Romans 12:2

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Friday, August 7, 2020

Hebrew 3:4 For Every House is Built by Someone, But God is The Builder of Everything

 Happy birthday to my dad! He is the strongest, hardest working man I’ve ever known. And I don’t just mean physically, I also mean spiritually. He gets up and is in the word every day seeking to know more about Jesus and becoming more like him. I was able to witness first hand the amazing transformation as he went from just working hard every day to provide for his family, to experiencing God in a deeply personal way, and starting to work hard every day to build up THE kingdom and bring anyone and everyone with him!  


Chuck, I’ve never had a better cheerleader than you. Growing up I truly believed I could “do” or be anything I wanted to because you told me on a regular basis that I could. You taught me mental toughness too and how important having a positive mindset is in being successful at anything we do. But in my adult years, you’ve shown me how important prayer is, and that we should “...not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap if we do not give up.”
‭‭Galatians‬ ‭6:9‬ ‭ESV‬‬ I remember hearing one time someone came and asked you for prayer for a family member and you were on a ladder and started to come down the ladder and removing your tool belt and the guy was like “well I didn’t mean right now!” I love how willing you are to step in and pray for whoever, where ever, whenever and the same goes for caring for people's needs of any kind. You will do whatever it takes to take care of those around you. 

Thanks for instilling in me a competitive spirit, as competition pushes us to be our best. Thanks for teaching me how to work hard, so that I can play hard too. Thanks for teaching me how to ride and care for ponies (and all animals for that matter), as they give us a deeper connection with God’s creation. Thanks for showing me how to keep showing up every day, even when I’m not “feeling it” (i.e. peewee rodeo when I’m puking my guts out showed me that I can push through even on my worst days). Thanks for making me feel protected always, I’ve always known you would pull me out of a burning building if you had to, and now I know I’m covered in prayer in anything I do. Thanks for showing me that life is fun and meant to be enjoyed, I grew up with the best memories and people. And there is so much more I am thankful for but that list is just too long... 

Thanks for the way you encourage and build me up and push me to keep growing in my faith as well as in life. The two are not separate and you walk that out well. Keep that fire burning Chuck! I love watching the way you humbly seek the Lord and desire to follow him and make Him famous in all the earth! Thanks for being my daddy-o and now Grampy to the wildest bunch of women. We adore you and I am thankful that you’ve always been “my hero”.

I u! 







Dad, 

One of the most impactful stories to me in the Bible only occupies a few short lines, but it resonates deeply with me and never fails to bring me to the brink of tears. At the end of King David’s life, he calls Solomon and gives him his last words of advice. He tells Solomon, “Be strong, and show yourself a man, and keep the charge of the Lord your God…” (1 Kings 2:2-3). David, a warrior among warriors, and a man of immense virtue, character, and strength, tells his son, and soon-to-be successor, that he must be strong and show himself to be a man. I am sure that once Solomon succeeded to the throne, and over the course of his long reign, the sound of his father’s advice echoed in his mind: “Be strong, and show yourself a man.” I would also venture to guess that when Solomon found himself trying to live according to his father’s advice, he pictured his father as the best example of what it looks like to be strong and be a man. In times when his leadership was tested, when he felt the pressures of building God’s Temple, and in the moments when the crisis would reach him at home and on the throne, I am sure that he asked himself, “What would my father have done?”, and then tried living according to the character of David. 

