Will

Here a few shots from I took the Lintz family this past Sunday. They were a blast to work with, and they have the cutest son, Will. Have a great day!

Mr. and Mrs. Ewing

This past Saturday there was a new addition to the family. I couldn't be happier about it either! I had the pleasure of taking a few pictures of my brother and his bride a few days before their big day. It was so much fun. 

Hope you all are having a great day, and check back soon!

Oikos

"Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your oikos." - Acts 16:31

There is no place like home. Today I set my watch back on Central Time for the first time since May 11, which felt real nice. Arriving at McAllen Miller Airport has never felt so good. I don’t know if I have ever been so happy to be home as I am right now.

This is not the first time I have been left home like this, nor is this the shortest I have ever been away, but this is the sweetest my return has ever been. As you know, I have spent the last week visiting my sister and her husband, Steve, in New Jersey. My family flew up to meet us, and we had an incredible reunion in the middle of the Philadelphia Airport. And if this wasn’t enough, the icing on the cake came when I saw my best friend standing in the airport. My family asked him to come with them, and of course did not tell me. Definitely a great surprise.

So, to answer your question: Yes. This summer has been absolutely incredible so far. I have been to various parts of India, Nepal, New York, Philadelphia, Delaware (by accident), and New Jersey. I have seen the Himalayas, one of the Seven Wonders of the World, where the Declaration of Independence was drafted, and Times Square. I have slept on a marble floor in Delhi, in a hostel with orphans, in a 19^th century British cottage in the mountains of Shimla, on a roof of a school, and on various other floors, couches, and beds. I have ridden in rickshaws, taxis, on the back of motorcycles, buses, and subways.

Taking into account all of this, I can say that this moment right now is the best. I am home, and there is no place like it. Not even close.

This past year God has taught me the incredible blessing of a home, of my home. Home is not the structure that is currently surrounding me as I type. No, home is my community. The Greek word used over and over for this in the New Testament for this idea is oikos. While I have been traveling from place to place, I have been longing to return to my oikos.

My oikos is my home. It is my community. The place where I find loved ones, friends and family. At this point in my life I am not called to India or New York. Yes, God has used those places to reveal himself more fully to me. But the immediate call of these revelations has lead me back to my oikos in order that he may use these experiences as a blessing to those in it.

Dr. Thom Wolf, the man I worked with in India, has an interesting concept called Oikos Evangelism. One of the reasons I spent a large part of my summer with him was a result of the impact this concept made on me as I read it several months before I ever met him. He says “Oikos Evangelism is God's natural means to spread the Good News, for everyone who has ever, or will ever receive Christ. And the key that opens every oikos is life transformation through the indwelling of the living God.”

People need community. I need community. And I believe God has placed me in my own specific oikos in order to glorify him and make him known. I don’t know where my oikos will be in the future, but I know where it is now.

This knowledge is what makes this return so sweet. I am returning to my oikos.

 

 

 

New Look

Well, tonight marks my one week anniversary being back in the US. This realization brings up some business that I feel obligated to discuss with you. 

This blog was created on May 12 with the intent of providing you, the reader, with updates throughout my stay in India. Now that the trip is over, I am faced with the question of whether I should keep this up. 

I want to relate this issue to a distant part of my personal life. I am reminded of a dating relationship I was in when I was in High School. Don't get me wrong, this was a great part of my life for a certain period of time, but there was a distinct time when it was clear things were no longer progressing. In fact, things were clearly regressing. I remember a particular moment when it would have been quick, easy, and relatively painless to end it and move on. However, this was not the path that was taken. Hindsight reveals this was the wrong decision. The relationship, at the time of the possible termination, had already seen its height. In this case, prolonging the inevitable had few advantages, but was actually quite unpleasant.

We are supposed to learn from our mistakes, right? Well, applied in this situation would mean I would recognized that this blog has served its original intended purpose and now it is time to move on. Well I have decided to make a small compromise with this philosophy. 

I am "moving on" from the "old blog" by merely changing the format and the title. That's fair, right? 

