If Only I Had the Time…

Last night, Joycelyne was sharing with me some of the details of a recent girl’s night out.   They went to a jazz/poetry club.  She had a lot of fun, and I got to hear every juicy detail (a very interesting night, haha).  It was so great to hear how her heart leaped, particularly, at some of these artists’ portrayal of love.  At every word she was responding, “that’s so true!”  I had many thoughts as she recounted to me some of the poetry that she heard, and how she felt like she could relate, but in the end one of my most prevailing thoughts was “Hey, I remember thinking/feeling the same thing!  I could have written something like that… If only I had more time to capture the many inspiring moments that pass every day through creative writing…”  I still write some poetry and music here and there, but I feel like I miss some of the most inspiring moments.  Part of me wishes that I could just be a professional artist… if I could make a living through creative writing, I would be thoroughly happy doing so.  But then again, I am also very happy with what I am doing and the path that I am on, so…

Today, a friend of mine invited me to see a concert where he was playing keyboard.  I stopped through in time to see one and a half of the opening groups.  They were okay, but the final (“star”) choir was very, very good.  Very good.  But I didn’t pay much attention to the choir though… I was watching the musicians, intrigued at the creative and intricate arrangements of keys, guitars, drums, congas, and a saxophone.  Every musician was so good at what they did, and most of them were around my age or younger.  As I watched them, I thought “I don’t play enough music… if only I had more time…”  If you know me, you know that when I see an instrument, and I want to play it.  I only officially play the guitar… but if I had the time, I would learn the keyboard, drums, bass, violin, bagpipe…. (yes, I said bagpipe… I came very close junior year).  As with writing, if I were able to play music 24/7, I would be thoroughly satisfied.

I find myself saying this for many more things…  For example, I downloaded a CAD program last year and started building house plans for fun….  I love it!  When I’m doing it, I could easily see myself doing architecture, as a hobby or even for a living.  I designed my friend’s house, which he is now building, and a friend of his bought a modified version of his plan.  I don’t really have time to do  plans right now, so now it sometimes serves as a procrastination tool.

I also think of this blog.  I was telling Joyce that I really think that I have one of the most interesting lives of many people that I know.  That’s not a proud or an arrogant statement, because I usually feel like I have so little to do with it.  I’ve simply been going along on a very exciting ride.  If I had more time, I’d write more about my interesting life… but maybe if I had more time, my life wouldn’t be as interesting.

I’m not sure what I am getting at here… I guess that one thing I’m kinda saying is that life must be more than simply finding something that you like or something that you are good at and doing it well.  I simply enjoy every bit of life itself and would have a hard time finding that ONE thing.  Another thing is that I hope that I will have several lifetimes worth of time in Heaven to do all of these things that I can’t do now.  And third, have you ever wondered if you actually have some of your priorities crooked and some of things that you want to be doing are what you should be doing all along?  I get that sneaking suspicion all the time.  I feel like my life is a balance that has seventeen arms… each chock full of opportunities, options, hobbies, and worthwhile endeavors.  I’m telling you, it’s not easy to keep that thing steady, but it is exciting.

The Most Important Work Has Begun

You may be wondering what is going on with the other work that I do… the work with the children in the church.  In short, the last few months have been great.  I am very pleased to see how our children’s ministry has developed over the last few years.  I still need more hands to help, especially men, but the groups that we formed are truly developing and taking on the character of the individuals that take part in the groups.  The children are learning, growing, and developing, and I am very happy.

However I spent most of the last few months observing and scheming (the good kind) for the future.  In a dream in May of 2007 God gave me a glimpse of what these children can and will become for Haiti and the world, and I am aiming for that mark, a mark that is much higher than most would imagine when they imagine the purpose and depth of a children’s ministry.  Without going into the dream, it would be very hard to explain, so I will say (with faith) that if you watch and read for long enough, you will see it for yourself (and I believe soon).  So that you can get a glimpse, read the following entry from my journal from a Bible Study that I did with a group of children yesterday.  This group is a group of hand-selected, 10-14 year-old “disciples” that I will have with me for the next four months, pouring into them everything that I know.

