FOUND HER.

She's home in Houston now, and I'm sure in the next day or so, you can check check her blog for all the stories about the week in Denver with the family. She has all sorts of stories to share with everyone, so be sure to pop over sometime this week to check them out!

I PROMISE, I CAN DO THE JOB, I PROMISE!
And apparently, I AM going to have a chance to say that in my best fourth grade voice on July 12th at 4PM in person, because they just called to invite me to round one of the face to face interviews.

?? Now all I have to do is find a ride ?? Or practice taking the buses to that spot a hundred times prior to the interview!

HAHAH! Saw this on a tshirt today, and busted out laughing! I was immediately taken back to the computer desk in the rear of Mrs. Hardesty's fifth grade classroom at Monticello Elem, where Jason Norris and I would sit and play Oregon Trail once our work was done. Good times. Don't YOU wish you had one of those cool tshirts?

Some others you might wish to be sporting this summer:

I AM NO SUPERMAN AT ALL.

I really like Dave Matthews, have I mentioned that this year? Some people say he's a flake musically. I don't care. I'll be one of those people who are a fan of the flake then.

No more loaded questions. I'm done, just fyi. Maybe some other game will find it's way here over the next few days or weeks, but for now, that's it. Funny thing, it's been just a few hours since I posted Joe's picture and mentioned that's he's coming up - and already I have had a few people email me asking, "Yo - can I get those digits, baby?" Hahaha...pretty funny. Of course, I gotta protect a brotha' like that and not give them out. He's reserved.

Who sings "Erase and Rewind?" I like that song. But don't tell Bob. I think that it qualifies as something close to that genre of music that I don't like, only I do like this song. OH! Senorita came up next on my play list. Lucky me! It's one of my favs.

In other news, David, one of the bloggers listed to the right, who was teaching at a school REALLY close to where Robert is, made it home to the States about four hours ago.

I have got to go to bed. My sleeping is seriously broken again...

LISTENING TO #41
(if I can't drive, at least I can listen to my DMB driving music)

From the epilepsy.com website:

Most people who take Topamax (topiramate) have little or no problem with side effects. Most of these problems are more common when higher doses of Topamax are taken. Those with problems most often complained of:

fatigue or drowsiness

difficulty with concentration

difficulty finding the right word (word retrieval)

confusion

dizziness

unsteadiness

a feeling of pins and needles, usually in the tips of the fingers and toes

loss of appetite and weight loss

nervousness

depression

difficulty with memory

Last week, I went to the neurologist for the first time in six months for a check up, and apparently, he saw the italicized side effects in me the same way I'd been feeling them. He asked me "how I'd been feeling" and I just glossed over the question and said, "OK, I mean, I feel a little dumb, but I think it's because I'm bored and don't have a lot to keep my brain occupied."

I don't think he found it very funny, because he came over and started his little test he does. "Tap my fingers with your left hand, now with your right, now grab both my hand with both of yours, now follow my hand with your eyes. Can you name five animals that start with the letter P?" and so on...and by the end of our appointment, he told me that he wanted to change my medicine. He said that he was not comfortable with the effect my medicine was having on my speech, my fine motor skills and my general thought processes, and that though the dosage of my medicine is safe to increase still, he is not comfortable increasing it again should I have another seizure. He recommended another medicine, told me about its own set of crazy side effects and risks, then gave me the choice to switch. I came home, thought about it, prayed about it a bit, talked with Bob about, and in the ended, decided not to. I'm okay where I am, I just have to deal with these side effects.

Fast forward a bit, and I had an interview yesterday with a very well known national non-profit's local branch here in Columbus for a position that is very well suited to my previous experience managing volunteers. I've done pretty well at that, you know? Even still - I was a bit surprised to get a phone interview for this position because it is SUCH a big organization, but I figured, "HEY, if they're calling, then they understand my experience and they are at least a little interested, right? If they're calling, then I can sell myself from here because I KNOW I can do that job, dang it!"

