Human Musicalpedia Needed

Ok. This is an odd blog entry.
But I have this song stuck in my head. And I really want to find the score for it.

Song: The Lord is My Light and My Salvation (midi clip available at this link)
Composer: George Frederick Root

(Also wrote the music for Jesus Loves the Little Children)

So if this jogs anyones memory and you're like,

"Oh, yeah! That's page number 296 in the purple hymnal!"

I would be quite thrilled.

b

They've always said

that "when the going gets tough, the tough get going."

And perhaps it's true.

But sometimes the tough have to find a tiny crevice to wedge their fingers into and hang on with every ounce of strength and wait for that bigger toughness to pass.

And, then, get going.

Like when your sister's car starts it's death rattle
And you're sleeping on your brother's floor and is about as poor as they come...

You've all been there. It's those moments you cry out to God because you are utterly helpless.
Those are good moments.
Get ready. I think before this economy rightens itself, a lot of us will have experienced those moments.
These will be some pretty awesome times

if we just let God ______________

(fill in the blank. You have a need? He's there.)

bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb

ANSWERED PRAYER!

Bro Joe Welch is home! Here's the brief line I received:

...thank you for praying for Joe Welch (missionary with cerebral malaria). He was released from the hospital today but will be on much medication. He returns to the Dr. in January to check his blood as his platelets are still low. Please continue to pray for him…

Malaria is an odd critter. From what I understand it can hit you at odd times for several years after a bad bout...any time fever or stress gets too high... and Cerebral Malaria is some of the worse. It's a battle wound this warrior of the cross will likely carry for the next several years.

bbbbbbbbbbbbb

When I was in Boston, I was struck by some ads on the subways for Dentyne. They were cute:

(Pic redirects to makefacetime.com)

Make FaceTime

Just a little reminder that while Facebook is cool, its our friends that we love.

Like tonight when I got to catch up with Ran Coffman at the mall (We say "obrigado" instead of "thank you") after a long day of work, and then ran into my sister and her boyfriend (they were Christmas shopping for Cory...I found them looking at womens coats.) and finally had Wylie Redfern wander up out of the blue (we hugged right there in the middle of JC Penny's).

I love my friends.
To bad you weren't there.
Some other time, perhaps?
Looking forward to it.

bbbbbb

Bro Joe Welch's Motto while in Africa:

"Ain't Skeered"

I love it.

While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease. (Gen 8:22)

Getting back into the groove.

... and trying to not get sucked in.

Actually, most of the time I'm pretty much back to being a normal, hamburger-eating American.

And oh, am I glad to be back for the Christmas season.

Seriously, we are blessed to live in a country

where an entire holiday focuses on the Christ-story.

But once in awhile, I see something that I just gotta' have and I feel that American greed crawling up my throat. And the deranged race to make-a-million starts to take over again.

For a month, my spare time was spent in the Bible.
Now the computer, TV, and college are all scrapping for whatever "spare time" I may find.

Welcome back to the real world, pilgrim.
////

Guinea-Bissau Pics

Pictures from PREACH Special OPS 2008

Enjoy!

///
Thank you, again. Those prayers were felt. We were blessed the entire way. I hope all of you realize how important, vital and enabling you were.
It's good to be back with you guys.
//
PRAYER REQUEST
When we got back to Boston I roomed with Joe Welch for a night. Last Saturday I was informed that he was being admitted to the hospital with a high fever, and last night I found out they still had not confirmed a diagnosis, and that he was on a morphine pump for the pain.

Here is the latest email from about noon today:
Joe definately has Malaria. It has started damaging his liver. With antibiotics the doctor is hoping it will be better in time. His fever was 104.9 last night and they brought in a cooling blanket that covers him and keeps him cool to break the fever. It came down through the night with the blanket but after he took it off this morning his fever is back to climbing, it is 100 now. But better than before. His blood levels are still way too low and oxygen is dropping to the 70's when he does not have the oxygen connected.

Later tests revealed that it is an acute infection of "Cerebral Malaria", where the parasite ends up in the brain and tries to reduce its host to a huggy-jacket.

Be praying for him, his wife Lisa and his son Cory. Joe's not out of the woods yet, and we really need the Greatest Physician to step in.
/
"In everything give thanks..." 1Thes 5:18

(my motto for da' week, always followed by "Deus e tao bom")

.

Well, if they dressed me like a pauper

Or if they dined me like a prince

If they lay me with my fathers

Or if my ashes scatter on the wind

I don't care

But when I leave I want to go out like Elijah

With a whirlwind to fuel my chariot of fire

And when I look back on the stars

Well, It'll be like a candlelight in Central Park

And it won't break my heart to say goodbye

-"Elijah" R. Mullins

Guinea-Bissau Video

Here's the link for the Guinea-Bissau video.

It's rougher than I'd like, but it has pictures!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AURXsZecTXk

Stopped by Jovens Para Cristo to try to get those songs downloaded. It's saying it'll take 55 min per song.... lol. I'll try again, but I thought I'd say hey really quick before I embark the battery (and internet connection) on another kamikaze mission.

Just as a side note, I hadn't realized how frustrating windows movie maker could be.... And with the generator on only at night, I often sit up 'til about 1 trying to get it done. hee. nice thing is I won't have to worry about jet lag when I get back.

Mom- can you make sure bro got the cell phone paid.... I'm gonna' be bummed if I get to Boston and I'm without technology. I might go into withdrawal or something.

.....
The guys took off for their first "bush trip" today. I'm dying to be along, but since I am the technical (computer) guy, and I have a full day of computer work to do, I'm sitting in the shade with a cold water while they are eating diesel fumes and dust. (Such is team work....) I have to make sure all of the reports are organized, colored, presentable.... we're off this continent in less than a week, and I can feel the American pressure coming back on. It's kinda' nice, actually.

Health is coming back up to speed. The meds worked great, except that I had the intestinal discomfort for a couple of days afterward. But I'm pretty much rocking again.

For so much of our trip I have just seen this as "passing out gospel tracts". But think about it. Many of these people have never heard. Some have heard but think He is just another god or spirit and proceed to mix him in with their animism (the local protestant and catholic churches are bad about that). So this educating is the first step in bringing this nation to Christ.

Pastor Paul is already working with some locals to begin training them for church planting. We just heard of some tribes in the North part of the country who are only accesible in the spring before the flooding. The rest of the year they are cut off from the rest of the country.... There are some real challenges ahead for future teams, but I'm pretty excited about where it's going to lead PREACH.

I'd ramble on, but I'll wait to bore you guys 'til I get home.

Thanks for all the prayers. I'm seeing them answered every day. Ms. Rowe - I'll let the boys know. It's a blast to have them to harass.

Love ya'll. I pray for the church every night.

