Family

It seems to me that I start out way too many of these with an apology for not writing a blog sooner; and this blog will keep the tradition behind those. I apologize for the amount of time between this blog and the last; almost two months if I'm not mistaken. Yikes...
Well, the topic for this blog has been on my mind since my birthday, the 18th of August. I got to talk to my family back in Falls town, and it was really good hearing them wish me a good birthday. Before you think me a bad son, or out in the boonies of the Amazon rainforest, that is common for me. I try to talk to my family at least once a week to catch up with them. I love them dearly, and I know without a shadow of a doubt that without my parents' influence on my life, I wouldn't be here serving the Lord. And my brother.... what can I say about him besides I'm proud of the man I see him growing into, and that the hardest decision of my life was to extend a year down here; the main reason for it being hard was that I would miss being there for his senior year. But.... this blog isn't about them, as much as I love them. No, my intention in this blog is not to confuse you. Yes, I know the title is "Family." So how can this blog not be about my family in Wichita Falls??
You see, the profound event that happened on my birthday was not a phone call, but a toast from one of my Latin partners working with us down here, Isaac. His toast touched me greatly because in it he talked about how even though we're from different countries, different continents, different hemispheres, we are brothers. He went on to say that he felt like I was his brother because of the times we hung out, and once when I gave him some advice when he needed a different perspective on an issue. I remember those times, but not with the vividness apparent in his eyes as he shared them; moments that I took for granted affected him greatly. He ended with saying that Jesus showed us how we ought to live with other Christians: Mark 3:31-35 "And his [Jesus'] mother and his brothers came, and standing outside they sent to him and called him. And a crowd was sitting aorund him, and they said to him, 'Your mother and your brothers are outside, seeking you.' And he answered them, 'Who are my mother and brothers?' And looking about at those who sat around him, he said, 'Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoeever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother.'" We spent a lot of time together, but every person who does the will of the Almighty is my family, and should be treated as a very close, and loved, family member. I sometimes forget this, and then God has to smack me upside the head again, like He did on the night on my birthday. I need to apologize to some of my brothers and sisters for not treating them the way I should be treating them, like my family. I have a lot of people down here who are like family to me, and have been big parts of my life: J and Susan, Trent and Kay, Doug, Jose, Isaac, Linzi, Nadia, Enoc, Misty, Amy, Johnathan, and so many more that I'm sorry I don't have the room to list. It's so easy in today's culture to just avoid someone that rubs us the wrong way when we should be loving them and hanging out with them because that's what family does. We admit that there might be a few nuts in the family fudge, but they make it a better family for it. :)
Well, thank you for letting me share this thought that's been rolling around in my head for a couple of weeks. A little update for y'all: on Monday, I'm flying to Lima, the capital of Peru, and from there I'm taking a bus to Quito, Ecuador, Thursday the 10th. We are going to be starting a two month training there in the jungle southeast of Quito for a group of indigenous tribes who want to reach some of their lost cousins farther up the river from them. It should be a good time!! But please be praying that everything goes well logistics wise, as well as the training itself. Oh yeah, one big praise that happened this last couple of weeks. The man of peace from the village where we work in Bolivia (I passed through the village once or twice) asked to get baptized!!! It's amazing what He does!