloppy at all.) i bought a mexican KIT-KAT -- mmmm mm mmm! it was really good and since ther was no nutritional label - "No Calories!!" =-) well i'm don with this chicken scratch. i'll write more later.

PS. an interesting personal note -- i sold my macbook the day before we left. thus i'm here on a trip 'sans' a computer! (maggie has hers that i'm using, but still it's not the same.)


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7.12.07 -- 8.47 am

well it's day 3 here in mexico and all is well. (almost all - nancy is still without luggage and it actually won't get to her until tomorrow.)

i went running again this morning for the second time. i found out yesterday after coming back exhausted that the elevation of guadalajara is 5,030 feet!! (grandview is at about 840) so we're almost a mile up and a good 4,200 feet above grandview.

[ i wrote more stuff here in my journal but don't have it with me right now to type it in, i'll update it later ]

{yesterday and the day before we spent most of the time learning some dramas and dances to music. the hotel is nice and roomy. the beds are really low and not as soft as us "americans" are used to. but i'm grateful for a place to sleep. no cockroaches yet in our room, hooray! i actually haven't seen any while we've been here.}


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7.13.07 -- 8.58 am

the daily update today is that we had a slight miscommunication yesterday during our free time at the mall. so half our team ended up separated and didn't make it back to the bus at the hotel at the right time. well we ended up finding each other so all is well.

in other news, earlier in the day danielle woke up early in the morning and couldn't find me (i was going to go running as was waiting for someone in another room). she walked out of our hotel room in her pajamas crying down the "outside" hallway, "i can't find my daddy!" thankfully another gal from the stone church group heard her and walked out of her room and picked her up. they walked down to the lobby looking for me. i came out of the other room i was in just as they were coming up the stairs back to our room. (i didn't know that tamera had gotten her just a few doors down from our room so when i saw her coming up the stairs i thought that danielle had made it all the way to the lobby in her pajamas looking for me.)

well he had a good heart to heart talk about not leaving the room alone and should only go places with people from our group. praise God for his protection and guidance.

oh and in yet still other news we had our first children's outreach yesterday. it was in an area where the engage students have been going to for a while and are looking to plant a church next sept. another team from atlanta showed up at the same park we were at and had some "teenmania-like" drama. later we went back to the same neighborhood but a different park and did another outreach - sans the atlanta team. and then we started cleaning up until there was a tropical deluge of rain. i mean within 5 minutes all our clothes were soaking wet.

we've got a great new day ahead of us. i'll update pictures later. thanks for your prayers so far and keep praying for us.


// today i'm thankful for:
1. your prayers
2. internet connection in mexico
3. having my clothes (nancy should get her today)
4. video iChats
5. knowing my wife loves me

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México!

aqui estamos! llegamos en méxico esta tarde. estamos muy cansados, pero estamos muy felizes. (sp?)

anyways, we made it here to mexico this afternoon. we're very tired but very happy to finally be here.

keep praying for us.  and i'll post more as time and internet connection allow.

// today i'm thankful for:
1.  knowing my wife loves me
2.  not experiencing a plane crash (we've been watching "Lost" lately)
3.  great mexican food
4.  being with danielle
5.  the thought of getting a new MacBook Pro sometime

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the iWait on iDay

well i did it! i got my iPhone. and it's now eagerly awaiting a new home on ebay. good ole free enterprise in the US of A! (go ahead hit the "buy it now" button. i know you want to.) :-)

oh and you thought it was for me?? well as sweet as it would be for me to get myself i can't justify paying an early cancellation fee with my current provider (sprint). and then there's the fact that currently it's the church that pays for my cell phone.

anyways i figure that when my contract does expire (oct, 2008) there will be new models and probably cheaper.

but for now i hope this one finds a great home. i've read news that nearly all of the at&t stores have sold out. and apple stores are starting to run out of stock. so hopefully that will bode well for ebay prices.

here's some pics of the iWait on iDay:

and this is of the actual iPhone:

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oh and in other news i've got a crack in the screen of my macbook (i won't tell you the story, i'll let the person who did it decide whether they want that broadcast to all the world). boo hoo :-( it's a $400 fix since accidental damage isn't covered by the warranty. oh well, i guess i can start my MacBook Pro fund. :-)