Yesterday was quite possibly the most important moment of my ministry so far.  I had my first Bible Study with my kids.  What I showed them was nothing “cute” or “childish.”  I shared with them deep spiritual truth.  The best part is that they really seemed to get it.  They really, really did… and they LOVED it.

We talked about the Purpose of Man within the scheme of creation.  (Light subject, I know…).  I showed them how each day of creation prepared the earth for what would come next.  Light was created first because nothing can exist without light.  Land and sea separated in preparation for a diversity of vegetation and creatures.  Vegetation came forth in preparation for creatures.  Seasons were created to prepare for creatures whose navigation and behaviors change in response to the seasons and times of the month.  Then came birds, fish, and creatures on the ground… and on the sixth day: MAN.

I had the children reflect for a moment.  They meditated on the scriptures and each came up with their own questions about it.  Most of their questions were answered by other children, not myself.  They were on a roll with these questions and answers, but I stopped them in order to ask my own question and open their eyes to something deep and wondrous.  My question: If everything that is created on a given day is a preparation for the days that would follow, then for what was man created?  All of the rest of creation was a preparation for something else… What was man a preparation for?

We chewed on that one for quite awhile, talking about how man was created to rule over the earth with God’s character (Gen 1:26), but I told them to think along the same logic that we applied for the rest of creation.  Day six was the creation of man, day seven was God’s day of rest… What are we here for?  We started to talk about God’s rest.  I pushed them on to debate amongst themselves “where can God rest comfortably?”  To GOD, what is so special about the heavens?  What is so special about the earth?  He created them both.  Can there ever be a place that is really good enough for him to rest in?  Then one of them made a comment that made me think of Isaiah 66:1-2:

“Thus says the LORD: Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool; what is the house that you would build for me, and what is the place of my rest? All these things my hand has made, and so all these things came to be, declares the LORD. But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.”

They were on the right track, so I told them to listen closely and I let them have it…  “Man was created on the sixth day so that God could find a place to rest on the seventh.  Man was created for God’s pleasure and to experience the pleasure of God.” Their eyes lit up.  They smiled… their mouths opened wide, yet they were speechless.  They Got it… God opened up their spirits and deposited the first of many treasures into their hearts.  It was suddenly real to them that they were created to KNOW the God of all creation.

We didn’t talk much afterward.  There wasn’t much else to say.  It was a time to reflect.  I had them each pull out their notebooks and had them do their first Journal entry.  They wrote down their revelations and reflections for more than 15 minutes, filling entire pages, and their reflections were beautiful and so very sincere.  I told them that their journals were for their eyes only, unless they chose to share.  Two decided to share what they wrote, and suddenly I became the student (just as God promised in my dream).

“After what I just learned I can see clearly that God’s desire is to be at home in my heart.  That is why I ask that he forgives me of all of the wrong that I do.  I ask him for strength so that I can walk straight, and I ask for wisdom so that I can continue to go deeper into his word and learn what is pleasing to him.  I know that if I stay at his feet I will find all that I need, desire, and ask for…”

“After learning how much God did to prepare a place for me to find all that I need so that I can live well and to be comfortable, what else could I do but make my heart a comfortable and beautiful place for him to live?  It’s the least that I could do for a God that is so good to me.  I want to do all that I can to prepare my heart to be a home for him.  I know that with his help, I can and will arrive at my goal to please Him…”

At this, Brian Clark (a ZHOP prayer warrior who is here with me this week) congratulated them on “knowing more than 99% of the American Church.”  After they shared their reflections, we worshiped and prayed, just as we did before we began.  The first time was great, but this time as we sang “Lord, I give you my heart…” there was a deep, solemn sincerity that can only come from a revelation of the goodness of God.

So if you are wondering what I am really up to in Haiti… there you have it… yet somehow in all actually, only a small part of it…  Please pray for me and pray for my little ones.

