My Life - My Thoughts

Coolest Wedding Ever!

2009-07-23T05:19:00.002-06:00

This may be the coolest wedding EVER!

Thanks Kat for the link.

Why I Will Never Again Buy A GM

2009-06-03T14:26:00.005-06:00

I was a Chevy guy. I loved GM's. I own a Saturn Vue and a Chevy Cavalier.

And these are the last GM vehicles that I will ever own. Why? Because the company is now owned by the government. By its very core definition, this defeats and goes against capitalism. Private businesses are not supposed to be owned by the government. Its not their job!! Their job is to keep me safe... not to own companies. That's called SOCIALISM.

I am very sad. I am heartbroken that the American public isn't crying for someone's head on a stick for this. But it's where we are.

So where does that leave me? I want to buy American and support our economy, but what other US car companies are owned by the government? I don't know. And the other problem is that foreign cars are made better. In Consumer Reports... no American car is top ranked. So buy a worse car and support America? Or get a better car and have my cash go to Japan? (and don't give me the argument that they are 'assembled' in the US because in the end the profit still goes to Japan, not the US)

yar....

Source: Politifact
(It's sources are on the right)

God's Plagues

2009-05-12T11:23:00.000-06:00

I just found a great chapter in Isaiah. (19)

So God comes to judge the Egyptians. He does all this stuff, making them turn on each other, and bringing their plans to nothing and making the wisdom of their wise men foolishness.

God all brings all this destruction and judgment down upon them and we would typically think that that is a bad thing. But its not!! The whole point of the chapter becomes clear in verses 21-22:

21 So the LORD will make himself known to the Egyptians, and in that day they will acknowledge the LORD. They will worship with sacrifices and grain offerings; they will make vows to the LORD and keep them. 22 The LORD will strike Egypt with a plague; he will strike them and heal them. They will turn to the LORD, and he will respond to their pleas and heal them.

God has done all the things in verses 1-18 so that he is able to call them to himself and save them! He strikes them with a plague WITH THE PURPOSE OF healing them and calling them to himself.
This seems wrong, but it's not. He is opening their eyes to the useless idols that can not save them by destroying those idols with the purpose of him showing himself to them so that they can understand HIS greatness and HIS glory. Then they will turn from their useless idols and turn to the true God who will save them. It’s like throwing away a kid's crib so that he can sleep in a big-boy bed. Yes, he may think that you are cruel because he liked the crib. But you know that the old things must pass away before the new better things can come.
Shouldn’t we WANT this to happen to us? Shouldn’t we desire that God blast away the useless trash in our life so that we can focus more on him? Shouldn’t we beg him to scrape away the rotting moldy flesh and material toys we cherish so that we can be more like Christ and more like God? YES!! Phil 2 says that we hold all things to be rubbish compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ!!
Yes, this is backwards from what the world thinks, but its God says is right. And in the end, are we seeking after worldly things or after Christ? Are we looking for the praise of men or of God Almighty?

2009-04-02T08:21:00.000-06:00

So its been just about forever since I posted anything. I guess I should update you guys on the goings on of my life. Most of you know all these things. But if you don’t, you want more details, just let me know!

So… this summer will be the summer of change. In 6 months, almost nothing in our lives will look like it does now.

I am graduating
I graduate in 33 days. Yep, I am finishing up seminary. I have more senioritis every day! I am itching to be outa here! I have very much enjoyed my time learning, but its time to GO!!

I am getting a job.
Yep, youth minister. Somewhere. I don’t know where. Wherever God calls us. That could be Austin, that could be Tim Buck Too. My choice would be San Antonio/Austin, but God doesn’t always follow that.

I am having a daughter
Yep, we are having little Lucy. And yes, I am excited. But more terrified than excited. For some reason, Shrek 3rd keeps popping up in mind… She is due July 25.

We are moving
Yep. We have to be out of campus housing by June 31st. So… if I don’t have a job in place by June 31st go to go, then we don’t have a place to live when its time to have the baby. So that could be interesting. Quite interesting.

Bwige is quitting her job
She will be staying home with our precious one.

We are moving churches
Obviously.

Oddly enough, we are not freaking out about all of this. We should be losing it, but I am quite calm. God has always done such a wonderful job taking care of us. Why would he just dump us now? He loves us. He rejoices over us. He has, and will, take fabulous care of me and my loved ones.

So that’s it!

If you want invites to baby showers/ graduation / graduation parties, send me a note and I’ll keep you updated.

Our Adventures in Gingerland

2008-12-16T21:34:00.010-06:00

So Bwige and I made a gingerbread house tonight!! It was not only great fun, it was an even bigger disaster!

They say that its easy. Dont believe them. It's a lie. Building a ginger bread house is hard... you need lots of very specialized tools - which they didn't include!!

This is a picture of the box shows that it SHOULD look like.

This is what ours actually looked like.

Umm...

Yah....

Do you see a difference?!?! Compare their roof with our roof.

The front of their house - and ours.

Their trees - and ours.

I'm so sorry Philip. Please forgive our architectural blasphemy.

Hopefully... very very hopefully, it's the thought that counts.

The Best Political Video!!!

2008-10-30T23:19:00.005-06:00

OK, so this is the best political video EVER!!!

Swing & Kat will enjoy it most.

AMERICA – WELCOME TO SOCIALISM!!!

2008-09-08T13:49:00.002-06:00

What the freaking stinking flipping heck is the government thinking? Why did the government take over Fannie Mae and Fannie Mac? Why? Now like 90% of the mortgage industry is done by the GOVERNMENT! This is called socialism.

and its great, cuz I GET TO PAY FOR IT!!! Now, all the people who took loans they shouldn't have get bailed out by ME. Yarrr.....

Just wow. Someone needs to be fired.

The Beatitudes

2008-07-01T22:57:00.001-06:00

Warning... this post is going to be long.. its the beatitudes... I warn you ahead of time.. i'm sunk.

NOTE!! I just posted 4 posts at the same time. Don't forget the one entitled 'Facing the Giants & A Faith Showing Angel'.

Day 5

Matthew 5:1-12

- Oh no…. the beatitudes… this could be a long entry… I’m sunk.

- Blessed are the poor in spirit. OK I admit I have no idea what that means. I will have to look that one up and come back to it.

- Blessed are those who mourne…. So when bad things happen I should mourn.

· Hmm… so mourn makes me think of a funeral. Crying. Real deep sadness. Am I really sad when things happen? Empathy? How badly did I hurt when there was flooding in the east? How much did my actions show that I was devastated by the 100,000 people who died in the Christmas tsunami of 2004? Now, ‘my heart went out to them’. But a lot of good that did. It didn’t feed or shelter a single person. It seems that if I really mourned for my friend in need, i’d take off my shirt and give it to them because they lost theirs. Besides, I have 20 more in the closet.

- Blessed are the meek… man. This is totally countercultural. Might is right. The strong will survive. Survival of the fittest. This idea that the meek will inherit the earth goes against everything one would assume to be true. Instead, God says that those who are not the strongest and the best are the ones who will get into heaven. So why do I strive to be the strongest and the best and get the most stuff?

· I need to be meek. I think the biblical (as opposed to the current) definition of meek is to be gentle. Instead of trying to show that I am the best, just be happy with who I am.

- Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Hmm. Maybe I should skip this one. I know that I fail at this one. When I’m really hungry, I skip other stuff to get food. I can’t think of the last time that I was so hungry for the word of God that I forgot to eat a meal. I can’t think of the last time that I was so thirsty to worship my savior that I just sat for hours in his presence and soaked in his love. Maybe the reason that I am not satisfied is because I am not feasting on his word. I am not drinking in his love. Instead I spend 10 minutes reading a few words of scripture and walk away hungry wondering why.

· I need to let my hunger drive me to action. I need to spend significant parts of my day just falling more in love with my savior. I need to show by my actions that I am more hungry for God than I am for sleep and computer time.

- Blessed are the merciful, for they are the ones who will be shown mercy.

· Hmm… I don’t know that I well or badly at this one. I don’t have a lot of people wrong me. I’m not around a lot of people who are mean to me or are jerks. I think I do a good job when people are mean. Maybe I should revisit this one later.

- Blessed are the pure in heart for they will see God. Well I’m sunk on this one. There is no way I am pure in heart. Man my heart is full of bad stuff. I think bad thoughts all the time. I talk behind people’s back, I don’t love people like I should, I allow all sorts of things to be my idols and keep me from God. I’m sunk. My heart is not pure. So what am I supposed to do?

· I should be pure. Well yah.. .but what does that look like and how do I get there? I need to be in the scriptures daily to see WHAT a pure life look like. How can I live out what I don’t know? I need to find things in my life that reflect scripture and DO them.

· But more than that I need to beg God to change my heart. I need to be spending time before him learning his heat so that I can have mine molded to be like his.

- Blessed are the peacemakers for they will be called sons of God. Hmmm… am I a peacemaker? Well I don’t go around fighting people. But I think I do a pretty good job of trying to keep the peace between people. But there are times when I am definitely not peaceful. Red lights are my bane. Little mechanical things that don’t work correctly are my bane.

· I need to play the part of peacemaker to myself. When the red lights are attacking me, just be peaceful. Relax. Breathe…..

- Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. I don’t think I’ve been persecuted much for my righteousness. I think that instead, I usually try to fly under the radar and not make waves. Instead of standing up for what I know to be true and right, I just don’t speak up so that I don’t offend people. Jesus ASSUMED that we would be persecuted because we were so darn righteous! we are supposed to be living such great lives among the rest of the world that they see us as wrong.
You know… that wouldn’t actually be that hard to do these days. If Christians stood up and said that homosexuality was wrong, we’d be persecuted by the world. If Christians stood up and said that gossip was wrong and didn’t stand for it in the workplace, we’d be thought weird. If we stood up in the churches and said that divorce was wrong and not acceptable, the church would persecute us! If we would stand up and boldly hold to scripture and let people know that you can not be a benchwarmer on Sunday and make it into heaven and that you must have good works to show that you are saved, there would be a revolt in the nation and in the church!
But we don’t. We stand quietly at the water cooler as people gossip about Amy and Brandon. We wouldn’t want to tell people they were doing something wrong. Instead, we should stand up for what Scripture tells us and hold each other accountable.

· I don’t do very well at this. I am a guy who doesn’t like to make waves with people around me. I do well at church when I am preaching to the students, but the rest of the time, I just keep my opinions to myself.

· So I think there are 2 things I need to do about this. First, I need to speak up about what is right. If they don’t hear it from me, who will they hear it from? Be bold.

· Second, I need to know the scripture. If I am going to say that the bible says something, I better be able to show them where. Its like when I was talking to daddy and donna, I was making assertions but didn’t have the passages memorized to back it up.

- Blessed are you when people insult you and say all kinds of evil against you because of me.

· This kinda goes with the last one. I should live such a good life among people that evil people will invent ways to bring me down. Again, this goes against the current Christian thought of living a happy life so people will be attracted to Jesus. Instead, scripture says that if I am living like Christ wants me to, that some people will just hate me no matter what. That’s ok.

- Rejoice and be glad because your reward is in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

You know what.. Its ok if I lose friends over speaking my mind. People have always hated those who spoke the truth in a way that they didn’t like. In the end, God says that its my job to speak the truth as best as possible, and let him take care of the rest. No, that doesn’t mean that I go around looking for ways to offend people. That doesn’t mean that I am intentionally rude. Everything I do should be soaked in and seeping love. But even when I do that, some people will not be receptive because they are enemies of God. I’m ok with them hating me because I am more interested in pleasing my savior.

Nourishment

2008-07-01T22:56:00.000-06:00

Day 4

Matthew 4

- So this is right after Jesus is baptized.

- Man doesn’t live on bread alone, but on EVERY WORD that comes from the mouth of God.

· I need to be nourished by the word of God. I am not right now. I need to gain actual spiritual sustenance from God’s word. I don’t think I do a good job of that now. I read scripture sometimes because I need to. I don’t do it because I am desperate for it. I enjoy it when I do. But I don’t do a good job of chewing my spiritual cud. Instead I come by for a quick snack instead of sitting down and really relishing what I read. Even when I try to go deeper…I don’t think I do a great job of it.

· I think that this will help, it will help me to slow down and absorb it. I also think that it will help that I am starting to memorize scripture.

- Jesus called the men and said that he would make them fishers of men. He contextualized their message to the people he was talking to.

· How can I do that better? I can learn about teenage culture? First, who am I preaching to? Teenagers. So I need to learn their culture. But how do I learn it without being infected by it? Is it ok to quote Simpsons to show I know their culture? Is it ok to watch bad movies? It seems the answer is no. So how do I do it? Probably by just hanging out with them more.

- Prayer

· God help me to know more about the culture I am preaching to. Help me to be in it but not of it. Help me to understand and to relate without being infected by it. Help me to stay pure. Teach me to be a light in a dark place. Teach me to share you and bring light to dark places.

fruit

2008-07-01T22:53:00.000-06:00

Day 3

Matthew 3

- John preached in the desert and people came to him – if we have the words of God, he will provide the people… we don’t need to make it trendy.

- There is wheat and chaff… the chaff will be burned in the fire, only the wheat will make it through.
It seems that there is a separation of those who are true and those who are fake. We are supposed to produce fruit in keeping with repentance. So if we don’t have fruit, it seems that scripture says that we will get cut down and thrown into the fire.

· I need to produce fruit. What fruit do I produce? I work with the students at church… but what fruit do I really see out of that? Not much. I need to love on my guys more.

· So what fruit do I have? I have a strong marriage… and that’s kinda fruit, but not really the fruit of repentance. I have the fact that I am seeking holiness and how to live out my faith… and I have the fact that I am living a good life… but it feels like for me, fruit is a good quiet time. Fruit is drawing closer to God. I feel close mostly, but I don’t feel like I’m really getting closer much. I feel like I’m moving, but just sideways. It’s like I’m circling and trying to figure out the best approach. I have all these things brewing in me, but they just aren’t getting out yet… but that still doesn’t mean that I’m really getting more fruit.

· So what is my fruit? If I can do this study faithfully, I think that would be fruit. I think that if I can start memorizing scripture, that is fruit. If I am more faithful about praying than that is fruit.

· I need fruit. I want to be saved. I don’t want to assume that because I am in seminary and go to church that I am saved. God can raise up children for Abe from rocks, so my religiosity doesn’t earn me passage into heaven.

- Prayer

· God help me to produce fruit. I want to show my salvation by my good works. I want to show evidence of what is already within me by doing what you ask of me. Show me the areas of my life that are lethargic and how to revitalize them. Show me the areas of my life that are productive and how to bring you more honor and glory through those. God, please cause me to produce fruit. (Matthew 3)

Facing the Giants & A Faith Showing Angel

2008-07-01T22:10:00.001-06:00

OK... so if you have seen the movie... and if you liked it.. you should probably skip reading this.

Umm... facing the giants... a movie made by a church in Atlanta. For a church making a movie, they did a pretty good job. However....

in the end, it followed every other Christian movie I have ever seen. It stunk. The acting was bad. The visual quality wasn't great. The script was TERRIBLE (yes... even worse than the new Star Wars). And it was just full of CHEESE!! It was all corny lines about how we should trust in Jesus and he will help us.

So in the end, I have 2 lines of thought.

First, I am conflicted about this type of movie. I think the message was pretty good. Trust in God, seek Him first, and let him take care of the rest. And I don't think the movie presented any health and wealth of worship God and he will make you rich and win football games (although they did win the game against all odds). Its just that the way they present it is so corny. Its like.. I know that stuff is true in real life, but when I see it on a movie screen, it just sounds so packaged and fake. I cant figure this out. Where does it break down? The message is true. I have experienced similar things in my life. I just need to trust God more. Sometimes he allows us to go through hard times to test and grow us. Sometimes he allows bad things to happen to us to bring himself more glory. But when those true things get translated to the big screen, it just comes across as fake. It comes off as 'religion'. It comes off as... well as ridiculous. I laughed through most of the movie. It was just so... well ridiculous. So where does it break down? I really don't know. What do you think on this one?

Second, the quality of 'christian' movies has always been sub-par. I've never seen a Christian movie that wasn't cheesy. I've never seen a Christian movie that was like, 'wow.. that was really done with excellence'. Its always a cheaply done. The actors are so-so to lousy, the music is like the end of every Full House episode, and the story line is so predictable its disgusting. Shouldn't Christians be producing the best stuff in the industry? Shouldn't we be the best in our fields whatever that may be? Why?

You know who does an excellent job in this category? Dan Cathy. He is the guy that runs Chic-Fil-A. He does not run a christian business. He simply runs his business by biblical standards. The difference is that he is not using his food to shove Jesus down everyone throats. Instead, the way he runs his business makes people want to eat there. People know what he stands for. They are closed on Sunday - people know. He does his job with excellence. I have never been in a dirty Chic-fil-a. Thats the only fast food joint i can say that about. I have never been treated badly by an employee. I have never seen an employee who wasn't eager to serve me and help me. Every time you tell them thanks, they respond with 'my pleasure'. Its not a Christian business. Its a business that is attractive because it is done with excellence. And his words and actions follow his philosophy. He shares the gospel with the employees and guests the night before a store opens. He serves as a sunday school teacher - I know, I sat and talked with him. He told me how he struggles to take care of his guys. The man is living his life with excellence. And people are attracted to Christ.

Then you have christian movies. They are cheesy and make you laugh instead of inspiring you. I was more inspired by Remember the Titans, than I was by facing the giants. I read the 'Left Behind' series and I like the idea behind it, but the writing is elementary and not great. I revieve ads for a Christian bookstore and see a description of a tube of 'HeavenScent Shea Butter Hand Cream. "Not only will this gift leave her skin feeling smooth and silky, it is also a great way to share your hope and faith in Christ." Are you serious? That's the best you can do at sharing the gospel? Really? I'm thinking that when Jesus said to go out into the world and preach the good news... he wasn't talking about hand lotion. Seriously.

But that's not nearly as good as the description of a Willow Tree angel... "Not only will it add style to any home, it also says a lot about someone's faith and trust in God." ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!? My faith is not shown by my loving the poor. My faith is not shown by telling people about Jesus with my words. My faith is not evidenced by my giving of my time in front of the idiot-box to study the very words of the Creator of the universe. My faith is shown by buying a wooden angel. THAT'S THE FAITH I WANT!!

And I know I'm being sarcastic here, but I just think that our culture is really into being religious. They are really into looking spiritual. But that's worthless. We need to be IN CHRIST. We need to be DOING the things Christ called us to do as a result of spending so much time with him and being so in love with him that we can do nothing BUT tell everyone we know about him and giving our money away because we value HIM and HEAVEN more than getting more worthless stuff...

I just dont see the christian community living up to what Christ called us to be. I don't see me living up to what Christ wants for me. That's what this summer is about for me. trying to figure out what my life should look like.... that's why I will be posting some of my daily thoughts. I hope you come along for the ride...

*and star wipe.... and cut*

test

2008-07-01T22:05:00.000-06:00

What my life should look like?

2008-06-19T10:34:00.001-06:00

So why is this a big deal? I’m still a pretty good person right? My life is good enough. I don’t kill people or any of that bad stuff. But the more I have read scripture in the last year, the more it seems that ‘good enough’ isn’t enough. When I read through scripture, it seems to me that Jesus accepts nothing less than EVERYTHING from someone. The rich young ruler was not willing to give up everything and turned away. Jesus didn’t lower the bar to try and get him to stay. Jesus was ok with him leaving because he wasn’t willing to give everything.

Look at what he said in Mark 8 to the crowd and his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 35For whoever wants to save his life^[c] will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. 36What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?”

To take up your cross meant you were about to die… its like saying, take up your noose and walk to the platform. Jesus requires everything of me. He requires everything of you.

So I have decided to read through the New Testament and see what my life should look like. I started to look at scripture and see that if you truly love Christ, it will show itself in the form of good works. If you truly love Jesus, you will do what he says to do (1 John 2:3-6).

The more I thought about this… the more I figured that my life didn’t reflect scripture. James says that true religion is to help the widow and the fatherless… when’s the last time I helped a widow? Scripture says that those in the early church gave everything they had to the poor and that there was no one in the early church with needs because everyone just shared their stuff. I look at my church and most of the people seem like they need something… Are we, am I, living the life that scripture called me to?

I don’t think so.

So I am embarking on a journey to find out how my life should look. Like James says, I am holding the word of God in front of me and using it as a mirror to ferret out the parts of me that don’t reflect Christ.

Enjoy!

The jury is still out as to whether or not all this will get posted on this blog or whether I will create another one specifically for this purpose…. I am open to your opinions?

Formal Date

2008-05-13T22:21:00.003-06:00

The next big thing we did was go on a really nice formal date; I got Bwige all dressed up and took her dancing! First, I took us to get private ballroom dancing lessons. We got 2 instructors all to ourselves for 2 hours. The guy was a really good dancer but I didn’t like what he was telling Bwige to do. It seemed like he was wanting to her not think and I didn’t like that.

Anyways…. Next we went to Bella Italia West, a SUPER nice restaurant. It specializes in exotic game (moose, caribou, elk....). I had the caribou and Bwige had the pheasant. Both were very tasty but Bwige’s was MUCH better than mine. I paid $35 stinkin dollars for my plate and I got like 2 freakin ounces of meat!!! What a rip off!!! The sides were a little mini-ice-cream scoop of collard greens and a mini-ice-cream scoop of rice. Geez… And the bread wasn’t very good either (the bread at olive garden is much better). Bwige got a lot more, she got 2 pheasant breasts covered with ham and cheese – they were VERY rich and VERY tasty!!!

The other thing about the restaurant was that they had lots of wall murals. We were sitting against one that had some war scene on it so I couldn’t see it very well. The one that was in my view was a full wall picture of naked ladies bathing. Why do restaurants do that? I know its supposed to be classical art, but seriously, guys have enough trouble keeping their mind in good places as it is…. large paintings of naked women don’t help! Arg.

After dinner we stopped at Braums for some very tasty ice cream. Then we headed for the ballroom dancing (where everyone was gathering to actually dance). So we get there and sat with our instructors which was nice. We got to dance a bit (the foxtrot) but I wasn’t very good at it so we mostly watched other people dance. Ballroom dancing is a lot like swing dancing…. if you were to take out all the fun parts of swing dancing like smiling, and being relaxed, looking into each other’s eyes, and enjoying it, then you would get ballroom dancing. In ballroom dancing, you have to stay absolutely rigid the whole time with your arms up in the air while your partner looks up and away from you in the most hoity-toity expression she can possibly muster. Yah.

All in all, there are 2 perspectives on the evening…

1) I really enjoyed the evening because my wife had a fabulous time. She really enjoyed the lessons, the meal, and the dancing. Therefore, it was a successful evening. (in the end, this is the perspective that actually matters).

2) This was probably the most ridiculous date I have ever been on. I literally spent our whole month’s fun & restaurant budget on this one date. I could have gone to KFC and paid $2 for 1 chicken breast with more meat than my $35 plate of caribou. Ballroom dancing is totally opposite of my style and I really didn’t enjoy Bwige’s rigidity during it.

But like I said, this night was for Bwige. I am ridiculously in love with her and am very glad that she enjoyed the evening. Marriage is all about pleasing the other person. And I would not have changed a thing about the evening because she got a formal fancy date like she wanted. She felt like a princess (which she is). Mission Accomplished.

