It's Just Me

Abiding here in God’s Holy presence these past 7 days at Mom’s bedside, I find myself gazing at and caressing her face and lifting the covers to see and touch her hand. 

These are the parts of her that are so dear to me. Her face is old and wrinkled. How can wrinkles be beautiful, I wonder? Yet every detail of her features is only beauty. Her hands are wrinkled and spotted with age but they are hands I treasure to hold. I think of all she’s done with her hands and my heart warms . . . her baking, especially her 7up pound cake and Christmas cookies; her cooking, pot roast with carrots, potatoes, onions, macaroni and cheese, sweet potatoes, green beans, sweet iced tea, red beans and rice, cornbread; her gardening, azaleas, dogwood, roses, lilies; her home, fresh with windows open, family room hominess, fireplace warmth, Monday night football with Mark explaining the rules of the game – every game; decorating her home at Christmas, tree ornaments collected over the years, mistletoe hung, Christmas lights lit, It’s a Wonderful Life and Miracle on 34th Street on television, Christmas dinner at the dining room table, linens laid, silver polished, china set, family gathered and Mom serving; picnic at the beach under the umbrella surrounded by the vast sun-reflected gulf, dolphinsjumping, waves crashing, salt breeze blowing, gathered under the umbrella soaking in the moments together; trips to the mall, pushing baby strollers, holding little girls’ hands, buying special gifts, frilly dresses hung in the closet; sitting side by side at the piano patiently instructing and then taking pleasure in their playing. And then I remember our moments together in the kitchen, side by side, baking, cooking, sharing, molding and shaping. Looking up at the night sky to see the moon and stars, modeling awe for God’s creation for her granddaughters.Looking out her kitchen window to her garden taking pleasure in the birds, robins, bluebirds, cardinals, humming birds. And her gentle voice on the phone saying, “It’s just me.”

Mom Randall was escorted by angels into God’s presence on Tuesday, September 3 at 5:35 p.m.

Boys helping to build palapa at orphanage

Surfers on Mission

Last night Surfers On Mission, with the help of Serve and Surf out of Palm Beach, did an outreach to the local surfers in Masachapa. Well, maybe I should start from the beginning because it’s neat to see how God works. A few weeks ago while Dane and I were surfing at playa Quizala, a place we hardly surf, we met a surfer, Jorge, the only other guy out that day. We asked him a bunch of questions just trying to get to know him. We found out that he lived not too far away in a place called San Rafael del Sur. He is one of about 30 surfers in that area. They are all from poor families and between them they share 25 surfboards, along with wax and whatever else they need for surfing. As we talked to him, we had this great idea to have an outreach in his area, showing the Christian surf movie Noah’s Ark and have things to give away. This guy was stoked about this and we got his phone number and said we would contact him. That week I contacted Myker, a friend from West Palm who was coming to Nicaragua the following week with an organization he started called Serve and Surf. I told him about meeting Jorge and what we wanted to do and he said he would bring things to give away. A surf shop in West Palm gave him a bag full of t-shirts, rash guard shirts, a bag of wax and a couple of leashes. When he arrived at the airport in Managua he met two surfers leaving the country and one of them wanted to sell his surfboard, very cheap too, so Myker bought it to give away. What a blessing! Next we had to find a place to meet and the neatest little restaurant, rancho style, right on the ocean, opened their doors to us and so we were all set to have the meeting. As things go, I found out that a guy who was going to sing for us was unable to come, bummer. Then one of the guys with our local Surfers on Mission who does a lot of our translating was unable to make it, double bummer. Well, a missionary friend and surfer, Randy was willing to help. He has a video projector and dvd player he uses in his ministry and he offered to let us use it. Things started to look good. The night of the meeting Randy and I, along with my daughter Sarah and her friend Amanda, drove to Masachapa, an hour drive full of excitement. Randy set up his equipment and we arranged everything for a great meeting. Some of the guys, three to be exact, came around 6, the time the meeting was to star,t but no one else was there. Were these the only guys that would be coming, bummer. We thought we would show the special feature on the dvd called the surf video. Right from the beginning we started having trouble with the dvd player. It would run for about 2 mins then stop for 5 to 10 seconds. And this happened all the way through the special feature and it was very annoying, bummer. Well, 6:30 and still only 3 guys. Then out of the darkness a whole group of guys came including Jorge so we began the meeting. I shared about who we were and that we wanted to bless these guys in the name of the Lord. Then Randy started the movie Noah’s Ark and believe it or not, it didn’t stop one time through the whole movie, thank you Lord!!!! After the meeting Randy shared about having a personal relationship with God through His Son Jesus Christ and the guys were really touched. Lastly we had a drawing for the surfboard and a young guy won. He was so touched and he shared how he had recently given his life to the Lord and that he felt this was God blessing him and it was. All in all it was a great meeting. Not as many showed up as we thought but God had everything under control and to Him we give all the glory and praise.

Christmas Fiesta

We wanted to bless the kids at the feeding center in Los Brasiles this Christmas so with the help of a few friends we had a fabulous meal for them as well as many of the Adults living in the area. The meal consisted of rice with chicken, vegetables and other good stuff. As we arrived the word got around quickly that we were there and before we knew it over 200 people poured into the center. The majority of these folks live in shacks made from old tin roofs they found laying around or at the dump. A meal like this is very rare so it was really a blessing for them. The kids were really excited as I set up the sound system. We started off by singing a few Christmas songs which went over like a led balloon but was fun. Next I shared a short Christmas message with them. Basically it was about God's gift of eternal life through His Son Jesus Christ and how the Bible tells us it is more blessed to give then receive. The fun part began when we started to dish out the food. It was like trying to hold back the tide. All in all I think everyone was blessed and had a good time. We thank the Lord for the funds to provide this meal for them and hope to be back there soon.
Feliz Navidad!!!

Kevin is on Skype: "Please call me"

I'm talking to a friend who is in NC and I'm in Nicaragua