Q

November 20, 2008

I didn't really put together a blog update this week. I've been fighting a fever the last two days (Fun stuff in this African sun), and I spent a portion of last night doing the whole puking thing. Seems likely that I've picked up malaria. I went ahead and bought the meds and started my first dose today. All the side effects are pretty much what I have right now, so it seems win-win.... I could have been tested, but I was a little leery of getting stuck by a needle over here..... I could go in with a headache and come out with AIDS :P

We had a close call in the taxi the other day.... I won't bore you with the details, but it was pretty cool. You could almost see the guardian angels steering the truck away from us. Jonathon Quinn, the missionary who is getting ready to move over here was sitting just in front of me on the passenger side. As the truck careened towards our side I just sat there kinda' dumb-founded and thought 'guess we're going to be looking for a new missionary'. I did manage to climb into Isaiah's lap (sitting in the back next to me) so I woulda' come out all right. ;)

As it is, we currently have substitute angels for the remainder of our stay while the original ones heal up.

So you can pray for us. There are moments when you can really tell Satan is at work. We had some witch or something come into the middle of the Creole church service and try to cast some sort of spell -- chanting loudly over the preacher. Brother Paul is feeling pretty down today, (I'm pretty sure he's got the 'crud') so I imagine he and I will spend most of the afternoon lounging about the hotel and wishing the fans were on.

At the same time, we were able to get our container out of port in record time, over 5,000 students have been reached, we've found a nice place for J. Quinn, and gotten a lot more of the government legalities dealt with. God is very much at work for us.

We were in the bush the other day. It's amazing how quickly you can go from civilization to absolutely nothing. Rumor has it that we make a trek to schools in the interior before we leave. Hopefully the fever will be gone by then, I could really enjoy a trip like that.

Love you guys, as always.

Take care
q

11/12/08



Say a prayer for the elections here this Sunday. It’s weird to be in a country where their biggest hope is no bloodshed…. 33 political parties. Could be fascinating.

/

We had two teachers stop by last week and ask us to come speak at their school. Apparently someone had given them a gospel tract, and they wanted us to come speak to their students. So we loaded up a taka-taka and went with them.

We drove most of the way, and then walked through about a block or so of houses. Their classroom was in the back room of a mud-brick home. The floor was uneven dirt. No desks. Just those little plastic chairs you buy at Dollar General for your kids to play with, along with a small hand-made wooden bench and a couple of blocks of wood. A small blackboard hung from one wall. When you say they teach with nothing, well you are talking about nothing.

So we got to share the Gospel with these kids.

Their parents were 200 feet away celebrating the ‘Day of the Dead’ with the local witch doctor.

/////

I’ll keep it short here, because I already took a moment to spell out the story for the PREACH webpage, but Allen Johnson led one of the local men to the Lord Tuesday night! Keep praying, guys! God’s at work!

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I remember when I was about ten and we visited my grandparents church. A real Assemblies of God church, with drums and electric guitars. And I was standing there after church, decked out in my full Mennonite garb, bowl-cut hair and large 1980’s glasses. The preacher called me up to the stage and we chit-chatted for awhile. Before we left he wanted to hug me, and said a prayer. And then he said, “you know, son, one day I think I see you in India or something like that.”

That pastor went on to his heavenly reward not many years after. But the other night while I was sitting on the ground for our out-of-doors church service, with 40 nationals (most of them children) crowded around, I found myself looking up at heaven and grinning.

Who woulda’ thunk the man of God would be right?

///

I bet a bunch of you are wondering how the school ministry is going. This is the first Special Ops team (Gotta’ love the pun) to set foot in Guinea-Bissau, and we knew that nothing was going to be straight-forward. But let me share the fun:

- The prime minister has changed 3 times in the last 8 months. The minister of Education who set this whole thing up was ‘deposed’, but the new minister is quite excited to help us continue with our plans. However, we had to start nearly completely over in building ties, relationships, approvals, etc. PREACH has drawn up formal agreements this time, so hopefully there will be less bureaucracy in the future.

- The container arrived Sunday. But the crane to unload it is broken. Seems like maybe it has been for some time. There’s a second crane in the city. But, yeah, it’s broken too.

- We still need to secure vehicles to transport 35,000 pamphlets over 4-wheeler territory. They are to be had; we’re just waiting for the right ones at the right price.

- There are anywhere between 360,000 to 600,000 students in Guinea-Bissau. Both are figures from the Department of Education. But then they don’t have any working computers, so they really don’t have any records.

- We’ve been trying to find all of these schools. But the state department isn’t entirely sure where they are. And there are no street signs. We got access to good map of the city, but they needed to print us a copy…and, bummer, the printer is broken……

I hope you catch my sarcasm. I’m actually getting a kick out of it. You see, we came to do God’s work. And so not a one of those things that I just listed is a setback. “…for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.” Matt 6:8.

We’re on God’s clock. It’ll happen when He moves. Not a second before. But the beauty of it is that step-by-step we get to see God’s confirming hand. And we are never in any question. And we never have a moment to forget our Source of Strength.

//

I just recited the nursery rhyme to Claudio (the PREACH member from Brazil) about ‘sleep tight’ and ‘bed bugs bite’. It’s real over here. I’ve either gotten bitten, or I’ve picked up some sort of infection on my right forearm. But it’s swelled up to dime-sized blister. I’m treating it as a fungus…figgered that was a worst-case scenario and am keeping an eye on it. Ah, the ‘jungle’ life.

/

Pastor Joe Davis from KY lent me a song by Dino where he takes “When Peace Like a River” and blends it into Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons”. Yep, Pretty sure I’m near heaven right now.

..

Keep praying. The devil is as real at home as he is here. Stay warm

Love you guys.

Q

10/6/08

And with the prairies I am calling out Your Name!

The other teams have gone into town to finish some paperwork before the container lands. I stayed behind to finish typing the update we will send to Preach today. It’s a perfect morning to give my loved ones and prayer partners an update as well.

It’s fascinating how things that were once so enthralling, are rapidly becoming an accepted part of life. One goes to sleep about 10, and wakes up when the generator (and the fans) turn off. I’m getting used to the dirt and the smells, but it also helps that our hotel is out in the country and a couple hundred feet off the highway. Plus I think those prayers you guys keep sending up are paying off. I have one of the coolest, breeziest rooms in the building. Plus it gets cleaned first, which means the bucket of water is cleaner when they get to the room.

The roads are still as crazy. Potholes everywhere. Drivers swerve into oncoming traffic to miss them. Plus there are no shoulders and no stoplights, so traffic is always stopping in the right lane to let people off or pick up passengers.

A local official came by the other day and let us get a year-long visa for about $20 – which is $40 less than we paid for the 30-day visa -- so I’m clear to come back if God so wills.

I did have one morning where I felt a little queasy, and it didn’t help that we kept having to traipse through the market. One can only look at so many dead fish lying in the African heat before it gets to him. Thankfully, though, God’s grace has always been present and up-chucking has remained absent.

The people here are quite friendly. Our nightly meetings for the team have been increasing steadily as locals stop by to see why the blancos are singing. Last night I think we had 5 locals, and 2 of those have attended more than one meeting.

We moved our meeting to the front porch two nights ago. It’s cooler, and we help discourage the ‘hourly’ traffic that the hotel starts receiving about 8pm. It’s kind of cool. Adultery is common here. Many men have a wife they live with and one or two other households they maintain. An accepted way of living. One could truly call them ‘ignorant’. But when you’re holding church service on the front steps, they take their prostitutes elsewhere. Just shows that there is truly ‘a law written on the heart of man’. Oh, that God might reach that heart, both here and at home.

