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Last weekend I headed up to Dahlonega to Riders Hill to do some shopping for some riding boots. I have always ridden in steel-toe work boots, but while we were in Venezuela, I really became interested in purposely designed riding boots. Because the weather was hot, sunny, and clear, Riders Hill's parking lot was packed with every kind of bike that one could imagine. After trying on a couple of pair and checking out features, I selected a pair of Alpinestars Ridge boots. I also have been giving some serious thought to a Hi-Viz riding jacket to increase the visibility during my 42 mile daily commute. Anything to help the cage drivers with their cellphones embedded into the side of their skulls see the guy on the Harley with three headlights. They had a First Gear Mesh-Tex mesh Hi-Viz jacket in extra large, but they were sold out of the size I needed - Large. But they quickly offered to order one for me as he had three other orders for the day for the same jacket. Thursday I ch...

                                               Photo source: Bensayin.com Ok, so I'm not 20 years old any more and I do not keep up with the latest fads. So when we were checking in with our airline for our flight out of Atlanta to kick off our mission trip at like 5am, I see this younger team member, Andrew Kim, lying face down on the tile floor. And, as any curious casual observer might inquire, I asked, "What the heck is he doing on the floor?" "Planking" I was told. Um, OK. What the heck is planking? According to Wikipedia , "The lying down game (also known as planking,[1] or face downs) is an activity, popular in various parts of the world, consisting of lying face down in an unusual or incongruous location. The hands must touch the sides of the ...

One of our team members made this video of our trip. I thought I would share it for those interested.

The Blessing – John Trent, PH.D. and Gary Smalley The blessing is a means of conveying unconditional love, acceptance, and approval to our children. It can be applied to all of our relationships: spouses, extended family, friends, co-workers, church family, and classmates. All children grow up desiring unconditional love, acceptance, and approval from their parents. If they do not receive it clearly conveyed by meaningful touch, spoken message, attaching high value, picturing a special future, and active commitment, they spend the rest of their lives seeking approval from other relationships in unproductive ways. The book breaks down the issues that develop in the lives of children who grow up in situations where the blessing is withheld or where parents choose to make their children try to earn the blessing. It also illustrates the power of words and power of the generational curse. The book also provides solid, practical advice on intentionally provide the blessing in relatio...

Sorry for all the post with no pictures, the internet access at the hotel was just not up for it. But here are a host of pictures to catch you up on the experience.  I was amazed to see so many motorcycle cops in Venezuela. Most are riding dual sports like this officer who gladly agreed to a photo. Allison's birthday was Monday while we were in Venezuela. The staff at Project Jonas suprised her with flowers and a cake. The girls on our team also suprised her with a cake, so everyone enjoyed a lot of delicious cake. Some of the electrical issues I was greeted with upon arrival... There were about 20-24 outside light fixtures that looked something like this: We managed to get three rebuilt to look like this: Here's Allison painting: Here's the concrete pad in progress: EPA - the daily building supply adventure:

Bright and early we rolled out of bed Friday at 3:30am and were in vans for a 3.5 hour ride to the beach with our team and the boys from Project Jonas. The conditions of the roads give the appearance of having been carpet bombed, but they have not had a war. The driving is amazing in itself, something between Mad Max and Deathrace 2000. Many treat red lights like yellows. Stop and then go before it goes green. Intersections are games of chicken. Motorcycles split lanes even with opposing traffic and hardly anyone wears a helmet or anything remotely looking like gear. Honestly despite my years of experience racing, I do not think I would be interested in driving in Venezuela. When we arrived at the beach it was gorgeous emerald blue water, crashing waves, and palm trees. We boarded a few 18 foot boats and rode for 20 minutes out to Cayo Sombrero Morrocoy Venezuela. The first thing we saw when we stepped off the boats onto the island were iguanas feasting on bags of trash.  ...

Thursday we avoided the trip to Epa and went straight to the farm. Another group went to Epa for additional supplies. Allison assisted the bathroom remodeling team with painting, I assisted Carlos with laying concrete block on the trash enclosure. Carlos and I had worked the electrical project for the water pump together and worked together on pouring the concrete pad. Carlos speaks no English and I know only a very limited Spanish vocabulary. So much of this week he has repeated the same sentence numerous times that could not understand and then we would play charades to communicate. My grandfather was pretty good at laying block and when I was growing up, I carried a lot of block for him and learned the process well. So when I was carrying block for Carlos this morning, he quickly figured out I knew something about the process. One of our group that speaks both Spanish and English walked out while we were working, so we got to use an interpreter for a bit. Carlos wanted to kn...