// today i'm thankful for:
1. ebay
2. mexico
3. a fun friday
4. payday
5. relevant magazine podcast

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in line

i'm sitting in front of the att store in line for an iphone. Should be a fun day! More news later.

a summer full of saturdays

well summer days are here again.  a couple of summers ago (or was it just last summer??) deb began referring to this time as "a summer full of saturdays".  basically because i'm home all the time. well not all the time because there's times that i come to the church. but more or less i'm home a lot more than during the school year (obviously) and our schedule is pretty much freed up and we can plan (or not plan) to do anything we want.

it's actually kinda nice, but after the first 2 weeks or so. we're not really sure what to do now! now i'm sure our time will fill up. and a house full of kids makes for never a dull moment. but we've already run all our 'errands'. i guess we could "deep clean" the house. but that's not really very much fun. and then there's times that we do have the house fairly clean and then we wake up the next morning and wonder, "well now what do we do??"

we have taken our kids to the library now that it reopened. and we'll take them to the park every so often. and one of our summer habits is to take them to a local high school where they serve free lunches to kids during the summer.

so since our schedule is pretty much open (although our money isn't unlimited) what suggestions does anyone have for the laras to fill their time doing?? anybody want to invite us over for lunch? or dinner?? or anybody want to come over for either?? or what other kinds of stuff does your family do on it's saturdays??

// today i'm thankful for:
1. sunshine
2. airplanes
3. kleenex
4. small groups
5. kids with their own unique personalities

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22 days 21 hours and 21 minutes

well it's getting down to the last few days/weeks till our team heads to mexico. (for those who haven't heard a team from our church is connecting with a team from stone church to spend ten days with missionaries steve and amy shoop.)

it's finally sinking in that it's actually coming since we went up to yakima to have dinner with the team from stone church. basically to meet each other, talk about the trip, share a dinner, and pray for our trip. so now it seems really close.

plus the fact that this morning our team completed our "endurance climb" that i have every missions team do before we go on a trip. this is a chance for us to bond together, do something we thought we couldn't, but work together to accomplish something difficult. we have one team member that is severely overweight and on occasion has seizures so i've only asked her to make it about 1/3 of the way up the hill but everyone else made it all the way to the top. (some wanted to give up on the way, but i made them press through.)

so we're on our way. and then i had danielle and her cousin cathy (the kids pictured above) give my sister (who's in town visiting from minneapolis) go and give her the "picco chueqo"* (sp?? pronounced [pee-ko chweh-ko]- basically sad eyes, long face, and pouty bottom lip) in an effort to ask for support for the mexico misison trip. and IT WORKED!! she gave each of them $50 towards their trip. so then my other sister maggie (in the orange shirt) and i also gave elia the picco chueqo and she's such a softie that she gave us $50 each for our trip too!!

anyways, keep us in prayer and as out of the seven only 2 are completely paid off. and the rest of us have some balance left on our account.

and in case you'd like to donate to our trip you can contact me for more details using my email address: abelara [at] gmail.com (i purposely wrote it like that so as to not get a bunch of spam by online scam artist) or you can mail a check directly to the church. (you can find the mailing address at the bottom of the church website) with a memo in the check that it's for danielle and i's trip.

// today i'm thankful for:
1. budgets
2. summer vacation
3. deborah
4. having a guest room
5. my engaged sister!

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if this helps any here's my "picco chueqo":

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* in spanish it literally means: "crooked beak"

not what i expected

good morning everyone!

well it's finally over. our 3 months of no cable or fast internet connection at home. i have several observations about our time "unplugged". and i hope to be posting those "regularly" over the next few days/weeks/ or whenever i remember something else.

but one thing i will say now. simply . . . we're not going back! at least we don't have any plans to right now or for the immediate future. we have started Netflix.com so that we have some media entertainment (that we can be selective and choose). and i've also restarted most of my podcast subscriptions.   it might be too small to see but i've now got 61 'unplayed' podcasts and another 10 currently downloading.

things i didn't expect from our time 'unplugged':

1)  i'm not dying to get cable and internet access back on at home.  cable not a big deal to me - internet access . . . this was something that i thought i'd be eager to turn back on.  but i've realized that yes i was online WAY too much.  and i simply don't need to be.  and that by not being online so much makes my wife happier.  (and what husband doesn't want that!)