The focus of our nightly sermons has been on “When ye pray…When ye fast…When ye give…” It’s been very stirring in my life. By the time we get back, we will have had about 5 years worth of revival meetings crammed into one month.

The other night I was praying when I felt like singing “When Troubles Assail Us”. Couldn’t remember anything but the first line. So I sang it a few times until another phrase came, and then another, and pretty soon I was getting blessed with the whole first verse. Abel – a seminary student from Cape Verde – heard me singing and stopped by. In our broken English/Portuguese we talked about God’s greatness, and then sang “God is So Good” together in Portuguese. Talk about getting blessed. But who was it that came over and told Abel the gospel? Who funded his church? His seminary training? And here I am, rewarded by another’s labor and rejoicing with him under the beautiful stars.

A local kid named Brandon wrote me the other day. He speaks English and wants to be at our meetings, but his work keeps interfering.

Guinea-Bissau is surrounded by 4 Muslim countries, but is still open to the gospel. And the people are hungry. It’s a perfect place to launch a counter-attack. But it’s gonna’ have to be God’s counter-attack.

It’s nice to get to look heavenward and not worry about toiling and spinning for awhile.

Pray for you guys every night.

Q

………………………

Talkin’ Daniel in the den of lions

Talkin’ Jonah in the belly of the whale

Talkin’ three Hebrew children standing in the furnace

Fiery furnace

But the fire didn’t burn them

And the lions didn’t bite

And the Lord reached down

And you can be sure, baby, everything turned out right.

You meet the Lord in the furnace long time before you meet Him in the sky

- Rich Mullins

Well, I am still waiting for culture shock to set in. Guinea - Bissau is dirty, but the hotel is in a more country setting than I had supposed and affords us a much nicer place. Clean bedsheets everynight and a shower (cold water, no shower curtain.). 2 huge meals a day. it´s pretty rocking. But the people are incredibly nice. I actually fee like I am staring to get a hang for the language. Enough so, that I can order cola and barter for trinkets.
Actually had a guy on the street ask me `faloo creole?´ for the first time today instead of ´faloo francais?´. Everyone here thinks we are French since so many French speaking people come from Senegal and N. Africa.

We are still waiting for the container to arrive, but we already have our work cut out for us The 360,000 students are just the start an open door for PREACH's work here. Brother Jonathon Quinn is looking for a place to move his family into within the next 2 months, so a lot of time is being spent on finding him a house (and probably remodeling slightly), getting the government paperwork done for the container storage (land was given to PREACH by Guinea Bissau but there is miles of red tape to go through), and figuring out a way to transport the 360k bibles and books to areas that require a 2.5 hr drive. I mean, if we had $360k in the bank, it would be no problem... but I'm starting to get tired of hearing the locals always talking about 'denario' (money). And it's mostly reasonable prices...just it takes money. The cool thing is that God has brought us this far And God will take uis to the end. He never takes us to the Red Sea just to watch us die...

The Government has asked PREACH to open a school for their teacher's continuing education. So that is part of the long-term goal. The people are very open. Last night we had 2 local women wander into our service when they heard our singing. They are so used to fearing the spirits....that they have very little concept of a good God that loves them and that they can serve.

But frankly, if you opened a church you'd probably have a thousand locals swarming it. There are several works here... The evangelicals were allowed to be here even before the war.. so there are several native-run churches. But there is only one tiny evangelistic (outreach, mission) effort that we have heard of, and it is nothing compared to the teeming swarm of Islam that is whooshing in. Right now we have the opportunity from the Government to put the Bible in Muslim Schools... Elections are next week: How long will this door stay open? May we work now, may God's church seize the need now, while there is yet light...

..
As the Taxi we are in drives away from our main interpreter:

Bro Joe: 'do any of you know how to get where we are going?'
long silence
Q: nope

Bro Joe: Any of you have a cell phone?
long silence
Q: nope

Bro Joe to driver: faloo ingles?
driver chatters in creole

Bro Joe: This could be interesting......
.
Thank you for your prayers. I have not been sick at all. I even got an air-conditioned ride from the air port to our hotel. That NEVER happens over here. The outlets in our room work. Our bathroom works. Some of the team members don't have those privileges. I'm pretty sure it's just 'cause I get more prayers than the rest.

And thanks to everyone who made it happen Be prepared to have to tie me back to the ground when I get home.

Livin' by Faith

Which makes you all think that I'm running low on money. Lol.
No, I'm just amazed at the difference in the mindset between a faith mindset, and a 'worldly' or 'doubting' mindset. Read through Numbers sometime. God gets soo fed up with their lack of faith. Here they were discouraged, over here they doubted, over there they were ready to stone Moses. And everytime it's because they forgot what God had already done for them and chose to doubt. It's no wonder that Moses' finally cries out "...would God that all the LORD'S people were prophets, and that the LORD would put his spirit upon them!" (Num 11:29)

It's all in the focus.
Right now there are so many things that do not make sense to the mind. Technically I'm homeless and unemployed right now.
But I know that I am walking after God, so I have no qualms.
And He just keeps coming through.
Just last night I had something pop up that I felt I should get my parent's advice on. So I texted mom and dad separately.
Whaddya' know but that they both had the same answer?
I dig stuff like that.
///
The flight leaves in 8 hours. So I'll bounce around here at the local library and study until about 3 when Abe and Isaiah should be touching down. Then it's off we go!
/
I was going to study all day yesterday, but as the rain let up, I ventured into Boston and took a ferry to go see the Charleston Naval yard and the U.S.S. Constituition. I remember reading about her when I was a kid, and to finally stand on her deck nearly brought tears to my eyes. There's homeschooling for you.
My only complaint about Boston is their meat. I don't know why, but all the restaraunts insist on serving grisly, greasy meet. Even my good old American omlet this morning was that way.

Ran told me to just pig out on Snickers and Ice Cream."You won't be getting any of that for several weeks now." I'll bet he is right.

/
And here's a plug for the Prescott Hostel. $40 bucks a night. Worth every penny.
/
Living by Faith
In Jesus above
Trusting, Confiding
In His great love
From all harm
In His sheltering arm
I'm living by faith
And feel no alarm.

Travelin' Man!

Wow, I am so tired I do not know if it is possible for me to write a coherent blog.

Sunday was great. Thanks to all of you who are praying. Pray for the work there in Guinea Bissau. We can fly half-way across the globe, but unless God shows up and binds Satan and empowers our work, well, that's just not a pretty place to be. Satan won't like the thought of losing a stronghold. So I cannot appreciate those prayers enough.

I am hoping that I will have sporadic internet access. When I do, I plan to shoot back a quick update via email that one of my loved ones back home can get loaded up here. Of course, they could turn out to be more backwards than I am planning....

Kinda like Boston. Only I am in 'Everett' (which is about the same thing) only their computers have IE 6 and a 30 minute time limit. I am typing very fast. Excuse the typos.

