Hey friends, as you can see the blog is no longer regularly updated and hasn’t been for some time. I used to try and repost things I’d put up on social media here but even that was not always regular.
I’ve intended for literally a few years to turn this into a static webpage instead of a blog but long gone are the free days of countless hours of learning and applying webdesign. If I can get a few days of uninterrupted to work on it I would, but it’s pretty far down the priority list. Or if I had some extra cash I could throw at someone to convert it over I could do that too, but extra cash is in short supply right now as well, and even that would require time to communicate what I’m looking for.
We are doing our best to regularly update via our e-mail newsletters and on social media. So you can follow us along there if you want, or just reach out and say hi, we’d love to hear from you.
I’m not going to put direct links to any of those here right now, we’ve noticed that when you put e-mail addresses or sign up sheets on the blog the bots start to spam you. But I assume you know how to reach me if you wanted to reach out.
All in all, family and ministry is great! But as both are growing, time for blogging here obviously has decreased. So consider this the last and final post until I can find some time to convert this over to a static page. We appreciate everyone who has interacted with us here on this blog throughout the years. Blessings! – the BAKERS
A couple weeks ago I had the privilege of sharing about “Sustainability in Missions” with the support staff of @ywamdavao in the Philippines.
I did five, 2 hour lectures over 4 days.
I’m grateful to Joe Thompson @jedidiahjourney who originally asked me to come up with a teaching on this topic for the @ywamhonolulu gateway.
One of our night sessions started 7pm and went till 9. To be real honest, I’m usually in bed during this window shortly after the kids go to bed.
I was also sick with a bacterial infection, white spots on my tonsils and throat and it hurt to swallow much less speak.
I also couldn’t really hear out of either ear because I had an ear infection in both ears. Luckily there was a/c.
At one time the rain was pouring so hard that it was hard to hear anything over the rain drops hitting the tin roof.
This is sustainability in missions. Persevering. Pushing through difficult, inconvenient, not your preference, challenging things.
As I thought about the tiny inconvenience it was to teach while sick, when I’d rather be in bed, I thought of a story of one of our previous school leaders who was transported to an underground church in a closed country in the back of a truck with a blanket over him to an undisclosed location so he could teach the Word Of God to a gathering of believers in the persecuted church.
Teaching while you’re sick, and past your bedtime doesn’t even feel like an inconvenience anymore in comparison to people risking their lives to gather with other Christians in closed countries.
I’ve realized that I’ve lived most of my life trying to avoid as much pain and discomfort as possible, and to make it as efficient and convenient as I can as well.
Maybe that’s part of the American way? But I’ve realized maybe some of those ideals and values have slipped into my Christianity too, and Jesus didn’t say follow me so you will be comfortable, and everything will run smoothly.
A big portion of sustainability in missions is finances and fundraising. And how invite people into partnership with what the ministry you are called to. So I spent time teaching on that as well.
It was fun to share some of the amazing testimonies of God’s faithful provision for us over the years. Thank you to everyone who has partnered with us and is a part of that story.
Another goal of sustainability in missions is still being fired up radical lover of Jesus when you’re 90 years old. How do we do that? Well you have to be prepared for “church hurt” so it doesn’t make you quit.
It’s part of the territory. Jesus was perfect yet He stirred up so much conflict they nailed Him to a tree. If we, being imperfect are on this journey, then we are going to have some conflict.
Loren Cunningham the founder of YWAM has been giving his last words to YWAM. Casting vision that YWAM is uniquely situated to translate the Bible into everyones “heart language” not just the 8300 official languages, but local dialects and their true mother tongue. Wycliff says the complete Bible has been translated into only 724 languages.
Less than 10 percent of the world has a complete Bible in their language. Read that last sentence again.
Talk about being fired up in your old age, still casting vision and championing young people. What an example of sustainability in mission. Grateful to be a part of this organization.
We’ve had people tell us they couldn’t do what we do. Maybe that’s because they don’t value what we value.
Maybe it’s because they aren’t called to what we are called to. And that’s okay.
We’ve been encouraged a few times on this trip by different people that it’s encouraging to see a family in missions.
Being single in missions was an adventure. Doing it as a family is for sure more of a sacrifice. But Jesus didn’t say serve me only when it’s fun and easy.
I’ve really been thinking about comfort lately. How much do you need to be sustainable? And how much do you get a taste of it and just want more?
It’s the night before we leave for the Philippines.
We’re going with an amazing team.
This is the longest either Jess or I have been overseas.
It’s the first time we’ve travelled internationally with our kids.
We’re going to plant a Bible Core Course (@bcchonolulu) at YWAM Davao.
