Jesus and Snakes

I learned something new several weeks ago, and I am just now getting around to sharing. Unlike the horrifically ridiculous recent movie about Snakes on a Plane, this truth about snakes left me in awe and reminded me of the great mystery of Christ. In my community group at church, we have been studying the book of John. There is a passage in John 3:14-15 where Jesus says, "Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life."

I don't know about you, but when I read that at first, it doesn't really amount to much. I'm not all that familiar with why Moses lifted the snake up in the desert, and I don't like snakes, and so I just kind of breeze past that to other verses, like the very next one which is the oh-so-famous John 3:16. But Jesus was not just talking out of his ear on this one. It really has a solid relationship to what the Jews would have known and understood. Thankfully someone showed me, and it is in Numbers 21:4-9. I will paraphrase a little of it and then quote some of it:

Basically, the Israelites were traveling in the desert, and they were getting disappointed with their "freedom" and said to Moses, "Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the desert? There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food!" Wow, talk about ungrateful whining people. So God's answer (despite his love for them) was to send venoumous snakes among them to bite them. Eventually they realized their sin in turning against God, so they went to Moses again to plead for his help. So Moses prayed to God for them, to which God replied, "Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live". Verse 9: "So Moses mode a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, he lived."

Thousands of years later, Jesus says, "Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life."

Isn't that amazing? Back in the desert with the Israelites, God was foreshadowing the coming of Christ! He knew, and he sent a symbolic representation of what was to come. And isn't it appropriate that a snake was used for the Israelites to represent our sin, since Satan is represented as a serpent in Genesis? So now, we today can take hold of this truth. We have been bitten by the serpent, and we are helpless in our sin as we wander in our own deserts. And if we look to Christ, who has absorbed our sin, we will live for all eternity. Now John 3:16 even makes more sense, while I previously thought that was rather a strange segway from verse 15 to 16.

Worship at it's Best

From a favorite of mine:

"O love that will not let me go,
I rest my weary soul in thee;
I give thee back the life I owe,
That in thine ocean depths its flow
May richer, fuller be."

If you took the time to read that, take a little more time and meditate on it. Believe what it says: that God will not let you go, that you can rest your weary soul in him, and that surrounded by the depths of who he is, your life will become more rich. It is easy to read and even sing these words without really thinking about how they should impact our every breath. And that's just the first verse, which I think is enough to dwell on for now.

What I Did in School Today

If I still lived at home, my mom would proudly hang this on the refrigerator. Did I mention yet that I am having fun in school?

Trial by Fire

Tonight was my first job as a banquet server (see blog August 2), and boy was it an interesting introduction to this line of work! I showed up about 20 minutes early, so the "captain" for the evening told me to wait until the start of the party. All I knew was what time it started and to be at the hotel a little early, nothing about the event. Well, I sat and waited a few minutes in the back area where the kitchen and all the storage rooms are. Then all of the sudden a frenzy began, someone handed my white gloves and told me to put them on, then they handed me a tray of hors d'oeuvres and sent me through some double-doors. Before I knew what was happening, I was being attacked by a hungry mob of well-dressed people, who I soon realized were the guests at a Jewish wedding reception. I ran in and out, refilling my tray, for the better part of an hour, and the mob finally seemed to be satiated with food after about 45 minutes. Meanwhile, I was swapping the tray from one arm to the other in the hopes that neither arm would fall off. Luckily, my arms did stay on. The night went on and continued into the next room, set up in typical wedding reception style with round tables and a dance floor. The party droned on forever, and my interest in observing the people and being an outsider at a wedding wore off as my back began to stiffen. I am happy to report that I did not drop or break anything, which was my goal for the evening. I also walked away with a souvenir that someone left on a table. Apparently they give these out at Jewish weddings to the men:

Public Service Announcement

I have to warn you, if you have not already seen the move Snakes on a Plane, DO NOT - I repeat DO NOT - waste your time, money, thoughts, etc on this movie!!!