Desire [Re]defined

On November 8, 2008, God set me on the most exciting journey that I have ever ventured into.  He has given me the honor and privilege of courting his most beautiful and wonderful daughter, Joycelyne Absolu.  From the beginning, I have struggled to find words to express the depth of emotion that I feel toward her, and how I feel every day when I hear her voice, when I see the way that she looks at me, and as I contemplate her encouraging words toward me… wow.  I feel it now just writing about it.  Joycelyne is Absolutely amazing.  But like every other word that I have ever used to describe her or this experience of courtship, I feel like that was an understatement.  Every day, I find my limited vocabulary being stretched as its words are redefined by this joyous experience.

Before I continue, I want to acknowledge that I know that my readers are probably from one of two opposite camps.  Some of you are praying this will become a sanctified version of a Danielle Steele romance novel, full of juicy details, but for those of you who fear that I might turn into mush right before your eyes, let me assure you that there is a lesson to be learned in this blog.  If you make it to the last few paragraphs, I believe that you will get a little insight on the way that your maker looks at you and desires you.

For a long time I have held this theory about relationships.  I believe that every relationship on earth exists to teach us more about God, and I believe that strong relationship with God, in its various forms and paradigms (i.e. father to son, friend to friend, or lover to lover) will help us to be stronger in our earthly relationships.  I have never known this to be more true than I do now.  I now know that when I am touched by the way that Joycelyne looks at me, I am only feeling a glimpse of what the Lover of my Soul feels when I look toward him with a look that expresses honor, esteem, worth, and desire (See Song of Songs 4:9).

In the last few days, the word “desire” has been redefined for me.  I am currently in Haiti, and communication between Joycelyne & I has been, to say the least, very inconvenient.  I left my cell phone SIM in the U.S., so now I’m borrowing my Dad’s until mine is mailed to me.  Dad had our home land-line fixed, but it has been very inconsistent, working some mornings, or some evenings, but cutting us off very often.  Joycelyne often tries to call me through an international account that I set up in the U.S., but not only is it expensive, but has also proven to be very unreliable.  So, due to all of this, and also due to unreliable electricity, Joycelyne and I had not had a real conversation for nearly a week (up until yesterday afternoon).

I was frustrated.  I checked everything that could be wrong with my internet connection in order to get the home phone working.  I could not do anything to fix it.  Joycelyne tried calling me through my International Account since it is cheaper for her to call me… but she couldn’t get through.  Last night, Dad told me about a special that Haitel has on international calls.  This morning I found out that his Haitel phone was not working.  Everything was against me.  The two-and-a-half day electric blackout was the final blow, cutting off even email.

Frustration wasn’t the only emotion that I felt as I dealt with this issue all week, nor was it the strongest.  The most prominent was a familiar one, yet much stronger than I’ve ever felt before.  It was desire.  I just wanted to hear her voice.  I just wanted to encourage her in her work.  I wanted to pray with her.  I wanted to see her smile and know that she was happy.  I wanted to see her eyes one more time.  But I couldn’t, no matter how much I wanted to.

God spoke to me one morning as I was inspecting a cable that connects us to the internet, already “knowing” in my heart that my efforts were in vain.  (I was guilty of cutting my quiet time short in order to check into this problem, hoping I could talk to Joycelyne before she went to work.)  He said to me, with a hint of jealousy in his voice, “I wish you would try this hard to connect to me when it feels impossible.  Even more than you want time with her, I want time with you.”

I was floored by the thought of it.  My head started spinning with thoughts.  I had seen a glimpse of what Joycelyne was experiencing on her end through our little conversation snippets.  She was also trying everything that she could to connect to me, and probably also wondering what I was doing to connect to her.  Did I miss her like she missed me?  Had this disconnection negatively affected the way that I feel toward her?  She had no way of knowing what I was thinking or feeling.

Have you ever felt like you can’t connect to God?  You’ve done everything that you know to do, but you just can’t get through to him.  You wonder what he’s thinking of you.  Does he miss “the good times” as much as you do?  Maybe he doesn’t even care that you are trying to get through to him.  Maybe you should just stop trying.