Jess and I have both commented this week leading up to our departure, that we think we should feel more nervous, or anxious or something.
I think we’re experiencing Philippians 4:7. The peace that transcends understanding.
We managed to fit everything into a large suitcase, a medium suitcase and a carryon roller. We’ll have our backpacks too. But that’s pretty good for a whole family, for 3.5 months. This will be “J’s” first flight where she will have her own seat. (Read… no more infant in lap free ticket anymore)
I gave up coffee about 3 weeks ago. It was something I’ve been wanting to do for a while, especially before this trip. I didn’t want to get to a foreign country and be jonesing for coffee on top of all the other adjustments.
I like to start winding down after the kids go to bed, and I like to go to bed early. Last night I needed a pick me up to keep packing, so I clicked on “energize radio” and the first song on the playlist was from Trapt, a band I loved in my early twenties. It took me back to my 96 Red Dodge Intrepid where I listened to their album on repeat…
It took me back to my very first outreach with YWAM (20 years ago) during my DTS. Sleeping in a church basement in Nashville, about to fly into a closed country. 19 year old Jim was amped and scared.
I remember the night before we left, because of the nation we were going into, our staff had us unpack our bags to make sure that nothing we had on us was blatantly Christian or had any ties back to YWAM. I remember having to sharpie over some of the writing on some of the cd’s I was taking with me. (Haha, cd’s)
It’s fun that there are two teams headed to Asia this weekend from the YWAM Honolulu DTS, I wonder if they are feeling similar things to what I felt 20 years ago. I’m sure they are.
When you pack up everything you own, to move across the world, it gives you pause for reflection.
Besides my first YWAM outreach, I also vividly remember the first time I moved to the Big Island in 2008. I had all my bags packed and I stayed up through the night so I could sleep on the plane. I’m not sure how to explain that feeling fully.
I remember leaving Jamestown NY to move to Indiana, and sleeping on an air mattress before loading up and driving our moving van.
I also remember the night before we left for Hawaii in 2018 when we got rid of everything we owned in Tennessee and loaded up my at the time pregnant wife and shipped our dog out here.
So maybe that’s why we aren’t feeling a ton. We’ve done this before.
Or maybe we have peace because we know this is God’s will.
Besides giving up coffee, I’ve also really limited my time on social media. I’ve deleted all the apps off my phone and if I want to check something I have to get out my computer, which helps put one more step between me and the endless life sucking scrolling.
I’ll tell you, giving up coffee has made the things that used to make me really angry, now just annoying. And I’m sure that being off of the 24 hour circus of controversial outrage has helped with that too. I’m really grateful I’ve made the choice to give both of those things up, it’s brought a lot of peace to my life.
But I wanted to hop on, and say hi. And let you know we’re headed overseas for a while. Oh, and I wanted to show you Jess’ new haircut. Isn’t she pretty? She’s always pretty no matter what her hair looks like. Practical new “do” for the hot weather of the Philippines.
If you’d like to partner with our trip, we still need to raise about $3,000 to cover the kids plane tickets. We will also have more expenses while we’re there along with maintaining the majority of expenses in the US.
I wrote this in our ministry update. “Missions as a single is an adventure. Missions as a family is a bit more of a sacrifice.”
But we believe that this is what God has created our family for, and even thought I’d be easier, more comfortable, and cheaper to stay, GOING will be the best for our family.
We’re excited for this family adventure of planting a Bible Core Course in Davao Philippines.
We’re excited to sow into what God’s already doing in the Philippines.
We’re excited to partner with hungry Filipino missionaries who want to study the word of God more in-depth and let it transform them. We’re excited to see new Filipino Bible teachers, missionaries, and evangelists trained and sent all over the world.
If you’re the praying type, please pray for safety and health for our family and fruitful ministry. A huge thanks to everyone who has already given. And a huge thanks to @hannahmld for hanging out with our kids this week so we could focus on packing.
Do people blog anymore? When I get the rare chance to post some content I mostly do it on instagram and facebook. Someone shared with us about a year ago that it was hard to find evidence of our ministry through our blog and updates. I think that person forgot what it was like to have young children. I wish I had energy to formulate a thought after I put the kids down much less write an update or a blog. The only reason this is getting cross posted right now is because “Baby J” woke up crying at 445 this morning so I just got up after her getting her back down.
Also some other people have shared that they aren’t getting our updates. Our last update that we sent out did indeed struggle to get to peoples inboxes, and then people responded and I didn’t get their responses. Please add jimjessbaker(at)jimjessbaker.com to your address book in your e-mail. (Why did I write it like that? Because bots surf webpages and if you have your actual e-mail listed out and you can get added to all kinds of spam lists. I once thought our newsletter was gaining popularity when I saw that we had hundreds of new subscribers and it was just a Russian bot.