I can not tell you how much I have enjoyed blogging thus far, and so I see no logical reason to stop. I realize that when I address "you" I may be talking to myself, given that all my readers have lost interest by now. 

But if you are like me and tend to hang on, then I hope you enjoy the new look of the blog and the posts to come.

Hot Shower and a Bed

These are two luxuries I will enjoy tonight for the first time in over 5 weeks. I am laying on a couch in my sister and her husband's house in Westhampton, NJ. It is 1:30 in the morning here, but my biological clock is telling me it is 11 in the morning. Solution? Sleeping pills. 

But before I do that and crash I wanted to let you know that I am safe and sound in New Jersey. My family comes in town tomorrow and we will spend the next week here visiting. I couldn't think of a better way to return!

It was sad leaving Delhi yesterday, but I was incredibly excited to return. I couldn't help but laugh out of excitement when I stepped off the plane in Newark.

And in case you were curious (which I hope you were), I plan on maintaining this blog. It has been quite fun for me. If it has been fun for you as well, please plan on continuing to hear from me. Soon.

Goodnight.

Cathy from Continental

Very rarely do you meet someone who, in less than one hour, can break your heart only to restore it and place you on top of the world.

Cathy is one of those people. She is a saint.

Long story short, I am supposed to be an hour and a half into my flight home right now, but it has been delayed until tomorrow. I found out about the delay this afternoon, but also found out about a huge error I made in making the reservation. I mean huge! But after hours of being tossed around by different Continental representatives, providence brought Cathy and I together and life became good once again. 

I ask for your prayers, that my flight would not be delayed any more. In return for your prayers, I offer you some recent pictures.

-me and Dr. Thom

-SP Singh. The 2nd coolest Indian I've met.

-Shimla, India

DDD

Again, I have the luxury of living in the future. Last time I took advantage of this I honored my mother on her birthday, and now, less than two weeks later, I will do the same for my dad on Father's Day.

Let me start by saying there is no one like him. He is the most thoughtful, loving, sensitive, hard-working, and cheesy person I know.

You will hard-pressed to find someone with the same humor as my dad. I can’t decide if that is a good thing or bad thing. I will say this, he loves laughter. Spending time with him, you will quickly find that he also loves life. His overall countenance, attitude, and even humor (cheesy as it can be at times) always encourages others to do the same.

The one thing that I think defines him is his ability to give. I can’t think of a time when my dad put his own interest before the interest of those he loves and cares for. His is truly a life marked by service. If you were to take a quick glimpse at a typical week in his life, you will see over and over again selfless devotion to others.

From this devotion comes his ministry. I am convinced that my dad is not a CPA. I don’t think people go to him because he is a great accountant. I think the real reason he has such a successful practice is because he takes on the role of a counselor and friend. I can’t tell you how many stories I have heard of my dad coming home from work excited about the amazing things God has done that day. There is something about the idea about God’s presence at an accounting firm that seems a bit counterintuitive, but knowing that someone like my dad is involved, you know that the Spirit is invited on a daily basis.

He also spends the better part of his “free time” leading others into a deeper relationship with God through BSF and our church, or preparing and studying to do so. He has left an amazing impact on the community he is a part of. This impact has a direct relationship with his love for the Lord, and his willingness to have God work through him. When I return home, people often approach me and tell me what God has done in their life through my father.

In a world that is filled with stories of negligent fathers and broken households, I am incredibly blessed to have such a devoted and loving father. He is a wonderful confidant, and I trust him more than any person I know. I have never had a moment when I thought I did not have the support of my father. If there is someone who has always been available and ready to back me in any situation or circumstance, it is my him. He knows more about me than anybody in the entire world. I am jealous of his wisdom, but also incredibly thankful for it. He is the wise counsel I seek when I am in doubt. And I can rely on his advice because it is grounded in the word of God. As a father, he realizes his role in my life. He has done everything to point me to my Heavenly Father.

In the limited amount of years I have been alive, I am incredibly fortunate and thankful to be have been under the influence of such a wonderful man of God. I know God has used the unique and incredible relationship I have with my dad to mold me into the person I am.