Pauline Year

Did you know that we have begun the Pauline Year ?

Depending on your religious background and "church" affiliation; this may or may not be on your radar. However Pope Benedict XVI has made this "observation". Thus, the observation will go from June 28,2008 to June 29, 2009.

From records, this year is the 2,000 anniversary of Paul's birth; thus the observation to Paul seems obvious; right ?

For me, serving in a Lutheran church, there are a few connection. Some that I am aware of and some that I am not aware of. Thus, I am going to use this time to educate or reeducate myself and share some tidbits with you.

One of the things that makes me 'raise' an eyebrow is the following statement that the pope made:

Ecumenical dimensions are the focus of this celebration. ' The apostle to the Gentiles, who was especially committed to taking the good news to all peoples, left no stones unturned for unity and harmony among all Christians '

I highlighted unity and harmony for my benefit. The reason is simple that I know that this does not occur too much. We, as Christians, do not seem to like those words harmony or unity. Well, we like them, we just don't practice them. Well, we may practice them IF thee people that we are practicing it with has the same dogma, I mean doctrine as us and hold to the same beliefs and truths.

As a Lutheran, Paul matters greatly. The Lutheran belief system is ingrained from the passages of Paul. Here are some of the thoughts that matter deeply in regards to Paul:

Romans 5:8 - God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.

This scripture was used as the backdrop in a paragraph out of the following document: THE JOINT DECLARATION OF THE DOCTRINE OF JUSTIFICATION. It reads:

The foundation and presupposition of justification is the incarnation, death and resurrection of Christ. Justification thus means that Christ himself is our righteousness, in which we share through the Holy Spirit in accord with the will of the Father. Together we confess: By grace alone, in faith in Christ's saving work and not because of any merit on our part, we are accepted by god and receive the Holy Spirit, who renews our heart while equipping and calling us to good works.

In case you do not know and are wondering, the above statement and declaration was from the Vatican and The World Federation.

One of the things that rings true to me about Paul and for those that I serve with is that faith is NOT static. Faith IS active. It can be summed up in the following short paragraphs:

Paul matters because faith in Jesus Christ isn't a static phenomenon but, on the contrary, quite dynamic. It's this "activity of faith" that puts into practice the grace given to the believer as a free and unmerited gift.

Paul can speak freely about progress (Phil. 1:25), sanctification (1 Thes. 4:3) and transformation (2 Corinthians 3:18) because he always understands these as the Spirit's power at work.

So, Lutherans, grab a hold of the year. Celebrate and Grow through Paul this year. Paul and Luther go hand in hand with the following:

The growth in new life isn't however, a private set of activities that take place only between the believer and Jesus. Supported and nurtured by the body of Christ, the church, all such activity of faith and acts of love, are intended to upbuild and encourage and console the entire community of faith (1 Corinthians 14:3).

Luther had it quite right: 'Good work do not make a good person, but a good person does good work.' Good works don't bring about healing. But once healing takes place the believer begins to be free to love the other with the same sacrificial love that characterizes God's self-donation through the suffering and death of Jesus.

Thus, in the year, I am going to focus some more time and study on Paul and allow his words to penetrate me, challenge me and then in return allow me to write on those challenges.

A Year Ago Today ......

we drove from Lafayette to Wooster and began a new chapter in our life. It has been an interesting year. A lot has occurred during the year. We are so thankful that we are in this community. We love the town, the people, the church, the hospital system and more !!!!

I just can not believe that it has been a year since we moved. However, in the paradox of life, it also seems like we have lived in this town and community for a very long time. I believe the reason for that is how connected we feel to the town.

We look forward to the minimal of another decade+ in this town.

Recently, I read a post that touched me about the present - not just the future. Thus, as we look forward to all the years that we will be in the town; we look forward to today and what it may bring us.

The only bad thing ..... the weather today. It has already reached the high (64) and it is dark and "yucky" looking outside - it is almost so dark that I may have to turn my office light on ... I wonder if it works ??

**** I rarely if ever have my light on ****

James Dobson on Obama

Obama gets slammed by Dobson. Now that is a shocker, NOT.

Check here

Hightlight

A top U.S. evangelical leader is accusing Sen. Barack Obama of deliberately distorting the Bible and taking a "fruitcake interpretation" of the U.S. Constitution.

In comments aired on his radio show Tuesday, Focus on the Family founder James Dobson criticized the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee for comments he made in a June 2006 speech to the liberal Christian group Call to Renewal.

