Wiener!

Steve has been in Honduras since Tuesday and I have been busy preparing for his return tonight and our trip together to Costa Rica for 2 weeks.  I remember when our kids were young and Steve would have ministry out of town that things would always happen that would have been much easier to handle were he there to help.  Things haven't changed that much.  Since Sean, Cara, Christa and Stefani are grown and "flown the coop", we have transfered some of our nurturing and need for giving and receiving affection to our puppy dogs. ( I never thought I would be saying that and especially not out loud! ) What we receive from them is well worth all the effort, but it is much like having 5 year old twins in the house.  Not long after I dropped Steve off at the airport, Duchess began a bout of montezuma's revenge, and I began the now 3 day clean up duty.  Her favorite place to leave a deposit . . . our bed!  I have washed sheets, matress pad and matalase cover twice now.  I finally gave up last night and slept in a chair, too tired to wash and remake the bed again.  Countless trips outside did not keep her from  . . . well, you know.  Then this morning, as I sleepily through myself together and went to tether the dogs, I discovered that Barkly would not get out of his bed.  He just looked at me with the saddest eyes and layed his head back down.  I picked him up and put him on the floor to discover that he was strongly favoring one of his hind legs.  He hobbled outside with great effort and was as lathargic as I have ever seen him.  Fortunately, our friend Enrique was outside with his dogs and I got the name and number for a quality Vet that does not charge a months salary for a visit.  I was able to get him in in the afternoon and set about to try to get some of my work done.  It wasn't long before I realized that he was digressing; unwilling to drink, eat, move and even started twitching.  I began to fear that he had been stung by a jellyfish last night  while we were having our early evening romp on the beach.  So I called the Dr. and was told to bring him in immediately.  Even that became a task.  His office is in Corral Gables and I have never driven there by myself.  The freeways here are similar to LA but even more confusing. We have an 823 and an 826, an I 95 and a 195, just to mention a few. They also have names like Turnpike, and 

The mundane and the eternal

Did I say a couple of weeks ago that we have settled in on a church?  Well, we thought we had found the best that we could find for where we live. But we cast our net a bit further and came across a church called Florida Bible Church. We attended for the second time this morning and when we 'debriefed' in the car, going over the pro's and con's, we both decided that this is where we feel the most comfortable.  It is a 30 minute trip from home, taking us to Miramar/Pembroke Pines.  The trip would probably be 45 minutes or more during the week with normal traffic, so it must be a pretty great church, right?  Well, it reminds us of Scottsdale Bible in the 70's and 80's before it became a mega church with sports and rock stars in attendance.  Different from SBC is the multi ethnicity of the people.  It really reflects the community with a split of Black's, Latino's and Caucasans.  The pastor is a Dallas grad, (points in Steve's book!) and really preaches the Word with integrity and enthusiasm.  The worship is "familiar" and worshipful, and the emphasis on Missions does not hurt!  There is a trip to Haiti planned in August and today they introduced the entire Missions Committee from the pulpit.  There is a good sized school on the campus, K - 12,  emphasizing Christian Education; and last Sunday there was a children's choir that sounded better than most professional choirs!  It didn't hurt that 3/4 of the kids were black and the soloist was a beautiful 12 year old that sang like she could be Aretha's granddaughter!  The people are friendly and have some beautiful freedom in their worship.  I am getting used to the audience interaction that is customary to a black church, but my how it keeps my attention! 

We also like the area surrounding the church as it has wide streets, residential areas that are built around lakes, and there are stores that I have not found in one place anywhere!  Today we ate at RA  and I had to call Christa and tell her since that was one of her and my favorite restaurants in Scottsdale.  We would go there during our lunch hour when she was in high school and I was working at the school.  We also kept going there when she was in college and I was still working at Saguaro.  she would pick me up and we would race there before the lunch crowd, ordering our Bento Boxes, eating,  and rushing back to school before the lunch hour was over.  .   .  oh, the memories! 

Back to Miami Beach . . . .

