View from the top

In the end it really is all about our perspective on life and the things of God…

Last weekend Melissa and I went to Arkansas for the weekend where I help lead a retreat for college students. In the middle of the retreat my friend decided we would all go for a short hike. Immediately I was fooled. 1) it was not short and 2) it was not a hike – it was a torturous mountain climb. The trail started by following a stream, and it was quite the picturesque moment.  All of the group was hiking through autumn colored trees, Melissa was holding Eli, and Champe and I were walking hand in hand while I could swear the tune of Andy Griffith played in the background as we followed the trail around the base of the mountain. About 200 yards in Champe’s 3 year old legs got tired so like any good Dad I put him on my shoulders. Which was a great idea until the trail no longer went around the mountain, it turned straight up and went over the mountain. As I made the fateful turn to start on what would be 1 of a dozen or so steep switchbacks, I stopped and realized I was in for the fight of my life. With Champe on my shoulders I counted each step as a trekked up the mountain determined to not look like a wimp in front of the group, but more importantly my boys. With each step my hatred towards this mountain and this experience grew, but my determination not to let the mountain get me also grew. The entire time I am huffing and puffing my innocent 3 year old is on top of my shoulders singing away clueless to the struggle of man versus nature below him, but instead is driving me and perhaps the mountain crazy. Over the next 30 minutes this is what I hear nonstop from my dear sweet boy… “daddy why are the leaves yellow, daddy why is the sky blue, daddy why are you stopping, daddy we can do it, daddy why is your face red and all wet, daddy can i put this stick in your ear, daddy why is everyone beating us. daddy will you sing with me. daddy why are you crying. Daddy why is everyone way ahead of us. Daddy why is you shirt all wet. Daddy, daddy, daddy.” He squawked on and on in is his high pitched 3 year old voice that was just inches from my ear. Melissa (who yes carried Eli on her hip the whole way, although he was not singing and talking nonstop) at times stopped to make sure my heart was still beating. The battle waged on for what seemed like 10 miles but was probably a little less than 1, all the way to the top. Where I gladly took Champe off my shoulders and set him down. What happened next will forever be sketched in my mind. He grabbed my hand, squeezed it and then proclaimed to the group, “We climbed the mountain.” I did not correct him with but my mind was saying, ” I climbed the mountain, you were just along for the ride.” It was a victory that will forever go down in history father and Son we Conquered the mountain, and Champe had the best seat in the house.

I think somewhere in there there is a spiritual point or two about our perspective on life and what God does and we take the credit for. Thank you Champe for the innocent memory you created, and thank you God for conquering the mountains in my life.

One year later

It is amazing what changes happen to you and your family in a year. A year ago we said goodbye to my father – the whale. I spent most of today reflecting on how i was supposed to feel, and then it hit me that I need to feel the way I do today, not how someone in a hallmark card told me to.
Today I look back on the many adventures my dad and I shared. I look back on the laughs we shared as we worked together. I smile at the tears we shared as a family. I reflect on the advise and words of wisdom he shared with me. Today I celebrate a man that made me who I am. I stand today a man of God who seeks to be the dad my father was and the husband he taught me to be. I thought a year later i would be brought to tears today. Instead I am smiling ear to ear at the thousands of stories he gave me.
I lot happened to us this year. It was a year of firsts- both saying goodbye to my dad, and saying hello to my second son Eli. We had to say good bye to close friends at work and sold our house (that is a story for another day.) Perhaps it was a year like that for you. It would be easy to reflect on the bad, but today in honor of my dad take a moment to reflect on the smiles that life brought you. As a family we look forward to next year. And i am going to start it the way my dad would want me to. tomorrow i head out for a ten day mission trip to South Africa. This is a day we will not soon forget.

I miss you dad

I know it’s been a while, but to be honest I have been scared to write here. Tonight I write this post from my iPhone in the middle of nowhere Oklahoma. I am at our annual church youth camp We are in worship and God is really here. The power just went off to the entire camp, so we moved to an outdoor venue. All that setup for this … I miss my dad. In the midst of an incredible worship set the sun started to set and my first thought was my dad. You see be loved sunsets. I still remember the call I got from him as he sat at the top of enchanted rock watching the sun set. Or the times at the cape working on the house watching the sun set. Or the days in the fly fishing. Watching the sun set.

It sounds like sadness but my heart is overflowing with joy. I miss my father but I love my God. If my dad never passed I would not have grown the way I have this year. If he never died I would not realize the power of technology. His life and death have inspired me to love my wife and my boys. He has become my inspiration to truly live. His death has become the purpose behind me living a life if joy. I laugh because all this is coming out through tears and an iPhone. Praise God…

Oh and 8 people just came forword during the invitation to make Jesus lord of their life.