In the speech, Obama suggested that it would be impractical to govern based solely on the word of the Bible, noting that some passages suggest slavery is permissible and eating shellfish is disgraceful.

I Out Preached Rob Bell !!!

This past week, I was part of the WV CE convention and I had the opportunity to preach. The convention was four nights long and they (we) had a different preacher each night. My wife and a few others who are all prejudiced towards me said that I was the best preacher there this week and really had a message that touched their hearts and spoke to the matter at hand and challenged them to do something.

My message was on Lifting Jesus Up Through Our Actions. This is something that I am very passionate about and thus when passion comes through, I believe that it makes the message so much better.

This past message, I changed my "delivery" method.

After reading Andy Stanley's book, I decided to give it a whirl. The concept is very simple. You have one point and you keep delivering that point and yo channel it through 5 aspects. The five aspects are the following: me, we, God, you, and we. If you need to have that flushed out; let me know. I will explain.

So, I picked my "one statement" and nailed it home within each section and transition. I think that it worked very well and will continue to work on that process.

Now, I am sure you are wondering why I picked the name for my title. It was not because I shared the stage with Rob. The reason that I chose the title was that the night before I spoke ..... the young gentlemen preached Rob Bell's Luggage message.

I think that I was the only one in the audience (100) that had any idea that he was "ripping" the message. There were a couple of things that I found amusing about this:

- no reference to Rob Bell
- he even used the same illustrations
- I was going to use luggage (rob bell nooma video) the following day for a class with his (rob bell's) teaching guide

I did not show the video but we did discuss it in class. The class did a great job with the questions and they really wrestled with the topic of revenge.

So, if I out preached him, I out preached Rob; right ?

I am only kidding.

I have to tell you .. I do love the NOOMA videos. Matter of fact, we Will be using the NOOMA video for our community groups at ZION.

Which btw, I need to get working on !!!!!!!

Waiting

I am still waiting. I was able to go visit her for about 15 minutes. She was in temporary recovery. They sent me back to the waiting room to wait till she is in her own recovery area. It has been about 45 minutes. Hopefully, they will be calling my name soon.

It is very interesting to "people watch" and see how others are handling their waiting. You see individuals who are waiting by themselves and groups who are waiting together. The waiting room as cleared out quite abit. Of course it is 8:09 pm. We got here at noon .... a lot of waiting.

When I saw Stacey, she was doing good. She said the pain was about a 3 out of a 10 which is good because it was up around 7 and 8 earlier in the day.

The ER waiting room was very intriguing ..... a lot of action and police :)

Stacey Is Out

Stacey is out of surgery. She is not quite in recovery yet. She should be there any minute. I am at the main campus at the Clinic thus I was able to tap into their wi-fi. I brought the comp - just in case.

This procedure was actually the shortest one, yet. Hopefully, the readjusting did it's job and she will not be in discomfort and in immense pain - the pain was really bad for her this last week.

Prayers

They are needed today; thanks.

More later.

In The Trenches

I like the following quote from Scott Bessenecker:

It is easy to cast stones from the comfort of one's limited frame of reference. But in the thick of the battle, you do what makes the most sense from the vantage point of the trences.

Too many times, we (Christians), rip apart people and ministries that we really do not know. We may disagree with their thoughts, their process and their ways .... but there may be a reason for them doing what they do.

Just thinking out loud right now .... not enough time to flush it out ... back to staff meeting preparation .... just wanted to drop it down.

Tell me what you think ?

Hell & Torment

I am working on a passage from Matthew 25:31-46.

This is the passage that I am going to take a look at for my message on Wednesday. I was assigned a topic to speak on and the topic was the following:

Lifting Up Jesus Through Your Actions

Here is the Scripture:

"When he finally arrives, blazing in beauty and all his angels with him, the Son of Man will take his place on his glorious throne. Then all the nations will be arranged before him and he will sort the people out, much as a shepherd sorts out sheep and goats, putting sheep to his right and goats to his left.

"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Enter, you who are blessed by my Father! Take what's coming to you in this kingdom. It's been ready for you since the world's foundation. And here's why:


I was hungry and you fed me,
I was thirsty and you gave me a drink,
I was homeless and you gave me a room,
I was shivering and you gave me clothes,
I was sick and you stopped to visit,
I was in prison and you came to me.'

"Then those 'sheep' are going to say, 'Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry and feed you, thirsty and give you a drink? And when did we ever see you sick or in prison and come to you?' Then the King will say, 'I'm telling the solemn truth: Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me—you did it to me.'

