Simple little bonfire.

Thank you Pastor Dan.
You have no idea how much you stoked the flicker of a flame that lies within. I'm in LOVE with tonight's message. It struck a nerve with me. God showed up tonight. I was taking notes like crazy! I don't even know what I wrote at one point!! I looked down and I was taking notes for wave 4 at the Manor. I have been wanting to get out of the shelter to confine ourselves to the Manor and seek those that have a greater need.

Tonight was convicting. To BBQ like we do is S I M P L E! Too easy. I have almost everything to make this happen. I know the routine. It's hamburgers in 2 weeks at the Manor. This isn't getting old. It's necessary. It easy. It's simple. It's meat. Buns. Chips. Salsa. Cookies. Drinks. And easy details. I'd love for you all to be there again. December 13th at Noon. Rain, snow or sunshine. It's on, again. I'm going to talk with the Director at the Rescue Mission and maybe post a flier.

This is two fold. Getting the people to show up for food is easy. I want our church to meet needs. You'll know it when you see it. You can get a feel for what these people really need. Ask where they live. Get names. They'll tell you they live on the streets. They aren't shy (for the most part). I want this to be a stepping stone to the next level. To reach those in need who really need it.

My Christmas Plans.
Part 1:
I'll probably re-post this as Christmas approaches.
On Christmas Eve, my family (and whoever else wants to join in) will deliver plates of homemade cookies to every room (about 30) on Christmas Eve morning, with an invitation to the Christmas Eve Service at Cascade Theater. I wish we could make it seem like it was a reservation and that we were saving some rows just for them. (Not in my power to do so).
Part 2:
I planned this weeks ago with my wife. We are planning to obtain gifts for the children residing in the manor. I have a great start already and resources to press on. The manager at the Manor will give me a head count as the date approaches. Then Christmas morning, very early we will bring them all gifts. Just the kids, so far. God knows we don't need more junk. In fact, we're making gifts for every body this year that we can.

So do you see why tonight's message rang loud and clear for me tonight? Crazy! Hurry up and post the Podcast!!

Ugh. I might as well make this the longest post ever for me. I'm also thinking of starting a SIMPLE Life Group. To be comprised of people who want to reach out to the homeless on different nights. To help those who hold up the cardboard signs. Maybe visit the Manor to ask how we can help those turned away because they are full. Ahh, the details are slim. This isn't a sit in a couch and drink coffee with me as we pray Life Group. This is hands on doing God's work on a more steady basis. Sketchy details, but that's the jist of it. Jist. Silly word. And it's late and I'm cold.

John 15: 12-17 NKJV

This has become my new favorite passage.
Thought I would share:

12 This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.
13 Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.
14 You are My friends if you do whatever I command you.
15 No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you.
16 You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you. 17 These things I command you, that you love one another.

Country Organics

Our friends Bob and Mandy Edmondson own a wonderful little business called Country Organics.

Basically, it is USDA Certified Organic Produced DELIVERED to your door step. Every week the menu changes, according to the seasons. The produce is mostly from local farmers. There are several options to choose from as well.

Here is their web site http://www.countryorganics.net/

Check them out! Seriously! Tell them Chris and Cassie Cable sent you. Maybe they'll throw in an extra potato.

The Randy Miller Story

Google Randy Miller Myriad and see what happens.

You will learn the seriousness of my friends situation.

Pray with us that it is God's will for Him to heal Randy, please.

Emptied

My mind is numb. Like all this energy was released and I'm done. I want energy concentrated directly inward. I have only enough for myself. Like I am on recharge mode. All I want is to get back in the gym, start running again, stop buying beer, start eating right, focus on my family and job, and these priorities are NOT in the correct order, sorry.

I let myself down. I expect bigger things from myself. I guess I'm learning. I'll be in hibernation until God stirs my heart again. I hope it's soon.