2)  i didn't write as much as i thought i would be.  but i would say that i was more mentally active.  i read more.  i thought more clearly.  basically my mind wasn't "cluttered" with frivolous stuff.

3)  i noticed my kids more.  i wouldn't claim that i became the "perfect" father (lets face it only God fills that spot).  but i would say that i simply spent more time with them.  and although current psychology may argue that what kids need is more quality versus quantity of time.  i would say that kids need both.  and that you're more likely to have those quality time moments the more quantity time that you have!

as i said before i hope to make this blog a regular part of my life again.

oh, and i almost forgot.  one of the last times i wrote i mentioned not letting a "cat out of the bag".  well at least for those locally, you know that the 'cat is out'.  our pastor will be taking a sabbatical/respite/extended vacation (we're not really sure what to call it) for most of the summer.  his last sunday for the summer will be this father's day.  then on sunday evening he heads to seattle for a flight monday to Togo, Africa.  he will be back on july 2nd.  and then will come back to preach/share about his missions trip on july 8th.  and then he will be on 'vacation' until the last sunday in august.   so in all he's gone a total of 8 sundays this summer.

 i will be preaching most of those sunday's although we do have a guest speaker for the week that i will be leading a team to mexico on a missions trip.  and then my sister will also be sharing during the summer.

anyways so a busy summer ahead!

// today i'm thankful for:
1.  almost being done being sick
2.  safari 3 beta (for mac and windows too)
3.  summer vacation
4.  blogging again
5.  having my wife as my girlfriend

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things that make you go hmmm?! - #2

seems redundant to me, don't you think??

// today i'm thankful for:
1. 18 days of school left
2. warm weather
3. my mom (happy mother's day, again!)
4. going out to eat
5. home cooked meals ;-) (thanks deb!)

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what's your religious grade??

i got an 88/100. if you click on the title above or this link, it will take you to an article in usatoday that talks about how americans get an "F" in religion. on the left side of the article there is a test you can take to see where you'd score.

now compared to the rest of the US population scoring an 88 i guess is pretty good. but it got me to thinking about how much i DON'T know about other religions. which really started to get me thinking . . . how in the world would i know how to reach, understand, much less minister to people of other faiths if i don't even know what they believe or where they're coming from.

i've also been recently challenged by a message from wes davis. he's the lead pastor at newlife kitsap church. he spoke recently at a workshop at the Northwest Ministry Network annual conference. you can download the individual message here or subscribe to the Northwest Ministry Network podcast via iTunes with these and more excellent messages.

to give you the "gist" of it - wes speaks on the challenge that the longer people are Christians the more they begin to live in a bubble; isolated from the very people they once were and are "trying to reach". it's not necessarily that these people are self centered or snobby. but it's just a natural progression of events. if you started out and didn't know Christ and had all "non-Christian"* friends and then became saved and got involved in church. invited your "non-Christian" friends. and then they became Christians and you made new friends in your church. then all the people in your "circle of influence" are all Christians.

so then you i have gotten to the point where it's hard for me to name 5 "non-Chrisitian" friends that i actually have a genuine relationship with.

as i once heard it said, "if we are called to be fishers (of men), then at some point we should smell like fish."**

i've stopped smelling like fish a long time ago. in fact i think i may have gotten to the point where i don't even like going near places that do. yes, i work at a middle school and there are hundreds of kids that i know that are in need of Christ, but i'm limited at school by how much i can say. and yes i go to the grocery store and see "mostly" the same checkers/workers, etc; but i don't see them as people i see them as workers (at best acquaintances) but i'm going to make a conscious effort to change that. and it's going to take work though. it's not easy. it's not the "natural" order of life.

leave your score for the test and your level of "fish" odor in the comments below.