"Then he will turn to the 'goats,' the ones on his left, and say, 'Get out, worthless goats! You're good for nothing but the fires of hell. And why? Because—

I was hungry and you gave me no meal,
I was thirsty and you gave me no drink,
I was homeless and you gave me no bed,
I was shivering and you gave me no clothes,
Sick and in prison, and you never visited.'

"Then those 'goats' are going to say, 'Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or homeless or shivering or sick or in prison and didn't help?'

"He will answer them, 'I'm telling the solemn truth: Whenever you failed to do one of these things to someone who was being overlooked or ignored, that was me—you failed to do it to me.'

"Then those 'goats' will be herded to their eternal doom, but the 'sheep' to their eternal reward."

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

I am not sure why but I decided to read some sermons on this text and I was a little shocked that 99.9% of the sermons on this passage have to deal with Hell and Torment.

Needless to say, I am "bucking" that trend and using the Scripture to emphasize that we need to reach out to those who are hungry, thirst, stranger, naked, sick, imprisoned.

More on the message later. I was just drafting out some of the final parameters before the chicken bbq that we are having at the church.

If everything goes well, I will have the message finalized this afternoon and let it "saturate" for two days before I deliver it on Wednesday.

I also need to phone in to see how things are going over at my Grandma's

My Grandma

My grandma is not doing too well. I got a phone call this morning from my mom that it was very serious. My grandma had decided that she has fought long and hard enough and that she wants to be at home in her setting.

They are not sure how long she is going to live and they were not sure if she was going to make it through the day. We tied up some things here at the house and went over there. Stacey and the kids remained. They were going over tomorrow anyways for the state convention.

I am planning on going back Tuesday. If something does occur, I will head over earlier. We will just have to wait and see what happens.

I am glad that I got to see her and I am glad that I was able to let tears run down my face. There are many stories that have been flooding my mind regarding her.

If I do not get to see her alive again, I will treasure those few minutes that I had with her. I was able to allow her to suck an ice cube out of my hand. She was able to give a tiny squeeze to my fingers. She had the ability to open her eyes and look at me for a few seconds and I was able to place a few kisses on her forehead.

From the conversations (briefly) that I had with my mom, I think that they would like for me to do the funeral. I think that I would/will be a basket case but the more and more I think about it, the more I think that I want/need to do it. Of course, I told my mom that if I did the service; there will be a few bar stories that will be in the message. Sometime, I will have to share them. If I do the service, I will put my message here for prosperity and for individuals to read the stories.

The one thing that I will always love and appreciate about her is her story-telling and her willingness to talk and listen for a long periods of time.

Of course tonight as I reflect on the evening and on her life and "the missed" opportunities of spending more time with her ...... I question time commitments and the restraints that we put on ourselves so we truly can not just be with people.

More later on my grandma.

Grandma will probably never seen these words ... but Grandma, I love you and I hope and pray that you were able to hear me tell you those words and that you were able to feel my kisses.

Alive 2008: Concert Photos

Here are some photos of the bands that were playing. These were once again photos from this year but were not photos from our camera. We did not "rush" the stage. We stayed back on our blankets and camp chairs and enjoyed the shows.

Hopefully, early next week, I can put some of our pics up from the festival. Till then, here is a feel of what/who we saw. Sorry Amy, no Mr. Wilson photo.



Casting Crowns


Crowder


Crowder and Fans


Hawk Nelson


Inhale Exhale


Jaci


Leeland


Red


Salvador


Worth Dying For

Alive 2008: Photos

Here are some photos from Alive. These are not my pictures but they are pics from this years festival that other individuals took and placed on the great WWW for our viewing pleasure.

In these pictures, you will see the crowd, food vendors, the lake, people just having fun, swimming, skate park, volley ball and basketball and more.

The one good thing about Alive is that if "music" is not your thing .... you can find other things to do and pass your time. Thus, taking a group and camping out could be made a lot easier.

The Main Stage


Brady Quinn Giving a Passing Clinic


Diving Into The Lake


Food Vendors


Kids Having Fun - Is He Ready For Family Force 5


Skate Park


Swimming


The Crowd


Volleyball & Basketball


I will put pictures up of the band later. We missed last night and it looks like that we are going to miss tonight as well. I will list the bands and information about them later.

I should place this as a separate post, but we are not going to Alive because we are headed to WV. My grandma is not doing well. More details when I have them.

Global Military Spending

How much do countries spend on Military spending ?

The answer is A LOT.