Manor Mission Aftermath

Thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you.
Thank you Stirring, Bridge, Cassie, Joel, Tim, Brenda, Kristyn, Mary, Amy, Jeremy, Meghan, Jeremy, Christal, Annie, Meegan, Jimmy and family (sorry for the mix up, you guys are amazing), Gafners, Leslie, grrr, there's more I know it, sorry if I missed you. There were so many to help it blew me away and I lost count.

Those that couldn't make it, we had plenty of soup and sent some home as left overs. We had plenty of clothes that were picked threw. There were virtually no baby clothes left over! All baby clothes went to a good home.

I'm whipped, tired, hungry, exhausted, thirsty...and I have no idea where my family is.

Also, more than half the people that showed up were people living on the streets. We made new friends. We invited every one of them to church. We handed out toys to the kids. It was a great time and I am ready to pull off another feed. I'm getting the hang of this now and know what to expect.

Anyways, enjoy the pictures...

Anybody else see this?

MSM Update

Yes, we have a ton of soup.
Keep it coming. If the Lord prompts you to bring something else, then do that. I love the fact that we have 12 batches of soup coming. And salad and bread and desserts and bibles and jackets and toys and clothes and LOVE.
It's gonna be awesome.

We have plenty of folding tables. Plenty of outside chairs.

I'm bringing giant zip lock baggies for left overs. left over soups, desserts, bread, whatever. That might store temporary just fine for them.

Also, still pray for healing for Randy Miller.

Also, if anybody reading this knows of somebody in our church body that needs a hand up, please let me know, let us know, in private, we all have a giving and helping heart and don't want to over look our immediate family.

See you all Saturday.

Pray NOW!

Pray for my friend Randy Miller. He has many needs right NOW.
Pray that God would take the hospital bills that are about to come.
Pray that God would do a miracle in healing his body.
Pray that God would spare the children from cancer too.
Pray for Kristyn's strength, again.

My friend Randy. Is he a rock star? According to my kids. Is he a man of his word? More than you know. Is he a hard worker? Damn well better believe it!! He's one of God's Warriors just getting ready for battle! He's not a pawn in the battle. He's been chosen. He's one of the 300, marching out to battle to kick ass. He's one of God's secret weapons hiding in the ambush waiting for the signal to attack the enemy. He's a family man. He's kids love him. His wife loves him. He's like a brother to me. I love this guy. He's the guy I sit next to at the pool while we throw back a few beers ,the guy I play the new video game with, the guy I watch the new DVD release that our wives don't want to watch, the man that joins me for an occasional bible study. The guy that put together an awesome family. We share so many similarities and this whole thing sucks!Pray Pray Pray!

The Mission

Really?

Did this just happen?

Ok, well, we now have 15 pots of soup......

Enough to feed...all downtown.

There will be left overs. Looking for something to bring still? Here's an idea. Microwave safe bowls with lids for the left over soup. Smaller in size...Wow is God in control. He wants us to feed his people. The masses will show up. We will stay until the soup runs out. I know people that have moved out of the manor who could use a warm meal. Saturday, I have no plans but to worship God through serving...how about you. ready? Me too.

I have actually lost count of what people are bringing. I'm stoked about the 2 boxes of jackets the Bridge dropped off. They are SWEET! Better than jackets that I own. So we need to find these jackets a good home. I dropped off fliers at the Manor after church Sunday morning. So the buzz around the manor is talk of us showing up again. They have no idea what they are in for. Do you?

Soup. Bread. Salad. Jackets. Beanies. Toys. Juice. Bibles. GOD! He provides, through you.

Can you tell I'm blown away? Blown away from the response by God's people. How did we get to this point? How did it get this big? I saw this as a mission that my family would tackle, now 2 churches responded. It's hard for me to put into words how big a deal this is to me.

Thank you. To everyone contributing. I can't wait. I have no idea what God has planned for us.

B.W.G.

What does it stand for? I call them....reinforcements. God sent. Angels doing God's work. My kind of people. Warm-hearted. ....friends.

The List: UPDATED 11.20.08

I'll re-post this entry often. Here is the list of what is coming and what is needed.

