This morning I took my Mom and the two ladies from Georgetown to the Lincoln Exhibit at the Atlanta Heritage Society. It was super cool! If you’re an Atlanta person, you should make the time to see it.

My highlights was the letter from Sherman giving Lincoln Savannah as a gift for Christmas and Lincoln’s response, the first draft of the Gettysburg address and the life masks.

Really powerful stuff to think that Lincoln actually wrote on THIS piece of paper literally inches from my face.

We also saw the Swan House which is a beautiful example of architecture.

Later, we met up with my Dad and the kids to go to Thai of Norcross. Awesome fellowship and food!

Worked on my admin duties and knocked out my Financial Report. Stuff takes hours to do. That’s why they call it work.

I liked this bumper sticker.

And this sign.

And the KKK robe.

This morning I picked up the two ladies from Georgetown, Texas along with my sweet Mom and took them on a tour of the International Village.

No matter how many times I do it, I still learn something and find it fascinating!

I gave them a briefing on what it’s like to be an international in a foreign country. It’s my “Transport you to Cambodia” speech. A favorite! I enjoyed showing them some of my treasures including my Elephant Bird egg and my Maasai Mask.

We then went to one of my favorite stores in Chamblee which sells many idols.

Then over to Carneceria #1 to see how things are in the Latino market. We also enjoyed some delicioso quesediallas!

And the Thai grocery store!

We also checked out the Chinese Pharmacy. Cool!

From there to India at the Global Mall. The ladies also bought some beautiful tops!

We found the Hindu temple fascinating. The priests there are always eager to talk with us.

Gods on sale!

Then to Madina where we saw how folks in N. Africa and the Middle East lived.

We also went by the main Hindu Temple in Lawrenceville. It’s a fantastic building!

Back to Clarkston to check on items from the Refugee Sewing Society.

Then to Stone Mountain to rest.

Then back in the car and over to Chamblee to help the kids at the the mission.

Most of the boys finished their homework pretty quickly. We enjoyed watching them play soccer.

Came home and had a fun family get together with my folks, my kids and the Kendalls–Ashley’s boyfriend’s family. Good times!

Back home now, admin duties!

This morning I took my team from Texas (which includes my Mom!) up to the North American Mission Board in Alpharetta, GA.


Each month I get to spend an hour with the new missionary candidates. I share with them how to mobilize more volunteers for their ministry.

Great group of candidates.

I enjoyed showing my Texas team around the building and the many cool ministries that NAMB does across this awesome country of ours!

They even got to see Annie Armstrong’s desk. She’s the mother of missions for the USA. They thought that was pretty cool.

We came back home to Stone Mountain for a quick rest then the ladies went with Ashley to have an Outreach Event with her kids! They had a great time! Check Ashley’s blog for details and pictures on the party!

J and I went to Azalea to help my kids. We had a good time. I was glad that Ms. Linda was there to help us.

I worked with Angel on his times tables. Over and over and over again. The only way to learn them!

Kathy made a delicious spagetti supper for us this evening at our home. I was glad to have our guests with us!

Working on admin duties now.

I look forward to taking the team around the International Village tomorrow.

My Dad is feeling better, but still pretty sore after his fall. He’s been resting and soaking his tired bones in the hot tub. Glad he could do that!

This morning we got up bright and early and went to Smokerise Baptist Church for their Women on Mission group.

We prayed with the ladies and talked to them a little while before heading over to Clarkston: the Muslim center of the whole Southeast!

I took them over to one of my favorite market areas to introduce them to the Muslim world. I have a restaurant called Halal Pizza where all the Muslim men hang out, drink coffee and eat samosas.

As Dad was walking up to the place, he caught his foot on the curb and fell! You might remember he fell yesterday too. He’s OK, but after two falls in two days he’s pretty banged up. Pray for him.

Tomorrow I’ll leave him at the hotel to soak in the hot tub and try and heal up before going to the mission with Ashley in the afternoon.

Dad and I enjoyed speaking with the men at Halal Pizza, many of whom speak Swahili. That’s always a treat for me, since I don’t get to speak Swahili very often.

I enjoyed my mandazi and chai!

The ladies enjoyed shopping at the market place and seeing all the goodies.

