Mine and Ginger's kids take in some Veggie tales

A Day of music for Grandma

Scrappy on guard

My cousin Ginger gives a lesson to her little Benny

Brandon and Uncle Leo lead a song for Grandma

Heather breaks down a beat while Aunt Bren gets lyrical

Uncle Mick catches up with Mom

Rebecca ... still planning on joining the family after sitting beside Aunt Yvonne

Brandon and his soon-to-be-bride Rebecca

Naptime on Granny

A dynamic duet from my favorite aunt and my lovely wife
A sweet smile for the musicians

Benny takes a swing

Some books for our travels

BAY MINETTE, Ala. --- We brought a library with us for this trip. 

I am researching many elements of the first seven days for an art exhibit and essay series I am working toward so I have my Strong's Bible Concordance, Tanach, and Greek/English Literal Translation New Testament.

We also have Rob Bell's SEXGOD and VELVET ELVIS which we are going to buy for everyone we know Donald Miller's BLUE LIKE JAZZ, which is a weirdly wonderful book, and finally SHANE CLAIBORNE, who established a New Monastic community in Philly, has JESUS FOR PRESIDENT which talks about how Christians should really be involved with politics ... and how most Christians are not involved with the right things politically, and ORDINARY RADICAL which is about being like Jesus. There's also a book by Brian McClarren, who I probably just mispelled his name.

Along with this we've also got Rob Bell's NOOMA series of videos and EVERYTHING IS SPIRITUAL.

So why do we have this? Why did we abandon most of the books we had before this trip for this new cast of literacy? Because we have become painfully aware of how our Christianity, while far from the normal acceptable Christianity was not where it could be. Readers should start seeing more about our new take on Hell, and what walking the way of Christ really should look like.

Yesterday was great spending time with Grandma and tomorrow most of the family is coming to make music for her.

975 miles down

At our first major layover during the trip to Mom's house, we found an Outdoorworld where Liam was thrilled to spend some time with the fishes.
Go speed racer ... Hey Grandpa. What kind of boat are you going to buy me?
A perfect fit!
But Daddy, How can you go Boof when your sliding backwards down a vertical drop?
Oh no! there's still more traveling? But everything we could ever want is RIGHT here!

Liam packed in with everything else we're carrying on the trip. At least there's easy access to the Trader O's and drums.
First Stop: Patrick Street and the home of Clan Deakin
The Fire Engine sitting on top of the Vue and ready for one long journey

First Leg Complete

BAY MINETTE, Ala. --- We left Dublin, Va., without seeing any Irish ... except ourselves of course.

We traveled 300 miles the first day, leaving us with a balance of more than 600 more to travel today, but we arrived at Mom's house a little before midnight to a supper of homemade pasta sauce, ziti pasta and Georgia cornbread. Liam could care less about all of this since there was also a pony, albeit a stuffed toy, but a stuffed pony he can sit on.

As it's after midnight and Liam is on the upswing acting out a scene from FLICKA, I should cut this short, but we'll have photos to upload tomorrow.

Where were we going?

DUBLIN, Va. --- We finally pulled out of the driveway in Bowie at 2 p.m. yesterday. Our intentions of dropping off all of our frozen food and some other things at Meaghan an Eddie's house got altered, since we sort of forgot to call them before we pulled out of the driveway. Instead we stopped by the Patrick Street house of Clan Deakin to see Brynn who gladly took the food and other things to distribute to their rightful homes.

We took a break along the way to run around a Target near Port Royal and a Cracker Barrel along I-81, before finally stopping at a hotel here. Liam took a great nap which gave Heather and I time to read a couple of chapters of "SEXGOD" by Rob Bell which we'll be sharing along the trip.

We'll be stepping out as soon as we can peel Liam away from PBS Kids and we'll be at Granny's house late tonight.

A Journey of 7,000 miles begins with a night of packing and doing laundry

BOWIE, Md. --- At 1 a.m., the Bell clan begins its day of departure for a 3-month coast to coast tour with stops in Boone, N.C., Alabama, Las Vegas and various stops in the Rocky Mountains.

Our house in Upper Marlboro went on the market today as we drove away with the last bits of our belongings and left behind our first purchased home together, but it was left clean and much improved with new appliances and a fresh wood floor, so hopefully it will make a great home for its next owner.

Our journey is scheduled to officially begin in about 11 hours. I have a chiropractor appointment at 9 and a meeting with our pastor at 10, so Heather is loading the last of our things into storage so hopefully we'll be ready to roll on time.

