Winter Walkabout and such nonsense :)

Well you never know what is going to happen next in Texas... this week... well it's been snowing? Yeah that's right snowing!

It's been so nice being back! I have really enjoyed teaching MK and I'm really looking forward to our youth conference this weekend "Planet Wisdom". I just love working with teenagers... that's why it was kind of sad when MK was cancelled this week due to bad weather. Everything got iced and for two days we were stuck inside with work and school closed.






What do you do with a four day weekend? Well I don't know what you do but I know that at about noon on Monday I was so stir crazy that I started going through drawers and bowls of the kind of stuff that just gets thrown in places. I organized and cleaned up the collect all places in my house. It feels so great getting stuff organized and cleaned up and it makes coming back to work even more of a joy.

This morning when I got in I felt compelled to walk through the woods behind the center. It was so nice! I have really enjoyed just being with my family these last couple days, and now I'm really enjoying being back at work! God is good and gives us just what we need when we need it.

Please pray for the MKs this weekend at Planet Wisdom!

I'm so thankful to God for health and strength and daily bread, for friends and family and snowy weather! I'm so thankful for partners like you!

Blessings!

Caleb

If you want to support what I do a little or a lot, on a one time basis (for a mission trip to Thailand perhaps :) or on a recurring basis, click on the tab "Supporting the Work" at the top of the page. Diane is my beautiful wife and the mother of my precious children Creed 7, Asher 5, Liam 3, Echo already in heaven and Bella, getting bigger all the time.

Honey I'm Home :)

That is all I have from my trip, all the video and all the pictures! It was a dream to be back in Yaounde and things went so well! I'm so thankful to all of you for your prayers and support!

I really enjoyed being with my parents and seeing how they live and where they live. They took such good care of me and I felt spoiled! It is so nice to eat moms cooking! Being with them was such a huge blessing! They helped me with the finishing touches on my lessons and took great care of me in every way.

It was amazing to have Mandy meet me at the airport and drop me off too. Without Mandy I'm not sure any of this would have happened! It was really special getting to spend time with her. I also enjoyed getting to see the Lamberts, and having dinner with them and their precious girls who just left my youth group here in the states last year.

My cousin Jordan took amazing care of me and I really loved being able to spend so much time with him! It was great going camping with him and spending some time with his great kids and beautiful wife! He is my blood and I really enjoy him!

It was very special getting to see Karl, one of my best friends in high school, I really enjoyed having lunch at his house and meeting his kids and wife. He has led quite an adventurous life.

Mr. Chilton is the only teacher that taught me that was there, it was so special getting to hang out with him, I don't know that I will ever be able to call him anything other than Mr. Chilton. There were other teachers there that I knew but it was special to me that he was there! he was my English teacher and my drama teacher.

The kids are awesome and I felt like I belonged! It was so great being with them and being home in Africa. The retreat was so great, good venue, the small groups were so cool, hearing people's stories and talking to kids afterwards was a highlight for me!

God took care of me from beginning to end! I breezed in and out of security, my bags came in without any incident and the flights were comfortable and fun! I couldn't believe how kind God was during my flight!

I got a whole row to myself on the way to Brussels and was able to sleep the whole way. The flight home was overbooked but I had an empty seat next to me and that made sleep possible again. Then the door to the luggage got stuck and we were looking at a long delay... only to end up being just 3 minutes late. I began expecting with full confidence that God would make a way where there seemed to be no way. It's the little things that make such a big difference.

Being home is wonderful! I have really enjoyed spending this long weekend with my family, home just in time for Valentines Day!

 I feel the love from all of you and from our Heavenly Father!

God is good! All the time!

Blessings,

Caleb

Cameroon... oh the memories :)

I miss the sunsets! 

I'm so excited to be going back to Cameroon... so many wonderful memories from high school! I'm so thankful that I was able to find all these pictures of my time there. I hope you enjoy them! Cameroon I'm coming back, it feels like I'm coming home, but home for me now is where my beautiful family is! 