Then we went over to Northlake Church of Christ which kindly donates space to the Refugee Sewing Society. Cathy Palmer is the leader of that group and is doing terrific work with the ladies!

She’s a life long friend and I’m so glad that she’s working with the refugees in our area!

Of course Cathy thinks of my parents like of do of hers: extended family! So it was great for her to see my folks too!

It was really cool to meet many of the ladies that Cathy Palmer works with and see the beautiful things that they make!

We ate lunch at Piccadilly. I figured it was a good idea to eat regular “white people” food since we were going on a marathon eating spree with the Bengali ladies at Azalea this evening.

We had a short rest then headed over to Chamblee where we helped the kids at Azalea with their homework. I’ve been helping the older girls and their homework is really hard.

Especially the biology and the math. 9th grade is definitely harder than 5th grade!

The kids have really enjoyed the dry erase markers!

I worked several hours with the kids before enjoying the delicious food and fellowship with our Bengali ladies at Azalea.

We even had a fashion show where one of the ladies showed us her man saris. Beautiful!

One of our team, Katherine Taylor, tried a sari on for size!

Got home around 10pm. Time to start my homework! I need to get some rest since I head out tomorrow for Alpharetta with the ladies to go talk to the new missionaries at the North American Mission Board.

I liked this bumper sticker.

And one that I had to scratch my head over.

Had a wonderful day today!

Worked on a new podcast!

Love Glasses! Check it out!

My parents are in town! And two other sweet ladies came with them from FBC Georgetown, TX. Al and Peggy Cummins & Sue Mansfield and Katharine Taylor are a super team!

They made it safely to Atlanta, although my Dad took a fall getting out of the shuttle bus in Austin. He got a bit banged up. Pray that he’ll feel ok tomorrow and for the rest of the week! He’s got some bruises on his leg and a couple of fingers on his hand got jammed and are pretty swollen. I’m sure he’ll be sore tomorrow.

I picked them up from the airport (the busiest in the world! Even has dinosaurs!)and took them to a late lunch at 6 Feet Under, one of the best fish places in Atlanta. The name derives from Oakland Cemetery which is directly across from the restaurant. Margaret Mitchell is buried there.

I brought them back to Stone Mountain to their hotel and got them checked in, then over to Azalea to help the kids with their homework.

The girls had fun drawing with the new marker boards I brought. They drew pictures of the three ladies helping me!

Kathy also took them around to the visit with the Bengali ladies that they’ll be working with. They really enjoyed that too.

They also got a kick out of watching Bengali TV!

We came home around 9:30pm and I checked on Dad. He’s doing well, but got some scrapes and bruises. He said he rested well while we went into Chamblee with the rest of the team.

We got a good rain last night. Nearly an inch. Lots of thunder and lightning. Sugar always wants to sleep in my bed when she hears the big booms.

I went to Clarkston International Bible Church this morning.

Pastor Phil spoke on “the first shall be last, and the last first” today. Comes down to doing your duty for God because you love him, not because you’re bargaining with him!

Good music today too!

This is one of the banners in our church. I took it to the top of Stone Mountain to pray with a group of believers just three days after 9/11. I’d organized the event before the attack. I always think about that prayer time whenever I see that banner. Especially poignant for me today.

Looks like somebody REALLY wanted in!

I saw this braided leather near the church.

Seems to be a sermon in there somewhere. Maybe something along the lines of once you lose your connections you come unraveled.

Don’t understand why someone will just stick their gum on the side of a building like this. Just bad.

Ran 4 miles. Sure is nice not to be SO hot!

My parents and their team from Texas arrives tomorrow! Really looking forward to that!

I woke up this morning and noticed that the pump in my fish tank wasn’t working properly. Normally, I just have to clean it thoroughly and it works fine. I carefully took it apart and was carrying it to a cup I have so it won’t drip all over everywhere.

The cord got stuck on a stand and the pump fell, broke and just made a nasty mess. Cleaned it all up, but it’s not the way you want your morning to start!

Went to Pet Smart to pick up another one. Everything is running smoothly now!

Later, I cleaned that tank and the big one in J’s room. Not a hard job, but not one that’s fast either.

J and I went to lunch and I noticed this satellite dish. Not sure if they’re trying to get Australian TV since it looks like it’s pointed towards the ground.

Did the family grocery shopping. Any other men do that job? Seemed like a lot of us at Kroger.

