fun times with my sugar tasting blood pump (a.k.a. my sweetheart). HA! 

"what sort of tale have we fallen into?"

"we have grown dull toward this world in which we live; we have forgotten that it is not normal or scientific in any sense of the word. it is fantastic. it is fairy tale through and through. really now. elephants? caterpillars? snow?"

Epic - by John Eldredge

it's time...

"may the words of my mouth and the thoughts of my heart
bless Your name, bless Your name, Jesus
and the deeds of the day, and the truth in my way
speak of You, speak of You Jesus

for this is what i have to do
it's time to live a life of love that pleases You
and i will give my all to You
surrender everything i have and follow You
i'll follow You

Lord will You be my vision, Lord will You by my guide?
be my hope, be my life, and the Way.
and i'll look not for riches, nor praise on the earth
only You'll be the first of my heart

for this is what i have to do
it's time to live a life of love that pleases You
and i will give my all to You
surrender everything i have and follow You

i will follow You"

Tim Hughes - may the words of my mouth

if this were the sincere prayer of our hearts - oh, what God would do

july 14, 2005 

Complicated

"power can do everything but the most important thing: it cannot control love...in a concentration camp, the guards possess almost unlimited power. by applying force they can make you renounce your God, curse your family, work without pay, eat human excrement, kill and then bury your closest friend or even your own mother. all this is within their power. only one thing is not: they cannot force you to love them. this fact may explain why God sometimes seems shy to use his power. He created us to love him...

as Douglas John Hall has put it, "God's problem is not that God is not able to do certain things. God's problem is that God loves. Love complicates the life of God as it complicates every life". (Philip Yancey, Disappointment with God)"

John Eldredge, Epic

on the drive home today 

sweet! 

my high school graduation speech

i had to dig this out of the old files after having a cool discussion with gretch tonight. i haven't looked at this in years - so it should be interesting...

"i think if i asked everyone here today what he or she wanted from life, i'm sure happiness would be on everyone's list somewhere. it seems that everyone wants to be happy, but it's so easy to live your life and one day find yourself trapped in a world where all your dreams have been forgotten. maybe circumstances or bad decision making has put you in this place where you don't even recognize yourself. you've forgotten what makes you happy; you've forgotten your bliss.

in joseph campbell's the power of myth, he compares success to true happiness. he says, "you may have success in life, but then just think of it-what kind of life was it? what good was it - you've never done the thing you wanted to do in all your life...go where your body and soul want to go. when you have the feeling of bliss then stay with it, and don't let anyone throw you off."
success does not always mean fulfillment or happiness. in many cases, it can mean the exact opposite. but when people find the thing that makes them interested in life, when they find their bliss, success will come naturally. they will become aware of the beauty that had always been surrounding them.

campbell goes on to say that "if you do follow your bliss you put yourself on a kind of track that has been there all the while, waiting for you, and the life that you ought to be living is the one you are living. when you can see that, you begin to meet people who are in your field of bliss, and they open the doors to you." he says, "follow your bliss and don't be afraid, and the doors will open where you didn't know they were going to be."

i hope that all of us, if we haven't already, will find our bliss. whether it be running a 5k in the rain, writing our every thought in a beat up spiral notebook, tending to roses, chasing tornadoes, watching black and white movies, constructing impossible bulletin boards, or contemplating the blissful existence of cows... whatever your bliss may be, i encourage all of you to cling to it as hard as you can, because it will ultimately save you in your journey ahead."

get out the kleenex

this is taken from carla's blog:

"As I have said before, the boys have been a little sad after the American team left. They have kept busy by writing letters to the team. Yesterday, it was sweet and sad at the same time when Marcos Freitas said, "The judge said that anybody who wanted to could adopt us-- you, or Anne, or Nilzania-- or anybody." That was a moment I won´t forget. Marcio was there too and he said, "Yeah, I want to go with Jeter. I want to ride in the car with him and he can teach me to drive." Please pray for these boys. They love the hope the Americans bring, but as you can imagine, it is a real downer when they return back to their normal life. Pray that they will find contentment in the Lord alone. Pray that they will taste and see that His love is more than enough to fill their deepest void. "

a little taste of salinger, a job update, and some sermon notes

"if you really want to hear about it, the first thing you'll probably want to know is where i was born, and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but i don't feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth." (catcher in the rye - opening sentence - isn't holden great?)

i turned in my letter of resignation today - its official. hallelujah! two weeks from today there will be no more pricing out windows and doors and no more kitchen design!!! i feel as though a huge weight has been lifted.

"commitment to another person is a lifelong choice of unconditional love to an imperfect person. to love - is a decision of the will. to love - is a decision to seek the well-being of another, regardless of whether or not they deserve it, and seeking nothing in return." (chip ingram)

Jesus did not emotionally want to endure the cross. you don't just sweat drops of blood because you're a little nervous about something. but, He was obedient and He chose the cross anyway - because of love. yeah - He's pretty cool.

a skirt i bought yesterday at a vintage clothing store in atlanta. i thought it was sweet. 

july 3, 2005 

lee cooks up some of his red snapper. look at him - he's such a boy scout - lol. 

paul - a.k.a Blue Eyes. bet you'll read this one, huh, paul???

paul simon to emily dickinson

What a dream I had
Pressed in organdy
Clothed in crinoline
Of smoky burgundy
Softer than the rain
I wandered empty streets down
Past the shop displays
I heard cathedral bells
Tripping down the alleyways
As I walked on

And when you ran to me
Your cheeks flushed with the night
We walked on frosted fields
Of juniper and lamplight
I held your hand

And when I awoke
And felt you warm and near
I kissed your honey hair
With my grateful tears
Oh I love you, girl
Oh I love you

for emily, wherever i may find her

science and the story that we need

"in the end, science does not provide the answers most of us require. its story of our origins and our end is, to say the least, unsatisfactory. to the question, "how did it all begin?", science answers, "probably by accident." to the question, "how will it all end?", science answers, "probably by accident. and to many people, the accidental life is not worth living."

neil postman

check these out

check out these blogs. maybe one day i will learn how to bookmark or link people.

groodlelove.blogspot.com

carlainbrazil.blogspot.com

at peace

i sort of quit my job yesterday. i know you're probably thinking - what do you mean, sort of? well, its complicated, but i'll know more about what direction i'm going in next week.

and, no - i don't have another job lined up. but, i know without a doubt that this is right. and i am at peace. and i have no worries. i'm excited to see what will happen here soon. i'll try to do better at keeping you posted.

yep

you might say - "don't i deserve to be happy?"
someone once said - "we're all sinners. you don't want what you really deserve."