Every Sunday at camp we have swimchecks … and it’s always fun to try to make them do something dramatic on their way into the water. Oh, yeah!

“Here’s a hint I use when leaving on a big trip:
Enjoy the craziness, that’s half the fun!”

– Gracie, eighth grade

And indeed, it is crazy. There are so many details to finish in the next three days that I’m really starting to wonder if I’ll get it all done before my plane leaves for China!

Here we go …

“This is a beautiful, moving story by a writer who doesn’t get much attention, but is better at what he does than many of the ‘bestselling’ Christian writers in the marketplace.

A Lance Wubbels story always gives me the feeling I’ve learned something important, but haven’t been hit over the head learning it. Most of all, I just enjoy his characters and his stories.

If you like a good, wholesome story, this man delivers.”

– Amazon.com review of In the Shadow of a Secret, a Christian romance novel by Lance Wubbles

[Angry Sunset Revisited, by webel]

During the first week of camp this summer, this girl showed me this painting that her grandmother made. At first, it looked familiar … then I realized something sweet. It was a re-make of this photo that I took last summer at PVM!

A homeless man in Detroit recently found $21,000 worth of savings bonds in a trash can. Doing the seemingly unthinkable, he decided to turn them in to a homeless shelter, who tracked down the owner. Then, when the owner’s son gave him a mere $100 reward, generous strangers stepped up and gave him more than 4 thousand dollars to fuel his apartment search.

How crazy is that?

I’m going to resist posting one of those incredibly boring lists of tasks and items. Just believe me … the list is long. Banking stuff, mailing stuff, organizational stuff, packing stuff, goodbye stuff … yada yada yada. Emotionally, however, I’m ready. Bring it.

What to do when you’re hurt:

1. Get clear of the danger.
2. Stabilize the bleeding.
3. Seek trustworthy help.
4. Treat the wound.
5. Eliminate the danger for others.
6. Rest and pamper yourself a little.
7. Go back and conquer the fear.

Give Me Clarity
by Ben Hodges

I spend a lot of time asking my Father for clarity. Maybe its because this whole job is new to me. I have no doubt that He is OK with me asking for clarity about staffing issues, money, responding to problems (or opportunities for the optimists out there) - you get the point.

But, in all my searching to clear the air and see with eagle-eyed precision, I believe I have overlooked another important part of leading - trusting Dad where my vision is not so clear.

Maybe He does not always want to give me clarity. Maybe, at least for a while, he wants me to trust him even when I do not see where he is leading. Maybe sometimes, my lack of clarity is not sin, wrong priorities, busy-ness, lack of prayer. Maybe it is simply that occassionally clarity can be at odds with trust.

Mind you, these are not mutually exclusive goals. Often trust over time leads to clarity, and clarity can built trust. For me, I want to know now, not know sometime later, maybe. Trusting Him in the middle of my junk does not always mean that I will see it clearly later once I have learned the lesson or matured to the next level. Sometimes trust simply results in a greater capacity to trust. Sometimes, my trusting Him does nothing more than demonstrate that I believe His plans for me are good and that he is powerful enough to get me there.

Lately, I have been praying for Him to help me trust. I don’t like it. I would rather have clarity. But, I sense he is pleased with my request …

[Reprinted from 4cc, edited for ambiguity]

I just received the following email from my WorldTeach Program Manager:

Hi everyone,

We have recently received a request for another volunteer from Changsha Number One Middle School, the host school for the Field Director and the WorldTeach China office. We would really like to provide Changsha Number One with a third volunteer because they have been so generous to us in the past few years. Do any of you know someone who would like to join the China Program (in mid-August)? We’re getting close to the wire, so I think it might be easier to “recruit” from your group of volunteers. The school would prefer another male volunteer because this vol would be teaching at the new “boarding” campus of the school (located in a somewhat isolated area outside of the city). If you know of someone who may be interested, please let me know, and have him call the office or email me right away.