// today i'm thankful for:
1. sunny days
2. good news i received today
3. ipods and podcasts
4. missing my family
5. getting to see them soon

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* i don't really like the terms that churches and Christians use to describe those who aren't Christians. i think it tends to lend it self to the "us vs. them" mentality that i'm describing. "non-Christians", "unsaved", "unchurched", even the terms "seekers" isn't quite helpful. and it truth be known "they" may even be offended of being labeled in such terms. the most accurate term i've found is in earl crep's book Off-Road Disciplines "the Sought". because it puts more emphasis on God as the Seeker and the one who in reality is the one drawing "all men unto himself". but i decided to use the term "non-Christians" here because as you can tell it takes quite a while to explain the term "the Sought".

** i understand the distinction of "being in the world but not of the world". so this doesn't mean that i'm going on a sinning rampage in order to better understand sinners. after-all the fisherman doesn't become a fish, but he does end up smelling like them.

things that make you go hmmm?! - #1 (updated)

[UPDATED: i found out that the picture wasn't actually visible so i included it. oh, and i took this picture on my camera phone in a supermarket in ellensburg.]
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what the heck does that mean?!?

// today i'm thankful for:
1. my office being complete
2. my wonderful kids
3. my fabulous wife
4. lunch at a new restaurant
5. julia's turning 3 on saturday

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hello friends

well it's been a long time since i've written anything, and many things have happened. the lara house has been busy!

deb finished up her performance as a nun in the 'sound of music'.

our cousin camp was a big success. the kids had a blast, and although very exhausting, we'll probably do it all over again next year. (that is unless maggie wants to host it at her house next year??)

deb and i went to "seattle" (actually we went to renton/tukwila; but anybody familiar with the area would rather say they went to seattle) to meet with loran lichty, the grouplife pastor at New Life Church @ Renton. we had a great time and we stopped by the apple store and got my macbook fixed. (it had a small crack in it; purely cosmetic, but i'm glad i got it fixed nonetheless)

we then rushed home for our first "small group" meeting at our house 2 weeks ago thursday evening. (4/5/07)

and then had our friends, the Sperry's visiting us from boise, idaho so that they could host the passover service. which went great.

we had a "kirby" guy come over last week and we successfully said "no" to spending $2,280 on a vacuum! (it wasn't hard) but we did get our dining room carpet cleaned out of the ordeal. :-)

my new office at the church is coming a long nicely. it used to be just an empty room with a bunch of junk in it, but a crew from the church decided that pastor jon and i needed an office at the church. so after completing his a few months ago, they started to work on mine, and it's turning out great!

other than that there isn't too much else going on. oh, the WASL has begun at school this week.

there's actually one other tidbit of "big news" information concerning church that i'm not at liberty to share at this time. but when i am i'll let ya know . . . that is unless my sister or someone else that goes to our church that has a blog spills the beans before i do. and since i'm not reading any other blogs until june 12th, i won't even know.

well that's about it for now. i'll try not to have such a long gap between updates next time.

later!

// today i'm thankful for:
1. fresh paint smell
2. spring flowers
3. 37 days of school left!
4. being able to read
5. making it to the bank on time

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"His"

(a prayer for my kids)
by abraham lara*

(that you may be)

confident in His might
full of His grace
flowing in His gifts
experiencing His people
living in His joy
showing His love
believing His promises
knowing His mercy
encouraged by His voice
obeying His Word
following His steps

// today i'm thankful for:
1. "closing night" tomorrow
2. strawberry/banana milkshakes
3. beginning community (next thursday)
4. daffodils
5. clean rooms

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* this was written at our recent Parental Guidance Required class when asked what we envisioned our kid's spiritual lives to look like when they are adults. the above is what i wrote.

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shameless plug and a promise (updated)

[UPDATE: added a sentence of clarification at the end of my 'shameless plug' and i put my "promise" in bold since it wasn't clear to deb what my promise was.
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as if it wasn't super obvious . . . yes, i've become a christianbook.com 'affiliate' member. which basically mean's i'll be posting links to items i've been reading, listening to, or viewing, and/or using lately that is sold on Christianbook.com. if you've never heard of the site, it's basically the "Christian" equivalent to amazon.com. they truly do have lots of great stuff at great prices. in fact i recently orderd the 'creating community' book listed as well as other materials. and it was even cheaper than ordering it directly from the North Point Store, even though i had a 10% off promotion code for the northpoint store. (northpoint ministries is the creator of the material!)

