My Dad [if you don't know, my Mom and Dad live in China] wrote this letter to me a few weeks ago. It should humble us to the core at HOW BLESSED WE REALLY ARE. Give thanks! Give thanks! GIVE THANKS!! This is just pure wow. I smell total crap rising up within me because I am so rotten to the core. How about you? What do YOU have to be thankful for…truly thankful?

Dear Family:

Marlon has worked for me going on 2 years. He is from the Philippines. I was looking forward to meeting his wife and 2 children today but she did not come. I asked him why? He said her supervisor in the factory where she works in the Philippines said she could not take a vacation or she would be fired. She has had no vacation in over 5 years. Marlon works here in China and is able to go home 2 times per year for 1 week at a time. His wife works 6 days/week 8 hours per day. She receives about $65.00 per week USD before taxes.

I was able to give Marlon 3 raises in hopes that his wife could quit and come live with him here in China. He said he still does not have enough income for her to come to China. His wife lives with her mother and her mother watches the children while she works. I asked if I could tell his story and take a picture with me to send to my family. He said no problem boss.

Mary and I have always had a special love for the Philippines and the people there and this is just another reason why. It looks like things have not changed much in the Philippines since we left there over 40 years ago. Marlon is nothing short of being an excellent worker. Despite his separation from his family he wares a smile on his face which I think means he still has hope. Today I made a New Year’s resolution to be more humble and kind to those like Marlon.

We all know some like Marlon but in the USA there is usually a way out, if you want it, and are willing to work for it. Today most of in America live like kings compared the rest of the word put together. Maybe the best thing we can do for those around us is share a little kindness and dispense a little hope. My last pay raise was more than 2 1/2 times his wife’s annual wages. I asked Marlon to go to lunch with me tomorrow just show him I care and that he is very important to me no matter where God may have put him on the ladder of success. He still has our Christmas outreach card with Jesus on the front of it, hanging on his office wall since 2010. I believe that he knows who the ultimate giver of hope is for this world (see last picture attachment).

Thankful, Dad

If you don’t know this yet…we moved to Hilliard, OH from Utah this past December and my kids all started in their new schools this week. We visited the schools in December, so the classes knew we were coming and starting school after break.

So the title says it all…we are all still SPEECHLESS. Look at the picture below of what happened to Grace on her first day at her new school in Hilliard, Ohio…She found this in her desk her first day:

1. An Envelope that says: “Welcome to Scioto Darby” [her new school...she is in 5th grade].

2. A Letter [I will transcribe below.]

3. A Picture of the Girl Who Wrote It.

Here is the letter:

Dear Grace,

I would like to ask you to join me at recess, I also thought that you might want to join me at the lunch table. I just wanted to write you this letter because you are coming from a while away. I don’t know what it feels like to be a new kid, but I might have an idea how it feels. So I would like to offer you to hang out with me at recess and sit with me at the lunch table.

From, Hannah

p.s. There is a picture of me in the envelope for you to see what I look like and I hope we can be best friends.

Being JESUS is so much harder than talking, teaching, and preaching JESUS. [That is easy...DOING it is so much harder!] I am not sure if this little girl knows Jesus, but this is one of the best expressions of the face of our Savior that I/we have ever experienced. [Whatever you have done unto the least of these...you have done for me... -Jesus in Matthew 25.40]

Acts of love done with a pure heart can change the world…how ’bout it?

Yes…steal it, rip it off, embrace this idea. I think it could be a very powerful illustration of forgiveness and grace.

Or wait…I can see the headlines now: “Hillbilly Archer Misses Mark and Wounds Passers-By” or “HIllbilly Archer Sees 12 Point Buck and Shoots It Dead Instead of Balloon…Pastor Furious” or “Archer Misses Mark and takes Down a Canadian Goose, Gets 12 Months in the County Jail”

or insert your line here: _______________________.

Aww…it’s worth the risk. FOR REAL: Hope someone does this in church in 2012! It’s a great one!