Finals & Friends

2008-05-13T22:21:00.002-06:00

Well, finals are finally over. I think I did pretty well in all my classes. Well, all except for Hebrew… but remember, D is for Diploma. I don’t like that, but languages just kick my butt! I am just happy to pass the class.

I am now taking the summer off. I am going to relax. Unfortunately, as I am finding out, I am not very good at that. I am so task oriented, that I feel guilty if I not being productive. The other thing is that I don’t have a lot of people to hang out with. So I am not sure what to do with my time when I try and relax… one thing I really enjoy doing is eating, but that takes a lot of money after a while. So I don’t know… I really wish I had more people to hang out with… but people are just so stinkin busy… I feel like its always my job to call people and that’s frustrating. I rarely having people call and want to hang out, its always me calling them. And its like… if you really value our friendship, you will call. And its been kinda nice cuz I have had 2 people call me lately that haven’t called me in quite a while but 2 or 3 times in the last 5 months isn’t very encouraging. Its just our stinkin culture that has people so busy… we value business when we should value relationships… oh well…

I need to find some more friends that I can actually hang out with on a regular basis.. problem is I’m not too good at just finding random people…

Spring Break

2008-05-13T22:20:00.001-06:00

Well here is my long overdue posts (in multiple parts) - have fun!

First, spring break. (wow… has it really been that long… ). I went to Michigan for spring break and preached at a small church. I preached Sunday morning, and then Sunday night through Wednesday night (5 times total). Sunday morning I preached on who Christ is. I showed that he is superior and is worthy of our worship with shows itself through our actions and through our words.

Sunday night I talked about the fact that many of us see God as a nice cushy pretty God who is always interested in making us happy. I showed that this God is a fake God. The God of scripture primarily wants to bring glory to himself and to grow us into more mature believers whether or not that makes us comfortable. Then on Monday night I asked people to consider whether or not they were actually Christians. I said that they should not look inside their minds at what they ‘believe’ but at their actions. Scripture says that if you are a Christian you will show it by your actions (love, charity, studying scripture, worship, prayer, fasting….). If you don’t have those things, it doesn’t make you lose your salvation, but it probably shows that you are not a Christian.

Tuesday night I talked about prayer, and Wednesday night I did a first person narrative from the Old Testament. That was a lot of fun. I got dressed up and told a story. The kids in the audience seemed to enjoy that a lot.

I had fun the whole week playing in the snow and taking lots of pictures. After I was done preaching, Bwige and I drove up to Canada and played in the snow there. It was a BLAST!! Then we drove home through Green Bay and flew home. All in all, the trip was a lot of fun.

I'll post again soon...

2008-05-11T22:29:00.000-06:00

ok, so life's been crazy, but I will post again soon. It will include a lot of info... but I'm still deciding whether to break it up or make it one long post... guess you'll just have to wait and see.

Yah!! I'm Done!!

2008-03-19T21:26:00.002-06:00

Well, I'm done preaching. I enjoyed it a whole lot and now we are going to drive around Michigan for a few days. We will fly home sunday night. I look forward to seeing everyone again.

One of the Weirder Dreams I've Ever Had

2008-03-14T07:55:00.001-06:00

So I just had one of the weirder dreams of my life….

So David and I were driving along in some sort of motor home. I was controlling the acceleration from the very tiny bathroom in the back and David was sitting on the ledge above me steering.

As we were driving through an empty field, we saw a moose running off about 50 yards away. So, logically, we decided to make the moose chase us. So we steer off to the right and entice the moose, who gets angry and pursues us. Well…. things don’t go as planned. We thought we could go faster than the moose, but even when I crank it up to 70MPH, the moose is still gaining on us. So I reach out and grab the moose by the horns and twist its head so that it falls over. Moose: 0 Bathroom-Controlled-Motor-Home: 1.

So next thing I know we are in some sort of dirt bike race. So we race along the dirt road we’ve been driving on w/ a field of corn on one side of us and that empty field on the other. Well, our Bathroom-Controlled-Motor-Home is much faster than any dirt bike so we taunt the other racers for a bit and then zoom on to the finish. We finish SO FAST, in fact, that after crossing the line, we decide to go back and taunt the other racers. So after I drive backwards for a bit. Finding the other racers, and seeing as we won way too easy the first time, I hop out of my previous ride, and pull the moose out of the ground so I can race on him!! (well, first I have to inflate him because my previous encounter had deflated him). So to get him to go, I pull the lever on his tail and then hop on. As he inflates, he starts running quite quickly and I catch up to the guys in front in no time. I even have time to pull the tail-lever a bit more before we finish and I finish the race in 2^nd (or 1^st a second time).

As I finish, the credits start rolling across the screen. And whose name should be on the top of the list in glittering flashiness? Mitt Romney!!! Duh! And here he comes, across the finish line. I walk up to him jovially and say that I’ve never seen anyone use such blatant advertising in politics. He just smiles back at me and says ‘Well,’ as if to say, ‘those are my methods, take them or leave them’. And to top it all off, as he is saying that, the corn all around him starts bowing to him…

………

What a dream!

So I was reading through Exodus

2008-03-12T21:38:00.000-06:00

So I have been reading through exodus and have been amazed at what I’m seeing. God sends the 10 plagues against Egypt and all the Israelites leave Egypt. God leads them by sending a big tornado-like pillar of clouds in front of them by day and a big pillar of fire in front of them by night. Yes, when they get hungry, they whine to Moses and ask him how they are going to eat. ‘Do you want us to die?’ they ask him. WHAT?!! Didn’t you just see God work miracles? IS your memory that short? Unfortunately yes. So God provides food for 1,000,000 people through the desert.

So then they walk around for a while longer and they camp in against the sea. Pharaoh comes after them. As pharaoh is coming, they ask Moses, ‘Did you bring us out here just to die? We would have been better in Egypt.’ WHAT!!?!?! HUH?!?! God not only sent the 10 plagues, but has been providing enough food for 1,000,000 people PER DAY FOR MONTHS NOW!!! And yet you still don’t think he’s powerful enough to save you from a little army?!? Are you blind, stupid, or both? (probably both) Well, God makes the sea open up and they walk through ON DRY LAND! Pharaoh and his troops die.

Did you notice that not once have the Israelites done ANYTHING?!! They escaped from Egypt, the most powerful nation on earth without lifting a finger, God did it all. Not one Israelite died. They got food for 1,000,000 people per day… they don’t do anything!!! They just gather it! Pharaoh and his army comes and the most powerful army on earth is totally wiped out… completely… every last one of them… and not a single Israelite lifted a finger. Yah…

So now the Israelites will trust God completely right!! YOU WISH!!

God tells them all the 10 commandments. Then, Moses goes back up the mountain for God to tell him more stuff. After a while, they get ancy and make a golden calf and call it God. ARE YOU STUPID?!!!? DIDN’T MOSES JUST TELL YOU THAT COMMANDMENT #2 WAS NO IDOLS!?!?! What were you thinking!?! Really?

And I’m amazed at how slow they are to learn. They just don’t get it. And I think…. Hmm… you guys are just a few crayons short of a box aren’t you. But then I think… ya know.. I’m not to quick to fix stuff either. I struggle every day to do my quite time. I struggle to pray like I should, to share the gospel like I should, to memorize scripture like I should. I know what I SHOULD do… but that’s not always what happens. I guess it reminds me that I’m not the only one. And it reminds me that God is patient. He loves me and wants me to do better and will continue to encourage me to do better sometimes, and other times kick me in the butt to get me in gear…

What do you think?

2008-03-03T09:11:00.002-06:00

WOO HOO!! Hebrew was canceled today!!! And it couldn't have been a better day either. I had my alarm set to wake up at 5am to get my homework done but at 5am decided that it wasn't worth it (I get to drop 2 homeworks). Then I get a message that class has been canceled! WOOO HOOO!! fabulous! That ends up being really good cuz I can get a bit caught up today (which I need because I am way behind) And the great part it, it earns me more than just the 3 hours that I dont have to be in Hebrew, it earns me an additional 2 hours because I don't have to take a nap afterwards to get my brain unmushy and recover from class. YAH!!

well, back to work!

President’s Day

2008-02-16T09:00:00.000-06:00

So Monday is President’s day…. umm… so does Bush walk around humming "happy president’s day to me... happy president’s day to me......"???

Or does he walk around wishing people 'happy me day!' with a big goofy grin on his face?

Hmmmm…..

Art for Nerds

2008-01-23T11:40:00.001-06:00

I saw a great flicr album of art for nerds... here is one for you guys

Most of them are pretty funny. Some of them only Jimmy will understand. Enjoy! (warning, a couple are not so friendly).

sNOw....

2008-01-22T13:52:00.001-06:00

Arg… its 29 degrees outside and almost no chance of any precipitation. What does it take to get some snow around here? If its gotta be cold, why not add something to play in?!?! God? A little precipitation here?

geez…

Some people are just never happy

2008-01-16T20:53:00.000-06:00

"Pope Benedict XVI canceled a speech at Rome's La Sapienza university in the face of protests led by scientists opposed to a high-profile visit to a secular setting by the head of the Catholic Church. Sixty-seven professors and researchers of the university's physics department joined in the call for the pope to stay away protesting the planned visit recalled a 1990 speech in which the pope, then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, seemed to justify the Inquisition's verdict against Galileo in 1633. In the speech, Ratzinger quoted an Austrian philosopher who said the ruling was 'rational and just' and concluded with the remark: 'The faith does not grow from resentment and the rejection of rationality, but from its fundamental affirmation, and from being rooted in a still greater form of reason.' The protest against the visit was spearheaded by physicist Marcello Cini who wrote the rector complaining of an 'incredible violation" of the university's autonomy. Cini said of Benedict's cancellation: 'By canceling, he is playing the victim, which is very intelligent. It will be a pretext for accusing us of refusing dialogue.'"

so Cini doesn't want the pope to come, but then when he doesn't show up, says that he is just 'playing the victim'... geez...

Onslaught

2008-01-14T13:24:00.001-06:00

Hey, just thought I'd share this great new game... its by far the best flash TD I've ever seen... its got lots of controls and lets you upgrade the towers stats individually. Also, a nifty feature for us procrastinators, is that in the settings, you can increase the time factor so it will play faster.... 400% baby!!

so far, i played twice and got to level 85 on the circles one... see what you guys can do :)

http://www.freewaregames.net/onslaught-game.asp

:)

Connection between good works and God's will

2008-01-09T06:53:00.000-06:00

So I was reading in Matthew 7 today and I read that you will know a tree by it’s fruit; an apple tree can not produce oranges, by its very nature, it MUST produce apples. So a Christian will be recognized by their fruit. A Christian MUST produce the good works of study, prayer, fasting, giving to the poor, worship, sharing the good news of Christ…. those things don’t save a person, instead, they show, they give evidence that the person is really saved.

All that is the foundation for what Christ says next. He says that when its time for judgment, only those who did God’s will are going to get into heaven. Many, however, will stand before God and point to the fact that they were uber Christians. They were leaders in Billy Grahams ministry and taught Sunday school all their lives, and didn’t miss a Sunday at church for 20 years… and God will tell them to go away because he never knew them. This is interesting because he just said a Christian will be know by their fruit. But now he is telling those who had much fruit that they weren’t Christians. Why?

This can only mean that the doing is not enough. You can not earn your way into heaven. You can’t twist Jesus’ arm and make him let you into heaven because you deserve it. No. The source of our good works must be from God calling us to it. WE must be doing the will of God, not the will of Stephen. That’s a scary thing. How many times do I really ask God for wisdom in doing something? Not once or twice but over and over to test his will. Do I fast and ask God to give me discernment about what I am to be doing? Or do I use human logic to figure out the best solution and then ‘ask’ God what he wants the night before I do what I have figured out? I think most of the time I just ask God to approve Stephen’s plan. How many times is my plan actually formed because of the information I got from him?

I think that its so important for me to remember in all the things I’ve been thinking about in the last year about us needing fruit in the Christian life, that all this fruit must come from God, the vine. It must all come from God. All the good works must be God’s ideas, not mine. (I’m not sure how that connects with the fact that we are supposed to do everything in scripture because I don’t know that we really have time in the day (even if we did nothing but that) to do all the things we see in scripture. But I’ll work on that…)

I can not DO all the stuff just for the sake of DOING. I need to do the things God has called me to. If other things fall by the wayside, so be it. I must be about doing God’s things, that I receive from God’s will.

(just as an ending side note… part of the sermon I heard on Sunday from Romans 12, when the pastor was talking about laying yourself on the alter and putting yourself and your life and your plans on the alter and letting them die so that God’s plan and will for your life can actually happen … he showed us that in the passage, the RESULT of that was that we would no longer look like the culture around us. The result of that was that you would be able to discern God’s will. So if we REALLY want to know God’s will for our life, first we have to stop looking like the culture around us.)

True Importance

2008-01-07T00:04:00.001-06:00

So I heard a message this morning about the fact that we can not earn God’s blessings. Although we try to do all the right things to get God to love us more, it just wont work. He is crazy about us aside from what we DO. Instead, in thanks and gratitude, we are supposed to put our lives on the alter as living sacrifices. We are supposed to put him above ourselves. We are supposed to make his priorities, our priorities. And although most people say they are too busy to study or pray, we could find if it was truly a priority. The pastor said that if something important came up, we could find the time to do it. Therefore, no matter what we say, the truly important things will always be given time and resources in our lives. And if we don’t put time and effort into God then he is not really a priority in our life.

This is all so true. If God is important to us, we will find time to spend with him. If God is important to me, I will make time in my schedule to pray. I will carve out space for studying his word. I will give up a television show so that I can go out and share the gospel with someone, or bring a homeless guy a meal. I will hit the snooze 1 less time a few times a week so I can memorize my weekly verses. All of these are such basic, entry level things when it comes to being a follower of Christ. But so many people struggle with them. Why? Because serving the poor is not a priority in my life. No matter that of everything Jesus talked about over 50% of his messages were about helping the poor (I’m not sure of the exact number). No matter that James shows that true religion is seen when we help those in need. That’s ok, I gave my offering in church and now it’s their job; now can pacify my guilty conscience. Yet, if ‘the church’ were truly doing its job, there would not be rampant homelessness. If the people of God were truly doing their job, more single moms would not have to be working 3 jobs to put food on the table. There would not be droves of elderly ladies sitting at home for weeks on end with no one to talk to.

So I rant and rave, but what can I do? What if I took one evening a week to go out and spread the love of God? It would be easy to get a ridiculously long list of people that need help from my church. There are homeless people to feed. There are single parents who could use their lawn mowed, windows washed, or dishes done. There are youth who are desperate for someone to pour into their lives. There are young parents on my street whose marriages are struggling because of the new baby and could use a date night (and yes, there is more than enough room in my budget to not only provide the babysitting but the dinner as well… if I can find the money to out to eat, I can find the money to send someone else out to eat). There are elderly ladies who are sitting at home alone and haven’t talked to anyone in weeks. I could find a house in my neighborhood that needs their lawn mowed and go tell them that I just wanted to share God’s love in a tangible way and mow their lawn with no strings attached. I could go tutor a kid afterschool. I could invite everyone on my street over to my house for burgers and provide all the food – meat, sides, and yummy deserts. I bet there are some people that could really use a reminder that God loves on them and cares about them…

These are simple things. They take very little time and very little money. These are things I can do… these are things you can do…

Will we lay our lives down on the alter? Or will we continue to spit in God’s face and tell him that our plans and desires are more important than his?

We are in Hawaii Safely - After many delays

2007-12-21T00:57:00.000-06:00

Well we are here... We had a 24 hour delay, more on that later, we are heading to the beach!!

laterz

Just Dont

2007-12-14T11:02:00.000-06:00

Haha!!! I love this shirt!

(http://www.bustedtees.com/bt/images/BT-amish-gallery-1401.jpg)

Oh and by the way... does anyone read my blog? I know Hurley does cuz he is always disagreeing with everything I say.. .but is anyone else? Your thoughts on what I've been saying? Come on, give me some feedback!

Thank you! Come Again!

How Things Fit Together

2007-12-12T10:28:00.001-06:00

So I’ve been thinking about what I said last post and what Hurley said (basically, he said not to focus on the works but on Christ). I was also reading some Colossians this morning and here is how I think all this fits together.

First, my response to Hurley. I agree with you, that the works can not be the focus of your life. However, they can be the focus of a set of thoughts when they are viewed through Christ. Christ is supreme. Christ is everything in my life. Now how do works fit in to that? Second, I say that because the NT writers talk about works all the time…

So… where does what I said and what Hurley said fit together? I think maybe in this semblance of an order.

1. I think that most people in America who call themselves Christians are not. Christ is not reigning supreme in their lives. They show no evidence of salvation. They are not saved. No, I’m not making a judgment call or condemning them, I’m simply saying that scripture says that if there is no evidence of your salvation (works, fruit whatever you want to call it) then you probably aren’t.

Most people are completely clueless to this. They are completely comfortable with warming the pews at church every week. They don’t examine themselves as scripture says they should.

THEREFORE, I think that the message that is burning in me (aka, no fruit can give evidence of no salvation) is only part 1… it’s purpose is to be a smack in the face and say ‘HEY!!! You need to wake up and pay attention because you may not be saved!”

2. THEN… part 2 comes. When they realize that their fruitless lives speaks against their salvation, then they are open to hearing about Christ being supreme. Before they don’t want to listen because they are ‘Christians’ and why would they pay attention to a sermon on Christ’ Supremacy when no other sermon they have heard has changed how they live. Part 1 wakes them up and gets them ready for part 2.

Part 2 is that Christ is supposed to reign supreme in your life. He is not supposed to be first on your priority list, but ruling over your life, decisions, and priority list. He is not your mascot but your monarch that you bow before and that every decision you make during the day goes through the filter of ‘would this glorify my Lord?’

This is the foundational message. This is where you spend your time building them up in Christ and building their base / foundation of though. This is what is most important.

3. Then, when they have gotten that Christ is supreme and that he is over their life, not just first in it, then you can go to application. How should that look? How / why should you study scripture, pray, fast, give, love, help, heal….. Without Christ as supreme, actions are just legalism and trying to be ‘good enough’ to get into heaven. When Christ is supreme in your life, when you are overcome with gratefulness for Jesus being beaten within an inch of his life so that you are not suffering in hell for all of eternity, you can do NOTHING BUT change your life and mold it around him. When he changes your very nature, you no longer enjoy sin, you hate it. You want to give up gossiping in the workroom. You want to give up your self-centeredness. You can’t imagine yourself sleeping with your boyfriend because those things are self-focused instead of glorifying to God! It’s not following the rules. It’s changing your lifestyle in response to God’s love. Rules, without relationship, brew rebellion.

Instead, people must be in a true love-relationship with Christ. Then the works will joyfully flow out of a response to that. But make no mistake, scripture is clear. If you have no fruit, no evidence of a changed life, no good works, no nuthin…. then scripture says that those voids give evidence that you most likely are not saved. We MUST examine ourselves and our lives so that we can be in a true, deep love-relationship with our God and savior, Jesus Christ.

The Least of These

2007-12-01T10:37:00.000-06:00

So I was reading in 1 john 2 today, and I came across this passage:

9Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness. 10Whoever loves his brother lives in the light, and there is nothing in him to make him stumble. 11But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness; he does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded him.

So I started off…. Hey, I don’t hate my brother. Kat’s a pretty cool guy (when hes not being melodramatic, which he doesn’t do much anymore =) ). So I’m ok! But then I thought, wait, Christ speaks of ‘brother’ as pretty much anyone you meet on the street (Luke 10, Good Samaritan). So do I hate anyone? Umm…. I don’t think so. So I’m OK.

However, then I gave it one more thinking… The story of the Good Samaritan about the fact that your brother is anyone who needs help. The religious guys who went around the hurt man were not loving him. The Samaritan, who went out of his way to help someone, even his enemy, was the one who loved him. The reason I point this out is that the passage above says that whoever LOVES his brother lives in the light. (By the way, this is not brotherly love or family love, its agapeo, Godly, selfless love). When Jesus gives us an example of loving our brother it is helping a guy who just got mugged. On top of that, its stopping and helping a guy who just got mugged in the slums of downtown Dallas. This wasn’t suburbia. This was the road, where all the gangs hung out and jumped people who were by themselves.

I say this because the guys who didn’t love the man didn’t spit on him or laught at him. In fact, they probably felt sorry for him but were too busy. So their ignoring him was a default hate. If you pass a drowning child in a lake but continue because you are busy, that’s default hatred towards the child. We are no different.

I wonder how many times we stop and help the homeless guy on the side of the road? I wonder how many times we just drive by those guys because we cant be late. Instead of helping we just callously assume that he is going to use the money for booze. Why not go buy the guy a bag of jumbo jacks? It takes $10 and 10 minutes. But that’s ok. Him eating today and tomorrow is not nearly as important to us getting to our meeting on time.

41"Then [Jesus] will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.'

44"They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?' 45"He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'

46"Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."

I say these things because I am guilty of them. I pass by people all the time. I cant remember the last time I took my dinner money and went and bought food for the homeless guys over at the intersection of 20 and 820. I am too busy… I pass right by the least of these all the time.

May God change my heart.

Kicked Out Of The Nest

2007-11-29T23:47:00.000-06:00

Well, I'm being kicked out of the nest of sorts.... My dad wants me to be my own business entity officially... .so now I'm left with the hardest part of the whole ordeal... what to name myself. No really, everything else is not too hard after i figure that out.

I though about just staying Kelling Photography (while officially registering my business as SKelling Photography), but then the problem is the website, which seems to be the big problem...

So I am officially taking suggestions for names for my photo business. I considered and liked Big Ox Photography, but that didnt get past the committee (aka, Bwige).

I would like my name in there.. but I dont like the other words for photography. I don't want it to say 'Event' in the name because them people wont call me for weddings and portraits...

what do you think?

Hey, lets make it interesting, a prize for you if you come up with the name I use!!!

Rude Awakenings for my Poor Brother

2007-11-20T13:28:00.000-06:00

so my brother was watching Jay Jay the Airplane today (a kids show) ... and as he was talking to me over chat, he was coming to some rude awakenings. The poor guy. I think we all need to keep him in our prayers as his little world comes crashing down around him

What he said to me:

wow, there are a lot of logical inconsistencies in Jay Jay...
I mean besides talking planes, right now there are some planes flying with a helicopter... they don't fly at the same speed!
and here comes a space shuttle!!! like they fly at the same speed as a helicopter!

hehe, they are going on a camping trip... AIR PLANES going on a CAMPING TRIP!
how do you "get things ready" for a camping trip when your arms are wings?

(by the way... this is a fun joke said in love..... just in case anyone missed that....)

Rubik's Cube

2007-11-17T02:22:00.000-06:00

Last Friday afternoon, I bought a Rubik's cube (I kinda got hooked on the idea by a guy in Italy). Well anyways, I spent many many hours on Friday (till 3:30am) and Saturday (most of the afternoon) working on it (~9 hours). Then, life got busy and I didnt get a chance to play with it much. I would fiddle with it for a few minutes every other day this week, but it was a bit busy.

Fast forward to today. My beautiful wifey came home sick (after going to school when she shouldn't have (stubborn girl)) and so I spent the afternoon caring for her (and yes, she was unhappy when I added extra cheese to her mac & cheese, but that was cuz I didnt know dairy was bad for an upset stomach and I was trying to make it better for my princess. Besides, when have I EVER done anything by the directions on the box!?!?.... YAH RIGHT!) So I got stir crazy tonight and went and got her soup and brought it to her and then went to the mall and picked up some jewelry I bought her (she liked it :) ).

