Don Pedro

Back in January, laying in my hammock on a Sunday afternoon, I heard someone hesitantly call my name.

"Don Kahleb..."

On the front porch, gazing into my yard, I found a wizened Lomiteñan. Don Pedro had come to visit. His garden-ward glance betrayed the reason for his visit. Since arriving in Las Lomitas, we had exchanged pleasantries at community meetings or upon passing each other on the road, but had never really communicated. Now two years later, here he was to visit, if not me then at least my vegetables. We soon began to discuss vegetable gardening. For two years, he had been silently watching the garden and was finally convinced that he might be able to succeed, but he wanted to do it well. Could I come up to take a look at his lot to see if he might have a suitable place to plant?

Alida Fe

After a sleepless night in labor, our beautiful daughter, Alida Fe, was born into a bit of a crisis at 7:42AM on Sunday, May 25. Many people have asked exactly what happened, so I will do my best to explain it briefly here. As it turns out, she aspirated (inhaled) meconium (an infant's first stool) while still in the womb. Although this normally is not much of a concern, the amount that she inhaled threw her into a bit of a downward spiral. She was born full term at 7lbs 14oz, but was not breathing, and even after intensive suctioning by the NICU unit and 100% O2 application, she continued to have very low levels of O2 in her bloodstream.

Lessons Learned

Have you ever been caught by a trap-door question?
"Have you ever been to Paris?" 

Before you can take a closer look at the little red light starting to flash in your head, you answer.
"No." 
You fool.

"No? Well, let me tell you about it. It's absolutely amazing..." 

For the next thirty minutes, not one time will you think "Wow, I think he asked me that question and is now answering that question himself because he really cares about me." Quite the opposite, you will be waiting for the egoist to take a breath or pass out from oxygen deprivation. You probably will not hear or remember a word he said. You will do this because you are a human. Just like the other 7 billion people on the planet, you want to be known and cared about.

We're all poor

Just came across a great article that sheds some light on the attitude that often plagues the average Christian approach to poverty. When we learn to unite under Christ's hope, we will go further.

Read Chase Miller's short article here.