Anyway… here’s what I recently posted on the socials.
I feel like I get these tiny glimpses of what Paul meant when He wrote this in Philippians:
“I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.”
Last week was our anniversary and I asked a question about hotel hacks on Facebook because I was looking up hotel stays here and everything was $600 a night. That isn’t in the cards right now. But someone reached out and asked me what we were doing Saturday and booked us a night at a hotel in Waikiki.
I thought it was the hotel that we stayed at when we had to evacuate our single wall, on stilts home during one of the hurricanes. But when we arrived we realized it wasn’t. This hotel was beach front. Jess giggled as we were checking in, and said this is crazy. I thought for sure we were at the wrong hotel and were going to have to walk to the hotel I was thinking of that was further inland. Nope. It was the right hotel.
We had 19 hours of uninterrupted conversation and a full night of uninterrupted sleep. We played tourist and ate dinner in Waikiki. I actually prayed out loud that we wouldn’t run into anyone we knew. God’s better than that and sometimes says no to my dumb selfish introvert prayers. We walked into a restaurant that caught my eye. I felt led to it for some reason.
Jess really wanted coconut shrimp and this one had that on its menu. I walked in and made eye contact with someone working in the back. It was the barista from our local Starbucks. I don’t frequent Starbucks anymore but I used to and knew a few of the baristas. He had switched jobs and was working here, we caught up a bit and I asked him for some recommendations on food. He asked if we were drinking and I said maybe and he said he’d take care of the first round. We didn’t chat after that, Jess got her coconut shrimp and since he didn’t come back I thought, eh, probably won’t happen that’s okay. Our waitress brought us our check, and he said “our boss thinks he kind of knows you so he took care of your drinks.” So my $3 soda water with lime was comped. A very kind gesture.
This was our first time away from our kids. So it’s been years since Jess and I have had more than a couple hours to ourselves. Aunty Sandi hung out with our kids. We asked her when she picked us up how the night was. She laughed and said, I was up 6 times between 2am and 6am. She said “I got a little taste of what you guys have been going through.”
I pumped the a/c the whole time we were there. The room was spacious and luxurious, clean and tidy. The toilet seat was even heated. Jess brought a book, I brought my Bible and my journal and 2 books, neither of us touched them the whole time.
We came home and Jess moved everything out of our kids room closet because termites have been destroying our floor. The exterminator is coming tomorrow to spray. We’ve been hearing rats in the ceiling, I set a trap outside where Jess saw what she thought was the biggest gecko on our window screen, when she realized it was a rat. I caught a mongoose in the trap, but no rats. And we aren’t even third world missionaries.
Jess has been working hard this last quarter prepping for her largest Bible Core Course that starts in 2 weeks. Reworking her staff manual, adjusting assignments, all of the admin things and e-mails to accept her students. Her staff is gathering today for a week of staff training.
This upcoming school has 17 students. All who have already been overseas sharing the gospel and are coming back for more training.
This is Jess’ 9th Bible Core Course that has run as her being the director. I’m so proud of her. She’s given birth at home, breastfed both of our children and when other schools weren’t running because of a global pandemic she still ran schools and is fulfilling all of the goals she set for this program, all in under 5 years.
She’s raising up Bible teachers through YWAM training in the Bible Core Course (BCC) besides new students, over 90% of the YWAM Honolulu staff have done a BCC now.
Her second goal was to get inductive Bible teaching seminars in local churches. Her program has run in two churches and they are in talks with a third.
Her third goal was to see an impact overseas with raising up inductive Bible study programs and teachers and it’s very exciting to see the ball start rolling there too.
Hotels, termites, rats, ministry. Life is crazy, God is good.
A quick story about robots and truth.
I really like efficiency. I like things to work well the first time. I also do not enjoy recurring tasks.
We have a human sized dog who sheds like a maniac. His name is @hikarlthegreat and I love him. He’d shed less if we brushed him more.
But nonetheless our floor is covered in dog hair and dirt/dust from outside since our windows are always open. #luckywelivehawaii
There are often days where I’d vacuum a few times and every time I’ll fill up the vacuum hopper.
Jess gave me a robot vacuum for valentines day. I had mentioned getting one a few times but initially she wasn’t into the idea. Finding places for things to go is difficult in our place. But she saw a neighbor had one and noticed that it went under the furniture (where we never vacuum) and was sold.