DON’T STOP!  I can guarantee you that God is doing all that he can to fix the lines of communication so that he can have sweet communion with you again.  He desires to hear your voice even more than you desire to be heard.  He desires to speak to you even more than you want to hear him.  We may not understand the thing that stands between us and God and what happens to make it hard to communicate with him at times, but if courtship can be likened in any way to our relationship with God, then I can guarantee you that God awaits a breakthrough in communication with deeper longing and desire than you do.  Keep pressing into him.  One day you’ll get through, satisfying your heart and His very own desire.

Signs of Life: Epitaph

After discussing the lives of several members of the “Hall of Fame of Faith,” the writer of Hebrews makes the most glorious statement about those who have suffered for their faith.

“35 Women received back their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life. 36 Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. 37 They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated— 38 THE WORLD WAS NOT WORTHY OF THEM—wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.”

—Hebrews 11:35-38

I ponder this scripture often.  It is written on my door in Haiti, and I would read it as I would leave for the day.  Over the years in college, I have had it posted on walls and computer wallpaper to remind me of the ultimate prize that I want to focus on.  I wonder what would it look like to live a life that is worthy of such an honorable statement.  These men and women were cast out and persecuted as if they were the ones who were unworthy of the world, but God had a different perspective on their lives.  It was, in fact, the world that was not worthy of their presence, so God brought them Home.

What would it be like to live a life so abandoned, so bold, and so extravagant that there is no prize on Earth that is “worthy” of me?  What if I could catch the same heavenly perspective that these men and women caught and really let go of all need for human recognition, any fear of the negative opinions of others, any desire for material wealth, and any craving for a comfortable life?  What could a man accomplish if he was free of any desire for what the world considers to be worthwhile?  What if it could be said of me: “The world was not worth of this man, so God took him.”

Most people don’t realize it, but we actually get to choose what is written on our own tombstone.  We choose it by the way that we live.  This epitaph, this final statement engraved in marble marking our final earthly resting place, is a summary, a testimony of all that we stood for.  I pray to God that I can make it known through my actions that I stand for and live for something that cannot be found in this world.  It is a lofty goal.  In fact, I believe it is the highest goal.  I know that this world is not my home, but as arrogant as it may sound, I want to live for God in such a way that it can also be said that this world was not worthy of my presence.

So what about you? What do you want on your tombstone?

Signs of Life: “Junior was here”

It’s Black Friday, and I am in a computer lab “working” on a paper that will be due on the day that I return to Duke.  It is one of only a few assignments left standing between me and my diploma.  That’s right.  On December 12th, at 5:00PM I will hear “pencils down” for the last final of my undergraduate life, and I will cross over as an alumnus of Duke University.  Dang… that is close… Exactly two weeks away, to be more precise.  There will be no balloons, no parade, not even a ceremony (unless I decide to return in May).  Just a note to vacate my apartment by the 15th at noon and pay the Bursar’s office on the way out; the Diploma is in the mail.  A very uneventful ending.

But I’m not bothered by that, not in the least bit.  There are few things that I dread more than enduring a graduation ceremony anyway (the last couple Duke Grad ceremonies did not really impress me).  What has been running through my mind for the last few weeks is not what I will be leaving with, but what am I leaving behind.  What mark have I made on the university, and what mark have I made in the lives of the people that I walked with and ran into day by day.

Studying at Duke University is a very unique opportunity.  I’ve always seen it, but as with most things, the magnitude of this fact is most clear in hindsight.  Duke students come from all over the world.  They will be going out into all of the world.  Many of them will be very influential and powerful in the future.  They will have opportunities to lead in many corners of the Earth and in many aspects of society.  If there was ever a great place to leave behind a legacy, it would be Duke University.  From this one place in Durham, North Carolina, a man with an enlightened perspective can touch and change the world.  And now, as I prepare to leave, I am asking myself if I have lived according to this enlightened perspective.  Have I touched lives in a way that would positively contribute to great changes in culture and society in the future?

