Reflections on the Crazy Summer of 2010

Our time with all of the WHM missionaries in Greece was wonderful. All of my leadership responsibilities went well and there is a lot of excitement about things that God has been doing in and through WHM. But by far the best parts of the week were those times spent in prayer (2-3 hours a day!) hearing our missionaries hearts and getting to intercede for them. There is something about gathering around brothers and sisters, laying hands on them and then praying, crying, and pouring your heart out in prayer over them that is truly a taste of heaven and we slurped it up like kids eating ice cream for the first time.

We were able to reconnect with lots of old friends and meet some new ones too! In Denver I got a chance to catch up with former Naperville Presbyterian pastor and church planter, George Garrison. Nashville brought us together with Nate and Kara Conrad for a few days and several Chicago buddies spread around the country now. Jennifer was able to see at least some of you when she and Parker where unexpectedly back in Chicago for two weeks thanks to some frequent flyer miles (and the chaos that ensued over the tickets). And we were able to host Matt and Erin Young as well as Barry and Amy Schutter (our London-Southall church planting team leaders) here in Philly.

We enjoyed a much needed ministry break over vacation. Now that Parker is older we want to start exposing him to some of the cool things on the east coast. So in August we went to Washington D.C. for 3 days and visited the Smithsonian, saw some of the monuments, strolled by the White House and the Capitol, heard a concert by the Army Band (with live cannons for the 1812 Overture), ate at 5 Guys Burgers, visited Ford's Theater where Abraham Lincoln was assassinated, and saw Marine One fly over the mall and past the Washington Monument with President Obama aboard. After that we headed up to a quiet cabin near Lake George NY and enjoyed a week in the Adirondacks taking it easy (though we did visit Vermont, Lake Placid and tour the Ausable Chasm... which we highly (!) recommend).

I was able to see again just how much my heart needs the gospel because it resembles "Mars Hill" in Athens. When Paul was in Athens, he preached a sermon at Mars Hill (aka the Aeropagus) which is recorded in Acts 17. If you've had the chance to visit there, you'll know the hill is a rocky outcropping, that is hard and slippery, with no shade or plants and it is overlooked by the famous Acropolis. It was a stunning reminder to me of just how much my heart looks just like this-hard, slippery and inhospitable-without the gospel being brought to it and preached to it every day. And as if to prove the point, God generously allowed me see how my heart was worshiping at the altar of one of my "unknown gods." Instead of enjoying my time with Jennifer and Parker, I chose to worship my own expectations and plans and bicker about what we were going to do next and how long we should spend doing it, instead of just soaking up the atmosphere and the company of my family. When we harden our hearts by holding on to something too tightly, inevitably they turn stony like Mars Hill and grace runs off them without soaking in. I'm sure a lot of people have visited Mars Hill and read Paul's words to the Athenians. I visited Mars Hill and heard Paul's words speaking to me and my tendency to worship my own counterfeit gods.

And in some ways, that's just as good of a picture of the life of a missionary as any. Who better to go and bring a gospel of good news freedom to those with stony hearts who follow false gods, than one who himself is having his stony heart made new and who is learning to slowly release his grip from the false idols of self and security? Who needs the gospel more than one who has multiple "altars to unnamed God's" in his heart and who is learning that his True Dad is not far off and in his love and grace and beauty and mercy we live and have our being?

Fun Facts
This summer the Knaak's combined for a total of :

* 17,808 miles in the air on 11 different flights
* 53 nights with one or more of us away from home
* 18 new WHM missionaries were approved and/or went through our orientation process that I'm involved with
* 10 different cities visited
* 10 train rides to and from various airports, too many subway rides to count, and trip from Philly to D.C. on Amtrak!
* 10 states encountered
* 4 rental cars (who knew the Chrysler Town and Country mini-van was so nice?)
* 3 countries enjoyed
* 3 rounds of golf (2 with Parker and his first set of clubs)
* 3 times we had scheduling problems with flights
* 2 general assemblies attended
* 2 retreats to participate in
* 2 colds... which totally sucked
* 2 weeks of vacation
* 2 weeks in Chicago (for Jennifer and Parker)
* 2 Phillies games (including Parker's first big League Game)
* 1 ferry ride (a first for Paker!)
* 0 times that our luggage was lost-how miraculous is that?!