Unfortunately someone (I will leave this person unnamed) reccommended this movie to myself and my classmates. So three of us went to see it last Saturday, and we were severely disappointed in this disgrace of a film. I wish I could explain why the movie was so bad, but it's just one of those things that is inexplicable. I think the three of us kept waiting for the movie to redeem itself, and then when it ended with no redeeming qualities, we realized just how bad it was. The only decent part of the evening was that we saw it at the drive-in theater here in Atlanta, which was pretty cheap and a nice alternative to the $8-9 per person at a normal theater. Other than that, the whole evening was a waste.

This Screen is Ginormous!

Seriously, I can hardly see from one side of the screen to the other without backing up... I am at a desk/computer terminal station in a new area of the GT library. This screen must be at least 20 inches across - that's horizontally, not diagonally. So the diagonal measurement has to be something like 24 inches. It's so big that I have to reduce the size of the viewing window just to keep things under control!

So now that I got that off my chest, I'll get back to the books.

Hi, I'm "---------", May I Touch Your Feet Now?

The above introduction characterizes one aspect of the first week of class for me and my classmates. First we were shaking hands and finding out where everyone is from... next thing you know, we are palpating each other's bony landmarks. I actually asked someone on Friday if I could please feel their subtalar joint, and that was ok (it's just in the foot). Anyway, I'm sure this is a common encounter in medical academia, but it has been a first for me. It was not uncomfortable, as we are all equally in the position of knowing this is just how we will have to learn, but I found it rather amusing how quickly we progressed from introductions to palpations.

Other thoughts from the first week...

I don't know if I will ever be able to read fast enough to keep up with all of our reading assignments. I didn't do the math, but I think we have averaged about 500 pages per week for the first 2 weeks.

Despite the fact that we will be VERY BUSY and quite challenged to keep up with all the info, I couldn't be more excited about this stuff.

I am wicked excited about starting our clinical rotations. For this semester, they are assigned and pre-determined. My roommate and I lucked up and got orthopedics first, so we will be watching ortho surgeries for our first two rotation weeks (which is just one day a week).

Note to self: ALWAYS carry umbrella in Atlanta.

Momma's Girl

This morning I took my dog for her first visit to the dog park at Piedmont Park. The experience surprisingly felt like I was taking her to her first day of kindergarten. The park is set up so that once you are inside the fence, which has a double-gate secure entryway, your dog can run freely off of a leash, play with other dogs, or play fetch. I fully expected Kelsey to dart off and start mingling with the other dogs, of which there were many, as soon as I took off her leash. Instead, she all of a sudden became shy and stood right by me, nervously looking around at all the other dogs as they played. Due to her tendency to run off at any given opportunity and ensue a chase, I was extremely surprised by this reaction. It was nice to know, for once, that she trusted me and looked to me for security when facing this new group of "kids". Eventually, she did warm up to the crowd and start walking around. At first though, instead of playing with other dogs, she was walking up to people and seeking attention, which she easily got. I hate to admit it, but my dog is a much better and more successful flirt than I am. Later she ventured away from humans and played with a few other dogs, and she actually came right back to me when I called her! I was so relieved, having pictured an embarrassing scene of chasing her around when it was time to go, as all the well-trained dogs and refined dog-owners looked on. By the end of our 30-minute visit, Kelsey was whipped, which was the general goal of the morning. All in all, we had a succesful first day at kindergarten.