It arrived yesterday and I sent it on its maiden voyage. I forgot to attach the side brushes but it still sucked up a ton of stuff. I was amazed that when I plugged in the dock it found its way back to it to charge as soon as I plugged it in.
It does a really good job using its side brushes to get in the corners where a regular vacuum doesn’t get.
Karl did a lot of barking at it at first. And my son was hesitant about it, but I acted really excited about it and told him how cool it was.
Last night before bed, I told “A” to go into his room and bring some PJ’s. To which he stalled. I had to ask him a few times. I was about to tell him we couldn’t watch a video before bed. But then I realized interspersed with his stalling was a question. “Are you going to run the robot?” I thought he was just changing the subject. He didn’t want to go in his room and have the unpredictability of the robot moving without him knowing. He wasn’t intentionally being disobedient, he was hesitant because of the unknown. I could have gotten loud and taken away video time before bed, but I’m pretty sure the Holy Spirit helped me realize what was really going on.
“A” Must have gone into his room to get his PJ’s when I first asked him to do so and then saw the machine charging and doing its “breathing” with its light.(Why do we assign even more human characteristics to robots?)
And why do robots intrinsically feel weird even to kids and to my dog.
I wonder what new technology felt this weird previously. When cars started being more common was there a sense of unease at the disruptive technology?
Or do robots feel strange because of it’s ability to do things without a human? And is it strange that humans create robots in their own image.
Anyway, after realizing what was really going on, I assured “A” that the robot would not go on unless we pushed the on button. He said okay, and went and got his PJ’s.
I’m realizing in life that there is often a layer beneath behavior, that’s the cause, motivation, catalyst for the action. And as leaders (parenting is really just the ultimate form of leadership) we need to always be asking, what’s really going on?
Be investigative, but don’t assign motive through assumption.
When we can figure out what’s going on in that sometimes subconscious level we can deal then deal with the truth.
Sometimes asking the right questions, or slowing down a bit and listening can help us see and show others what’s really going on too so it can actually be dealt with.
Jumping to conclusions and assigning our own narrative is dangerous in these situations, especially to children, who might just hear an alternative story and go start believing that.
How we perceive life is so important, it’s scary that we can live our whole lives with an incorrect perception and live like thats a reality.
We can also shape other peoples lives through suggestive words and assigning motives that may or may not be true. Or we can change perception about something in a good way, like me being overly excited about the vacuum to show my son it was a good thing. It’s scary to me how suggestible we are. How social media influence changes how we think and what we think about. Sometimes in sneaky ways, and sometimes just through brute force repetition.
I started this out saying I liked efficiency. There’s nothing efficient about taking the time to figure out what’s truly going on. It requires more time, investigation and communication. More questions, more conversations. And sometimes those questions have to be processed in an unhurried way. But the search to deal with the underlaying issues are worth it, so they don’t stay hidden and fester. It’d be easy to make a snap judgement and assign my own narrative to a story and maybe even say it enough times that I’d start to believe it and say it enough that others started to believe it too, but would it be true?
What false perceptions have you been living with? What false perceptions are you maybe unintentionally speaking over others? Truth is really really important. The devil is a liar and wants you to believe his lies. Jesus is the way the truth and the life.
Yay a non stock photo this week!
I didn’t find him.
I went down to Waikiki homeless outreach last night, I rode with Spencer to pick up the pizzas. I took notice of the reflections in the Papa John’s store window as I waited. Diamond Head in the background and the sun starting to set were reflecting off the window showing off the cotton candy skies.
“T” didn’t show up for pizza. So a DTS student named Nick, who was down there for the first time, and I walked down to where Nathanial (a SOME student) had seen him yesterday.
The SOME (School of Missions and Evangelism) students have three days a week scheduled for outreach and evangelism. Monday they were handing out Bibles and saw “T.”
I had to interrupt Nathanial, he was speaking Tagalog with a homeless man. Nathanial told me where “T” usually stayed. I guess on Monday “T” was eager to get a Bible.
I love that these students are ready to be on the streets, sharing the good news of Jesus. They are headed to the Middle East in a couple months.
Nick and I made a couple loops looking for “T” but didn’t find him, and as the sun was setting it was getting even harder to see people in the park and I wasn’t trying to approach people in the darkness.
This morning the amazing Sandi Walrod is doing childcare for us. So I finished up some tax prep and drove down to Waikiki to see if I could find “T” this morning. I didn’t.
I did run into Anna Roberts though. I was walking through the park admiring the birds and a dog playing in the fountain when I heard my name. “Jim Baker”
I wasn’t expecting to see anyone and recognizing people when you can only see half their face is a bit challenging, but I figured it out pretty quick. I took note of the location and tucked it away for a future adventure with the kids to feed the ducks in the park.
