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road trip

Wednesday, May 17th, 2006

I took a road trip, of sorts, this weekend. The sort I’m talking about involved my entire family and one van. The van holds 7 people. Starting from front to back, and from left to right, we were Dad, Papa, Claire, my great aunt Faye, myself, Aunt Jan, and Mom.

When I drive from Pensacola to Henderson myself, it takes 6 – 6.5 hours, depending on whether I stop to use the bathroom or get gas. This weekend it was about 9 hours each way. It is difficult to achieve 9 hours without a major vehicle breakdown, but it can be done. The main strategy is to stop within the first hour to use the bathroom. Then, while making said stop, you take your time selecting a snack and a decent-sized beverage, thus securing the need for another stop within the hour. Lather, rinse, and repeat.

We did eventually make it to Henderson. I got to see Leslie, which was great. I miss having him around. I am thankful that God put us in a family where we can have such a close relationship. It is a great thing to be brothers by our own blood and brothers by Christ’s blood. Anyway, Leslie preached on Sunday, and did a great job. His girlfriend, Sarah (-h) made me a pancake Sunday morning, so she gets my seal of approval. I’m sure she was holding her breath. I also got to meet her sister, Christiana Christianna, who seemed pretty cool. Leslie is living with two guys, Mike and Eric, who have been his same roommates, or at least lived down the hall since he got to Freed. I have come to know them from sleeping on their couches/floors, so it is always good to see them, too.

A couple of weeks ago, I posted a few goals for the week. I did get some of them done. I set aside specific time to pray a couple of days, but not all of them. I still need to work on that. I bought the camcorder i was looking for. It should arrive tomorrow, so as soon as I figure out how to use it and post video, i will do that. I didn’t get anything mailed… shame on me. I also read up on my CSS, and have decided to do some revamping of the Free Travel page. It definitely needs it.

What I’m finding with CSS is that it is great, but does have it’s limitations. Eventually CSS and browser programming are going to have to make things a little more intuitive, especially when it comes to curved shapes and liquid layouts. Right now, as far as the underlying code goes, we’re still stuck with boxes. I do believe standards are the right path to take if we want to escape that model. Programming around browser quirks is just too much unnecessary effort, and it can’t make developing html and CSS behaviors any easier.

It is 2:24am. Goodnight.

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some glad morning

Wednesday, May 10th, 2006

The first time I talked to John Ready, he told me he used to develop pornographic pictures for a living. He said he started going to “Christ Church” and that he studied with the preacher, and that the preacher said he shouldn’t do that anymore. Having determined it to be wrong, he stopped. He stopped even though it was his most significant source of income. That was our first discussion, and that was when I first respected him. Usually, it takes awhile to earn someone’s respect (if we ever earn it). Usually, people take a lot longer to cut through the crap (if we ever cut through it). Not John Ready.

If someone had ever kept attendance, John Ready would have the best record, hands down. He is there when the doors are open, (except when his family took him out to dinner for his birthday one Sunday night). He walks to Church from his trailer, and only asks for a ride when it’s raining. He usually gets a ride back home to stop and get a paper at the machine, and then to make it home for his meals-on-wheels. Every time I have been to Church for the past year, John has reminded me, “You still have until November to register to vote; you can vote for senators in 2006.” He has never forgotten to tell me that. Not once. I will be registering this year, Lord willing. Usually people are discouraged from repeating things if you look at them funny for doing so. Usually people value what you think of them over what they know they should say. Not John Ready.

At least half the times I’ve given John a ride home, he’s told me he already had a plot picked out at the cemetery where he will be buried. Normally, I would think it strange for someone to tell me that. John’s comments, however, go into a different category. Usually people are afraid to talk about their own deaths. Usually people pretend that they will never die. Not John Ready.

John said he wanted to be buried with his cat, Skeeter. The cat, and the state of Florida, have their own opinions about that plan. John did tell me before that he studied in Egypt. As far as I know, Skeeter has not studied there, so that probably explains their disagreement. Usually, Americans do not want to be buried with their pets. Usually, people are forgotten after they leave this world. Not John Ready.

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welcome, minions.

Monday, May 8th, 2006

So it has begun. I was going to wait to start posting until I figured out wordpress and learned to develop my own themes, but frankly, that will take forever. I’m not getting any younger here.

This morning Chris’ lesson was a comparison of the first chapter of Joshua and Matthew 28. Namely, the need for Christians to have a little testicular fortitude when it comes to doing the work that God sets out for us. Since Christ went back to the Father, that work has been to spread the good news about Him, and teach what He taught.

I appreciated especially that Chris was not ambiguous. He wasn’t talking about the vague, all encompassing Church that we can criticize without feeling too bad, because deep down we know it is really all the other Christians out there with the problem, and not us. No, he was talking to the congregation that meets at Gulf Breeze.

Maybe it struck me personally because for the last couple of months, courage (or more accurately, fear) has been on my heart when I talk to God. How can I claim to trust God if my heart is plagued with fear, uncertainty, and doubt?. Sometimes, I wonder, “do I have what it takes to be a minister of the gospel?” (‘minister’ does not necessarily mean ‘pulpit preacher’). The fact is, it has nothing to do with what I have or don’t have. It has to do with whether God has called me. That’s always the real issue. If God has made the call, He will certainly provide the means to answer it. If you haven’t heard any calls, you may need to check your voicemail.

Enough sermonizing. After services tonight, in my weekly ping pong match with Chris, I finally won a set. That brings my record to 1 and some very large number. I’m fairly sure he was doped up on pain killers for his back, but I’ll take what I can get.

Today was Mom’s birthday and tomorrow is Dad’s. May is definately the month for being born if you are in my family. Unless you are me. Then it’s August.

My goals for this week are:

  • Set aside some time each day to pray instead of doing it randomly.
  • Buy a digital camcorder to get ready for Focus.
  • Mail out some things that have been in my room for a month now, such as Harkabus’ photo CDs.
  • Work some miracles with CSS so my Free Travel page won’t look so bad.

I’ll leave you with 2 Kings 7:9. The Samaritan lepers had it right: “Then they said to one another, ‘What we are doing is wrong. This is a day of good news; if we are silent and wait until the morning light, we will be found guilty; therefore let us go and tell the king’s household.'” Ever since Christ was raised from the dead, every day is a day of good news.

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