Thanks!
Nicole

Know anyone that’d be interested? It’d be a grand adventure …

[Showers of blessing, by webel]

Today was especially hot in southwest Ohio. So we invited the Camden Fire Department out to PVM to hose down the campers!

It was absolutely fantastic … there’s nothing quite as refreshing as a blast of water from a fire hose. And when the 30 minute downpour (or sidewayspour?) turned into a mudsliding session, I knew this day had become a PVM classic!

From now on, I’m going to remember to get in my sleeping bag before falling asleep in my tent. I just counted 83 bug bites on my body, mostly in the “warm” places.

[Liangang Middle School, by webel]

Jianhong, one of the students in the ESL class that I am helping with in Oxford, looked up the website of the middle school where I will be teaching next year in China.

Apparantly I was spelling the name of the school wrong … it’s Liangang Zhongxue (not Liangong). And from what Jianhong said, it is a very high-level school (it sends a lot of students to University each year).

I’ve posted a set of photos of the school, taken from the official website and optimized for your viewing pleasure! Isn’t it gorgeous?

The following post, which was originally published to webeldotnet over three years ago, gives some insight into the purpose and design of this website. I think now, as readership increases and my own personal interaction with friends and family decreases, would be a good time to bring these issues up again and re-clarify what this thing is all about.

The webeldotnet Philosophy
March 19th, 2003

I have noticed an interesting phenomenon: Whenever I have a lot of things to say, I’m usually too busy to get online and post them. Conversely, whenever I have enough time to post something on webeldotnet, I don’t have anything to say. Thus, this website is pretty much full of useless miscellaneous information. I guess that’s ok, and it somewhat caters to a really fun group of people. But I’ve noticed that whenever I publish something remotely substantial or thought-provoking, it tends to attract much better interaction and much more interesting comments. Good thing I’m not doing this for the crowd, eh?

Actually, that brings up an issue I’d like to mention: the philosophy behind this blog. I think it’s pretty important to explicitly state why my website is out here and organized the way it is. Believe it or not, there is a rhyme and a reason behind it. If that philosophy is unstated, however, it can definately lead to problems … even in real life (I’ve experienced that a little lately). I want my purpose to be clear. So here goes:

1. webeldotnet is an organic expression through an emerging medium. It seeks to change and grow as a reflection of its creator (that’s me!). Because of this, all sorts of content may arise … random thoughts, deep introspections, surreal graphics, hilarious photos, moments of truth, communications with the Giver of Life, links to other interesting websites, and situational ironies. It’s dynamic. It’s organic.

2. Moreover, comments, links, and interaction on webeldotnet are just like a patchwork quilt; they usually point to a larger community, a collection of other people (just like me … I’m a collaborative work by the people around me). You are an important part of this, whether you contribute or just eavesdrop (there’s nothing wrong with that).
3. Interestingly, this website seeks to take advantage of the medium of cyberspace by connecting people, spanning global issues, and connecting worlds that would otherwise remain compartmentalized. I have been blessed to know and understand a variety of different worldviews and lifestyles, and those people deserve to be enriched by each other. A blog, at its best, is simply a conversation.
4. In some respects, webeldotnet is a unique opportunity to generalize (to learn something outside the learning environment). For instance, I can reinforce items that I teach in my classroom by the things that I post here and the ways that I post those things. I can also gain accountability for my thoughts and actions by being completely honest and transparent here (a type of generalization for myself). Additionally, this website allows other people (campers, family, friends, students, etc) to give input and interact where they would not otherwise get the opportunity.
5. Finally, this is a humble pursuit. It is not a priority of mine nor does it claim to be complete or without fault. webeldotnet is merely a reservoir of glances into my heart, mind, and soul (and consequently a glance into those of the people around me).

So that’s it. It’s not a comprehensive or exhaustive philosophy, but hopefully it’s a little clarifying and perhaps even thought-provoking. Has it provoked any thoughts?

“I know television is a medium, because it is neither rare nor well done.”

– Ernie Kovacs [via Travis]