and now if you click on the links or start a search from my site instead of their site directly then i get an "affiliate" commission. so order away, or even better get your church to order it's materials via my link! (oh and in case you're wondering, it doesn't add to the price of your order in order for me to receive my commission, they just give it to me if the order is initiated by the links at the right. okay, enough of the shameless promotion and advertising!

and now the promise.

i've been thinking a lot recently and have lots more to write about but it's already very late and deb's already called me from home (after her play performance) so i should get going, but i'll definately write more tomorrow.

oh and then deb's final performance is on saturday (i'm taking the girls that day)!!! yipeee!!!! i get my wife back!! the kids get their mom back in the evenings!!! it's a win-win for everyone!

oh and, you guys write a lot! i mean i know i used to check a lot of blogs, but since i'm not reading any of them anymore i just see the "unread" posts tally just keep going up. i hope you're not writing to me specifically or hoping i'll leave a comment on some post. because i'm not reading them. you'll have to just directly email me "abelara {at} gmail {dot} com" or actually talk to me! :)

i guess i've got a lot of reading to do come june. :-)


// today i'm thankful for:
1. spring break
2. palm sunday
3. easter sunday
4. cousin camp
5. my sexy wife (the nun)!

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the 3rd place (and 4th)

if you haven't read "Off Road Disciplines", go ahead and order it today.

in that book one of the concepts that he writes about is "the 3rd place". if i recall correctly he borrowed the idea from someone else, but the premise is that people want a "3rd place", a community to be a part of. everyone has a 'home' (1st) place, and a 'work' (2nd) place, but they want that "3rd place". a place away from work stuff and home stuff.

for some people that becomes a bar, such as the hit show "Cheers". for others it becomes a coffee shop, as in "Friends" or "Sienfeld" (yes i'm dating myself). or maybe a hamburger joint, as in "Saved by the Bell" (okay now i'm really dating myself). and then yet for others it becomes the church, as in . . . okay so there's no sitcom with that example. and for others that 3rd place is myspace, facebook, or some other online community (blogging). (there is another option: where people choose not to be in a 3rd place - a community. instead they retreat to individual activities: painting, running, gardening, knitting, etc.)

now as a church staff member (and specifically as "small group ministry" being a part of my job description) i would like to see small groups or the church be that 3rd place for people. the place they feel "where everybody knows your name". the place they build relationships together, share life together, have fun together, cry together, and grow together.

so now here's my dilemma: that 3rd place i just described for everyone else in the preceding paragraph; for me is a 'work' place. i believe most readers know that in addition to being on staff at the church, i also work at the local middle school. so in one sense the church is a 3rd place for me, but i also find myself wanting to retreat to a 4th place. and i've already previously written about the tension between family time and work time. for me that '4th place' has take more the form of the individual activities; running or exercising, online surfing, or writing.

and i'm not the only one that's in this predicament. i've been on staff or leadership at several churches and have heard from various church workers similar stories. in fact one such worker voiced once what many of us have felt, when they told me they were actually glad that a particular program was ending because "they were tired of getting together" with everyone.

it's not that we don't believe in what we're recommending for everyone else. it's the fact that it's not that "3rd place" for us, it's more of a second 2nd place. now what i don't know is, would i still feel this way if i wasn't working at the school? if the church was able to be my only work place, would i be able to join a small group at our church and feel that 'it' was my 3rd place? or would i still feel 'pastoral' and thus in a 'work place'?

or maybe my issue goes even deeper. because as i look back on my life, i don't think i've ever had a "3rd place". i didn't have a group of 'best' friends that i hung out with every day; in high school or college. i don't think i ever 'fit' in or thought "this is my clan". i've hung out with lots of people, would even say i had many friends. but i don't think i've ever "been known" and "known others" in the sense that i've seen other have (and hope will develop in the small groups).

i've had plenty of opportunities to delve deeper. to share. to know. and be known. but i haven't for some reason. i've held back. as in this article, "of mice and myspace"; i've been living as a neatly edited, showcase version of me. have i fooled everyone? probably not. have i fooled most?? probably not on that one either. but i have a hunch that they've been satisfied with the version of me that i let them see. why?? i think because they're secretly afraid that if they 'call me' on it, then they'll feel obligated to reveal their 'true' self. and so, we continue to dance around each other. although to be fair to myself, i feel that this blog has been a bit of an outlet to being transparent.