New Beginning

My new classmates and I are currently a little over half-way through our first week as students in the Georgia Tech MSPO program, and I could not be more excited about what lies ahead of us. I admit that I am a little anxious about the amount if information that must be learned, the rigor of our schedule, and the reality of learning to work with patients for the first time. However, the slight amount of anxiety is far outweighed by a feeling of privilege to be here along with sheer joy that it has finally arrived. If you have kept up with my blog for any amount of time (all three of you), then you know the path that I have traveled – mentally, physically, and emotionally – on my journey to this point. As I have met my new classmates, soon to be my nine best friends, and as we have been introduced this week to the program for which we are here, I have become more excited each day with anticipation. There is some element of the already-but-not-yet feeling (for those PCAers out there that know the phrase), or the realization that I am here but that the road ahead is a long and potentially never-ending one. I am seeing the reality that two years of school followed by two years of residency will hardly scratch the surface of being able to learn all there is to know and understand in the field of prosthetics and orthotics. Nonetheless, I can’t wait to get started, and I am so thankful of the constant reminder that we are here to help people. This end goal is a refreshing one after working so hard in an environment that revolved around the almighty dollar for so long. Granted, the nuclear industry is focused on safety and other very important goals also, but at the end of the day if the dollar isn’t there then the plants wouldn’t be either. I am seeing in the world of prosthetics and orthotics that the dollar is important to the extent that everyone will hopefully be able to feed their families, but otherwise the focus is wholeheartedly on serving people with limb loss or muscle/nervous deficiency. From what we have been told so far, our class will hit the ground running next Monday morning, and we will hardly breathe again until our graduation, which will be one year and nine months from now. Thankfully, we have been given the motivation to jump in feet first and embrace this challenge with all that we have and are. I fully intend this to not only be my second but also my last and best career. Let the journey begin!

Vacation: Over

Alas, the time has come. My freedom to travel, relax, and basically bum around is finally over. I feel that I took the most advantage I could, on a budget, of the time I have had off this summer. The last several trips were to Tennessee, the Florida Keys, and Lakeland, FL (in the titillating County of Polk). I’ll summarize the best I can each of these trips, though I lack photos for most of the great adventures. This post should probably be split into many, but I am just not in the mood, so here goes...

Julie and I drove up to Tennessee for the last weekend of July to take advantage of a lovely log home there which is owned by a previous co-worker of mine. The home is situated high on a mountainside just outside the city of Townsend, TN and just north of the border of Great Smokey Mountain National Park. Despite simple furnishings, the place is well-appointed with all one might need, including a full kitchen, audio/video equipment, garden tub, and our favorite perk – a Jacuzzi on the back screened-in porch. While I had preceded this trip with another trip, and thus was sufficiently rested and relaxed, Julie had extracted herself from the tiring busy-ness of life, thus she particularly needed the R&R. We spent most of the drive there catching up (having not really done so for almost 3 months). After arriving, we made a quick side trip to Pigeon Forge to visit a friend of Julie’s from her school years who happened to live in the area and was recovering from knee surgery. Friday and Saturday nights were pleasantly identical: dinner at the house, movie on DVD while relaxing on the leather sofa and lay-z-boy, and last but not least a relaxing visit to the Jacuzzi. Saturday morning we woke to the sound of rain on the tin roof of the house, and we gladly stayed inside to enjoy the comforts of the cabin while waiting for the rain to subside. I tried unsuccessfully to start a fire several times (only as we were cleaning up Sunday afternoon did I discover the “fire-starter” logs). Late in the afternoon, the sun came out, so we decided to hike the Chimney Tops Trail. As you can see, it is touted as a strenuous hike on the sign, and we found that to be exactly the case. I suppose the view was worth the climb, as the sign also claims, but I think it would have been nicer on a less cloudy day. Needless to say, the Jacuzzi felt even better on Saturday night after the “strenuous” hike. My muscles weren’t terribly sore until Sunday, but I obviously got a good workout on the way to the chimney top.

