Pictures from Iraq

My brother sent us some new pics the other day from Iraq... here is my favorite one of him.

Insane light show

I have heard that this is one of the most popular web links right now. Who ever spent the time and energy to put together this holiday light display has either no life or the creative energy of ten people put together. Maybe it is not that complex, but when I watch this I feel like either I have wasted my life, or this guy has... (click here) I have also heard that he had to shut it down because either his electric bill was out of sight, or because the traffic in his neigborhood was so clogged that there were traffic problems... who knows... another urban legend...

Indians (re-)sign Graves and Karsay

I think on the whole this is a good move. Graves (despite the incindent that left him without a Red's jersey) has been very consistent on a mediocre team... having him back will plug the hole Howry left well. Karsay... this guy has always thought too much of his abilities... it got him a deal with the Yanks for a while, but not long. When he pitches in the place he belongs... the bullpen, and if he can learn to be content with that, he can do well. Now the Tribe needs one more starter to replace Millwood (can he be replaced?), and a right handed bat. It is hard to say who either of these will be. The table of free agent players is getting cleaned off fast...

Contentment

Puritan Prayers

Heavenly Father, if I should suffer need, and go unclothed, and be in poverty, make my heart prize Thy love, know it, be constrained by it, though I be denied all blessings. It is Thy mercy to afflict and try me with wants, for by these trials I see my sins, and desire severance from them. Let me willingly accept misery, sorrows, temptations, if I can thereby feel sin as the greatest evil, and be delivered from it with gratitude to Thee, acknowledging this as the highest testimony of Thy love.

When thy Son, Jesus, came into my soul instead of sin He became more dear to me than sin had formerly been; His kindly rule replaced sin's tyranny. Teach me to believe that if ever I would have any sin subdued I must not only labour to overcome it, but must invite Christ to abide in the place of it, and He must become to me more than vile lust had been; that His sweetness, power, life may be there. Thus I must seek a grace from Him contrary to sin, but must not claim it apart from Himself.

When I am afraid of evils to come, comfort me by showing me that in myself I am a dying, condemned wretch, but in Christ I am reconciled and live; that in myself I find insufficiency and no rest, but in Christ there is satisfaction and peace; that in myself I am feeble and unable to do good, but in Christ I have ability to do all things. Though now I have His graces in part, I shall shortly have them perfectly in that state where Thou wilt show Thyself fully reconciled, and alone sufficient, efficient, loving me completely, with sin abolished. O Lord, hasten that day.

A good friend

Here is a new picture of my friend Pheakdey. She sent this to me recently with the pictures of Sreynith in the Buckeyes shirt. I really appreciate her. She is straight forward and honest, yet knows when to share and when to wait until the right time. She told me recently that she is headed for Hong Kong for a couple of days at Christmas. She said that it is her first time on a plane. May God bless you friend! You are in His hands. Have a great time.

Enlightenting the Cambodians...

I love this picture. I sent Sreynith a Ohio State shirt as a gift this past fall. I am sure that she doesn't really know anything about what the Buckeyes are, but it certainly is fun to share something about my life with her. Maybe I can explain it a little more next summer. And it at least means that she will not be wearing anything with maize and blue on it.

A Well Traveled Cat

Stowaway Cat Reunited With Family

Puritan Prayers

I ran across this website of Puritan Prayers lately and I have been floored by the depth of the words and the shallowness of my own heart... Here is the first one listed... under the heading of Confession and Petition...

Holy Lord, I have sinned times without number, and been guilty of pride and unbelief, of failure to find Thy mind in Thy Word, of neglect to seek Thee in my daily life. My transgressions and short-comings present me with a list of accusations, but I bless Thee that they will not stand against me, for all have been laid on Christ. Go on to subdue my corruptions, and grant me grace to live above them. Let not the passions of the flesh nor lustings of the mind bring my spirit into subjection, but do Thou rule over me in liberty and power.

I thank Thee that many of my prayers have been refused. I have asked amiss and do not have, I have prayed from lusts and been rejected, I have longed for Egypt and been given a wilderness. Go on with Thy patient work, answering 'no' to my wrongful prayers, and fitting me to accept it. Purge me from every false desire, every base aspiration, everything contrary to Thy rule. I thank Thee for Thy wisdom and Thy love, for all the acts of discipline to which I am subject, for sometimes putting me into the furnace to refine my gold and remove my dross.

No trial is so hard to bear as a sense of sin. If Thou shouldst give me choice to live in pleasure and keep my sins, or to have them burnt away with trial, give me sanctified affliction. Deliver me from every evil habit, every accretion of former sins, everything that dims the brightness of Thy grace in me, everything that prevents me taking delight in Thee. Then I shall bless Thee, God of jeshurun, for helping me to be upright.