This morning as I was getting ready to go I couldn’t find my keys. Was it demonic attack to keep me from going? Was it God warning me not to go? Or had I just misplaced my keys? I think I just misplaced my keys.
I think in my head I was trying to make excuses not to go. I mean, I even prioritized paying taxes and doing paperwork before I went. (All things that actually did need to get done, but not things I enjoy doing.)
As I drove down to Waikiki not knowing what I’d find I thought about Jesus leaving the 99 sheep to find the 1. (Matt 18) This morning I didn’t find the 1. But I tried. And I’m grateful that God pursued me.
The takeaway?
Shoot your shot when you have the chance, there might only be one.
I should have been bolder with “T” when I got the chance last week. He said multiple times he needed a phone, I should have helped him then. (I wasn’t driving at the time, but I could have found a way)
I’m not condemning myself. I’m just learning lessons. I was rusty, I hadn’t been on the streets for a while. I wasn’t ready in season and out. (2 Tim 4:2)
My Tuesday evening meetings resume next week so I won’t be down there for the official outreach again. But I’m glad that there is team that will be, and I know they will run into “T” again.
There are new people coming to Hawaii everyday, to be homeless on the beach. Sure there’s a natural beauty, but the poverty cycle of homelessness is bad and it won’t be paradise when you get your stuff stolen.
I’ve heard stories relayed of people waking up to others digging through their pockets. Things only get harder on the streets, and that hardship turns people to self medicate and lose motivation.
What if Jesus is sending us out to share His hope with people who are desperate and disillusioned. What if some of these people need to boldly hear that what they think they are getting into, isn’t what they are really going to get into and that God has a better plan for them. What if us being motivated by God’s love to be down there is the divine sign that people need to know that God cares for them.
In 2021 my family made some big life transitions. We left the paying ministry to be more focused on the volunteer ministry. And through that big step of faith and obedience to what we sensed God was saying, we clarified our calling.
We’re equipping those who will GO. These fired up students inspire me, and I hope to impart a little bit of the wisdom I’ve learned since I’ve lived double their lifetimes. Thank you to everyone who gives to our ministry so that we can make all of this happen.
Who do you need to be lovingly bold with? What hope do you need to be imparting? What action do you need to take?
I went down to Waikiki last night. Usually I have a Tuesday night meeting but last night ended up being free.
YWAM Honolulu just restarted the Tuesday night homeless feeding that Pastor RK started years ago. He’s since moved his family to Paraguay and is doing missions work there, and around that time the homeless feeding got shut down in March 2020 because of Covid.
If you’ve been following me for a while you probably remember this was one of my favorite outreaches and I wrote about it a lot in previous years starting about a decade ago.
I went with Spencer the YWAM Honolulu Director to pick up the pizza’s from Papa Johns. We parked at the zoo and walked them over to the first pavilion. I was slightly nervous because it has been such a long time since I had been down there.
What would we encounter? In the past month both Spencer and I have had separate near violent encounters with the homeless where the police had to be called. I read an article that meth that is hitting the streets now is literally frying peoples brains and making them violent. Pray for our protection as we continue to minister.
Our School of Missions and Evangelism (SOME) students and staff set up a folding table and started inviting people to come get pizza.
As the line formed, Billy the SOME director gave a short gospel presentation and one of the staff prayed.
We started talking with a guy named “T”.
It was great to see Billy do what he’s so gifted at. Easily engaging people in conversation and effortlessly sharing the gospel.
He later shared with one of the students that it’s not effortless, that he still gets nervous and he just pushes through it and has to choose to kill his fear of man. That’s a good reminder.
“T” had only been on the street for 4 days, he just flew in from California. Young guy, 20’s, still clean, bright eyed and alert. The street hadn’t hardened him yet.
Billy chatted with him about where he was from. I heard “T” say he needed a phone.
Billy was upfront and bold with “T.” You need to get off these streets man, you need to get a job and a place to stay you need an address.
Throughout the conversation we found out that “T” was raised in church and had a knowledge of gospel. Billy prayed for him and then gave space for “T” to pray too.
You could see God meeting with “T” as he closed his eyes and silently prayed on the verge of tears.
Billy moved on to chat with a group of young (I’m pretty sure drunk) language students from Europe. It seemed like they were in Waikiki to party. 3 of the 4 were engaged with the conversation. The 4th guy kept trying to get the rest of the group to leave.