The following week, on Thursday, I flew from Atlanta to Miami to visit Christine and Adam. Christine planned on picking me up at the airport, and all was going well until… we had touched base after I landed, and she was going to call me when she reached the airport to meet up. Well, while I was waiting, I managed to drop my cell phone, which split into two pieces. Despite frantic efforts on my part, I could not get the phone to turn on again, so I had no way to contact Christine and vice versa. About 45 minutes later, I decided it would be worthwhile to leave my spot outside and try to call a mutual friend, because I could not remember Christine’s cell number. I tried Holly, which cost me a dollar in change, and left a message to have her call Christine and explain my location. About 20 minutes later, when I still hadn’t seen Christine (who, in the meantime, got frustrated with the Miami airport and decided to park and go inside to look for me), I miraculously remembered her cell number and begged from a stranger for 15 cents so I would have another dollar in change. So I was able to finally reach her, and we found each other in the airport about 10 minutes later. Whew! What a start to the trip! Thankfully it got much better from there. Every day was a new adventure as we explored the Keys and saw exotic animals of various kinds everywhere we went. My favorite day was Saturday, when we went sailing together on Adam’s sailboat, which I think is about a 12-footer. I have never experienced the excitement and slight fear of capturing the strength of the wind in order to go from place to place. After the initial fears wore off, though, I was in awe of the mixture of complexity and simplicity with which a sailboat operates. The idea is of course fairly simple: raise a huge taut sheet and turn it so the wind blows into it. The complexity comes in when the sails must be angled precisely in order to maximize wind usage while avoiding boat tippage. It’s also interesting how simple each pulley and rope is, but the sheer amount of pulleys and ropes is enough to challenge the driver each time a sudden move must be made. Thankfully, Adam knows just enough about sailing that we were able to get around quite well despite the fickleness of the wind, which absolutely disappeared a few times. We stopped at two different keys, or islands. At the first one we ate lunch (which we had packed), Christine and I went snorkeling, and we all swam down a small channel in the middle of the island. We felt like we were on Lord of the Flies or something, exploring around the little island. Thankfully we weren’t actually trapped, because we probably would have starved or been eaten alive by mosquitoes pretty rapidly. At the second island we got out and walked around in some shallow water, saw a few fish (I can’t remember which kind), and then headed back as it was getting late and we were getting hungry. Other highlights of the trip included seeing the local Key Deer and large iguanas, hanging out with some of Christine and Adam’s teacher friends, and a walk on the Seven Mile Bridge during which we saw some huge starfish and stingrays below us in the water. For those of you who know Christine and Adam, let me recommend to you a visit to their new home. It is worth even the hassle of the ridiculous Miami airport, though I would recommend flying directly into Key West if you can afford it.

My most recent trip, following the Keys, was a visit to Lakeland, FL with my mom to see some of our relatives. We stayed with my mom’s cousin Donna and her husband Tom, and also saw their kids (who are close to my age) Rachel and Curt as well as my mom’s Uncle Curtis. Curt and his wife also have a baby, Jackson, who we met for the first time. We used to go to Florida once a year, but we now rarely make the voyage, so it was a long overdue visit. On the way down, we saw a family carrying their Aunt Edna on top of their car, as seen in the photo.

Most of the time in Lakeland was spent visiting and eating large delicious meals. Not bad for a final summer vacation. I went out one night with Rachel and a friend of hers for sushi and then to the happening bars of downtown Lakeland. We had a good time visiting and catching up. One night my mom and I drove to Brandon (near Tampa) to visit a good friend of hers and stay the night. We also did some shopping and saw the movie World Trade Center. I’ll have more to say about that later. My mom’s Uncle Curtis is 89 years old and still getting around quite well, which we were happy to see. He has a predictable but nice daily routine: mow two strips of yard for exercise, get dressed in afternoon for dinner, stop at country club and have two beers with friends (none of whom can hear), go to Donna and Tom’s house and sit in personally reserved chair for 5-15 minutes, eat dinner, return to chair, drink half a cup of coffee, say goodnight and return home. We are all a little nervous about him driving, but he seems to do just fine. Also of interest is the family cat, Tigger. Tigger is 17 years old and is the most relaxed cat I have ever seen. This ability to relax is not a function of age, for Tigger has always had the gift of relaxation. I took a little video so you can see for yourself.

Places to Go and People to See

I am happy to report that I did finally fall asleep last night, maybe around 1am, but I slept. Thank goodness. And now I am preparing to try to go to bed shortly (around 10pm) so I can wake up at 4am and head to the airport for my 6am flight. I don't know what I was thinking when I booked this flight except that I wanted to get to the Keys as early as possible to hang out with Christine and Adam. Sounded good at the time.

