Can't think of a clever or meaningful title that is sufficient...

Where to start? How about God's faithfulness.

How wonderful is our God who puts hunger in our hearts for Him! How sweet is our God who is long suffering.

A thought has been in my mind for some days. Or rather, some verse. John 14.21: "He who has my commands and OBEYS them is the one who LOVES Me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I, too, will love Him and make myself known to Him."

It is an amazing self-perpetuating cycle that when we obey Jesus then we demonstrate our love for and to Him. And when we obey He then reveals more of His perfect, slendorous, supreme self to us. Upon seeing more of this Jesus, the Christ, we then will love Him all the more and desire all the more to obey, and in knowing Him better, we know HOW to obey Him all the better!

But what of the times when we, let me say I, feel the Spirit jolt me with an instant message, and say, "see that man there that looks like a mad man grumbling to himself like he wants to rip someone's arms off? Go talk to Him."

And what then happens when I say, "that is okay God. Thanks, but I'll take a rain check on that one. No? Still going to command me what to do. Let me make it clear, I'm going to make excuses to you until he finally starts that engine and drives off. Come on man! What are you waiting on? Start that car and drive off so I can't talk to you! Finally! See God, now I can't obey. He is gone."

That is just one instance. There are plenty of others. So what of those claws? What of those razor sharp claws of the Lion? Will this dangerous Lion I stand before quit showing me the way? Will He let my heart become as hardened as I try and make it? Will He lovingly strike me with those great paws with claws so sharp? (Remind me to tell you of a friend who felt those claws, even the end, and was glad of it).

Maybe (I would rather that than that He simply leave me to my own devices). But then I remember, no rather, the Spirit spoke once again, "Ah, but this claw I see you eying so warily, remember, that these claws has pierced my own paws, first."

How great is our God? Not some man, only more so. But perfect in all His ways. In all that He does and intends. The God who nailed Himself to a tree, became cursed for me, for you, who harden our hearts to His whispers that call us to be like Him. How great is our God that He would put the desire in our hearts to KNOW Him in the first place. And even more, that He would grant us the capacity, by the power and work of His Holy Spirit, to be JUST LIKE HIM.

In a somewhat different but absolutely connected line of thinking, I encourage you to go to discipleshiplibrary.com and look for a sermon by Billy Graham called "Commitment."

Our God, Jesus, is awesome. And deserving of all things. Would you gladly give your live to advance the Gospel of Jesus one mile? Would I? I hope so. I pray so. So what must we do? Obey. We must obey, obey, obey.

My little known experiences as a pilot... and broadway performer.

In answer to... I'm guess one of my unidentified brother's question, here is a quick recounting of the events surrounding my piloting of an airplane.

Funny story about the plane. It was at a date auction (a fund raiser for missions and the date activities were auctioned, not the person) and I won the date for a plane ride around Ft. Worth. My friend Hillary's dad was a pilot and he gave us a ride over the city. During the ride he let me take the controls... of course he was ready to take over, but I figured that was close enough.

Also connected to that story is the account of how two dorm buddies from Clark Hall (Brian (who we always referred to by his last name, which I oddly cannot remember) and Chris Mattingly) and I ourselves got auctioned off at the same event. The date we treated three lucky ladies to was some first class spaghetti and then smores around an outdoor fireplace (which apparently we were supposed to have scheduled with the school to use!). The highlight of the evening was our song and dance rendition of "My Little Buttercup" from the classic comedy Three Amigos. I'm not sure but I think someone video taped us.

Anyone knows what happened to the tape?

A Look Backwards

I got this from Abigail, who got it from somewhere else. The bold ones are what I've done.