Throughout the course of my own journey as an adult, I feel both motivated and encouraged by David’s words to “Be strong” and show myself to be a man by living out the charge of the Lord. When I want to quite, lie down, retreat, or surrender, I find the words of David echoing in my mind and challenging me to bear down, be tough, and continue to move forward. Unlike Solomon, however, I do not think, “What would David do?”, and neither do I envision him as the example of manhood and strength. When I try to think of how a man among men acts and who embodies strength, endurance, character, patience, and toughness, I think of you. Whenever I read David’s words to “Be strong, and show yourself a man, and keep the charge of the Lord your God” the advice comes off the page in your voice. You have shown, and continue to show, me what it looks like for a man of God to live in this world and I never fail to feel challenged to be more like you whenever I feel the temptation to be weak and give up. Truly, you are a man among men. You are confident, tough, smart, bold, strong, courageous, and you endure the throes of life with a disciplined and ever constant and sure step forward. You navigate the chaotic labyrinth of life with a sober intensity that all those around you gravitate toward when they themselves are feeling unsure or frightened. You have also cultivated and continue to grow in the Christian virtues of gentleness, faith(fulness), kindness, forgiveness, and love—the greatest of which is love (1 Cor. 13:13).

In all these ways, do I think you not only surpass David as a man, but I think you exemplify the most characteristic attitudes of Christ himself. You endure where all others fall away. You approach the challenge of sacrifice for your family and friends with the type of bold determination that is consonant with Christ’s own determination upon leaving Gethsemane, and while before the judgment of the high priest and Pilot, or on the road to Golgatha. Christ left this world with the exclamation that “It is finished!” (John 19:30). And you exemplify Christ’s own character through your discipline to always finish, even though the task is arduous, difficult, or daunting. You also instill this within your children, which is one of the greatest gifts in discipleship you could ever give. 

Happy birthday! And know that Christ’s image is borne through your steadfast love and discipline to endure. The strength of Christ’s will to finish the call before him resonates through you as you determine to finish the task before you of being a provider, husband, brother, son, father, and grandfather. You are running the race well, and you have many eyes on you that are following after you (e.g. me, Luke, Mik, and Reece) and I am of the utmost confidence that you will continue to run well (cf. Heb. 12:1-3). Continue to be strong and show yourself a man by keeping the charge of the Lord your God, and we will all continue to look to you for help and guidance when we feel weak and worthless. 


Love, Your son and forever little buddy, Kole

Happy happy birthday to the coolest dad and Grampy that ever lived! I’m so thankful that God blessed me with a father like you. 
Dad, you’re the perfect example of someone who practices what they preach.  You completely follow through with what you set out to do and it’s admirable to watch. You’re the most honest man in the world who never takes short cuts and your perfectionism is something I wish the world had a little more of. 
You might not be slow to anger but you’re also not slow to cheer on, pick up, invite, give or help. Your hardworking mentality applies to every aspect of your life and you give it your all no matter what that moment brings- even if it’s corn hole. That’s another trait I wish the world had a little bit more of. 
And oh Chucko are you compassionate! It’s hard to see past the rough and tough cowboy but it shows itself. You care about God's creations. I’ve seen you go above and beyond for strangers in need and even animals with a rough start. You have the perfect combination of a listening ear and doing heart.

I always and forever will be so proud to be your daughter. And thank you for being such a fun Grampy! We love you and happy birthday!



Dad is not the architect he is the builder. A builder that will follow The Architect's perfect plan as best and as close to square as possible even if he doesn’t fully understand the scope or end product. Dad does this by building relationships connections people and his children up. Thank you dad happy birthday.  Love, Doofy



Happy birthday, Dad. You are turning into an old man, with a lot of gray hairs and I know I am the cause for a couple of those but not as much as my other siblings. HAHAHA. Thank you for always being there for all of us and giving me advice when I think I know what I am doing. And thank you for an example of how to be a dad, to want to better be every day. In everything, at school, at home, and knowing God better.. you always give everything in whatever you do, your famous saying is “Don't be average today”. And you aren’t average any day in everything you do, at work or in the morning when you spend your time with God. Thank you for always being there at my games cheering me on, sometimes saying the wrong stuff at my basketball games but I always knew you were there watching me play football or basketball. You are our number 1 fan, actually anyone you know you are their fan, you always want the best for everyone no matter how that would affect you. That comes from your relationship with Jesus that you have, giving up everything for your kids like he did. You are a great dad, thank you for everything you have done and we’ll do, and thank you for praying over Me. I wish u the best of best cake day.. love you, Dad, thank u again.. from the best son out of the 5.  The Peak.