I wish I had time to write a little about this past weekend in the mountains in Tennessee, but I guess I missed my chance during the last few days. I managed to stay pretty busy despite my lack of job - in fact, I think I got a job today. I am succumbing to the need of the hour and will be working for $10/hr as a server for downtown hotels and country clubs. If I learn bartending, which in these cases is basically pouring wine and maybe mixing whiskey and cokes, I can make $11/hr plus tips. I kind of joked about bartending while I am back in school, and I honestly didn't realize that was an option when I sought this job, but hey I think it will be fun. And lets face it, the bills must get paid. Anyway, that is one of the little things that got taken care of this week.

I don't know when I will be back to blogging, but eventually I will try to record all the vacation activities, including the Tennessee trip. After the Keys, I fly back to Atlanta and then my mom and I are driving to Lakeland, FL for 5 days. When I return from that trip, my grad school orientation will start the next day. Yikes! I have to say, I have made the most of my time off this summer. A trip to Italy would have been nice, but I am not complaining. I love the Southeast, and I have hit most of it in the last month.

Ok, off to bed. I hope I am not back at the computer whining about not being able to sleep anytime tonight!

Insomnia

This never happens to me, but I am so amazed by it that I had to at least make a quick note about it. I tried to go to bed tonight at around 10:30 (in anticipation of getting to bed early tomorrow night for a very early flight Thurs morning) and I have succeeded only in tossing and turning for an hour and a half. I haven't even slightly dozed off - I am just completely wide awake. I have not had any caffeinated drinks tonight, though I did take 2 caffeine-containing Excedrin before dinner. I had one very small glass of red wine, which typically makes me sleepy, especially if I have more than I did tonight. Anyway, I am baffled, and frustrated, and awake. So I just thought I would share. I apologize that this could not be more exciting news.

Good Times!

For the last several weeks, I have been mentally preparing myself for what I always thought would be a dreaded affair – the 10 year high school class reunion. In actuality, it turned out to be an unexpectedly relaxed and fun-filled weekend here in Baton Rouge.

In order to soften the shock factor of stepping back into the old crowds from high school, and to warm up our reminiscing muscles, I met two friends for dinner Friday night who I have kept in touch with over the years (Natalie and Sarah, who are in the first photo below with me). After dinner, we somewhat reluctantly headed to a local bar, The Fox and Hound, to meet up with our former classmates. We did not have the bar to ourselves, which complicated the matter a bit, because we were constantly trying to determine if any given person was with us or not with us. Lucky for us, almost everyone looked pretty much the same after ten years, so we had little trouble recognizing our old friends. Most of our conversation that first night was spent catching up on the basics of who is doing what and where they are living, meeting spouses and significant others, and basically reestablishing our bearings with one another.

Saturday morning, I had most of the girls over for brunch at my parents’ house, and we pored over hilarious high school pictures for a few hours. From freshman year parties, sleepovers, homecoming dances, proms, drama events, and various amateur athletic endeavors, we managed to relive most of the worthwhile memories. Out of the dozen or so of us at the brunch, we had five who were married, three with children already, and two who were pregnant. We agreed to attempt a girls’ beach getaway in five years so that we don’t go another ten years without seeing one another.


The main event, Saturday night, was kind of like a wedding reception but for the most part more fun and much less proper. We mostly agreed that it was a very classy evening, everyone dressed well for the cocktail party, the food was fancy, the setup elegant. There was a slide show of high school photos, a few awards for those who traveled the furthest and those who had the most interesting jobs, and a group photo. Then the DJ took over and played all of our favorite songs from high school, to which we danced our hearts out and acted a fool just like old times. A group of us continued on for a few more hours at an LSU bar up the street, and we fittingly ran into several other people who went to high school with us but were in other classes. We were all having such a good time that it was with much reluctance that we finally started heading home around 1:30 or so in the morning. I never thought I would say this, but I am definitely looking forward to the next high school class reunion…

Poor Guy

I've been doing my best to keep up with the most recent uprising in the Middle East. So far my favorite guy involved is:

Lebanon Interior Minister Ahmed Fatfat

How do ya like that name? I hope he doesn't have a daughter. If so, she's probably extremely self-conscious about her weight.