Costco Items: The Lord will provide. The Stirring will pitch in in fulfilling the list and Cassie and I will get anything left off.

Homemade Meals:
Brenda Scarbrough: Giant pot of Soup, stove & canopy
Annie: Giant pot of soup and brownies.
Kristyn Miller: cookies, ice chest and ice, chairs and tables.
Amy Coverdale: Giant pot of soup, cookies, stove, canopy, CIDER PROPS??
Mary: Bibles.
Christal: Cookies?
Chris & Cassie: Soup and Bread.
Kristen: Giant pot of Soup.
Sean Gaffner: Pot of Super Soup...maybe some bread.
Jenni R.: Soup, cookies, and helping
Ryan Family: Soup and helping
Rachel B.: Helping
Robin M.: Soup, bread, and cookies
Leslie B.: Bread
Kim P.: Soup
Jamie L.: Soup, desert, and help
Joel and Leslie: Soup, Desert and help



Pots of Soup so far: 12!!
Loaves of bread: tons
Dessert trays: is there ever enough dessert?

UPDATE: Not doing hot dogs anymore. We have a ton of soup and bread and salad and....bring your side dishes. do it. do it.

Also, this is for everybody. Start digging out the old winter clothes that you don't plan on wearing this year, bring those to give away. Seriously. These people flat hammered the 6 bags of clothes that showed up last time.
Brad, bring what games you had last time. That was awesome. I'd love it if you guys were there again.
Everybody else, just show up anyways to hang out. You'll love it. I promise. The manager is beyond stoked to hear we are coming again.

Just wait till Christmas time. It gets better. I'll tell you more next week.

Every Time!

I was waiting and expecting Satan to attack. He did. It's hard to ignore this time. It's affecting me in large ways causing me to lose focus of everything. I have to train myself to look away. I can't say too much more.
I'm still pressing on with this. Satan already lost when he first attacked telling me I can't do this. Because when I'm told I can't do something, I strive to do it even more to prove them wrong, even if it means breaking me.
It's dark outside with the moon providing light, I love it, for now.

I know I can't do this on my own strength as much as I think I can.

Overwhelming Thoughts

Satan wants me to type an entry tonight to tell you of my discouragement. I'm not taking that route tonight. I know the support I have from my friends to continue on the path I am. I've even obtained encouragement in little ways from my peers at work.

I can't rest tonight until I've made peace with myself and my ministry. I know that I am not in this alone. I know who supports me.

The date approaches fast. I'm ready NOW!! I want it to happen sooner than I planned! I'm jumping out of my skin. This is so frustrating to have to wait.

You know those nozzles you buy for your garden hose that dials in different sprays like: mist, shower, cone, flat, full, stream...? My favorite setting is stream. It's a constant concentrated force of water that gets to work with high pressure. That's how I feel!! Except the dial says: Ministry stream, work stream, daddy stream, friend stream, husband stream. The stupid dial is stuck on ministry stream. I can force it back in any direction, but it's just that, I have to force it. Also, my metaphors suck after beers and exhaustion. I blame the beers tonight. Probably not a good blog entry.

“We must serve or we die.”

This is from Our Daily Bread from last Thursday. It ROCKED me to the Core like never before.
Enjoy.

November 6, 2008

Serve Or Die

Dr. Paul Brand told me of a memorable Frenchman named Pierre, who had served in Parliament until he became disillusioned with the slow pace of political change. During a harsh winter, many Parisian beggars froze to death. In desperation, Pierre became a friar to work among them and organize the beggars themselves.

They divided into teams to scour the city for bottles. Next, he led them to build a warehouse out of discarded bricks and start a business processing the bottles. Finally, he gave each beggar responsibility to help another poorer than himself. The project caught on. In a few years he founded the charitable organization Emmaus.

Eventually, there were few beggars to be found in Paris. So Pierre went to India. “If I don’t find people worse off than my beggars,” he said, “this movement could turn inward. They’ll become a powerful, rich organization, and the whole spiritual impact will be lost. They’ll have no one to serve.”

At a leprosy colony in India, Pierre met patients worse off than his former beggars. Returning to France, he mobilized the beggars to build a leprosy ward at a hospital in India.

“It is you who have saved us,” he told the grateful patients. “We must serve or we die.” — Philip Yancey

THINKING IT THROUGH
In Mark 10:35-37, what did James and John seek?
What did Jesus say about the world’s authority? (v.42).
How are followers of Christ to be different? (vv.43-45).

If you want a field of service, look around you.

http://www.rbc.org/devotionals/our-daily-bread/2008/11/06/devotion.aspx

MSM Menu

Here is an update for our MSM Mission Trip.
For those of you that don't know, this will be our second time serving the MSManor lunch within a month.
Our last lunch went really well. We want to keep it going, even with the cold weather.

Date: Saturday November 22, 2008 at 12:00.

We sat down and made a list of what needs to happen to pull off the next MSM Lunch.

Here's the menu:
-Hearty Soups or Stew
-Homemade Bread (who has a bread machine?)
-Salad Mix
-Hot Dogs (for the wanderers off the street, the kids and just because I don't think we'll have enough soup).
-Hot Cider
-Juice boxes and waters

Here's a list of the hard stuff I need:
-At least 5 Soups or Stew. (I'm making Turkey Barley Soup, make the largest batch you can to fit the largest pot you have). Brenda, Kristyn, Annie?
-Homemade Bread 5, (I'll bring 2 Tomato Basil batches from Moore's Flour Mill). Brenda?
-Homemade desserts. (Cookies, Brownies) Christal, Annie, Kristyn
-Hot Cider: Cassie is going to see how we can pull this off.
-2 Pop-up Canopy's, ...Scarbrough's
-Camping Stoves w/ Propane bottles. Scarbrough's
-giant ice chest with ice...Kristyn?

Here is a list of the easy stuff from Costco:
-Paper Plates, sturdy
-Disposable soup bowls, sturdy
-Spoons
-Water Bottles
-Juices Boxes
-Hot Dogs and buns: Casper's Hot Dogs (I still have plenty of mustard and ketchup).
-Giant Salad Mix
-Ranch

So if anything jumps out at you to provide ANYTHING from this list, let me know. If you can provide, but can't be there to serve, let me know. If you just want to be a part of this wonderful experience regardless, just show up.

Everybody eat before you come!

Also! We are going to get a head count with the managers help, I hope. We (Cassie and I) are planning to show up Christmas morning with toys for the kids. I'm thinking easy stuff, in fact, I've already found stuff. And also, gloves, scarfs, stocking hats, socks. This can all be done under $10 per kid. We do it every year with Samaritans Purse. Also we were thinking of making single plates of cinnamon rolls, hot and gooey, delivered to their doors. This CAN be done and has no reason for it not to, it's too easy.
I haven't ever done this before, it breaks family tradition, but why not start a new one?
I kinda remember Cassie's family delivering Hoska's to a certain pastors home every year, on Christmas morning! Wow! That's it! We'll make Hoska, slice it up, and bring that! What's Hoska? I have no idea, I don't like it. Ask Cassie. or Nate. or Meagan. or Erica.

I'll be thinking on this one. Cinnamon Rolls, hot and gooey or dry Hoska with almonds and cherries.
This blog got out of hand but I had to throw it up quick after posting the winter ale post. I should proof read this.... crap, why is it so long?..........that's what she said.

Winter Ale

Time to take a break. See this? This is how I take a break. It takes me 2 weeks to finish off a six pack, but oh man is this stuff good. So if you enjoy the OCCASIONAL beer like I do, this is the stuff.

Response.

So I guess from the phone calls and comments my latest post generated we need to pull this off after all. I have to tell you, it's so easy to ignore God's calling this time of year. Go out into the cold and serve? There's nothing in it for me but stress. Up to the moment it happens, then the overwhelming feeling of 'I did something to affect the lives 100 people in 1 hour.' I'd like to think that they would remember us. Is this what Jesus would do? I hope so. So since I can't create food out of nothing, I guess I'll use the tools given to me. (Internet and blogging).