January in 270 words (or less)

This is January in 270 words (or less)

It was a wild start to the new year.  Life in the Presley house has truly been more like a drag race and less like a roller coaster.  Christmas was awesome, it is a Presley rule that any gift given to a sibling must be handmade. My family did not disappoint in the creative category this year.   This month Champe started potty training,  Eli started eating solid foods, and Melissa and I are exhausted(but having a ball).  Kari and Kijsa are iced in up in Kentucky, there is a chance that Kari may not get here electricity back on for up to 3 weeks.  Whitney started a new job (technically that was before Thanksgiving but it seems like yesterday.)  We also said another long goodbye to Stephen as he headed back to the land of the Scots.  My dad received administrator of the year and my mom will accept his award later this month.  But the big news is that we are going to sell our house and start renting from my mother.  This will give all of  us a “year of transition”  as we get the McKinney house ready for either us to purchase or to sell to another lovely family.  We have been packing boxes, discovering toys that were long lost and getting ready for the change ahead.  As I  look back on the start of the year I smile,  God continues to bless our family.  In good times and bad, He is always Lord of our lives.  Today take a moment to celebrate what he is doing in your life.

A full Tummy and a grateful Heart

Thanksgiving this year was great.  I went into it thinking it would be tough on the whole family, but when we got together the laughs started pouringout.  This year we were a family divided, by geography that is.  My family and my mother joined The woodand Houseman families in Paducah.  Whitney and Stephen Could not make the trip so they stayed with other friends and family in Austin and McKinney.  The food was great, the adventure of staying my Sister under construction house was a blast.  It may have been because there were 6 kids runningaround a 100 year old farm house all day long.  We had a bonfire on Kari’s land, we played Dr. Mario (the video game), and we went to Flamingo Row (only the best restaurant i have been to in Kentucky.)

But the highlight in my mind was when My sister Kijsa gave a short testimony at Her Church on Tuesday Night.  She was asked to say what she was thankful for. In a year that has really rock the foundation of all of the Presley’s, she was able to summarize the greatest both of our families resolve, but also the passion and soul of my Father.  This thanksgiving what am i thankful for – My family.  This year has been one of the most challenging yet, most rewarding of my life.  My loving wife gave me a son, and i lost a father.  Yet through it all i know through it all my family has helped to encourage and lift up not only my faith, but the faith of our entire clan.  So i would like to say a special thank you to Melissa, Champe, Eli, Kari, Denny, Denton, Zachary, Whitney, Westleigh, Kijsa, Brad, Talia, Keaton, Whitney, Stephen, Haley, Isla, and the matriarch My mom.

 

You can download Kijsa’s talk here  it is worth the read….

Made it home – but my bags did not

My trip around the world came to the end yesterday at 5:00pm.  It was a 21 hour flight with a 1hour layover in London.  I will tell you as a dad there is no better feeling than opening your front door to the sounds of little feet running at you.  Champe was there to greet me with a huge hug and an “i love you daddy.”  Thank you for the many prayers and kind words you shared with me on my trip.  It was a lot of fun and at the same time i was able to capture some video that will really bring a piece of what God is doing in India home.

I will be honest this was the first big trip i had gone on since my fathers death, and along the trip i could not help but stop and say wouldn’t it be great if my dad saw this.  One of those moments was a stop at one of the highest points in Chennai.  It is a known as St. Thomas mount, and is widely believed to be the place Thomas was martyred from. (Thomas was one of the 12 disciples)  As you stood out you truly took in the whole city and as I reached down to pick up i rock, i pictured my dad giving a lecture to a group of students on the geology of the region.  I miss you dad.

I will try to unpack more of the trip in the days to come but for now i could not be more happy to see Melissa, Eli, and champe.  Bear with me as i look through the hours of video and the hundreds of pictures from a trip that truly changed my life.

No cows were injured in the making of this post…

All this time i thought it was the stuff of movies.  You see in pictures and other material that the Indians let the cows roam free.  That motorcycles, cars and all other traffic come to a stop when they cross the road.  It is true!  and it makes a four hour trip much longer when you are dodging cows the entire trip.  I learned today the Indians call them brake checks.  Today was a full day.  we spent the day in PUDUCHERRY (finally the correct spelling)  We visited a local church that is trying to plant a English speaking church.  Puducherry has almost 1 million people with 200 churches.  there is not a single English speaking church in the city.  They told us there is over 150,000 English speakers in the town.  While there we also saw several other ministries they are starting including a computer center, and a ministry to a local outreach new age community.

It was a full day, and along the way i got to touch the Bay of Bengal, and a random elephant in front of a hindu temple.  If you gave the elephant a coin it would bless you by touching your head.  We tried and it did not bless us.  I think grant said it best when he looked at the trainer and said.  it is OK i am already blessed.  It really is a heart breaker to see a people so committed to a belief that is taking them no where.  I look forward to seeing what we can do to partner with the church here in India.