01. Bought everyone in the bar a drink
02. Swam with wild dolphins
03. Climbed a mountain
04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
05. Been inside the Great Pyramid
06. Held a tarantula
07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone
08. Said “I love you” and meant it
09. Hugged a tree
10. Bungee jumped
11. Visited Paris
12. Watched a lightning storm at sea
13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise
14. Seen the Northern Lights
15. Gone to a huge sports game
16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa
17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
18. Touched an iceberg
19. Slept under the stars
20. Changed a baby’s diaper
21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
22. Watched a meteor shower
23. Gotten drunk on champagne
24. Given more than you can afford to charity
25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
27. Had a food fight
28. Bet on a winning horse
29. Asked out a stranger (close enough to being a stranger)
30. Had a snowball fight
31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
32. Held a lamb
33. Seen a total eclipse (not sure about this one, but it seems like I have)
34. Ridden a roller coaster
35. Hit a home run
36. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking
37. Adopted an accent for an entire day
38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
39. Had two hard drives for your computer
40. Visited all 50 states
41. Taken care of someone who was drunk.
42. Had amazing friends
43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country
44. Watched wild whales
45. Stolen a sign
46. Backpacked in Europe.
47. Taken a road-trip
48. Gone rock climbing
49. Midnight walk on the beach
50. Gone sky diving (static-line jumps don't allow for more free fall than a few seconds, but I suppose that is close enough)
51. Visited Ireland
52. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love
53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger’s table and had a meal with them
54. Visited Japan
55. Milked a cow
56. Alphabetized your CDs
57. Pretended to be a superhero (for the vast majority of my childhood, and parts of my adulthood)
58. Sung karaoke
59. Lounged around in bed all day
60. Played touch football
61. Gone scuba diving
62. Kissed in the rain
63. Played in the mud
64. Played in the rain
65. Gone to a drive-in theater
66. Visited the Great Wall of China
67. Started a business
68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken
69. Toured ancient sites
70. Taken a martial arts class (level one Army combatives certified. Doesn't mean much, trust me)
71. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight (better believe it)
72. Gotten married
73. Been in a movie (hardly a professional one, but oh man was it hilarious and fun)
74. Crashed a party
75. Gotten divorced
76. Gone without food for 5 days
77. Made cookies from scratch
78. Won first prize in a costume contest
79. Ridden a gondola in Venice
80. Gotten a tattoo
81. Rafted the Snake River
82. Been on television news programs as an “expert”
83. Got flowers for no reason
84. Performed on stage
85. Been to Las Vegas
86. Recorded music
87. Eaten shark
88. Kissed on the first date
89. Gone to Thailand
90. Bought a house (working on doing that soon)
91. Been in a combat zone
92. Buried one/both of your parents
93. Been on a cruise ship
94. Spoken more than one language fluently
95. Performed in Rocky Horror
96. Raised children
97. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country
100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn’t stop when you knew someone was looking
103. Had plastic surgery
104. Survived an accident that you shouldn’t have survived
105. Wrote articles for a large publication (does the Dragon Echo count?)
106. Lost over 100 pounds
107. Held someone while they were having a flashback
108. Piloted an airplane
109. Touched a stingray
110. Broken someone’s heart (that is a going a bit too far, but I think you could say she was... a bit... obsessed...)
111. Helped an animal give birth
112. Won money on a T.V. game show
113. Broken a bone
114. Gone on an African photo safari
115. Had a facial part pierced other than your ears
116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol
117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild
118. Ridden a horse
119. Had major surgery (I was a C-Section baby. Close enough for me)
120. Had a snake as a pet
121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
122. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours
123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states
124. Visited all 7 continents
125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
126. Eaten kangaroo meat
127. Eaten sushi
128. Had your picture in the newspaper
129. Changed someone’s mind about something you care deeply about
130. Gone back to school
131. Parasailed
132. Touched a cockroach
133. Eaten fried green tomatoes
134. Read The Iliad - and the Odyssey
135. Selected one “important” author who you missed in school, and read
136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
137. Skipped all your school reunions
138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
139. Been elected to public office
140. Written your own computer language
141. Thought to yourself that you a’re living your dream
142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
143. Built your own PC from parts
144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn’t know you
145. Had a booth at a street fair
146. Dyed your hair
147. Been a DJ
148. Shaved your head
149. Caused a car accident (very minor, I rearended someone. We got out. Looked at our cars in the dark. Then got back in our cars and drove on. Later I noticed the huge dent in my fender. I hope there was no similar damage on her car!)
150. Saved someone’s life

I've decided to add some of my own:

151. Fired a machine gun (and jumped out of a plane with about 100 pounds of gear, including a machine gun strapped to my side)
152. Thrown a grenade
153. Had only about one hour of sleep per day for a week or more
154. Been saved by someone else
155. Finished a book you thought was terrible because you couldn't stand to not finish it
156. Sharted (if you don't know what this is...)
157. Told you'd never amount to anything by your teacher... on your birthday...
158. Had friends who threw you a surprise birthday
159. Told someone all the evil you've done and had done to you
160. Attempted to tell someone all the wonderful things you've experienced
161. Jokingly formed a “secret society or club
162. Kidnapped a friend as part of a joke
163. Had a cop pull a gun on you because he thought you were really kidnapping someone
164. Been scantily clad in a public place and been sought after by police
165. Tricked roommate into thinking you'd been kicked out of school
166. Been defecated on by a bird
167. Fought a dragon (okay. I haven't really done this, but I know I guy that has... okay, not really, but you can image what that would be like... no? EVERYBODY ON BUS!)

Alright. That's all I've got for now.