Holden Caulfield on the Disciples:
I like Jesus and all, but I don't care too much for all the other stuff in the Bible. Take the Disciples, for instance. They were all right after Jesus was dead and all, but while He was alive, the were about as much use to Him as a hole in the head. All they did was keep letting Him down. I like almost anybody in the Bible better than the Disciples.(Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye, 99)
Even if you live under a rock, you know that the much anticipate "miracle" device known as the iPhone came out today. The big boys figure they'll sell about a million just this first weekend. And for those of us that aren't shelling out the cash for this beauty, we should have at least bought some of Apple's stock, so we could then afford to buy one.
Aside from the mass amounts of YouTube videos out there, the User's Guide on Apple's website is just as exciting.
There's something about song that is different than regular speech. It's easy to remember the lyrics to songs only having heard them a few times. Placing a rhythm and melody behind words somehow gives them force that transcends words that hang in the air with no tonal support. They tug at our emotions and bring us more fully into the full sense of the words that come out of our mouth. Most often, even if we can't meet the correct tones ourselves, we are struck by their depth of meaning.
The hymn writers, I think, had a strong sense to this. Edward Mote, desiring to write a hymn that explained the gracious experience of a Christian wrote "Solid Rock." We sang this at Grace a few weeks ago. The fourth verse struck me hard,
When He shall come with trumpet sound,What lyrics, Christ-exalting or otherwise, get stuck in your head? Does it cause you pause when you get out of the car and Akon is the only thing banging around in there? It does me.
Oh may I then in Him be found.
Dressed in His righteousness alone,
Faultless to stand before the throne.
What a funny little word-- hiatus. It's a good word. It means, well, it means, um, yes. You should know what it means.
I took one regardless of what it means. I finished up my semester and went down to Tulsa for a few days and a wedding. Celebrated Father's day by rockin' the Golf Club. Honestly it was about the best golf I've ever played.
I'm still editing photos from Thailand.
I'm around more, I guess, and hopefully will be back into this whole blog world. I really want to develop a better page and that's probably a big reason why I haven't been more active recently.
Anyone have any suggestions as to what to add? What makes for a good blog-- content, style, appearance? Any good editors that I should be aware of?
Two of my favorites. The last day in Bangkok we visited a slum. On Tuesday's Sadie and her husband Daniel visit this slum and teach English and guitar, respectively. All of the kids were beyond beautiful.
My parents lived in Chicago during the early part of their marriage. One of their friends was a guy named Mo, who always told the same joke. Whenever he wore a tie he would ask my mom if she knew where he got the tie. His response was always the same, "Thailand! Get it? 'Tie'-land!" I always thought it was an easy play on words, but now I know they really sell a lot of ties over there.
The past ten days of my life were spent in Thailand, seeing much of the work that God is doing over there. It was incredible and I miss it already. All of my mission experience had been in Latin America, where I knew the language and had a grasp of the culture. This was the first time I entered into a culture where I had know understanding of what was going on, nor did I speak the language. This was less of a challenge for me than what I thought it would be and although Spanish came out even when I didn't want it too, I was minimally frustrated by not being able to communicate with the Thais.
The team's and my primary task was to see what God is doing there and how North Park can build a lasting relationship with some of the ministries there until Jesus comes back. We saw two fish farms (one fresh- and one salt-water), a 3rd-culture church, and a foundation that has its hands in everything.
Much of my processing is still going on and I haven't even begun to work on my photos yet (all 600 of them), but as I further debrief and process, I'll be posting here.
About a month ago now, I gathered all my photo gear and drove over to a near by cemetery one Saturday evening. I walked through the rows of headstones taking pictures of the more interesting ones. Some died very young, while a few (still living) had already set up their eventual resting place. There were tall statues of soldiers and hundreds of mourning angels. One grave had a blank headstone that barely stood 10 inches tall. Other families had set up massive tombs, immensely decorated for the lack of the living.
Amongst all these monuments, one struck me. Bearing the name of the deceased and the dates of her life, it simply described her as, "Mother." Of all the things that this woman wanted to be known for, it was her motherhood. I think it struck me because so many women are trying to separate themselves from the title of "mom," when this was all she wanted to be remembered by.
In 2 Timothy, Paul wrote to Timothy, "I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well" (1:5).
Timothy's life was greatly influenced by his mother and the faith that he inherited from her. In the same way, my mom has been immensely influenced by her faith and the pattern of her life. I have been challenged and encouraged. I have been disciplined and loved. I have been blessed and supported.
So today, I honor my mom, Susan Grapengater, and thank her for all she has done in my life and her faithfulness to God through Jesus in shaping me to be the man He desires me to be.
If you haven't already, call your momma today.
I haven't been posting recently and even missed Photo Friday, but I've been incredibly busy finishing up the semester early so that I could...
Go to Thailand. I'm leading a mission trip with some undergrads at North Park to visit some ministries in Thailand in hopes to establish long term relationships. Please be praying for us during the next week and a half; we get back the 24th of May. I'll let you know how it went when I get back and all my photos I plan on taking.
Having lived on both sides of the Mason Dixon line, I often get the "Oh, you're from Oklahoma? I can hear your accent." Most of the time I think people are pretending to hear something that's not there. My voice tends to fluctuate depending on who I hang out with. My Minnesotan friends have blessed me with a longer "o." And my Chicagoan friends have given me a longer "a." But being from Oklahoma, I still call my mom "Momma."
| What American accent do you have? Your Result: The Midland "You have a Midland accent" is just another way of saying "you don't have an accent." You probably are from the Midland (Pennsylvania, southern Ohio, southern Indiana, southern Illinois, and Missouri) but then for all we know you could be from Florida or Charleston or one of those big southern cities like Atlanta or Dallas. You have a good voice for TV and radio. | |
| The West | |
| The South | |
| Boston | |
| The Inland North | |
| North Central | |
| Philadelphia | |
| The Northeast | |
| What American accent do you have? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz | |
