6 months old

Sunday was Jack (right) and Drew's 6th month birthday. Robin took this pic after church. (That's my gruffy chin.) It was one of those rare times in the last six months where we have all made it to church. Hard getting everyone out the door.

Jack cut his first tooth on Friday the 27th. So he got a tooth two days before his 1/2 year birthday and Luke got his on Christmas Day 2002, 4 days before his. Drew is a still a 'gummy bear'. But we are not comparing!

Last week they had their 6 mth checkup. Each has gained exactly 10 lbs and 1 oz since birth. Jack is in the 20 percentile and Drew 10 percentile.

I came home yesterday and after a long day with twins and sick 3 yr old, Robin remarked that we have too many children. But she added that we will keep them anyway.

The Motorcycle Diaries

Last night I watched The Motorcycle Diaries on DVD. (I went the cheap route and checked it out of the library last Saturday and needed to watch it because it is due today.)

If you are not familiar with the story it is about Ernesto 'Che' Guevara and his friend traveling across South America in the 50's on a motorcycle before they finish college. They are both Argentineans and they travel across country and over the Andes into Chile and then north to Peru. Their motorcycle breaks down in Chile and they spend the rest of the journey hitching rides and riding down the Amazon on a boat. They end up serving at a leper colony in Peru before parting ways. (They went to a few towns that I have been to in Chile so that was cool seeing.)

It is really a joiurney as they encounter injustice mostly toward the indigenous people, the poor and sick. This journey sets 'Che' on a revolutionary path that will lead him to Cuba, Africa and ultimately to his death in Bolivia.

As I watched I thought, "wow here are two young men in college (though his buddy is a little older but still a student) who are gripped by injustice and will change the world." I thought of how Robin and I want to see men and women raised up in Latin America and all over the world with this same passion. Albeit men and women with a clear understanding that not Marx but the LORD is the answer. As He "upholds the cause of the oppressed and gives food to the hungry. The LORD sets prisoners free, ..." (Psalm 146:7). Men and Women who will be usher a revolution of the heart.

Bird Flu in Florida

Jesus' Reverent Submission

Hebrews 5:7-9 is an interesting passage to me. The author of Hebrews writes that Jesus offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to God the Father who was able to save Him from death. Blakaby in Experiencing the Cross says that he believes this is speaking of more than just the night before his death in the garden but Jesus' entire life on earth. In several translations it says in verse 7 that Jesus was heard because he feared God. (Sometimes its translated piety or reverent submission.)

How amazing! Jesus, the son and ‘radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being’ (Heb 1:3), feared God! The author writes that the reason Jesus was heard was because of this fear or holy reverence not even necessarily because He was the Son. The author goes on to say that although Jesus was the Son he learned obedience through the things He suffered. And then through this suffering He was made perfect or complete and having been made perfect He became the source of eternal salvation.

The great paradox of Jesus being fully God and fully man is how can God ‘learn obedience’? (Philippians 2:6-8 says the same thing.) How can One who never knew sin (Heb. 4:15 and 2 Corinthians 5:21) become perfected? I don't know that I fully understand it but I believe it and know that this enables me to draw near to the throne of grace to receive mercy and grace on my time of need knowing full well that I have a High Priest who can symphathize with my weaknessses. (Heb. 4:14-16).

Obedience for Jesus was learned through suffering and this brought about completion. Even though Jesus suffered incredibly both physically and spiritually, God heard his prayers because He feared Him. The answer came in the form of an indestructible life which conquered death and ushered in a better hope (Heb 7:15-19) for those of us who obey Him.

May I fear the Lord and it be reflected in my obedience to Him. May I be willing to take up my cross and follow Him learning obedience through suffering. May my life be categorized by someone who has reverent submission.

Green Eggs and Ham

One of my friends and cohorts, Matt Mikalatos, posted a week ago about glow-in-the dark pigs being bred in Taiwan. I decided to write my own Green Eggs and Ham post.

Robin and I take turns putting Luke to bed. Since about September, Luke has only allowed me to read three books: Chickens, Green Eggs, and Little Bear Goes to the Moon.

After about 70 readings or so, Luke and I both have had some random thoughts / observations. I will credit Luke where he made this observation.

• The steering wheel on the car (Would you like them in a car? Eat them, Eat them. Here they are!) mysteriously disappears after a few pages. - Luke
• The ham and eggs glow in the dark tunnel. - Luke
• I wonder if Dr. Seuss was making a statement on nuclear holocaust or waste since it was written in 1960.
• The goat appears out of a compartment door that was not there before. - Luke
• The train track just ends. - Luke
• The track is very poorly engineered because it is on sticks precariously held by rope and it ends over the water.
• The people on the train and the engineer never open their eyes until they come up from the water. The captain of the boat sees the train but then closes his eyes as he fly through the air after the train crashes into the boat.
• I have random thoughts wondering if this symbolizes that they are dead (or die in the case of the captain) and only revived after being 'baptized' and the offering of the chicken (the eggs) and the sacrifice of the pig (the ham), albeit a strange color, are accepted. I know its very random but every story is about redemption, isn't it?
• We never learn the name of 'other guy' who Sam-I-Am tries to get to eat the eggs and ham. - Luke
• At the end, he eats the whole ham in one page and there is no knife to cut it with. - Luke
• He also must eat the ham bone.
• Sam-I-Am does not get any. - Luke
• I don't think he wants it but was trying to pawn it off on this guy.
• I read that Dr. Seuss wrote it on a dare.
• I don't think it teaches kids to try food but rather teaches them that if they bug big people enough they can eventually get what they want. This is what Luke seems to have learned.

On a side note, please pray for us. Since the twins were born, Luke has not gone to sleep without one of us laying with him. We have decided to try to gradually break him of this habit this week. We are praying for a miracle!

Year Review from Robin

I thought I would include some of what Robin wrote in our New Years Letter since this is "A Few Minutes with Robin and Andy" and yet she never posts anything. If you got our letter in the mail, this will be redundant.


Hope the New Year has gotten off to a good start for you. This past year has been made up of surprises -- bringing a range of emotions and experiences. 2005 will always be memorable year for us for many reasons.

Luke went from two to three year’s old this year. We have had a lot of fun with Luke this year. Some things has loved are playing hide and seek in the dark with flashlights, snow sledding, attending AWANA class, taking walks on our near by “nature trail” complete with a field of prairie dogs, a hawk, animal holes, a creek, flowers and sticks. He is crazy about trains, He likes making jokes and talking in opposites saying that his left hand is really the right hand and vice-versa -- and that Jack is really Drew, etc.

I won’t pretend, though, that he’s been a joy all the time. Luke has had a very difficult time dealing with the arrival of the babies. His “de-throning” process has been pretty painful and the emotions have been overwhelming to all of us, most of all to him I think. I can say that in the past 6 weeks, his disposition has improved greatly and we are enjoying more of the old Luke we used to know. My hope is restored!

Sweet Drew ~ Our hearts melt when we think about him. He is almost 6 months old now and has at least tripled in weight since he was born. In those early days, his arms and legs were no bigger around than my thumb. I had never seen a baby that small in real life. I love the memory I have of him sucking on his tiny, tiny thumb. He has a very charming smile and quite a noticeable cackle. These days he is busy chewing on anything that comes near his face, including Jack’s hand.

We call him Hungry Jack. He pants when he sees the bottle coming. He took a total 43 ounces of formula one day the other week. I think he’s trying to tell us, “Gimme some real food”! Currently he is drooling everywhere. He loves to stare at Luke and gives a hearty belly laugh at his brother’s antics, whether they are funny or not. He also enjoys playing with Drew’s ear.

For me, 2005 started out with dreadful sickness. I felt doubly sick this round of pregnancy, but had no clue why. Pretty soon, I was outgrowing all my pregnancy clothes that I had worn with Luke and had to hunt around for new ones. I was so very tired and insatiably hungry. At one doctor’s appointment I had gained 9 pounds in a few weeks and my doctor said my abdomen was measuring big. She was suspicious! I was in my 24th week, so it was time for an ultra-sound. The sonographer immediately saw our two boys!

Since then, this year has been filled with excitement, shock, extreme physical awkwardness (kind of comical actually – at around 7 months, I couldn’t walk through a store like Wal-mart -- it was too strenuous – I had to use the motorized wheel chair to get around!). I have been grateful, deliriously sleep deprived, at my wits end, and in awe of God’s ways all in the same day. Jack and Drew are all consuming, but God has provided well for us. My mom came to live with us for a couple of months. It took 3 people to care for 3 children in those early baby days. I could not have done it without her. We probably had 30 plus meals delivered to us from our church and the regional office. Also, women from my church still come once or twice a week to care for babies while Luke and I get out of the house together. All of those things have kept me sane. I would be in a very black hole had it not been for so many people serving us in various ways.

Andy had a full year of equipping leaders to reach others for Christ. In 2005, he led a training conference for a Int'l Project Leaders from accross the US, a mid-year conference in Mexico for missionaries in Latin America, and a STINT Team leaders this summer training for one hundred young leaders preparing to take ministry team all over the globe. He visited Asia in the Spring and Mexico in the fall to help launch ministries to of the largest cities in the world. One a day to day basis, he continues to help oversee our regions partnerships in seven countries.

The month of August was perhaps the busiest of all. Andy really jumped in with constant care of the babies – endless feedings, diaper changes, laundry. About 6 weeks into it, he asked me, “Now when do they start sleeping through the night?” Well, he is still waiting for that to happen!

Thank you for thinking of us and praying for us. We are looking forward to whatever the Lord brings in 2006!

Back to Normal

Thanks to everyone for praying. Dad called from the car a while ago to say all went well. His heart is back to a normal rythm.

Here's a picture of him (on far right) with his cousin Leon Loyd, his Aunt Vera, his Aunt Rowena (Jane's mom) and his Aunt Mary. circa 1940 (?)

KCCC and Prayer

Shane Deike has a great post on Korea Campus Crusade and some of their basics values. It's a good read as your look at Launching Movements in your STINT location.

We had Dong Whan Kim and his wife, Jung Sook Kim, at the Denver Christmas Conference this year. On my personal blog I have a post of the Gethsemane Prayer time. When I think of how Crusade was launched at UCLA with a 24-hour prayer-chain, it makes me think that it might behoove us to consider going back to our roots and really emphasizing calling students to desperately praying for God to move.

Baby Got Book

Baby Got book

Dad's Cardioversion

Tommorrow at 1 pm (EST) my dad (pictured with Drew at Thanksgiving) is having a electrical cardioversion to see if his heartbeat in the upper artia of his heart can be restored to a normal rhythm. Since they learned of his fibrillation, he has had medication to make sure he does not have a blood clot. As you can read in the article if you have a clot it can come dislodged during this procedure.

On October I posted my 2nd post of this blog about my dad's heart. It might be worth a another look at this time.

Appreciate your prayers for him.

Don’t Lift the Van with your Brother

Saturday, I had to fix a flat tire on our van. Luke was my little helper. "What's this thing?", he asked.

It struck me as funny that one of his little brothers has the same name as what we use to lift up the van and the very act of lifting it too. It made me thing of all the Jacks out there.

After the definition that correspondsons to my son (nickname for John), Webster's says that one obsolete definition of Jack was a common fellow or boy assistant.

So there are 'jacks' that are handy: jack-of-all-trades, a lumberjack, a crackerjack, jackeroo, steeplejack, a bootjack (not to be confused with a jackboot), a smokejack, and the jack knife (the dive of the same name and what you don't want an 18-wheeler to do on the interstate comes from the looking like the knife). Then there's the telephone jack, electrical jacks, jack-nuts, the jackscrew, the aforementioned automobile jack, the hydraulic jack, stabilizing jacks, the pneumatic jack and the portable version of that: the jack hammer.

There are 'jacks' from my childhood: Jack who went up the hill with Jill, Jack Sprat, little Jack Horner, Jack be nimble, the house that Jack Built, Jack and the bean stalk and the other Jack Tales. There's jack-o'-lantern, jack-in-the-box, the game jacks, and jumping jacks (bringing back bad memories of PE at Sandersvile elementary).

There are food 'jacks': Monterry Jack cheese, flapjacks (some people I hear call them slapjacks), Hungry Jack (gobble them up and plate comes back), Apple Jacks (cinnamon toasty apple jacks), and Cracker Jacks.

There are animal kingdom 'jacks': a Jack Russell Terrier, a jackass (not the derogratory fool but the donkey), the jack rabbit, jackdaw, jacksnipe, jackfish, jacksmelt, amberjack, skipjack and Jack Hanna.

There are plant kingdom 'jacks': a jack pine, a bluejack oak, jackfruit, jack bean, jack-in-the-pulpit, and supplejack.

There are 'jacks' of the gaming industry: the face card jack, blackjack, and a jackpot.

There are nautical 'jacks': a jackstay, jack (as in a reference to a sailor, sometimes called jack-tar) and Skipjack boats

You have flag 'jacks': the Union Jack, and the yellow jack.

There's not so honest 'jacks': hijack (or highjack), skyjack, carjack, web-jacked, cheapjack and 'to jack up prices'.

There are famous and infamous 'Jacks': Jack Kennedy, Jack Kemp, Jack the Ripper (not exactly who you want your son to emulate), Jack London, C.S. Lewis (nicknamed Jack), Jack Kerouac, Orangejack, Jack Anderson, Jack Roosevelt Robinson (better known as Jackie Robinson), Jack Johnson, Jack Dempsey, Jack Nicklaus, Jack Nicholson, Jack Klugman, Agent Jack Bauer of 24, Jack the frontloader, Jack Benny, Jack Lemmon, Jack La Lanne, Wolfman Jack, Jack Black and Black Jack Pershing.

There are phrases with 'jack': Jack Frost, 'every man jack', 'before you could say Jack Robinson', and 'you don't know Jack Squat'.

But the best is the one that Luke and his friend Maegan can hold...

Fearing God and Faith

In Genesis 22 is the scene where Abraham is tested to sacrifice Isaac. (I think this is the same Michelangelo rendition of that hangs in the Hermitage in Saint Petersburg, Russia. In the summer of 1991 when I was there on a summer project, our tour guide said this was a painting of a myth about a crazy old man trying to kill his son. I had the priveledge of telling her it was in fact a true story from the bible.)

The angel of the LORD says to Abraham, "Do not lay a hand on the boy... Now I know that you fear God because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son."

We know in Hebrews 11 that Abraham is commended for his faith demonstrated here. James in his letter to the church relates it as an example of faith and actions working together. So it makes me wonder how does fearing God and faith relate?

The writer of Hebrews tells us that Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead because he knew that God had promised that through Isaac the covenant of blessing the whole world would be established. I personally believe that even though he had never seen or heard of someone being raised from the dead, he believed God was able because in essence God had taken what was dead - he in his old age and Sarah's womb - and made it alive (Heb. 11:12).

Now saying that it still is beyond amazement to me that Abraham fully believed God and His character. I look at my three little boys and can't fathom walking up Mount Moriah taking one of them to sacrifice to God even believing that we would both return (Genesis 22:5).

Abraham feared God and this led him to obey and demonstrate unbelievable faith. May I fear God in such a way to fully believe Him in the impossible knowing that without faith it is impossible to please Him.

Review of The Way of the shepherd

The following is from The Way of the Shepherd: 7 Ancient Secrets to Managing Productive People by Dr. Kevin Leman and William Pentack. (I will edit it to apply to leading teams when needed.)

1. KNOW THE CONDITION OF YOUR FLOCK
* Follow the status of your 'team' as well as the status of the 'mission'. *Get to know your flock, one sheep at a time. * Engage your 'teammates' on a regular basis * Keep your eyes and ears open, question and follow through.

2. DISCOVER THE SHAPE OF YOUR SHEEP
He uses the same SHAPE test found on p. 66-69 in your playbook

3. HELP YOUR SHEEP IDENTIFY WITH YOU
* Build trust with your 'team' by modeling authenticity, integrity, and compassion. * Set high standards of performance. * Relentlessly communicate your values and sense of mission. * Remember that great leadership is not just professional; it's personal.

4. MAKE YOUR PASTURE A SAFE PLACE
* Keep your team well informed. * Infuse every role with importance. * Reassure the sheep by staying visible. * Don't give problems time to fester.