Paralympics

Last weekend at about this time, I was finishing up a 2-day adventure as a volunteer/spectator/fan at the 2006 U.S. National Paralympic Track and Field Championships right here in the fine city of Atlanta. I must say, I didn’t know what to expect, but I was blown away by what I saw and more importantly who I saw. I saw an elite group of world-class athletes, all of whom carried with them onto the track (or field) a disability. The afflictions ranged from a mere amputated hand to severe paralysis and quadriplegia. These men and women (and a few boys and girls) were at their top form and certainly made me – a not-so-inactive healthy individual – feel rather lazy. I noted with wonder the reality that regardless of how many muscles remained in operable status for each of these athletes, they used each muscle fiber to its maximum potential. Most, in addition to their level of paralysis, also suffered from other effects of spinal damage, such as the inability to sweat. This of course poses a slight problem in Georgia in the middle of the summer, but it was just another day at the track for these athletes - a little wet sponge here and spray of water there, and they were able to cool down just fine. One of the amputee sprinters, a female with a left below-knee amputation, replied to my question about the degree of her disability that she just had a scratch compared to most of her peers on the track that day. The next time I actually have a bona fide scratch and am tempted to whine and seek pity, I will remember to keep this in perspective.

As for track events that I was able to witness, there were various lengths of wheelchair races, from 100m up to 5000m. I must be a slow learner, because I must have watched this for nearly 5-6 hours before finally noticing the gloved hands of each of the competitors and that many of the gloves were specially made and molded to fit their fisted hands during competition.

The wheelchairs themselves are impressively sleek and compact. I wanted badly to sit in one and get the feel of how they operate, but as a severe new-comer to the scene, I decided to wait for another event or opportunity. In addition to wheeling these chairs around the track and all over the stadium during the day of competition, the racers have to haul these things from all over the world in airports and hotels and on buses to reach their competition locations. Most could be seen at some point in their “everyday” chairs, wheeling with one hand and pushing their racing chair in front with the other hand. And I thought hauling my bike around was rather cumbersome.

My favorite events, though it was a close call, were the “ambulatory” races. This classification is for amputees with prosthetics or for athletes with other disabilities that do not confine them to a wheelchair, such as blindness. It was absolutely exhilarating to watch as some of the fastest sprinters in the world whizzed by me on the track with one or two prosthetic legs, one or no arms, or a “guide” runner for those who could not see well enough to run alone. I witnessed many new world records for 100m sprints and even held the starting blocks for one bilateral upper limb amputee from Nigeria who broke the 100m record for his classification. Classifications for the paralympic competitions are based on the athlete’s level of disability, and this “levels the playing field”, so to speak, for who competes with whom. I would explain that further, but I really don’t understand all the classifications yet. Obviously someone with two amputated legs is in a different class from someone with one amputated leg, and the blind or deaf are separated as well, etc. The amputee sprinter in this photo is April Holmes, an American who was present at the competition and won every race I saw her compete in.

After this first initiation into the world of paralympic competition, I must admit that I am completely hooked (if you hadn’t noticed). I’m not only inspired to make the most of every muscle fiber that I am blessed to have, but I am also inspired by their determination and commitment to make the most of every day regardless of whether I am tackling a physical, mental, or emotional challenge. I do not even begin to yet understand the daily challenges that these fine athletes face, along with their less athletic peers, just to dress, shower, eat, go to the bathroom – all of the things that I take for granted as I gripe and complain about whatever happens to be my topic of choice for the day. The bottom line is, regardless of whether we walk, roll, or crawl through this world with a disability, none of us are home. We were not created for this world as it exists today, with pain and suffering and anger and frustration and disappointment, with missing limbs and atrophied muscles or with broken hearts. We were created for something so much better, a perfect place in which we are in perfect relationship with our creator. And we will one day be there again. But until then, we must face each day with courage and with determination, and we must help each other remember that our home will be there waiting for us when these days pass. I applaud the paralympic athletes who I had the pleasure of watching and meeting for demonstrating that resolve.

Photos above are from: http://howtoadapt.com/RacingWheelchair/RacingWheelchair.shtml and http://www.usolympicteam.com/paralympics/news_47603.htm

It Just Keeps Getting Better

There are no words to describe my delight at finding the object below this morning for a mere $5 at the Peachtree Expo.