My parents and me in Newland

Constant and me at banquet! What a stud, I miss that guy!

Playing cards in my room! Alexis, Anna, Sid (sleeping) Nate

Blowing fire on Kobesan(sp?) with Nathan! So good! 

The ladies at banquet! 

Helmut, what a cool guy! Science lab. 

We went Go-Karting in Cameroon! The Myers, great family! 

Dating Cameroon Style! We made them dinner and set it all up over the generator!

Jordan! 

I'm noticing a theme in how I thought pictures should be taken at banquet! Love that sweat :)

The studs at banquet! Mr Mendo my best French Teacher ever!!! 

Double Dragon... before the hike up to camp on Kobesan.

Mr Chilton and his wonderful play that he wrote himself! 

We are so strong! 

Not in Cameroon, but this kid Karl shot the Eland on his 18th birthday... EPIC! Easter break in C.A.R. 

Mr. E, best Science teacher ever! I miss him and remember him fondly! 

Mr Talbert! Mentored me for 2 years! 

Jordan, Constant, me, Sid! We are so tough, don't mess with us! 

Senior trip! The beach! Great times! 

Yeah remember the sleeping guy earlier... here he is up close! Luke my room mate and Sid (now married to Anna)

Now that is Double Dragon! So good! 

The twins, Nathan and Stefan, after a wonderful camping trip. 

Joy doing the donuts thing with me! My first job :)

Mrs. Baker! 

Science Class with the best! 

Lion King! and Luke! That's the lava flow on the way to the black sand beach. 

Go-Karting on my birthday! Fun times! 

Can't wait to see Karl again! What a stud! 

Eating out on vacation! The Sasnets and the Goldings! 

Can you eat them all (7 I think) in 2 minutes? I think I did! Can't wait to get a mambo bar!

I hope you enjoyed the pics! Great memories and fun times. The pictures remind me that the memories are real! I'm so grateful to all of you for your support and prayers that have made this trip possible! 

Pray

Safe travels, that my luggage arrives with me, that I make it through the blizzard in the North East (I make a connection there). 

That God keeps me well and speaks through me, that the hearts of the students are able to receive what the Lord has for them! 

For my family while I'm away! For their health (Asher was sick yesterday, Diane has been up and down as has Mark). 

God provided a huge gift that has blessed me and left me feeling overwhelmed and incredibly loved! I was able to change my flight and now leave Friday morning giving me a few extra days with my parents! I have many things to praise the Lord for! I praise the Lord for you every time I think of you! 

Blessings, 

Caleb

p.s. Many of you have offered to be available to help my wife while I'm gone... here are the tips I have from the inside. 

1. Ask her often... she usually won't ask for help unless it's dire! 

2. The kids have different schedules so being able to pick up and drop off kids is a very practical and immensely helpful thing. Two of my kids get off of school at 12:45 and the other two at 3 and what I usually do is get the kids at 12:45 so Diane can keep working and she gets the other kids home. If you can occasionally watch the two in the middle of the day or provide a ride for them back from school that would be amazing. 

3. Thanks for your desire to help, it means so much to me! I'm unsure what other things Diane may need but I know your prayers are very powerful! Thank you!  

One step at a time...

And step by step you'll lead me and I will follow you all of my days... 

The new year has brought an amazingly fun and busy month. January 2015 where have you been all my life... oh yeah my whole life has been preparing for you :). So the month started with a race to get my Visa for Cameroon in order, all the forms have been sent and now I wait eagerly for the good news that I am able to go and go legally :). Then came a wonderful little oasis in the busyness, a trip to Austin to see friends. It was great to have a weekend with the Sieks and a great gift to have David G. there as well (one of the MKs from Thailand trips past). He's the one sporting a very nice Cowboy snuggy! We went down with my cousin Sami and his wonderful family. Below are his daughter my daughter and the Sieks grandson. 

