Chi wan le (All finished)

Dear Sammy,

Tonight was a fun first. Since you are a growing boy, eating is something that you do a lot of lately. When we finish eating, we say in Chinese, 'Chi wan le'. Translated literally, this means 'I am done eating', but the basic meaning is 'All finished'. We have been teaching you the signs so you can communicate better. The sign for 'All finished' is to hold both hands out and roll them by twisting your wrists. Of course as most babies, you have developed a modified version that suits you more. You only use your right hand held down by your hip, and wave similar to the Queen of England! It's pretty cute. You've been slowly learning to mimic us do this, but tonight you told us all by yourself for the first time. It's been obvious by your body language that you are communicating more, but it was nice to have a clear message in sign language tonight.
Love you,
Daddy

Why is Humility Sometimes Brown?

We went up to Wilkesboro this past weekend, and a couple (Steve and Karen) came with us. With 2 Karens (and a Samuel) in the Suburban, you can imagine the fun we had. So we decided that one would be "Honey" and the other would be, well, you guessed it, "Karen". Ashley, Steve and Karen (S&K) all attend the school, and S&K are on a dream-interpreting team. So on the way home after hearing Doug Addison speak, they were all sharing dreams and talking about them. They have more experience than I do, and they said of one dream, "Well, brown usually means humility..." That statement made me wonder, "Why is humility the color brown?" Explanation (as I later found out): Brown sometimes represents a death to your "self" (AKA "flesh") or a denial to the things that the "me" desires. It makes sense, but it takes more than the gray matter upstairs to figure that out; God has to show it to me to get it through my head. TA DA! I realized that I have been relying too much on the natural abilities God has given me to get me through whatever is on the horizon. And if I can't do it, I'll just try harder!

Ahem, that doesn't work.

It was a gentle reminder, I have a lot less to be concerned with, and I am thankful that I am not the Manager of the Universe. Lots of miles to go...lots to learn...so thankful that God's not done with me, yet.

Evangelism

One of the reasons we felt the Lord leading us to Morningstar was the hands-on ministry experience that they require of students. I didn't want to spend 2 years getting a master's degree in biblical studies, and still not know how to engage strangers in Wal-Mart to share the good news about Jesus. I think most Christians dread the thought of evangelism because the model we know requires a great deal of confrontation, and in many cases, hurt feelings for everyone involved. Here at Morningstar, they are taking a very new approach to evangelism which provides a much greater dignity and respect to the unsaved person. It is not confrontational or high pressure. It doesn't even require me to have a Bible in hand when I am talking with someone. What they have discovered is that many people want a relationship with Jesus, but they are offended by religiosity and christian jargon. People are desperately hungry for God, and for experiencing his supernatural miracles in their lives, but if they are offended in the process of sharing the good news, they become defensive to protect themselves from being hurt again. We aren't learning a formula for presenting the good news, but moreso a philosophy of understanding what causes a person to be fearful or angry when we share the gospel. In most cases, it isn't that they are offended with the truth. They are offended as the past hurts by well-meaning christians are brought to mind while we are sharing. They are offended when we ignore their personal dignity and right to figure it out their relationship with God for themselves.

I am out of time for writing at the moment, as it's time for our chaplain class. But I will testify that I've led a person to the Lord both times that I've been out on the streets to evangelize here by understanding people better. Did they have perfect theology when I finished? NO. But then again, neither do I. Thank God that he isn't judging me by that! I would like to point you to a profound website on this subject. One of the guys pioneering this new way is Doug Addison. Check out his website (http://www.dougaddison.com/cms/index.php), especially the blog. More on this later, but for now I better zoom. Traffic is killer in Charlotte...

Blessings,

Ashley

I'm going to be a Chaplain?!

Well, part of the training up here is a 2 part training for Chaplaincy and Emergency Preparedness. For my younger readers asking, 'What is a chaplain?' I'll tell you. It is like being a pastor except you work in a business or government position. I used to think chaplains were just preachers on the military bases, but I've learned a lot since I've been here about what they really do. You can learn more too at their international website: http://www.ifoc.org/. Chaplains work with businesses, police stations, military bases, hospitals, prisons, the courts, colleges, fire stations, nursing homes, biker clubs, search and rescue groups, and many many other organizations. Some of them are just on call for emergencies and others work full time. The cool thing is that once you are a member, you can go anywhere there is an emergency and help the people in need. Even if the police won't let people get through to help, they will let the chaplains through because the chaplains have the same emergency training police have. Last year some of the ministry students used their chaplain badges to go help after Hurricane Katrina. They were able to go right to the people in worst need because the police allowed them to go right to the worst hit areas where the general public volunteers could not go. Because of the training this week, you won't be hearing from me. We have 45 hours of training and a test to become certified. I've changed the website a little because of that. Now, if you post a comment it will show up immediately. I hope the site continues to generate some conversation this week. I've been happy to see several of you communicating. I hope that as I have time to share things we are learning through the ministry here, it will bring encouragement to you all as well.

Happy commenting...

Book Slinger

Dear Sammy,

You are reading the post of a proud father. We have been so busy moving to North Carolina, that I haven't had much time to write you. You've been cutting teeth and becoming more agile day by day. You just learned sign language for 'all finished eating' yesterday. You love to clap at every opportunity. When you know you've done good, you clap. When you're especially happy, you clap. Whenever you hear an audience clapping, you clap right along with them. Though you cannot speak yet, every little grunt you make is rich in meaning. You are learning to make the sounds you hear us make. You are fascinated with lights and light switches, and I wouldn't be surprised if 'light' is one of your first words!
You drag your toys all over the place leaving us a huge mess to clean up every day, but we are still glad you are here with us. Today you even helped Mommy by putting one of your books back on the shelf! Mommy likes to play with you by handing you something and telling you in Chinese to take it to Daddy - 'Na gei Daddy'. You know exactly what to do. You shuffle over and hand it to me. You're getting pretty smart for someone who can't even talk yet :)
Mommy is most proud of the fact that you looooovvvvveeeeee books! Books, books, books. You love to bring a book over, hit her on the head with it, and plop down on her lap waiting for her to read to you. You are so precious to us. Now, if only we could buy some helmets for your book slinging habit!
Love,
Daddy

Humility Quote

'Humility is not just thinking more highly of others than ourselves; it is also thinking more often of them.'

As far as I know, this is my personal quote. It's something I've been considering as we go out to the neighborhoods and grocery stores to minister to the lost. I realized I have an amazing tendency to minister to people with an attitude of pride, which creates a huge pressure inside of me to see results. I'm learning that it is much easier to serve people with a humble heart, and let the results be up to God.

Welcome Friends!

Friends! Welcome to the Hawkins Family adventure blog! As most of you know, our family has just made a major life transition from the 8-5 job to a school of ministry. This website is devoted to sharing our adventure with all of our friends back home, and ones that we meet on this journey. I hope you are all blessed as you read. We will be sharing experiences, truths, miracles, and most of all, LAUGHS, with you as we begin this adventure. God bless...