So then before I went to bed, I decided to pick up my old friend once again. Now, I am proud to announce....

I SOLVED THE RUBIK'S CUBE!!!!

Yep, I did it all by my self!! No manuals, no cheats, no one showing me how. Just hours and hours of problem solving!! I am really really happy. I am also very proud of myself for not asking for directions. :)

Well, you ask, what is next for this puzzle king (move over Kat!)? Well, next I am working on Rubik's Revenge. Classic Rubik's is 3x3. The Revenge is 4x4. Oh yah baby!!! Bring it on!

Confessions

2007-11-05T15:40:00.001-06:00

OK… in the spirit of Swing giving her confessions… I guess I should reveal my deepest darkest secrets also… so here goes…

I am an email freak. No really… I probably check my email between 75 and 100 times a day. Yes, this may be because I am waiting for my next photography order to come in, but its also because I so enjoy getting a message from someone. Every time a new message pops up in my inbox… it just gives me a small bit of joy. Maybe woven in there also is a sense that someone cares about me and wants to talk to me… but that’s neither here nor there.
when it comes to food… I’m a bit strange. My favorite foods are on the ends of the temperature spectrum. A cooked piece of whatever, is ok.. but it could be better. For example, I LOVE frozen vegetables. Man… a bag of frozen snow peas or frozen corn…. YUM!!! I will eat just about anything frozen (obviously, it needs to be small things that can be broken easily… you cant eat frozen steak or pieces of broccoli because they are too thick). On the other end, I love it when things are REALLY well done. I love to cook a pan of corn till the corn is extra dry and crispy – almost burned. That way, it really jumps in your mouth and crunches in your teeth. Same thing with ground meat – if its real dark brown and extra crunchy – PERFECT. And there are few things closer to heaven than boudain, taken out of the wrapper, and cooked well done. Oh wow… so tasty..
like swing.. I think I have friendship issues. I don’t have any REALLY close friends (outside my wife). Now, I do have good friends, Valerie and Andrew, Estevan, but they are just friends. (I must be careful to not offend anyone here.) I think at the core of what I am saying is…. is that I don’t have anyone that I can really just hang out with on a regular basis. We have few people who we can just see each other all the time because we click so well and just really enjoy each other’s presence. We really enjoy time with Valerie and Andrew, but they live 45 minutes away and so we don’t get to see them much. It’s a similar situation with most people from church, they are just SO far away…
Swing said once to me that really deep friendships wont happen much after college because you just cant spend that much time together (swing, maybe you can clarify that better). I refuse to accept that. I deeply believe that we are desperately in need is true relationships. So many people spend so much time looking on facebook, and texting, and im’ing, and playing World of Warcraft. Too many people have their deepest friendships online. That just isn’t good enough. You just cant get the depth of communication and friendship online as you can in person… I crave that type of relationship… its just so hard to find it (and even harder when you consider the time it takes to develop it)
that’s about it… umm… oh.. this is something I have never told anyone… so don’t spread it around….
I am madly in love with my incurably hot wife!!! *growls* She’s hot stuff!!
lastly… I think my definition of who is going to heaven is narrowing. The more I read scripture, the more I see that Christianity is not about church or rules. Its about being madly in love with Jesus Christ, our only savior and only way to heaven. I am beginning to believe that if your life is not producing fruit, that your lack of results just gives evidence that you have missed the point and don’t really get it. This is as far from legalism as it can get, but if you are not doing a mad dash towards God BECAUSE of his mind boggling love for us, then maybe you really don’t understand Christ at all. (again, this is not legalism, it’s your inability to live your life the same after Christ did so much for you, its you wanting to radically alter your lifestyle to mirror Christ BECAUSE of what he did.)
Now, I know that most of you will probably disagree with this… but the more I read scripture, the more I see it to be true. That’s not a clear explanation, but its just something I wanted to share.
One thing I want to do over thanksgiving is to put this down in a cogent written form so that my thoughts are clear and well spoken. At that point, I will post it and deeply desire all of your thoughts on it. I know I’m wrong in places and I look forward to ferreting out those errors.

OK, I need to go. I love you guys.. *sniff* maybe some of you will email me and make me feel loved… J by the way, don’t email Spartacus at hotmail because I’m locked out of that… *cough* Stephen at kellingphotography dot com *cough email me cough*

The Job That Keeps On Giving

2007-11-04T21:15:00.000-06:00

(this is about last weekend, not yeserday)

So my last two weeks have been consumed with pretty much one thing only – The Reklaw Fly-In at the Flying M Ranch. First, a fly-in is where a bunch of guys with planes fly into some small private airport, hang out for some period of time, and fly home. At this fly in, a bigger one, people come and hang out for 3 days and then go home. It 2 hours southwest of Dallas. So my plan was to take pictures of the 400 planes as they landed and took off.

I spent all last week getting ready. Including buying some new equipment. I got all the computers working and talking to each other at home perfectly. The plan was for me to head up Friday afternoon to take some test shots and get everything prepped. Then, everyone else would come up Friday night and spend the night so we could be there early Saturday morning. However, because my package was delievered over 2 horus late on Friday, and then Kinkos didn’t have my order ready when they said they would, I ended up leaving the house 6 hours late and went straight to the hotel. But that was ok. All the bad stuff was happening on Friday so Saturday would come off without a hitch.

I wish.

I arrived and set up and the computers would not talk to each other. This killed everything. I cant show the pictures to the people if they don’t talk to each other. Therefore, I took 10,000 pictures and sold 5. Yah. A big bust. A huge bust. I lost a ridiculous amount of money (paying people and getting equipment and stuff).

However, I decided to persevere through it. I got home and starting sorting the pictures (yes, all 10,000 of them) to put them on the internet so people could order them. That took till Wednesday. Thursday I spend updating the pictures and reuploading the ones that got deleted. So far I have received 2 orders bringing in $120. So I am still in the hole in a VERY bad way…

So… now for the back end of this. I am ok with the whole thing. I trust God. He is good. All the time. He is always good in every situation every time without fail. I know this. I may not feel it right now, but I know it. And I’m not freaked out about losing so much money. I know that God will provide. He will not let his beloved son starve. He has always given me such amazing gifts, why would he stop now.

This is definitely an improvement. A couple of years ago, I would have yelled at God for this. I would have griped and complained. However, I think he has grown me. He has matured me so that my faith is bigger. I trust him.

Its good, but still not where it will be. I look forward to the time when I could lose everything, my wife, family, ministry, job, house, kids, money, camo hat… everything, and still fall on my knees in worship of my Savior. He gave me the ultimate gift. Who am I to complain when he takes away something temporal?

Well… that’s about it.. it pleases me that I’m maturing. So hows your walk going? Hows life?

God's Goodness

2007-10-17T11:07:00.001-06:00

So I was reading through Isaiah 45 today… it’s a good chapter, but it seems to show a side of God that we don’t like to see. God does whatever the heck God wants to. We cant stand in judgement over what he does. We must simply trust in his goodness. It says that he ‘forms the light and creates darkness. He brings prosperity and creates disaster.’ We love to hear that God brings prosperity, but we never want to hear about him creating disaster. To say that God would have caused hurricane Katrina would make most people turn because ‘he would never do that.’ But it seems that scripture says that he does not just allow bad things to happen but that he creates them sometimes also.

So what are we to do with this? I think we need to see the bigger picture. First, life is not all about us and our happiness. God’s highest concern is not our comfort. It is His glory. And if something brings him more glory, then isn’t that what we are to strive for. If losing my wife brings God more glory, who am I to argue with that? Didn’t he save me? Don’t I owe him my life? Who am I to question him, one infinitely more wise than me, on his decisions?

Now, I think there is one caveat that should be inserted, one bit of information that makes what I just said OK. God is good. Let me repeat that. God is good. He is loving and kind. He wishes that none should parish. If I know that, I am ok with the bad stuff. If I really trust him, I know that that ‘bad’ stuff is for a reason. I don’t believe that God would send someone to hell without them having a chance at salvation. That means that even thought many died in Hurricane Katrina, every one of them had a chance to go to heaven. Some accepted. Some didn’t. However, through that time, many people were displaced. Many people had a chance to hear the gospel who may not have otherwise. Many people were given better lives by relocating. In the end, more people will be worshiping in the throne room of God because of that situation. Not that I understand that, but I must trust that.

God is not safe, but he is good!

Political Opinions on Abortion

2007-10-16T09:50:00.000-06:00

So I am baffled, amazed, and generally disgusted. I was fishing around the net for political info the other day trying to get a better idea on who I should vote for. Although I generally lean republican (only because I generally agree with them on the issues), I am an independent at heart and would have no problem voting democrat if the candidate were right. So I find a site that is comparing the candidate (http://politics.nytimes.com/election-guide/2008/issues/abortion/index.html). And I start looking and then I see that the middle column is the candidates opinions “ON LATE-TERM ABORTIONS A recent Supreme Court ruling upheld the 2003 Partial-Birth Abortion Ban.” So this is whether the candidates agree with a BAN on Partial Birth Abortion.

Now, I must put in one note here because I just did a google on it and found out that I misunderstood what it is they do. I was correct in thinking that they do partially birth the baby (by reaching into the womb through the vagina with forceps and grabbing the legs and pulling it half way out). However, I found out that they do it between the 5^th and 6^th month instead of at the end of the pregnancy. The thing that shocked me and made me sick was HOW they actually aborted the child. (warning: this is not for the squeamish) The doctor actually uses the forceps to make a hole in the child’s head and then uses a vacuum to suck out the brains of the unborn child. I was absolutely speechless. I can think of few more disgusting and inhumane ways to slaughter a child.

Just Wow.

So yah, back to politics. Again, I am reading a page about the positions of each candidate on the supreme court BANNING this horrific procedure. As I go down the list, with only one exception, EVERY DEMOCRAT WAS AGAINST THE BAN!!!! THEY ARE FOR PARTIAL BIRTH ABORTIONS!!! I was totally speechless. I could not believe it. how can you be ok with this barbaric procedure?!?! (Senator Biden, the one dissenting voice, supported the ban but chided the court because he said it opened the door to appealing Roe vs Wade).

Well, that makes that decision REAL easy. Unless Biden is on the ticket, no democratic votes from me. There are a few issues that will make or break my vote… that’s one of them. It turns my stomach to think of such things and it really gives a clear picture where our society is… its disgusting. As for the republican side, all of them supported the ban. The one almost exception is Giuliani who was OK with PBA in the past but is now opposes it.

So, no that I AM going to vote Republican, but I am sure as heck not going to vote for any fool that is ok with murdering a child in such a horrendous way!

OK… now for the caveat… am I wrong somewhere? I admit that I am not an expert in this area. Do I have bad information or illogical thoughts? If so, please tell me, I want to have a cogent and intelligent opinion on this subject. What do you think?

Coming soon!! - An article I found where a MIT guy says that we will soon be marrying (and having sex with) robots! I’ll post that tomorrow. (no, I’m not kidding)

lolcat Bible - Review

2007-10-10T05:59:00.001-06:00

So umm... Kat posted a link to the lolcat translation of the Bible. Link
Basically, it translates scripture into web-onics. Just for a refernce, here is The first part of Job 1: (by the way, if you are over 30, you will have MAJOR problems understanding this... you have been warned)

1. In teh land of Uz wuz a man calded Job. Teh man was goodz, afraid of teh Ceiling Cat and evilz. 2. Teh man hadz seven sunz and tree doters, 3. And lots of sheepz and camlez and rinoceruseses and servnts, srsly. 4. His sunz tok turns mading cookies, and they all eated them. 5. And Job wuz liek "Oh noes! Wut if cookies were sin? Gota prey, just in cased."

6. Teh ayngles wented to seez Ceiling Cat, and Saitin wented 2. 7. Ceiling Cat axt Saitin, "Wher u wuz?" Saitin saied "Oh, hai. I'z wuz in ur earth, woking up and down uponz it."8. Teh Ceiling Cat sayd "Has u seen mai servnt Job? He can has cheezburger cuz he laiks me."

9. "No wai!" sed Saitin. 10. "U just plyin favrits. 11. If u take his cheezburgers, he no laiks u no moar."

So umm... here is my review, which may surprise you).

A seminary student’s perspective on the lolcat translation of scripture:

Well, I think I will share my thoughts in the order in which they came…

Thought 1: Umm… this sounds kinda funny, but could have serious problems…I think I will check it out. However, they thought did pop into my head that they probably weren’t taking God and scripture very seriously… hmm… are they really treating him as holy?... we shall see.

Score: 0 (still neutral, with reservations)

Thought 2: (as I am reading Job 1).Umm…wow… this is actually pretty entertaining. However, they do refer to God as the Ceiling Cat… um…. I think that falls short of God Almighty, Creator and Sustainer of the universe… but I guess I can get past that (-1 point)

Score: -1

Thought 3: Job 1:2-3 “Teh man hadz seven sunz and tree doters, And lots of sheepz and camlez and rinoceruseses and servnts, srsly.” That’s pretty funny… especially the rinoceruseses. Srsly. (+2)

Score: +1

Thought 4: (Now reading John 1) John 1:1 “In teh beginz is teh cat macro, and teh cat macro sez "Oh hai Ceiling Cat" and teh cat macro iz teh Ceiling Cat.” Well…. at least they are theologically sound… Christ = God. They may have bad grammar, but they have good theology. (+3)

Score: +4

Thought 5: (reading on in John 1) John 1:5 “Teh lite iz pwns teh darks, but teh darks iz liek ‘Wtf.’” So umm… I don’t think it’s a fabulous idea to have ‘WTF’ in the Bible, which by the way for those of you who don’t speak web-onics, is short for “What the F***.” Umm… yah.. that seems like not a fabulous idea. In fact, it seems like a TERRIBLE idea. Yah… (-5)

Then I read on, John 1:7 “He tellz teh ppl dat teh lites is tehre, so dat teh doodz sez ‘OMG’.” Umm… again, good intentions, but taking the Lord’s name in vain (which is breaking one of the top 10) is not a fabulous idea either (OMG = Oh My God). (-2)

Score: -3

Overall…. I give it a -3. Its not heretical. Its not like this is an assault on God or anything. But it doesn’t really give the honor and reverence to Christ and the Creator of the Universe that it should (but that comes from the guy who is struggling with the fact that most of my generation and younger treats God as their homie that they stick in their pocket and take out during the day when they have a problem instead of falling on their faces in reverence, awe, and holy fear.)

Second, if it were really going to get people to read scripture when they would not have before, maybe it would get some bonus points. But I highly doubt that would happen. Even if it did, they would have to move to some other translation quickly because they couldn’t really get good solid understanding of if out of this translation (HA!! Even The Message translation would be a step up in depth and accuracy!!)

So overall, funny and good for a laugh (with reservations in certain places). However, its not worth translating the whole thing. Srsly.

What Am I Doing Wrong?

2007-10-08T18:26:00.000-06:00

So umm….. here is a post from Craig’s List in New York…

What am I doing wrong?

Okay, I'm tired of beating around the bush. I'm a beautiful (spectacularly beautiful) 25 year old girl. I'm articulate and classy. I'm not from New York. I'm looking to get married to a guy who makes at least half a million a year. I know how that sounds, but keep in mind that a million a year is middle class in New York City, so I don't think I'm overreaching at all.

Are there any guys who make 500K or more on this board? Any wives? Could you send me some tips? I dated a business man who makes average around 200 - 250. But that's where I seem to hit a roadblock. 250,000 won't get me to central park west. I know a woman in my yoga class who was married to an investment banker and lives in Tribeca, and she's not as pretty as I am, nor is she a great genius. So what is she doing right? How do I get to her level?

Here are my questions specifically:

- Where do you single rich men hang out? Give me specifics- bars, restaurants, gyms

-What are you looking for in a mate? Be honest guys, you won't hurt my feelings

-Is there an age range I should be targeting (I'm 25)?

- Why are some of the women living lavish lifestyles on the upper east side so plain? I've seen really 'plain jane' boring types who have nothing to offer married to incredibly wealthy guys. I've seen drop dead gorgeous girls in singles bars in the east village. What's the story there?

- Jobs I should look out for? Everyone knows - lawyer, investment banker, doctor. How much do those guys really make? And where do they hang out? Where do the hedge fund guys hang out?

- How you decide marriage vs. just a girlfriend? I am looking for MARRIAGE ONLY

Please hold your insults - I'm putting myself out there in an honest way. Most beautiful women are superficial; at least I'm being up frontabout it. I wouldn't be searching for these kind of guys if I wasn't able to match them - in looks, culture, sophistication, and keeping a nice home and hearth.

PostingID: 432279810

--------------------------------

I thought this was quite funny. The girl is obviously pretty shallow and has a pretty high standard of living. She is more interested in the money than the guy, that is obvious. However, then I saw the rest of the email. A guy posted a response to her and I thought it was VERY insightful. Here it is:

THE ANSWER

Dear Pers-431649184:

I read your posting with great interest and have thought meaningfully about your dilemma. I offer the following analysis of your predicament. Firstly, I'm not wasting your time, I qualify as a guy who fits your bill; that is I make more than $500K per year. That said here's how I see it.

Your offer, from the prospective of a guy like me, is plain and simple a crappy business deal. Here's why. Cutting through all the B.S., what you suggest is a simple trade: you bring your looks to the party and I bring my money. Fine, simple. But here's the rub, your looks will fade and my money will likely continue into perpetuity...in fact, it is very likely that my income increases but it is an absolute certainty that you won't be getting any more beautiful!

So, in economic terms you are a depreciating asset and I am an earning asset. Not only are you a depreciating asset, your depreciation accelerates! Let me explain, you're 25 now and will likely stay pretty hot for the next 5 years, but less so each year. Then the fade begins in earnest. By 35 stick a fork in you!

So in Wall Street terms, we would call you a trading position, not a buy and hold...hence the rub...marriage. It doesn't make good business sense to "buy you" (which is what you're asking) so I'd rather lease. In case you think I'm being cruel, I would say the following. If my money were to go away, so would you, so when your beauty fades I need an out. It's as simple as that. So a deal that makes sense is dating, not marriage.

Separately, I was taught early in my career about efficient markets. So, I wonder why a girl as "articulate, classy and spectacularly beautiful" as you has been unable to find your sugar daddy. I find it hard to believe that if you are as gorgeous as you say you are that the $500K hasn't found you, if not only for a tryout.

By the way, you could always find a way to make your own money and then we wouldn't need to have this difficult conversation.

With all that said, I must say you're going about it the right way. Classic "pump and dump." I hope this is helpful, and if you want to enter into some sort of lease, let me know.

What a great answer! He is so right. Beauty will fade. That is why we are not supposed to chase after the hottest girls or the guys with the biggest biceps. Those looks will fade and, if we chased after hot shallow people, we will be left with simply shallow people that aren’t much fun to be married to.

It seems to me that scripture says to be careful about who you hang out with. Once again, the secular world is seeing how scripture has revealed for millennia the right way to live… we just need to open the book and see what God has already planned for us.

Busy Schedule & Sex Ads

2007-09-26T08:59:00.000-06:00

Hello hello,

Sorry its been so long… I’ve been busy (and apparently so has everyone else with Kat having people watch him sleep and Swing playing with her little banshee).

So ya… I’m a bit swamped at the moment. I have a book report due tomorrow (I need to read the book today, paper = 1000 words) and a reunin Saturday, reading and a quiz for Tuesday, and an outline for my sermon due next Thursday (yes its just an outline, but the outline is supposed to show all the research you did (~10 hours worth). So yah.. I’m a bit busy…

Haha, and now for something completely different!! I am so amused by all the Spam I get in my email box. The subjects are so entertaining. “Let *product* make all your secret wishes come true!” or “Realize all of her dreams with our help for short time!” or “Extend your possibilities in your private life!” and one of my favs “Let women thirst for you! Surprise them with your size!” ROFL… these are HILARIOUS!! As if I could click on these and my sex life would be just amazing.

Its just such a comment on our society that we get these kinds of ads. Everyone wants us to think that sex is all about how you perform, and what additives you have, and how steamy hot your partner is… in the end…its really about none of those. The secular world balks at the idea of a Christian having 1 sexual partner their whole life. The argument is that how can you know what you really want if you don’t sample the other flavors. The funny thing is, the statistics say otherwise. Christians (those who don’t sleep around) and more fulfilled sexually in the their marriages. They are happier with sex and have it more often. The thought that you have to be ‘sexually compatble’ with someone is totally bogus. (on a similar note…. The same thing goes with living together b/f marriage, you are TWICE as likely to get divorced if you live together before marriage – take THAT myth busters )

Why is this true? Wouldn’t one think that sleeping around gives you more practice and exposure to more techniques or whatever? Maybe. But here is where the world has totally missed it. Sex is not about the physical. Sex is more about the emotional and the physical than it is the physical. I don’t know how exactly to explain this part… I just know its true. (I’m trying really hard to avoid examples because none of you guys want to hear about my sex life.) When you have sex, you are not just joining physically with that person, you are joining spiritually. You become one in heart and soul with that person. You have joined to them. Yes in a physical way, but more so in a spiritual way. So when you sleep around, you are joining with lots of people. But every time you break up with someone you’ve slept with, it rips your joined soul in 2 (the sexual part, its not like only ½ your soul can go to heaven now.. hehe…). And when you keep sleeping around, you retain less and less of yourself. You carry with you more and more people to every new sexual partner. Sex is not simply physical.

That’s why those ads are so entertaining to me. its totally bogus that you can fix your sex life with a click and an internet order. I know the above things to be true for 2 reasons… 1 is because scripture says so. Scripture tells us to have 1 marriage, 1 partner. Period. It tells us that when we do have sex, we become one flesh (one soul). Second, my life and my marriage testify to the truthfulness of what I’ve said…

OK, I know this isn’t new information for most of you, but I was just thinking and maybe it will give you something to say to whoever at work next time they says that sleeping around is a good thing…

Should I Have Expected Anything Different?

2007-09-19T13:50:00.001-06:00

Big Dork

So my brother did a photography job for me last weekend and not only left his ipod in my car but forgot to return the USB Key for one of my photography programs. So I got him to mail it to me yesterday. I received it today. This is what was in the package (yes, the little red USB is what I requested)…. Should I have expected anything less?

Um... yah.... its reminiscent of the cup/face/thing that he gave Dad one year for Christmas....
(Dad, could you post a picture of that?)

And yes... its all in the trash... and no, I didn't eat the lollipop.

I Am So Sick of Politics

2007-09-12T16:07:00.000-06:00

I am so sick of the whole thing. Politics is ridiculous. Democrat and Republican alike are worthless. The democrats have been calling for troop reductions for years now... and so Bush announces plans for troop reductions... and what do the Dems do? THEY ACT LIKE POLITICIANS AND THEY WHINE ABOUT IT!!! THEY WHINE!!! frikin arg.... no matter what one party does, the other will find a reason to attack them and complain about it EVEN IF ITS WHAT THEY WERE WANTING!!!

stupid politics... stupid politics...

how about we just fire all their butts and get a whole new crop of politician-less politicians.... (like a political magical pawn....)

I Eat Hebrew For Breakfast!!

