Bringing Aiden Home

I am writing to you to make you aware of a very urgent situation that has come up in our family. The little boy you see on this blog entry is named Aiden. Aiden is an orphan with down syndrome and a heart condition that lives in Eastern Europe. Aiden needs to be adopted into a family before he turns 4 years old or he will be institutionalized- this means he will pretty much be placed in a crib with iron bars , feed once a day and left alone. When he turns 16 he will be released into society to fend for himself. The tragic reality is that many of the orphans released when they are 16 end up being a victim of human trafficking. My wife and children and I have committed to bringing Aiden into our home and raising him as our son .

I remember the day I first saw a picture of him. I was in the prayer room and Tracie (my wife) called me in tears and told me that she had found the little boy that we were to adopt. We had adopted our daughter Elia just 19 month's earlier making her number four for us. We knew we would adopt again, but figured it would be in another year or two. Funny how things don't happen as you had planned. I rushed home and before she even pulled Aiden's picture up I knew I would be in trouble and that there would be no going back. That is exactly what happened. As soon I saw his precious little face, their was an ache in my heart for him that I can not even put into words. I have never felt so much emotion so quickly. Right then and there he was my son.

To be honest it scared me and it still does. I found myself "cutting deals" with God in my spirit. "Oh God please provide a way for us to get this little boy..." I promise I will do "this" or won't do "that" anymore etc.. The affection I have felt is both great and terrible. Great because I feel like he has been my son since he was born, and I will do anything for him. Terrible in the sense that if we somehow lose him, I don't know if I will survive. My heart is in this 150%. To be honest, I find much offense in my heart building towards God. I have found my inner man raising his fist and shouting "You did this to me, now you had better come through or I will never venture down this road again and you and I just may be done for good!" Scary huh? Sounds like someone needs to be "rooted and grounded in love " just a little more. So I'm learning to trust ..again. I have seen God come through on so many adoptions. My wife Tracie has been helping couples adopt over the last year and has seen many children placed in Christian homes, and we have seen God provide for every single one of them.

I know His heart is for this. So this big, mushy puddle of a daddy is asking friends, family and strangers to partner with us and help bring Aiden home. It's gonna cost around $20,000 - $25,000 by the time it's all said and done. God has brought in everything we have needed so far, and I am leaning into Him and trusting Him for the rest. I am now doing my part by making our need known and asking that you help us bring our son, Aiden home.

Please pass this blog along to family, friends or anyone who you think could help via prayer, financialy contributing or both.

Here is how you can donate:

PAYPAL:
1.Go to Tracie's BLOG
2.Donate through our PayPal Link (this is not tax deductible, but helps with our immediate financial obligations to the agency)

GIVE THROUGH REECES RAINBOW (this is tax deductible)
1. Go to the Reeces Rainbow Link

GIVE THROUGH OUR IHOP ACCOUNT (also tax deductible)
Checks Payable to IHOP-KC (not w/ our name anywhere on the check)
mail to:
John and Tracie Loux
12312 Askew Street
Grandview MO 64030

SUPPORT OUR FUNDRAISERS
Click Here

ADOPTION FUNDRAISER!!!!!

Nick is doing a fund raiser for our adoption!
GET DETAILS HERE!

More to come!

The Naked Guy

I am a processor, which basically means this... I'm not the fastest thinker on my feet. But I also save myself from getting into some weird situations due to this need to process. The following story is a true story and I'm not sure exactly if I handled it the best way I could have. Never the less, I did the best I could with what God gave me.

Friday afternoon, I was driving home down Blue Ridge Blvd. after dropping off my lawn mower to the lawn mower fix it guy for like the 19th time this summer. I approached the light at the Ruskin High School intersection which had just turned red. As I came to a stop, I noticed a very strange sight in the right hand lane. I couldn't believe it at first, but then my brain caught up with my eyes. Standing there at the red light in all his glory was a naked guy.

Now folks, I'm not talking about inappropriately dressed, I'm talking inappropriately not dressed. Not a stitch of anything on this guy, not even sandals. He just stood there at the light with his hands in the air. I figure he was either drunk, high, or on some sort of personal freedom walk. I sat there in disbelief until the light turned green and I drove on by.

It was then that my brain kicked into gear and I thought, "What would Jesus do?" At that moment, I really didn't know. Would He have been caught in the same shock I was in? Or would He have sprung to action? After I was about 50 yards past him, I concluded that Jesus would have clothed him. But then I thought, "Wait, I can't do that. Then I'd be the naked guy."
And to be honest folks, my wife doesn't need that right now, so that option was out.

Then I thought, I could give him a ride, I knew he at least didn't have a weapon. But I just couldn't get over the "ewwwww" factor and also, what I would say to my wife when I picked her up and told her that I had just given a naked guy a ride home in the very seat she was sitting in.