Billy later shared he asked them why Jesus had to die on the cross. They responded “to be a good example?” They had no understanding of the gospel. Billy got to share with them while I finished up my conversation with “T”
“Why are you really out here man?” I asked T, as his eyes shifted around, he stared at the ground.
“My girlfriend of 7 years had a brain aneurism and died, I had to get out of there man, and get a fresh start, everything reminded me of her.”
“I’m so sorry.” I responded.
There’s always a deeper why.
I asked him if he had family back in California. He said his parents, but he said they don’t have money like that.
“I should have a better plan” he repeated a few times during our chat.
I asked him if he was running into trouble out here, he responded “I heard that people like to jack your stuff out here so I’ve been keeping my ID and my social security card on me, and I’m just trying to protect my bag.”
He shook my hand, half smiled and walked away.
I’ve been thinking a lot about personalities lately. Aggressive versus passive. I appreciated that Billy was so upfront with “T” and boldly shared the gospel with him and told him he needed to get off the streets. I wish I would have been more aggressive or at least assertive last night.
I prayed that I’d run back into “T” as we walked back to our car. I wanted to help get him a phone. I didn’t see him. Pray that I run into him next week. Miracles happen. Remember when we found “B” in a city of a million people?
I recently tweeted something like “Don’t make any excuse to not live by your values.”
If you have a tragedy in your life you might be tempted to make an excuse to do dumb things. Maybe this is playing out in your own life on a smaller scale.
Maybe you’ve had a hard day so you’re going to make an excuse to indulge in some food that’s not good for you, or escape and have a few more drinks than usual.
What if we didn’t allow hardship, rejection, unmet expectations to derail us from what we truly valued?
Yesterdays Proverb that stuck out to me was Proverbs 18:1.
“Whoever isolates himself seeks his own desire; he breaks out against all sound judgement.”
Don’t let “no one will understand” be an excuse to isolate. Nothing good grows alone in the dark.
We all need a support network. Cultivate yours today. Be vulnerable with trusted friends. Are we all just one tragedy and a few poor choices away from being on the streets?
I like Waikiki evangelism because you hear real peoples stories. And when you hear real peoples stories from their own mouth empathy leads the way.
What if through a slice of pizza, a listening ear, the power of the Holy Spirit and the good news of the Gospel we gave hope to people who are headed down a dark path, what if that cost us our time, our comfort and even some resources?
I’ve heard of a man and one of the few stories I heard about him was that he stepped over homeless people and as he did, he’d say “get a job like the rest of us you bum.” I don’t want that to be my legacy.
Spencer and I drove back home. He shared how he was talking to two guys who he had met a few weeks ago. One guy was from South Dakota and had only been here for 4 weeks. He even had a plane ticket back, but got his ID stolen. He talked about how he was on a bunch of heart medicines but didn’t have the money to get them and didn’t know if he was going to live or not. Spencer met up with them the next day took them to the pharmacy, got him a phone and got the guys prescriptions filled and encouraged him to get his ID which he hadn’t yet.
It’s crazy that we’re meeting people who are brand new to the street. The cycle is predictable. Live on the street, get your stuff stolen, now you don’t have an ID so you can’t work or do anything or get assistance. Lose motivation, start drinking or doing drugs and now you’re a statistic.
I appreciate that our director isn’t just leading from a high back office chair. He’s on the streets doing the stuff and following up with people the next day on his own time, and his own dime.
I appreciate that our SOME director is down there with his daughter even though they just lost a family member.
I’m blessed to be apart of this community. A community that prioritizes and values what they say they value. A community that challenges, encourages me and makes space for me to prioritize the Gospel. There are a million excuses to not take action.
I’m grateful to be spurred on to not just talk about it, but to be about.
Don’t talk about it, be about it.
Sorry for the stock photo, I forgot to take a picture last night.
Here’s a photo of my dad (Russ Baker) and my son at last year’s family reunion.
My parents just became great grandparents again, my niece just had her baby. Congrats!
In my last post I talked about what we look at shapes who we are. Or you could say it another way: “what you behold, you become.” I don’t remember where that quote is from but its’ a good one.
I don’t think I ever shared with you, but I was scared to death to be a dad. I specifically remember going on a guys camping trip before we were even trying to have kids, and laying on a picnic table looking at the night sky and tearing up because of how afraid I was to be a dad someday.
I think I felt the weighty responsibility of it, and I didn’t think I had what it took. The need to show up every day consistently. I know myself probably better than anyone and there are some days where it’s hard to show up. Being a dad has been a huge motivator to show up more consistently. I think I became a real adult once I had a child. There just isn’t an option to not show up.