2007-09-11T12:20:00.000-06:00

Yah Baby!!

102

Yup. One hundred and two points on my first Hebrew test. yah baby!!

now, that doesn't mean that I totally understand it, it just means that the test was easy and that I knew what was going to be on the test. But still... I MADE A 102 ON THE TEST!!! YAH BABY!!

so I'm excited.

Ban Dihydrogen Monoxide - A Dangerous Chemical

2007-09-07T23:34:00.001-06:00

8/30/07 - The Day of Bad News....

2007-08-31T01:18:00.000-06:00

Well today seemed to be the day of bad news…..

Brigette’s great uncle died
My aunt had surgery to remove a bunch of lumps on her breast (I found out about the surgery after it began
My friend told me that his gpa is going to die in a few days
my other friend told me that they were going to have to delay the birth of her baby for almost a week longer because her little lungs weren’t developed enough
My other friend said that her mom just found out that she has MS

Some days are just like that. We have no option but to fall back into the arms of God. We all have nice little lives built around us. But what do we do when that all comes crashing down? What then?

What choice do we have but to rely and trust on someone and something outside ourselves? Otherwise we hit rock bottom and have no reason to live.

This just makes sense because my purpose in life is to bring glory and honor to God almighty. I know that even if my little kingdom crashes, I can still fulfill my function in life. I can still do what I was programmed to do. My main purpose is not to provide for Brigette or to get more stuff, or to gain power and friendship. All those things can be taken away from me. Therefore, none of those can be the foundation for the purpose or happiness in and of my life. If my joy rests on whether or not I have a wife, then my life becomes meaningless the moment a drunk driver kills her. Instead, if my purpose and joy come from outside myself, namely Christ, then even if my little kingdom burns to the ground, I can sit, like Job, in the ashes of the world I knew and worship God.

Well… I guess that’s it for today. I know I make everything deep, but its late and I’m feeling deep tonight so… such is life.

May God richly bless us and open our minds to explore more deeply the depths of his surpassing greatness. And though a fruitful lifetime devoted to Ludus would not reveal to us even a drop in the bucket of God’s humbling awesomeness, may we, through our feeble thoughts, bring glory and honor to the name above all names, Jesus Christ.

8-29-07 I Love Being An Adult

2007-08-29T11:25:00.000-06:00

Its so nice being an adult and doing whatever I want. This morning, I had chocolate chocolate chip cookies for breakfast. Yes, I know that doing this on a regular basis is a bad idea and that it will make you fat. But its nice every once in a while…

And, I know Bwige will freak out when she reads this, but I have no problem doing similar fun things with our kids (when they get here in a VERY VERY long time). Wake up, eat cookies, drink chocolate milk, have some cake (by the way, cake is healthy, it has eggs and flour and other healthy things). What a fun morning! Now, don’t freak out, I’m not going to produce walking blob-children. This is something we would do only like once a semester. But what a fun thing to do! (I know most of you are rolling your eyes, but I don’t care)

Well…anyways… I have some bad news and some good news… the bad news is that Bwige was beginning to be bitten by the baby bug… she was starting to feel that primordial urge to have kids…. Arg… I knew the day would come but I had hoped that it would be farther away. Oh well..

However, the good news is really good! At Bwige’s elementary school, she is in the 5^th and 6^th grade hall (because only 5^th and 6^th graders can take strings). And God, in his wisdom, knowing that it was good for us to wait to have kids, had the school put a class of Pre-K kids right next to hers. Pre-K’ers = Baby Bug Repellant!! YAH!! Hallelujah! The first 30 minutes of every day is spent listening to them scream like little banshees because their mommy isn’t there. The rest of the day is spent screaming just because they are testing out their little lungs.

Bwige is now baby bug bite freeeeeee! YAHHH!!!

Have I yet expressed my excitement?

Don’t worry mama, we will have kids eventually… it will (God willing) be a while… and since I’m in seminary and we have a room with a red phone that goes straight to God… my prayers are first in line so all your prayers for Bwige to be pregnant and give you more grand-babies are being voided. Sorry.

OK, that’s it, I must go back to cleaning the house. Have a fabulous day all!

8/23/07 - You Wimp

2007-08-22T22:55:00.000-06:00

so uhh... how would you feel if you broke your arm while arm wrestling with a machine that 'even a woman should be able to beat'?

August 22, 2007 (GamePro) -- Japanese game maker Atlus said on Tuesday that it would remove 150 Arm Spirit arm-wrestling machines from Japanese arcades after three players broke their arms while wrestling with the machine's mechanized appendage.

"The machine isn't that strong, much less so than a muscular man," said an Atlus spokeswoman. "Even women should be able to beat it," the company claimed, saying that it would check the machines for malfunctions as "a precaution."

"We think that maybe some players get overexcited and twist their arms in an unnatural way," the rep added.

Arm Spirit, which is only distributed in Japan, lets gamers advance through 10 levels battling, among other opponents, a French maid, a drunken martial arts master and a Chihuahua before reaching the final showdown with a professional wrestler.

http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&taxonomyName=personal_technology&articleId=9032180&taxonomyId=165

08/22/07 - We're Not In Grade-School Anymore Toto

2007-08-22T19:46:00.000-06:00

So tonight was the first night I got to really enjoy my slashed schedule. Wednesday nights have been working with youth as long as I can remember... but tonight I enjoyed my wife!

We went for a walk about 7:00 and headed over to Seminary Food Store (a grocery) and got little frozen ice bars... they were pretty good (and only 6o cents each!). Then we kept walking and came upon... Stephen's Park. No really, that is it's name! I didn't know I had a park named after me! Wow. *I'd like to thank all the little people I had to step on to get here....*

So we went and sat down in the swings to watch a big soccer game going on. It was not any team, just a bunch of Hispanic guys playing. There were 24 people on the field (how many in normal soccer... I think the internet says 11 per team but that just seems like so many!). So anyways, I was swinging as I sat and watched and I realized, this is kinda small for me. Hmm... the joyous days of no responsibilities has gone. Gone are the hours on the playground. Gone are the days of recess.

All this came to a point when it was time to go. I decided that I would jump out of the swing for old times sake. So I did the whole rocking to gain momentum thing. Back and forth. Back and forth. (while doing this I wondered if I could swing high enough to go all the way over the top... and if I did, would my skin turn inside-out?). Higher and higher I swung. And just at the right moment, I propelled my body out of the swing in anticipation of that joyous moment of weightless flight... and as my body was leaving the swing....... my feet touched the ground and I just ended up standing. No flight. No joy. Just a tall kid standing up out of the swing.

*sigh*

oh well. Those times have passed. I guess life is like that... further up and further in... no looking back.

August 17th, 2007 - Home Again - or - 11,635

2007-08-17T08:24:00.000-06:00

Yah!!! We are home!!

We flew in yesterday and were taken out to dinner by Bwige's parents. We got home and to bed about 11pm (23 hours awake).

We love you all. Dont worry about the days you missed, everyone will be getting a fully updated blog with pictures (hopefully in the mail in a slideshow CD).

By the way... I will be posting a final picture count soon, but it will be about 11,500!

Yah!

Love you guys. thanks for your thoughts and prayers. God blessed and provided fantastically for us. He always amazes me....

Update: Official Number...... 11,635! Yah!! I hit my 10k goal. And no, I am not going to make you look through all of them. I will have probably 2-300 for anyone who wants to see them.

also....I just told the computer to shrink all 11,000 of them.... I wonder how long that will take.... (dont worry, just shrinking a copy of them)

ok, have a great evening, I'm going to bed

August 15th, 2007

2007-08-15T13:11:00.000-06:00

Well, we are coming home tomorrow. I know that we have not updated everything, but dotn worry, you wont be left in the dark! Everyone will recieve a full update when it is done.

we love you all and cant wait to be home. God has been providing so amazingly for us daily. His blessnig have really impressed me! May God richly bless you as well!

August 12th, 2007 – The Grumpy Old Man Strikes Again

2007-08-15T13:08:00.000-06:00

8:30 pm – sitting in the train station

Tonight will be a very long night. A very long night. We are going to catch a train from Ivrea to Turin at 9:30. Then, we leave Turin for Bolognia at 10:45. After arriving at 2:30 am, we will catch another train at 3:00 for Venice to arrive at 5:30… a very long night. Last time, the overnight train worked very well. We were able to take one train the whole way. I guess this time didn’t work so well. Oh well, you win some you lose some. And we will save the price of a hotel room tonight. However, at 3:00 while waiting for the train… we may wish we had done otherwise. Well, we wanted an adventure and that’s what we are getting!

So today we slept in a bit (9:15) and then planned on taking the car to a castle which was on the way to Aosta (same direction we went yesterday). However, first we decided to drive to the train station and get our tickets before the day started (and in case the station was closed when got back (good choice cuz it is now closed)). Driving to the train station, however, turned out to be not that good of an idea. We decided to do so because we were parked overnight in a lot that we were not sure was free so we wanted to get the car out. Brigette suggested that we just walk to the station and walk back. Well, she turned out to be right, it would have been faster to walk there and back.

First off, we had no idea where the train station was. When you are walking, you cant get that off course. When you are driving at 45 miles an hour, you can get very far from your destination very quickly not only because of your speed but because you must follow the direction the road wants you to go. Which is exactly what we did. We drove on the highway, away from Ivrea (the train station is in Ivrea). And when we ‘took the next exit’ it put us into an abandoned indrustrial district with no one around and no way to get over to the city (which we could clearly see). We finally got back on the highway (after doing many circles) and found our way back into town. By this point, both of us were very grumpy. And I finally ended up stopping the car and giving Bwige a long hug and a kiss. We calmed down a bit and drove on. And guess what? The train station was not but a quarter of a mile ahead of us! YAH! We were very excited. We bought our tickets and headed for the castle.

We got to the castle about 1:30 and bought tickets for the 2:00 tour (only in Italian). While we waited I went around and took lots of pictures of the castle. This was a very cool castle. It had towers and walls and shooting holes just like the ones in the story books. It had 2 rings of walls to repel the pesky invaders that tried to take over the land. I circled the whole thing taking pictures (it wasn’t that big, just cool). While I circled, Bwige sat and read the brochure that was in English. Also waiting was a family with a little girl, Mariella (about 4), and a little boy Christiano (about 2). The little girl was excited about the castle and was running around vanquishing (stabbing) the evil invaders (the bushes) with her sword (her Barbie doll). Bwige said it was very cute. By the time I returned, she was getting a bit antsy. She did not have to wait long as the tour was about to start.

Once inside the castle, I took some cool shots of the towers and other fun things while we waited for the lady to finish getting tickets. Then we were all ushered inside the courtyard where I took some nice pictures of the old frescos. And *insert ominous music* that’s when he struck again…... The docent of destruction, the curator of chaos, the GRUMPY OLD MAN! *insert screams of terror* I WAS TOLD NOT TO TAKE PICTURES!!! AAHH!! Why!?!?!! Why?! Why cant I take pictures of your stinking castle. Aren’t people supposed to enjoy it? Huh? Well aren’t they? Then why cant I take a few freaking pictures! (can you sense my frustration here?) The whole tour was now useless to me. I couldn’t understand a word she said, I couldn’t take pictures, all I could do was walk around and look (but not touch). Arg…

Then, in one of the rooms (a kitchen I think because it had a hearth and a bit old table) Christiano (remember him) was doing what all 2 year olds do and was running around exploring. Well, being a 2 year old and doing what 2 year olds do, he ran to the table and knocked over a chair. Not a huge deal except that this table is several hundred years old and he broke off a leg. Not so good. They eventually just propped up the chair against the table to fix it later.

Here is why I include this in my rant…. Why is it that chair-destroying children are allowed in the castle, but a harmless camera isn’t? Huh? Does my camera steal the soul of your castle? Does it compromise the integrity of your walls? Does it rearrange the molecular structure of your rocks and make them crumble before your eyes? No? THEN WHY CANT I TAKE PICTURES OF YOUR STINKIN CASTLE!!?!!?! Please, can someone tell me why… I really don’t get it. I don’t understand. Am I going to casue you to lose business? Am I going to … I don’t know…

And I realize that I am making a big deal out of this… but it’s a big deal to me! I enjoy a place because I can take pictures of it and remember it and enjoy it again and again. When I cant take pictures, the tour is just about useless. I cant understand what shes saying. I get nothing out of it. Its just the inside of a castle. And I know that I can still enjoy it because it’s a castle, but it’s the principle of the thing! The whole thing is tainted because its owned by the grumpy old man. It was such a beautiful picturesque castle. The towers were magnificent! Why must they taint the whole thing by not allowing pictures? Arg… arg… arg… Oh well… life goes on. I did get some pretty pictures of the outside.

We sat down at the base of the castle to have lunch. We got an appetizer of tomatoes with mozzarella cheese. Yum Yum. The cheese here is different than the wanna-be cheese that we have back home. The mozzarella comes in little balls about the size of a tennis ball. And when you buy it in the store, it isn’t shrink wrapped either. It is sealed in a little bag full of water (to hold in the moisture). As a result, its much tastier than what we get at home. I am very pleased.

Then we got ordered sandwiches for lunch. I got one with mozzarella and tomatoes, and Bwige got mushrooms and mozzarella. Except we really didn’t know what we were ording because they were called paninios. The lady said they were kinda like crepes. Whatever, we ordered them ready for something new. What we got was anything but new. After a bit, they brought us out, 2 quesadillas. Yup. The Italian version of Mexican quesadillas. 1 tortilla, a few slices of tomato, and a few slices of cheese, all grilled. Kinda. It was very obvious to us that we are very, very, very (yes, 3 very’s) far from Mexico. The cheese inside was not melted and the outside of the tortillia was only light brown on a few small spots. *sigh* The itallians do food so well. They do, however, need some lessons in preparing Mexican food. Don’t get me wrong, they tasted good. It’s just that with a few small improvement, they could be fabulous!

After that we drove back to Ivrea. We returned the car and walked in the direction of the train station. On the way there we sat at a fruit stand for a few hours and ate watermelon. Then, a bit later, saw them putting fruit salad inside a cantaloupe and decided to order one for ourselves. Yum Yum! Since we had 5 hours till our train left, we decided that the shade at the fruit stand was a good place to sit.

As we ate, we discussed life and our schedules when we get back. While we were dating, we did a fabulous job of praying together. Since the wedding, we have done lousy. The main problem is that Bwige gets up earlier than me and so we don’t pray together in the mornings. Also, we don’t study scripture together which we really want to do, but just haven’t. We were trying to figure out a good time to do both. I really want to do some in depth study of scripture instead of always just reading a passage. Its like a buffet; you cant get all the food in one pass. You must go back multiple times and chew slowly.

The problem came when we tried to figure out when to study. In the mornings we are mostly asleep. In the evenings we have schedule conflicts. … what to do? So what we finally agreed to do is to pray together in the mornings and study in the evenings. Since we are slashing our schedules, the evenings should work out… we will see.

For the in depth part, we are going to start with an overview of the book. This means reading through a whole book each day for the first 5 days (long books we will read the whole thing only the first day and then alternating halves for 4 more days). After that we will study a section a day till we get through the whole book. At the end, we will read through the whole thing once more.

The point of doing this is to get a better understanding of the books as whole. So much of our scripture study is done in little bits. Its like studying just the little finger of the statue of liberty. Then you study just one nose of Mt. Rushmore. Then you study 3 square feet of the grand canyon. Yes, you are getting information when you do that, but if you do only that, just the crown could make someone think the statue of liberty was a porcupine! You need the big picture. That’s what we hope to get.

Well, after that, we headed for the train station, again on foot. We stopped and asked directions from a man from France who spoke decent English. He, however, didn’t know so he asked another man who was ahead of us buying cigarettes. We were told to basically follow the road we were on all the way to the other side of the city. Great. Oh well, only 15 minutes. So we walked on.

Then, as we were walking, a Federica pulled over ahead of us and came to greet us! She and her coiusin and their husbands were on the way to the memorial service. They said hello, but since their car was full, couldn’t give us a ride. Oh well. It was very nice seeing her one last time. However, we were not done seeing old friends. A while later, another car pulled over and it was the Frenchman! He gave us a ride to the station. How nice! It was, however, very cramped in his car as I sat in the front seat with my bag (which is almost 3 feet tall). Haha.

Anyways. That’s about it. We are on the train to Turin. I very much look forward to being home. I miss my bed. I miss not moving around all the time. I long for home. But I am ok with traveling a few more days. I know that this is temporary and my permanent home is waiting for me.

Maybe that’s how we are supposed to feel about heaven. We are temporarily traveling here but we long for something more permanent. We long for where we were made to be, with our Father. Just a thought.

OK, time to go. I look forward to seeing all of you soon. May God richly bless you and every day give you greater visions of heaven that you may, like I do, yearn for Home.

August 9th, 2007

2007-08-15T13:07:00.000-06:00

2:30 – on the train to Turin.

Today is a traveling day. We started off today by me going to the train station about 8:30 to buy tickets. We were planning on the 10:00 train but took the 12:30 because it worked out better and was half price.

So now I am on the 12:30 train to Turin, then we will take another train to Ivrea where Tom lives. We will be staying with him for 2 days. We are headed towards the mountains. Hopefully it will be cooler there and have different food.

Well, that’s it… not much interesting so far. Laterz.

11:30 pm – sitting in bed at Tom’s House

Well the train was uneventful. We arrived in Ivrea at 6:30 and Tom met us. He is our age and works as a waiter at a private club. He is a really nice guy and a lot of fun to hang out with. He took us home from the train station and his mom met us and was very motherly. She is so much fun! She immediately went into mama mode and started offering us food and drink. She is very much like my mama who is happiest when serving others. Even though her son said we had enough food, she kept bringing it out and a snack turned into almost a full meal!

The interesting part is the food she offered us. She brought us out a plate of salami slices and also slices of white stuff. Yah, the white stuff turned out to be… umm…. Bacon. Without the meat. Yep. Slices of fat. Mmmm… And as before, we believe in eating what is put in front of you so we each had a slice. Also included in the snack was rice cakes (to offset the meatless bacon), olives (Bwige loved them) breadsticks, and yummy cheese.

Afterwards, Tom took us out on the town. We went and saw where he works. It’s a private club (not for rich people) where you have to wait a long time to get in because it is small. They have a little lake and their own private view of the mountains. Very nice!

Then, he took us into the mountains a bit for his favorite place to eat, the Sostos. Basically, it means a stop for the pilgrims (who used to take that road on the way to Rome).

The restaurant was a very homey place. Very tastey. We got a plate of cheeses for the appitiser. It came out with three different slices of cheese on it (real slices which come from a round of cheese not pathetic American slices which are flat and disgusting). One was small and hard, not bad. Another was bigger and white, very tastey. The last cheese was the biggest and was filled with spices.

(this will be finished later)

August 8th, 2007 – Step Maddness – or – The Land of 2500 pictures

2007-08-15T13:05:00.000-06:00

9:00 am – sitting in bed

Bwige is retuning the snorkels. I just got up, again. It stormed last night and I got up at 3:30 and watched and took pictures until 6:30. I kept wanting to go to bed but as soon as I would put my camera down, something new would happen or the storm would start up again and taunt me to get more pretty pictures. Oh well… A few of them turned out really really well. Some were pretty and blue, some had lightning in them. Yah! I don't know how much hiking we are going to do since its still drizzling. We shall see…

10:00 pm – sitting in bed

We are back. What a long day. I am happy that I got to sleep a few more hours before I had to get up. We got up and went down to the ticket office only to find that the road between Riomaggiore (#1, where we were) and Manorola (#2) to Corniglia (#3) was closed. This was not good since we had hoped to hike all 4 paths. Oh well.

So we started off and hiked from Riomaggiore (#1, where we were) to Manorola. This path is the Via dell’ Amore, the Path of Love. We walked along it and, just because we were supposed to, kissed pretty often. We had to because there were guards walking around and handing out tickets to couples who were not kissing! Then, to get extra ticket protection, when there was a place where you could climb up a bit to a picnic area, we climbed to the top and sat and kissed for a while. HA! Just TRY and give us a ticket!!

The walk was very pretty. It ran along the cliff above the ocean. There were lots of pretty places to take pictures (which I did) and lots of flowers to take pictures of (which I did). The path, however, was very flat and easy. There was almost no climbing or steep ascents… just all smooth sailing, I mean walking.

One thing that was very disappointing has been the graffiti everywhere. People just write on the walls and steps, and seats, and plants… its disgusting. How rude to ruin a beautiful place with ‘Andre wuz here.’ Not only here in the Chinque Terra, but in Rome. People wrote on the walls of St. Peters and the Pantheon. I mean really! How low class can you get! Do you have no soul or respect for anything in life? I would be totally enthused if they would put up cameras and as the violators left the site, threw them in jail for a while, maybe 1 year… that way, others would get the point that HEY!, this thing is important and NO, you are not the center of the universe so that you can do whatever the heck you want! So frustrating.

Anyways… The walk of love took less than an hour (even though I was taking a ridiculous number of pictures) and we arrived in Manorola without incident. When we got there, there was a bus to the top of the hill. As can be expected, the person ahead of me was allowed on but I wasn’t. So SOMEONE (*coughBrigettecough*) suggested that we just walk. Yah. Great suggestion. The walk was pretty much straight up a hill, but since that would have been too steep, they did switchbacks. Lots of switchbacks. 385 steps worth of switchbacks. Oh well, I needed the exercise anyway to work off all the gelato we have been eating.

And speaking of steps… we took the train from town #2 to #3 so we could walk from #3 to #4 and began that hike. And what a hike it was. (One side note is that before finding the footpath to town #4 we started walking down the car path to #4. I mention this because I saw some passion flowers! Yah! I love passion flowers. They are my favorite flower! They are so pretty. They used to grow on the TV antenna in the back of Grandma’s house and I fell in love with them!) The hike from Corniglia (#3) to Vernazza (#4) was supposed to take an hour and a half. It took us a little over 2 hours. Can you guess why? (if you didn’t guess that I was taking a ridiculous number of pictures you should feel very ashamed of yourself because you know absolutely nothing about me and you have deeply hurt my feelings)

This path was much harder than the first. There was lots of steep climbing and long ascents. It was not, however, that technically difficult (there was no 1 foot wide path where you inch along sideways), it was just long. I would guesstimate about 4000 - 5000 steps.

I think my favorite part of the hike (which has been my favorite so far) was the blue water. The water is just such a beautiful deep blue here. On top of that, its clear! You can actually see the bottom (being from Texas I had no idea what that was like). But the cream of the crop was the little sections of teal blue water right around the coast. (I’ll show pictures later). It was just so beautiful. I cant wait to see those pictures.

OK, one note for this part of the day. Both of the best views on the trek were on the paths to the nude beach (no, we didn’t go down there, we just went down the path a little cuz the view was so good). And although I considered naming the blog for this day ‘An Afternoon on the Path to the Nude Beach’ I decided otherwise. Haha.

Oh, and we have seen lots of Germans on this trip. From what we hear, the Germans all travel extensively in the summer (maybe because they get 6 weeks paid vacation every year). So my question is… is there anyone actually in Germany during the summer? Hmm…. *note to self, on my quest to be Overlord of the Universe, make sure to invade Germany during the summer….*

Well, the next part of the trip was dinner in Vernazza after watching the goobers at the dock. That was interesting. Since there was a storm coming, the waves were pretty high. Again, perfect for picture-crazy Fluffy. The waves were high enough that they would crash against the docks and make a pretty high spray (the dock is a solid cement block, not a wooden platform on pillars). A few college age guys were sitting on the edge with their legs hanging over. They would wait for a big wave to wash over the dock and throw them backwards. They were getting a bit banged up but seemed to be enjoying it.

