Depth of field...

   Some of you may not like this blog post, but it has been heavy on my heart lately. I hope you read it with an open mind and consider the heart behind it.

   As you know, I am a Christian and II believe very strongly that we are called to pray for the sick, the hurting and the lost. So here is my simple question. As Christian's, do we have our depth of field too shallow?

  In the photography and video world, depth of field  is the amount of distance between the nearest and farthest objects that appear in acceptably sharp focus. Meaning that a shallow depth of field would have a close up object in focus with the background blurred out. I think sometimes that is how we walk around as Christian's. We see the picture, but past a short distance from us is gets burry and not in our focus.

   The past several weeks, my FaceBook page has lit up with people sharing stories and asking for prayer for a good Christian person who was very sick and indeed needed lots of prayers. What is interesting to me is that everyone sharing these posts seemed as concerned as they would if it was a family member. I agree that with this person being in the spotlight, we do begin to feel like we have a relationship with them even if we don't. I am not suggesting any of this is wrong, but what began to way very heavy on me was that FaceBook and social media were lit up asking for prayers for this person... Yet there was no posts asking for urgent prayer for that person that may live across the street that does not know Christ... No cry for help on behalf of the millions on children around the world who do not have a family... No grass roots movement to help the 21,000 people around the world who will die from starvation today... No prayer services for the estimated 2.87 billion people who have never heard the gospel. Instead, there was almost a national movement of Christians praying and mourning over an individual who knew where they were going when they passed from this life.

   Again, I will state that we are called to pray for other believers. We are called to pray for the sick. We are called to lift up the hurting. But, we are also called to pray for the world. We seem to get so focused on ourselves (meaning Christians) that we forget the rest. We are quick to share a post asking for prayer for this situation, but forget to pray for the lost soles right beside us. We glue ourselves to news stories about someone we have never met and forget to support the missionaries around the world.

   As my family gets ready to head back to Guatemala to serve the impoverished and the hurting, it weighs very heavy on my heart that we not only need to go help... We must pray daily! We must lift up the hurting and the lost. We must share our Faith with those around us. We must get out of our comfort zone and follow Christ.

   How do we do that? We have to adjust our depth of field. We have to adjust until everything is in focus. If we adjust to much, the hurting believers in front of us become blurry and all we see is the long distance objects. We must constantly adjust so everything is in focus all the time. I am glad for everyone asking for prayer for this dear person. We just cannot focus on that and forget the rest of the people we are called to pray for and to support.

Continuing a legacy...

The name of this blog continues to ring true in my life. I am constantly amazed to look back and see the orchestrated events that have lead me to where I am today!

My family, or I should say my wife's family, has long been linked with Guatemala. It started after the earthquake of 1976 that rocked the country and some 23,000 people in Guatemala City alone lost their lives. At that time, someone in the little town of Perryton, Texas some 2000 miles from Guatemala had an idea. They wanted to bless the people of Guatemala, and the missionaries they supported, by donating supplies to help rebuild.  They loaded semi trucks with building supplies and headed south. My Father-in-law was one of the men that drove a truck down. It was not an easy trip as they drove all the way from both to south Texas and continued all the way through Mexico and in to Guatemala.

Who would have guess that 30 years after that event, Heather and I would make a trip of a different kind to Guatemala... This time to bring home our baby boy! As we made three different trips to Guatemala, my heart quickly fell in love with the country. We were so happy to bring our son home after two years of roadblocks and waiting, but what about all the other children? Some after we returned home, Guatemala shut down international adoptions. My heart broke for all the kids that would be left in orphanages across the country with no family to call their own.

As our lives went on, most of you know, we adopted our little girl from China. Another glorious occasion and an amazing adventure all in its self. All the while though, our hearts longed to one day do more... To one day be involved in mission like both Heather and I had been as teen agers... Only this time we would get to do it as a family!

Fast forward to 2014 when we first got to return to Guatemala with our son to give back and help support children and families there. After a great trip, we decided that we wanted to do more, so in 2015 we lead a team from our church back to Guatemala and continued to help in any way we could. All the while, our hearts were breaking and creating a desire to continue to do more.

In April of 2015, we felt like God was telling us it is time to jump... What does that mean? What will we do? How will this work? All questions we had, and still do to some extent, but we knew it was time. So we launched Karter's Dream Inc. to share God's love with the world. We returned to Guatemala as a family in June and began to dream how one day Karter's Dream would be able to make a difference. We did not know how or when, but we knew it is what we were being called to do.

After working on Karter's Dream for around eight months, we were approved by the IRS as a 501c3 tax exempt non profit public charity! That meant for us, that we could begin spreading the word and asking others to partner with us to help more children and families.

