Georgetown, Texas Real Estate Blog Your Host: Edward Lui

I love working from home as a real estate agent and being my own boss. One of the benefits is that I can do errands or go on business trips and drag my family along anytime during the day or the week. With 3 kids, my wife can never get enough time to herself, so whenever I need to drop off fliers, stick a sign in the yard or take pictures, I bring one of the rugrats with me…otherwise they look like zombies from watching too much television:

Recently, I had the opportunity to attend a networking event in Kerrville, Texas for Active Rain Bloggers. You can read about some of those experiences from some of my colleagues below (let me know if you blogged about this and I’ll add you to the list):

Carl Winters - New Braunfels, TX

Ricki Eichler - Kerrville, TX Don Eichler - Kerrville, TX

Liz Carter - Katy, TX Debra Brooks - Huntsville, TX

Alan Kirkpatrick - Austin, TX Gail Tassey - Austin, TX

Jason Crouch - Austin, TX Trey Thurmond - College Station, TX

Judi Morgan - San Antonio, TX Tom Plant - Murrieta, CA

Soooo, funny name like “Kerrville” + minivan = Roadtrip!

We piled into the van and brought along reinforcements to help watch the kids: Claire Shiramizu, who is a sweet 9 y.o. family friend who loves to play with Chloe.

We went up on Friday morning and stopped by Wildseed Farms to check out all of the pretty flowers and ate a ton of free samples:

After lunch at the Peach Tree Restaurant in Fredericksburg, we headed up to a place called Y.O. Ranch. They overbooked our tour, and to make it up to us they arranged a private tour JUST FOR US! The experience was awesome! This is the largest working ranch in the nation and they have all sorts of animals on the ranch. We drove around in an old rickety school bus and fed some animals and afterwards ate dinner on the ranch, cooked by a “rough around the edges, I don’t like to smile” cook.

I even kissed a girl named Carlita and Autumn didn’t even get jealous at all: My Girl Carlita

The next day, Autumn took the kids to the Children’s Museum in San Antonio while I spent the day networking with my new found real estate buddies from Active Rain. They later joined me for dinner before we headed back to Georgetown, Texas!

Yes, you can have a life with 3 kids, three and under, and with a ton of grace from the man upstairs. God protected us during the whole trip and nobody got thrown out the window:) Most of this was even tax deductible! Thanks Uncle Sam!

Contrary to popular belief, not all missions trips involve traveling to Africa…

One nice thing about living in Georgetown, Texas is that you can drive just 4 hours away and be in a different culture, outside of your comfort zone, and interact with people who you normally wouldn’t even say “Hi” to. Recently, my church in Georgetown, Texas (Hill Country Bible Church) planned a trip to Piedras Negras, Mexico to lend a hand to an orphanage there called Casa Bethesda.

What is Casa Bethesda?

In the Bible - John 5, there is mention of a Pool of Bethesda which means “house of mercy.” It was here where many people with sicknesses would come in hopes of being healed. Jesus healed a man who was lame for 38 years at this very location! For the past several years, Pastor Paulino and his wife, Betty, have been doing a similar task by accepting orphans into their church and home with the hopes of bringing them healing. Many of these children have physical impairments and are wheelchair bound or have been diagnosed with lifetime disorders like Downs Syndrome and Autism. This man, Pastor Paulino, obeyed God’s call to accept these children and care for them and we have partnered with him to help. (By the way, there are two men in the picture to the right. In case you haven’t guessed it, Pastor Paulino is the man on the left. The one on the right, John Mize, is as American as they come, complete with baseball cap and jean shorts.)

So here’s the latest development: We have recruited two physical therapists to help these children for the next 2 years on a rotational basis. They will reside in an on-site apartment, that has been built by generously donated funds and volunteer work. Our mission for this trip is to paint it and furnish it with donated items.

My purpose in sharing all of this was to tell you what an awesome time I had bringing my family down with me to Mexico. I just realized that two-thirds of what I have written above is only the background behind these trips! Here’s what it comes down to though: My wife and three children (Joshua, Chloe and Sabrina) stayed back at the living quarters and helped prep the meals for everyone while I did some of the physical labor (like painting and moving stuff). As a young daddy, I really want to raise my children in an environment that promotes service and not selfishness, I want to teach them what it means to sacrifice your time, your money and your skills to help others who don’t have nearly as much. I think these trips help drive the point home more than any lecture can…and I trust that God will slowly instill these principles and truths in their lives.

I put together a short video on the trip that shows what we did. Enjoy…and let me know if God moves in your heart to go on the next trip in July!

See Video of the trip:

Yeah, I should have posted this a little earlier…but here’s my blog official announcement: “Sabrina is Born!” Needless to say, it’s been a busy month. Special thanks to our families, church friends and Autumn’s MOPS group for all of the yummy meals, helping with chores, and many prayers! Three kids in 3 1/2 years…only by God’s grace!

Born 2:51 AM, December 23rd, 2007 at 7lb. 8oz.

Here’s more pictures:

Tomi, Jeremy and Fee - Man, Sabrina makes everybody look photogenic

Autumn’s parents and Sabrina’s cousin Kason; My mom visits for a week to hold and to spoil