About a mile down the road, I noticed that I had a beach towel in the back seat. Dang it, I thought, I could have at least given him that. Just my luck, I'll get to heaven and Jesus will say, "I was the naked guy and you drove right past me. Depart from me, you shall spend eternity in Branson, Missouri playing lead guitar for K.D. Lang."

A Little Ninja Action Going Out To All You Dad's Out There

Mr. Brain Storm

So I'm in the process of recording guitar parts on two CD's at the moment- one with Nate Panke and the other with Dave Campbell. I was rehearsing with Dave on Tuesday along with the other members in the band- Paco, Josh Motlong, and Adam- when Dave suddenly asked me, "So, John, do you have any ideas?"

Dave often goes around the room and asks the different players what they think of the arrangements and if they have ideas or opinions.

When he asked me this, I drew a blank. Now, understand, I've been going non-stop for a couple weeks now and my brain was fried.

I simply looked at him and said without hesitation, "Dude, I have so many good ideas, I'm just not feeling released to share any of them with you."

Hey, when in doubt, blame the Holy Spirit, yo.

And the Scales Tip

So we're all driving in the van on the way to Deanna Rose Farmstead. It's a beautiful Saturday, 70 degrees, blue skies- happy family time. Out of the blue my oldest son Nick who is 15 says, "Mom, is Dad ever right and you're wrong?"

I simply smiled quietly to myself and thought, "My, justice comes swiftly."

I turned to him and said, "Hmmm, you noticed that too, eh?"

Of course, these moments are very rare, and I've learned not to jump on them and ride them for all they're worth. I've learned to celebrate them quietly, as to not ruin the rest of the outing.

I Don't Know Jack, but I Still Prayed for Him

While in Louisiana this past week, we drove past this realtor's sign. I quickly pulled off to the side of the road, turned off the mini-van, and we had a moment of prayer for this gentleman. He must have had a rough childhood. And that's all I'm going to say.

Scroll down please....

Momma Never Told Me There'd Be Days Like These

Ok, folks, my wife and I are really sick and the kids are really healthy, so I have a little time to work on my blog in between the Ibuprophen, Tylenol, and inhaling vitamin C like it's the last crack on earth.

Very rarely have Tracie and I ever been sick at the same time. I can only remember one other time. It wouldn't be such a big deal, but we now have a very active 11 month old baby. Last night I was laying on the couch and Tracie was in the big chair. We just stared at each other and occasionally moaned. We called all the kids into the room (the three oldest). I was pretty delirious, so I'm not sure what I said, but it might have gone something like this, "If you want to go to heaven, you will do everything I say." Then ,I think I threatened them that if they didn't I would lock them in a room and make them listen to k.d. lang, which I assured them would result in extensive counseling after the fact.

Now you would think that time home with your spouse would improve relations and open up lines of communication. However when my wife spilled her coffee down the front of her shirt, the most romantic thing that came out of my mouth was, "Hey baby, if you put one more stain on that t-shirt you're wearing, I just might ask you out."

At one point, Tay asked if he could get on the computer and I yelled out, "NO, DOES THAT HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH TAKING CARE OF YOUR PARENT'S NEEDS!"



I've added a few things in the sidebar. Take note of the "Best of John Loux" in the sidebar. I have posted two of the ones that make people laugh the hardest, however I am open to your nominations as well. Anything you think I should add?

Lose Your Balance and You'll Become a Psycho

I went on a ministry trip to Cincinnati with my brother and about 10 students from FMA. Now I've got to tell you, I absolutely hate packing. It takes me forever, and of course I have to iron everything because what if I stay in a place that has no iron? You can't just stand up in front of a bunch of people with wrinkly clothes. For that alone, I need serious counseling. For some reason on this trip for my pajamas I packed my flannel bottoms and oddly enough my superman t-shirt.

I'm not sure why I thought that wearing a superman t-shirt, being 38 years old, among 8 other guys in their 20's would be a good idea, but apparently I didn't think that one through. It is a cool super man t-shirt, it's kind of punk, and it's not cheesy at all, but never the less it's still a super man t-shirt.

Now let me set the stage for you, folks. Prior to this trip I had played 26 sets over the past 2 weeks, that's 52 hours of live playing, not including practices. To say the least, I was burnt out. My hands were hurting me, I hated the guitar, all things musical, and quite possibly the whole prayer movement. On top of it all, I hadn't had a whole lot of blue chair time, so my heart wasn't in the best place, and I was pretty much a wreck.