Dad, I love how you are not only a Carpenter of buildings but also a builder of relationships with God. One of the ways that you have built a relationship for me and God is how you always let me do activities for and with the church. you also have always taught me to go to God and not only the hard times but also the good times.

Love Reece.B


Thank you Daddy for all you do. You are a kingdom Builder you build love you  build houses you raise kids and still have time for Jesus and everything else do you have going on you still Keep Us Alive  you got us a dog from work by Talking to Jesus and you send us verses to every single one of us every day and I don't even think you've ever been late for work  hardly, In fact, I don't think you have loved Jesus from one to fifty-seven after many moms you are still in  one of the best relationships with Jesus and the holy spirit and just so you know you are  hilarious you are very Godly  you Toughen us up every day you pick me up by my ponytail And  you sign the boys up for a sport every month wow and your fifty-seven you only have a few more years Old manπŸ‘΄πŸ‘΄πŸ‘΄  Happy Birthday πŸŽ‚ 



I love you Daddy you are the best you are in my heart forever and so is God and I wish you can always be here Thank you for making awesome houses. Love, Cellie


I wish I could get the right words to wish you a happy birthday dad, I thank God for your life. You are one of the strongest people that I know in this world with a soft, loving, caring heart. You have sacrificed so much for us your children. You have always provided for us and we have never lacked. I just want to celebrate you today by saying thank you so much for everything that you are doing for us and I want to let you know that you not only build beautiful houses, but you have also built a great generation all over the world that is going to carry your legacy on. May the coming years of your life be filled with unlimited happiness and joys. I love you to infinity and beyond. Happy birthday to the most amazing dad ever!   
Hello Dad

Hope this finds you well. On your special day, I would love to share a special part of my life with you because you are a special person in very many special ways to my life.

I sat one day with my mom( the woman that fed me right from my early birth when my biological mother wasn’t there). I asked her to tell me a small part of my early childhood. She told me a story that was told to her by my biological mom. My biological mom became pregnant at her young age and she never showed up with the person responsible for her pregnancy. When her dad(my grandfather) saw her pregnant, she sent her away from home and never allowed her to come back to his home. She was told that she was carrying a ‘Bastard’ child. Why would you tell your daughter such a word? If he was still here or I knew him, I would have reminded him now of how he treated me even when I was still in my womb and how God is the creator and designer of our lives.

  The stories that happened are for some other time. All I wanted to draw at is that I never had that privilege of a dad’s warmth, a dad’s love at an early age. There was no dad to hold my hand and take me to school, we had school visitations and I saw all dads coming to visit their kids while I was looking through the metallic windows of our class; sadness, lonely and a spirit of not belonging anywhere used to lead me then. Sometimes you would sit and ask yourself, why on earth would everything happen to someone like me. Why not have a father, a boy, it’s good to grow up knowing that you have a dad out there who will reach out to you but I had none. 

Then several years down the road, after my primary seven completion, God heard my cries, God had my prayers and God said ‘ I am the creator and giver of everything, I am the greatest father and I am here to love you. I may not be there but I will send someone’

Who would God send? And who would go? 

God sent you dad. You came in and made a good out of the bad, you owned the disowned, loved the unloved, and hugged the unhugged. You became a dad to a fatherless child. You didn’t know me, neither did you know my story but cherished and loved me as I was. My own grandfather never loved me and actually called me ‘bastard child’, he disowned his blood but you can from miles, crossed borders, and came and gave me God’s unending love. The first time I was in a father's arms was when you hugged me and held me tight in your arms. The only time I ever saw a father’s smile was when you smiled at me. The first time I got anything from a dad was when you brought me a ball and playing boots while I was at school. 