But once we started talking, questions that I've answered a thousand times in a dozen interviews in the past, CAKE questions, came out all garbled and stuttered. I couldn't find the word "DJ" when trying to answer the question, "Are you comfortable speaking in front of large crowds or presenting to audiences?" I was trying to tell her that Tom used to call me a Disney Tour Guide and how the morning show host from the local Christian radio show here in town told me three months ago at a benefit dinner we were hosting together that I could have a career in radio if I wanted it after working at the church, because though that was the first time he'd heard me in front of a large crowd, he was really impressed and felt that I was actually REALLY good. Only, when I couldn't find the freaking word DJ, I'm sure that entire story sounded STUPID. HOW could I possibly be a polished speaker when I couldn't find two letters only six spaces apart from one another in the english alphabet? In the end, there was no way the interview came off well because I was feeling very flustered by the whole experience, and thinking, "No really, I can totally do this job! I promise!" which is of course, a fourth grade response. You can't "No Really!" your way into a professional position, now can you?

I have to get over that, see. That feels like the medicine and the stupid seizures managing me, and not the other way around. I don't know if it means making flash cards that say, "DJ," "unexpected" and "I have been to Minelli's exactly six times, even if I never remember the first time" in order to manage it, but, it just can't be like that, you know? It makes me not want to talk! and that's obviously not an option because God knows...

I've got a lot to say! :-)

GUESS WHO'S COMING TO DINNER?
Joe (and not the familial kind). This Saturday, my southern pal Joe will roll into town for a quick bite to eat on his way north. Honestly, it's a really unexe

(Why am I have trouble spelling that word right now? What is wrong with me? I used to be a spelling whiz and right this second I can't spell that simple word?)

un ex pect ed

It's a really unexpected and welcomed surprise to be able to take a meal with someone who knows me in this funny way Joe does, and who is FREAKING HILARIOUS, but who hasn't been a part of all of the drama here the past nine months and two years. It should be good. And what the heck has he been up to beside kickin' it in awesome Charlotte? Then when we're finished, he'll go see his family in Michigan and I'll be off to the Grove City fireworks with Robert's family, which will be a great start to July, and the start of my two week countdown.

He probably hates when I do this, but seriously... :-) does that make you grin?!

LOADED QUESTIONS
(Yes, again, because it's proving that there is life out there)

1. What is it about you that people that people find irresistable?
2. If you were a city commissioner, what would you do to make your city better?
3. If I wanted to really annoy somebody, I would continually do this.
4. If you would only work on one body part at the gym, what would it be?
5. What song do you keep hearing over and over?
6. If you were in line at the deli right now, what might you order?
7. What might you title your autobiography?
8. Who is your favorite comedian?
9. What are your nightmares generally about?
10. What odd bodily habits do you have?

*and a bonus question that you don't need to answer, but I found amusing because of the way it's worded - "Whose face should be on the one dollar bill? (choose a name other than your own)" As if they KNEW that most people would choose their own!

1. According to Jason Coker, Robert.
2. Impove the bus system so that it basically suited my every need (and if I could also improve so that it better met the needs of other people and was financially solvent, even better).
3. Ask lots of annoying, probing questions, very similar to what I'm doing!
4. My arms and stomach. If I keep working those, I'll be a size 6 in no time, right! YIKES? See how I gave two answers even though the question asked for one? That's because technically, all of our muscles are connected eventually by something or other, right? Muscles stuck to ligaments stuck to bones or something like that. Sort of like my, "all roads lead home" theory.
5. There Goes My Life, by Kenny Chesney. It was playing when I started this.
6. There are no good deli's here, either. But if I were at a GOOD deli, I'd be at McAlister's in SC, and I'd be ordering a big fat ham sandwich on an onion roll, with potato salad, sweet tea (the BEST sweet tea) and a chocolate chip cookie, and we'd be going outside to sit. OH! and they have those AWESOME pot roast pototoes! YUM! Scott-Dev, that's another reason you can move to Columbia and love it.
7. This Is A Dumb Question.
8. I'm really enjoying Kathy Griffin these days. She can be a little bit vulgar, but mostly I just think she's a riot.
9. Driving on an elevated highway that's not finished, and not realizing it until I'm about to drive off of it!
10. I chew on my lip when I'm nervous. Brad Nichols was the first person to call me on it.

LOADED QUESTIONS
(listening to: If It's Magic - Stevie Wonder...nice song)

1. If you could name the home you're currently living in, what would you name it?
2. What American city does not deserve a place on the map? Why?
3. What color looks best on you?
4. What is the longest period of time you have spent in a car? Describe it.
5. What do Martians do for fun on Mars?
6. Where is the most beautiful place you've ever been?
7. If your name was a typical dog's name, what would it be?
8. Fill in the blank - Rap music makes me want to _____.
9. If your picture showed up on America's Most Wanted, what crime would you have committed?
10. What are your two favorite pizza toppings?