Boston is really sweet. It's an international city, so you are constantly hearing a barrage of languages. It's kinda' weird to see Indians and Arabs checking out our monuments. I can't imagine that theses buildings and gravesites mean anything to them. But there are plenty of foreigners roaming around them. Pretty cool, I guess.

And yes, the leaves are beautiful. The harbor was so quiet tonight. I was standing there overlooking the water, soaking in the sunset and praying when I heard a tremendous boom. Kinda' startled me. Then came the somber notes of a bugle playing Taps. I assume it was coming from the deck of Old Ironsides as I could see her masts just a little ways away. I really should wander down there tomorrow.

The transit system is pretty cool, too. $15 bucks and I can go anywhere all week long.
Took me awhile to figure it out, but I'm starting to feel more confident.
I haven't eaten much all day. So I should go do that.
..
Make me to understand the way of thy precepts: so shall I talk of thy wondrous works.
My soul melteth for heaviness: strengthen thou me according unto thy word.
Ps 119:27, 28
I will run the way of thy commandments, when thou shalt enlarge my heart
Ps 119:32
...the goodness of God endureth continually.
Ps 52:1

Preparation for Take-off

Illinois is a little cooler than Missouri.
Which is all right, except that I brought my suitcases full of t-shirts and breathable hiking pants that'll be perfect in Africa, and I am parading them around in 30-something weather. whee.
////
Bags are packed. Shots are taken. I even bought a hat. The plane leaves for Boston on Monday, Cape Verde on Wednesday, and Guinea Bissau after that. I should touch back down in Springfield on about the 4th of December.
///
A huge thanks to all who have made this possible. I'm hoping and believing for the fruit that will come as a result of our sowing. But even beyond that; there has been an incredible amount of growing and stretching in my life in the last 2 weeks. So many things I have had to relinquish control over and learn to trust God with. Seriously, I went through a few weeks of mild depression and fear as God helped me lay each item into His. It's been incredible. I don't believe I've ever been more free. More bold.

Heb 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him [God]...

Faith and trust are so freaking close to each other. I hadn't realized that before. Which is greater? James talks about that. Faith without works is dead. It's easy to have faith in the boat. to believe in those things "unseen" (Heb 11:1). But how many of us would really build an ark(Noah), travel to an unknown land (Abram), preach a coming judgement (Elijah), or quit our job, or give all of our savings, or have a house full of kids, or...?
How many of us have the trust -- the works -- to leap out and make faith active?

I know I don't.
But through this trip God is taking me, and deepening my trust. I suspect there's depths yet to come that I cannot fathom. But right now I'm pretty amazed.

THANK YOU! to everyone who is enabling this.

//
This Library SMELLS. It used to be that Rockford was more hip than springfield. Now I'm working at a computer still equipped with IE 6 in a library that smells like a welfare office (yeah, I've sat in those.)

...ok, the welfare office smell has just been overpowered by a mixture of burnt ramen and ladies deoderant. gyahuk!

At least they give you 90 minutes on the computer....
/
I heard this on the radio when I was about 50 minutes away from Rockford.
yeah, the man in me likes the chorus, and totally understands the contradiction.

You keep me standing tall

You'll help me through it all

I'm always strong when you're beside me

I have always needed you

I could never make it alone...

I am the man who will fight for your honor

I'll be the hero that you're dreaming of

Gonna live forever knowing together that we did it all for the glory of love

-The Glory of Love, by New-Found Glory

MISSION: Kill Ones' self. STATUS: Still Trying

Bro, Drew and I decided to take John's boat down to Table Rock lake last Wednesday.

So we made a day of it. We slept in, ate breakfast, drug Drew all around Fair Grove trying to impress him with the redneckness of . (We took turns standing in the middle of main street and timing how many minute it took to get run over.) We finally got the boat drug down to the lake and into the water.

So, we cruise to the other side. Young men. Captains of our own little world (or ship. Very ghetto ship). We kill the motor, take in the quiet view. Cory stammers, "Does this boat normally take on water?" A puddle was forming behind the cockpit. I opened the battery compartment and saw water filling the boat almost to the top of the gas can. Not cool.
So we tore back across the lake and took it out of the water. Turns out there are 2 drain holes. One needs to be plugged before you put it into the lake. The other one never gets plugged. And apparently I plugged the wrong one. Schucks.
At least we got the battery compartment flushed out. :D
///
Everything for the mission trip is coming together really well. All of my expenses have been met. I have a ticket both going and coming. (for a couple of days I had one to get out of Africa, but I was on the waitlist to get there.) Weridly enough our housing situation has worked out so that Cory and I will technically be 'homeless' for about 10 days before I go. And I will probably return from Guinea-Bissau as a couch-surfer. Hee. The awesome thing is, I don't have to worry about making rent payments while I am gone, which is an incredible blessing. Amazing what happens when you pray.
(And nobody worry, we've got stuff lined out.) It'll just be weird living on other peeps' couches.
/

And the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them. And he spake this parable unto them, saying...

[Parables of lost sheep,

lost coin,

prodigal son]

...And he [the prodigal son] arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him. Luke 15

..

Bro Keith Daniels was preaching last night. In his opening comments he pointed out the contrast between Christ and the Pharisees. The Pharisees were seprate. Holy. Following the Torah. Condemning.

Christ was Compassionate.

If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies...Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others...Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus...in the form of God...equal with God...made himself of no reputation...and was made in the likeness of men...And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Phil 2:1-8 (partial)

David Ward was preaching on Christ's Compassion from Phillipians. And he emphasized how Christ left all the benefits of heaven to become us. "It's like one of you, leaving behind all of the benefits to be a human, so you can be a slug. So you can love slugs. So you can die for slugs."

And I'm realizing I just don't have Christ's compassion. I set up false barriers.

"Oh! You're Gay?!! Ew! "

And I forget that I'm just as disgusting.

Just as wretched.

a slug.

deserving of a salt-shaker.

And he reaches past that. Over and over. He touches the publican. The adulterer. The Samaritan. Never condones. Rejected by many. But always reaching out. And he says,

"Go, sell what you have... and come follow me."

"Neither do I condemn thee. Go... sin no more"

"Worship the Father in spirit and in truth." [Paraphrases]

It's beyond me. I can't comprehend it. All I see is how wrong they are. That's what I preach. That's what should be preached.

But may we one day see them trudging back down the road home.

May I always share the gospel with that hope. That focus.

May I one day learn Godly compassion.

Maybe, someday, He will show me how to portray it.

Pray for me in this.

The Lost Cyclist gets REALLY lost....

When I was a kid we used to sing along with Matthew West's song:



Please don't send me to Africa

I don't think I got what it takes

I'm just a man, I'm not a Tarzan;

Who likes lions, gorillas and snakes.

I'll serve you here in suburbia, in my comfortable, middle-class life!

Just please don't send me out into the bush

Where the natives are restless at night.

Several weeks ago Pastor Ron asked if would consider going to Guinea-Bissau with PREACH ministries. I can't say that was really in my plans for this year, but I decided to pray about it.

Rich Mullins once said you gotta take that leap out of the ship before you claim to walk on water. But what is amazing is how God starts to move when we act in faith. Abraham Believed. God Imputed. over and over.