It is not a surprise that the U.S. leads the pack but the following statistic to me is APPALLING. I am sure those that support the war on terror and 'trump' national security will put a great spin on the numbers .... but take a look at the following:

For the 2009 budget year.

United States: 711 Billion

Rest of the World: 761 Billion

We, the US, almost spend as much as the rest of the world. Just for fun, here are a few more numbers on spending:

The United States spends more than the next 45 highest spending countries in the world combined.

The United States accounts for 48 percent of the world's total military spending.

The United States spends on its military 5.8 times more than China, 10.2 times more than Russia, and 98.6 times more than Iran.

The United States and its strongest allies (the NATO countries, Japan, South Korea and Australia) spend $1.1 trillion on their militaries combined, representing 72 percent of the world's total.




Does this make anyone else sick ?

My stomache is not feeling too good. Maybe it was the greasy pizza that I just ate, but I think these numbers and graph have a lot to do with it.

Creations of ID

I would suggest that those who care so much about the concept of Intelligent Design should care more about the creation of that Intelligent Designer

I came across this quote this week and it got me thinking. A few weeks ago, maybe more, Doorman-Priest did a series on ID. There was a lot of discussion and debgate on the issue.

When I saw this quote, it made me think.

We, as people, really need to care about the people that God created. If you are so willing to battle and fight that there is a God that created then you better stand up and fight for the people that He created.

Look around. Read the paper. Watch the news. There are a lot of people hurting and sufferring. A lot of people have no hope. All of these individuals were created in His image.

Are you fighting for them ?

She Made It Through

Stacey's surgical procedure seemed to go very well. We are back home and she is in her room resting. We will know more later but all seems well right now. To everyone that was praying for her - thanks. Hopefully, the time frame between procedure 8 and procedure 9 will be a long distance off.

I AM TICKED !!!

can't go into it .... just wanted it to be stated !!

Alive 2008: Thursday

Yesterday, we went up to the festival and had a great time. We got up there about 2:00 and set up our area on the hill. We had about 2 hours before the main events took stage. We sat on the blankets and read and played cards and walked around the festival grounds. It was very relaxing. I am reading the following books: Simple Church, Building a Church of Small Groups, and Communicating For Change. All three of them are really good.

When we download the pics, I will be putting up a few pics that might 'embarrass' my children. They are wonderful kids and are normally very easy going and care free. I mean, we were up there for 10 hours and they maybe had 5 bad minutes. Those five minutes though were picture capture worthy. For you see, they are all competive and the card game got intense and accussations of cheating occurred and when that comes, sad faces and mean looks and no's ring out .... thus, I will put them up :)

Here are the bands that we saw yesterday afternoon and evening:

Satellites & Sirens
Worth Dying For
Leeland
Jared Anderson
Hawk Nelson
Josh Wilson
Casting Crowns

It was a very good day for concerts. I am looking forward to seeing what comes of Satellites & Sirens. They are a new band and they are actually going into the studio for the first time next month. I will be interested to see what type of a CD they come out with.

Worth Dying for did a very good job. They are playing 3x this year. Today, they are going to do a YouTube video for their concert.

Leeland was Leeland. They did a good worship set. You either love them or .......

Jared Anderson did a great job in leading the crowd. It was a good segway to the speaker.

The speaker ... I will remain silent

Hawk Nelson. They just plain rock and have a great time. I absolutely love watching them in concert. They are a group that I would love to hang out with.

Casting Crowns was very good. They did not do much off of their freshman album and there was some that I wish that they would have done. They have very powerful messages behind their songs. Mark is a little too evangelistic at times for me though.

More later. I need to finish up some things before we go to the Cleveland Clinic

Alive 2008: Wednesday

A very quick update.

Yesterday, we went up to Alive. We got up there about 2:00. We unloaded half of our kitchen and outdoor furniture on the hill and relaxed for the afternoon. It was too chilly to swim, but I took the kids over to the lake and walked the grounds. We then went to our chairs and blankets and enjoyed 7+ hours of concerts.

We saw the following:

Mile 7
Phil Wickham
Red
Parachute Band
Phil Joel
Salvador
Jaci Velasquez
David Crowder Band

The kids did a great job listening to the bands and not getting board. They did have a little trouble with Red. They are a hard rock / metal band and the noise was a little much. Jacob especially commented that he felt the vibration in his chest. Thus, they walked the festival and picked them up some sncks: elephant ears, chocolate covered cheese cake and .........