A few times it actually rolled them about 6 or 8 feet backwards. But again, they seemed to be enjoying it. And hey, it made for good pictures.

OK, now is a good time to insert an explinaiton on how I took 2500 pictures in 1 day. I take 2 types of pictures. First, is, ‘Oh look a flower, click click click.” That type is normal picture taking. The second type however, is more movie style; I hold down the shutter button and it takes 5 pictures a second (50 at a time). I like to take those and then later put them together into little mini motion movie thingies. I take those for things like the ocean moving around the rocks, boats moving in the water, trains coming straight at me…. So, I don’t know exactly the breakdown, but at least 1000 of the pictures were of type 1. I think today is probably my record for number of pictures taken in 1 day! I am very proud of myself, especially since I am going to miss my projected goal 20,000 pictures. My more realistic goal is now 10,000. I am a little over half way there (between 6k and 7k). However, I should make quota because the next few days will be spent in the mountains and I hope to take lots of nice pictures.

After watching the boys get washed onto shore, we headed up the hill into town to get dinner. By this time, Bwige was tired and getting quite hungry. I say this just because I wanted to comment on how cute Bwige gets when shes tired. Her eyes get all big like a little puppy and she is just so CUTE!

Anyways… we ate pizza for dinner. Yum, I had pesto and mushroom and Bwige had sausage and mushroom. (She says that the pizza hasn’t been that good since Rome and that this was the first pizza she has liked since then. I think its all about the same.) We also each had a bottle of peach juice with our pizza. Arg, one of the most frustrating things here in Italy is the drink situation. You pay for freaking everything! Its so dumb. If you want water, you pay for it because it comes in a bottle. If you ask for Aqua Rubineto (tap water) they look at you like you are crazy. And a couple of times, they just bring you bottled water anyway. And it is expensive too, like 2 Euros ($2.50). So yah, its usually about the same price to get water or wine. (however, I think I’ve decided to give up my quest to like wine once we get home from Italy… its not very good and just empty calories) The other thing is that most restaurants have a 2 or 3 Euro cover charge (a charge for sitting down and breathing). That’s frustrating. And the cokes (which I don’t drink much at home anyway) are even more expensive. 1.5 Euros for a can of coke. Yes, a can. Not a cup with free refills, but a can. Its ridiculous because you have to drink something with your meal but its going to cost you $5 one way or another. Arg.

Another thing that I haven’t liked about the food here is the bread. Pretty much every load of break we’ve had has really hard crust. The inside is nice and soft, but the crust is hard to chew. That’s probably the worst part of the food here. (however, it was a little better in Tuscany because they don’t put salt in the bread. A long time ago someone taxed the salt heavily and so they rebelled and have not used salt in their bread ever since… oddly enough, when you take out the salt, the bread can last for like a week and a half! Wow… no preservatives and it still lasts. I would think that the salt (a preservative) would make it last longer. Live and learn)

Yum… Italian food is so good! I am learning lots of new ways to cook things.. like, get this, spaghetti without tomato sauce. Yah, whoda thunk? They just put on a bit of olive oil and salt. Its actually pretty tasty too! Another thing is the pesto. Man its good! And they put it on pizza as a topping! (however, in regards to the pizza, it seems that they usually do just 1 topping instead of lots like we do).

Alas, however, I am craving new types of food. It seems that the menus have been pretty much the same since we arrived in Italy (other than adding a bit of seafood when we are by the coast). Spaghetti and pizza really are their main fares. It seems like in the US, there are lots of different types of food. You go to Chili’s and you can get Burgers, Italian, Asian, Mexican…. But here its just all Italian. We have seen little to no other choices. We did see some Greek food in Rome and Florence, but those are the bigger towns. Like Bwige, I am starting to crave Mexican food… we are just getting tired of having the same thing all the time. Oh well, we will be home soon. Plus, we are traveling to a totally different part of the country tomorrow so hopefully their pallets will change as well.

Another thing we crave is companionship. We are traveling alone and, while we really enjoy each other’s company, crave other people to talk to. We have been looking but haven’t found anyone else to travel with. We have even been trying to branch out and talk to other people, but we just haven’t come in contact with that many English speaking people. Oh well…

After dinner we went and watched the men pull the boats in from the harbor because of the storm. They would pull them up to the shore and attach a rope to the front. The rope went all the way up the ramp to a pulley in the square which was attached to a wench to the side. The wench was only a large circular pice of metal that turned on the top. When the rope was wrapped around it 3 times, it had the friction it needed to pull the boat up. Afterwards, they would put the boats on little flat dollies and line them up in the square. However, some people took them up the hill into town, a few even carried them up the hill. Geez. (these were little rowboats, not big boats… lol, a bunch of guys carrying an ocean liner…yah)

We then caught a train home to Riomaggiore. When we got there we called Tom, the guy we are staying with tomorrow night, and talked to his mom. She said to call him back in 10 minutes. So we went and sat to wait. Another guy went into the phone booth right after us and came out and asked us if the phone had worked for us. Apparently, it died after we used it. It said it was out of service…. So we searched for another phone and finally found one. It was dead. We did find another one and while waiting talked to a girl from Seattle. She commented on Brigette’s shirt (University of California, Santa Cruize) whose mascot is the Banana Slugs. She said that wherever it crawls on you, the banana slug makes your skin numb. So… a fun game to play is to get together with a few of your friends and pool your money to pay an unsuspecting freshmen to lick a slug for $10. So, to their surprise, besides the odd taste of slug slime, they get a numb tongue and cant talk the rest of the night. Lol, $10 well invested!

OK, that’s the interesting things from the day. Hope you are enjoying!

Oh, and one last set of steps… already said it was 150 steps from the street to our room. We its another 150 from the beach to the street. Yah, no fat Italians around here!

August 7th, 2007 – An Afternoon at the Nude Beach – or – OH Look! OH Don’t Look!!

2007-08-15T13:03:00.000-06:00

11:00 pm – laying in bed

Today was good and bad. We started off the day by packing up the rest of the pizza from dinner last night between 2 pieces of pizza box cardboard and wrapped in bandanas. Very umm… watertight. All that went in the little green bag for our day-long adventure.

About 9am we trekked down to the water and rented kayaks so we could paddle around. We got them for all day long along with snorkel gear. The plan was to kayak down to the 5^th town in the morning, relax, eat the pizza, snorkel a little, and then kayak back in the afternoon. Ha!

Well, our kayaking adventure begin when I, being the experienced seaman that I am, tipped over in the kayak after being in it all of 45 seconds. The paddles were weird and I was headed for another boat and I was trying to stop too quickly and *splash*, in I went. Now, you must remember, I was not in a canoe where the top is all open. I was in a kayak, one big piece of plastic with a hole on top for you to slide your legs in and your torso pokes out the top. So when I went underwater, my legs were lodged inside. Hmm… hadn’t thought that far ahead yet. I freaked out for a second. I remember thinking, “Hmm… legs inside kayak, body underwater, no air underwater. Not good.” But that quickly passed and I slipped out and surfaced (to the relief of my wifey, who I found out afterwards was freaking out more than me. She later told me that she was thinking, “Noo! I don’t want my hubby to drown! We haven’t even left the harbor!”).

Getting back in, however, was not so easy. I have been trained and have many getting-back-in-canoe skills. But my getting-back-in-kayak skills are a bit lacking. So I swam back to the ramp (20 feet away) and got back in (to the amusement of the kayak rental guy, who was thinking, “Stupid tourist, cant even get out of the harbor without tipping over. This is going to be a long day for him.” How right he was.)

Having gotten back in the kayak, we paddled out to sea. That’s right, we are on the sea. No, not a river. The sea. This is a fact I hadn’t considered. My past water experiences have all been on nice, pretty, calm, serene, slow flowing, rivers. Yah, the sea isn’t so calm and pretty. The sea has waves. Waves bounce you. Up and down. Up and down. Down and up. Up and down. Yah. Fluffy gets motion sickness. Up and down and fluffy don’t play well together. However, I paddled on like a good little soldier.

The next thing I learned is that unlike a river, the sea has currents that don’t all go in one direction. And since I am a big guy, I displace a lot of water. That makes me more susceptible to the currents. So I would be paddling one way (while going up and down, up and down, down and up), and all the sudden, my kayak would be pointed out towards sea instead of towards land. Hmm, not good. So I would put myself back in the right direction. Paddle, paddle (up and down), kayak pointed out to sea. So basically, I paddled in a zig zag pattern the whole time. Back and forth, up and down, (ok seriously, I’m getting motion sickness just thinking about it and typing it, no really.)

We paddled for a while and made it past town #2 (we started in #1) and got 1/2 way to #3 and decided to rest on a little rocky beach. However, when I went to get out of my kayak, I couldn’t walk. Not good (my leg had fallen asleep). I called to Bwige for help and she pulled my kayak while I lay there like a limp fish. After a bit I was able to walk and we sat down for a rest. We pulled out the backpack, the one I was wearing when I tipped over in the harbor, the one with our pizza, yah that one. Supprisingly, the pizza was dry! Yah! So we at the pizza before it got any soggier. That was about 10:30. We rested for a few minutes and since Bwige wasn’t feeling great, I decided to go snorkeling. However, since the beach was made up of tiny pebbles, they kept invading my feet and fins so that it was very uncomfortable. When I finally did get my feet clean enough to put them on, as soon as I stepped into the water, my foot was again invaded by little rocks. Arg. Oh well. They will come out when I get in the water. However, when I went to get in the water, I noticed the very forceful waves crashing against large rocks right off the beach. I decided I didn’t want to get smashed against the rocks into lots of pieces and end up like the pebbles on the beach. So I abandoned the snorkeling idea for the moment.

After a bit we got back into the kayaks and paddled on. After more up and down, down and up, and being thrown whichever way the sea deemed fit at the moment, I was getting really tired. My arms were exhausted and my back was aching from sitting so long with no support.. My head was spinning from all the up and down of the sea. I could go no further so we headed for the beach. As we got closer to the beach, Bwige made an interesting observation, we were headed for the nude beach that the guide book had talked about. Hmm… what to do? I could go no further (forwards or backwards) so we just headed for the least occupied part of the beach. Now, I know this wasn’t a great option, but you must remember, when you are hiking and you get tired, you can just sit down and rest. But when you are on the water, if you just stop you get pulled out to sea. So yah, this was the best option at the time.

So we pulled up onto the beach, arms exhausted, backs aching, and legs stiff. We flopped out of the kayaks and lay sprawled out on the beach like a bunch of passed-out drunks. After we recovered for a second, we pulled out kayaks together, and lay on the sand, in the sun, under one of Brigette’s sarongs (which is basically a big thin square piece of cloth). In the end, there really weren’t that many people on the beach, only about 10-12 at most. However, faithful to their surroundings, they were enjoying themselves in the raw.

Now, I do have lots of thoughts on nudity and the like… and I could go into a long deep discussion on the topic, but I’m tired and don’t feel like chasing that rabbit trail tonight, I’m tired. Let me suffice it to say that while it may be fine and fun with your spouse, because of the whole lust and leading other’s to bad thoughts, its probably not the best idea in public.

So there we lay. Sprawled out (and totally clothed, if you were wondering) on the nude beach. Then down the trial comes a family. Hmm, this is going to be interesting. Middle school boy and high school girl lead the way with mom and dad following. Mom and dad stand and stare for a moment, not sure what to think. They have this perplexed look on their face like… is this what I think it is? Interestingly enough, boy and girl pass right on by and head down the beach. They don't seem to be phased. I later figured out that real mom and dad were nudists, and perplexed (who I thought to be mom and dad) were just other beach-goers. However, in the end, all stayed. The perplexed couple set up camp on the entrance side of Bwige and I, and boy and girl and parents set up at the far side of the beach. It was so interesting to watch the faces of people coming down the path… they just seemed perplexed at first, then the just kept going. It was interesting that another boy and girl came with parents (all kept their clothes on) and just went swimming.

Anyways, Bwige and I laid there trying to recover from the beating the sea had given us. However, since we were laying in the sun with only a sarong covering me, we weren’t resting very well. So even though I still felt sea sick and tired, we got back in headed back home. Yes, the plan was to go to town #5, but we only got half way past #3. Oh well, neither of us wanted to be beat up by the sea any more… and our hopes, like the water, were severely dashed upon the rocks.

On the way home, though we had stopped half way, I decided to go all the way in one stretch. I was tired, hungry, exhausted, and didn’t want to stop and delay our homecoming any longer. I don’t know how good of a decision that was, but I made it… barely. I really almost didn’t make it back to the harbor. I was so exhausted from all the paddling. Not only that, I was paddling twice as far as I should have because of all the extreme zig zags I was doing. The up and down of the sea was also making my stomach sick. Sitting in the kayak was making my back hurt really bad and my butt worse. However, through much frustration, we did make it back to the harbor and I literally collapsed onto the rocks and just lay there for a bit. (oh and Bwige was just fine. For whatever reason, weather she displace less water and wasn’t affected by the current or she was just more skilled, she did fine going straight and wasn’t all that tired.) We made it! Praise God!

We finally got up and returned the paddles. I got an ice cream bar on the way home. MAN WAS IT GOOD! I don’t know if that was the exhaustion or the ice cream, but it tasted fantabulous! After passing out on the bed for a few hours, we got up about 7:00 and donned our snorkel gear and headed back to the water. Although we were sore all over, we paid 20 Euros for that snorkel get and we were going to get our money out of it danget! Man am I glad we did.

Snorkeling is so amazing! There is a whole world under the water! We swam around and saw boulders bigger than our house. We saw schools of fish bigger than our house! We saw rocks the size of cars just sprawled out on the sea floor. And we only got 100 yards out into the ocean. Man… I am just so amazed.

Again, I have lots and lots of deep thoughts on this, but I am really tired and falling asleep so I’ll just give them in brief.

First, God did all that. Wow! He made all the different things work together. The fish eat the scum that grows on the rocks. The rocks beat against each other to make pebbles. The moon works to make the waves. It all balances out. (insert part of me digging on the beach and no matter how big a hole I tried to make the sea just filled it in. when I left, it looked as I had never been there. God makes things even out). It just amazes me that God takes care of all the details that we don’t even consider. OK, that didn’t make much sense, but remember, this is a brief. It will make more sense when it is several pages long.

Second, wow, its big! We only saw one cove on one beach on one stretch of one minor sea. Wow! Again, its all there by God’s imagination. He put it there so that we could be amazed and give glory and honor to him for making it all work together.

OK, that’s about it, I’m tired. Its time for bed. We had dinner sitting outside a bar. The food was ok, but not great because it was pretty much microwave dinners. I had pesto w/ pasta (which by the way, pesto was invented in this part of Italy!). Bwige had mushroom pasta. They were good as far as microwave dinners go. Bwige also got a pina colada. However, it was not like the ones in the states which are like slushies. Instead, it was just juice with rum and coconut added (and whatever else is supposed to go in it). Different but not bad. Likewise, my milkshake was just liquid instead of being thick like we are used to. Not bad, just different.

OK, no really this time. I’m going to bed. Goodnight. Tomorrow we plan on hiking the 5 towns (or as many as we can get to).

August 6th, 2007 - Relaxing in Riomaggiore

2007-08-08T09:45:00.000-06:00

2:00 pm – sitting on the rocks in the shade at the beach

We have taken the morning off to relax. We slept in and pretty much did nothing. I went and got some figs (and fruit) for breakfast … yum yum, I’ll never get tired of them.

We got lunch at a little hole in the wall place and brought it to the marina and sat down in the shade to eat it (yes, everything is done in the shade because Fluffy burns very easily. I don’t tan or darken, I just deep fry. Anyways, we got anchovy pizza, some fried fish balls, fried potato cakes, stuffed mussels, and some spinach cantalonie. It was all very tasty! I very much enjoyed the fried stuff because I have had nothing fried (outside of a few of Brigette’s fries a few days ago) for 2 weeks now. It was yummy and salty. The potatoes were like a fried potato paste. The middle was stilly mushy; different but good. The fish balls were like hush puppies except a bit more solid and rubbery on the inside. Again, different but good (and salty). I think all the hiking and sweating makes me crave salt more… The stuffed mussels were not bad and the cantalonie wa ok as well. All in all, lots of food for only 16 euros (~$20).

So like I said, we are now sitting on the far side of the beach where the cliffs give us some shade. Well, technically I guess it’s a beach but there is no sand. Just get a picture of a beach in your mind and replace all the sand with big river rocks and cliffs in the background and a really nice dark dark blue ocean and that’s where we are. Very nice. Almost perfect if not for the band of wandering gypsy drummers practicing around us. No really. They have their practice drums out and are going to town. But they are not that good. The two chicks who are making the most noise are not real together. Mr. Taylor (drum line director from high school) would be yelling at them.

Well, that’s it for now. We are just relaxing and writing. I don’t know of our plans for the next few days… we have 1 more full day in Chinque Terre. But there are 3 days worth of activities we want to do. I want to hike all 5 towns (its about 5 miles from beginning to end), kayak for a day, and snorkel for a day. I guess we could kayak and snorkel one day, hike another and stay one more night… maybe… depends on the schedule.

OH. I have not described the town we are in. We are in Riomaggiore, the first of the Chinque Terre (= 5 lands in Italian) towns. It’s a nice little down. 1 main drag down to the marina. Lots of little pizza shops and a few little fruit stands. And man oh man is it not Texas here! They build up. Then up some more. Then still up more. When we got here last night and went to get a room, the lady indicated us to follow her. Yah, it took longer to get to the room than to get to the office from the train station. We wandered through the back streets for a full 3 minutes before we got to the room. And it was like 4 or 5 different turns and nooks and crannies… geez. I counted this morning and it is 150 steps from the street to our room. No fat people around here. You climb so much. And our room isn’t even at the top. There are places above ours!

The room we are staying in is nice. It’s small and white. A bed, small fridge, toilet and, for the first time this trip, a tub (although having a tub does no good when the hot water doesn’t last long enough to fill more than 2 inches). Yes, that is it. No sink. You have to do everyting with water from the tub. It works, and it was only 45 E. so a pretty good price.

Well, back to relaxing. We will be home in a little more than a week. We look forward to seeing you all then.

August 5th, 2007 - Trains, Feet, Automobiles, Buses...

2007-08-08T09:44:00.000-06:00

10:00 pm – sitting in bed

We got up early and traveled today. Long day. Traveling takes so long. Observe:

Renato’s House, drove the car to EuropCar (rental place), walking -> Bus Stop, Bus -> Inside Sienna, Walking -> Main Bus Stop, Direct Bus (that isn’t so direct and makes lots of stops) -> Florence, Walking from bus station to train station, train from Florence to La Spezia, Train from La Spezia to Riomaggiore, Walking through tunnel to room rental, walking 150 steps and several back allies to room. I now understand much better why traveling on public transportation is not an efficient endeavor. You are always waiting on the next bus or train or trying to figure out where the heck you are. It took us 12 hours from start to finish; a journey that would have taken 4 in the car.

Traveling days are hard. Since I get motion sickness, I cant really do much on the train or bus. So I end up just staring out the window. Its mindless, but draining. I don't know why.

Well that’s really it. We traveled today. Oh yah, we did stop in Santa Croche (a church from the movie ‘A Room with a View’). Bwige was happy to get to see it. It was a pretty church, but when compared to the other beautiful places we’ve been, it was nothing spectacular (don't tell Bwige I said that). When we were about to leave, we heard a lady singing ‘O Mio Babbino Caro’ (Oh my Beloved Father). It’s the main song from the movie and so it made Bwige very happy. Haha, I even got the lady to take a picture with Bwige.

Well, that’s it. Time for bed. Tomorrow is a day to relax since today was all travel. I look forward to sleeping in.

August 4th, 2007 - coming soon

2007-08-08T09:43:00.002-06:00

coming soon....

ok, i know that there are alot of these but weve been busy and if i dont do this, they will be out of order later on... so... yah.. just read the long ones

August 3rd, 2007 - coming soon

2007-08-08T09:43:00.001-06:00

coming soon

August 2nd, 2007 - coming soon

2007-08-08T09:42:00.000-06:00

coming soon

August 1st, 2007 - coming soon

2007-08-08T09:41:00.000-06:00

coming soon

July 31st, 2007 - An Interesting Day

2007-07-31T12:29:00.000-06:00

2:00 pm

So today has been an interesting day so far… yah.. (this is a long and heavy entry, so don’t try to read it quickly)

We ended off last night with a bit of a scare. I woke up to some slamming noise. It was close to my head and very loud. It took a bit for me to wake up. It was dark, and I could not see much. All I could see was something moving in the corner. After a while of not knowing what to do, I figured out that it was the bathroom door mirror. It was slamming shut. I still wasn’t sure what was making it do that, but I got up (cuz I’m the hubby and its my job to protect my cute little wife) and went and investigated. It turns out it was only the wind, which was blowing really hard. It was slamming the door shut and rattling the mirror in the door. I am not sure how it didn’t break the mirror. So I put my shoes in front of the door (you know how big they are) and it seemed to make it stay shut. I know that I should have turned off the light and gone to sleep… but I didn’t… I left the bathroom light on and happily snoozed.

I got up this morning and thought it must have been noon cuz I slept so long. However, it was only 8am. It must get bright early here. We got up and were served a wonderful breakfast of croissants, bread, jelly, honey, coffee, juice, fruit cups, and bruchetta. It was pretty good. The best part was eating on the rooftop with a fabulous view. The wind was blowing pretty hard and the waves were much bigger then yesterday. I couldn’t wait to take lots of pretty pictures!

After breakfast we borrowed the bikes from the family we are staying with and rode all around. Well, actually, first I went up to the very top of the roof and took about 200 pictures. Yes, that is a lot, but most of them were panoramics so that takes a bunch. I look forward to seeing how those turn out.

We rode through town and up into the mountains. Well, it was like a 20% grade so we didn’t get very far into the mountains. The sweat was worth it. We got a very nice view. We would have gone further, but we didn’t know how much further the road would go straight up and the bikes were a bit old and I didn’t totally trust them. On top of that, the road was, like any mountain road, pretty narrow, and had no shoulder. So we were riding pretty close to the traffic. Better safe then sorry.

While going back into town, we saw a little snack stand called Giuseppe Verdi. YAH! My favorite composer. The raw power of his ‘Requiem’ and ‘La Forza Del Destino’ take my breath away. Think the power of ‘Mars’, the excitement of ‘Gladiator’, and the feeling of the Imperial Death March and you’ve got part of these two pieces. Fun fun.

So we stopped and got an ice cream bar. WOW. It was really good. It was one of those packaged ones, but was surprisingly tasty. It had a thick chocolate shell, a kinda cookie crust under the shell, and then chocolate ice cream in the middle. Very very yummy. Probably the best packaged ice cream bar I’ve ever had.

To make things even yummier, there was a fig tree next to the stand and so I plucked a few ripe ones. I LOVE figs. I am going to have permanently sticky lips after eating all the figs over here. While I was scouring the tree, and Italian guy walked by and, while laughing, said I was a thief and was going to get arrested. Having plucked what I could, we rode on. And this is where the day gets interesting.

