Back From Vacation

Our family made our yearly summer trip to Pennsylvania to visit with my family. We stayed with my parents and spent lots of time with my sister and her two kids (Ava and Aiden). It was great to see everyone....and great to see the kids play together. Ava and Abbie are six months apart in age. (I'll post a picture of them tomorrow where they look like twin sisters) We celebrated Abbie's 2nd birthday with my family- which was a lot of fun.

The weather during the week was less than favorable. It was in the 60's with rain for most of the week. The best day that we had was on Tuesday night, which allowed us to go see the Pirates take on the Cubs. This was Abbie's 2nd Pirates game (the other in Philly last summer) and she loves going to the stadium. She cheered, clapped, and danced through the entire night. She was most captivated with the Pirate mascot that was working our section of the stadium. She wanted to know where the Pirate was at all times. By the way, the Pirates are 2-0 in games that Abbie attends! Here are some pictures from the game.

Here is a pic taken by a nice Cubs fan who sat beside us. On our way to the seat, I told Abbie to be nice to the poor Cubs fan b/c they had not won a World Series in 100 years.

Go Pirates! Abbie looks excited to see Andrew McCutchen play.

Here is Abbie, myself, and the Pirate. Abbie was completely enthralled with him. When we walked the stadium, she always looked for him.

I was excited to see Andrew McCutchen play.


'Cutch and Delwyn Young run off the field after their 3-0 win.

The view in the stadium is awesome. The Roberto Clemente Bridge looks like it leads right into PNC Park.

Jack Wilson after he makes the 2nd out of the 9th inning.

After our time in Pennsylvania, we drove to New Jersey (Where it was in the 80's) for my father-in-laws 60 birthday. I got to golf 36 holes where I hit the pin on a par 3, and had my most pars in a round ever (even a birdie). After golfing twice, I am going to have to find an excuse to go out again soon! I know I'll golf three times in Colorado in a few weeks!

Back From Guatemala: Pt. 2

In typical LaMotte fashion, it's been a crazy two weeks since returning from Guatemala. When I got home, we immediately remodeled our kitchen (our cabinets were ordered before I left), Abbie celebrated her 2nd birthday; Vacation Bible School began. Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett, and Michael Jackson all died. And Jon and Kate are getting a divorce. What a week. Somewhere in the midst of the last two weeks, I've tried to further process the Guatemala trip and what it meant for me.

The one thing that I keep going back to is passion and purpose. It was evident at the school that we worked at that the head administrator, Wally, had a vision or saw a purpose for the school. He believed that God was going to use the school to raise up a generation of believers who would make a spiritual impact on the nation of Guatemala. That purpose/vision became his passion. I said in an earlier post that Wally's passion wasn't an overflowing, energetic, get up and jump up and down passion. It was a consistent burning passion. We could see it in the way in which Wally loved on the students and the staff. The way that he cared for parents who came to him to seek advice and wise counsel. His passion and purpose were united.

Back home in the states, I often feel like I am trying to bring my passion and purpose in line. When I was doing youth ministry at the church, I think they were in line and united. Since stepping out of youth ministry, I have struggled to find where I can really serve with passion and vision. The trip to Guatemala was a reminder to me that I need to pursue God's purpose/vision for my life and ministry with passion and enthusiasm. How that works in my current context? I'm not sure since it's been a difficult fit for the last two years. But I know that God is in control and has a great plan.

Jars of Clay Video

I wrote a review for the new Jars of Clay album. (you can read it here) Here is the video for the song Two Hands. Great Video!

Back From Guatemala: Pt. 1

It's been awhile since I've posted because I spent the last week in Guatemala, leading a team from our church. It was an amazing trip that I continue to process in my head and heart. So I am going to do at least 2 post; the first post will tell some of the basics of our trip, while the second part will talk about what God taught me while in Guatemala. Be sure to check back for part 2 later on in the week.