We had our own Cowboy watching party on Sunday, it was mostly friendly territory as you can see, and I brought down most of my stuff to help decorate, jerseys, snuggy's, and good company, but it wasn't enough and the Cowboys fell to the Packers. It was a sad loss for me but, God works his healing in the darkest of times :), I'm just grateful for the season they had. 

Well we got back from Austin around 6 pm, just in time for me to race over to my Learning that Lasts meet and greet. It was so nice to slide in and indulge in some Pappa Johns and other goodies after a 3 hour car ride. I was the youngest in the bunch, there was someone a year older but after that it wasn't even close. That was an amazing thing to me, it was great being in there and feeling very much a part of the class, I didn't feel out of place at all! It was so good, I was very skeptical at first. I know this is something that my parents are really in to. I didn't know how respected my Mom was in this area though, that was a highlight for me! She was called 'a jedi master' of learning that lasts. Wow, that was awesome! 

I feel like I really grew from the class and will take things away that will help make my teaching way more impact full. I'm still figuring it out, but thankfully I teach at least twice a week so I have lots of time to practice :). Bellow are some pictures from my class :). 

l

The class ended on Friday and Saturday I was back out there with the MKs serving at Dallas Life, a local homeless shelter. It was so great to serve with the wonderful MKs, I really enjoy my job so very much! 

v

 

Sunday came and it was a great opportunity to teach my class at church in my new found teaching style. It was great. Then Monday arrived and I had another crack at it with the MKs. I think that I'm getting there, I just need to adjust how much content I give people to wrestle with. The style of teaching gives the learner a lot more input meaning there is less time and need for content. The learner provides a lot of the content them self, that is one of the reasons it lasts. 

After class I enjoyed finding this... 

 

Those wonderful college MKs, I feel the love, really I feel the love... now where are you parked? Anyway that was fun. Well, Monday had been a holiday for my family (Thanks Martin Luther King) and we took the time to finally take down all our Christmas stuff. Yeah we are those people who leave it up til almost February... 

Tuesday found my poor wife feeling too sick to go to work. Thanks for your prayers, she is much better now and so is Mark who was also fighting the flu most of the weekend. Our prayer is that it ends with them... we are using essential oils and knocking this stuff out! It is truly amazing how well they work! 

And here I am writing this on Wednesday. I need your prayers! I realized on Monday that I got my tickets to Cameroon arriving one day later than I need them. I need to change the flight and I need that to not impact my Visa. It is the waiting game for me now, waiting for the Visa to come back and then waiting to change my flights. God is giving me peace, probably because so many of you are praying! 

Pray

1. Health in the family! 

2. All the loose ends get tied up before I leave (packing, getting supplies)

3. I get my Visa and Passport etc... back soon! 

4. I can change my flight! 

5. My lessons are from the Lord and make the right impact! 

Thanks so much for partnering with me! I am so grateful for you and all you do and how you involve yourself! Your prayers and support are so powerful and so meaningful! I am blessed to have you on my team! 

Big problems? God is BIGGER!  

Blessings, 

Caleb 

p.s. I have a wonderful mission trip to Cameroon coming up which will cost $2300 (after I change the arrival date). Thanks for your prayers and financial support! It is wonderful to have peace buying the tickets knowing that God will use you to get me there and back again :).

If you want to support what I do a little or a lot, on a one time basis (for a mission trip to Cameroon perhaps :) or on a recurring basis, click on the tab "Supporting the Work" at the top of the page. Diane is my beautiful wife and the mother of my precious children Creed 7, Asher 5, Liam 3, Echo already in heaven and Bella, getting bigger all the time.  

The Holidaze? Yeah I'm that guy...

Where to begin? Well I have no idea, so much has happened and I don't think that even I want to read a detailed telling of all of it... so here are some pictures that I hope tell a great story for you all :). 