Your love and tenderness make me feel safe. The only past stories of my life do not scare me anymore because I have a father who loves me. Someone I can proudly call Dad. Thank you for loving me, for advising me, for supporting me, for everything you have gone through to amen a life for me and my family. I know you go through trial and error but you never stop trying because you always want your children to have the best. Thank you for always inspiring me. Your sacrifices are together loved and appreciated. There are lots of sacrifices you have made so that you can create a life for me personally and money other children of the world. What you do to one is seen being done to so many people. The support and care you gave to me is a foundation for so many other children in the world. The entire statement I would use is “you have lived your life for the well being of others”

 And patience, strength, hardworking, and devotion will always be with us. It will be in our hearts forever, learning us in all we do in life and it will take us to new heights, igniting fierce courage and integrity. I still look up in the eyes and see all the love you carry and ask myself how I got so lucky.

You are the dad chosen for me

Someone that was chosen for me

My greatest blessing

Enjoy your day knowing that someone here loves you and prays for you

Love you

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DAD. 



Friday, November 15, 2019

Summing Up Team Zero and 10 Years of Blogging!

I have been a blogger for 10 years!!!  I am closing this chapter and this blog after this post.  I love to write.  It is my way of processing and journaling for the last 10 years.  Writing words is super important and meaningful to me, so I'm not done writing, I'm just done writing here.  Praying for direction on the next writing space.   This blog has served as a family journal of sorts as well, but now I have chatbooks that showup from Insta so I'm rolling with the times.  :)  



I thought summing up our Team Zero trip would be a good post to close this blogging journey with.  I have tried at least a dozen times to find the words to capture the heart of this trip.  My words seem limited and confined in this particular case, in relation to what is going on in my heart, and yet words are often the release and outlet that gives direction to the stirring that is going on in my heart.





I will try to "sum" up as best I can, the Team Zero trip and close out this blog with what I feel God has restarted in my heart. 

 God birthed in our family thru our firstborn, Lashae, a heart for missions and for the nations to share in the love of Jesus all over the world, not just in our world.  This new and burning passion started in her 10 years ago.  It caught on like fire in all our hearts very quickly and it has changed everything about how we handled our lives.  Our love for Jesus expanded as He expanded our territory and we stepped further and further out of our comfort zones.

Team Zero Trip brought some 10-year markers that closed some chapters and marked the beginning of some new books. We celebrated the accomplishment of almost 10 years of education for our son Andule Simon and we enjoyed the talents and gifts of our other son, his brother, Patrick Brewer, as his team, Joyful Hearts, put together the entire celebration.    I kept feeling like God was turning the page, and we get to continue this journey with these sons,  but it is going to look different now. 
Charlie met these boys at a VBS that they taught on his and Lashae's first trip to Uganda.  It was a mission trip led by Justin Vaughan, our brother in law, and we sat right on those same grounds and celebrated all that God has done over the last 10 years.  We sat and celebrated with the Elders and children of this village and gave all the praise and glory to God.

Also on this trip as only our gracious God does, He had planned before any of us were born that on our Team Zero Trip, I would hold in my arms this new precious life that carries my name and heart in Uganda.  As I sat holding Baby Jenay I knew that no matter what season of life I am in, or what part of the journey I am traveling, Jenay is living and growing and thriving in Uganda, and that rocks my world in a way I can't seem to get over. 

Team Zero Trip grew my love and passion for Jesus, The Church, and His Body in a deeper way.  Leading up to the trip God had us pull back from any sort of role in organized "ministry" and as a result, he has sunk us deeper and deeper into personal relationships and people's lives that are living testimonies that are walking and talking ministries for Him.  We connected with The Body in personal and life-changing relationships and encounters. I believe the Body of Christ as a whole is more connected than ever from all over the globe.  We can be connected on a regular basis with the touch of a screen, but it is also uncoordinated and messier than ever.  I reminds me of a puppy who grows faster than it can gather up those growing parts to do what is eventually smooth and natural-looking.  