Overall, the night was very good and we enjoyed being up there as a family. It was COLD though. It should not be that cold in June ... BRRRRRRRR

I did not have a camera out there. Stacey did. So maybe, I will place a few pictures up later. I am headed out in a few moments and we will be making a trek up there again today.

Stacey and Isaiah are really looking forward to Casting Crowns tonight.

Bumper Sticker Theology

There are many people that use bumper stickers as their attempt to spread their theology. Then there are some that make bumper stickers and they just make bad theology.

Many churches probably have the following bumper sticker and at first glance, it may seem harmless and it may be "advertising" their church.

However, I think that it could be the underlying problem with the church in America.



Maybe, I am too harsh *sigh*

BE THE CHURCH

The Whole Picture ?

Do you see the whole picture ?



We see life as the photo above

If we had God's perspective, we might see the image below. I think that most would agree that the pic below is a little better and a little more complete.



As we journey through life and we look at others ...... we must realize that we only see a snipit of what is occurring and what is going on.

Just a thought ....

Grace

The sky is grey and the light is far
The sea is a rage within my heart
I turn my sight to the crashing waves
I cry in the night just to be saved

I need eyes to be my guide
I need a voice that’s louder than mine
I need hope I need You
Cause I can’t do this alone

Grace I call Your name
Oh won’t Your smile fall over me
I’m cracked and dry on hands and knees
Oh sweet grace rain down on me I need You grace

I pray for dawn a new day to live
I pray for mercy only Jesus gives
Though darkness falls and a million cry
I believe over all there’s a greater light shining for us

Come down and save me

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

The picture is from one of my walks on the beach this past weekend and I thought the words (a song) from Phil Wickham was a perfect fit. We will see Phil in concert in two days.

Mediate Vs. Woods

WoW !

What a finish to the U.S. Open.

Woods made the putt to force an 18 hole play-off tomorrow.

This was the first time that I saw and heard Mediate in interviews; he is a class guy. It should be a fantastic play-off match.

Hey Dad .....

Happy Father's Day.

I love You.

You truly are special.

what are you broadcasting ??

Broadcast

Broadcast was the theme for the week at Big Stuf. I think that it was a very appropriate topic and the subjects that we dealt with were very practical to our lives. Each one of us is broadcasting a message. We need to take a look at our life and see what message we are broadcasting and see if it is the message that we want to be broadcasting OR the message that we should be broadcasting.



The picture above is our van. Before we left camp, he girls decided to "broadcast" the highlight of the weeks messages on the van for the trip home. There were 7 main sessions and the messages were the following:

Live Loud
Live Clear
Live True
Live Connected
Live Louder
Live Larger
Live Loved

I "may" break some of the messages down at a later date, but I am not sure. What I liked about the messages were that they were messages that have been stirring in my heart. It was about truly loving God and truly loving others and the "urgency" for us to be connected to one another.

We were challenged to give and not to be so selfish. Most of us, especially those in the States, are so blessed YET, we keep it for ourselves. It really is sad.

Another topic that was touched on that is a vital message; especially with teenagers was the fact that there will be pain and trouble in our lives and we need to learn how to live / deal with the issues that we face and how we can make sure that we broadcast a great message during that time.

I know that over I had to walk through some troubled water in 06-07 and I was constantly evaluating what message I was broadcasting and how I was wanting to be heard. It is a tough battle but on that we need to examine and look at.

My prayer is that when you suffer (and we surly do not hope/wish/pray that you will) that you can embrace the pain and it (the pain/suffering) becomes an avenue where you can broadcast your hope in God.

John 16:33 .... In this world, you will have trouble

and the church goes "amen" to that

:)

Big Stuf: Through The Eyes of Reggie

This afternoon, I dropped Reggie a note on Facebook thanking him for his talks at Big Stuf. I really appreciate the time and energy and passion that he gives to family ministry and what changes we really need to make in church.

He had upload some great shots that he caught throughout the week. He is a talented photographer and with 'backstage" access, he came up with some wonderful shots that I want to share. So, props to Reggie.

Reggie, I hope that you do not mind that I am using them :)

African Children Choir


Jared Speaking: Final Night


Jaycee: The Sound Man


Slug: Drummer Maniac


Main Session: Pic From Back Of Room


We Are Redeemed: The Song


Time Of Worship

Sugar Shots !