In the midst of all of that, we began planning another trip to take another team to Guatemala. We will be leaving here in just a couple weeks to take 20 people to go connect with Guatemala, and to make a difference.

While planning, we received a message about a precious little girl named Ana at the orphanage in Guatemala who was very sick and needed help.  My heart again began to break and I knew that we needed to get involved. I simply sent a message and asked "what can we do?" this little girl had been sick for months and the orphanage was taking care of her, but I knew in my heart that this was probably putting a strain in how well they could also take care of all the other kids with all of the added expense. We were able to find out what her medical and special formula expenses were, and I thought...

OK God, I believe you have put this in my heart, but we do not have all of the money we need to help...

I felt Him saying... "Just trust me".  I decided that I would launch an online campaign to see if we could raise some of the money to help out and then we could cover the rest from Karter's Dream. I was shocked when we received our 1st donation within minutes of going live. I thought "Could it be that we might actually be able to collect enough to cover what we could not?"... Oh me of little faith... A few days later I received a phone call that would nearly bring me to tears. As the person on the other end simply said... "What do you need?" I replied "We have raised $100 so far so anything will help" the reply was "I am sending you a check to cover the rest" I did not know what to say! Not only did God help us... He took care of the whole need! 

Three days before I received that phone call, I received another message that broke my heart. 

Last year while we were in Guatemala, we met a 15 year old boy named Jason. We had taken a bunk bed to his house because his mom, himself, and three other siblings shared a tiny house with no where to sleep. When we delivered the bed, we gave each of the kids backpacks filled with toys and supplies. During a conversation, we learned that he was not attending school. It wasn't because he didn't want to attend school, but because his family could not afford to pay for his uniform and tution. We decided that we had extra money and that we could take care of it. He left that day to register and he started school the next day. 

Now, the message we received was that his mom had died the previous week, leaving Jason and his
three siblings all alone. They were not able to go to school because they did not have enough money to pay for their uniforms and it looked like they had very little hope. We wanted to help, but we knew we would not be able to since we had already said we would help with Ana's medical costs. Little did we know that God was already taking care of the medical needs! When I received the phone call that a check was on the way, we were excited that we could now help out with Jason and his family. We started trying to check on costs and how we could help. We shared this story with our mission team and it got mentioned on our Facebook group. Without us asking for help... Someone contacted us and donated enough money to cover the school needs as well as allow us to look into ways to help this family even more! 

Again, God provided! Not only what we needed, but above and beyond! Again, this need was met without us spending money out of Karter's Dream which again allows us to look forward to other projects that we can help with. If you want to be a part of what God is doing, consider partnering with Karter's Dream. You can make tax deductabile donations to us or on our web site at www.KartersDream.com. Thank you to everyone who has helped us along the way to make Karter's Dream a reaility and who helped meet these needs. Your prayers and support are making an impact around the world.

Home Sweet Home...

Delivering Bads in Guatemala

Home Sweet Home...
It has been one week since we boarded the plane and headed back to the United States. That day is always filled with mixed emotions. I look forward to returning home, but I also do not want to leave. For me, the feeling of "home" is becoming more of a blurred line, than a definite location.

They say "Home is where your heart is". If that is true, than I would really have to say I have 2 homes. My heart is here in Texas with my family, friends and comforts we are used to, but my heart is also in Guatemala with the wonderful people we get to meet and be part of their lives. If you asked me where I would rather be, I'm not sure I could give you a true answer. I guess the best answer I could give is that I want to be here to make/raise more money to go back to Guatemala and help more families!

While I am glad to be home, I must admit, I have had troubles sleeping at night. As I lay in my comfy   bed that I absolutely love... I dream and think about the hundreds of families I know of that are at best sharing one worn out dirty bed with the whole family, but in most cases it is families and kids sleeping on the floor or on cardboard. Until a couple years ago, I would not have dreamed that there were so many people who did not have even a simple bed! It is a great honor to me to be able to buy and deliver beds and help make such a basic need a reality for families who could never afford to buy one. I am honored and humbled to have just finished delivering the 32nd set of beds for our family. That means that at least 64 kids now have a place to sleep because of a little effort from us... and from all those who have donated to help out. The reality is that probably most of those beds are used for more than one child. Although we would complain about how crowded and uncomfortable that would be, those families are just grateful to have a place to lay their heads at night.