Today… well today I was reminded once again how quickly one’s circumstances can change. I was reminded how fragile life is. I was reminded how very precious our blessings are. That being said… 1) We are fine. Don’t freak out. 2) However, if you don’t handle bad things very well, then skip to the next entry. (?:00 pm - The Rest of the Day)

So having enjoyed a wonderful ice cream bar and happily eaten some figs, we were riding our bikes away from the stand and witnessed something I really wish I hadn’t. A flatbed truck was turning left into a driveway and for whatever reason, the moped going the other way didn’t see him/ couldn’t stop in time. He swerved to avoid the flatbed but only succeeded in sliding into the wheel of the truck. His moped went one way and he ended up under the wheel of the truck. I’ll spare you the details, but basically, he was laying there in pretty bad shape (still alive though). The people around immediately got out and called 911 (or it’s Italian equivalent). They didn’t move him, which I think is best because one should not be moved unless life is in immediate danger. Fortunately a cop drove by about then and started helping out. I really didn’t know what to do so I kinda directed traffic for a second. I didn't know what else to do. I cant speak Italian, I’m not a doctor. I could do more harm then good if I tried to move/help him. And I was kinda at a loss. So I just… yah…

The other thing was that I had my wife to consider… I didn’t want her to have to say there and there was really nothing we could do since the cops were there, so we just left. And I am really really happy that Bwige was far back so she didn’t see most of it.

So what now.. I really don’t know. I don’t know how to process it. I don’t know what to do now. We stopped about a block away and prayed for him. Other than that.. .what do we do? How do we process it? How do we proceed with our trip? Besides the obvious answer of don’t rent a moped, we are at a loss.

First, God definitely knew what he was doing when he programmed our brains. When faced with a really bad situation, the brain automatically shuts down. All consciousness and anything else not necessary for sustaining life goes away. This is a good thing. That way, if you are losing blood, the heart will stop pumping to that limb. If you have just experienced trauma, the brain shuts down your thinking so that 1) you don’t have to remember it, and 2) you don’t have to be in excruciating pain. That’s good. The guy who got run over was not in pain because he was just laying there. HE was breathing but not writhing in pain. So I’m very glad for that.

Next… well its not a question of God’s goodness. Because we make bad choices. Maybe the truck turned when he should not have. Maybe the moped was driving too fast. I don’t think its God’s responsibility to keep bad things from happening. How would we operate if God suspended reality every time someone did something stupid. And its obviously a totally different level, but humans learn through pain. A kid learns that MAYBE just maybe mama knows what shes talking about when she says not to touch the pretty red circles on the stove. The scar will always be a reminder of that. Yes, spanking hurt. But next time little Amy wants to take a cookie without asking, she will remember the pain of the paddle; especially since mom used the one with the holes in it to get more airspeed. Then, later in life, little Amy wont get arrested for stealing a car because her clepto-tendencies were nipped in the bud.

However, these are small things. How does one process big pain? What do I do with the images I have in my head? Like the image of the SUV rolling end-over-end down the highway, these will never leave me… and I know that I really cant DO anything. I can pray for him, but that’s about it. The question is, how do I process this? What do I do with these facts? How do I continue with my vacation when some guy is in the hospital right now fighting for his life? How do I relax when some little girl is asking why daddy can’t walk anymore?

How many people are processing pain every day and we don’t know it? People 2 blocks away walked happily along as we rode farther from the accident, oblivious to the tragedy only 100 yards beyond them. Yet don’t we do that every day? Every time you hear the ambulance drive by in the distance, someone’s life has just been radically altered.

Let me take it a step further. What about the places where pain is a way of life. The places in Africa where the children have to walk 20 miles to find a safe place to sleep because marauding bands of teenagers wander the cities at night raping and killing anyone they find. What about the middle east, where bombs shred bodies like rag dolls. Over there they live in constant fear. Will I be next? Will my husband return home? Will mommy come back from the market? Will Johnny come back from school? Or will my precious little boy be taken captive by the terrorists and shot in the head? Will my husband be slowly killed by the bomb that went off as he drove by.

I think…. I think that we have a few choices. 1) We can get bitter. We can get angry with God for allowing such unspeakable things to happen. However, I don’t think this is the best answer because almost every time that I know of it is humans, not God who has done the horrible thing. We have free choice, tragedy is a necessary result of free will.

2) We can hide in fear. We can never put ourselves in a situation that we could be harmed. Don’t drive. Don’t go into town. However, this seems equally unacceptable. The life unlived is worth nothing. Your house could collapse around you. The food you eat could be poisoned. An earthquake could devastate your neighborhood. A meteorite could smash your house into bits… living in fear does no good. You can not control the circumstances around you. So get on with life. Otherwise you will be paralyzed. (Obviously, this does not mean do whatever, only, live life in a reasonably safe manner and don’t worry about the rest.)

3) Allow tragedy to pull you closer to God. I think this is the only good answer to a bad question. In this fallen world, full of pain, we know that our lives are only temporary; shadows of what will be. In the next world, life will not have car crashes and explosions and wars. We will be living as life was designed to be. However, we can only see that life through foggy glass. We can get glimpses of it, but not see it clearly. But we know its there. We look forward to it. The pain we experience now is bearable because we know that true joy is coming. Imperfection serves to enhance perfection. Pain allows one to look forward more to the pleasure. When our focus is on the light at the end of the tunnel it makes the shadows and the darkness bearable. We can ignore the monsters around every corner when we know that if we just stare straight ahead, the light will be here soon.

When little kids go camping, they love playing all day long. However, with the setting of the sun comes darkness, shadows, and uncertainty. The security of home has melted into the distance and the ambiguity of night swallows them up like a monster. The ominous sounds of the night invade their sense of security. The wolves may be howling on a distant peak, or they could be hungrily circling the tent, waiting for those inside to fall asleep…

And through the terror gripping the soul of that precious little child, what is the one thought that gets them through? Morning. The sunrise. The warm light that will vanquish the shadows and banish the monsters. The howling will stop and security will return. Hope rises with the rays of daybreak.

Morning has arrived! Joy upon joys! Now the little children can dance and sing over the falling of a leaf. The light of day is enhanced by the darkness of night. The warmth of the sun is enjoyed more because the cold night has just passed.

Maybe that is what heaven is. Maybe that’s how we are supposed to process pain. Yes, its bad; but its part of life. But maybe the pain is supposed to make us long for heaven. Like that little child counts down the seconds till first light, we are supposed to yearn for the presence of our father. Just as you ignore the shadows and focus your mind on the morning, we are supposed to set our eyes on things unseen. Heaven. The perfect, joyous presence of God Almighty. Compared to an eternity of praise of the one beyond words of adoration, the passing shadows of night here on earth seem to fade away.

?:00 pm - The Rest of the Day

We took lots of pretty pictures, relaxed, and ate dinner... and it will all be expanded upon soon.

July 30th, 2007 - coming soon

2007-07-31T12:28:00.001-06:00

coming soon

July 29, 2007 - CarbFest

2007-07-30T02:54:00.003-06:00

10:45 pm

We are sitting in bed after a relaxing day. We really didn’t do much at all. We got up and went to the bus stop and waited for the 10am bus to Vieste. About 10:30, we figured the busses didn’t run on Sunday so we checked back into our cheap hotel. Then we sat in the park next to our hotel for a while and journaled and talked. Afterwards we walked around and found lunch. It was a bit frustrating because almost everything was closed. Finally, we ended up at this place by the sea that didn’t have printed menu. But they would sell us the tourist platter for $15. Yah, we didn’t like that too much so we just ordered a cheese pizza. Even then, they wouldn’t tell us how much it was. It ended up being $5.50 so it wasn’t bad, but still… we came back to the room and at the pizza and then napped. I got up about 5:30 and sat in the park and wrote some more. Then we went down to the beach and played in the water for about 2 hours. I played the part of the dwarf and dug pits in the sand looking for shells. Bwige just sat by and watched, amused at my normal antics. The good part was we both took off our rings as to not repeat our honeymoon episode (aka so I don’t lose the symbol of our marriage). We walked around for a while afterwards and moseyed back here and showered and then went out for dinner. DINNER WAS REDICULOUSLY CHEAP! $3 for both of us! We got some pizza like things at a bar. One cheesy puffy thing that looked like a calazone, one piece of normal pizza, and something else that looked like a pepperoni roll but ended up being hotdogs wrapped with a kinda thousand island sauce. Not great, but not terrible either. Then we both got gelato w/ 3 flavors. Yum yum. I got 2 chocolates and a rum flavor. Bwige got mango/peach, fruit, and watermelon. Yum yum. Then we were wandering in and out of stores and saw this chocolate ball thingies… although we were full from the previous yummies, we got one anyway. It was coffee ice cream covered in a thick chocolate shell. Yum. Tonight was a sugur/carb overload! But that’s ok, we are in Italy! Yah. OK, time for all good fluffys to go to bed. See ya later.

July 28th, 2007 – The Adventures of Salty Dog and Mud Beast

2007-07-30T02:54:00.001-06:00

10:00 pm

Today was wonderful. We spent the day in a small town called Barletta. It is such a fantastic little city. We are both thinking that Barletta needs a youth minister and a music teacher. We may just say here forever (no not really Rosa… don’t worry, we are coming home). All the people are so friendly. They just say hi to you as you walk down the street. I love the small town feeling and atmosphere. Last night we walked around and everyone in town was out strolling around. They even closed some of the streets for the purpose of hanging out. We love it here. We have not seen a single tourist the whole time (only a couple that didn’t look entirely Italian walking down the beach).

OK... first things first. The train ride was terrible. We rode in seats that were pretty uncomfortable and neither of us slept much. Fortunately, the train was 2 hours late getting to Barletta and I actually slept most of that last 2 hours.

We got to the town and wandered around for a bit looking for a hotel after walking down to the sea and getting our feet wet. YAH! The Mediterranean! We found a nice little place with a double and a bathroom for only 45 euros. We put on our suites and went and swam in the sea for a while. It was SO COLD! Like, the beach at Galveston is usually kinda warm so this was a shock for us. And the waves were so small. Like… all they way out, they weren’t more than 4 inches tall if that. And that was as far out as we could see… so I guess the smaller bodies of water aren’t affected by the moon as much. Bwige was getting in too slowly, so I kina pulled her in. Then I kissed her and she was very salty so I started calling her Salty Dog. And I was covering my arms in sandy mud stuff as to prevent them getting burned. Well, Bwige didn’t like the way it looked so she made me wash them off. However, she did start calling me her mud beast. So Mud Beast and Salty Dog explored the Mediterranean together. And we made an amazing find… a water-bat. It was this black thingy floating in the water and it had a snout that looked kinda like a bat but big flappy things in back. OK, so that’s not the best explanation, but I didn’t have my camera, so you can just make up whatever sea-,monster you want and that’s what I saw.

The city here is so quaint. The buildings are all lined up in a typical European fashion. However, most of them are orange and yellow. (Don’t worry, its not bright neon orange, more of a terra cotta). More people have cars here than they did in Rome, maybe that’s because they work in another city. There are also less scooters. The people are so relaxed… they hang their laundry out the window, sit on park benches, and stroll aimlessly down the street. No really... God, they DO need ministers here ya know…

Afterwards, we went and ate lunch at an abandoned restaurant. No, we didn’t scrounge for slugs in a 16^th century eatery, it was just that we got there at 12:30 and nobody was eating yet. When we left an hour later, it was still empty (we found out afterwards that people don’t eat till 2pm on Saturday). The food was amazing! We had a seafood mesh with lots of different stuff in it like mussels, little octopi, prongs, huge shrimp, and little thingies that looked like muscles but had a red leg sticking out of it. All of that was mixed into the risotto, which is like rice, except that its pasta. All in all, very very tasty.

We spent the afternoon napping to make up for our lack of sleep on the train. Then we went and strolled around and took pictures. We ended up at a nice restaurant for dinner. Again, we were the only ones there. The food was more amazing than lunch. The bruschetta was the best I’ve ever had. First, we had a plate with spaghetti mixed with lots of sea creatures like lunch except no octopus and red legged muscles (it also had the whole mussel shells in it). Yum.

Next we had a mixed grilled seafood platter. Wow, the biggest shrimp I’ve ever seen! It was almost the size of a plum. And there was also a hollow spherical squishy thing. I think it was a whole calamari because it was about that consistency. Also on the plate was a prawn, larger than a plum, and a whole grilled fish. OK, I know my descriptions aren’t that great, but in the world of seafood, I just don’t have that great a background knowledge and my saying that the calamari was about the consistency of a rubber ball wouldn’t sound very appetizing. So maybe by the end of the trip I will be an expert at describing food. I will swirl a nice glass of wine and after sniffing and tasting it, get a hoity toity look on my face and declare that it is pure and balanced… like a nun on a tightrope.

After dinner we strolled down the street. So much fun. Its so nice just to see people spending time together. So many people in the states spend all day working working working. Then they come home and collapse in exhaustion, only to repeat the next day. The weekends are spent lounging around the house to recover from the insane hours worked the past 5 days. People in the states live to work. People here simply work to live. They spend their evening strolling and socializing. Work isn’t that important because they close shop for 4 hours every afternoon to go relax at home and take a nap. Then, they are out till midnight hanging out with friends. How backwards America’s priorities are!

I heard a story one time about a guy lived on an island. He spent his mornings fishing to feed his family and the afternoon laying around in his hammock with his friends. One day a business man came up to him and suggested that he not be so lazy and spend his afternoons fishing so that he could take something to the market to sell. Why, the islander asked. The business man said that if he sold fish, he could save up his money and buy a bigger boat. Again, why? ‘Well, if you have a bigger boat, you can catch more fish, and sell more and save more money. Then you could buy a whole fleet of boats and hire other people to do your work for you. Then you would have all the money you could ever need!’ The island man though for a second, and with a puzzled look on his face asked what he would do with all his money. With a large smile on his face, the business man replied that when he had money, he would be free to lounge around all afternoon and sit in his hammock and hang out with his friends.

It seems to me, that Americans work to work. We spend so much time working that we don’t have time to hang out with friends. Bwige and I are always struggling to find time for deep fellowship. We are always doing this or responsible for that. I look forward to being at home with slashed schedules. (for those of you who don’t know, we dropped about half the things we were responsible for). We want to focus on life.

Well, that’s about it. Enjoy your busy lives. Keep on running around so that you can run around more. Keep on working long hours so that you don’t have time to enjoy the pleasures your money buys you. Or…. maybe you shouldn’t.

July 27, 2007 - 1,102 steps to a fabulous view

2007-07-30T02:53:00.000-06:00

11:00 pm

We are sitting in the station waiting for our train to leave in 45 minutes. Today has been ok. We slept in… however, when I woke up about 7am our room was steaming and I was sweating so I went and go t the clerk guy and asked him to turn on the AC. I went back to bed about 30 minutes later when it cooled down a bit. We woke up a few hours later and had a frustrating time trying to book a hotel for tonight. I kept searching and couldn’t find anything under $300/ night (until I figured out that was for all 3 days). But still, $100/ night it a lot. So after me being grumpy, we just decided to show up and hope to find a room, so we packed up and left w/o any plans.

While in the subway station waiting for the train to go to Fiumacino, I remembered that I wanted to go back to St. Peters so we went the other direction instead. We went and I sat and read psalms aloud while Bwige walked around and took pictures. Just wow. I am still amazed at its size.

Then came the ascension. We climbed all 551 steps to the very top… it started with very wide steps, then normal steps, then steps with slanted walls when we were getting closer to the top so that you felt drunk. Then came the steps that were tall and almost vertical. I huffed and I puffed the whole way up and I almost blew myself down, but we made it. WHAT A VIEW! It was spectacular, Rome as far as you could see… I will post the panoramic when I get a chance.

Then when coming down, the first set of steps was the same as the last. However, this time it was vertical going down. Very very steep and difficult. I really don’t know how some people get down it. The steps ended and we came out into St. Peters. Yah! I got to see the chapel one last time.

Our next little adventure was to go to Fumaciano to get our bag (we hoped). We boarded the train and rode to the airport. When we got inside, joy of joys, the Delta desk was closed. We were told they were going to open tomorrow morning. Arg. So we wondered around for a while longer asking various people and finally (after about 3 lines and 5 people) got our bag back! AND THE PEASANTS REJOYCED! We actually danced around just because we had our clothes back in our possession. I have really learned that you don’t appreciate things until they are absent. We are always told to appreciate what we have, but it’s really difficult when it’s always right in front of us… *pauses to kiss wife*

So having our bags, we booked an overnight ticket to Barletta. The train should arrive at 5:45. We don’t have a sleeper car or anything so we will just sleep in the seats, but having clean clothes in our bags makes it worth it.

Oh, and for dinner tonight we had yummy new things. Bwige tried the lamb, which was very good, and I tried the rabbit, which was excellent and came in little balls. They weren’t like ground up and made into balls, they were just little spherical pieces of meat. Yum yum yum. I tried the white wine and my compliment of it was that I didn’t hate it. So I think I’m getting better… maybe by the end of the trip, I’ll be neutral towards wine. HAHa.

Well, our train should arrive soon, so I will see you later!

July 26th, 2007 - unfinished

2007-07-30T02:52:00.002-06:00

Wow. What a day. I have a new favorite things in

Italy

. St. Peters. Absolutely beyond words!

OK, to start off the day, we got in line for the Vatican museum at about 8:15. It was about 200 yards long. However, it was moving along quite well. We knew that the museum opened to tour groups at 8am and individuals at 10. However, if they had room after the groups went in, they would let some individuals in early. Well, after about 20 minutes, we got to the entrance and found out that our line was for tour groups only. The line for individuals wound around the other side of the building. No really. It wound around the whole other side of the building. It was about 3 city blocks long, and that was at 8:45. By 10 it was even longer!. So the time spent in the other line was totally in vain. We sat down in the other line and finally got in the museum at about 10:30.

There is only 1 word that can describe that museum – overwhelming. In every way, overwhelming. When you enter, you start by going through an Egyptian exhibit that is pretty cool. It has things that are 4,000 years old. Pretty impressive. Then you go through some Etruscan exhibits (they were the forefathers of the guys who started Rome). Again pretty cool. But them you come to some of the Roman sculptures. OK, the big museum in Fort Worth is the Kimble. If they had a bust or something, it would be the center of their entire exhibit. The Vatican had a hallway filled with busts and statues. Literally filled. They had them lined up on shelves. A hallway filled with artifacts that, anywhere else, any one of them could be the centerpiece. This is where we began to be overwhelmed. The next hallway was similar, except that the ceiling was painted. The whole ceiling for the whole hallway. And not in some pretty printed wallpaper. No, painted, by hand, and any section could easily be taken and framed as a masterpiece. We could not take it all in, it was too much. Yet this was just a the appetizer.

Next came the paintings. Again, they had rooms filled with masterpieces, of which any few could be an exhibit on their own at a normal museum. Yet, this was still just the first dish.

What did me in were the painted rooms. Yes, the rooms were painted. Again, not a nice little framed piece of art, but all 6 walls. Yes, the floor was inlaid with marble designs. The ceiling was painted. All four walls were painted. Each one could be studied for hours on end. Each one intricate in its details. Each individual wall could be the masterpiece, the apex of any experts work. Yet it could only be passed by because it was among so many other great works. If Mozart were put in a room with 10 other great musicians from his day, he would shine brightly and people would flock to him. Yet, if you put him in the room with the 1,000 best musicians from throughout history, he would not shine so much. Mozart, Bach, Verdi, Vivaldi, Susa… I could not absorb it all. I felt as though I would burst if I took in one more sight.

Yet it did not stop coming.

Next were the tapestries. Woven rugs that would cover a very large living room floor hung in another hallway. Each one intricately woven to depict a story and maybe 20 x 30 feet. Next were the maps, bigger than the tapestries. Different maps, painted onto the wall of the different times in Italy’s history. Each beautifully painted and claiming to be only wafer thin and easily ingestible. Yet, each one could be studied for hours and I was already bloated on art as it was. And although I could not take in any more, it did not stop. I know that there were more exhibits that I don’t remember, and several exhibits that we totally skipped. However, it was just too much.

Then came their crown jewel. The Sistine Chapel. In the end, I have mixed feelings about this room. First, it must be described. It is a room probably 50 yards long and 20 yards wide. Again, every surface was painted in glorious detail. The ceiling has 9 main panels, in 3 groups of 3; the first depicting creation, the second the creation of man, and the third the fall of man. This is where you get the painting of God reaching out and touching Adam’s finger. That’s the Sistine chapel. Above the alter is the ‘Last Judgment’ painting. Again, a beautiful painting. However, I had a bit of a hard time understanding it; I’m not sure why.

Next is coming my assessment and the rest of the day, but its not done yet... you'll just have to wait... check back later

July 25, 2007 - The Statue and the Player / Acceptable Swimwear

2007-07-30T02:52:00.001-06:00

2:00 pm – my trip

We have taken the morning off to sleep in and recover from yesterday. We slept till about 9am and then I got up and finished my paper. We packed up and left Grace’s amazing house and she dropped us off at an internet café so we could work on getting information for somewhere to stay tonight. We were so blessed to have her! Then we went and ate lunch at a small café and it was wonderful. I had tuna with tomatoes and lettuce. It was so good, even Bwige liked it and she wont EVER touch tuna! Wow! She had ham and cheese and it was also fantastic. I love the food so much! So far, this has been the best meal we have had. It was just a small place, but the sandwiches were full of flavor.

So now, as I am writing this, we are sitting on the train waiting for it to leave to go to Rome. Goodby Cesano.

2:00 am – my trip

We just got in. its very late and I’m very tired… but we accomplished a few things today. We checked into our hostel this afternoon. Nothing big, but clean. Then we walked around and Bwige shopped.

We also went to the Italian opera tonight. The show was Don Giovanni. It was pretty fun. Basically, Don Giovanni is this masked womanizer who tries to seduce this chick but when her dad walks in they sword fight and the dad is killed. The next day, the chick, not knowing who tried to seduce her, recruits DG to avenge her fathers death. Next, DG tries to seduce a different girl on her wedding night. Obviously the groom isn't to happy and wants to kill him too. In the end, DG is hiding under the statue of the dead dad, who calls him to repent. DG wont, but does invite the statue to dinner. So the statue shows up that night for dinner and drags DG out of the house, never to be seen again. The last scene is everyone rejoicing and saying how their lives are going to be better now. Yah, stupid ending. Almost as bad as Hitchcock’s ‘The Birds.’ Don’t waste your time on that movie either; birds invade this small town and start killing people. The main characters spend a terrifying night in this old house trying to keep the bloodthirsty birds out. Then, to end the movie, they drive off. Yah. No closure, no explanation, they just drive off. Seriously, if you are going to spend months and months writing a script, and music and thinking out ever detail, you would think they would have put a little more effort into the ending!!

Anyways, after the 3 and a half hour opera (which started at 9pm), we strolled over to the Trevi Fountain again. I took some nice night shots. Wow, I am still amazed at it. Its just so big and majestic. This is definitely my favorite thing so far in Italy.