1. Tripsy.
2. Detroit. It's everything I hate about a city. The only thing good about Detroit which I have observed is that it has this wonderful bridge that leads to Canada.
3. Red, but not blue-red, yellow red. (edited later - that's probably not true. It's probably green, or turquoise).
4. 21 hours by myself, but admittedly, I stopped to sleep overnight in Tulsa. I was driving from Dayton to Houston via Tulsa and since 13 hours is about the longest I can drive myself without wanting to gouge my eyes out, Tulsa was my pit stop.
5. Martians on Mars drink Martinis while eating Mars candy bars and make fun of us trying to find them living in their holes undergound, I guess. That's what I would do if I lived on Mars, because clearly there's nothing else to do, might as well get drunk and fat.
6. Any number of places in western Colorado I've been could take this spot (Ouray, Ridgeway, Telluride, even my town, Montrose), but let's just choose a little spot by a river in Buena Vista, Colorado. We had taken our student ministry white water rafting, but were camping the night before along this river by the Collegiate Peaks Wildernenss Area, and once the kids were in bed, one of the parents and I sneaked off to just sit by the river and talk. It must have been midnight, crystal clear skies, fourtneers within eyeshot, and a moon as big as the sky. It was brilliant. Colorado IS brilliant. Lots of space to breathe.
7. Sparky.
8. Shake yo' ass, watch yo'self, shake yo' ass, show me whacha workin' with...
9. It's common knowledge that Brandi and I operate a brothel on the side, so that's probably what I'd get busted for.
10. Pepperoni and sausage.

SOUGHT. BOUGHT. SPENT. AND KEPT IN HIS WALLET.

Colossians 2:6-17 (the fake angie version)
6And now, just as you accepted Angie Osborne as your Lord, you must continue to live in obedience to her. 7Let your roots grow down into her and draw up nourishment from her, so you will grow in faith, strong and vigorous in the truth you were taught. Let your lives overflow with thanksgiving for all she has done.

I shared this verse with my high schoolers the night I resigned, as a way of highlighting the absurdity of what it would be like if they focused on me rather than Jesus as I resigned. They laughed as soon as I started reading, of course. Then I shared this verse, also of my own creation.

John 1:6-9 (the new Angie version)
God sent Angie to tell everyone about the light so that everyone might believe because of her testimony. Angie herself was not the light; she was only a witness to the light. The one who is the true light, who gives light to everyone, was going to come into the world later; the true light was Jesus.

Tonight I went to the viewing of a parent of one of the students in my old student ministry. Halfway through the viewing, I had to stop Wes Black from stooping down to the ground with a very LARGE, clownlike ruler, slipping Amanda's shoe off and measuring the heel of it just to see how tall it was. People everywhere were staring and gawking at the LOUD crowd of laughter ridden teenagers. As soon as I said, "Wes, you do realize that you're crouched on the ground with a ruler measuing a shoe at a VIEWING, right?" He immediately shot up and said, "OH! My gosh! You're right! I totally forgot! hahaha...Good call. Wow. Do you ever stop being a youth pastor?" I guess not. After the viewing, some of the students and volunteers who had gathered decided to go to Steak-N-Shake. I haven't spent time with most of these people since I resigned because it can so easily become an awkward situation for both me and them. I was especially excited though to see two of my Briggs boys, Don and Ralphael, because I don't normally have the opportunity to see them on the weekends at church since they don't attend our church (only the student ministry).

We were in the middle of dinner, talking about something completely random while Don and Ralphael were showing us pictures out of their wallets (mostly family pictures), when Ralphael said, "Hey Angie, you wanna see something. Take a look at this." He handed me a folded up piece of paper that looks like it had been folded and unfolded a hundred times into two inch by one inch square. I quickly saw that it was on Vineyard letterhead and immediately, I knew what it was. It was my resignation letter.

Amanda (another high schooler from a neighboring school) said, "Ralphey, what? You just carry that around? WHY?" He said, "I don't know. I just do. It means something to me. Angie do you remember when you gave us those?" "Yeah, Ralphael, I do. That's cool that you have that." After I'd looked it over for a moment, I folded it back up and gave it back, but then he handed me another slip of paper. It was some scripture he'd written down related to a sermon I'd taught one night, and said, "Yeah, and look at this. How about that?"

Yeah. How about that? *HEAVY sigh*

PROOF POSITIVE THAT I'M A TOTAL NERD
(and that I should get a job a soon).

