To those select few who know what I was
up to tonight, all I have to say is this:

Set me as a seal upon your heart,
as a seal upon your arm,
for love is strong as death,
jealousy is fierce as the grave.
Its flashes are flashes of fire,
the very flame of the LORD.
Many waters cannot quench love,
neither can floods drown it.
If a man offered for love
all the wealth of his house,
he would be utterly despised.

Song of Solomon 8:6-7

Nerd Alert

So I saw a link for some nerd test on Matt's blog and decided to check it out. Matt scored a 62 on the test, meaning he is only slightly nerdy, which is a surprisingly low score (no offense Matt be you admitted it yourself). Anyway, I decided to take the nerd test and scored a 7, which means that not only am I certifiably un-nerdy, but there is a good chance I am actually cool! It also said that there is a chance I hate nerds, which is way bogus. Nerds are cool! But then again... that becomes kinda circular because if nerds are cool ... and I’m cool ... am I a nerd after all ...? Man, there has to be some kind of syllogism to help work this out... and does using the word ‘syllogism’ make me a nerd? a turbo cool nerd?

A Tribute to Marry Ann

Mary Ann is the name of the head receptionist at my optometrist's office and she is so nice and sweet and cute that I simply must give her a tribute page. It has been more than a year since I last went to the my eye doctor, yet somehow when i went in today she remembered me. Not only did she remember my name and pull my file immediately, but she also got me in to see the optometrist pronto. I shouldn’t have even bothered sitting down, the service was so VIP. When I was done with the eye exam she helped my to pick out a smashing brilliant pair of specs (at a very reasonable rice too) and then, when she noticed I was almost out of contact lenses she smuggled me a couple of sample pairs. (Shhhhhhh! don’t tell the doctor!) To cap it all off, when I got home I received a phone call from her to let me know that I forgotten my debit card there, but she promised to hold onto it for when I come in next. What a happy “accident”! Now I have an excuse to go back and visit my darling Mary Ann. Oh Mary Ann, why won’t you run off with me to paradise? We could find a desert island somewhere and live beneath the pacific sun. But alas, it would never work. We come from worlds to diverse and distant, and so we are forever set apart, tragically yet beautifully removed. If only I was a bit older and more mature, and if only you weren’t happily married with a mortgage and two children. Sigh...

Lately I have been trying to get better at doing my Bible Studies. Since I finished reading through the Good Book for the first time, which was about three months ago, I have been struggling in my attempts to make the Word part of my day to day life. I guess the problems is just lack of direction. Before it was simple, clear and systematic. I was just reading everything in order. Everyday I would pick up my Bible, turn to where I had left off, and simply read on. But now there is more too it. Reading alone isn’t enough, I’m supposed to “study”. Also, I have abandoned the idea of going at it in order, Old Testament through New. But then how do I choose which book to read and what exactly am I supposed to do to study it? Well I tried starting with the Book of James, since it is just about my favorite. But it is just too daunting a book when you don’t even know how you want to approach it. In the end I gave up and decided to start with the Book of Esther. I think it was a wise move. Esther is a really interesting book, but not too heavy on theology. A nice, engaging, fast paced read with some very awesome messages. Every night I would read a chapter in Esther and then afterwards go back through the chapter line by line with the aid of a couple study Bibles, make notes. Now that I’m done with Esther I have moved on to the Gospel of Mark and so far its been going fine, other than the fact that I’m accumulating a lot of notes. So far I’m a third of the way through chapter 1 and have taken almost three pages worth of notes. At this rate it will take me forever to get through the book and I will produce enough notes to wallpaper my basement. I’m not sure if that’s a bad thing or not. Not sure if I should be less precise in my not taking or what? I mean it seems like a lot of notes to be taking. But at least I feel like I’m learning a lot. Oh well. I guess there is no one correct way to BS. Any ideas?

Here is a little poem for all you dog lovers. If you are not a dog lover... I have nothing for you.

The Dog

The truth I do not stretch or shove
When I state that the dog is full of love.
I've also found, by actual test,
A wet dog is the lovingest.

Ogden Nash

In MeMorial

As many of you may very well know I have really been missing having a dog ever since Winston died. I had Winny for over 13 years; more than half my life. He was a great dog, an amazing buddy, and a big part of my day to day life. I had to put him down just before my trip because he was virtually paralyzed and in so much pain. It was a hard thing to do, the last thing i wanted, and not a good parting sentiment when leaving the country. The day after he died I had to walk out of a prayer meeting because I was still so upset and overwhelmed. But it was also good leaving for Africa right afterwards because what really made me miss Winston was not having him there for our day to day routines. Waking up in the morning my first instinct was always to let him out, but then I would remember he wasn’t there. There were so many things I was used to doing with him and they all became sad reminders. Even eating an apple was a miserable occasion; Winston always used to love eating the core. So getting away from the day to day was a good thing. But as soon as I got back I started to miss him again. Anyway, its taken awhile to digest not having my closets companion. But life moves on, which brings me to my latest news, which is that we have a new puppy. It turns out everyone in my family missed having a dog, and so... well... now we have a dog.... Anyway, i will write all about him tomorrow, but not now. I wanted to have a blog entry dedicated just to Winston before I begin singing the praises of the newest, cutest thing on the block. Winston was a great dog: loving, loyal, intelligent, protective, fun, everything you could ask for I a K-9. I think my only real complaint about him was his hair. Man did he have a lot of hair, but he was beautiful, really gorgeous with that thick husky coat. It was just a lot of work keeping him clean. Anyway, there isn’t a lot you can say about a dog I guess, other that he was ‘good.’ Winston understood probably about a dozen words, and I think his favorite was good. He was a very good boy, and I miss him, even if he was just a hunk of fur.