Upon our return, I went to the grocery store while Steve took the dogs out for their "constitutional".  I saw more than the usual amount of rescue vehicles heading toward the beach on my way home, and when I arrived in our condo, I saw a crowd gathered at the beach and numerous boats and a helicopter circling the water. So I knew that someone was being rescued . . . Steve and I decided to walk the 5 - 10 minutes to the area. By the time we arrived they had taken someone out of the water . . . dead.  A reminder that none of us know the last day we have here on earth and every day is precious.

Sean and Cate suffered a great loss this week as their close friends CJ and Renee experienced a 'still born' birth.  Another reminder that life is precious and God holds us in the palm of His hand . . .

Life and death . . . . Only He is sovereign.

Clouds

The last two days have been dominated by two events . . . a leadership retreat where the 4 managers and Steve sat around our kitchen table from 8:30 am to 5 pm, praying, strategizing, problem solving, dreaming. I prepared them breakfast and lunch then excused myself to the bedroom or balcony to read, write and pray. 

 And the second event is the rain.  It seems that in many of the states in the US, we have either entirely too much or too little rain right now.  Miami is very low in rainfall for the year.  So for that reason and just because it is such a welcome change in the skyline, I am glad to see it here.  The clouds are  amazingly beautiful and I just love watching them change shape as they move through the sky.  I awoke two nights ago to the sound of rain so loud that it startled me.  We keep our arcadia doors open day and night, allowing the sounds of the city and the ocean to always be with us.  The rain was so heavy and the change of sounds so extreme, it awoke me.  So at 3 am I found myself sitting on the balcony taking it all in. This is a view from the balcony this morning as the rain has subsided but the clouds remain.  Beautiful, isn't it? 

Prayer and Unity

This morning I braved the confusing (to me!) Miami freeways to attend a Prayer Initiative for para church organizations in the area.  There were  7 organizations represented; Florida Baptist Children's Home, an independent living program for those who turn 18, Mission Miami, networking churches an business people, Heartbeat of Miami, (rent office space from LAM) alternatives to abortion clinic, Lifework Leadership, provides training and accountability for christian leadership in the community, Youth For Christ, leading to the Lord and mentoring young people in their neighborhoods, Latin Impact Ministries, working with Latin residents in US as well as frontier work in Latin America, and of course Latin America Missions. We meet together solely to pray.  The christian community in Miami is small and for some years has been working autonomously.  The strong leadership of the passed has died or moved away.  This is a baby effort to draw together the leadership for the purpose of personal and ministry encouragement, broadening and strengthening the christian leadership base.  It was good to get together with other men and women who have a love for the Lord and expanding His Kingdom.  I look forward to these monthly meetings. 

I just learned last night that Steve will be going to Honduras next week, arriving home just in time to turn around and both of us head to Costa Rica.  We have 3 missionary families there and as it turns out, it is less expensive to fly back to Miami than to go from Costa Rica to Honduras.  This is all part of Steve's strategy to meet every missionary family this year and see them in their ministry.  I am told our itinerary is filled from morning till night. . . We both are looking forward to getting to know the families and learning about the different ministries.  I know it will be tiring but what a great way to expend  energy! 

Our Latin ministry co-ordinator, Miguel Angel Demarco, just returned from a week in Cuba where he took a week of vacation to come along side another ministry and assist.  When Steve met with him yesterday Miguel informed him that upon leaving the country they had detained him for an afternoon, confiscating his computer, iphone, and camera.  They "accused" him of doing something other than business and for that punished him with the removal of all his technical equipment.  The ministry that was accomplished during his week there was phenomenal . . . just a reminder of the battle that is fought on a daily basis.  

Please keep El Salvador in your prayers as the change of government has gone the way of Venezuela making ministry in those countries even more challenging.

Sodom and Gomorrah?

Yesterday afternoon I drove into South Beach to find the nearest Whole Foods market. I have been in this area a relative few times.  The first memorable visit was when Steve and I came to have dinner on a stormy Saturday night where we ate  at a sidewalk cafe and people watched. The main street had been turned into a 'peatonal' or walkway and  while the billowing, dark clouds threatened to release their heavy load, we took in all that was before us.  So many languages, so many cultures; it was difficult to distinguish who was a tourist and who was a resident. The music, the mixture of spices from a variety of foods, the eclectic dress and languages of the passing people . . . one thing was for sure, the feel of the place was not American but rather European and/or Latino.  