If you happened to catch my long explanation of why I wanted to attend William and Mary, you'll know why this post is freaking awesome. If not, eh.

DID YOU KNOW THAT THEY FOUND JAMESTOWN? It's NOT underwater in the James River like they thought it was? It's true! Check it out!? I mean, if you're bored like I am and have nothing else to do. See the yellow outlines? Yeah. "I once was lost, but now I'm found" Jamestown.

When we lived in Virginia and toured Jamestown, we (and by we, I mean ALL the little school children in Virginia) were taught that the Jamestown settlement was just off the riverbank, settled in the James River, and the forts, houses, and stockhouses we were looking at were recreations because the actual settlement would never really be found. Well, look at that! MOM!!! Why did have to move to freaking Ohio! If we had stayed in Virginia, in 1994 when they rediscovered Jamestown, I would have been touring it with my History class, I'm sure, since we lived 20 minutes from it. They found the whole freaking thing! It didn't even make the news here?! How can that NOT be NATIONAL BREAKING NEWS?! Mr. G and Mr. Allen didn't even talk about it in class did they, Dev? They probably didn't even know. Stupid Northridge. :-( And yes, I know - I am "picking up some good things here in Ohio." But, the knowledge that Jamestown has been discovered? Not one of them until just now. Oh well. Next time I'm in Virginia, the REAL Jamestown is on my list.

LOADED QUESTIONS

I've decided to play a game (thanks monkeys), and you can play too if you'd like! Just post your answers in the comments section. My answers are below.

1. What was your favorite book growing up?
2. If you could choose/have chosen any college to attend, what would it be?
3. What do you generally sleep in at night?
4. Other than the standard items, (credit cards, money, DL) what interesting items do you keep in your wallet/purse?
5. What are you most neurotic about?
6. On a scale of 1-10, how "hip" are you?
7. Fill in the blank: I would eat 25 live cockroaches if they were covered with _____.
8. Where is the worst place to be stuck waiting?
9. If you were to construct your dream home, how many bathrooms would it have?
10. What is your favorite piece of clothing that you own?
______________________

1. James and the Giant Peach, by Ronald Dahl,and yes, I loved the movie as well. It was one of the few movie adaptations of a children's book that I felt accurately captured the imaginative possibilities that the book offered. Mr. K. introduced me to this book. He was my favorite teacher, but I can't really remember why, especially considering that I DO remember him giving my first really bad grade in math. Grr... and he gave me a Norman Rockwell cup when my family moved away. I think my mom still has it in Texas.

2. College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, VA. (yes, there was a long story about why here, but it was taking up half the page for goodness sake! the short version is W&M represented all that was historical and smart about living in Virginia when I was little, and I was sure that if I went there, I could grow up and work in government).

3. A bed. Hahaha...Light pajama pants and either a plain matching cotton tshirt or tank top.

4. Apparently, enough medicine that I could sell it on the black market and pay all Devan's rent.

5. Brushing my teeth every single night before I go to bed, without exception, no matter how tired I am, even if it's 2AM when I get in. That's not exactly neurotic...I think most people are like that, right? If I'm crazy neurotic about something else, correct me, but I think that's the biggest thing.

6. I'd say a 6. More than most, which I guess is 5, but really not much more than average. The fact that this question says "Hip" is decidedly unhip.

7. My dead body. I would have to BE dead in order for live cockroaches to be entering my mouth, so that's what would be covering them - my dead body.

8. Waiting in freeway traffic by the Greenlawn softball fields on a really hot day, because it stinks.

9. My "crazy out of this world, don't really need all that, but it would be cool to have" dream home would have 3.5 baths, but seriously, that's a heck of a lotta house!

10. Uh...honestly? This new, smaller bra because it fits so well, it makes everything else look nicer. My 9/10 jeans I bought a few weeks ago but have only just worn for the first time this weekend are pretty cool, too, but I have to get used to them first. They still feel weird.

APPLES TO APPLES TO APPLES.