Noah built. The scoffers drowned.

Israel left. The Egyptians died.

Caleb marched. The Amankites lost their mountain.

Gideon prepared. The Moabites ran from themselves.

(Hee. I love recounting stuff like that It gets me excited. Yeah! this is OUR God!)

In the end, we use our feeble muscles to shakily put a foot overboard. And everytime. EVERYTIME, He comes through.


So to fast-forward through this month, as I started getting stuff together, God's hand was visible at every turn. And now it is getting really exciting. The trip over there is going to run about $3,500. And within a week, God has provided over $2500 of that through various members of His body. Seriously, I figured that there was no way that this was going to hapen. Where on earth was I going to cough up 4k? But God has provided.


I could ramble on for pages on God's amazing provision in all of this. (I'll do that sometime so my kids can read it) But the long and short of it is... this lost cyclist is going to do his best to get royally lost in God's will. And if that means full-time ministry in the bush, I'm there.


I watched a really challenging video from Keith Green a few days ago. I'd love it if you would all watch it as well.

"Jesus Commands us to Go"

And pray with me about this trip, and the team headed over there. We will be gone from the end of October 'til the first week of December, establishing a Morals curriculum in their school system. I'm not kidding. The government wants us to come put Jesus in their schools. whoa. too cool. But we still need all of the materials shipped over there. So pray that God will meet the needs for shipping those containers of curriculum.

THANK-YOU to everyone who has prayed.
THANK-YOU to everyone who has helped finance this.

May God get all the Glory. He's amazing.

Long apology, short blog

So, I had embarked on one of those long absences.
And it's about time to end it.

I really enjoy blogging, but due to my ability to get consumed by it, I think it is prudent at different times to break from the habit when it starts interfering with life too much. It's kinda' like my sugar addiction, only more beneficial. But both must be kept in check.

So I'm back to the awesome writing practice. And back to boring all of you with the details of my life.
Crikeys, that was long.
..

So in short, life is good. God is good. I've gotten to spend quite a bit of time this month out at mom's cabin on the Finley River, or with Tim in the bass boat out on Fellows lake. It's been relaxing and meditative. Maybe more so than I deserve, considering how many friends I have who are running 'many irons in the fire', but I sense that I am rapidly barelling down onto a major crossroads in my life, and I'm going to need to hear from God to navigate it. So I'm slowing down, just a little. Hopefully I won't miss any of His signposts.
...
It’s the song of the redeemed
Rising from the African plain
It’s the song of the forgiven
Drowning out the Amazon rain
The song of Asian believers
Filled with God’s holy fire
It’s every tribe, every tongue, every nation

A love song born of a grateful choir

It’s all God’s children singing Glory, glory, hallelujah! He reigns, He reigns!

It’s all God’s children singing Glory, glory, hallelujah! He reigns, He reigns!

Let it rise about the four winds

Caught up in the heavenly sound
Let praises echo from the towers of cathedrals
To the faithful gathered underground
Of all the songs sung from the dawn of creation
Some were meant to persist
Of all the bells rung from a thousand steeples

None rings truer than this

And all the powers of darkness

Tremble at what they’ve just heard

‘Cause all the powers of darkness

Can’t drown out a single word

-Newsboys

It gets random

So, congrats to Kyle and Ashley Link on their wedding.
And congrats to Harry and Jenna Hager, the President's daughter.

Can you imagine having the president for a father-in-law? Bet that first date was a little hairy. "Get her home before 10, son, or I'll push this little red button..."

Kyle and Ashley do have bragging rights, though. Since their ceremony was held earlier in the day, they have officially been married longer.

...

Pastor Ron, on children's foolhardy quest for temporal happiness:

"..and you think that happiness lives on Cherry street..."

My current address:

1424 E. Cherry, Apt 3.

...

Sitting in this basement and writing for hours can get quite tedious. But for the next two days, school is going to require a lot of it. About every hour I force myself to go wander around outside to reset my mind. This afternoon I walked by the hippie shop that's just around the corner. In it hung a banner with this quote:

"I Feel Inner Peace By Achieving God's Will
And I take example in his creation"

Maybe not exactly what they had in mind?
(photo courtesy of edge.org)

They had been with Jesus

I got started talking religion with a customer. Totally Random. He mentioned a TV show, and was surprised I hadn't seen it. I then explained that I had spent a decade of TV-lessness and therefore I am TV-ignorant. Turns out he too had been a Mennonite. But after some higher education he decided that it was absurd to accept "truth" from anyone else and set out to find his own truth.

Today he attends the Universalist church.
//
In the past, I've been a terrific head-nodder. Sure, he's wrong, but I'm not getting paid to convert him. I'm paid to sell bike parts. So I would politely nod my head, until the subject changed, or if pushed, make a weak statement about being a Christian. But in the past few weeks, I am finding myself to be bolder and bolder. I don't know why. It's not like I am trying. It is just starting to happen. It is honestly has to be a God thing.
//
And so I paraphrase, but the conversation went something like this:

He made the statement that religion to him is broad. Loving. Encompassing.

And I said that no, Jesus said "I am the Way the Truth and the Life. No man cometh unto the Father but by me." The Hindu religion doesn't work. Mysticism doesn't work. (Thanks, Pastor) Only Jesus.

He said that's exactly the problem with Christianity. There's too many problems with it, and they always think they are right, to the exclusion of other thoughts.

And I said he's getting Religion and Jesus Christ confused. People have killed in Christ's name, but that isn't Christ. It is Christ that says he is the only right way, and yeah, I'm going to believe the Son of God.

Then he recounted how he had told his mother that "God gave him a brain, and it would be sinful waste to not use it to find truth."

At that I grabbed the desk with my fingertips. "This is a table. We perceive it to be a table. We believe it to be a table. Why? Because of the senses God has given us. But we can't hear the table. The table may be making noise, but God hasn't given us the senses required to hear it. And so our view of everything is limited by the sense God has granted us. And then He sent his Son to reveal things about the spiritual world that we cannot sense, and it is only fitting to believe and accept those things."
....
Did I win? Oh no. He thought I was quite helplessly dogmatically close-mindly stupid (although he was gracious enough to not be that direct).
But what was fascinating was how close God's presence felt throughout the entire conversation. Sometimes I feel like I try to witness too cleverly. With 'wisdom of words'. But this time the words just came, and God's presence was just there throughout the entire conversation.

So pray for the man. Pray hard.
The thought of seeing his mother's prayers being answered gives me goosebumps.
...
Acts 4:13Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.

././.

'Cause phonies have come
And wrongs been done
Even killing in Jesus' name...

So many laughing at Jesus
While the funniest thing that He's done
Is love this whole stubborn rebellious world
While their hate for Him just goes on

And love just like that
Will bring him back
For the few He can call His friends
The ones He's found true
Who've made it through
Enduring until the end
- Keith Green

Did you know?

On the upper right-hand corner of your keyboard there is a button labeled "print screen" (or "prnt scrn").

Poke that.

Now, open a Word document and "paste" into it. (ctrl-v)

And who said my English teacher wasn't cool?