5. THE STAFF OF DIRECTION
* Know where you are going, get out in front and keep your 'team' on the move. * When directing, use persuasion rather than coercion. * Give your team freedom of movement but make sure they know where the fence line (boundary) is. * Remind your team that failure is not fatal.

6. THE ROD OF CORRECTION
* Protect: Stand in the gap and fight for your team. * Correct: Approach these times as teaching opportunities. * Inspect: Reguraly inquire about your teammates progress in ministry.

7. THE HEART OF A SHEPHERD
* Great leadership is a lifestyle, not technique. * Every day decide who is going to pay for your leadership - you or 'your team'. * Foremost of all have a heart for your sheep. * Model Christ-likeness to 'your team'.

Seven Secrets of Brainstorming

My good friend Eric Swanson (the reason I have been in Colorado since 1993, but that's another story) has posted a good tool on brainstorming that you might find helpful as you lead. It's an excerpt from The Ten Faces of Innovation: IDEO's Strategies for Defeating the Devil's Advocate and Driving Creativity Throughout Your Organization

I wish that I had read this before a lame learning group on the CityFocus strategy that we had this past week at DCC. We invited Eric but some other folks we invited took over as if it was all about them. Sure that has never happened on your team.

World Tour and Gethsemane Prayer

Tonight is our last night of DCC. Been a great week. Last night we heard from Dong Whan Kim who leads Korean Campus Crusade for Christ in the US. And then my boss, Ken Miller hosted a virtual world tour of WSN for our region. We had videos of Russia, East Asia, interviewed students who have gone to Mexico, one of our Chilean staff who came to Christ because of a Summer Project in 1996, and had a live call with one of our STINT team Leaders in Madrid. (4 am for him). Then we had breakouts for all our partnerships for interested students. I am not good at numbers but the turn-out was the most I can remember in seven years with WSN.

Afterwards at 11 pm, we had a chance to be lead in a time of prayer by Dong Whan's wife Jung Sook Kim. In LA, Jung Sook started a Gethsemane Prayer movement where over 300 students gather each week to pray and fast. From these times the LORD has done amazing things in their ministry.

I was really wondering if any students would show up but the room where it was held was packed. She lead us in a two-hour time of prayer. Actually, I left at 1 am and there were still a crowd of students. Many of them said it was the highlight of their lives.

It was incredible. We use the phrase 'Korean style' praying to talk about praying all at once out loud but she said they don't call it that because they don't believe it is just a cultural thing. They call it desperate praying like the blind begger, the persistent widow or the sinner in the temple who beats his breast asking for mercy. We started by just all crying at to the LORD, "Jesus have mercy on me" three times and would pray desperately out-loud for a while and then she would lead us back to scripture and we would pray in the same way for what God was burdening us with. We prayed for ourselves, our campus, for students to be sent to the world, and on and on.

Our theme this week is "Free" and I am sure many students have benefited from talks from the word on being set free or times with staff and friends. But I truly believe many more where set free by crying out to the LORD in the late hours of last night.

The Highest Good

One of my new friends, Tyler Zach, who is on staff in Omaha, wrote in his blog some profound thoughts on the Highest Good. Thought I'd pass them on to you. Tyler's leading our East Asia: Silk Road project this coming summer.

DCC

Robin, the boys and I are here at the Denver Christmas Conference. Been excellent. Very busy for us though. Today is the Day of Faith as 1786 students and staff will go into the city and bless the city through serving and taking the gospel. (Though some did a Ski day and will share on the slops.)

Yesterday we had a recruiting breakfast for students interested in STINT. It was invitation only as we wanted the student leaders from their respective campuses to come and hopefully decide to go and recruit a team to go with them. We are trusting the LORD for 75-100 STINTers for 2006-2007. I stole an idea from a friend/fellow WSN regional leader for a WSN recruiting blog. You can see the places where we are partnered. Tommorrow night we will have breakouts for all of our Int'l Summer Projects.

Christmas Pictures

Jack and his fingers
















Luke and Jack by tree
















Drew and snowflakes

















Drew and an ornament

















Jack and an ornament



If you really want to see my you can go to club photo and enter my email address (andy.mccullough@uscm.org) or you can go directly to this album, I think.