Thursday, February 16, 2012

A Perfect Weekend...Almost


A lot of things had to come together last weekend. Without getting into many of the details - we had a house that needed to get unfurnished - a house to then refurnish - Lia's family to entertain - a missionary friend to host - and a party to pull off...it doesn't sound like much...but trust me...it was.

And somehow, it all went perfectly. Our buddy in Sparta called me a 1 p.m. saying the house was empty just as Crick and I were finishing loading the Uhaul in my driveway. The house went unfurnished a whole two hours. By that night, we were sitting in our new home. It was a miracle.



The next morning, Ben Luthy, our new Amish friend, arrived with two of his children - Charity, a beautiful thirteen year who is strong as an ox; and Adam, a five year old who instantly hit it off with our children. Ben is a furniture builder. His work is of the highest quality and his prices or more than reasonable. They're unreasonable, in fact. But that is the beauty of the man. His craftmanship and his professionalism are the way I imagine Jesus' were back at his carpentry shop in Nazareth. Ben Luthy reminds me of Jesus. All the way down to the beard.

Here is the bunk bed (it was the only thing Anna Rose asked for) and the full bed he built for us:


Here is the master bed, trunk, and side table:


I asked him if I could pass on his contact information for him. He said that he wouldn't mind at all. So here it is: (No website of course. Fortunately, he has a phone) - (336) 468-6597. He lives in Union Grove, North Carolina. Near the 421/I-77 Intersection.

Dave Dave liked eating leftover blue cake on a barstool of Ben's:


You get the picture.

The cabin is coming together great. We had a fabulous time with Lia's folks. And after a blustery night, we awoke to an incredible sunrise


and were able to make it back to Winston-Salem in time to welcome Hunter Lambeth and his friend (now ours) Yousef. They have begun Young Life in Israel. Yousef and Young Life leaders like him have started a Palestinian Club of Cultural Christians, a Jewish Club, and even a Muslim Club. It's unbelievable to hear their stories. As we have seen in the Arab Spring - it really is the children who are the future and our best hope for peace. To think we have friends now walking alongside young men and women pointing them to the Prince of Peace...it's amazing...to think that Hunter will be stationed in Nazareth, that there will be Young Life in the town where Jesus was a teenager...now that's awesome.

Let me know if you want to join the movement financially, in prayer, or both.



Afterward, we had lunch, and then I blitzed home to get ready for Dave Dave's birthday party. Lia had this great idea to celebrate it at the Winston-Salem Soccer Plex www.wssoccerplex.com (I'm like a writing commercial today!) And after blowing up 10 beach balls, 16 punch balls, and 72 balloons - celebrate we did. With all the balls, balloons, and soccer balls that we brought we had well over 100 things to kick.


And somehow - no one got hurt. In fact, not a single tear was shed.



It was a miracle. And Dave Dave had a blast.



It was the perfect end to a perfect weekend...



Which is exactly what I finished telling Lia thirty seconds before Dave Dave climbed the chair, tipped it over, and landed on the floor, chin first.

To use Anna Rose's words: "Blood exploded from his face."

Thus commenced our first trip to the Emergency Department as parents. Dave Dave received Versed and 4 stitches - done by our great friend Michael Mitchell, who came in just for the occasion. thanks Michael.



And thus, our perfect weekend ended on a down note. And now, Dave Dave has been initiated into that great fraternity of those who have had stitches on their chin.

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