Team Zero's mission was to come alongside people that are doing what God has called them to, we encouraged, we cheered, we supported and preach and prayed.  We enjoyed the fruit of what God is doing in and thru his people.  We were in awe of the love and the joy and we received more than we could ever give.  We learned more than we could ever teach.  We were blessed more than we blessed.  I learned we can't rush healthy growth and delicious fruit.  We can't throw enough effort or money at anything to make it grow faster.  Godly growth and juicy fruit are what happens over time, over conversations, over meals, over communing together in good times and hard times.


  



Having looked back over 10 years, it's a lot of years and a lot of mistakes and a lot of grace, a lot of love and forgiveness, and praises and prayers that got us to a Team Zero Trip.  It's all because of the ONE we serve that we get back to  ZERO!  I can't wait to see what God is doing with nothing we have to offer, because last time I checked he makes pretty amazing things out of ZERO to start with.



Friday, September 13, 2019

Defining "Terms"


I have read and listened about how short-term missions are bad – no, they are good and often lead to long-term. Long – term missions are the way to GO, as long as it’s not too long and burnout happens.  How do we even define long and short – term, I mean, oftentimes short-term missions is a long-term relationship and you go back so many times.  I have read and experienced that adoption is good, it makes a family, no, it tears families apart.  Ministry is good, energizing and gives purpose; no it’s bad and painful and wears a person out.
I can find articles and data to support and criticize all of it, no matter which way or how far you GO or don’t GO. 

  

Here’s my point:
There is no formula!  There is only the greatest and second greatest commandment! 

Matthew 22:37-39  (NLT)

37 Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’


If what we are doing and where we are going helps us to live the greatest commandment in a bigger and better way, we are doing it right whatever the "terms".



 The only "term" is Love God and Love People.

In all this loving we are doing we only have to remember that Jesus has ONE Bride, ONE Body, ONE Church (which is all the same thing said in different ways).
Kinda like Charlie calls me wife, girlfriend, and mother of his children.
Jesus is not a polygamist, He loves His bride and He works within that relationship.

Whatever that looks like for each person might look a bit different,  different body parts have different functions, but I’ve never known a liver to function outside the body, and I’ve never seen a wedding celebration without the Bride.  So whether we are part of a home church or megachurch or anything in between God invites us into the Greatest Commandment thru that relationship.
He loves His Bride, even if we don’t.  He won’t put up with us trying to get around His Bride. 
The last thing we want to do as Jesus followers is to disrespect His Bride.  I don’t think we want to face any loving and protective groom if we don’t think his bride is beautiful, let alone assuming we will show up to the wedding feast of the Great I AM having no regard for His Bride. 

Our trips to Uganda have come at a high price, and so has raising our family, and so has loving our neighbor. It’s always costly to live in this world and follow Jesus.  Love is costly,  and we have gotten out of  it, exactly what Jesus told us we would:


Mark 10:28-30 (NLT)

28 Then Peter began to speak up. “We’ve given up everything to follow you,” he said.
29 “Yes,” Jesus replied, “and I assure you that everyone who has given up house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or property, for my sake and for the Good News, 30 will receive now in return a hundred times as many houses, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and property—along with persecution. And in the world to come that person will have eternal life.


  We have received more than we could ever ever ever give! It's beyond humbling what we have received in this pursuit of following Jesus and living in LOVE!


Loving God and loving people is a  vicious victorious cycle that gains ground and momentum as it GOes along.

We could never replace the relationships we have gained with all the money or all the fame in all the world.  I would do it all over again, only sooner and give more and go further and more often, not for promotion or for a ministry, but as an honor to be part of the Body; as a Bride who loves God and loves people in that order. 


Nobody is good except the God who is ALL GOOD ALL THE TIME takes over lives that are surrendered to HIM and works in HIS BODY, makes HIS BRIDE beautiful and does really GOOD work.

Let’s roll on, gaining ground and momentum for the Kingdom everywhere we have the privilege of stepping foot or landing!