Pixy Stix

The girls put them down in hopes to get them energized for the main sessions .. Here is the proof:

Sudan

With me being gone this past week, I did not receive this till this morning. I am passing information along :)

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

Joint Statement on Sudan: Presiding Bishops Urge Prayers for Peace, International Action for Stability

by The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
and The Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori, The Episcopal Church

June 4, 2008

Over the past several weeks, we have watched with great sorrow as the new outbreak of violence in Sudan has threatened the resumption of widespread conflict in a nation just three years removed from decades of civil war. Our sense of foreboding is heightened because the violence has come in and around Abyei, a town whose history, resources, and proximity to the border between northern and southern Sudan make it a proving-ground for the success or failure of the nation's still-young peace agreement. At the present moment, untold numbers of people have been killed, much of Abyei has been burned to the ground, and as many as 120,000 people have been displaced from their homes. Urgent action from the international community is necessary to address the present suffering and safeguard against the resumption of widespread and de-centralized fighting across a country already destabilized by the unchecked and catastrophic war in its western Darfur region. In the coming days, we urge all Americans to pray for peace in the Sudan and to call for strong action from the international community to restore stability in a land whose people have been entangled far too long in violence.

First, there is an urgent need for humanitarian assistance—both through government agencies like USAID and through private giving—in order to assist those newly displaced from their homes who now suffer without food, clean water, or shelter. (Please visit ELCA International Disaster Response or Episcopal Relief and Development linked below, to learn how you can give.) Second, increased diplomatic pressure from the international community, including neighbor states and allies of the Sudanese government, is necessary to demand that northern Sudanese military units withdraw from Abyei immediately and allow a comprehensive international assessment of the cause and effects of the conflict. Third, the United States and other parties to Sudan's 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement should insist on full and immediate implementation of the CPA and subsequent agreements, especially as they relate to Abyei. This includes provisions respecting clear borders, fair sharing of resources, and autonomous local governance in the South. These steps are necessary for the remainder of the peace process to unfold as envisioned by its drafters and to avoid the pitfalls we have seen in other areas of implementation such as the current census.

Recently, each of us has had the opportunity to hear firsthand reports of the situation from Archbishop Daniel Deng Bul, the leader of Sudan's four million Episcopalians, as well as from members of a joint Episcopal-Lutheran delegation that traveled to southern Sudan last month. We have heard stories of great hope and courage, but also of the fragility of peace and the dire humanitarian consequences a resumption of war would bring. We hope this joint statement may raise awareness of the crisis, and urge Episcopalians and Lutherans to send a copy of it to their elected officials. In these difficult days, we pray that God, whose blessed Son "came to preach peace to those who are far off and those who are near," would grant wisdom and strength to our brothers and sisters in Sudan, as well as inspiration and purpose to all who watch from a distance and wish to help by heart, hand, or voice.

Gifts to ELCA International Disaster Response, designated for "Sudan Crisis" will be used in full - 100% - for this ongoing disaster response. Gifts may be sent through ELCA congregations, by phone at 1-800-638-3522, online at http://www.elca.org/disaster/idrgive or mailed to ELCA International Disaster Response, P.O. Box 71764, Chicago, IL 60694-1764.

To make a donation to Episcopal Relief and Development?s "Sudan Fund," visit us online at www.er-d.org , or call 1-800-334-7626, ext. 5129. Gifts can be mailed to: Episcopal Relief and Development "Sudan Fund" P.O. Box 7058, Merrifield, VA 22116-7058.

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

Lifting up Prayers

The Calm Before The Storm

On Monday, I did my daily routine. I woke up at 5:30 and I was down on the beach by 5:45. I would then walk up the beach for 45 mins (6:30) and head back. I would arrive back at the hotel around 7:15. At that time, I would then eat breakfast and watch CNN before our 9:00 am meeting for the MAIN SESSION.

Well, on Monday, a storm was trying to blow in and I think that it made for some great camera shots. Here they are:















Early in the walk, I thought that I was going to be doing it in a downpour and hard winds. The winds really picked up. However, it never rained on the walk. The wind blew the storm out of site and some of the scenery were stunning. The camera and the photo man (that be me) did not do it justice.

I Am Back

I am back. I got in yesterday evening. It was a fun week with the girls. I got the opportunity to know them better and had a great time during the worship, hanging out at the beach and even a few of the shopping trips.

Over the next few days, I am going to post some of the pictures and a few videos up here on the blog. One of the things that I enjoyed this year was my early morning walks. One the walks, I had some great god Talk time and the scenery at times was breath-taking.

Here are two pictures to make you go .... hmmmmmmmm

Pink Finger Nails ??



All the girls in the van received pink fingernails .... I did not want to be left out.

Luau Attire



I am ready, doesn't the cocunut bra tshirt look good on me ?