This weekend? Well, the monkeys came, hooted and hollered or oofed and awwed, (whatever that sound is that monkeys make), and then left. While they were here, we discovered that Apples to Apples is best not played with just three people. It's really rather dull that way, and so we only played that for about three hands before we quit. But now Scott and Devan know that there's this cool game out there worth owning. Unfortunately, there are no other people in the town where they live, so they had a better chance of comparing Apples to Apples here than there. THERE it would just be Apples. And you know what that leads to? Scott knows. ;-)

While they were here, we went to dinner with the female primate's parents. It took only two hours of deliberations before they got here to decide where we would take them, and because I'm something of a people pleaser like that (and because her parents are a bit picky and like down-home food and because Scott and Dev and I were trying very hard to avoid Bob Evans/Cracker Barrel yet again ((that's where we always go with her parents, and Scott and Dev can go there whenever they want))... I had decided we'd go to Cate's. Then at the last second, I changed my mind and decided Hoggy's because I figured it would have a larger selection of that style of food. Once we got to Hoggy's - it comes out that all her parents really wanted was STEAK, and all Scott and Dev wanted was a salad?! So to Cate's we went. We had a nice dinner and everyone seemed to enjoy their food. Oh - for future reference though, the BBQ Shrimp at Cate's is good, but I wouldn't pay $7.50 for it (we didn't pay for it, Doug had just sent it out to us to try for no good reason!).

On Saturday night I went to church and wondered what the message was about, only to realize that it was "bring a friend" weekend, when the message is aimed specifically at not-yet-believers, and so while of course the gospel is ALWAYS relevant to everyone, the feeling I had of, "HUH?" was fairly valid. Then, some friends and I spent some time downtown. I know that I've said this recently, but our city is beautiful. It is really captivating to stare at during a late, clear night.

Today was Hannah's sixth birthday party.

(that's Hannah at Bob's apartment last year. I love this picture!)

I really don't know how Hannah was manufactured so cute. The big surprise for Hannah (and me!) was a call from Robert! She was kind of speechless and didn't know what to say once he got on the phone with her. Then once she got off the phone with him, she ran over to me straightaway and said, "Do you know who that was? Uncle Bob!?" and after standing there staring at me completely still for a few moments, fell into my lap in a giggly mess.

Good stuff. It felt like a long weekend, and I'll be glad to hit the sack tonight (edited in later while I am correcting typos - I didn't go to sleep for another four or five hours. My sleeping is broken again).

OH! one last thing for this post. Robert and I had booked a hotel in London, but then had the bright idea to try to find a Vineyard family from a local church to stay with instead. So I started emailing churches and/or networking with my friends to see if any of them knew someone who might be interested in hosting us for the time that we're there. "Ka-CHOW!" as Craig might try to say! Just this evening when I arrived home from the party, there was an invitation from a family just outside of the city inviting us! (edited in later: and this morning, she sent me an email telling me about she and her husband and their kids! How exciting!) Holy hospitality, eh? Tom should be careful what he dares us to do, we might just go take him up on it!

Somebody must take a chance: The monkeys who became men, and the monkeys who didn't are still jumping around in trees making faces at the monkeys who did. (Lincoln Steffens)

My risky monkey goofballs are coming for a visit today. Scott and Devan will be here in just a matter of hours, around 1PM or 2PM. This picture pretty much describes Scott and Dev - taking the world by storm, but monkeying around while they do it (with no shoes on either, so maybe not quite prepared for the adventures they're getting themselves into, but not letting that stop them from going in with guns blazing and together)! What fun!

SHOULD I BUILD A POPCORN STRING OR SOMETHING?


So really, I'm NOT counting the days, but we're getting close to running out of weeks to count here. Three.

THREE. Pinky, Ring and Middle. Thumb, Index and Middle. However it's most convenient for you, those how I'm counting, but either way, I'm down to three, and after this, THEN I'm going to start counting DAYS. And you know what comes after three weeks is up and I finish up the whole of 14 days? Seven days...which you don't even count in DAYS. You just say "this week." Yeah. See - THIS is why I can't count in days yet. It's as bad as December! Christmas and my birthday rolled into one month, two weeks apart from one another...all this counting in days and weeks. And everyone asking me, "Oh yeah - Robert's coming home soon, isn't he?!" OH IS HE?! REALLY? Hmmm... I'll have to check my calendar. I hadn't noticed. There's a word for this... what's it called?

;-)

NO MEGAN, I'M NOT UP FOR A CONCERT.

If you click that video, you might be offended. Ok, you've been warned.

It's a parody of a major Christian worship production house. I think it's funny. Megan invited me to a worship concert this week...er, actually, she sort of invited me. She invited the whole crew on the blog, and then when we were together as a group talking about it, she told me that she'd told Craig already, "Yeah, I don't think Angie is the type that would like to go to a worship concert really..."