These beds cost $180 for each set of bunk beds, $40 for the pillows and comforters, $20 for the sheets, and $15 for the mattress encasements. That means for $255 you can provide a set of bunk beds to a family. That is 2 complete beds! It seems like such a little amount to make a change in someones life. And trust me, it does make a change in their lives. The beds, pillows and comforters are bought in Guatemala. We buy the sheets and mattress encasements here to take with us because the sheets we pay $10 for at Walmart here, cost about $30 at Walmart there. In the past two years, over 400 beds have been delivered by teams like us in partnership with Our Guatemala in Guatemala. While that number is amazing, it is just a dent.... I love this project because we get to make contact with each family. We also take backpacks filled with toys and items for the families! For me, it is a way to share God's love with these precious people.

So if you ask me how I sleep at night... I guess my answer would be this. I sleep well dreaming about our next trip and helping more families! I dream that one day we will be able to take more teams down and make an even bigger difference. If you are reading this, and you think "I would like to help", would you consider donating? Better yet, would you begin to pray about joining us? Or maybe sharing with 15-20 friends, and begin forming a team of your own? We would love to partner with you as Karter's Dream and lead your team to Guatemala and introduce you to the place and people we have come to love so much. Just contact me to find out more about how you can help!

Memories made... Lives changed...

Driving back to Antigua felt like driving home. This time was even more exciting because we were getting to share this part of our lives with Kayman as well. It most certanitly mad it feel more complete.

As i started typing this post, I started writing about our travels and adventures in a typical travel blog style. I planned to basically tell you about our every move and expeience. Then I realized... This is not a  travel blog, but the story of our lives. Through the years, this blog has follow our family from Waiting on our son, to bring him home from Guatemala... Waiting on our daughter, to flying to the other side of the world to hold her and bring her home... Now, the content has changed to telling a story about the wonderful people around the world.

The past two years our families hearts have turned to helping children in care and families in need. For us, this was not a new thing, but a new place. See many people may not know that evr since we adopted Karter we have been involved in helping families. Sometimes that was through organizations such as toys for tots, and sometimes it was through our own projects where we would find a family that needed some help, buy christmas presents for the whole family and then leave them on their doorstep... All without them ever knowing who did it.

Now, as you know, our efforts have been focused in helping in Guatemala. I have been asked many times why we went to Guatemala. The first reason is easy... That is where Karter is from. Other than that, my only answer is that for now, Guatemala is where our hearts are drawn. We love the country and love the people. The smiles on the childrens faces when we show up would melt any heart. It is such a great feeling to provide food and supplies to orphanages, and to deliver beds to children who have never had a place to sleep. 

That is what lead us to start Karter's Dream. We are so excited to see what is in store for our lives. This trip was the first trip to represent Karter's Dream. We not only got to deliver beds and supplies, but we got to make more contacts and stregthen relationships with old friends. It was a very good trip, and yet again very difficult to get on the plane to come home.

However, the best part of coming home is looking forward to planning the next trip...

What a day!

Today will be a very hard day to beat. If anyone comes to Guatemala and wants to take time to learn more about the local culture, coming to Panajachel and taking a guided tour of villages around the lake is a must. Our day started with a 30 minute boat ride across the beautiful lake just a short morning commute to an incredible village. First stop, the village of San Juan La Laguna. One of 13 villages around lake Atitlan.

San Juan is a small village on the lake that has the tradition of all the Mayan textiles. As we looked around the village we were treated to a demonstration of how they take cotton, spin the string then dye the threads and finally weave the beautiful textiles. I videoed the demonstration and I will edit it and upload it at a later date. 

After the demonstration we were able to look at May of the items the women of this village made by hand. Some items that took more than a month to complete. Karman found her a little bag  to carry her camera in that she just had to have.

From there we got back in our boat and headed to the village of San Pedro La Laguna. A village we would find out is also sometimes referred to as the "Hippie village"  because many foreigners have moved to this village and brought with them the hippie lifestyle. 

However, what we were interested in was what they are traditionally know for... Coffee and chocolate! Both of which are grown locally in the village. Not on large plantations, but in small garden size plots many times right next to the coffee shops. It is one of the 6 places in Guatemala that grows coffee and exports it around the world. It actually had a different flavor than the coffee grown in aAntigua, which is only 2 1/2 hours away. It was very interesting to see the process and taste the products. 

Here is an example of what coffee looks like from the fruit of the tree to the roasted product.

And here is what Chocolate looks like from the tree to turning it into chocolate.

After we enjoyed probably the best frappe I have ever had, we were off again to take the boat to the third village.

After a 15 minute boat ride, we arrived at the village of Santiago Atitlan where we saw beautiful paintings as well as different textiles that are specifically from that village. 