Jess and I went to a free Tony Evans marriage conference in Kentucky once. One of my big takeaways was he said it’s not the woman’s job to raise the kids, its the dads. And he said that its mostly done from the dinner table.
I later bought his book Kingdom Man and listened to it on a road trip from (I think Tennessee?, maybe I was visiting Ohio) to go visit my friend Tim in Michigan.
I’ve since looked back through the book and can’t find the direct quote, but my big takeaway from it was this:
It’s a man’s job to protect, provide and guide.
I love the clarity on that. I remember different milestones growing up and wondering what it means to be a man? At the time I didn’t have such clear guidelines.
I recently taught a week in the Discipleship Training School here in Honolulu on relationships. I spent some time on family relationships. I taught that we get to choose what we focus on in our relationships. I think the devil would love to have us focus on the one bad day a parent had and twist it to become our story and our experience, instead of recognizing all the good days we had with our parents. Obviously there are people out there who had more bad days than good, but that wasn’t my experience.
So here’s three stories of how my dad protected me, provided for me, and guided me. It’s interesting I wrote a blog post back in 2016 on Fathers Day and outlined these three things without knowing the framework of protect, provide and guide. I think they all take a much deeper meaning now even more than 6 years ago because now I have children of my own.
Also you should tell your dad you appreciate them more than every 6 years
PROTECT: I was at an outdoor pool during the summer. I’m guessing I was late elementary school, early middle school? And a kid was roughhousing with me. I didn’t know the kid at all, but he thought that it’d be a fun game to attempt to drown me. I’m sure I was telling him to stop. And I’m sure I felt overwhelmed in the water. Then out of no where my dad appears, standing on the edge of the pool. I remember they weren’t near the side of the pool that I was on, so he had to have been aware enough of what was going on from a distance. I can tell he’s pissed. But his anger isn’t at me. He started yelling at the other kid. “I’ve been watching you all day do the same thing to other kids but not today and not to my son. You get off of him right now.” I remember the kid going limp and sliding off of me. It was like through my dad’s righteous anger he stilled the storm and brought peace to chaos. I remember being impressed with my dad that day. I had never seen him like that. I’ve since asked him about this and he has no recollection of this story. He was just doing what had to be done.
I’ve experienced dad rage now too. When my son was just able to stand a bigger kid intentionally shoved him and I watched my son’s head whip back from the impact. I didn’t know dad rage was a thing, I kept myself under control but I was boiling inside at this other kid. I sternly told this kid to NEVER push my son ever again.
PROVIDE: Between our move from NY to MD growing up my dad left his teaching job and worked at McDonalds and a toy store. I think there was a season where both jobs overlapped. Being 4 or 5 at the time I didn’t really understand it, but in hindsight it’s huge. My dad did what needed to be done in that season to provide for the family.
For a season recently I got a third job cleaning construction sites. I’m grateful that these are just seasons and that season is over. Part of provision is using those seasons wisely, making sure as you go out and work for extra income, that you decrease your spending too so the work has maximum impact. I think of my neighbor who is expecting their second child, every time I see him going to his side jobs I try to encourage him and thank him for providing for his family.
GUIDE: My dad has always championed my dreams. I remember when I turned 18 we went out to dinner and my dad asked me what I wanted to do with my life. I told him that I wanted to be a rock star. And he started dreaming with me and helping me plan. That rock star pursuit didn’t last long, but he wanted me to take a shot at it at least.
I’m grateful that my dad continues to champion my unconventional way of living. He recently spent some time on FaceTime just encouraging me how evident it is that what we’re doing is what we are created to do.
I’m doing my best to guide my son with our Baker Values. I had a proud dad moment when we visited a friends church for Christmas and they quoted the great commission and as my son heard it, he looked at me and said “Dad, that’s one of the Baker values!”
I appreciate you DAD. Thank you for protecting me, and providing for me, and guiding me. I’m going to do my best to make sure I do those things for my kids too.
There’s something about men and mornings. I’m writing this before the rest of my family gets up, I remember coming down to the kitchen every morning barely awake, and my dad would be eating his cereal and reading either popular science or the Bible to start his morning.
What are you grateful for about your dad? If you have the opportunity, I encourage you to tell him. If you are a dad, how are you working on protecting, providing for and guiding your children?
We mimic what we see.
So what are you choosing to put in front of you?
“A” and I started playing a game where we take his stuffies and look out the window and we take turns telling each other what we see.
It’s very interesting to see my son come home from hanging out with his friends and suddenly he’s using new mannerisms and phrases that are obviously from the kids he just hung out with.
