| thanksgivingI've been selected to give the traditional thanksgiving message at our church. I've been reflecting on the most famous passages of giving thanks in the Bible and in history. One common theme through all of them is the idea of suffering through lack of resources. I really don't believe the Christian life was meant to be comfortable--in the sense of financial stability. The less I have, the more gracious and humble I am about what I do have. The more humble and gracious I am the easier it is for me to identify--and be identified--with Christ. I'm not saying that it's a sin to make a lot of money, or to be successful--those too can be blessings of God. But perhaps wealth and financial success in the Christian life should be a conduit to helping others. Sometimes I get frustrated with always having to plan so carefully to pay my bills. It can be discouraging to work so hard and be frustrated so easily with financial burdens. Yet my spirit yearns to give more. Isn't this the way it should be? Shouldn't we always be willing to give so much of what we have away that we are constantly relying on God instead of our bank accounts? Shouldn't one of our greatest joys come from giving away that which the world values most? Neither should our thoughts be to the results of our giving, but rather towards obedience--the contentedness and peace that comes from knowing we've been completely obedient to the Lord. A prayer for my life is that I always rely on God--not because I'm forced to--but because i'm giving so much away that I have to. |
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| Okay so I ran this myheritage.com thingy and the results were a little discouraging. they scan your photo and try to match you up to celebrities. You won't be seeing me on TV anytime soon. I never knew I was so androgenous...or asian. 
that's right...it actually matched me to Anne Frank...and two asian women. I'm definitely NOT a part of God's beautiful creation...i'm some kinda factory second reject. On the plus side I'm looking youthful--52% like the kid from The Sixth Sense. Here's another picture of my top match....me in 20 years. 
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| carl came through after all. nice vans. a/c works. so that's better than our vans back home. actually the fact that they work at all makes them better than our vans. |
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| waitingwaiting in the orlando airport for our rental vans. i'm updating from my palm pilot. we rented from carl's van rentals. ever heard of it? me neither. my confidence is not real high at the moment. i have a vision of "carl" relaxing in the caribbean w/our credit card #'s & us stuck in the airport all week.
or maybe "carl's van rentals" is actually a moving van rental & not passenger van rental. you gotta love it. |
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| smt tourin the airport (bwi) waiting to depart for our student ministry team tour. it will take us to florida and back. i'm looking forward to spending time with everyone this week--deepening our relationships and creating memories. it's gonna be awesome.
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