Please pray for our trip as we head back late tomorrow night.  I am not looking forward to another 20 hours on a plane…

What time is it here?

India is 11:30 hours ahead of Texas, which means we spend most days trying to figure out if it is morning or night.  It was a 20 hour flight over to Chennai, so that does not help the situation.   Even with the time difference it is amazing to see the similarities between the church as a whole all over the world.  Today we spent the day traveling to different churches.  All of which are the same “POWERHOUSE church” umbrella but meeting in different locations.

The first of which met in a local restaurant.  The restaurant features American food and really makes a mean chicken fried steak.  Although it cannot compete with my Mother-inlaws, because she makes it all from scratch.  The unique thing about the restaurant is that is is a giant mission project.  The owner is a missionary who raises support to live in India.  The restaurant gives all of it’s profits back to various ministries within the city that reach out to the poor and needy.  The restaurant has become completely self sufficient, and is able to make a difference in a way i have not seen before.  What a creative idea.

The second church was meeting in a local community college.  The vision of the church is to reach the influencers and upper middle class of the city.  The goal in reaching this community is that they are the ones who will help to transform India.  There is not much movement between the classes, so in reaching the class that influences government and business you can change all of India.  Again a creative idea.

The last church was a church in the education section of Chennai.  The goal of the english speaking church is to raise up students that will then travel all over the world taking the gospel with them.  Many of the students get trained in hig end jobs and then move away for better jobs.  As a result the message of Christ travels with them.  Again creativity at its best

What i have learned to day is that we serve a Great God.  When we focus on Him he provides us a way to take His message around the world.  It has been an encouraging day to see God’s people at work.

Tomorrow we are visting several projects in Puducherry, which is four hours south on teh coast.  It is a former french colony that has a heavy new age influence.  The community was hit hard by the tsunami.  I can feel your prayers here.  You can pray for me as a try to capture footage that will best tell the story of God’s movement in India.

The Amazing Race – India style

Today i got to see first hand both the sadness and loss of hope that comes with poverty, and at the same time the joy and heartwarming love that comes from helping your fellow man.  For the next few days we are visiting multiple ministries that a local church is involved in.  The church, Powerhouse, is a church that is desiring to be like Jesus in their local communtiy.  Through multiple chruches and partnerships they are making an impact on Sothern India.  Below you will find pictures from three of our Journeys as we race around the CIty of Chennai.  Please Continue to pray for us as we try to learn how we can best partner with Powerhouse to impact our world.

This is a picture of a group of elderly women that were previously living on the street.  60% of India lives below the poverty line.  That means they make less than $1.00 a day.  Beacuse of the huge amount of poverty elderly, disabled and children are viewed more as a burden.  This ministry, Areuwe, takes in these women and others and provides hope.  They teach them skills that can be used to get a job, They provide care for the sick, and they teach them other skills to help them at their most basic needs.  As a result they are open to hearing about the love of Christ and the freedom that comes froma relationship with him.

Our next stop took us to a hindu temple.  It was heartbreaking to see the difffernt people worship multiple gods.  As we learn more about Hindu, I am taken back by the cast system that is part of the religion.  Because of a belief in recarnation, there is no hope to move up in the cast system.  Hindus believe that if you accept the role in life you are given and are a good hindu you will be reincarnated to a higher level.  Therefore if you are poor you have no desire to ever be more than that.   It is an interesting contrast to christianity that provides hope through Christ sacrifice.  It is a free Gift.  Through Him there is always hope.

The last stop of the day was at a “slum”  as they call it.

The slum was visit was a communcal group of people that had been displaced 3 times.  They were hit directly by the Tsunami a few years ago and as a result lost many family members and friends.  They were then moved to a grass hut type village, by the government.  That village burnt down forcing them to move to a refuge type tent city.  Just reacently they were given small homes in a buildign a several miles away from the coast.  It was heartbreaking to see the poverty in the homes, but it was heartwarming to see the joy and laughter on the children’s faces.  In the picture, jake, the pastor of Powerhouse is sitting down in the grey shirt.  One of the many satellite churches he heads up meets in this slum.  The pastor of the slum church is standing in the white shirt.

 

the last image is for my sister whitney.  And yes Whitney it does look just like the amazing race….

20 hours on a plane…

Hello from Chennai India!  Today we start a short missiontrip here in india.  I am with 5 others from my church, and this has already proven to be quite an adventure.  It tooks us 20 hours on a plane to get here.  We arrived late last night at 3am and after a long nap will visit a few key partnerships this morning.  I am both excited and nervous for the journey ahead.   My goal here is to capture the lives and parterships of the people we are working with in the coming years through a simple documentary.  I am up for the challenge, but also know God is always with us.  I will update you all when i can.