Denim Dailies

Arrival

We made it. After weeks of planning and anticipation and sometimes what seemed to be absolute chaos, we finally made it. The trip to Managua, Nicaragua went extremely smoothly. We now have a day or so to kill while the rest of the group comes in tomorrow. We'll see a few sites and I'll take some pictures which I hope to put on the site.

The hard part now is switching the gears from all the details that had to be managed just to make the trip, to now considering the trip itself. We have a day or so to regroup and get our minds focused now on the task of trying to make TECHPoints a reality.

Keep up those prayers, we can feel 'em working from here!

On the Brink

We are set to embark on a grand adventure. (By the way, I just words like "embark," don't you?) Later today we'll be heading to Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston to catch a flight to Managua, Nicaragua. Actually, it's been quite an adventure just getting here.

We've had to raise the money to go. We've had to make arrangements for our 3 oldest kids to stay with their aunt and uncle for the week. We've had to overnight deliver a birth certificate from California. We've had to get a couple of passports expedited - we got them yesterday. We've had to buy supplies and snacks and an umbrella and who knows what else. Whew!

So what in the world would possess us to make such a trip? Well, I think it's nothing less than a call from the Lord.

Back in 2002, I visited Nicaragua with my friend Benny Baker of Misión Para Cristo. I believe the Lord revealed a need to me while I was there for the churches to step into the digital divide and bring technology and training to the communities they serve. After that trip, in partnership with my wife Sheri, we thought over the course of many months about how that could happen, and what it would look like. We eventually came up with TECHPoints - helping Christian missions around the world use technology to enhance communication, facilitate evangelism, and foster hope.

We visited again with Benny in January, and he agreed that the idea was workable, and that his mission would love to be our first "guinea pig." He invited both of us to come on one of his trips he makes regularly to Nicaragua. We decided to go as soon as possible... and that led to today.

Over the next several days, Sheri and I, along with our youngest daughter, will be in Nicaragua asking lots of questions, and (we hope) getting a few answers. We'll also be attempting(!) to regularly blog while we're there, so you can keep up to date on what's going on. I'll even post some pictures so you can see as well as read.

What's been truly beautiful already about this trip is seeing God answer prayer after prayer and open door after door. We give him all the glory! He has given us the money through friends and strangers - THANK YOU. He has coordinated everything to culminate in our trip today - THANKS TO HIM.

Now, we'll see what happens from here!

Free Lesson Planner

We have added blank lesson planners to our printables section. We also have grocery lists and menu planners. We are planning on expanding our printables section so check back often to see what's new!

Sheri

It Depends...

I was checking my daughter's homework. The math problem was "How many square feet in a square yard?"

Her answer?

"Depends on how big the yard is."

I'd love to tell you she was intentionally making a joke, but ...

--Paul

Too Literal

We were in full-on cleaning mode. Everybody pitching in. A well-oiled machine of efficiency and speed. Or something like that...

Sheri was calling out instructions to the kids while holding a baby on her hip and washing dishes one-handed. "Don't forget to put a new liner in the trash can," she reminded one of our kids who was cleaning the bathroom. "No problem!" came the reply.

Later, upon inspection, we noticed the bathroom trash sort of looked funny. The new liner was there, all right, but it wasn't pushed down into the can. So Sheri pushed. Ah-ha. It wouldn't go down. Apparently the new liner was put in the trash can without first removing the contents that were already in the can.

Sheri scowled and I laughed. After all, she hadn't said to take the old trash out first.

New instructions were delivered. "No, you didn't understand, I guess - you have to take out the old trash and put the new liner all the way in the can."

"Oh! Gotcha."

Five minutes later, Sheri cries out again. This time, the old trash was taken out, the new liner put in all the way ... and then the old trash was put back in the trashcan. Close, but not quite what we were looking for.

The final round of instructions were extremely specific and detailed. So were the threats if it wasn't done properly.

We now have a clean trashcan liner, and it only took 3 conversations, 3 inspections, some clenched teeth, and howls of laughter (on my part) to get it done.

Like I said, a well-oiled machine ...

--Paul

Jump Rope Rhymes

Have you ever tried to teach your children jump rope rhymes or hand clapping games, but you can't remember the words? Find all your childhood favorites at Games Kids Play. It's a neat resource for all you jump rope experts!

Have fun!

Sheri

Art Education

Even if you aren't studying about art right now, your kids can have fun learning about all sorts of art techniques, concepts and history with Art's Edge interactive games and adventures. I had a lot of fun playing the Art of Crime Detection game where I learned how criminal sketch artisits have to use both their left and right sides of their brain to draw composite portraits. Check out the games on portraits, colors, landscapes and lots more!

-Sheri

Splish Splash

There's been quite a gap in our weblog, and only some of it is due to laziness. Our internet access has been thrown off kilter over the last week or two by an unusual accident.

You see, in my office, I have an aquarium on my back desk. It's just a small 10 gallon job with some small fish. It also has, or rather had a large plecostamus - that's one of those big, brown bottom-feeder type guys. Ugly cuss named Cameron - 'bout 9 inches long. Of all the fish, he was my favorite.

A couple of feet away on the desk is a cool little device that is our cable modem, firewall, router, print server and wireless access point. Nifty, eh? All that stuff in one stylish case.

Ok, so here's where things went awry. At about 1:00am, Sheri and I were both checking email on our laptops before we turned in. The internet "went away," but we both assumed it was a passing glitch. We went to bed, believing all would be right in the morning when I started work. It wasn't.

So I spent the next hour or so looking at the cable modem, rebooting it, etcetera. Nothing seemed to work. It had simply forgotten how to be what it was. I was stumped.

As I sat back in my chair, I took a casual look at the aquarium. No Cameron. Doublecheck ... yep, he's gone. I looked between the desk and the wall, and there he was. Right ... behind ... the modem. Ah. Two mysteries solved.

As best we can figure, at about 1:00am Cameron decided to go walkies and leapt out the really small gap in the aquarium lid next to the filter. He must've landed on the modem. The modem was not prepared to have a sopping wet 9 inch fish drop on it. Manufacturer's defect, obviously. Cameron then slid or flopped down behind the desk. When I found him at 10:00am the next morning, he was still alive, but just barely. I picked him up with kitchen tongs (couldn't get my arm between the desk and wall) and put him back in the tank.

Interestingly, this wasn't the first time he had pulled this particular stunt. On the first occasion, he had only been about 3 inches long and had only been out for 45 minutes or so. He recovered fine after that episode, but this time the story did not end happily. Within a few minutes he had stopped breathing. RIP - Cameron the fish - and one cable modem.

All those features in one box seemed like a good idea, until they all went away at the same time. Over the last few days we've patched together our systems with old hardware and we're back online.

Wish I could say the same for Cameron...

--Paul