Reason #84658 Why I Love Waffle House

I have been thinking this past week about trying to get a number for the Peachtree Road Race, as this is my first summer living in Atlanta and it just seems like the right thing to do. So this morning I did in fact find someone who is unable to run and will be selling me a number. Anyway, I started looking up some info on the race course and details, and lo and behold, guess who one of the sponsors is: you guess it, Waffle House! How many diners do you think sponsor sporting events? Probably not many. Granted, Waffle House probably doesn't make a habit of it. As if the hashbrowns weren't enough, this is just another in a long line of reasons that I love Waffle House. Now I feel like I should eat there before the race, but then again, I think I won't.

Foot in Mouth

Ok, I have to admit, and I might as well admit publicly, I have been put in my place by God himself tonight. This past Sunday, I heard a sermon entitled, "Why be a Generous Christian?" by a pastor visiting Intown Community Church from a church in Colorado Springs. I was not particularly impressed with the sermon for a few reasons:

(1) It was obviously a canned sermon that this particular pastor preaches all over creation. This was obvious by the speed with which he spoke and the fact that he was selling a book and giving seminars on the very topic of his sermon.
(2) The sermon incorporated a few biblical references but largely emphasized the stories of people who trusted God for such-and-such money and had miracles occur to provide that money.

Now, don't get me wrong, I do believe that God provides for us. I do believe that when we trust him and pray specifically for his provision that he can provide for our needs if he so desires. Despite my belief in these truths, though, I actually verbally (out loud, to other people) stated that the sermon was lacking because of the implied cause-and-effect relationship between trusting God for something and having it provided by God. This may not be making any sense, but lets just say that I was somewhat of a naysayer in response to the stories of faithful people who received abundant returns (financially) from God. And now God enters into this story of my unbelief...

Earlier this evening, I sat down and balanced my checkbook. I looked ahead to next month's expected expenses and tried to decide how much money to budget for the month. I came up with a number that seemed a bit low and did not account for unforeseen expenses, but I decided to go ahead and budget with this amount and trust that God would arrange for me to make it through the month without overdrawing my checking account. I then packed up my backpack and headed to Starbucks to study. I normally study at home, but I wanted a change of scenery, and I decided that one trip to Starbucks (I have not been yet since moving here) would be ok, especially if I only bought regular coffee instead of my favorite cafe au lait. Well, I ordered a regular coffee, the guy went to pour it before taking my money, and then he turned around to tell me it was still brewing and would be a few minutes. I said that would be fine, that I would go ahead and pay for it and he could just yell when it was ready. He then waves his hand and says that this one will be on him since he will be inconveniencing me with having to wait for my freshly brewed coffee. I insisted that it was no inconvenience at all, but he still would not let me pay. Hmm, interesting "coincidence". THEN, I sat down and started studying, and they guy completely forgot about my coffee. I waited and waited, made eye contact and everything, and he just did not remember. So I went up to the counter and reminded him, at which point he briskly whipped a coupon out of his pocket for a free "any starbucks beverage" and apologized profusely for having now inconvenienced me twice in one visit. I could not believe this was happening (seriously, I never get free stuff), but I took the coupon and took my coffee and continued to study.

On my way home, I had to laugh at myself, thinking (despite the relatively small amount of freebies) that I had just seen an example of God providing for me , literally right after I had prayed about my monthly expenses. I love it when God takes me by surprise like that, answering prayer when I really don't even expect Him to. It makes me feel like an idiot, but sometimes I need to be reminded that I'm just a kid, just a child of God who has to be reminded every day that He loves me, listens to me, and looks out for me. What a great reminder.