Tomorrow, we are going to see the Sistine chapel, the Vatican Museum, and St. Peter’s basilica. However, if I were to be honest, I cant say that I know what each of them are… oh well, I’ll see tomorrow… in like… 5 hours…

2:00 am – my thoughts

So what is an acceptable thing for a girl to wear in the area of swimwear? I don’t know why, but I think I have been more sensitized to what is donned in the name of fashion. When you think about it, 75 years ago any girl who showed up at the beach wearing even a one piece would have been arrested for public nudity. Yet, today, girls wear skimpy 2-pieces that leaves almost nothing to the imagination. Girls walk around with little but the center of their breast covered and its considered acceptable. What ever happened to dress modestly? Why is it that we get onto girls for wearing short skirts and shirts that let their belly show but have no problem with girls of all ages walking around almost naked when they are by the water? Does modesty count only when you are not swimming?

It just seems to me that we allow way too much. I would not take it as far as they do, but the Muslims do a much better job in this area then we do. Much. They have their women cover up because the woman’s body is something that belongs only to her husband and he is the only one who should see it. I agree. Do I want some guy undressing my wife in his mind because she is wearing a 2-piece? Do I want his eyes focused on her chest? NO! A million times no. But isn’t that what the clothes are designed to do? The human eye is automatically drawn to differences. So if there is a white paper, your eye will first see the blue dot on it no matter where it is. In the same way, the body is all white (some more pale shades than others), and the eye is immediately drawn to the bright colors of the bathing suite. So where do a guys eyes focus? On her chest and between her legs. And we are ok with this?

I just think there is something to be said for modesty and for not wearing things that makes it hard for the other sex to keep their mind in the correct places.

July 24th 2007 - Dinner and a Coloseaum, all in dirty clothes

2007-07-30T02:47:00.000-06:00

1:00 am (late Tuesday night) – my trip

So we just got done eating with Grace. Its been an exhausting day. I am about as tired as I have been in as long as I can remember.

We started off the day a little earlier than yesterday, we left the house at 8:45. That put us in Rome about 10am. We walk out of the subway station and BAM! There is the coliseum. Its so big. Its prettier than in all the pictures.

However, the line was ridiculously long so we pulled out our trusty guidebook, which had just cooked us breakfast and washed our clothes all by itself, and it told us to take a right and get tickets up the hill as both tickets cover the same thing.

We did.

We returned.

We skipped the 2 hour line.

YAH! Go Rick Steves for time saving tips! However, the unfortunate part for me was when Bwige said that Rick Steves was her man. Sad day.

When we got inside, we rented these little radios where you can punch in a number and it will tell you about what you are looking at. Well the guidebook said to bring your own 2 pair of headphones and a splitter so you can save money on them. It worked well (after exchanging the first pair). It was fun, because we had to be close because of the range of the wires, so we walked all through the coliseum, arm in arm, smiling our big goofy ‘We’re in love, get over it’ smile. Lots of fun.

OK, the Romans were nuts. Like, ‘I’m rich and I can do whatever crazy thing I want’ nuts. Actually, they were, ‘I have lots of slaves and I can do any crazy thing I want’ nuts.

It took 40,000 slaves to built this monstrosity, which was actually originally called the Falvian Theater, and a solid half of them died in the building. Talk about disposable resources!!! At one point, they wanted to commemorate a whale washing up on the beach, so they built a whale on the inside of the theater. Sometimes they would have naval battles on in the theater. YES!! Full naval battles with big ships. Which meant they had to flood the center after waterproofing the floor. Just wow.

I cant wait for the panoramic to turn out from this place.

Next we went and got very frustrated with the internet. We tried to look up our baggage information on delta’s website and they just didn’t have it in the system. Arg.. We also tried calling a few places and it didn’t seem to work. The Italian phone systems are proving to be very frustrating.

After that didn’t work, We decided to find a hotel to help us to call because none of the phones we were trying were working. We would try and call and it would give us funky Italian messages that were too complex for Bwige’s basic language skills. This wonderful hotel called the Delta office in Rome for us which transferred us to the baggage center in the US. The guy on the phone gave us good news! Our bags were still in New York! On top of that, they didn’t know exactly where in New York they were so he had us describe the contents and what it looked like and stuff… on top of that, and remember we are on an international call on the hotel’s tab, his computer dies and we sit there for over 10 minutes waiting for him to restart it. Finally, we don’t want to overstay our welcome at the hotel so we tell him we need to go. He takes another 10 minutes to find the number for the Rome airport for us. The 2^nd worst custom service I have ever dealt with.

Fantastic, now, after 3 days in Rome, when our bags were supposed to be delivered yesterday, they have lost them. We go outside and I hold Brigette as she breaks down into tears from frustration. Any company/person that makes my wife cry is blacklisted. Delta was not on our good list before, now they have dug themselves deeper.

After calming her down and getting her some yummy coconut gelato, we decided to spend the rest of the day on palatine hill. It was beautiful! Basically, palatine hill is made up of the ruins of the palaces of past emperors. Nice gardens, beautiful houses, one emperors private chariot racing stadium… yah. We got some good picture there.

Next, we went to the forum, which is where the senators used to walk around. I don’t know much more about it, but it was nice. However, all the walking was killing our feet. Between the hiking around all day long and the 20 pound pack, I was having trouble walking. However, that didn’t stop the day from being over.

Still in wearing the same pair of clothes from Saturday, we searched around for shop to buy something new. Unfortunately, things were closing around then, so I ran down about 15 blocks quickly looking for a place to buy some underwear. I found several. Unfortunately, because they were shops in the nice part of town, they wanted about $35+ for a pair. I can go one more day with old undies for that price! Anyways… my feel were about falling off. I was limping all the way back to Bwige, who I had left at a girl clothes shop to buy herself some stuff. The only time my feet have ever hurt that much was when I was in philmont. The last day we were coming back and it was a long hike down the mountain and I ended up with a blister literally 2 inches long on my foot. Unable to make it home, I practically collapsed on the Spanish steps and we sat for about 15 minutes and ate some bread we had bought earlier in the day (enough to hold us till dinner).

When we finally got back to Cesano, our wonderful host Grace had made us dinner! And how tasty it was! The first course was spaghetti with bell peppers in it. YUMMY. Even better was the eggplant parmesan with the next course. Wow, it’s the best I’ve ever had. As for the wine… well… Bwige liked it, but I’m still learning. I drank what was put in front of me and water after that. Grace was such a wonderful host I didn’t want to say anything bad about her expensive wine and offend her. I’ll learn to like wine eventually…

We talked about a lot of different things. It was fun because she speaks pretty good English, but her husband Marco doesn’t. So I can use my elementary knowledge of Spanish to talk to him and since the language is close, eh can understand enough of what I said. Bwige did much better at talking to both of them. We discussed how the big stores were coming in and killing all the mom and pop stores. I didn’t know they had that problem here also.

We also talked about the differences between Catholicism and Protestantism. I was saying how in Catholicism, you are saved by the sacraments as opposed to by faith. I talked about how that we believe that good works don’t save you, but simply show that you are saved. Just as me loving my wife does not make me married to her, but shows that I am married to her. Then, because it was almost midnight, Marco said that we should change the subject because it was too late to be discussing deep things. I laughed and said I was a night owl so my brain was just now waking up. I hope the conversation went well…

Well… time for bed… laterz.

July 23rd, 2007 - Rome 101

2007-07-26T08:02:00.001-06:00

11:00 pm - my trip
Today was amazing! We started off by the Spanish Steps. The very first thing we did was to get some gelato and eat it on the Spanish steps. We got a man from LA to take our picture. Haha, in order to avoid my camera being stolen, I have decided that when I want my picture taken to only hand it to people I can run faster than! Anyways, then we went and found some pizza for lunch, it was so good! Mine had oregano, basil, tomatoes and mozzarella slices. Bwiges had a pizza with tomato chunks, basil, and crushed red papper (no cheese). Both were wonderful. WE sat and talked with a guy from Canada who worked on a Canadian cruise line who was sailing through Disney around the Mediterranean.

Then we went into a few churches that were amazing! They are so big and awe inspiring! When I see these incredible works of architecture that are 4 stories tall on the inside and I consider our plain little sanctuaries, it is no wonder to me that Americans have such a lack of awe for God. Our churches reflect it. Anyways, one of the churches had the head of St. John the Baptist… kinda weird.

Next, we saw the Trevi fountain. WOW. Its so big! Its like… .huge… like… half the length of a football field! Yah… wow.. the pictures just don’t do it justice. I think its been my favorite thing so far. I don’t know why, I just really like it.

We also saw the Victor Emannual monument. That was even bigger than the Trevi. Its like the size of the Texas state capitol. Yah… big… and its just a memorial to all the unknown soldiers. Yah… enormous. Those little dots in the picture are people…

Last we saw the Pantheon. Of all the thins I saw today I am initially least impressed. Its just a big dome. The dome is very large but its just a done. Again, the pictures wont give you a good perspective. However, when the age of the building is considered, I am much more impressed. Its ANCIENT… like 2500 years old (I don't remember exactly).

That’s about it… we wandered and saw some other stuff… all in all, amazing. Go Rome!

July 22nd, 2007 - Squished Spanish Spirits & Rejoycing in Rome

2007-07-26T08:01:00.000-06:00

11:00 am – my trip
We are now sitting in the airport in Madrid. Our spirits are pretty flat at the moment. We got off the plane just fine but when we went to pick up our luggage it did not come down the belt. After about 30 minutes of waiting, we went to the lost baggage desk and they said that it was still in New York. However, they are supposed to deliver it tomorrow to Grace’s house in Rome. So no huge deal as long as we get it. It just makes the flight to Rome a bit lighter and faster.

We wanted travel into Madrid for lunch, but because of the hour travel time and possible traffic coming back, we decided to walk the streets around the airport and find some food. No luck. It is a maze of highways that are not easily crossable. We we headed back after about 15 minutes of being lost int eh concrete maze. On the way back, I stepped on a loose man-hole cover and it supprised bwige who turned quickly and twisted her ankle. Its not really bad, but it hurts. Although its not swelling so it shold be fine.

So now we sit in the Madrid airport, we are going to sleep a few hours before our flight to Rome. Hopefully things will get better.

9:15 pm – my trip
WE ARE IN ROME!! YAH!!! We are at Grace’s house and about to go to bed. She is the lady we are staying with. We met her on CouchSurfing, a sight that matches people traveling with people who want to host travelers. Its free to stay with someone. Just however many nights you stay with people, you let that many people stay with you. It seems like it should work well. we are staying with a mom, dad, and their son. We are very very tired at this point and would be happy with just a floor to sleep on. We have been traveling for 2 days now. As a side note, don’t do the whole ‘book separate tickets and save money’ thing… it does not work. You spend just as much and it takes more time and it’s a pain in the butt!

Anyways, WOW… we don’t get a floor at Grace’s house, we get our own little apartment! It’s a little efficieny with a kitchenette, table, bed, and bathroom. Oh my gosh its amazing! I cant believe its working out so well. Grace is so nice and I cant wait to get to know her more. On top of that, she fixed us dinner! It was tortalini and salad with tuna and tomatoes. Mmmmm… she asked us if we wanted wine and we said yes and so she set a bottle on the table. Bwige poured herself a little but hadn’t taken a drink when Grace came back outside, she was like NO! HAha, bwige poured herself a nice glass of vinegar… mmmmm. So she poured it out and got some of the real wine. The food was wonderful!! I was so proud of bwige! She ate the salad with tuna on it even though she HATES tuna. She said it wasn’t bad either! J We both think its very important to eat what is put in front of you without complaining. If you are allergic, that’s one thing, but otherwise, eat what you are given. First, you don’t know how they prepare it. You may like it! When Matthew was a kid, he hated lasagna but when forced to eat it at Aunt Becky’s house, he loved it so much he had 3 helpings! Also, you should be flexable enough to go with the flow. It can be very rude to eat only what you want to when you want to. You are a guest in their house and should act accordingly. anyways….

Hmm.. what else…. Well… we are tired and its time to go to bed. So…

OH OH OH!! One more thing. On the flight from Madrid, we met this group of Romans going home from a weekend in Madrid. They were SO nice! They talked to us the whole time about the best places to eat and things to do in Rome. Then they aksed us where we were going next and we said the Gargano peninsula and they were like ‘NO NO NO! You must go to Sicily, its so much better!’ So I think we will see Sicily instead. They were so nice. Texas are famed for being friendly… Romans put us to shame.
OK, no really, its time for bed. Goodnighit.

July 21, 2007 - The Adventure Begins

2007-07-26T08:00:00.000-06:00

6:30am – my trip
The adventure has begun…. almost. Bwige and I spent all night packing and getting ready (aka we didn’t go to sleep). We left at 3:45 am for her parents house where her wonderful dad gave us a ride to DFW. Our flight is supposed to leave at 7:20 for New York at noon. Then we catch a flight to Madrid at 7:30 pm. This should give us a few hours to wander the streets of NY and have some roasted nuts and hotdogs. mmmmm… NY street food.

After checking in, going through security, and finding the right gate we sat to at our gate, excitedly waiting for our adventure to begin. My cell phone rang. “Thank you for flying Delta. We have an update for your flight. *pause* Your flight has been canceled. You will now leave at noon and arrive at 4:40. Thank you for flying Delta.” So here we sit in the airport with a 5 hour wait for our flight. The good news is that we should still have enough time to catch our flight to Madrid, the bad news is that we won’t get to have yummy NY street food.

I’m not really worried. We will get there when we get there. Now is time to relax and go with the flow. Its not really worth it to freak out. I’m just glad I went to walmart and got enough food for us for a good part of the day. Although… I nibble when I sit… so it may not last.

So here I sit, in front of our plane which is in the gate, where it will sit for 5 more hours. And the cutest girl in the whole world is sleeping beautifully on the ground waiting for our flight. Wow, a more wonderful princess has never graced the floor of DFW!

2:00 pm – my trip
We are en route to JFK. And we had a surprise in store for us – first class! Man, its nice. You get drinks before you take off, and they come around with a little basket of snacks for you to choose from (chips, oatmeal bar, peanuts) instead of the normal ginger cookies. I’ve never flown first class before… its kinda nice

3:00 pm – my thoughts
So Thursday night I spent all night cleaning the house – like from 11pm till 4:30 am. I could have just given it a once-over and been done with it, but I knew that it would thrill my wife if I cleaned well. So I gave the whole house a good spring cleaning.
I wanted to please Bwige. I could not wait till she woke up… I wanted to see her jaw drop when she saw it.
Well I was thinking later that morning about how that seems to be what God wants from us. He wants us to be so in love with him that we just long to please him. He wants us to go out of our way and lose sleep to show our love to him.
I want my heart to be so in love with Christ and so grateful for the fact that he saved us from eternal death that waking up early for him would be a privilege and a joy instead of a struggle. Isn’t that how we should treat God if we truly love him?

?:00 – my trip
Sitting in the airplane, somewhere over the Atlantic ocean. We are traveling 575 m/h ground speed at 35,000 feet. Outside the plane it is a toasty 1º F. I have no idea what time it is. I just know that I will arrive in Madrid in a few hours and I can’t sleep. But oh well, I can sleep when I get home! I am excited. It is just now beginning to sink in… I am going to be in Europe.

Yes, we are alive

2007-07-25T10:04:00.000-06:00

hey guys, we are alive, we just havent had much internet access. basically, weve been running a bit crazy becuase we still dont have our luggage (its somewhere in New York). So weve been trying to take care of that and get clothes (we wore the same thing for 4 days...).

Other than that, we are doing amazing. The food is WOW and the sights are breathtaking. Tonight we are staying in a hostel with net access so you will get up update late tonight (about 5 or 6pm your time)

love yall much!

2007-07-21T02:42:00.000-06:00

Well,

it is Saturday morning, 3:45 am. We are leaving the house.... the plane leaves at 7:20....

the adventure begins...

2007-07-19T16:06:00.000-06:00

BBBBWWWWWWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

IM LEAVING IN 38 HOURS AND I HAVE TOO MANY THINGS TO GET DONE!!!

*RUNS AROUND CRAZY***

07/13/07

2007-07-13T13:07:00.000-06:00

So many things I could say right now… but these few will have to suffice.

1) I have been busy lately and haven’t posted… sorry. But now the bulk of my work is over with (last big paper finished at 4am this morning…..) and I have just a few small things left to do

2) I have been thinking a lot lately…. I have so much to do, I can do none of them very well. Therefore, I am slashing my schedule. I plan on dropping a lot of the things I am responsible for… aka, church youth group (I’m only a volunteer). I do such a poor job of pouring love into the lives of the students that I don’t want to do a ½ way job anymore (this still isn’t final, I’m praying about it…) So basically, I will be doing about half of the things I was before… and this all goes into effect after I get back….

3) FROM ITALY!!! YAH!!!! Joy upon joys, I’m leaving for Italy in 8 days! I cant wait. Don’t worry you guys. Yall will get a play by play of our whole trip! I will be writing daily. They will probably be lengthy records of all we did that day. Or it might possibly just be a short summary. Or maybe the summary on top for the faint of heart followed by the whole 9 yards. ANYWAYS…. Although I will be writing daily, it will only be updated every few days (anytime we have internet). So keep on checking blogging buddies, for soon I will be connecting from the other side of the globe.

OK, that’s all for the moment. There are other things I will discuss in the future ,but don’t feel like typing them now… such as T-Mobile’s cool new cell phone plan, patriotism in church, packing for the trip, thoughts on church leadership…. Just to name a few

Laterz and may God richly bless you!

OH OH OH!! one more thing.... my little nephew is communicating!! Yah!

swing8500.blogspot.com

02/07/07

2007-07-02T14:52:00.001-06:00

So a certain someone I know was talking to me yesterday and he just happens to work at a certain bovine-advertised food-service type establishment…. Now, this place has shakes and is very proud of them… but HE had the gall to call them ‘faux good-tasting lard modules’ …. Wow…

Just wow….

I think I speak for all of us when I say that I am truly crushed. Shame on you.

06/18/07

2007-06-18T17:12:00.000-06:00

You were working yesterday afternoon and got a this crazy craving for Chinese food. So you splurged a little and went to your favorite oriental restaurant for dinner. When you get there, the buffet is huge… 6 double-sided lines. What do you do? You go down all 12 lines and get something from every bin. Not exactly. That’s too much food! You cant handle it. By design, a buffet is so that you can go and choose bits and pieces of what you like best. If you want to fill your plate with only orange chicken.. by all means!

The Bible is not a buffet. We can not simply pick and choose what parts we like and don’t like. We cant simply follow this command and ignore that other one we don’t like. If we do that, we are not following God’s commands at all, we are simply, at every moment, doing exactly what we want and what we see fit.

Why is it that we do this so badly… we read a passage in scripture that doesn’t seem to line up with our theology and it just skim over it quickly. I know that its hard for me not to do that…

for example…. lets take just 1 chapter in scripture that I happened to read this morning…

1 Corinthians 7

1) it is good to remain unmarried (1-2, 8-16, 25-40) – Paul says throughout this chapter that it is better to remain unmarried because you can focus on God more. It’s not wrong to get married, just better to stay unmarried. How many unmarried people listen to that? Not one that I know of. Everyone is praying for a spouse… we are so engrossed in this culture that few, if any, Christians would consider staying celibate for the Lord.

One of you is thinking…. ‘you didn’t read, it says its better to be married’. I say to you, read the whole chapter, Paul says that we are allowed to marry because of our weakness. Yes, it is ok to marry, but it’s BETTER not to marry. My point was not for Christians to remain single, but that we have skipped over the part that says it’s BETTER if we DON’T get married.
This is our buffet… we don’t like that part, we like marriage, lets not put that on our tray.

2) Fast from sex for prayer (3-7) – How many of us married folks have fasted from sex in order to focus on prayer. Let’s see…. I’ve been married 3 years, I think I’ve done that once or twice… Yes its hard, but God commands it of us (remember, Christ didn’t say ‘if you fast’ he said ‘when you fast’).
This is our buffet… I like sex. Sex is fun. I think I’ll pass on that right now…

3) Divorced people should stay that way (10-11) – God hates divorce, that’s clear. But there are times that divorce is acceptable (your mate cheats on you). However, if this is the case, you are not supposed to get remarried. However, our culture has just swept that under the rug. Even the church has let go of this… why? Yes, remaining unmarried is hard. Its not fun, but its what God calls us to.
This is our buffet… I really don’t want to be alone for the rest of my life. Ohh.. that doesn’t look very appetizing, I’m not eating that tonight.

4) Be happy where you are (17-24) – We are supposed to be happy where God has put us. Oh man… we are TERRIBLE about this one. No one is ever happy where they are. When you are in grade school, you cant wait to be in college. Those in college cant wait to get into the real world. Those in the real world cant wait to get that promotion. Those who get that promotion wish they were back in college without so much responsibility… we are never happy! … the grass is always greener... God calls us to be content where we are. Serve him with everything you have exactly where he has put you and let him take care of your next move.

Ouch! This one is hard for me. I’m tired of school and have been for like 7 years… I want to shepherd a flock of my own. I want to be in Italy… I cant wait for summer classes to be over… I am terrible. If I were really following God’s commands, I would stop worrying and just work as hard as possible where I am.
This is our buffet… If I could only get over there I’d be happy. This isn’t what I want tonight, I’ll get that later.

Again, if we are only obeying parts of scripture, we are not following God at all, but at every moment doing only what we see fit.

I’m bad at this guys… and this is just ONE CHAPTER of scripture… I wander what my life would look like if I really started to reflect scripture?

06/14/07

2007-06-14T22:30:00.000-06:00

GO SPURS GO!!!

GO SPURS GO!!

*dances around* Go Spurs Go Spurs, its your birthday….

YAH BABY!

Ok I’m excited cuz we won tonight. Great game, great sweep.

OK, now on to other matters.

My wife’s friend and college roommate is a bit weird. Not bad weird, but fun weird. However, now she moved into the weird weird category.

Here is the front of her wedding invitation…..

umm… do you see what’s on the bottom…. and remember, this is on her wedding invitation. I have no idea….

So here is where it gets interactive, what’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever seen in this type of category (weird weird) this may take the cake for me….

oh, and one more thing

GO SPURS GO!

06/12/07

2007-06-12T15:45:00.000-06:00

I am a large green squash. Its quite fun being a squash. I get to sit in the field all day and drink nourishing milk from my vine’s bosom and soak in the glorious rays from papa sun. And when papa’s heat is too much, I can rest in the shade of my brother’s volumous leaves. Today has been a bit toasty down here in Texas, but its been worth it because I have been eyeing a foxy little eggplant down the row…. man, her curves drive me wild; and her cute little green hat perfectly frames her smooth body…. Oh baby!

OK, as off-the-wall as that was… (and no I have not lost my mind) it has a point. I am not a squash; I’m human. And if I were to make that assertion (and truly believed it) you guys would (hopefully) slap me upside the head and tell me to snap out of it. However, there are may places, where, if I stood on the sidewalk and proclaimed such, people would smile and affirm me. Many people in America today see truth as totally relative. Truth is simply how you see it; what may be true for you may not be true for me. So I can stand and affirm that I am a squash and that’s totally OK because its true for me!

Does anyone see a problem with this?

1+1 != 5 no matter how you add it up. (!= is does not equal) The sky is not green and yellow. Oxygen and helium can not be mixed to get gold!

OK, most of you are agreeing with me up to now. But here is my main point for today, many Christians have subscribed this relativism in the area of discipline. We don’t want to tell anyone they are wrong because it might hurt their feelings. We don’t want to correct people because it might make them uncomfortable. We have taken the ‘judge not lest ye be judged’ from scripture and blown it way out of proportion.