..
Keeps me glad to have been caught
In the reckless raging fury
That they call the love of God - Rich Mullins

Dave Barry on the Economic Stimulus Payment

"This year, taxpayers will receive an Economic Stimulus Payment. This is a very exciting new program that I will explain using the Q and A format:

"Q. What is an Economic Stimulus Payment?
"A. It is money that the federal government will send to taxpayers.

"Q. Where will the government get this money?
"A. From taxpayers.

"Q. So the government is giving me back my own money?
"A. Only a smidgen.

"Q. What is the purpose of this payment?
"A. The plan is that you will use the money to purchase a high-definition TV set, thus stimulating the economy.

"Q. But isn't that stimulating the economy of China?
"A. Shut up."
(Source: Miami Herald)

I always did get a kick out of that dude's writing. Most of it, anyhow. Like his biological definition of "life":

"Anything that dies when I step on it"

...
In other news, the number of English-speaking persons in China is exploding. They will likely ounumber the rest of the English speaking world by the year 2025.

Homeschoolers? You listening? We've got some work to do...

Should at least make witnessing easier.

...
I'm gonna' go back to my studying now. Y'all have a cheery life.

Bachelor Pad Rules

#1 If bread sits on the counter for 3 hours and dries out you may:

A. Throw it away.
B. Feed it to the neighbor's dog. (See A)
C. Call it "toast" and eat it with a nice spread of jelly and PB.

That's my rule. Feel free to add your own.

sweat of da brow.

Mark 6: 46, 48, 51

And when he had sent them away, he departed into a mountain to pray.

And he saw them toiling in rowing; for the wind was contrary unto them: and about the fourthwatch of the night he cometh unto them, walking upon the sea, and would have passed by them... [the disciples] supposed it had been a spirit, and cried out...

And he went up unto them into the ship; and the wind ceased: and they were sore amazed in themselves beyond measure, and wondered.

For they considered not the miracle of the loaves:
....
You know, I'm like them.
I struggle.
Oh, do I struggle.
I'm always trying to make my life perfect. To get to the other side. To whatever destination I deem important, or believe God wants me to focus on.

But life is stormy. Big waves. Not fun. Scary. And so I row harder. And I fume about the waves. And fight them. And wonder just why on earth I wanted to reach that destination after all. And was it really God's will?!

And I'm there with the disciples, all freaked out.

Meanwhile Jesus Himself, is walking by.

Now just think. What if they had remembered the loaves and fishes. That their Jesus was bigger than any wave. That he would come through. Instead of toiling, wouldn't the Bible read differently? More like "Yo guys! Check that wave out! Think it'll swamp us?! Peter? dude, you oughta' surf that one."

"There he is, guys! Jesus! Hey Jesus! How was the prayer time? Man, are we glad to see you."

Not toiling. Does that mean laziness? nope. The Disciples still had to get into the boat. And no matter what, they would have to wait out the storm until God intervened. They would have had to hang onto the faith that God would not have led them down this road (or sea) only to get stranded. They still had to watch for their Saviour. Their response to the storm could have been peace, not panic.

Maybe one day I'll get it.
...
Matthew 6

31Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?

32(For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.

33But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

34Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof

sniff sniff

Racing in the cold triggered a cold virus that had been flirting with me for the past week.
Unfortunately, now my sinuses are stuck in a very unhappy marriage.
I am contemplating murder.
..
I stopped by Josh's (co-worker) house tonight. Sometime this morning ,a sinkhole opened up in his front yard. It's pretty cool, about 4 feet across, and about 4 feet deep (counting the dirt partially filling it.) You can tell that more of his yard is about to cave in, by the way it sags, so I'm looking forward to seeing how big it gets.

I'll call you guys when it gets big enough for spelunking.

...
I Googled myself tonight. It's good to do so every now and then. It's kind of like checking your credit report. Tonight I got a 102. (And 3 of those were actually for Martha Hamp.)

But there's some cool stuff too. Here's an interview I did some time ago.

..

I'm never alone.

- Barlow Girl

Tilles Park

Quick update:
I did the Tilles Park Crit today (Saturday) my first race for the season. I had one goal: keep the bike upright.

I like easy goals.

..

It was ugly and cold most of the day which can be a little disheartening. But Richard loaned me his extra gloves so I stayed pretty warm. He also talked me into doing an extra race, so I started at 11am with the Cat 3/4's. I'm a new 4, and I've only ridden my bike about 6 times since last October, so I figured I'd get spit out the back pretty quickly. But thankfully nobody seemed in too big of a hurry.

I didn't feel comfortable in the middle of the peleton, so I just moved into the rear and hung out -- out of the wind and everybody else's way. Unfortunately, about halfway through the race a Big Shark dude went down in front of me. He went one way, and his bike went the other. I was able to stop just before hitting his bike. But then then I was still stuck in my high gear, and by the time I got going, the peleton had gotten about a quarter-mile away. I chased for awhile, but wasn't able to push past the wind and catch them again. After a couple of laps I was spent, so I pulled out.

The afternoon 4/5 race went pretty well. Was really squirrly, as most 5 races are. Some dude ate it in the first ten minutes. Who knows. I snuck past him nicely though. This time
I raced harder, and even went off the front a little. But I still almost got stuck in another wreck when the same dude locked up his brakes and started to go sideways (don't ask me how I ended up behind him again). I had a brief sideways moment as well, but we all got it straightened out and kept racing. When the peleton surged for the last lap, my legs cramped and refused to go faster. Rather than be in the other guys way, I pulled out. There's no reason to be endangering the other riders on the final sprint when I know I am out of contention like that.

..
So a good race. A lot of prayer before the races, and I'm quite thankful that the traveling and racing both went great. Now if I can only get in shape...
//
And we danced on into the night
- Chad Kroeger
//

Welcome to the State of Misery.

Missouri. If you don't like the weather, stick around. It'll change.

My alarm clock woke me up. I don't know what noise it makes, but it wakes me up. Honestly. It might go dee-doo-dee-doo-dee-doo, or waaaaaaaaaaaaaa, but I don't know. I'm never awake at that time of the morning. I may be stumbling around the house and looking like I am awake, but that's only a cover.
...

Fifteen minutes after getting out of bed this morning, I was driving to an appointment. The alarm going off on the radio helped wake me up.

"DEEEDOOODEEEDOOODEEDOO. A FLASH FLOOD WARNING IS IN EFFECT....."

You know him. The monotone weather dude. I'm driving through town. Perfectly happy to be asleep. I don't want to know my world's in peril! No wonder everybody hates the weather man. I guess that's why we replaced him with a computer.

I've decided it's time we reword the monotone dude so he's more understandable. That way if you're not yet awake, or just a redneck, you can understand him. Here's my proposals:

(To be read in robotic monotone.)

DEEDOODEEDOO (etc...)
A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR YOUR AREA. THIS MEANS YOU SHOULD NOT BE OUTSIDE TRYING TO SEE TORNADOS. YOU SHOULD BE INSIDE CALMING YOUR CHILDREN. WHEN WE SEE A TORNADO WE WILL TURN THE LITTLE DEEEDOOO THING ON AGAIN, SO YOU CAN REALLY PANIC. UNTIL THEN, PLEASE ENJOY SOME MOZART. (Classical music plays...)