Love Never Dies

Unfortunately, it seems that I have lost one of my favorite CDs, Andrew Peterson's "Love and Thunder". I love the music on the CD, but mostly I love the lyrics. Andrew has a gift for words and specifically for putting God's truth and the cry of our hearts into words that ring so true to life. Lucky for me, though I don't have the music to listen to, I do still have the CD case and therefore the written lyrics. My favorite part that he wrote is actually not a song but what he wrote on the inside cover. It is so good that I can smell and feel the atmosphere as he describes it, and I can taste the vastness and goodness of God as I read this:

"All over the quiet plains, beneath the snow on the high mountain, rustling through the cattails that congregate along the water, you can feel the presence of promise. On cold nights when you look at the sky, sometimes your breath catches in your throat at how bright the night can be. The dark spaces between the stars aren't as dark as you thought they were; not nearly as dark as the tree line on the horizon, and as you stand there shivering with your hands bunched in your pockets suddenly you remember that you're standing on a rock in the middle of space. Suddenly the notion that there's a Someone who made it all and knows us all no longer seems quite so far-fetched; indeed, it seems too good to be false.

But here we toil and we till the hard earth, where even the warm times with friend and kin are lonely because we know they won't last long enough to quiet the ache. Our sadness points to Home the way hunger points to the feast, the way the light of the cratered moon is always facing the sun, always pointing to where the dawn will come like a pillar of fire when this rock we walk on turns again to burning day. All over the quiet plains and the cold stone cities full of dying and shame the promise is not drowned out by the weeping; it is declared by it.

God died as a man and rose again, and the sound of the fiery blast of Death exploding shook the firmament. Throughout the wail and shudder, over the shriek and moan of man the thunder has sounded and sung, and it is both the answer and the promise. It sings still, and you can hear what it says if you listen: love never dies."

Grocery Store Incosistencies

One of the little nuances of moving that hit me this week is the "new-grocery-store-organization-learning-curve". Now, I have visited my new (old, but new to me) local Kroger several times since moving here to Atlanta, but yesterday I really got stumped over an item on my list.

During one of my first trips to this store, which is significantly larger than any of the Kroger stores in Augusta, I spent about 10 minutes searching around the freezer section area for ice cream. What threw me off with the ice cream was a small section of ice cream located at one of the little end freezers. Inside this small freezer was an assortment of Kroger brand ice cream containers and a few varieties of popscicles. I of course insisted on finding the Breyers (I may be a student, but I still have taste buds), so I searched back and forth and up and down the adjoining aisles before finally finding the ice cream - on the same aisle as the beer. Not a bad combination, but I have not seen this particular storage strategy before. Anyway, that was several weeks ago, and most of my other trips were relatively uneventful until last night...

I had a little trouble finding minced garlic, but that did not stump me nearly as significantly as the Saltine crackers. At my previous Kroger location, the Saltines were located somewhere in the vicinity of the snacks, which were near the cereals on the right side of the store upon entering. At this new Kroger, the "Crackers" are located way on the left side of the store, one aisle over from the chips and sodas. After much searching on the right side of the store near the cereals and soups, I finally zeroed in on this "Cracker" aisle and figured I had finally found the Saltines. I quickly walked down the aisle with no luck, so then I slowly walked back up the aisle and still had no luck. Then I went one aisle over and scoured the "Chips and Pretzels" but still no luck. I sighed and proceeded back towards the trusty right side of the store, thinking of course the Saltines will be over there just like they were in Augusta - I must have just missed something. Finally, after this failed me again and I had procured everything else on my list, I asked one of the stockers where the Saltines were, and he directed me to the left side of the store. So I went back over and repeated the previously described search to no avail. After almost giving up on the elusive Saltines, I asked another employee and FINALLY was directed to the "Snacks" aisle, which did in fact contain the Saltines. This aisle was way beyond the "Crackers" and the "Chips and Pretzels", beyond even the beer, ice cream, and all other frozen foods. It was on one of the farthest aisles to the left, next to the Bakery. I have no idea who decided to string out the crackers, chips, and snacks in separate locations, who decided that Saltines are in fact "Snacks" instead of "Crackers", or who allows Kroger locations to adopt such vastly different store organization strategies, but I do know that the next time I do not find an item right away at the Howell Mill Rd. Kroger, I will immediately ask for help before wasting 20 minutes walking up and down aisles in a grocery store stupor.