Saturday, September 7, 2019

Loving Our Ugandan Neighbors As Ourselves



One of the things I think us Americans are super duper good at is loving ourselves.
 We like good food, nice clothes, great entertainment and self-care from head to toe.
We post about all these things; we are so “blessed” when we use them that we
 “share” with others.
 (at least of social media)
So when I think about the most important commandments according to Jesus, I think we could be really good at the second part if we "share" in real life as well as we "share" on social media.


Mark 12:29-31 New Living Translation (NLT)

29 Jesus replied, “The most important commandment is this: ‘Listen, O Israel! The Lord our God is the one and only Lord. 30 And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’ 31 The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these.” 

 Loving the Lord our God with everything in us….and the second is equally as important, but we must keep it in order. 
Loving God FIRST and then loving our neighbor as ourselves.

Out of the FIRST command will come the SECOND.
If we get the order wrong we just spin our wheels and it fizzles out and goes no-where.
If we keep the Greatest Command in order then it flows in a beautiful and natural way.

So how do we love our neighbors as ourselves…..

If I like something, I bet my neighbors would too.
I like clothes, and good food, and good books, and nice products for my skin and health.
I like shoes and I like purses.
I like Advil when I have a headache and I like cupcakes when I have an occasion to celebrate.
These are a few of our favorite things.
The theme of our donation boxes this GO around is to just love our neighbors as ourselves.
If we like it, so will our Ugandan neighbors.
We are taking things like bacon and jerky and candy and chocolate (for Patience) and clothes and vitamins and essential oils, sunglasses and allergy medicine.

So if there is something you enjoy to love yourself with, and want to love your Ugandan neighbors as yourself, you are welcome to send with us.
This was an extreme case!  God filled up 2 containers a few years ago.

God always fills our vessels boxes to overflowing.
I can’t wait to see what He sends us with to love our neighbors as ourselves.

Thursday, September 5, 2019

Uganda - Team Zero Countdown!


We leave for Uganda in 40 days!

One of the best parts of going on these mission trips is seeing who God puts together.
He has put together an interesting combination this time:

Team Zero

Kristy and I were joking one day that we feel we have zero to offer anyone, but we are so excited to GO.
The more we talked about it, the more accurate that name became.

We have ZERO in common and ZERO to offer.
We are:
Zealous Eager children Responding to the love of Our 
Father

We have ZERO to offer.  We come with no special skills or projects on this trip, but we have everything to give because of what has been given to us.

The funny thing about this particular team that God put together is we have ZERO in common.  We have the same Father and that makes us have everything LIFE-GIVING in common.  This team represents a lot of different LIFE experiences, yet only represents 
THE ONE TRUTH LIFE.

Charlie and I are the only ones from this team that have been to Uganda before.
We are excited to go together, even if we are meeting up and parting ways in Amsterdam. 
As ya’ll know we have a zillion kids and we live in 2 different states at the moment or for the last 15 months and it’s always a full-on circus in our lives.  I can assure you we need this time Team Zero and all that it has to offer more than anyone.

Greg and Kristy are married and have no kids(yet) but they have hearts and houses and lives full of all kinds of kids of every age, from all kinds of backgrounds (including our circus).  Greg is very quiet with a head and face full of amazing hair and deep thoughts and words that I beg him to share more openly and more often.
Kristy is one of the most sincere and honest people on the planet, and she takes the time to connect with people at a heart level and nothing less.

Their lives are the exact opposite of our circus and we have ZERO in common and one of the best friendships a person or couple or church (or circus) could ever ask for.
Christina is my dear friend that I got to know and love along with a few of her family members on our Israel trip.
 She is kind and generous and brilliant. She has been a life-saver for me in my lonely times in Montana.  Christina is spontaneous, energetic and full of lively conversation. 
Christina is a widow and a mother and a grandmother and a daughter and so much more.
Tayla is a single sweetheart.  This girl has a heart and a laugh the size of Africa. 
When she says
 “yes”
she means it, and walks with courage and wisdom beyond her years and has a youthful joy and spunk in every step she takes.