But I have learned my lesson. No longer will my life be that out of balance again, I swear it. The pinnacle of this reality came one evening on the trip. We were all staying in one house. All the guys were staying in the basement sleeping in sleeping bags on the floor. I put on my super man t-shirt, my flannel bottoms (suddenly feeling like I was 12 again), got in my sleeping bag, zipped it up, and went to sleep. However, sometime between 11:30Pm and 6:00Am, I had a dream. In this dream something was chasing me. I yelled out in my sleep (no one knows exactly what I said), and then proceeded to crawl out of my sleeping bag and crawl across the basement floor at a rapid pace. I found myself awake on my hands and knees at the foot of Kurt Weaver's sleeping bag in my superman t-shirt. "Awkward!"

Luckily, nobody woke up and I quickly crawled Back to my sleeping bag the same way I had left it, and hoped that when I awoke I would realize that it was all just a dream, the year was 1983, and I was in junior high again.

MY 5150 vs. Rod Parsley's Butt

Here is yet another legendary picture from the Call Ohio. Notice I have highlighted a couple of things I'd like to point out. First of all, I got to play through a Peavey 5150 Eddie Van Halen 200 watt guitar amp, which is not real visible in the photo, thus the white arrow. I'll say two things about this amp. It sounds awesome and it's stinkin' loud! The second thing I highlighted is Rod Parsley's butt.

Now let me try to set the scene for you. Eddie James was playing before us and we were watching his set in the Green Room back stage. Close to the end of his set from out of nowhere, we hear this raspy type screaming- which kind of sounded like the Wicked Witch of the West and Axel Rose going through deliverance. Much to our surprise, it was Rod Parsley and when the camera finally focused on him, he was pretty much moshing in a fashion that Henry Rollins would be proud of.

So here's the thing, we had to follow Eddie James and Rod Parsley. How the heck are ya going to do that, it's like trying to go on after Zeppelin. Nobody went on after Zeppelin. So we did the only thing one can do in a situation like this, we went Celtic. We opened up with my brother's song "Sovereign God" and then later on he busted out his penny whistles. Hey, if you can't beat 'em- clog, that's what I always say!

Anyway, when I went on stage, Rod Parsley was in the position you see him in. His butt facing my very, very loud amp. I tried giving him and "audio" warning, by throwing in a few volume swells- that's when I turn the volume of the guitar off, play a note, and then slowly bring the volume up. In this case, I was saying, "Excuse me Mr. Parsley, unless you brought a new pair of shorts, you're going to want to move."

If any of you have ever heard the song "Sovereign God", it starts off very droning and laid back and then kicks in with a massive wall of sound. Let's just say, he moved!

My Hair and 10,000 People

This picture was taken by Jessica Gliserman at The Call in Cincinnati.

You'll notice 3 things.
1. There are a ton of people there.
2. That's Rod Parsley standing there pointing the microphone in front of me.
3. By the looks of my hair, it seems that I should be playing lead guitar for the "Little Rascals" rather than any worship band.
(and oh yeah, I'm very white)

Let me clarify folks. I arrived at the arena at 11AM and didn't play until 6:30PM; and not one of my friends, including my wife, told me that my hair looked like crap. My closest friends surrounded me: my family, the Bohlender's, and not even sweet Therese Engle- I thought she'd at least do that "mom" thing and lick her hand and smooth down my hair.

The sad thing about it is, I thought my hair was "rockin'" that day. It was finally getting to the length that I had had it a year or so before that I really liked- back then I was getting comments like, "Hey, you look like Keith Urban. " (of course back then I was tanning and working out)

Upon confronting my wife with this picture, she proceeded to tell me, "Honey, you have really thin hair and you're a tall, skinny man. When you have hair like that it only stays in place for like 30 minutes and then it flies all over the place."

My concern is, what else isn't she telling me? Like for instance:

"Oh yeah honey, I've been meaning to tell you, for the last two years, you've been walking around with your fly down."
OR
"Hey you should've kept tanning, because you have freakishly, white pasty skin, and when you stand in front of 10,000 people with 200 lights blazing on you, it's a wonder anybody can focus. You've got that whole Goth thing going without any make up!"

After her comment about my hair, I have gotten it cut- quite short. Of course the only problem now, being a tall, skinny man with white pasty skin and thinning hair, is my increasingly large, shinny forehead.

USA BANK ARENA: Cincinnati Ohio

Last month I had the privilege of playing at The Call with my brother at the USA Bank Arena in Cincinnati, Ohio. As we were unloading late at night, we walked down the hall that was a gallery of all the famous people that had played there: Billy Joel, Springsteen, Aerosmith, and as you can see in this picture, Sting and of course, me. Hey, there was an empty space next to him, I couldn't help myself. When else am I going to get this chance again, I'm 38.

As you can see Sting has his hand raised, I believe he is saying, "Righteous solo, dude."