Laugh

flotsam and jetsam

One-liners from my week:

  • Kelly and I had Bible-School-night for the first time in weeks (months?); as usual, our shared laughter and conversation was the best part.
  • I listened to The Goo Goo Dolls' Better Days 73 times in one day.
  • I reconnected with someone from my very first mission trip; I'm so glad to be back in touch with my ants-pants friend.
  • I downloaded an album I loved in ninth grade (and haven't heard in well over a decade), and I still knew the words.
  • I decided to get in on the poll action; cast your vote now!
  • Some of the interns trick-or-treated at the staff houses on Halloween---an intern first!

trick-or-treat!

bunch o' crazies...

  • "Spring ahead, fall back" doesn't happen in South Africa; the extra hour that's now between me and you somehow makes me feel farther away.
  • A friend and I ran through a field--amid rain and hail--to get a picture of some naked sheep; although the picture didn't turn out so great, we laughed a lot, so...mission accomplished.
,

so they say

,

Bono, in his book On the Move, casts one of the most compelling visions I've ever heard for the cause of eradicating AIDS in Africa. He says what I've been unable to find adequate words for. Here's a glimpse.

God is in the slums, in the cardboard boxes where the poor play house. God is in the silence of a mother who has infected her child with a virus that will end both their lives. God is in the cries heard under the rubble of war. God is in the debris of wasted opportunity and lives, and God is with us if we are with them.

6,500 Africans are still dying every day of a preventable, treatable disease, for lack of drugs we can buy at any drugstore. This is not about charity; this is about justice and equality.

Because there's no way we can look at what's happening in Africa and, if we're honest, conclude that deep down, we really accept that Africans are equal to us. Anywhere else in the world, we wouldn't accept it. Look at what happened in Southeast Asia with the tsunami. 150,000 lives lost to that misnomer of all misnomers, "mother nature." In Africa 150,000 lives are lost every month. A tsunami every month. And it's a completely avoidable catastrophe.

There is a continent---Africa---being consumed by flames.

I truly believe that when the history books are written, our age will be remembered for three things: the war on terror, the digital revolution, and what we did--or did not do--to put the fire out in Africa.

History, like God, is watching what we do.

flotsam and jetsam

  • Our pastors' conference went really well. I hadn't been able to attend the last few we hosted, so I was glad that I could make it to this one. Niel tore it up when he spoke; I love seeing him in action like that!
  • I had a great time with Isaac, John, and Andy who came in to speak at the conference. They are "comfortable" to be around, and I felt energized by the time we spent with them.
  • Niel makes some dang-good cheesy potatoes, and he made them twice this week! Mmmm...
  • I got to visit a LaunchPad class for the first time all year. It was great to see a curriculum I wrote being taught...and being taught so well.
  • I am loving Blogger's new "subscribe to comments" feature!
  • I played Scrabble (didn't do so hot) and Parcheesi (enjoyed sending people back to start) for the first time in years. I think I may stand alone in my extreme enjoyment of "the royal game of India".
  • I've watched this video at least a dozen times this week, and laughed every time: