Whew ... the Olympics are over.

Well, the Olympics are finally over. I can get some rest, and maybe even post a blog entry more than every 3 weeks!

I was really into the Olympics this year, mostly because they were in China. It was very cool for the world to get to know China from afar ... both the good and bad. In my opinion, it is the most exciting country in the world. The pace of change there is unprecedented, and it will be extremely interesting to watch what happens in the coming years. I just hope I get to visit again sometime.

On another note, I continue to be REALLY excited about what is going on with Onelife in India. Please pray for our leadership as they determine how many trips Westside will take next year, how we will start building the new orphanage buildings, how we will start the microfinance ministry (apparently thousands are interested!), and how we will help train pastors. I'm tentatively planning on returning to visit there in Jan/Feb. Please pray for this decision as well.

My thought for the day - I've been rediscovering how bad we are as humans at doing what we want to do. We often skip from the original idea or the 'want to' straight to the 'just do it' without considering the 'how'. We make it all about will power, and when we fail, we think, 'if I just try harder ...'. What if 'trying harder' isn't the answer? What if we're going about it the wrong way? What if instead of trying harder to pray more, we scheduled a meeting time in the middle of our day to actually do it? What if instead of just trying to spend less this month, we didn't buy that new pair of shoes? What if instead of just trying to spend more time with our family, we cancelled the cable TV? I think it would work. It would work a lot better than just trying harder!