Here’s where my thoughts are coming from: 1 Corinthians 5. Paul is taking to the believers and jumping down their throats because there is sexual immorality among them. He says they should kick that person out of the church! Then he says

“9I have written you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— 10not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world. 11But now I am writing you that you must not associate with anyone who calls himself a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat.

12What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? 13God will judge those outside. "Expel the wicked man from among you."

Why have we gotten it in our heads that we can not correct people? Why are we so worried about stepping on people’s toes when Christ’s main message was REPENT! By the way, you can not repent if you are doing nothing wrong. The main message of our Lord was telling people that they were doing everything wrong and needed to fix it.

If your friend is driving their car towards a big cliff, are we worried about telling them they are a moron for trying to kill themselves? No! Because we know that it will save their lives. Why then, do we hesitate to tell our friend that having that attitude is rotten or that his language is unacceptable? Are those things not pushing people toward a spiritual death? So what’s more important to us…. offending them or saving their lives?

06/10/07

2007-06-10T17:06:00.000-06:00

(I wrote this a week ago but am not just getting to posting)

So last Thursday (May 31st)was our 3 year anniversary. I am so blessed to be married to such an amazing woman! God has honored me with not only the sweetest girl ever, but the most beautiful and attractive woman that has ever walked the face of the earth! Grrrr…. *raises eyebrows* OK, I’ll spare you guys the rest, you get the picture: I’m madly in love with my wife!

And you know what else is so cool about her, she is so understanding and forgiving. I was thinking back to before we were married and all the stuff we went through… there was this one time that I got a little out of hand at a party and made out with that other girl and Bwige was OK with that. Most girls would have clawed my eyes out but she didn’t. She just smiled and said she loved me. And all those times that I was on those pornographic websites staring at other women doing illicit things… she just looked the other way. My wife is so great! And I hate to even mention this… but the fact that she still married me after what I did at the strip joint the night before the wedding… she just loves me… she just loves me.

OK, pick your jaw up off the floor. If you have not figured it out yes, the second paragraph is totally made up – so no spreading rumors. (Just for the record, I have always been totally faithful to Brigette in thought, word, and deed.) However, I said those things for a reason. If Brigette were a good woman, she would not sit idly by and smile as I did those things. She would not be ok with me sleeping with other women, or looking at illicit images, or letting my eyes wander to bad places when we are walking at the mall. She would dump me in a heartbeat until I was able to prove, long term, that I am able to control myself. Its not that she wouldn’t love me, but that in order to have a relationship with her, I must be faithful. Only a fool will go into a relationship with an unfaithful partner (and on a side note… why would any girl have an affair with a married man? If he would cheat and leave his current wife, why in the world wouldn’t he do the same when something younger and prettier comes along? DUH!) (sorry for the rant)

Fidelity is key in a marriage relationship. I am hers and she is mine. I am not just faithful to her most of the time. I am not just faithful to her as long as it is possible for me. I am faithful to her no matter what even if that means me dying for her. I will lay down my life in a second for her. I will honor her in every way possible at every moment possible. That includes both taking a bullet for her, and taking out the trash for her; they are simply different forms of the same love and faithfulness which can not be separated.

So what would be acceptable for me as a husband? Ignoring her request to take out the trash even though I ALWAYS do it and I’m so ridiculously tired of doing it week in and week out? What about speaking harshly to her for not having dinner ready when I get home? Am I allowed to talk bad about her to my friends? Am I allowed to snap at her because I have had a bad day? Can I let my eyes wander onto the bodies of other women? My mind?

In the end, the question is, how much am I allowed to dishonor her? If I am a good husband, the answer is not at all. None of the above things are acceptable. Ever.

Now, I’m not saying that I live up to this high standard, but I strive harder every day. I do and will mess up, but when I do it hurts me that I have sinned against her. I have damaged my bride. That grieves me so I ask her forgiveness and strive to not only rectify the situation, but prevent further infractions. How could I do any differently? She is my princess. My cherished one. My dove. How could I possibly want to do anything that would insult her name or harm her in thought, word, or deed? If I really love her, I can not.

Now, this is written from the perspective of a groom, but if my wife were writing it, very little would change. She loves me. And if she truly loves me, she would never do anything to insult my name or harm me in thought word or deed. If someone insulted me in front of her and she just sat quietly by and didn’t say anything, that would be shameful! Even worse, if there were people who went so far as to use my name as an insult to someone else and she had no problem listening to that… her love for me could be questioned.

My bride loves me and would defend my name. And if it meant her not doing a certain activity because the people there did nothing but shame me, she’d be out of there in a second. If that meant dropping her friends that were trying to turn her against me, she’d do it in a heartbeat. Our love, our relationship, our marriage is more important than that activity or that friend.

As a Christian, you are Christ's bride. All the love and devotion Brigette has for me you are supposed to have for Jesus, your Bridegroom.

In Isaiah 54, God says to the Israelites, “For your Maker is your husband— the LORD Almighty is his name— the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; he is called the God of all the earth.” Jeremiah says in chapter 3, “Return, faithless people,” declares the LORD, “for I am your husband. I will choose you—one from a town and two from a clan—and bring you to Zion.” I am the bride of Christ. The messiah of the universe is my Groom.

We are the bride of Christ…

I am the bride of Christ… I’ve been thinking about that for a few days now and I’m still trying to wrap my head around it. What does this mean for how I live my life? Am I OK with watching movies and TV where the name of God is used as a curse? Am I ok with watching shows that teach me to dishonor my Groom? Should I entertain myself in any way that dishonors my Beloved?

If I truly love Him, how can I? How can I sit and watch a show that promotes the things that God hates? In all reality, if we are honest about it, when we go to the movies that promote foul language, sex, violence, rebellion, the machismo guy, self sufficiency, we are telling God that our entertainment is more important than us honoring his name and following his commands. No, not his suggestions, or his hints, or nudges, but his bold outright commands. Do not fraternize with the culture. Period. No questions asked.

Look at what God says in Deuteronomy when the Israelites were about to move into a new land.

Dt 7:1 When the LORD your God brings you into the land you are entering to possess and drives out before you many nations— [long list of names], seven nations larger and stronger than you— 2 and when the LORD your God has delivered them over to you and you have defeated them, then you must destroy them totally. Make no treaty with them, and show them no mercy. 3Do not intermarry with them. Do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons, 4for they will turn your sons away from following me to serve other gods, and the LORD'S anger will burn against you and will quickly destroy you. 5 This is what you are to do to them: Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones, cut down their Asherah poles and burn their idols in the fire. 6 For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession. (verses 7-10 are good too. Also, see Dt 6:13-19 and Ex 34:15-16)

Yes, this is harsh, but God wrote it not me. (And no, I’m not advocating going around and smashing things…) I say this because it shows God’s feelings towards us assimilating into the culture. We are not supposed to do it. We are supposed to be set apart, which by the way is the definition of Holy (not perfect and righteous). We are supposed to be pure for him. We are supposed to be his bride, pure and spotless.

And I’m scared that many who say they are part of the church have intermarried with the culture. We have been infested with things that are detestable in the sight of God.

Look at what 2 Peter 3 says, “ 10But the day of the Lord will come like a thief… 11Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives 12as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming.[b]… 14So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him.

Spotless. That means no blemeshes. Pure, like a newly washed white sheet.

And yah, if we start to look like Jesus we are going to stick out in the culture. But why is that a bad thing? Jesus didn’t blend in; he stuck out like a sore thumb. Why? Because the people he hung out with were so different then him – aka, he didn’t live in a nice little Christian bubble. He lived completely holy, and completely perfectly, and was not at all sucked in and made to look like the culture around him. And did lost people run? No, they flocked to him. All this he did living in the culture but not being of it.

Why have we gotten it in our heads that we have to look like the culture to be relevant? Jesus was night and day from the culture and he was constantly mobbed by people who wanted to be around him and hear what he had to say. Why should we strive for anything different?

06/04/07

2007-06-04T21:09:00.000-06:00

Please read my post from 05/20/07 and the response from Swing… otherwise this discussion won’t make much sense.

I don’t know exactly how to respond to what you said Swing… because I don’t know exactly how what you propose plays out. I don’t totally understand, so I’m going to have to shoot from the hip on this response. (I look forward to clarification so I can more precisely reply.)

First, I agree with the initial paragraph. We are not called into a little bubble of Christian sub-culture. We are called to be in the world but not of it (that’s from John 17:14-19). Jesus wasn’t trying to create a new sub-culture, he was working towards changing the people that were in the world.

OK, on a side note, as I am typing this, my wife made the comment, ‘wow, you type with all your fingers!’ and so I asked her how exactly she typed, and she said (holding up 4 fingers), its mostly using the two inside fingers on each hand; not really hunt-and-peck, more like tyrannosaurus rex…
And now for something completely different….

I also think I agree that its important to be culturally relevant. We must be able to speak to those around us. Jesus used agricultural examples to an agricultural society (sheep, goats, seeds, plants, harvests). We must be able to speak their language. We must be able to hang out with them and speak truth into their lives.

But here is where it starts to get fuzzy: those theories are nice, but how is that played out? How does that look like in life?

If this is, as Francis of Assisi said, "Preach the gospel at all times -- If necessary, use words," then I disagree with that. First, I don’t see that in scripture. Anywhere. Yes, it says we are to be witnesses, but I don’t see Jesus walking around and just giving everyone the ‘I’ve got it all together so please ask me why I am so happy’ look. He walked around and preached the good news to people. He was all about talking to people. In fact, the miracles that he did were only a conduit to be able to preach to people. He was always reluctant to do a miracle just for a miracle’s sake.

Silent witnessing, in my opinion, is a sorry excuse for people who don’t know enough about scripture or their own faith to share it and effectively give a reason for the hope they believe they have within. It’s a justification of people who are just not following the biblical command to share the good news of Christ with people.

Now, first, I’m as guilty of this as anyone else. There are people that I’m trying to get a chance to talk to but its just really not working out at the moment. I admit that. I should be more forward, but I haven’t yet been. I’m working on it. That said, I’m not throwing away all relation evangelism. I’m not advocating a bible-thumping regiment of door to door gospel bullies. I’m just saying that too many people in America get stuck in relational evangelism and never move the conversation to a place that would bring conviction to someone. Yes, it may make people uncomfortable. So what? I don’t see Jesus lying awake at night because he hurt the Pharisees feelings. No, he called it as it was; they were snakes and he told them so.

Admittedly, he was harshest on the religious people, but he still went out and deliberately had spiritual conversations with people. He confronted the woman at the well about her sin. When the rich young ruler walked away after Jesus told him he had to sell all of his possessions, Jesus didn’t run after him and offer him a no-strings-attached non-confrontational relationship that would hopefully one day grow deep enough where Jesus could speak truth into his life. No! He let him go. Jesus wasn’t worried about offending people; he was worried about speaking the truth. Why have we gotten it in our heads that we can just hope that people will ask us about Him. Since when is the ball in their court? Jesus didn’t say to live our pretty little lives and wait for them to come to us. He commanded us to go to them! He commanded us to speak to them!

As for the not praying in front of other people… I think this kinda falls into the same category. Pausing before my meal to thank God for the feast is not something I’m just going to throw away. If that means that I do it silently, that’s fine, I’m ok with that. But just throwing it away because it might offend someone…. Besides, I doubt there are more than a handful of people in the US that would be truly offended by a prayer before the meal. 95% of Americans believe in God. Most consider themselves Christian. We are a Godless nation that considers ourselves very spiritual. So I’m not too worried. I don’t think the 30 second prayer is going to offend someone. And if it is going to, then I can lovingly explain what I am doing and let God take care of the rest.

Sorry to get off on that tangent….

I don’t know how what you propose plays out Swing. But if it’s lifestyle evangelism (live a good life and hope people ask you about Jesus), I cant sign up for it because I don’t see it in scripture and I fear that its just another excuse that we have made up in order to justify our scriptureless actions and lack of holiness and purity. What say you? How do you see it playing out?

Next, you talked about living a simpler faith with religion stripped off? Again, what does that mean? How does that play out? I’m all for abandoning tradition for the sake of tradition… but it doesn’t sound like that’s what you mean.

(Also, just for an update, Brigette's uncle did die last week. The funeral was last Thursday. Thanks for your prayers.)

Bwige's Uncle

2007-05-25T15:04:00.000-06:00

Hey,

I was just told that Bwige's Uncle probably has only about a day to live (his liver has given out). So be praying for him and his family.

To be honest, I don't know how to feel about this. He is one of those guys who didn't take care of himself, received a heart transplant, and still ate whatever he wanted and never exercised. So he's been sick for years now. He knows what he does, but didn't care enough to change it.

So what should I do with that?

On top of that, he has been a nominal Mormon for a while (married into it). But even that he didn't take seriously from what I know (he stopped practicing when his wifed died a long time ago).

So what do I do? I have no doubt his sister has given him all the evangelism he wants. I am sure he has heard it all. With his mind pretty far gone from sickness what could be said, what should be said? What is rude what isnt?

I dont what to feel on this. The practical side of me says that he is getting what he has earned repeatedly over the last many many years of irresponsible living. And its hard to find compassion for someone who has for all practical purposes killed someone else. (aka, he got a new heart and wasted it, therefore someone else died who needed one and would have used the second chance at life wisely). For me, a wasted new heart is one of the most despicable things you can do...

Then the compassionate side of me says that my sins make me the same thing before a holy God; my sins crucified Christ. And we are called to love people no matter what. But we are not supposed to empower them to do so and just put it aside when they do so. The compassionate side of me reminds me that he is a human being and worth love. I mean... I do care for this guy, I dont know him terribly well, but he is a nice, good guy. I have nothing at all against him.

And then I think... he is hours away from an eternity in hell... and my heart breaks for him despite all he has done. I shudder even at the thought of it... And I wonder if I should go and at least try and witness to him. But I'm pretty sure that his mind is far gone enough at this point that there probably isn't anything that can be done. And I would not say anything he hasn't heard 100 times before...

So what do you guys think? What should be done, what should be prayed for? How do I process this?

05/24/07

2007-05-24T15:00:00.000-06:00

So I was at a friends house Monday night and he happens to be a doctor in training. I was talking about exercising to try and lose a bit of weight because I am going to be walking a lot in Italy this summer. And so, being the doctor that he is, he whips out his little PDA with handy calculators on it and asks me how much I weigh and how tall I am and it comes up with a BMI (Body Mass Index) of 33. I asked him how that was. He replied “Medically speaking, anything over 30 is obese. So you are mildly obese.”

Wow! I had no idea! I mean, I know that I’m a little heavy, but I would NEVER consider myself obese. But I am. That was really shocking to me.

Well, in the end, I’m glad I know that. I’m the kind of guy that works off of numbers, so now that I know, I can work towards a goal. So I have set my goal at 200 pounds (from my current 245) which will give me a BMI of 26.5.

So now for the funny part. I was looking up some health info on the net, and I came across this site that will calculate your BMI and stuff… and I really didn’t pay attention to the header, but thought it funny when it had a “Peoples Choice Ideal Weight” which is what other people my height/age/weight describe as their ideal weight, and then they have a “Medical Recommendation.” I thought that a bit odd that they would have a place where its just what other people want ABOVE the medical recommendation. Then I look at the top of the page and it says

“Set a realistic ‘Ideal Weight’ goal for your body,
Try to Feel Good about yourself even if you are overweight.”

How funny! How true! How appropriate. In America, one of the fattest countries on the planet, when I do a Google search for ‘Ideal Weight’ the first site that comes up says that even if you are overweight, that’s ok, just feel good about it; stuff some more fatty-burgers down your pie-hole and feel good. That’s really funny! Instead of saying, you should strive and work hard for health, it says that the BMI calculators are just out of date!

That’s exactly how I got to be obese! I looked at everyone else around me and saw that I was a bit bigger than some and smaller than some and I FEALT good about that. But when I was given the truth that I was obese, I’ve lost 5 pounds in the last week by eating healthy (skipping the ice cream at church and doing better at home also thank you very much!) and exercise (man that elliptical bike kills me!). When I examined myself against the unmoving standard, I saw myself lacking.

Now I could get all theological on you and say how we have to measure ourselves against the Bible and not other Christians, but I won’t. = )

Well that’s it, this house-wife must go finish dinner to take to my most gorgeous wifey. Laterz.

updated:

(From another page of the same sight)

"Above all, Don't Worry, Be Happy. It's unhealthy to have anxiety over a less-than-perfect body image. And, if this calculator's description of your body seems wrong for you, just trust your own judgment. A healthy mental attitude is just as important as physical fitness."

LOL, I was talking to my friend and she said, 'people love to make excuses for their obesity. "Well, I feel good!" "I exercise all the time!" and "Some skinny people are unhealthy!"

So true!

05/23/07

2007-05-23T07:37:00.001-06:00

So.... apparently, last time Bwige and I were at the beach she must have swallowed something funny. I don't know how exactly to say this, but... well my wife has a family of whales living inside her belly. We know so because we heard them this morning. We were laying in bed before she had to leave for school and we could hear them talking to each other. "Baaaarruuuuu" one said. "Baarrooooooooooooooooo" another answered back.

So consider yourself warned; when going to the beach, don't drink the water because you may swallow a family of baby whales and they may grow up inside your belly. And I always thought Grandpa was kidding when he told me that if I swallowed watermelon seeds they'd grow out my ears. That just goes to show how young and ignorant I was.

05/20/07

2007-05-20T21:05:00.000-06:00

With regard to my last post.... there are a few things I am pondering. Most of it falls under two main category.

1. First is, from the post, what does it take to be a Christian. Not just to become a Christian, but to be one. What makes someone Christian? praying a magical prayer?

2. Second, purity and holiness. God calls his people to be set apart and different from those in our culture. I think the American church has largely failed at that. 'Christians' eat, drink, dress, talk, and entertain ourselves the same way as those who are 'Not Saved'. So then are we any different than those around us? What does that say about our salvation?

Well, what are your thoughts on the matter? I have a few verses that pertain to each, but I think I need to read through the rest of scripture and see what it says.

What do you guys think?

05/17/07

2007-05-17T20:16:00.000-06:00

My Life:

Umm, today I went to class in the morning. In the afternoon I stayed home and finished a photography project even thought I was supposed to be in class (I miss-predicted the time the project would take). Now I’m eating leftovers for dinner.

(OK.. if that’s all blogs are… I have no idea how they got popular, that was really boring)
Now for the interesting stuff –>

My Thoughts:

My thoughts today turn towards American Christianity in contrast with the Christianity of the rest of the world. As I see it, those who call themselves believers in the US are mostly made of pew-warmers who go to church on Sunday to get their ‘religion’ in. (If you disagree with me, well, you can just be wrong, but that’s a whole other post =) ). Anyways, when I see the struggles of Christians in other nations and the struggles I and others like me face, well… it is disheartening.

Today, 500 Pakistani Christians will live with the knowledge that at any moment militants could burst through the door with guns slaughter them and their families… and I consider myself a radical Christian because I carry my Bible around with me.

A few weeks ago, a woman who had volunteered her life to giving medical care to the poor in Turkey. A religious fanatic walked into the clinic and killed her in cold blood… and I consider myself on fire for God because I gave a guy on the street corner a bag of food and last month I gave out sandwiches to some homeless guys.

I struggle every day to live out my faith. I struggle to wake up in the mornings and spend more than 15 minutes in fellowship with my creator. I know that I must seriously study God’s message… but I don’t. Why? I don't know.

So what can I do? Maybe keep in front of me the life other Christians are living. My problems are nothing but ping-pong balls compared to the RPG’s hurling towards my Christian brothers and sisters. Yet I cower in fear at the welt the ping-pong ball will leave – if the slight discoloration could truly be called a welt. Can I even call myself a Christian when I can not even take 30 minutes a day to fellowship with Christ?

Now I know what you are thinking. All one must do to be a Christian is confess with your mouth and believe in your heart and you will be saved. Really? Those are the words of Romans 10:9 says, but what does scripture say in the bigger context?

Well… there is much more to be said on this subject, many pages worth. But my thoughts are not yet solidified and I haven’t yet done all the research so you’ll just have to wait.

Just to wet your appitite here are some of the verses I am pondering…

Ps 63:1, Isaiah 58:2-14,James 2:14-26, 1 John 3:17-18, Matt 18:23-35…

Prayer for our brothers

2007-05-17T06:20:00.000-06:00

A side note for the day.... please be in prayer for our brothers. Let us not have such tunnel vision to think that we are the whole church.

---

Taliban Tells Pakistani Christians: Convert or Die

Thursday , May 17, 2007 — Pakistan

Christians in a Pakistani town beset by pro-Taliban militants sought government protection Wednesday, the eve of a deadline for them to convert to Islam or face violence.

About 500 Pakistani Christians in Charsadda, a town in the North West Frontier Province bordering Afghanistan, received letters earlier this month telling them to close their churches and convert by Thursday or be the target of "bomb explosions."

Several Christians, a tiny minority in the predominantly Muslim country, have fled town and others are living in fear, community leaders said.

Some complained that police were not taking the threat seriously.

"Police say someone is joking with us by writing these letters," Chaudhry Salim, a Charsadda Christian leader, said during a news conference in Islamabad. "They have deployed only two policemen at our churches ... this is the kind of security we are getting now."

(find the rest of the story at http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,273075,00.html )

05-16-07

2007-05-16T22:02:00.001-06:00

This blog (wow, that’s really sad, I had to add the word ‘blog’ to the dictionary in Word)… anyways. This blog will serve 2 purposes. First, it will do the normal thing of mundane updates on my life; happy joy. Now those of you who care (mom and grandma) can keep abreast on the ins and outs without needing the phone calls. No, the calls wont stop; reading this will just allow you to ask more in depth questions – think of it as a briefing.

The second reason, however, is more why I started this blog. I am going through a time in life (which I hope will continue for a long time) when I am really trying to figure out how all this God stuff works. Yah, the theory is great, and good theology is important, but how do I live out my faith? How will it manifest itself in my daily walk? How do I take God’s words seriously? How will my life change as I am molded by my creator to look more and more like him everyday?

I look forward to finding out.

And I also look forward to your comments. Remember, we were not made to operate in isolation. I covet your ideas/comments/snide remarks. Hey, ya spent the time reading my thoughts; you might as well improve the site with your thoughts.

As for you, well I have to admit that I am doing this a bit selfishly. It helps me to process life when I write things down… so I figure why not let others peek in. God may use a nobody like me to encourage someone else every blue moon.

So here is where it gets interactive… I need some feedback from some of you that have been doing this since 2005. I will have at least 2 lines of thought going in this blog (maybe more). One will be the random happenings of my day; usually fairly short postings. But the second will be my drawn out musings on an issue which will probably be quite lengthy. Do I have separate blogs for that? Do I leave it up to you guys to wade through what you want? Can blogspot support parallel blogs on a page and you choose which one or both to display? Do I have different postings for each and lable one as ‘happenings’ and one as ‘musings’? How do I do that? And what if another thread comes in? Then what?

Well, that’s it for today. I need to get back to writing my paper for class. Laterz and God bless.

First Post

2007-05-16T08:50:00.001-06:00

As my brother said to me, welcome to 2005.

OK, I know I'm a bit behind... but I'm catching up =)

look for my thoughts on life here. Enjoy

.... quick... who will be the first to post a comment? will it be you?