What Happened to the Old Us?

The other day we received a promotional piece of mail that included a tropical magnet photo frame. I dug out my favorite picture from our honeymoon & stuck it on the fridge. The purpose of this was to help my case with Ben for us to go on a vacation next fall which I’ve been whining about for a few years now. His reaction, however, went something like this, “What happened to us - we were skinny & tan back then?!” I looked at the picture again & realized that we aren’t in quite the shape we used to be & have gotten a little lazy in our old married ways.

Its tough finding things to do as a couple that A) don’t cost money, B) we both enjoy doing & C) require us to get off the couch. What did people do every night before TV & movies??? Ben doesn’t particularly like to play games & we tend to fight a lot when we try doing house projects together. We do like to take our beautiful puppy on walks & we hang out with our other couple friends a lot, so don’t get me wrong - we do have a life. I’m talking about all the nights that we don’t have plans & just want to stay home…hmmm.

College forced us to stay active simply by walking to class & always having something to do or somewhere to be. When you ‘grow up’ somehow most of us get desk jobs where we sit at a computer 40+ hrs. a week forcing you to schedule in time to keep in shape. Between not exercising regularly & fast food being our Plan A for dinner most nights it’s finally catching up to us. I guess my question is…how as a couple do you stay healthy both physically & mentally after you’ve said your I Do’s?

News Story on Adam

I linked this from a news station in Oklahoma City, and it is a really good piece on Adam. His funeral is probably still going on as I write this. Please say a prayer for his family today if you get a chance.

More Information Concerning Adam

I had a chance to tell some of Adam’s story in chapel at the Harding Grad School of Religion today. People need to hear about Adam because he is a perfect example of living, sacrificing, and dying for the sake of the Gospel. What faith and courage he had! We can all learn from it.

If you have a chance, please go to Clint Davis’s blog to read some beautiful words about Adam and about Moses, a fellow worker who died in the same wreck as Adam. Moses leaves behind 4 children and a wife, and it is touching to read about him. They called him Moses the Carpenter, and he devoted himself to the work of the Lord. What a great loss for his family and for the mission effort in Uganda.

Also, on Clint’s blog, there are a couple addresses where you can send money to help out with all the emergency expenses resulting from this tragedy. Plane tickets, funeral arrangements, etc. It adds up quick, and if you are in a position to help, please consider these options:

Funds can be sent to:
Rochester Church of Christ
250 W. Avon Road
Rochester Hills, MI 48307
attn: Jinja Emergency Fund

This fund will cover missionaries’ travel expenses back home, those traveling to Uganda and Moses’ burial / funeral expenses in Uganda.

For the Langford family and funeral expenses, donations can be sent to:
East County Church of Christ
24375 SE Stark
Gresham, OR 97030
attn: Langford Family Fund

Adam Langford, In Memory of an Adventurer for God

There are few people in this world I am truly jealous of and admire beyond words: People who live their lives without getting stuck on the details of the world. People who live as though life is a journey and find great joy in every adventure. I have always been jealous of Adam Langford.

Tuesday afternoon, January 16, 2007, in Uganda, Adam died in an automobile wreck. I had no idea Langford (as I usually refer to him) was even in Uganda, but he was, and he was on a mission team with his brother's family and several other families. It made sense, because sharing God's love came easy for Langford, you just had to be in his presence and you felt it. Langford was a light in the darkness everywhere his adventures took him. I believe at some point in life God sat him down and said, "Adam, all I want is for you to be yourself, and I'll do the rest. People will see my love through you."? Langford took that call seriously and the world changed because of him.

I still do not honestly believe he died yesterday. I don't think I will ever believe it fully. Adam was invincible. I played basketball in his driveway, I watched him do back flips at Spring Sing Practice, I . . . cannot accept the fact that I will never hear his laughter or be uplifted by being around him. No, Langford lives.

I am truly angry at God because I cannot understand his plan. Langford did what we all secretly wish we were doing—serving God with all of our hearts. He embraced his journey with no complaints and he put his entire being into it. I will always be jealous of that, and I believe I should be. Why, God, would you take someone doing your work and suffering for your cause with all his heart? It doesn't make sense. He had thousands upon millions of more lives to touch and make disciples. He had a heart for the physical suffering of those in Uganda, but that was not his main concern. He only wanted to bring hope to a place where there seems to be no hope. What about those people he was supposed to touch? No, it was not time, not by my estimation.

Adam, I can't make any sense of this. Somehow I know you can. You're rejoicing with the saints right now, maybe even playing soccer, but we have to grieve losing you, and it hurts deep inside. May God bless your family and friends because this must be unbearable for them. We all know you are in heaven where your journey has always been leading you, but no one expected it this soon. You give us hope, though, because we'll always see you. We'll see you in our lives and in the lives of your family and friends. We'll see you in the faces and hearts of those in Uganda who you gave your life to. In one of your last reports, you spoke of suffering. You suffered for the Gospel in the most extreme way, you died for something bigger than anything in this world. And I will continue to be jealous of you, because I'll always remember you had it figured out—be yourself, let God use you, and people will see God's love.

An iPod for Monica

About a month ago Monica attended a Grand Opening for FedEx Labs. Little did everyone in her office know that all who attended this event would be receiving an iPod Nano as a ‘Thank you’ for coming. However, only 5 out of the 9 people in her office that attended received an iPod in the mail (Monica was one of the unfortunate ones that did not).

Everyone kept thinking they would be coming in a different shipment, but alas they never came…until YESTERDAY (can I get some ‘OH HAPPY DAY’?!). With MUCH persuading & bugging the missing iPods finally arrived!! Now Ben doesn’t have to share his anymore & Benica can live in iPod bliss happily ever after!

Happy New Year Picture

We kissed 2006 goodbye!

Happy New Year, 2007!

Happy New Year, everybody! We will call this the year that Ben should finally get a job! Actually, we are excited to see what the year will bring and hope all will go well for you as well.

Yay for 2007!