Tuesday, January 31, 2006

hey everybody....where did Mary go?

Super Bowl time again. Time to watch the Seahawks mack on the Steelers. Looks like Navs has elected to have it at my place. That's cool though, just means I don't have to drive to Clifton.

So Em and I hammered out where we're goin for our group's mission trip, finally. Now we just have to raise the money and apparently we both have to attend a conference in Chicago to find out what we have to teach our kids before we're allowed to go down there. Speakin of conferences, we're headed to two of them this weekend. The methodist church has to indoctrinate us to ensure that we're brainwashing their children effectively. So they're gonna trap us in a room Friday evening and most of the day Saturday and pound theology into us. Maybe then I'll turn from my heathen, non-denominational ways and accept the perfection that is the United Methodist Church. Em and I might show up, sign whatever, and then hop the fence (avoiding the sniper fire.)

You know who's sweet? System of a Down. I've been listening to Mezmerize a lot and its pretty awesome. They're definetely one of the best contemporary bands out there (not that that's hard). It's pretty rare to see bands today that are as diverse or generally musically talented as S.O.D.

Tuesday, January 17, 2006

Thunderlizards Rule

Been awhile. That's alright though. How bout that call reversal for the Troy Polamalalalalu interception? I don't know why that's a big deal. The Steeler's won. Everybody gets a crappy call once in awhile. Unless you're a Bengal, then you get them all the time. The point is that the Steelers get away with all kinds of crap when they should be penalized. Maybe the NFL should go back and watch T.J. Houshmanzadeh being raped in the endzone after an incomplete pass by two Steelers. Thats not gonna happen though. Whatever, I'll just get more satisfaction next season when we destroy them twice. Also, the Steelers don't stand a chance against Denver. They've won two games they didn't deserve to win. It won't happen again.
Alright. I was gonna show everyone some pictures from Tenn. but apparently Kodak is gonna make me buy the pictures before I can download them for .15 a piece so forget that. There's probably a way around that but I don't have time to figure it out right now. This dude had some great Jesus bumper stickers on his truck and Wemer took pictures of them while I distracted him. Dude was crazy.
Here some good ones:
"Are you following Jesus this closely?"
"Forbidden fruit can get you in some bad jams."
"Condems "con" you into thinking you're safe."
"Godly parents are an endangered species"
"One day you'll wish you had all these Jesus bumper stickers"
The list goes on. I wish I could download them and post them here but I don't want to buy them. Anyway, we're not goin down there anymore.

I did some alone hiking yesterday out at Miami Whitewater State Park. I really wanted to steal some alone time to talk to God and think some stuff out without the the stress and noise of the world to distract me. It was awesome. I highly recommend it. Only when you do it, don't take a trail. Just wander into the woods (provided that you know where you are going and how to get back). I walked about two miles down a creek just because I could. The weather was perfect. You really get a feel of God's spirit out there. Peaceful but untaimable. I don't want to go on a John Elderedge rant, but being out there definetely helped me tap into that. I wanted to challenge myself. I walked across the creek multiple times, the water still had ice sheets in some still areas, just to see if I could and to deny the urge to take the mundane beaten path. The water was freezing but as long as I kept moving I wasn't cold (there's a lesson there, I think). Going back, I changed my route. Instead of taking the creek back (the way I came), I trecked across country through the wooded hills. It's incredibly peaceful. Here's a place that you have no control over, no matter what. Here's God's spirit poured out in something tangible. Before I got back to my truck, God showed me his wonder a last time. An owl flew down out of a tree not 10 feet in front of me. It's wingspan had to exceed 6 feet. It perched on a nearby tree and turned its head to watch me (I had startled it from its old tree). It was the largest and most incredible bird I've ever seen. It's face was unmistakable. It's eyes were huge and black and its body was fat. The untaimable nature posessed by that single owl in that huge forest is amazing to me and makes me thirst all the more to know its creator.