Here we met a wonderful lady who was kind enough to show us her head piece. Then she even dressed Kayman up in local textiles and we learned that even though she is Chinese... She is also the cutest Guatemalan princess in the land!

 

Then it was back in the boat for the 30 ride back to our hotel. It was a great journey and we learned a lot more about different cultures he in Guatemala. It is very interesting that the four villages we have visited here at the lake (including where our hotel is) all speak different Mayan languages... Even when some are only a 5 minute boat ride apart. Not only is the language different, but even the styles of dress are specific to each village. 

If you ever have the chance to visit, take the tours... It is well worth the money! I think it was like $54 for two people.

A Walk Down Memory Lane

Wow, talk about deja vu... Just over 9 years ago we made our first trip to Guatemala to meet a little 3 week old baby boy we were naming Karter. It was an awesome trip, but also very unsure. Not unsure because of adopting Karter, but unsure because we jumped on a plane to a country we had never been to, a place we had no friends, a place we did not speak the language. When we landed, we went to a hotel where they placed a little boy in our arms and said have a good weekend, we will see you in a couple days....

Remember, Karter is our first child. We knew nothing about taking care of a baby, and now we had one with no instructions in a land we did not speak the language. Sure they gave us his formula to feed him... But the instructions were in Spanish. We did what any parent would do, we figured it out and had fun. The only problem with the trip was that a couple days later, we had to hand him back to his foster mom, get on a plane and go back home... Not knowing when we would get to see him again.

Now jump ahead just over 9 years... I am so excited to be back in Guatemala for Karter's third return trip to help families and kids in care, and this time to spend a couple days just enjoying the country. I'm even more excited that our whole family including our daughter Kayman got to come on this trip. 

Last night and this morning have been very special to me. You see, we spent the night in the very hotel we first got to hold our little boy. Not only is it the same hotel, but if you saw my picture on Facebook, we actually sat on the same couch in the lobby and took a family picture just like we did 9 years ago on our first trip here. This time, our whole family is in the picture!

Like that trip 9 years ago, this trip is a first also. This trip is the first trip as Karter's Dream Inc.. It is our first trip to help from our new non profit we started just a couple months ago. This time we get to work with old friends, see some new areas, make more contacts, and continue to dream not about when we can see our little boy again, but how we can help more people in this beautiful country! 

Looking forward to a great week! I am so glad it started in the same location our very first journey in Guatemala started!

What a difference a day makes

What a Difference a Day Makes...

     Or in this case two years! I can hardly believe that two years ago today we were a government office in Taiyuan China getting the  documents to officially make our Chinese Princess part of our forever family.
      Looking back, I remember all of the emotions, concerns, joys, and even fears about how this new transition would effect our family, and our new daughter.

   

The first couple of days, there was no emotion from Kayman. It broke my heart to see this little girl just sitting there... Not understanding what was going on, or even the language we were speaking to her. I was highly concerned about her and her well being... Trying to figure out how to break through to her, and how we could gain her trust and love.  I could not imagine what she was going through, or what she was thinking. It is one thing to be handed a new born baby in the hospital, and completely different to be handed a two year old who had never known what it meant to be part of a family...

Then all of a sudden, that day came! She was running around the hotel room singing, dancing, and talking none stop... Of corse it was all in Mandarin and we could not understand any of it, but it was amazing to watch her begin to share her life with us.

Little did she know what was in store for here when we returned home! She had a brother who had been praying for her for several months before we even told him we were thinking about adopting again. He would request that we buy two happy meals so he could save a toy for his sister, and he would tell his teachers he was getting a sister. While this all caught us off guard, we began to realize that maybe God had been preparing him and his heart to love a sister he did not even know yet.

It was very hard for him to not get to go to China with us, but he had to stay home for school. It was amazing to get to Skype with him and introduce him to his sister live while on separate sides of the world. He could not wait for us to return home so he could hug her and begin a relationship with her and our new family of four!

We got to see some amazing places throughout China as we spent time in both northern and southern China. Two totally different places and both very interesting to see.

While I would love to return to China one day, I could never bring home a better "gift" than what we brought home on this trip!

God's grace is amazing! I could have never imagined my life being where I am today! As a kid, I would have never dreamed that I would have the privilege of visiting multiple countries around the world to bring home my children!

Kayman, you are an amazing young girl that I am honored to call my daughter! I know God has an amazing plan for your life that will change the world around you! Never give up... Never listen to those who say you can't do something... Never let the world around you change who you are, but instead, you change the world... Always follow God and listen to His calling... Always remember who you are and where you came from... Most of all, always always remember that we love you more than you could ever know!

I Love you Kayman!!! Happy Gotcha Day!!!