On Friday night, as our family was watching the Beijing Olympic opening ceremonies, I was reminded of God’s global heart. Besides the fact that it was one of the most incredible display of technology and humanity that I have seen in my lifetime, the kids and I were looking forward to seeing the different countries enter the stadium with their respective flags. And just like we are all conditioned to do, the first thing you do is you want to see the country that represents you. Kailey was looking for Korea and Emily was looking for USA. But Nathan, well, he was looking for Texas. We tried to teach him that Texas wasn’t a country, but I guess I would have a tough time trying to teach that to some of you Texans about that fact. Just when he finally understood, the country of Georgia comes on, and all my kids are now confused. So, anyway, as they sat there, country after country, trying to pronounce these country names, they were getting restless. They were looking for their countries. I’m sure you did the same.

The other thing I noticed on TV is that there were Chinese women dressed in white that were dancing and cheering for every country to welcome them to the games, and by the end, I could see that they were getting tired and their smiles were more like fake smiles. This was made obvious when, of course, China was announced.

Well, after both USA and South Korea had passed, I told the kids to go to bed, but Kailey insisted to go to bed right after seeing the country of Mongolia. You see, her two best friends moved to Mongolia about 7-8 months ago because their parents became missionaries there. And since then, she has been emailing with them, choosing to do school reports on Mongolia, and praying for them every night. And when we were talking about the possibility of USA playing against Korea, who they would cheer for, they were torn but used the reason that they live in US to cheer for USA. But, when I asked what they would do if they played against Mongolia, Kailey blurted out that she would cheer for Mongolia.

I took away something that night. Because my daughter’s heart was becoming more like God’s heart … a global heart. Not looking out for and cheering for her own country, but for another. I wondered as I was watching the Chinese women cheerleaders getting tired with fake smiles, if God got tired that night. Or I wondered if He had a genuine smile on His face for each and every country.

We need to have that global heart of God.

To watch the whole sermon, check it out here.

When I see this interview with his family (that just aired yesterday), I am inspired by how he has raised his family in His ways, because in the midst of tragedy is when true faith comes out. I love the authenticity of Mary Beth and the maturity of faith in Steven. I want to be the spiritual leader in my house, as a husband to my wife and father to my children, that would bear much fruit and inspire others to live a life that would follow Jesus. Thanks Steven for your encouragement to my faith and my family.

Update: Another interview of the Chapman family by Larry King on CNN yesterday

- visited two national parks (north cascades and mt. rainier)
- walk on many nature trails and saw many foxes, deers and chipmunks
- touched snow at top of mountain
- touched the beach on the pacific ocean
- picked shelfish, mussels, and clams and touched starfish and sea cucumbers
- camping on the pacific w/campfire for smores and hotdogs
- tourist stuff in seattle (i.e. space needle)
- visited tillamook cheese factory and had sample cheese and ice cream
- ate at my favorite sushi place twice and ate a LOT of sushi
- ate clam chowder at the famous mo’s on the beach
- played golf with my dad, mom (first time playing with her!), and brother-in-law
- took over 400 pics on my Nikon d40x
- sold my dad’s Nikon d40x for him on craigslist
- installed a window air conditioning unit for the upstairs
- fixed my grandfather’s computer and created an email address for him (he’s 91!)
- drove on two minivans over 600 miles each between two states
- watched kung fu panda with 6 kids

Whew! Can’t believe we did that much in 7 days … it was a blast. It will go down in the history books as a “money’s worth” vacation. It was great to spend time with grandparents, parents, sister’s family, and even family time for us. And if I ever forget, I can always look back at all the pics I took. Here’s some below:

Thank you, God, for your wonderful creation that we were able to enjoy. But, even more than the mountains and nature, thank you for creating the people in my life that I can enjoy life with. Praise You, God, for my family!

Monday we are going to begin learning about simple machines. What I need from you is to help your child make a catapult for a large marshmallow launching competition. This is due May 30th. On that day we will hold our competition on the black top behind the school. I’ll let you know what time we decide later. It’s fun to watch so I hope you can come! You can search on the internet for ideas on your catapult. I went to Google and searched for images to get ideas. You can also do a plain google for instructions. PLEASE DONT FEEL LIKE YOU HAVE TO HAVE ANYTHING FANCY!!!!!! Just have fun making it with your child. I only ask that they aren’t huge. If your child can’t carry it to class by themselves then it is too big. HAVE FUN!!!

So, here’s our marshmallow catapult and even had to test it out!

You think we got a shot at winning??? I love my son’s pump fist at the end.

We’re in the middle of a sermon series called “Influence” and it’s a series about being the salt and light. Each week, in the bulletin, everyone receives a different bookmark (2-3 different bookmarks for each week that people get randomly) with a bio of a person who have influenced the world for Christ. At the top of the bookmark is a black/white pic of the person of influence and below is a brief bio and how they made a difference. It’s cool because many are people that they’ve never heard of (i.e. George Washington Carver, Henrietta Mears), and yet they are inspiring stories of how God used them to influence the world. Well, this Sunday is the last week in the series, and they will receive their final bookmark. But this time, the picture on the top will be replaced by a mirror and the bio will say, “YOU are the light of the world, YOU are the salt of the earth.”

We hope that people will understand that they are all people who have been influenced by others as well as have the capacity to influence as salt and light. The bookmarks will hopefully be a reminder to SHAKE and SHINE and make a difference!

Each of the main sessions had awesome openers. Check it out!

EDIT: Had to remove the videos. Check them out on their site.

For more North Point Production stuff, check out their blog.

More pics coming …

Jamie lost all feeling and movement from his upper-chest down to his legs. He had some arm movement but no hand dexterity. Here’s a video of his recovery which took several months.

Such an inspiration. It inspires me to press on and get up and run this race even when there are set backs. It inspires me to know that only God is the source of my strength and portion forever and I am completely resting on Him.

Jamie, thanks for the inspiration. God, thanks for the strength.

Emily now

Thank you God for your faithfulness. As much as she has grown in front of our eyes, may she grow in stature, wisdom, favor with God and others.