and for me this is one of the reasons i'm choosing 'the acoustic life'; to find out "the why?" for me. and then to find my balance between 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place (and maybe the 4th, too). i really feel that this 'acoustic life' period for the next 3 months (who knows maybe longer) will be a defining time in my life. and i don't think it's an accident that it's happening the year that i'm 30.

so here's to being transparent . . .

my name is abraham lara. (i don't have a middle name)*
i'm 30 years old.
and always cry during hallmark commercials. (sometimes even ones i've seen a dozen times)


// today i'm thankful for:
1. wisdom
2. uncertainty
3. cell phones
4. being 30
5. having 4 little girls

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* my birth certificate says my name is abraham trujillo lara. trujillo is my mother's maiden name. i didn't like trujillo as my middle name because it didn't sound like any of my other friend's middle names; it sounded like a last name. so when i could (i think age 13 with my father's signature) i had it legally removed from my name. at the time, and i think a little even now, my mother felt a sense of rejection since i was taking her name out of mine.

it wasn't till i was much older (as in working at the middle school) that i learned that it was common practice in mexico for all kids to have their mother's maiden name as one of their middle names. (mexicans also have a tendency to have more than one middle name). had i known this would i still have changed it?? probably, my justification being, "we're not in mexico, and i wasn't born there either."

i did add include it on our wedding invitations though. most wedding invitations give the bride and groom's first and middle names. i put trujillo as my middle name. i think it made it up to my mom for having taken it out. but just to show that some people didn't see it as a middle name, many of our wedding gifts said congratulations to "Abraham and Deborah Trujillo". :-)

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detoxing from "the feed"

so it's been 1 week since we began our 'acoustic life' here in the lara household so i thought i'd write down how's it been going.

first off, technically we haven't moved to 'the boonies' and we do have running water. that being the case it's kinda hard to avoid media outlets/inlets. (especially when it was such an integral part of my/our lives beforehand.)

so yes, i haven't downloaded any new podcasts, in the last week; but i have been listening/viewing the 30+ i still had on my hard drive (i'm down to about 5). we haven't watched any TV in our home. we haven't watched any movies either.* in fact i have no clue what's going on news wise because i haven't visited any news sites in the past week either. so if a nuclear bomb has gone off i wouldn't know unless they mentioned it on 'klove'. (oh and the fact that everyone at school would be talking about it; so thus far no nukes) i've also not visited any blogs except my own which is unusual, since i have an rss feed that checks 20+ of them.** and i did also check a "mac rss feed" but only once this week (on friday). our church has been talking about getting a mac for the church and as "media" is part of my job description i've gotta keep up on mac related news. oh and as you may have noticed i did buy a domain name and pointed this blog to it "the acoustic life".

so although i've still been using my computer i have freed up 'tons' of time that i formerly used to just 'waste away' (did i just say that) doing nothing. so what have i been doing with that time?? well for one thing i've learned how to complete a rubik's cube. yes, it is possible to solve them without dismantling or taking the stickers off.*** the kids at school were totally amazed today with me solving it right in front of them.

but other than the rubik's cube, i've started to notice my kids more. they are my 'veg' out entertainment. i've noticed how much anna loves to write and draw. (during church yesterday she drew a picture of our worship leader. she must have realized it wasn't an exact portrait so she added, "it's joddi-jay as a kid". i've noticed what a tender heart danielle has and how much she absolutely LOVES her daddy. i've noticed how much julia loves to sing (i'm amazed at the songs she knows the words to at her age). and i've realized that late at night rachel is crying because she has an actual need and it's her only means of communicating with us. (she's not just being ornery and trying to keep us from sleeping).

i've also noticed that i'm not "shoo-ing" them away so much because i've got "to get stuff done."

well, deb's home from practice now (10.55 pm), i've gotta go.

oh, 2 more things. 1) i've started exercising again in the mornings. and 2) deb's new glasses came in and mine will be coming in a week or so.