We arrived in Guatemala on Saturday, June 6th. Travel was uneventful- which is what one wants during a foreign trip. None of our team slept the night before since we left at 2 a.m., so we were pretty tired. We traveled by van from Guatemala City to Antigua to San Pedro Las Huestras where our mission house was. It was absoultely stunning there. Antigua sits at the base of Agua- a dormant volcano, and there are several other active volcanos in the area. From our mission home, we could see three volcanos. One, Fuego, erupted daily and really made the location seem exotic compared to Delaware (ok, so it wouldn't take a volcano to make a place feel exotic compared to Delaware!!) We were also at a much high altitude than Delaware. Antigua is about 5,000 feet above sea level while the school we worked at was another 1,000 feet higher.


On Sunday, we had another day to get acclimated to Guatemala. We all felt refreshed after a good night's sleep. We went to Antigua to exchange money at the bank, chilled at Cafe Barrista (very cool place!), and then went to a bilingual church with the missionaries. The pastor at the church was from Philadelphia originally. You could still hear his Philly accent. I enjoyed the worship service as it set our hearts for the week. After lunch in Antigua, we took on the challenge of the markets of Antigua- bargaining for a good deal. There were certainly times where I know I could have gotten a lower price, it was still so very inexpensive to buy some of the items that we did.

When we began our week, we were working at the Escuela de Vida y Esperanza (School of Life and Hope) in Santa Lucia. There are about 280 students at the school, kindergarten through 9th grade. We taught a bible lesson, music, testimony, and craft to two classes a day while hanging out with kids when we were not teaching. Our team used a skit to teach the Bible lesson (Zaccheaus from Luke 19). We had two young children (Eliza-6, and Kendra 9) who played Zaccheaus and Jesus. Chris, one of our college students, played the tree that Zaccheaus climbed up into. The lessons were great and the children seemed to enjoy them. Our testimonies also went well. Even Eliza and Kendra shared, which was so appropriate for the age of students that we were working with.

The children at the school were amazing. I have been out of the country on a mission trip 2 other times. Mostly, I have done some sort of construction- and this is where I am comfortable. There were usually only a few children around while we worked on the construction site. This was different at the school. Chris and I were swarmed the first day as we were willing to pick kids up and toss them in the air. We immediately had lines of 20-30 kids each waiting for the ride. Let's just say we wore out quick and found other ways to love on the students. The kids had a great capacity to love, and as we loved on them they loved us back. It was overwhelming at times.

One of our projects that we worked on was an outreach to another community with the teachers from the school. This is part of the school's vision- to have a lasting impact on the surrounding community at large. There were games, songs, worship, and dramas as part of this outreach. The gringos lead the drama and helped faciliate some other activities. It was exciting because it wasn't dependant on a foreign team to lead the outreach, but it was the heart of the teachers and students to share God to the community. Wally, the principle or head administrator, is a soft spoken, yet passionate when it comes to God and the school. The other teachers really feed off of that passion with their own passions. Some of the teachers just about bounce of the walls with enthusiasm for God, the children, and the community.

It's Potty Time!

For a month or 2 now, Abbie has been really interested in the potty. In fact, she loves sitting on the potty. So when she wants up on the potty, we let her get up there...hoping she'll go potty and we can have a potty party! As we look towards potty training when Andrea gets out of school in a week- we are encouraged by Abbie's interest in the potty. So, here are two snapshots of Abbie on the potty...and yes, we're saving them for her Senior Yearbook!

Abbie picked up the latest edition of Newsweek on her own while she was sitting on the potty. She is one well-informed youngster!

Unlike some babies, Abbie likes to read about current affairs and foreign politics (Iranian president on the cover). This is certainly better than reading US Weekly or some other celebrity rag about the latest Jon & Kate mess or the latest on Brittany Spears.

