APART

I miss my Tribe. Badly. I don't like being apart. I walk around, feeling like a piece of me is missing. Christel said that Honour has been walking around the house asking; "Ba? Home?"
I want to be there...NOW.

-Rob

Radical hope

I am in the airport at the moment, getting ready to fly out to the Philippines for the opening of our new safehome. This new home will be a safe place for children who have been rescued out of child slavery and exploitation. It will be a home where children will be restored to life again. A home where children will get their childhoods back.

I don’t think I have ever understood true celebration and radical hope until experiencing the staggering privilege of dancing and playing with children in safehomes. Children who you would think shouldn’t even have the ability to smile again, no less dance and play. I never cease to be amazed, humbled and undone by the courage and resiliency of these little ones. They are heroes.

If you would like to join in the celebration, and have a Twitter account, I will be giving live, real-time updates during my trip. (Yes, I am slowly moving into the 21st century, technology –wise). My Twitter account is: @ROBLOVE146. http://twitter.com/ROBLOVE146 Feel free to pass it on. If you don’t Twitter, you can also check out our blog at: http://love146.blogspot.com/

Here are some pictures of our new safehome. These were taken a few weeks ago. It will be completed by the end of this weekend.

The home was designed round, so that all children have equal access to the center of the home. No one is left out. There are no sharp edges or dark corners.

The staff house

The chapel

This tree house is actually our new therapy room. We didn't want to have the classic, sterile, clinical therapy room. We wanted something to represent freedom and childhood...so thus the tree house therapy room.

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“Beauty from ashes” is no longer a vague concept or distant idea. It is a reality. To see it…changes you forever.

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-Rob

www.love146.org

Boy oh Boy

Since we are outnumbered by the girls in our Tribe, sometimes the boys just have to have a moment where we can get together and regroup. In fact, Micah just asked a few weeks ago; “Dad, can we just have some me and you time??” When you hear a question like that from your child, you drop everything and enter their world of “me and you time.”

Here are some pictures from a recent “just the boys” moment.

Monster Truck Jam!!

That’s right…an afternoon spent enjoying ear-splitting, bone jarring, car crushing, 10,000 pound hunks of metal and rubber roaring around the inside of an arena. Entertainment with ridiculous amounts of horsepower! GGRRRRR.

Donkey Kong!?

By the looks on their faces, Ty and Micah were either bored by this time, or stunned by the awesomeness of it all. Or they were partially asphyxiated by the exhaust fumes and suffering from serious hearing loss. What a blast!

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Then there are the simpler moments. The kind that just make me happy to be a Dad. Recently, Christel was sick for two days and completely wiped out. Around dinner time I was trying to figure out what to cook, until finally I decided that it was the perfect night to order some pizza and wings. When I announced the plan to the kids you would’ve thought that they just won the lottery. They were jumping up and down and dancing. Micah ran to me, threw his arms around me, and exclaimed; “THAT’S why I love having a Dad!” I think it was then that I heard what sounded like a slight groan coming from the sick mom in bed.

Boys!

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-Rob

Extraordinary moments

Sometimes I feel like I have to fight to not give into cynicism. I have to remind myself that when I give in to cynicism I lose a piece of hope.

Then there are those moments. Simple, yet extraordinary moments that remind me of who I am, and who we are all meant to be. And the moments that turn out to be the most extraordinary, are often times the moments that we share.

If you haven’t seen this video yet…watch it. And give in to the moment. And then go and make more moments. Fight cynicism and embrace beauty. It will make you smile more.

Then there is this one. You have probably seen it before, but this is actually done in the form of a commercial for a telecommunications company called Telekom. The statement at the end is in German, and is translated as; "Life gives us extraordinary moments. The beauty of it is that we can share them.”

A friend of mine was the editor and writer for a satire magazine. Every article overflowed with cynicism. He eventually quit. When I asked him why, his answer was profound. “I think I just grew too old for cynicism.” And then he paused for a moment and added; “Or maybe cynicism made me grow old.”

I don’t know about you…but I’m not ready to grow old like that.

Give in to hope.

-Rob

First time

We have always loved watching our children experience things for the first time. This was Honour’s first Easter with us. We weren’t sure what she would think. At Christmas I think she thought we were out of our minds with putting a tree in the house, and decorating it with lights and sparkly things. And then one morning…POOF!...Presents!!!!

And now…Easter! Everything, from one of Christel’s amazing ideas (making bird nests with crushed shredded wheat, coconut, melted chocolate chips and candy eggs)…to coloring Easter eggs… to the traditional hunt at the Grandparents house. What a blast! We’ll just let the pictures speak for themselves:

-Rob

Pick a card….any card

No pressure here. Really.

For the same cost of a large chocolate Easter bunny and a box of those nasty Peeps, you can donate to Love146 in honor of someone you love and get one of the ecards below to personalize and send for Easter or Passover. Your donation will bring hope and life to children at risk of, or who have been rescued from child sex slavery and exploitation.

And hope and life is what this season is all about.



Click here for cards.

Thanks!!

-Rob

Secret weapon

I saw an article recently about a sound or tone that only people under 25 can hear. For some reason when you get older you lose the ability to hear this particular pitch or tone. I’m almost 47 and I played in a rock band for years, so I already suffer from some significant hearing loss. This at times can be quite selective and if applied wisely can be used to my advantage. But that’s another story.

I’ve tested this sound out, and I honestly cannot hear it. Neither can my wife. But my kids can all hear it. And everyone in my office can hear it. Apparently it is a very irritating sound described best as a very loud mosquito. And yes…I am having some fun with this new discovery.

The article said that teenagers have jumped all over this news and are now downloading this tune to use as a ringtone/text message alert, so they can use their cell phones in class without being detected by the “old” teachers. Kids are smart. But parents are smarter.

I am looking into using this tone as a deterrent. I read that shop owners who don’t want teens loitering outside their store, are using the tone to chase the teens away. So…what if I figured out a way to connect this sound to the TV or game console as an alarm, so when one of our kids tries to turn it on when they know they’re not supposed to, the “tone” is activated. Or what about attaching it to the cookie jar? Or in the secret hiding place where we hide birthday or Christmas presents? Oh the possibilities!!! Bwaa Haa haa! If you have any other ideas for utilizing this secret weapon, please share them in the comments.

Here’s the tone; can you hear it?

Created by Train Horns

-Rob