I took a little over a week and got off the inter webs. Social media at least. It was a nice way to prepare for Christmas. And since we live where we work and didn’t go to the mainland to see family for Christmas this year I wanted our break to feel different, set apart. Disconnecting from social media helped with that. (Along with meals that were different too)
I’ve deleted instagram and twitter from my phone. And I’m not going to put them back on. It’s just to convenient to get lost in the endless scrolling.
Sometimes while endlessly scrolling, I feel like I’m looking for something, I don’t know what, but I never leave feeling fulfilled.
We recently switched over to mint mobile to save a ton on our phone bill and the first month I just used data (not wifi) to see how it worked. Guess what my most used app for data was? Instagram. So much that even though I have an unlimited plan, near the end of the month my speeds got throttled to an unbearable speed.
What “should” I be doing instead of all that mindless scrolling? Probably reading a real book, I’m sure I’d be happier with that investment of my time rather than whatever novel, junk food, social media tabloid, shiny content someone is producing.
I deleted Facebook from my phone a while ago. I logged into Facebook yesterday on my computer and within three posts had an emotional reaction to something someone posted. I quickly logged off.
It’s really easy to get stirred up on the internet. I don’t want internet strangers or acquaintances or people who I like in real life but don’t enjoy on the internet, or “friends” where the season of friendship is actually expired and wouldn’t know about or talk to if social media didn’t exist, to have that much access and influence over my daily life.
Why should I allow my day to be ruined by something someone I don’t even really know said on the internet? It’d be better not to know.
When you’re scrolling through your feed how many peoples voices are you consuming? Would you literally let all of those people crawl into bed with you and whisper (or shout) into your ear before bed? Would you want that many phone calls the first thing when you wake up?
I’m trying to draw healthy boundaries with social media. I’ve also seen a lot about how bad blue light from our screens is for our circadian rhythm. I invested in a $8 travel alarm clock and charged my phone in the living room last night.
I use twitter to jot thoughts throughout the day. I follow more “thought leaders” there. I wonder how much “thought leading” is just reacting to bad news. People become influential on the internet because they are controversial, then they post about whatever made them popular.
Does an overconsumption of what’s going on out there help me be more effective of what’s going on right here?
I actually probably only interact with two people on twitter. Both of whom I interacted with through text while I wasn’t on social media. I’d rather share thoughts in direct conversation than tweeting to the oblivion.
I’d love to just be completely done with social media. But I tried that for a year and half once.
And we lost a quarter of our supporters. So I guess thats not really an option.
So new boundaries are: social media only on my computer. Which is less convenient and keeps the mindless scrolling down. Accounts logged out, so it’s one more step between me and mindless scrolling.
Although I’d love to be done with social media completely or at least take an extended hiatus, I’m going to try and post “something” weekly. I’m not going to pressure myself into it or feel bad if I don’t have anything to say, I’m not a professional blogger with a schedule. But it will at least keep our ministry partners informed if they prefer to consume content on social media. And I’m going to be better about my e-mail list.
Are you drawing boundaries with social media? Do you think you consume to much content? How does it affect you?
Doing church from home today as a family. Which is something new for us in this new season.
And when I say home church with family, what I mean is I held “baby J” while Jess went back to sleep since she hasn’t slept more than 2 hours at a time for the past 6 months.
“A” was sleeping in which I’m grateful for because I think that means jet lag is over. We’ve been up together at odd hours since returning from the mainland.
I searched TRIBL on youtube and turned on this video sarcastically saying to “Baby J”: “Let’s be spiritual”
God’s so gracious. Even with my flippant comment, He met me through these lyrics:
JESUS
SET MY HEART ON FIRE
TILL YOU’RE ALL I WANT
TILL YOU’RE EVERYTHING
Oh yeah… worship aligns our hearts and souls and sets our focus back on the only thing that matters. Jesus.
I need that reminder in the chaos of this season.
Then the worship leader sang this spontaneous line and it got me.
6:07 – YOU ARE THE GREATEST CHOICE I’VE EVER MADE
Oh yeah. Another timely reminder. We as a family will continue to choose Him.
“Baby J” was engaged the whole 10 minutes. Which is interesting because I showed her a Vulfpeck (one of “A’s” favorite bands) video this week and she wasn’t into it.
Maybe “Baby J” is destined to be a worship leader. I pray my kids will use their gifts to equip and inspire their generation to follow hard after Jesus, with a revelation of the goodness of the gospel. And an understanding and relationship with this beautiful benevolent King who is pursuing us.
No matter the circumstance, the hurt, the chaos, the fear keep choosing Him. Jesus is really good.
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