DEEDOODEEDOO (ETC...)
A TORNADO WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR YOUR AREA. TORNADIC ACTIVITY HAS BEEN SIGHTED. IN OTHER WORDS, PIGS, COWS AND HORSES HAVE BEEN SEE IN THE AIR. MYTHOLOGY IS FALSE, SO WE DEDUCE IT TO BE A TORNADO. SEEK A LOWLYING AREA IMMEDIATELY.

DEEDOODEEDOO (etc..)
A FLASH FLOOD WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR YOUR AREA. AVOID LOWLYING AREAS. HOWEVER, THE NOAA WEATHER ADVISORY IS NOT LIABLE FOR ANYONE GETTING SUCKED UP BY A TORNADO. OR TORNADIC ACTIVITY.

Just imagine what it would say at the rapture....
//////

Let mercy lead
Let love be the strength in your legs
And in every footprint that you leave
There'll be a drop of grace

If we can reach beyond the wisdom of this age,

Into the foolishness of God

That foolishness will save

Those who believe

Although their foolish hearts may break
They will find peace

And I'll meet you in that place

Where mercy leads

"Let Mercy Lead" by Rich Mullins

Friday. and night.

I parked on the top floor of the new car park tonight, and took the elevator to get back up to it. A bunch of kiddos were in it. And by the coffee table and loveseat it looked like they had been in it for sometime. Ok, kidding about that part. But, in an attempt to strike up a conversation I asked what they were doing tonight.
Loong silence.
Finally the little girl with dreads piped up. "Riding the elevator."
I wonder what the city will think when they get the utility bill.

On a side note: does city utilities send bills to itself?

Cell phone conversation overheard downtown tonight: "Ah, there's nothing out here but stoners and Christians."
I should have offered him a tract.

I thought we had a good start to this year's street witnessing. From the looks of things we have our work cut out for us. But then, so do the emo's. Do pray the Lord of the harvest, to send labourers. Because we might plant for a moment. But it takes a lot of work by a lot of faithful Christians to wrest a soul from Satan.
..

We got sweet new shirts for work.

'nough said.
..




My coworker, Alex is crazy. Like, "I saw this sick move on youtube and now I gotta copy it" kinda' crazy.
He's happiest when his bike is:
A. in the air.
B. going backwards.

And he lives in a BMX park.
Rad, huh?
So, not surprisingly, he broke his ankle.
Rumor has it that a bird got caught in his spokes.
Who's to say?
But at least he hasn't lost his penchant for bustin' sweet moves.
...

Consume my thoughts
As I rest in You
I’m now in love
With a Saviour
Bearing the marks of His love

So I’ll wait upon You now
With my hands released to You
Where a little faith’s enough
To see mountains lift and move

And I’ll wait upon You now
Dedicated to Your will
To this love that will remain
A love that never fails
"Second Chance" - Hillsong United.

In the stillness

I bought a new pone. Got a deal on it from ebay. Pretty sweet setup. Sis is driving me down chestnut expressway wile I blog...

Scratc that. ses a beginning driver so I better give er more attention... Ses getting pretty good I might say...

So back to the new pone. Its an awesome deal except te 'H' key only works sporadically. You noticed? Hmmm

But I can still blog while sitting in complete darkness on the edge of springfield lake. Cool, I think.

The frogs sing beautifullly tonigt.

......

I am reaching for the highest goal,

that I might receive the prize.

Pressing onward, pushing every hindrance aside,

Out of my way, 'cause I want to know you more

I want to know You,

I want to hear Your voice

I want to know You more.

I want to touch You,

I want to see Your face

I want to know You more.

In the secret, in the quiet place

In the stillness You are there

Chris Tomlin

PS. a little technical difficulty with blogger meant i had to post it when I got home. bummer. hopefully we'll get that glitch fixed soon.

Life can be so cool sometimes

Or uncool.
Like last night when I discovered the two inches of water chillin' in our front room. I actually freaked for a couple of minutes until I figured out how to chase it back outside. But we're now mostly dry, and since I'm off tomorrow, I should be able to finish cleaning the water stains.
Arrrg. I guess that's part of living in a basement, eh?
...
But life is mostly cool. Like when a customer brings in a Team Milram bike they bought on Ebay and asks us to assemble it. Which means I get to test ride it. It's a brand I've dreamed of owning for 6 years (Colnago). And while it didn't outperform other bikes I've gotten to ride, it was still neat to know that Fabio Sabatini himself had put miles on it, chatting with teammates and training and wrecking (yeah, it had scratches), and now I was cruising on it. Cool moment.
..
And it's also cool when the English Prof pops in an' comments on your blog. See guys? She's down with it.
..
Two other random cool thoughts...
Tonight I didn't get off work until almost 7. Mom dropped sis off and I ran her down to JRA. After the main service I stopped in at the youth service to see bro. He was still helping lead worship, so I got to join in the worship and just stand there praying and praising God for an hour. It was incredible.

At one point they started singing Hillsong's "You Reign" :

You reign, You reign
Over everything Lord, You reign

and as I was worshiping God, I suddenly saw how He has reigned over my entire life for the past three years. How all the heartaches, and the missteps, and the struggles and all my times of asking "Why God?!" were just to bring me closer to Him.

So many of these things weren't God's "first choice" for me. But He knew that I would have to make my mistakes before I would come to the end of myself. And so, like with Peter, he waits for me to do things my way and in my own strength, until I'm way over my head. And then he calmly comes, orders me to put up the puny little sword and starts healing those I've hurt.

Maybe one of these days I'll get it.
..
The second is sweet quote from T. Austin Sparks The School Of Christ:

The pre-eminent mark of a life governed by the [Holy] Spirit...is that such a life is continually and ever more and more occupied with Christ...Oh, the depths, the fulness [sic], of Christ!
If we live as long as ever man lived, we shall still be only on the fringe....

..

Oh, and check out Mary's blog. She's got a couple of cool pieces up right now.

~-~-~-~-

And I'm still here.
What have I done?
Don't you rub it in too hard
that I've been wrong
All these years - Sawyer Brown

Deliver ME!

I'm stuck in English class. AHHH! I cannot WAIT to graduate and get out of this life.

Learning is fun. But American humans are soooo slow. And therefore the teacher must move soooo slowly.

And all the while these 40+ adults think they are so incredibly smart because they can actually send text messages. (honestly, ever listen to 40-year-olds talk about technology?) Jeeeez.

But the prof seems to know her stuff.
....

Random discussion:
Quinn: I thought I just heard you say that he is a jerk.
Sis: That is irrelevant.

...
"...if all prophesy, and there come in one that believeth not, or one unlearned, he is convinced of all, he is judged of all:And thus are the secrets of his heart made manifest; and so falling down on his face he will worship God, and report that God is in you of a truth." 1 Cor 14:24, 25

Wow. What if my life was that in tune with God, that when I am witnessing, I could speak right to the heart of each person? Discern certain sins and preach salvation directly to the walls of whatever fortress is binding each person. Wow. Heavy.
..