So what is this enlightened perspective?  It is the perspective that King Solomon acquires at the end of his lavishly lived life.  As he was preparing to part ways with his luxurious life on Earth, he had a startling revelation: He had barely lived at all.  He had acquired riches untold, he had won the hearts of countless women, and even the allegiance of kings and kingdoms, yet with all of his power and wisdom, he did very little because it all died with him.  At the end of his life he came to realize that the only things that mattered in his life were what he did in service to his God and his people.

A man with an enlightened perspective is a man who receives this revelation early in his life and is wise enough to plant his life as a seed.  Whoever loves his life in this world (like Solomon) will lose it, but he who gives his life will keep it eternally (see John 12:23-26).  I didn’t come to Duke University to acquire (diploma, status, friends, network connections), but to give, inspire, and receive inspiration that I could pass on.  For the same purposes we come into the world.  There is an eternal perspective that we are called to live from.

In our culture, we are obsessed with getting & acquiring, and building up around ourSELVES.  We live in a culture of “me.”  We live in our own little worlds, having no desire to interact with one another unless we absolutely have to, or unless we can gain from it.  We build up our lives around this desire, and our technological “advances” feed into it.  Don’t get me started on iPods…  Let’s just say that they silence lips on buses and at bus stops and inhibit the life-giving interactions that the human soul craves.

The major problem with this “me” culture is that it leads us to chase the life of Solomon, a life that only leads us to the revelation that we have never even lived at all.  The man who invests only in himself is ensuring his own bankruptcy.  When he dies, none of him is left.  We all admire the man who is able to “waste” his life by giving it away in service because we all secretly wish we had the guts to do the same.  What if you did?  What if you could just let go of yourself and live life completely free?

I want to ask you a question that has come to be one that drives most (and hopefully eventually all) aspects of my life and how I live it.  When you die, what evidence will there be on Earth that you actually lived?  When you look down from Heaven (hoping you get there) will you be able to see “your life” still at work in people who were blessed and inspired by you?  Or will you see your life waste away in the poor stewardship of the material riches that you acquired and left behind?

I believe that we all, especially Christians, should live with this question in the back of our minds.  I want my life to count for so much.  I want my life to impact millions and continue on for every generation until the return of Christ.  I have no desire to be famous.  Fame has nothing to do with legacy.  My mother, through her investments into her children and community, is watching from heaven as she sees how she was able to touch millions through a diligent life as a mother and homemaker.  That is because everything that she stood for lives through me, my siblings, and through countless others that she touched and inspired.  It doesn’t matter if history forgets my name, just as it is likely to forget hers.  I want the world to be filled with signs that I had actually lived, that I have made my contribution.  I want the angels of Heaven to fly to and fro, marking God’s seal of approval on movements around the world, saying “this is possible because Junior Was Here.”  The only way that I will ever see this fulfilled is by giving my life away.

Would you join me?  Will you plant your life like a seed into the lives of those around you?

I pray that my life at Duke University amounted to much more than the piece of paper that I am leaving with.  In these last two weeks, I pray that I will have many more opportunities to give out of what God has invested in me.

Whatever Happened to the SABBATH?

Last year I had an amazing revelation.  Ready For it?  It will Change your life.  Here goes: The Sabbath day is supposed to be kept HOLY!

Pretty simple right… After all, it is one of the Ten Commandments.  But we seemed to have forgotten that “rule” in the midst of the rest of the rules through the modern fight against legalistic thinking and living.  We are all about living free from the law and under grace.  We are so for it that we often forget that the law was never abolished by Christ, and that to this day, it exists for our own benefit, even though we are “free” from it.  Sure we can eat all of the pork chops we want, but we all know that God was probably trying to protect our health by keeping us away from that filthy animal.  And in this particular case, under grace, we are no longer legally bound to the Sabbath… But why work when you can rest?  I know what you’re thinking: “Because I have soooo much to do, and so little time.  God understands, right?” Sounds legit.  After all, God wants us to succeed in all of our endeavors.  So since it is a bit too easy to give a reason why we should take advantage of our chance to “live under grace” and ignore the law of the Sabbath in the name of productivity, I will attempt to answer an opposite question: “Why should we be diligent to rest according to God’s prescription?”