Came home, rested and worked on admin duties.

I like Halloween, but isn’t it kind of a weird holiday? Witches in Aisle 4.

I liked this bumper sticker.

This morning, Ashley, Miles and I went to Azalea to visit with families for Eid–the culmination of Ramadan with my Bengali families.

Kathy met us there dressed in a beautiful sari!

The ladies love her so much!

We had some delicious food.

And enjoyed visiting several families.

We came home and I spent a couple of hours on the phone sharing with partners and potential partners about getting involved with missions.

It’s an exciting part of my ministry!

Knocking out my admin duties now.

Looking forward to a relaxing night of reading!

Don’t my girls look great!?

Worked on admin duties this morning and went for a 4 mile run. SO glad that the weather is getting cooler.

It was fun to get the family together for lunch!

J said this was his “serious” look.

After a brief rest, Jesse, Ashley and I went to Best Buy to pick up a new camera for Ashley.

Kathy’s camera stopped working, now she’ll get Ashley’s old one.

After some thought, she went with the black one. It’s just like mine. I love it! She said it looked more “professional.” Guess which one she was thinking about before?

Then to Huntington Terraces to help Bayo get his computers running.

I also had a camera for him. I’m glad these cameras aren’t too expensive!

We also went to the office to check on mail, then over to Azalea to help the kids with their homework.

Sure was great to have Ashley with us!

The older girls help the younger girls with their writing.

I need to work on Mustak’s bike. I take pictures to help me remember!

The girls would practice writing, then I’d sing the words. Rockin’ with Baby, Baby, Baby, Baby!!

This car was parked outside the mission. I thought Ash would make a good model for it!

I’m back at home working on admin duties again!

Looking forward to a restful evening.

I liked this multi-colored ant bed.

And this phone card! WAKA!

And this sweetheart’s little construction hard hat!

Tomorrow is Eid–the end of Ramadan. It’s like their Christmas. They give gifts to each other. The girls do henna on their hands. I thought Sanjida looked cute. She’s one of my best helpers at the mission.

I love having my kids with me! They are so dad gum AWESOME!

This morning Jesse and I met up with one of my favorite people in the world, my “Uncle” Tom Jones! I grew up with him and his family in Nairobi, Kenya and even though we are not truly blood kin, he’s closer to me than many of my extended family genetically!

Mark Hearn is the new pastor at First Baptist Church Duluth. This church has been a great partner for many years and I’m praying that Pastor Mark will take them to a whole new level!

We met at one of my favorite places: Global Mall. It’s the Indian center for Atlanta. They have great food (a draw for sure) with really cool and interesting shops.

Jesse is interested in precious metals and they have a really cool gold store there. It’s neat to see gold bullion!

Mark, Tom, Jesse and I ate some curry then went to the Hindu Temple in the mall. We had a good talk with their senior Pastor. He was interested in Mark being a Pastor from a major local church.

I pray that Pastor Mark will have a big impact on this community!

I also took them to Madina which is a halal, Muslim centered grocery store.

I introduced them to Abdul, a good friend for over ten years. Abdul is always interested in sharing his Muslim perspective with friends of mine that I bring to his store. I think it’s good to actually meet with people from other religions in order to build mutual respect and friendships. It’s all about BRIDGES!

J and I went to the the office to pick up another big pile of Christmas in August boxes full of school supplies and toys for the kids at the missions.

That’s been great! Today’s boxes came from three states! I think it’s cool that kids from around the country are interested in our work and helping other kids!

Sure was glad to have Jesse help me load the boxes.

We also went by to Bayo’s mission at Huntington Terraces to help him with his computers for the kids. Another thanks to J!

J and I helped our kids at the missions. Several hours of doing homework and hearing, “Mr. Tim, Mr. Tim, I need help!” over and over again gets exhausting. But fulfilling too!

Although today was my day scheduled to run, just too tired.

Admin duties now, then looking forward to the summer finale of Psyche . . . one of my favorite shows!

I’m still on the fence as to whether donuts should have green icing.

And on the subject of “Things I Need Only Try Once” Betel Nut. Wasn’t bad, but wouldn’t say I’m rushing to get more. The Indian folks believe it’ll help digestion. Pastor Mark wondered, “Does that mean you need to stay close to the bathroom?”