"Though I speak with the tongues of men and angels,
and have not love,
I am just really, really annoying."

- sis' interpretation of the 1st verse of I Corinthians 13.
...

Almighty God, the great I AM
Immovable rock, omnipotent, powerful, awesome Lord
Victorious warrior, commanding King of Kings
Mighty conqueror, and the only time
The only time I ever saw Him run

Was when He ran to me, He took me in His arms
Held my head to His chest, said “My son’s come home again”
Lifted my face, wiped the tears from my eyes
With forgiveness in His voice He said,
“Son do you know I still love you?”

-Phillips Craig and Dean

They say that.

It is good to blog even when there isn't news.

..

Life has sped up. I can never get it all done. Aggh! The time change is especially throwing me for a loop. I've been sleeping 9 hours every night since Sunday trying to not be so stupidly exhausted. Which really has only served to help me yawn better during my (now limited) studying time. It's midterms, though, so I'll hafta' manage.

..

We moved the shop hours from 6 to 6:30. Which is ok except for Wednesday nights. Like tonight when I didn't get out until nearly 7:15. Makes it rather hard to get to church. And church, well it's kind of the highlight of life. (Not so much that I'm holy, but that I just maintain a boring life)

..

I want to buy a camera. And share cool parts of my life with you guys.

I'll have to start a section for the 'moron of the week'. This week he was sitting at Hong-Kong-no-name with his wife and two darling boys. (almost as cute as my own brothers.) With an earpiece in. Yup, his beautiful family out to a cheap dinner and he didn't have the decency to take the little 3.99 earpiece out of his head. C'mon, man. His wife seemed pretty much zoned. He really didn't seem to notice. And he'll probably blame it all on her when they divorce next year. Yeah. such is the life in America.

..

My brother and I worked on our cars last Sunday. He's such a good problem solver I almost hate to crack into a car without him around. We got the brakes replaced, and I installed a $6 thermostat. Wonder of wonders, for the first time this winter I have heat. (Wait, winter's over?! ) .

..

The Link Family made it into the Springfield Newsleader. I had a customer come in and ask if they went to my church. Kind of cool. You wouldn't think someone would make that connection. They mentioned the 'young' marriage age of the Link 'kids', and we got to discuss family values for a second. Very neat.

..

You're every minute of my everyday.
And I can't believe, uh that I'm your man,
And I get to kiss you baby just because I can.
Whatever comes our way, ah we'll see it through,
And you know that's what our love can do.
And in this crazy life, and through these crazy times
It's you, it's you,
You make me sing - M.Buble

I think it's funny.

"To disable emails, click here" Now who would want to disable a harmless little email? So cruel. Confined to a wheelchair or bed for the rest of its natural life. Man, my heart is about to break.
...
The Hamps were in a ripe mood tonight. Here goes.
/
(Quinn and Timmy singing loudly and off-key)
"III"m just sittin' out HEEERE watchin' airplanes.
Take off
and FLYYYYYYYY.
Tryin' ta' figger out out which one you might be on.
An WHYYYY you don' love me anymooooooore

(Mom)
Let me suggest you two getting on one and Flyyyeeeiyyyyeiiyy out of here.
/
Eli: Quinn! Do you want to see Timmy's new fish?
Q: No man, saw him last time.
Eli: It's an angelfish.
Q:(preoccupied) uh-huh
Eli: Timmy named it Rebecca.
Q: Yeah he thinks his sister is an angel.
Sis: Or a fish.

Eli and Charity ('Bump)

/
Tim: You oughta' come to JRA
Q: Why?
Tim: There are a lot of eligible young ladies.
Q: Oh really?
Tim: There's a girl that works at the office.
Q: And she's eligible?
Tim: She's cute.
Q: That doesn't make her eligible. We gotta work on your definitions. Did she have her devotions this morning? Can she interpret God's word? Does she have a calling to homeschool a large family?
Tim: Sheeez, Quinn! She's only 18!
/
'Bump: I was watching That's So Raven and there was a little boy on there who has a crush on her.
Q: Hold it! How old are you?
'Bump: Eight.
Q: How do you know what a crush is?!!
'Bump: (Turning red) Tabby told me.

/
Sometimes I miss living at home.
/

Mom: Anything you say can and will
be blogged against you.

.....God Rant!....
You know, I am amazed. There are times in my life that I spend struggling with something. With surrendering something or accepting some truth in God's Word, or just His mindset on a matter. And I will pray and pray and fast, and still be unable to find victory or freedom.

And then suddenly there is a deliverance. It's like my entire being is changed. My mind, my spirit, even my fleshly 'cravings'. Unfathomably changed. I could have in no way envisioned or affected it. It's almost like getting saved again.

Sunday was that way. I've never been much for truly trusting God. There are always circumstances I've never been able to let go my control of. But suddenly it was like the walls of Jericho dropped. I could trust. At first I attributed it to not enough sleep. But as the week has worn on I can do nothing but rejoice. Talk about freedom.

And, like most other times, I then find out that God had put me on a fellow believer's prayer list. I was on their heart and they had interceded.
Wow. I don't understand what happens when we pray. But I've seen enough to know that God honors it. Praying for one another as got to be one of the most powerful things there is.

For this cause we also... do not cease to pray for you and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God; (Colossians 1:9&10)
..

"I feel like a hero, and you are my heroine" - Boys like Girls

Categorized as awesome

I really do not know why I am posting. Or even still awake. In the last 40-some hours I've slept 'bout an hour.
This probably won't be very coherent

But maybe I can get artistic points.

Caffeine's great. Currently I've downed a Mountain dew, 2 Dr. Pepper's, 2 coffees, 3 cheap cappucino's, and an Americano. Hee.
//
Busy week at the bike shop. All this nice weather has prompted a fake start to our spring season and we've been kept pretty busy. No complaints though. It's neat to see customer's one hasn't seen all winter.

And I got to ride my bike to work a couple of times. I hate riding when it's cold out.
But a "spring" morning? oooh yeah. That's my tune.
Sell the car!
Wear tie dye and pedal to work in your hemp sandals!
//

A Random Verse

Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord. (1Cor 15:58)

//
It's hard to pray when you're sleepy. You start praying for stupid stuff. This morning was frustrating like that. I wanted my heart to be ready for church, but I was so tired. And I kept praying for odd stuff. Like the vacuum cleaner.

But finally I just stopped everything, and begged God to prepare my heart. And God stepped in beautifully. The church services were incredible. Orchestrated by God unbelievably. And He's moved in my heart all day. Driving along tonight I was so overcome with Joy for how He had moved. I couldn't express it. I tried yelling. Shouting praises. Finally I proceeded to sing-shout the song "Hallelujah, Praise Jehovah". I couldn't find any other way to express myself. Oh, for a thousand tounges! God rules.
//
The sermon today. Mark 14. The Alabaster Box. Everybody called it a great waste. Yet, used for worship, it far exceeded any earthly value.

Man, wouldn't it be awesome to "waste" one's life on God?
//
But how will I know where to start?

She's spinning between constellations and dreams

Her rhythm is my beating heart

So she dances - Groban