Cowboy up

The Cowboy way
A real buckaroo

Saddle up partner
Finding a fuzzy worm
Its not everyday you get to hold a super hero's hand
Mommy's turn
Up, Up and away ... back to the car and on to Mor mor's house

sensational gifts, sightings and setbacks

BOWIE, Md -- During our recent trip to Pottstown, PA to see Jeff and Ashley and Carter, we were gifted with an amazing gift from Jeff and Ashley - Jeff gave me his Nikon D100 kit. I couldn't ask for a better camera. I love the function on it and its a Nikon. I started taking some fantastic new photos while we were there, but we need to get a converter for the computer since the media card is a little different from the one we've been using.

We also added to our visual capabilities with the addition of a camcorder, so we will be diversely documenting our travels this summer.

Of course, everything can't be all rosy -- we had a terrific storm last night and it left us with a shattered windshield, a pickup that resembles a golf ball, and one of our bedroom windows smashed in. This is going to add a few extra chores before we head off for the summer, but with luck the extra time I built into the next few days will allow us to make it up so we can get out of town in time to see my cousin Ginger before they head back to Indonesia where they are working as missionaries.

As for the sightings, Liam has increased his range of characters - we bought him a leather pilots helmet and goggles and he has taken on the persona of Super Grover from Sesame Street. He's also taken to dressing as a cowboy - who knows who'll be riding with us across the country.

Explaining the Yoke of Christ

Matthew 11:29-30 (Young's Literal Translation)
28`Come unto me, all ye labouring and burdened ones, and I will give you rest, 
29take up my yoke upon you, and learn from me, because I am meek and humble in heart, and ye shall find rest to your souls,
 30for my yoke [is] easy, and my burden is light.'

Matthew 16:19 (Young's Literal Translation)
 19and I will give to thee the keys of the reign of the heavens, and whatever thou mayest bind upon the earth shall be having been bound in the heavens, and whatever thou mayest loose upon the earth shall be having been loosed in the heavens.'

Matthew 18:18-19 (Young's Literal Translation)
 18`Verily I say to you, Whatever things ye may bind upon the earth shall be having been bound in the heavens, and whatever things ye may loose on the earth shall be having been loosed in the heavens.
 19`Again, I say to you, that, if two of you may agree on the earth concerning anything, whatever they may ask -- it shall be done to them from my Father who is in the heavens

Its a fact, whether people believe it or not, Scripture was not originally written in English. The message was written in Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek, first and foremost for a Jewish audience, and the Jewish culture is very different from our own.

There is a message in God's word for everyone, no matter what culture you come from, but understanding that the words were originally written in Hebrew opens the interpretation to a deeper, more beautiful meaning. The Scriptures written above have a distinct link that is missed by not understanding this fact.

When Christ spoke of his yoke, it was not the type that bound an oxen to a cart. It was a type binding the heart to Scripture.

A rabbi, which is what Jesus was, would teach under another rabbi's tradition, or interpretation. This was called that Rabbi's yoke. When Jesus came along, he was doing something extraordinary in teaching a new interpretation of the Torah, or the first five books of the Bible. When he said his 'yoke was easy and his burden light' he was talking about the interpretation he gave of those scriptures. When a rabbi gave his authority to a disciple to interpret the scriptures and teach under his authority, he was said to be giving them the 'keys to the kingdom of heaven' and with that came the power to 'bind and loose' the moral code of the Torah teaching.

What this is saying is this. God is giving us the authority, to read the Scriptures, make determinations about their meanings, and to live accordingly. This isn't an individual effort though, it is meant to be made in community with others, therefore 'where two or more are gathered together ...' comes into play. 

When Christ said, "I have not come to abolish the Torah but to fulfill it," he was saying, "I have come to show you how to live out the commandments in the Torah completely and fully. All those places where scripture says, "You have heard it said ...., but I tell you ..." was Christ's emphasis that the interpretations had gone askew, but he was there to correct the misunderstandings.

Obviously, all of his interpretations of the Torah are not recorded in the New Testament, but he gave us enough to make determinations of how others should be interpreted, and he gave us the authority to do just that. 

Christ's message was one of Love, not judgement. He didn't tell us to make judgements about people, he said to Love God and Love our neighbors; he also said a lot about social justice -- taking care of the poor and needy. Maybe we should try fulfilling that commandment for a while. 

Theatrical musician

A new superhero identity emerges

Liam got the idea of a 'superhero' from Veggie Tales' Larry Boy and is persistently wearing masks and capes which can be pretty interesting when you go to Lowes with a child in yellow rainboots, a blanket around their necks like a cape and a mardi gras mask. Luckily, BUCKETHEAD hasn't asked to go to the store yet, but its worth keeping a photo of it around.

Pedaling around on a sunny day

Liam doesn't go a day without asking to go out for a ride on his fire engine, but he really hasn't been very concerned with learning to pedal it. He would get tired of trying to get it going forward - since it's apparently easier to pedal backwards - and would eventually put his feet down and pull himself along that way. Then a few days ago I took him in a bicycle shop where he found a bike his size and it was just what he wanted. He tried and tried to ride it, but of course he couldn't pedal it well enough to keep himself going forward; he kept braking. I told he he had to learn to pedal his fire engine before we could get a bike - a perfect encouragement to learn to pedal, apparently.

A footballer takes the field

Getting enough sleep

UPPER MARLBORO, Md. -- Liam has not been getting the best naps lately, with a few days of short naps because of Mother's Day and the musical Heather is working on.

Over the past two days he's been catching up a bit and yesterday after playing soccer all morning, taking a 3 hour nap in the afternoon and going out for more play before a bath and bed ... he got caught up. This of course prompted him to wake up at 4:30 a.m. and come to our bed, where he proceeded to toss and turn for the next two hours until I finally had to get up with him.

So far this morning he's eaten breakfast, asked to watch Sesame Street four times, Jonah and the Big Fish 6 times and has been a pirate, complete with headscarf, and a bag piper complete with kilt, sporran and a chanter. I believe I now hear the sounds of a firefighter coming from his room. Maybe today will be good for a nap on the way to the Eastern Shore for Annie rehearsals.

We have 31 days before the Big Adventure begins, so I packed about eight boxes yesterday and am about to attack Liam's room and my closet before we head out for the day. At this rate we'll be living out of boxes in a couple of weeks, but the house will be ready for sale by the time we leave for vacation.

Summer ... perfect time for long johns

Liam has chosen the approach of summer to decide he needs to wear pajamas, and to fill that task, he has begun putting on his long johns to sleep in. Of course, since I spend half my day in pajama pants myself, he comes in from outside and automatically goes to his room to change into his long johns. We think he would pretty well go without any other clothes if we would let him.

Ode to the bubbles

Discovering catepillars

Taking the fire engine out for a spin

For most of the time he has had his fire engine, Liam has played with it indoors, riding around our living room. With the weather and traffic around the house, we haven't really managed to get it out too many times, but yesterday he was extremely excited to get it out and take it for a ride. Of course with his unexplainable style, he decided to forgo wearing his firefighting helmet to pin on a blanket as his "superhero" cape, though he did wear his yellow 'firefighter' boots ... with shorts mind you.

We're trying to decide if we can take this on our cross country trip.

Checking out the tires

All this Work and Not getting paid for it

UPPER MARLBORO, Md. -- Since we are going to be moving for Heather to go to school sometime this next year, we have decided to go ahead and put our house on the market when we leave for our extended summer vacation.
We figure either we will return to an unsold - but clean - house, or we'll be completely free and already packed so we can move to the school and start the next phase of our lives. This of course requires that over the next six weeks we have to pack everything as I am finishing details on the wood floor we put down last summer and railings on the porch I put up about the same time.

Stay tuned for adventures in dishwasher hookup, tile repair, woodtrim, sorting and packing. I'll also try to get the pictures of Liam in his fire engine posted soon.

Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival

Ellicott City, Md. -- Sunday we took Liam, MorMor and PopPop to the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival to peruse the many skeins of wool yarn, piles of wool socks, and of course to pet the sheep.

What at first appeared to be a rather meager turnout of vendors quickly changed as we discovered about six barns of wool, from raw piles of straight-off-the-sheep wool to some fantastic textiles - including some $400 shirts. As it turned out, I found a fitting present for Heather as Mother's Day approaches and Liam got a healthy dose of sheep petting, as well as a visit with the Alpacas and Lamas.

Unfortunately, I left the camera at home, so there were no photos of the outing, but I'm sure he'll tell you all about it when he sees you next.

National Zoo

Liam had a great day at the zoo, and they even let us bring him home.

A train trip, walk through DC, tour of the zoo and a Lebanese lunch later and we still have all the kids we started with!

Sarah and Robert's Wedding

We spent the weekend in Boone, NC at Heather's cousin's wedding, and if says anything about the weekend, we were having too much fun to think about taking pictures, except for these few.