Messages from Monte

It has been a long time since I posted to this blog. The events of this week have really made me think so I am putting some thoughts "out there" as much for catharsis as for sharing. Sometimes in life, you make a bad decision and suffer the consequences. Consequences can come in many different varieties, from a minor inconvenience to a life-altering, catastrophic event. Sometimes, there was no bad decision, but you seem to suffer consequences. I think, no. I think there is a difference between consequence and events totally out of our control. Sometimes bad things happen to good people, and it isn't a punishment - it just is. For instance, if you've planned an outdoor wedding and it happens to be 102 degrees with a humidity of 98% in May, that is not a consequence, it just happened. Some people seem to ignore their God-given ability to think things through. Actions that seem incredibly illogical in hindsight, are taken with no thought of repercussions or /conseq...

"Some rules are made to be broken." How many times have you heard that said? How many times have you said it? Some rules don't make sense to me. Some make sense but go too far. Some don't go far enough. Man-made rules will always have flaws. The one argument I detest the most for the rationalization of breaking a rule is, "I'm not hurting anybody." It can be restated this way, the breaking of this rule will not have an impact on anyone other than myself, and it may not even impact me. How true is that? I believe that statement can never be true. We (the breakers of the rules) may or may not ever realize or see the impact the broken rule has on ourselves or others. That does not mean the impact does not exist. Caveat: if you are not a Christian or believer in the God of the Christian/Hebrew Bible, you may as well not read the rest of my thoughts. What was the first rule broken by humans? Someone looked at, took, and ate something they were told not ...

One of my favorite bands from the Eighties was Men at Work. Though hard to pick a favorite song of theirs, this particular one is somewhat relevant: I'm not tryin' to impress you with my lines. They don't mean nothin' at all. It's just another expression of mine. It don't mean nothin' at all. Epiphany: e·piph·a·ny  [ih-pif-uh-nee]  noun - a moment in which you suddenly see or understand something in a new or very clear way. That is a word that would have made my older brother accuse me of being a sesquipedalian . Only he wouldn't have used that word, he would have just told me I was trying to use big words - which I did, often.   In my previous blog post, I ended with these words, “Yet, I still feel like a fish out of water in this country. …  I still feel like I've only just come back to the States.” And now here's   my   epiphany: I hope I always do. I hope I always feel like a fish out of water. A stranger in a foreign...

I started this blog to post updates about our work during our time in El Salvador and Honduras. I stopped writing in this blog for reasons that escape me now. I feel like posting again. Maybe it is a bit of longing to be back amongst my family in Central America, but today I feel compelled to post. So, I guess I should do a short recap: In January of 2010, Lori and I decided we might want to be missionaries in El Salvador for a year. In March of that year we visited El Salvador for several days, just the two of us. We were hooked. We moved there in July of 2010 bringing Ruth Erin and Nate with us. We worked primarily with the La Palma congregation for most of our stay, though we worked some with the San Ignacio congregation, and more and more with the Ocotepeque congregation, in Honduras, as our time there came closer to an end. We returned to the U.S. in July of 2011. Lots happened between those two Julys. Wonderful, marvelous, dreadful, spiteful, happy, joyous things. Now, it is...

“The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’ ” Matthew 25:40 First of all, I would like to say thank you to those of you who have shown your faith in the good work that God is doing here. Your generosity is humbling. I beg you to continue in this generosity of love for God's people throughout your life in whatever way you can. Yesterday I had the privilege of visiting the Pineda family again. The family is in good spirits (because they have THE Spirit) and their health is improving. Because of the generosity of Christian family, Yunita was able to have the surgery and, after a week in the hospital, is back home. She will now have weekly trips back to the hospital for therapy until such time as she is healed. She is using the new wheelchair we took on our first visit. As you will see from the picture I'll add of German, he has a "special" wheelchair now. Because of your generosi...

In our lifetimes we remember certain events to such a degree that we remember where we were and what we were doing when we heard or experienced that event. Some of these events are wonderful milestones we are glad to commemorate - graduations, wedding day, a birth of a child, etc. More often than not, when we ask the question, "Where were you when...?", we follow it with an event of such terrible significance it is a world changing and life changing event. For me, at age 39, I have experienced some of each. Let's go in chronological order, shall we? Where was I when the hostages were taken in Iran? The first event of historical significance, I can remember in my lifetime, was the Iran Hostage Crisis that began in 1979. On November 4, 1979 Iranian militants seized the U.S. embassy in Tehran. It was 11 days short of my eighth birthday. I remember the panic and fear in the eyes of adults, but I didn't know what it really meant. I also remember tying a lengt...