Our first Sunday at the church that we may call home, introduced me to Lincoln Ave. the main drag in the area.  Close to the church is the part of the street that has trendy boutiques, sidewalk cafe's and on weekends, a small Farmers Market.  The part of the street that you see on television with the Art Deco style buildings was where we drove after church.  There was a line of traffic so we saw everything 'up close and personal' as we followed the cars in front of us at 2-5 miles an hour.  There was no rushing.  People obviously wanted to see and be seen and that takes time. 

Back to my search for the Whole Foods market;  I sat in the parking lot for a few minutes to take in the sights.  A young man with grocery bag in hand, walking quickly to the taxi that he had procurred for his shopping trip, the well tanned, well dressed, well pampered people that came and went are unique to the area.  When I was inside going down one of the isles, someone caught my eye. She must have been 60 years old or more, but her dress was bright pink, tight as her plastic surgery skin, short enough to cover the crease between her thighs and buttocks, enough make up to be a stage actress, and a look that says, " surely you agree that I am beautiful".  It feels sort of like L.A., but not . . . More like Buenos Aires downtown, but with a "Barbie and Ken" doll feel.  There is an expensive casualness to the dress . . . you know, hours spent shopping and primping, but made to look like it was just "thrown on"? I've tried it, but somehow never worked for me.  A good thing I'm sure.

We live in North Beach. All part of Miami Beach, but very different than South Beach.  Farther north is a large Jewish population. Many Hasidic, Torah-true Jews live there and it is not unusual to see men in their oversized black suits, yarmulka's, long, untrimmed beards and sidelocks, walking alone or with conservatively dressed wives and daughters.  It seems oddly out of place to the barely clad people that swarm the beaches and streets.  Extremism at its' best. 

I must say that of all the areas along the beach that we could have chosen to live, this is turning out to be one of, if not, the best.  Defining normal is always a relative task, but as I see and feel it, this is a more normal environment. Of course, we do live at the beach and string bikinis are not uncommon as well as an occasional speedo. Sadly, the speedos are warn almost exclusively by over weight, older men who have no idea how repulsive their near nudity truly is . . .

But my one shocking experience came about a week after we had moved in.  I was walking the dogs just outside of our condominium and the first life guard station that I always walk by had an eye popping sight.  A professional photographer snapping pictures of a totally bare naked woman.  Trying to appear as unaffected as possible  by this shocking sight, I calmly kept walking.  Apparently everyone else did the same.  Because there was no gauking, or standing around staring.  It was as if there was nothing unusual happening.  For the first time I was very happy that Steve was not with me on this walk!  

The pastor of Calvary Chapel of South Beach, where we have started to go, had something to say about all this.  He said many people think that South Beach is a modern day Sodom and Gomorrah, I believe it is more like the city of Corinth.  I went back and read in Genesis 19 about the angels coming to rescue Lot and his family from the destruction God was going to bring to the evil cities.

For the umteenth time I am shocked by not only the inccident with the evil men of the city who gather at Lot's home to take what they think are men, but are really angels, and have their way with them.  But even more shocked that Lot offers his 2 virgin daughters to the men of the city to do with as they please.  Can you imagine how they must have felt?   Anyway, the pastor likened South Beach to the city of Corinth because it had not reached the level of decadence of Sodom and Gomorrah, but was truly a city of perversion and body worship.  

Steve had read that Miami is the second least churched area in all of the country.  I can testify to that as we have found it challenging to find a Bible teaching church with meaningful worship.

Living here is a daily reminder of how spiritually void this city is.  This city represents many cities in the U.S. and world.  Not very different from L.A., or New York, Buenos Aires, or Sao Paulo, Paris, Madrid . . . I could go on. We can never lose sight of the "heavenly vision" that is ever before us.  We are a lost people without HIM and the Gospel of Good News is Christ's  gift to the world.