the back burner

and then there was one

the follow-through

the approach

it really does say florida:

for mom

Happy Birthday!

Çocuk bayramı!

And you thought children were important in America? According to Wikipedia, April 23 is the "National Sovereignty and Children's Day" (Nisan Ulusal Egemenlik ve Çocuk Bayramı) in Turkey.

The date commemorates the opening of Turkish National Assembly in 1920 during the Turkish Independence War. The designation of Children's Day came in 1929 upon the recommendation of the Institution of Children's Protection. Since 1986 the Turkish government organizes an international children's festival on April 23.

On April 23 of every year, children in Turkey celebrate this "Sovereignty and Children's Day" as a national holiday, and is celebrated by citizens throughout the country during ceremonies preceding the day.

Among the activities on this day, children from all around Turkey gather in the capital city, Ankara, and they replace the selected members of the Grand National Assembly. They have an elected president and prime minister and they govern Turkey for one day in order to emphasize the importance of the children in the society. In many places governmental agencies leave the authority to children symbolically for the day.

Traditionally since 1986, children come to Turkey to represent their country of origin to children of the world with artistic performances. They're housed in Turkish homes and can meet with Turkish children. This event is organized by the Turkish Radio and Television Corporation. The groups of foreign children also participate in the special session held at the Grand National Assembly.

Turkish people hope these children will remember the day for their lives and will contribute to a bond with other cultures. The internationalization is thus aimed toward Turkey's principle of, "peace at home, peace in the world", and "Sovereignty belongs unconditionally to the people".

(please notice the safe language)

I sent out an update letter yesterday and realized just how much has been going on since my last one. In the past four months, I’ve participated in a few training events, said good-bye to a few teammates, planned and executed a few events, and walked into new stages of growth with local contacts and with the Lord. Every time I talk about what’s happening here, people identify aspects that sound most important to them (programs, people transitioning on or off the field, current projects...), but usually miss the slow walking with others and with the Lord, which is what consistently feels most important to me. It’s easy to overlook that in favor of the other, more quantifiable tasks, I think.

More than anything else, I find that gaining a greater knowledge of the Lord really makes the quantifiable things worthwhile. Growing in grace isn't a flashy process, but people who have that value repeatedly cut through stress and discouragement to really re-sell me on the importance of kingdom work. And growing with Him is the constant reminder that, at our best, we only see reality through a mirror dimly.

So, in my latest letter, I skipped the opportunity to talk about all the specific things that are happening and instead talked about some of the things I appreciate about the workers here: lots of humility, lots of looking for community wherever and however it might be found, lots of dependence upon the word, and a willingness to have their vision corrected. This is how workers have seen local leaders really step up and lead out with the gospel in their home contexts. This is how we’ve seen partnerships come together. This is how we’ve seen God take our particular, broken ideas about programs and strategy and use them to change lives, repair families, and renew our own hearts. All of the specific ministry events and opportunities I could have named seem very exciting, but they all boil down to changing our definitions of “getting things done.” It’s hard but wonderful. I felt like I needed people to know.

instant coffee and soy milk

...it was bad, and i don't know which product to blame.

i'm going to the OM base today to pay some stuff, make some reservations, and use their weight room. it's hard to be motivated for anything at the moment. i'm hoping seeing those folks and then working out will at least give me the energy i need to drown myself in work. that way, the listlessness will at least be productive.

in other news, e and t are getting married. so are s and m. and m and a. all younger than me. i should probably feel out of place about this, but instead i keep thinking it's all of them that are being weird. i consider myself normal in the teeth of the evidence. hmm...

only at steak 'n shake

"Whaddya want on that cheese, Jamie?"

"Aww, just give me everything!"

we are movie stars

in the park

(this last one is the most original take on london bridge i've ever seen. as you catch people, they choose sides, and finally you have a tug-of-war between the two bridge halves. so fun.)