The Merchant of Venice

This definitely ranks in the category of one of the best pictures that I have seen this year. Although it leaves out parts of the story (as most adaptations have to), Al Pacino is great as Shylock, Jeremy Irons as Antonio, Joseph Fiennes as Bassanio and Lynn Collins as Portia. The only down side to the movie, and it is a major downer in my opinion, is that for some reason they feel the need to present Venice as the home of bare chested prostitutes... and they seem to inhabit large parts of the town... the movie would have been just fine without it... Imagine that! If you are a big fan of Shakespeare, you will enjoy the "If you prick us do we not bleed, if you tickle us do we not laugh" monologue that Pacino performs well. The scene where Portia disguises herself as the doctor is fantastic. The interplay between her and Shylock is well worth the movie. However, if you want to protect your eyes, you may want to take a pass on it.

World's 'Ugliest Dog" Dies

This has to be seen to be believed... this dog truly is truly repugnant

Pics of my brother...

Here is a link to some pictures of my brother in Iraq, he told me that I could put them on here (so no worries out there!) ... my personal favorites are the car and the Hulk gloves...

Band pictures as promised...

Here are some pictures from the band concert...

Seda

My friend Seda sent me some new pictures lately and I wanted to share them... she has become a very dear friend, and I am praying that God will make a way for me to be there next summer again to see her, the other college students, the children at the orphanages and at New Life Christian School in Phnom Penh. Thank you again, Seda...

Pics of my brother...

Here is a link to some pictures of my brother in Iraq, he told me that I could put them on here (so no worries out there!) ... my personal favorites are the car and the Hulk gloves...

Things that make me laugh lately...

Here are a couple of sites to check out that have made me laugh...

John Daker... check out this stellar performance... there are so many things about this that are funny that it is hard to know where to begin. Perhaps one of the funniest things for me revolves around the song choices... as if "Christ the Lord is Risen Today" and "Amore" are two perfect songs that go together...

The Star Wars Gangsta Rap... the lyrics here are better than much of George Lucas' dialogue...

The Dark Side Switch Campaign... a cartoon version of Anakin Skywalker talks about why he has left the side of good... it seems to attempt to present itself like a Monster Dot Com commercial for people looking for employment...

I have also seen a video called "Anakin Dynamite", which is a combination of, you guessed it, Anakin Skywalker and Napolean Dynamite... Very funny. Check www.atomfilms.com

Post concert ramblings...

Okay for anyone who is out there listening (or reading)... we had a band concert tonight, and really it went pretty well. I am very pleased with how the kids did. It is so easy to think this way after the concert is over, but I don't know why I ever worry. We practice the music over and over, it may not be perfect, but it is always consistent. I am rarely surprised by anything the kids do on the concert because we have already made our mistakes downstairs in the band room. (Although tonight when Jessica had a ladybug fly over and land on her nose, that did throw me for a second - got it off for her while she played!) But you really can't control the final performance in the moment that it happens any more than you can control the flight path of a ladybug... at that point it is up to the kids. I have done what I know how to do, it is up to them to finish it out... and that happened... Glad to be there to see it happen, to be a part of it, to move on to more and other things... like recognizing a 98 year old man in the middle of the concert... unexpected, unplanned, worthwhile... pictures to come.

Seda and Asna

These are pictures of Seda and her brother Asna... Seda is a great friend and she gave me a great surprise by calling me on Friday evening... I always love to talk to her, although I was a bit tired, and we didn't have the best connection at the end of the call. Nonetheless, great to get a call from as John McCollum calls it "The Other Side of Dawn".

Thanks Elisabeth...

As I have read a variety of books, Elisabeth Elliot has to be one of the people who has had her feet most planted on the ground. I love reading the things she says because, A) it makes sense, B) it is rooted in God's Word and C) She know how to write well. But I also like her writing because she has a tendency to pull in quotes from completely unknown (to me) sources that always make me pause... here are two from 'Passion and Purity"

From Lilias Trotter (who?)
"The first step into the realm of giving is... not manward but Godward: an utter yielding of our best. So long as our idea of surrender is limited to the renouncing of unlawful things, we have never grasped its true meaning: that is not worthy of the name for 'no polluted thing' can be offered" (pg. 164)

From T.C. Upham (who?)
"The disposition... to leave the dearest objects of our hearts in the sublime keeping of the general and unspecific belief that God is now answering our prayers in His time and way, and in the best manner, involves a present process of inward crucifixion which is obviously unfavorable to the growth and even the existence of the life of self." (pg. 150)

McCollum's Blog

If you get the chance, check out John McCollum's blog on his current Cambodia trip... The Other side of Dawn... he has got a great way with words...

A couple pictures of Pheakdey

Pheakdey sent me some great pictures of herself lately... she is a young woman in Kampuchea who is studying hotel management at Norton University. Thanks for the pictures friend!