This is our team!
Team Zero

Every person on this team has a very different story; we have ZERO in common which equals EVERYTHING 
that is
LIFE-GIVING.

Tuesday, August 6, 2019

Happy Birthday To My Forever Bofriend!

The saying "love is blind" is ridiculous.  Love sees deeper than the outside appearance.  My man's outside appearance is pretty great to look at and to love, but what I see is better than anything I could ever see with eyes, I see the heart of my man.  I get to see deeper and know more about this man than anyone else on this earth, and what I see is a strong faithful man that has a strong faithful heart that has been transformed by the LOVE of Christ.  Every year that goes by, God opens the eyes of his heart wider to see clearer and love truer.


 It's been a weird year for our family and we haven't seen a whole lot of Charlie.  He has been away from us about 90% of the time.  During this year apart, I have learned more about the heart of my man than all the years before.  I have seen him endure hard times, and do hard things throughout our 30 years together, but this year he has shown up, working 1000 miles away, with more sacrificial love than I thought was possible.


Charlie lives and loves selflessly, generously, and works tirelessly.  He loves sacrificially, he is a defender and a provider.  Charlie loves and cares for many close to him and around the world.

Charlie is a builder by trade.  He can build anything and everything. Everything  he builds is built to last. He builds strong and beautiful.  We don't have a house to call our own right now, and it seems a little (or a lot) strange, but I know my man is building something for this family that will last for eternity.  I trust the work God is doing in and thru this man of mine.

Most guys his age, in this business are slowing down a bit, getting a little more comfortable, maybe relying on the lifetime career and experience they have built up over the years to give them some security and a bit of a cushion. Not my man, he is still hard at it.  I guess you could say according to the world, Charlie has been foolish and made some pretty costly decisions, but according to the Bible, he has been a Kingdom builder, building on a sure foundation that will last forever.


Hebrews 3:4 New Living Translation (NLT)
For every house has a builder, but the one who built everything is God.
 I pray we do get to live in a house that Charlie builds for us again someday, but even if we don't, I know he has been building and investing for this family into a Kingdom that is amazing and forever.

Luke 14:27-2927 And if you do not carry your own cross and follow me, you cannot be my disciple.28 “But don’t begin until you count the cost. For who would begin construction of a building without first calculating the cost to see if there is enough money to finish it? 29 Otherwise, you might complete only the foundation before running out of money, and then everyone would laugh at you.

Throughout his 56 years,  Charlie has been given a lot of talent and had many ambitions, and he has the  mind and body to bring it all together to great success, but every time he gets the chance to do something great for himself, he gives it away, he lays it down, he steps aside. His heart overrides his bright mind and his strong body and he lives for the LOVE that costs him everything.

If Charlie never builds another thing on this earth or if he gets the opportunity to build his biggest and best project yet....the work he has done and continues to do will survive.  God has done a work in my man's heart and it is a lifetime project being worked by the Master Builder.  The "project" can get a little messy sometimes (mostly by me), but I see what God is building and I love what I see.

1 Corinthians 3:12-14 New Living Translation (NLT)12 Anyone who builds on that foundation may use a variety of materials—gold, silver, jewels, wood, hay, or straw. 13 But on the judgment day, fire will reveal what kind of work each builder has done. The fire will show if a person’s work has any value. 14 If the work survives, that builder will receive a reward.


I don't know about you, but I see lots of rewards surrounding this man already!



I have looked over the last year of pictures and all I see is a man serving his family and loving them well. I see a man that loves Jesus and will travel the world to learn more about Him.  I see a man that is smart and strong and humble.  I see a man that gives everything he has ever been given to benefit others!  
Love is not blind!
                       I see you Bofriend and I know Jesus sees you too!
 Happy Birthday!
 Keep building!  Keep up the good and important work that lasts forever!