I had a chat with a good friend tonight – she told me about her two Somali friends who were assaulted by other Somali refugees.

A Somali woman tends to her seven year-old son who was wounded by a stray bullet on May 24, 2009 as they sit inside a medical tent that was set up by Ugandan soldiers at one of their bases in Mogadishu, Somalia. (ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP/Getty Images)

She told me about her roommate who spends her days driving up and down the tracks picking up prostitutes and ministering to them.

She told me she lives in an apartment of 5 girls, in a bad part of town, that all do the same kinds of ministries.

She told me about a Somali woman who told her she was going to hell for believing the things she does about Jesus … right before she told her “I promise I will listen to you next time.”

My friend, she had to raise her own support to do this ministry … to live in a dangerous area … to love on the least of these, the aliens, the sojourners … to make the gospel known to them.

She doesn’t get a pay check – she gets to watch her savings account dwindle and, when it’s all gone, she has to find something else to do.

Are you kidding me?

As I drove home from the party where I got to spend time with my friend, I had about 25 thoughts – most of which were hypercritical and not worth repeating.  What my mind came back to time and time again as I drove was the word “bloated”.

Bloated Christians. Bloated Churches. Bloated Institutions.

Bloated and slowly dying from self-inflicted gluttony.

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Can we just agree that we live in an upside down world?

Can we just agree to listen to Jesus, to obey him, and to be a part of his work in flipping this world back right-side-up?

Can we just agree to stop gorging ourselves?

Can somebody just fork up some cash and set my friend free to do crazy gospel-driven ministry to the refugees of Memphis, TN?

Can we just agree that its not supposed to be this way – not for God’s people?

Well, can we?

Is that you???

I will answer this once and for all.

No!

The girl in the middle is not me, though we do share a striking resemblence.

Is this a rite of passage for a new dad?

This afternoon we fed Abbey turkey for the first time.

Her response?

An instant Wilson home video-clip classic:

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What childhood foods did you absolutely hate? did your kids absolutely hate? did Lee and Beth absolutely hate when we were babies (this question is for you moms of mine)?

Andrew Peterson is known in Christian circles for his incredible album “Behold the Lamb of God” (which is certain to be featured on the blog this upcoming Christmas).

One of Peterson’s songs is cleverly/cheesily (your call) titled “Serve Hymn”.

It is a really good song and a modified version has become a staple of corporate worship at our church – City Fellowship Church here in Jackson.

Perhaps I will say more about this song in the future, but for now I would just like to share a clip of an up-and-coming young married couple doing their own version of the song’s chorus.

Be warned, this may leave you speechless:

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I think they could have a future in the business, but it seems likely that they will quickly return to obscurity with the passing of this fine young lady’s laryngitis.

Beth here -

We went to the pumpkin patch with the Autry’s and had a blast.

Here is a preview of what’s to come:

The other day I called Beth from work to see what was going on at the house.

I confess, I got to missing them and felt a little lonely, especially after I heard Abbey giggling and being silly in the background.

So I decided to hang up the phone and Skype my girls to really see what was going on at the house.

Here’s some of what I saw:

Beth doing something silly with her hair

Beth doing something silly with her hands (I love Abbey's sweet little grin)

Beth pretending that Abbey has some hair - how silly

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How do you take advantage of technology to stay in touch with your loved ones?

I think this is the first blog post I have ever read that made me cry.

Here’s a snippet:

“Every man needs a father.”

All men have fathers, for better or for worse. Some of those fathers misuse their authority as a father and cause brokeness in a young man’s life, be that by abuse or abandonment or what have you. So what about those boys?

If you want to see what made me (Lee) cry – and it will be obvious – jump over to the Prodigal Roamer blog.

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Cryptic shout out: I love you too Dwight – and I am still incredibly proud of you.

Friends with older babies always told us that the little ones’ personalities really seem to blossom at about 8 months.

They were right.

So, though we tried to do some little special things for Abbey to celebrate her 8 month-day (which was on the 19th), she’s the one who keeps giving great gifts to us.

In these videos, you get to see a little of both.

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Abbey’s 8 month-day elephant (and increased mobility):

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Abbey’s 8 month-day song (and feeding & sitting skills):

(in case you cannot tell from the mediocre camerawork, Abbey is feeding herself cereal puffs)

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Parents, what was your favorite thing about hitting the 8th month mark?