I think THAT'S funny, because it's as true as it is UNTRUE. This week, it happens to be true. In fact, the very day that she said that, I'd started to blog out this huge post about the latest Cutting Edge.pdf, a magazine published by the National Vineyard office and how it just made me want to puke. Actually, the post was much more reasoned than that. I read it and mused to myself, "It's no wonder the Vineyard is comprised mostly of white late thirty somethings led by aging boomers." I have a growing disdain for the white American church, or maybe just the marketing of the Great White Church. There are places in the article that promote a STYLE of worship as the emerging way of worship and therefore the way to go if you want to grow and reach people (unplugged, reflective, emergent, earthy)...not to mention places where the author describes actual musical techniques that worship leaders should employ to make their worship team better and more able to draw people into the presence of the Lord...only those musical styles -- are styles that stand in opposition to hip hop and pop. If worship leaders employed those techniques, they could not physically draw out a hip hop beat, or string together a pop-sounding song that is also worshipful.

So I guess that in the Vineyard, to these guys, you have to fit this box, or better yet this circle ----> O <----- because there are no boxes in the Vineyard, it's too free flowing for boxes. Did I mention that on both American Top 40 and MTV's TRL, 70% of the songs currently playing are either hip hop or pop? You know the target ages of listeners for those charts are 30 and under? Why can't I go to church and hear a little happy in my beat? Why always with the forlorn acoustic and overlayed harmonies? Or even something that resembles the other 30% of those charts? Maybe a little Coldplay-esque? OH! How about something like Gnarls Barclay! WHY does the church think WORSHIP music has to sound like one dang thing in order for it BE worship!?

Did you know that three of my friends secretly listen to black gospel music, and like it? And when they found out that I do, too, were really happy to know that they weren't freaks? (WELL, you're not off the hook yet guys). They said, "I just love it. It feels so much less fake, like that stuff that we listen to at church. I mean, I like that stuff too, but this is the good stuff." One friend went so far as to say, "I mean, if I were really going through something rough, I wouldn't want someone to bring me some of the music that we hear at church, I'd want them to bring me some of this stuff. It's like what someone would actually SAY to you. This is like a conversation. What God might say."

Now listen, this isn't to say that we have bad or wrong worship music at the Vineyard. It's GOOD, it's RIGHT, it's QUALITY. It's the kind that makes space for you to meet God. But it's not the only kind...and sometimes, it would be really great to have a different kind, and I wonder if we wouldn't have a better representation of the flavors of the earth if we didn't also represent the flavors of worship better, too. I'm not talking about every little niche here, but when 70% of a major emerging market is listening to a type of music that we're just ignoring? Would it hurt to try to bring in a little beat or flava? (Yes, I know. I'm totally white and I just wrote flava. SO. I've got stripes, remember. I can say that and get away with it. Doesn't mean I don't sound like a dope saying it, but I can still say it.)

LONG POST FOR THE INTERESTED ONLY...

Apparently my pals over at the YMX have been been having a mildly interesting conversation in a thread that originally started out as "I don't support our troops," (a conversation I obviously wouldn't jump into. Doesn't that smack of being inflammatory, especially when had with a bunch of mostly male youth pastors who usually don't know jack about world history, politics, military strategy or missions, yet like to play like they do). But, in just the last few posts it evolved into something interesting. I didn't even know - another friend IM'ed me and told me to go read it, because he knew I'd be interested. XX reamed me a few months ago for saying there is a place for missionaries who go to countries and don't do strict open air evangelism and the like, but rather serve the people and build relational bridges towards the gospel (and also share the gospel as quickly as possible)...so the way this post evolves is crazy. Remember, when you start reading, you're jumping into a convo about our military presence in other countries and so on...

GraceSeeker: If you mean with any other groups, I would say that there have been successes. Notably Camp David accords that have kept Israel and Egypt and Israel and Jordan at peace with each other for years. Libya is no longer the beligerant it once was. Turkey has become one of our stronger allies. Conversation is what finally quieted Northern Ireland. And it was the Marshall plan, not a marshalling of troops that won the peace at the end of WW2. A similar strategy with the mideast at that same time, rather than carving it up into "protectorates" might have made for a better more peaceful world today.