//today i'm thankful for:
1. quiet
2. uniball 'signo' pens
3. picnics
4. kids
5. ozone (that's the smell 'after the rain', a molecule with 3 oxygen atoms)


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* and tonight was a real temptation to that resolve. deb is in full swing "sound of music" practices and performances this weekend and next. so i was on 'kid duty' for 5 out of 8 days this past week. anyways i was really tired and was really close to "sneaking a movie" to entertain the kids while i rested. but i didn't!

** to be completely honest i did check my sister's blog, simply because the kids of our church went to a "kid's conference" this weekend and i knew she'd be posting news from the weekend. and i wanted to check as a parent (anna and danielle were there) but it also was "work related" because i knew i could use the pics she posted in the church bulletin for this weekend.

*** i borrowed one from a student i'm tutoring in math and downloaded some instructions from the internet. i became so obsessed about solving it that even deb got hooked and we went and bought two at target on friday. i've gotten pretty good at it too. my record so far is 5 min 26 sec.

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better late than never??

ok, so it's taken longer than i anticipated, but it's finally here; my review of Off-Road Disciplines by Earl Creps.

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i was interested in this book because of having heard the author speak before in various settings. what kept me reading past the first pages was the same "examine-your-life" thought provoking challenges intermixed with down-to-earth witty humor that i was used to in his speaking.

what struck me most as an "X'er" associate pastor of a small town local church in the midst of change was something that wasn't explicitly stated in the book. the idea: "am i promoting 'churchianity' more than "Christianity". the book also gave me a fresh perspective on examining who i am, my motives for being in ministry, and the authenticity of my personal faith.

i did find that portions of the book seemed to be written by two "different earls". on one hand, there's the coffee drinkin, blog writing, 'hip' earl that purposely hangs out with "X'ers" and can be found at the Mudhouse. this part of the book is easy to read, filled with witty humor, and real life stories of people practicing what he's trying to convey.

on the other hand, there's the 'card carrying Boomer', seminary teaching, ministry experienced earl that has to purposely hang out with "X'ers" instead of fitting in naturally and can instead be found here. these parts of the book were very deep and insightful; but also 'heady', required more focused reading, and seemed to contain concepts written more towards people in ministry than the average Christian.

that part may be more a fault of my own than one of the book. i approached the book as if it 'remixed version' of the 'on road' disciplines i had grown up learning. to me the'on road' disciplines (bible reading, prayer, journaling, simplicity, etc., etc.) were written more towards Christians in general (newly converted or not) as a means of deepening their personal Christian walk. these 'off road' disciplines seem written more for ministry leaders as a challenge to rethink the motives and methods of ministering, both personally and as the 'Church', to people in today's culture.

in fact the whole book, seemed to be written more specifically to ministry leaders in the "Boomer" generation (which is logical since those would be the author's peers). as a just recently 'turned 30' year old, i enjoyed a lot of the material and was personally challenged as i mentioned before. but i just didn't feel he was writing to me specifically, it was more for an older generation to hear, "no one else is coming, so get ready to pass the baton!" (ch. 11)

so all in all would i recommend the book?? an emphatic "YES!" not just for "boomer" ministry leaders, but for any believer (we're all called to be a ministers) wanting to be more effective, purposeful, and authentic in their ministry efforts.

so go grab yourself a copy, read it with a teachable heart, and then go hang out with some of "the sought"!




// today i'm thankful for:
1. Nitro3
2. a date night with Deb
3. "theacousticlife.com" is working!
4. "Spring Break" is coming
5. it's FRIDAY!!!
--------------------------

quick update

i bought the domain name "theacousticlife.com" and so if you click on any of the 'previous post' links, or click on one of the "recent chatter" links it will take you to a "parked site by godaddy.com". (at least as of 8.10pm, wed. 3/14/07).

if i followed all the directions correctly then it should all be working within 48 hours from 3/13/07. so hopefully by thursday, certainly friday all should be well.

sorry for any inconvenience this causes. if it's not working by friday, i'll be sure to try to sort things out.



// today i'm thankful for:
1. rubik's cube
2. comfy couches
3. a great team
4. premium albacore tuna
5. quadrille ruled paper
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