Most of the following comes from an old journal entry from June of 2006:

“[In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.]  By the end of day 6, He saw through to the end of the world and He wasn’t/isn’t worried one bit.  [Even] his plan for redemption was established before the fall (Rev 13:8).  Genesis 2:2 says God finished all of his work.  [Considering the eternal weight of his words, I don't believe that our eternal God would have called anything "good" without first looking at it's end.]  God who exists outside of time worked ahead of time to make sure that all would be well for us.  He does not sit on the edge of His seat looking to see how to respond to our mistakes and the Enemy’s attacks.  He already responded [to the entire future in the beginning], and when he saw the end, He said it was ‘VERY Good,’ [and He rested.  And now, He invites us into HIS rest] (Hebrews 4).“

What is the “rest of God?”  What does it require?  How do we access it?  The rest of God is assurance, it requires trust, and it is accessed by faith.

I had two midterm exams today (Tuesday).  As soon as those were finished, I had to read as much of 80 pages of an academic psychology document that I could in order to post a coherant comment on Blackboard by 5pm.  After working all weekend, spending one entire night in prayer at church, and taking care of a couple random issues that showed up on my doorstep over the weekend, I had very little time to study on Sunday.  I did as much as I could and went to bed, excited about Monday.  What is so great about Monday?  Monday is my chosen day for a Sabbath (Lord knows that my Sunday’s ain’t restful… and forget about Saturdays.  The grace I choose to access is the grace that allows me to choose the day).  Yesterday morning, I woke up early and spent the whole morning with God.  Then, at noon, I had a scheduled lunch with a new friend of mine.  Following our lunch, I went back to my appartment and started a new book.  Later on, I had a great conversation with one of our new worship team members, then I went on to play my guitar for a couple hours as I waited for the start of Monday Night Live.  At the end of MNL, I stuck around for a couple more hours strumming away.  It was a great day… and the last thing on my mind was my exams and my readings.

Then the night came to an end, so I sacrificed my first few hours of Tuesday to be sure that I was ready for the first exam.  I was pretty confident about it, so I went to bed.  I awoke three hours later, surprisingly refreshed and ready to go.  I studied for a couple more hours, then went in and killed the test (if you don’t understand my slang… that’s a good thing).  Two hours of studying later, I went into my demography class and killed that exam too.  I blanked out on one part of the last question on the exam, but it was definitely not enough for me to regret a wonderful day’s rest.  Finally, after an hour’s worth of reading, I posted what I thought to be 2 brilliant discussion questions.  I was able to rest because I knew that God had my back.  On my sixth day (Sunday), I looked at the work that I had done in the week, then looked forward to Tuesday, and by looking at it from God’s perspective, I was able to see that “it was [gonna be] very, very good.”  So I rested.  I rested and I enjoyed his presence with me all day.  And guess what… everything really did work out.

So the question I am asking is “why should we be diligent to rest?”, but the real question is “why not?”  The Sabbath rest is about trust, and God is worthy of it.  I’ve been doing this Sabbath thing for awhile now, and although it may seem contradictory, I had never accomplished more in my life in a given seven-day week than I am able to do now in six.  (Maybe it is partly because I take my six work-days more seriously.  The first part of the Sabbath command is to “work six days,” so I try to honor both parts of the command to the best of my ability).  I can only rest to the degree that I can trust God.  When he said “it is good,” I believe that he was also looking forward to my own individual future.  He is not worried about me.  He saw my end.  My destiny has already been assured, and every week he reminds me that he’s got everything covered.  Every week, I learn in a new way that he is faithful to that word.