XX: Peacemaking doesn't just involve governments signing treaties. It may involve para-government humanitarian troops representing, not the American people, but the kingdom of God. It may involve working behind the scenes and under the radar providing a better life for people. Usually, when people are confortable with life (not desparate), they are not easily swayed by ideaologues promoting violence. Unfortunately, when people are confortable, they are also not easily swayed into leaving their confortable lives to promote the kingdom of God (yes, I include myself in that category).

dkst0426: Hmm.........you do realize that in certain parts of the world, regardless of whether or not there is American involvement in such a group/organization/effort, it's going to be viewed as a precursor for a newer version of the Crusades, right?

XX: Yeah, all that handing out food and medical care to the poor and destitute is easily confused with European armies marching in to protect the Holy Land from Muslim conquerors.

dkst0426: You will please note the use of the word "precursor." The sentence did NOT read "...it's going to be viewed as a newer version of the Crusades..." How long before anyone accepting such assistance is denounced as an apostate? And how long before one--just ONE--mullah or imam or Ayatollah with a microphone begins the rhetoric of "This is just the first step"? Of course I'd support such a mission. Heck, the adventurous streak in me thinks I'd even like to sign up for that, but do you deny that what I just posited above could very likely happen?

XX: Honestly, I could see it happening and being effective in small portions of the Middle East for a short period of time. In the long run, I don't see it having much effect. But hey, the Romans claimed early Christians were cannibals, and we know how that strategy ultimately worked.

dkst0526: So what would these peacemakers be doing? Bringing about a detente, or converting Muslims?

XX: There will be some conversions, but that will be secondary to caring for orphans, providing medical care, offering food, creating job opportunities, rebuilding or building schools, water pumps, power plants. Then, when the conversions happen and the fatwas are declared, people will stop and think, "These people care about me, my family, and this community, and the Islamic leaders only care about subjegating me. Hmm . . ." Of course, there will be martyrs. It will get ugly. That is only to be expected when the Church is doing its job.

GraceSeeker: OK, Sam [XX], I was agreeing with you for most of what you were saying. But this idea that the Church might have to be willing to lay down its life in order to gain something bigger than life. That's crazy talk. Where did you come up with something like that?

XX: It was in this book I read.
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Now, in another thread, posted a short while after this one, XX posted this:

I NEED TO LEAVE AMERICA:
Not for good, but I need to go on a mission trip. The only one I've ever been on was one mission trip to Mexico in high school. That was just to build houses. It was a good experience, but I never really interacted with the people there. I just blended into the group I was with. To be honest, I've been too comfortable and too scared to go on another. Now . . . I think its time. So I'm asking for prayer for this. Prayer that if this is what God wants me to do, he'll open the doors and let me know where and when to go.

Of course, you can imagine imagine the chuck of real estate where I encouraged him to go. Not just our chunk, but the broader chunk of the 10/40. Let's see if he'll put money where his very loud mouth is. He could be one that goes there. He's bold enough, I just know it. This is a very BIG change of heart for XX, actually...and a change like this might as well go where it has space to breathe.

REASON #14 NOT TO LIVE IN HOUSTON.

Why does this make me giggle!? Mom called just now to tell me that Houston is flooded...AGAIN. Apparently they got 10-14 inches of rain in just over 2 hours, so of course, Houston is doing what Houston does - flooding. HAHA...and Houstonians are doing what they do! Driving through it! Check out the videos here! Some of you have heard me tell stories about how Houston floods when it rains, and I *think* you think I exaggerate. Well, these highways that they're showing are the MAJOR highways in Houston, some of them elevated, so when they say it's flooding, they MEAN it. Like I said, reason #14 not to live in Houston: floods. I'd love it for the beautiful sunsets and awesome CITY, but...

(Mom. Robert. Cristi. Wipe the smirks off your faces. I know that you're thinking the more I say stuff like that, the more likely I am to someday live in Houston. Rest assured if that ever happened, I'd focus my energies on north Houston where it's DRY and the people aren't stupid. Not that YOU'RE stupid, Mom, you're not. But you get my drift.)

OKAY, ONE MORE MINUTE, AND THEN IF THERE ARE TWO PINK LINES...(QUAGMIRE, FAMILY GUY)

Two pinks lines later, and my brother Alex and his wife Carrie are having a baby!




I knew last week, but was waiting for the "official word" from headquarters in Dallas/FTW because Carrie had been having some complications and was in the hospital. BUT! All is well now - she's out and doing well! WOO HOO! I don't suppose I've ever had pictures to pass along here, so gang - meet Alex and Carrie (and baby in there somewhere)!