Okay that might be a little lazy of me... the goal here is brevity right? I mean brevity and cleanliness are next to godliness :)... 

The first couple of pictures are from our amazing MK Christmas party... you see these wonderful ladies have decorated some great gingerbread men... that was a wonderful and busy night. During the party was also my boys Christmas play, so I rushed off after decorating the room to see them perform and then rushed back just after hearing Creed say his speaking solo :). It was a blessing to be able to be at both. This year we did an MK talent show and it was very fun! I'm already looking forward to next years!  

The next fun event we did with the MKs was ice skating. It was great getting to see them enjoying the ice rink and it was good visiting at the snack shop. They are so goofy! 

Another Fun thing we do with the MKs is go to Bethlehem Revisited... the pictures below are from that wonderful time... Creed and Asher had a blast and except for losing Asher at the end we did too. Glad we found him again :). 

It was wonderful having my sister and her husband over for some Christmas cheer this year. We had the joy of doing family photos and then the kids opened presents. It was nice to celebrate with them! And I like the way the pictures turned out! 

Now for some video!!! This is a clip from Marks concert! He is so gifted and it's fun being able to see him in action! 

And I guess to go along with that, here is a crazy picture from my kids performance at Church. 

Our Family likes to open gifts on Epiphany, do stockings on Christmas and reflect on our relationship with God on Christmas eve. We re-dedicate our lives to Christ as a family, we talk about the year and then we light our candle from the center (Christ) candle. It is a good tradition and the kids like playing with fire... so do I actually. It was really precious this year to explain in more detail what salvation means to Asher. He is asking great questions and is taking his faith more seriously! 

Okay now for some random cuteness... Kids off of school for so long... lots of fun time playing at home and being silly and fun and then finally Dad needed to get out of the house so we had an adventure or two out and about, didn't matter how cold it was. 

Okay so there is the cacophony of photos from our break! The good times kept on rolling. Christmas was relaxing and very fun. Jessica and Joel Satre joined us and it was great spending time with them. We did a Netflix Christmas movie marathon! It was really fun! Then New Years broke upon us in a cloud of damp drizzle, promising snow that never came. The weather ended up canceling my wife's plans to see her Grandmother for her 80th birthday, which while very sad and disappointing, did give us some extra time together with family, which was nice. Kelsey and Patrick were going to drive to Albuquerque with Diane and David and ended up staying with us instead for a few days.

The picture below cracks me up. We had just gotten back from an outing and Charlie climbed up on the sunroof of Diane's car and just... well... you can see. 

 

This final picture captures what we are all feeling now after the Holidays, a little tired, but refueled and ready for a new year and for the kids to get back to school... I mean for our schedules to get back to normal. 

Thankfully no health issues to report and things are looking good, if not overly busy, this next month or so. I am really enjoying the Cowboys playoff run so far and I'm hoping it continues (random sentence but it needed to be in here somewhere). This weekend I'm off to Austin to visit with my friends the Sieks. I'm already thinking about Thailand this summer but have two more mission trips before that one. Cameroon is right around the corner and I would appreciate your prayers as I wrap up all my loose ends before I leave. I also start class next week and I'm looking forward to it. It's a week long course called Learning that Lasts. 

Our lives are busy but we are enjoying them! 

Blessings to you and yours and thanks for being a part of the wonder and joy in my life! 

Caleb

p.s. I have a wonderful mission trip to Cameroon coming up which will cost $1800. Thanks for your prayers and financial support! It is wonderful to have peace buying the tickets knowing that God will use you to get me there and back again :).

If you want to support what I do a little or a lot, on a one time basis (for a mission trip to Cameroon perhaps :) or on a recurring basis, click on the tab "Supporting the Work" at the top of the page. Diane is my beautiful wife and the mother of my precious children Creed 7, Asher 5, Liam 3, Echo already in heaven and Bella, getting bigger all the time.