If your boss gives you paid vacation, you’re gonna take it.  So think of it this way.  When God set the Sabbath apart, he was giving you 1/7th of your life as “vacation” from your your own agenda.  He gives it with a guarantee (payment) that everything will still be “very good” in the end.  All you have to do is trust him enough to rest, free from worry.  So I ask again, why would you break your neck trying to “get things done,” when God promises that you can accomplish all that really needs to be done when you trust him enough to “waste” an entire day on Him?  I challenge you to take Him at his word.  Pick a day, spend it with him, grab a book, buy a guitar, get in front of a piano, spend time with your family, enjoy the world that he created as a gift for you.  Do what you had always wanted to do and never had time.  Do it regardless of what tomorrow holds.  Since God is the one who told you to do it, I think that you will be surprised at how everything else perfectly and amazingly falls into place.

How to save yourself from stress

Raoule and I had many interesting conversations on our long bus-ride home, but there is one in particular that stands out. We were talking about how people tend to add to their own stress by overreacting to things that they have no control over. If you know me well, you know my policy on stress. I may even have an “unhealthily low” level of stress, but eh… you can bet I ain’t worried about that. To explain to Raoule my way of stress free thinking I gave him the following concrete example.

You are about to get on the road to drive. You know that everyone on the road is crazy (everyone but you of course), and you decide before getting in the car that you are ready to drive with these crazy people. Now… when a crazy man cuts you off nearly, runs you off of the road, or worse, what reason do you have to throw a fit? You already KNOW the man is crazy. What did you expect? Crazy people do crazy things. Screaming and yelling at him won’t make him any less crazy, so just shake your head and be on your way.

Only minutes after giving that example we stepped off of the bus and got on a tap-tap to take us the rest of the way home. Then the funniest thing happened. Our crazy driver nearly collided with another crazy driver. It seemed to me that both were at fault, but both reserved their right to be angry. After a 30-second screaming fest from window to window in the middle of the busy street (which, of course, angers all of the other crazy, impatient drivers) our driver reaches out and gives the other driver a sloppy left-hook to the shoulder and then books it up the hill. Raoule and I looked at each other and burst out in laughter. I usually just shake my head in silence, but we couldn’t hold it in this time. It was, by far, the highlight of the day.

And we wonder why many Haitians suffer from high blood-pressure. Here’s one clear sign.

Here’s my advice to the rest of you:

Didn’t study for a very important test? Worrying won’t get you anywhere now, so you might as well go in and fail it with a smile.

So you say there’s a 10 page paper due in 5 hours and you haven’t started? Get some rest instead, because I’m sure you haven’t started because you have been sooo busy. Then you can try turning it in the next day, very casually, as if nothing was wrong. You might even be able to play the “thanks for being patient card.” It may not work, but what do you have to lose?

Haven’t slept for 3 days and theres no end in sight to all of your work? At the end of it all, maybe you’ll have set a world record for longest time staying awake.

Flight delayed? Meet a stranger. Make friends with the angry man that is waiting with you. You never know… he might get so happy that he’ll buy you lunch.

So your airplane hit very heavy turbulence? From the way I see it, the plane’s ability to re-equilibrate does not rely upon your capacity to scream and cry “I don’t wanna die!” So unless you are a pilot, try to put your mind on something else.

Stuck in an elevator? Read a book. Don’t have a book? Write a song. It could be a big hit.

So you got mud on your new coat? At least now you can roll down that big hill that you’ve been eying. Heck, you’re gonna wash that coat anyway.

Mud on your new shoes? Now you don’t have to be careful about avoiding puddles. Stamp around and enjoy your newfound freedom!

Get the picture? Stress is not worth your time. Beat it with obnoxious optimism.

Just seconds ago my father realized that he is scheduled to preach in two different churches tomorrow. Unfortunately they are not at the same time, or he could have had a good enough reason to cancel one. Preparing two messages in one very short night when his own service starts at 5am (during which he is also preaching) won’t be fun. You know what his response to this discovery was? He threw up his hands and said, almost in song, “I’m in trouble, I’m in trouble!” then sat down to get to work. Life is… well life. What did you expect? Suck it up and live it.