Gone….

Well, Saturday morning, Midas and I dropped MB JR. to the airport to go home to his parents…   I’m sad!!!!    Reminds me of when I dropped off my niece back in June to go back to Canada to Ciya!!!  Weepy doesn’t quite describe the feeling…

 It was a really awesome experience to have him for the week - he’s such an amazing kid!!!  His first request, when he landed, was “When can we go to the Book Store?”  Then when we did, he bought a book - a real book, guys, and read the entire 217 page book in one night!!!  Needless to say, we had to go back to the bookstore the next day!!!

He and I ‘camped out’ each night on our sofa for fun - it was our “special time”!  I get to see him so rarely!!!  Then we went to Wannado City at the Sawgrass Mills Mall - a place designed for kids to live out their dreams!!!  MB Jr. got to be a pilot on Spirit Airlines, be a paleontologist and ‘brush’, not ‘dig’ as I kept saying only to be corrected by him - for dinosaur bones, fossils, etc!!!

Then we saw the Rock Climbing…  He outright refused, at first, but Midas told him he had to try at least, and I backed him up - because you never know you’re going to hate something unless you at least give it a shot!    From there, we … or shall I say I… got a bit carried away!!!!

 I stood with him as we watched and waited for his turn and told him to look at the other kids trying and to strategise where he’d put his foot to get up to the top etc.

When he got strapped in, if you saw our photos, you can clearly see he was scared, but he was game to try - and try he did!!!  He went after it with full energy and commitment.  He reached more than halfway up the wall and then - well, then he looked down!!! 

For me - Miss Clueless, I thought he just couldn’t figure out where to put his foot next or how to pull himself up - so I kept yelling encouragement and suggestions from the corners - Midas says I sounded like the proverbial soccer mom who couldn’t see that the poor kid had hit a really rough spot!!!!

 Let me be perfectly honest, and tell you that I AM TERRIFIED OF HEIGHTS!!!  He did what I undoubtedly never would have ever agreed to try!!!  So I was SOOOOOOOO proud of him!!! 

 Then he hosted a Nickelodeon show and more - he had a blast.  The next day, we went to the Miami Metro Zoo!  Before Midas and I moved here, we always determined to do at least one ’sight-seeing’ thing each time we came instead of just SHOP,SHOP,SHOP!!!   One of our favorites was to visit the Miami Metro Zoo!!!

 Now let me be perfectly honest - summer may not be the most OPPORTUNE time to go to the zoo - it was HOT!!!!!!!!  And that’s a tremendous understatement!!!  And its a 3 mile walk in the searing heat!!!   But we had a great time!!!!   The zoo has such a great array of animals, with info on each…much of which MB Jr. already knew!!!   His only disappointment was that, although they said online that they had on display his all-time favorite animal, the spider-monkey - they did not, in fact have one!!!

 In any event - we all had a great time!!!  No doubt, its been an interesting summer for Midas and I, since we still have not tried to have kids of our own!!!  From a day of babysitting our 2 year old nephew, to a month with our 20 year old niece, to a week with our 7 year old nephew - ARE WE PREPARED YET, OR WHAT??? 

Of course, its hysterical that I say this, having gotten home at minutes to 8pm, cooked and ate dinner by 10pm - now Midas is sleeping on the couch as I sit here finishing up my work with a post!!!

 What can I tell you - we are no spring-chickens anymore (I guess) but we’ll figure out where we’re going one of these days!!!  :) In the meantime, I want to get y’all prepped for something amazing!!! 

My pastor (despite the fact that many of us think he’s taking on a huger deal than he realizes) has decided to “Live his life in a fishbowl’ for a 5-week period, starting Sept. 9th!!!   What does this mean?  Well, in his words,

I’d like to bring us together, like a family in a living room, to talk about www.mynakedpastor.com. On September 9^th, we are kicking off this five-week series along with a 24/7 webcam that will be on me and the friends and family I do life with. We live in a world that has a voyeuristic interest; with this website, we will leverage that reality and use it to foster an environment for authenticity (a.k.a. nakedness). I’ve always heard it said, “Our life is the only sermon some people will ever hear.” This series and the 24/7 webcam will give more people access to that life sermon–the things we do right, the things we do wrong, the things we don’t know how to do, and our desperate need for God in between.

Guys, I don’t believe we can become who God created us to be until we are honest about who we are. The bible says, “Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes, and he is the one to whom we are accountable.” (Hebrews 4:13) At Flamingo, we just want to create an environment where people can be honest about their lives before God. Where they can live out this Hebrews verse and the meaning of naked (defined as: 1. having no covering, especially the usual one; 2. being without addition, concealment, disguise, or embellishment; 3. exposed to harm; vulnerable).

As far as the title mynakedpastor.com, don’t worry, it’s not going to happen literally! It will just get the attention of a world that is so flooded with noise. The Great Commission tells us to, “Go into all the world to share the gospel.” All the world is on the worldwide web, so that is where we are going. And while the world watches, we will use these five weeks to get naked about the truth on things like fighting, anger, insecurity, temptation and stress.

As a church family, all of us can do something for this series: invite our friends, attend all five weeks, plug into a small group, and attend the launch party on 9/9 @ 9:00 p.m. at www.mynakedpastor.com.

So join us Sept. 9th at 9pm on www.mynakedpastor.com - I guarantee something that will change your life!!!

 Latahs,

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