Here's what I imagine:
A cold November day, weekend before Thanksgiving, Nov. 22nd. There, nailed a date. 12pm.
We'll need pop up canopy's.
Homemade special meals (help me out here): What do you guys cook? I was planning to make a HUGE pot of hearty homemade soup and fresh baked bread.

It will we be cold. The menu is Soup, not chicken broth, I'm talking man's soup, stew, with red meat in it, venison, poultry, cow,pig, bring it! Crap. I'm hungry for soup now.

So. Anybody down with making an enormous batch of homemade soup?
Fresh baked bread.
I have 2 camping stoves to keep things hot.
Might need a couple more.

Well, I've got some more insight on things. I started this post last night, then left it before I posted it. It's morning now. As I was reading devotions before work, God spoke again. God told me to bring the soup. But also to load up hot dogs again to feed the multitudes that will wander in from off the street. We ran out last time as people were showing up from far away.
So soup for those that want to stay and chat and hot dogs for the kids & the homeless looking for a meal.

So here we go round 2. Hot dogs and STEW. You know the drill. I'll post a list later this week.
Also I'm going to pass out fliers several weeks prior to us showing up. I bet more will show up then.
Also, I'm not going to promise myself something larger than I can handle on my own. I know I have support from friends, but I have to look at this as something I know I can pull off on my own. Your help makes it that much easier.

This will be a chance to get to know our new friends a little better. In December I plan to show up around Christmas, maybe even Christmas morning, with toys for the kids. Not just random toys, but necessities that will touch their hearts. I'm thinking small right now, for the kids sake. I know the parents would find pleasure that their kids were able to get a gift on Christmas. So this next meal will be a time to get to know these people. Find out their ages, names, desires. It would be great if we could supply Bibles to the kids also. You never know.

I need to end this longest blog entry ever sometime. How about, now.

Listening.

This week I heard God whisper to me throughout the weekend. Nothing makes sense yet. I don't want to interpret what I want it to be, but rather what God wants it to be. I need more details figured out.
I was rockin the BBQ this weekend cooking turkey burgers with homegrown veggies, killer. As I opened the grill and fired it up, it made an awesome an empowering instant heat action. Instantly God said "Chris!! YOU are going to HAVE to go back and feed those people (MSM residents) because nobody else will."
Well crap.
So I have been waiting for this obvious nudge and here it is I guess. I don't know any more details. I'm still trying to make sense of it. It's pretty vague to me still. I'm going to surround myself in friends that want to make this journey with me. I envision it being cold, maybe wet, but also loaded with piping hot food. I'm thinking soups, homemade bread, homemade dishes, like a potluck, except we are bringing the food for them. I can't wrap my brain around it right now. I need to get back to working.
Who wants to join me?
You KNOW I am serious!
No waiting to the last minute this time.
I'm thinking the weekend before Thanksgiving.
Also, God told me I am putting together a list of people in the Manor that we can buy Christmas gifts for. I don't know more than that. Like shoeboxes, only toned down a bit. I'd ask 'why me God' but I already know the answer.

Because I love it.

Update

Sorry I have been not blogging lately. With summer gone, so is my extra energy. I'm nursing a head ache this morning. I'm not really looking forward to tonight, at all. I just want it to be over with in fact. Anyways.
What's new? Well I took the kids out yesterday in an absolute downpour to shop. We priced out supplies to build a chicken coop. It looks doable except for the roof. I have no clue how to build the roof.
We shopped for Jakes rainboots at about 8 different stores. Nobody had any. I was boycotting going to Walmart and that's where we found them. Stupid Walmart.

I hate when I have like 6 different unfinished projects and no time (sunlight) to finish them in.
I need a guy day to unwind, then I feel guilty and would actually WANT to get chores done. How's that for honesty. sheesh. no substance today. .....and the coffee pot is empty. crap.