Preparing for Guatemala

I leave on Saturday to lead a team from our church to Guatemala for a week long trip. We'll be working with Lauren Pupchik from MissionImpact. While there, we'll have the opportunity to teach a Bible story and shine Jesus to the children there. It will also be a great opportunity for us to have our worldview enlarged to what God is doing in Guatemala. It's going to be a great trip, but it will be tough leaving- since Andrea and Abbie are not able to participate on the trip. This was supposed to be Abbie's first international trip, but since Andrea could not go because of some snow days, they are all going to stay home.

One of the exciting things about our trip is that we have a mom and 2 of her children going on the trip with us. (Dad and the son are staying home). The girls are elementary age. What an amazing opportunity for them to experience what God is doing around the world. I am sure that there won't be many people who can say the same thing when they get back to school in August.

I hope to write again before we leave. I may be able to do an update from Guatemala as well- which would be pretty sweet. Please keep us and our families in your prayers as we get ready to leave on Saturday! Grace and Peace.

CD Review- Jars of Clay (The Long Fall Back to Earth)

Has it really been 14 years since the Jars of Clay song "Flood" flooded the airwaves? I can remember as a 16 year old hearing that song on the radio and then purchasing the single cassette (you read right, a cassette single) from Wal-Mart. Their first full length CD, "Jars of Clay." still ranks as one of my favorites- both for the songs and for the memories it brings back of my high school years. Other than that initial CD, I have not really been a Jars of Clay fan.

That began to change when I picked up their Redemption Songs album in 2005. It was a rework of some hymns and I really enjoyed it. I also liked their Christmas Songs which came out in 2007. They were able to take some familiar and new Christmas songs and create a unique ambiance with them. Those two niche CD's led me to pick up their newest CD, The Long Fall Back to Earth. (yeah, I still buy CD's. I love peeling off the wrappers and reading the liner notes. iTunes will never be able to take that away.)

The CD begins with a long instrumental introduction (2:19 long). I've heard people say it reminds them of something that Coldplay would do. It certainly has that feel, but after the intro Jars gives us an 80's inspired (in a good way) indie rock album that I really have not been able to put down. Let me highlight a few songs that stand out.

Two Hands is a song about wanting to regain intimacy with the truth. Jars sings I'm a liar who thirst for truth/and while I ache for faith to hold me/I need to feel the scars and see the proof. There is a longing to worship- If I had two hands doing the same thing/lifted high, lifted high. Heaven finds the guys singing about how we are to be little bits of heaven here on earth. And Find, glowing on the inside/what's growing on the inside/heaven's not that far/glowing on the inside/showing on the inside/it's growing where we are. This song has a great 80's vibe to it!

Headphones is a song that address the disconnect that we experience in our society. We live in a world where we put our headphones on to drown out the noise of tragedy, the reality and messiness of relationships. I don't wanna be the one who tries to figure it out/I don't need another eason I should care about you/ You don't want to know my story/ You don't want to own my pain/Living in a heavy, heavy world/And there's a pop song in my head/I don't want to hear it/.

Where Headphones addresses the disconnect that is experienced relationally, Closer a love song about, well, getting closer! Jars uses some creative lyrics (almost cheesy, but hey, it's a love song!) You're my shirt iron-on, I'm the tick, you're the bomb/You're the L and the V, I'm the O and the E/Am I speaking clearly?/If you want my love, well you've gotta get close to me/Ooh, if you want my love.../ I don't understand why we can't get close enough/I miss the shivers in my spine every time that we touch. Hero explores our need for someone to save us. While none of the songs are explicit about God, this may be the closest. And we need a hero/to save us from ourselves/we need a hero/to save us from ourselves/save us from ourselves/save us from our fear/when the sirens wail, we need a hero here.

While just a taste of the songs that are present on Long Fall, this CD has fourteen songs on it clocking in at 59 minutes. Jars explores themes of grace, love, worship, hope, forgiveness, and the need for salvation. This has been a great CD musically and lyrically to keep going back to!