Fishing and fun

J and I spent the weekend in MD with some friends. We had a great time, and I wanted to show off a few of the photographs I snagged while fishing on Saturday. While it was cold, wet, and rainy I still had a great time.

All the news not fit to print

1. Stealing greenbacks?

2. Now I know just where you got that pencil sharpener you gave me for my birthday

3. Blackboards + nails = hell

4. Do like it backwards?

How sketchy are you?

Your Sketchiness Factor

You are 65% Sketchy

How Sketchy Are You?

Thursday Thirteen, 10/5/06

The Thursday Thirteen is a meme hosted over at Laura's. You simply list thirteen items of your choice, link to her site, and go visit other meme players!

Thirteen things that have made me happy this week:

1. Having an article approved for publication
2. Being approved to present at a conference in Hawaii
3. Having a really good conversation last night with Jillian
4. Looking forward to my visit with H & J this weekend
5. Receiving a stellar observation from a colleague on Monday
6. Leveling up in Guild Wars
7. Really starting to Journal again
8. Starting up group again with Dave
9. Reading Naked, by David Sidaris
10. Reading The Little Disturbances of Man, by Grace Pauley
11. Getting a phone call from my Nana
12. Looking at my brother's picture
13. Eating waffle fries

Tag: Thursday Thirteen

All the news not fit to print

1. He's hot, but is he THIS hot?

2. You think you matter? Try being dead for five years!

3. Think your marriage is a joke? Think again!

4. WANTED!: Your jugs!

5. Cat fight!

inspiration

I poured through a good chunk of scripture today, trying to both get caught up in my reading and turn what devolved into a task back into a habit. So many passages on God's redemption, love, and our great gift. Nothing spoke to me, but instead I feel that we can't lose site of the many small lessons that scripture plays in our life. To open our hearts to God allows us to read the Bible and find in it the instruction manual of life. We need not always find some grand passage with some deep spiritual resolution.

Sometimes one minute to the next is hard enough, and God understands that. He's commitment to us can be seen in the so many ways he cares for the little things - the little things that make up our soul.

~~

And because we haven't seen her in a while:

Tag: Angelina Jolie, little things

Cut if off

From Mark:

Whoever causes any of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were put around his neck and he were thrown into the sea. If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed  than with two hands go into Gehenna, into the unquenchable fire. And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life crippled than with two feet be thrown into Gehenna. And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. Better for you to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into Gehenna, where 'their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.'

Why is Christ telling me to punish myself? Am I unworthy? Irreverent?  Unneeded? I don't believe that. I refuse to believe that. This is a story about inside and outside, those who die to self and those who indulge. This is a message of love and peace, of patience and fidelity, of sacrifice and determination. I am already made worthy by Christ's death and resurrection - the gates of Heaven have been opened, the trappings of death cast off and replaced with the resplendent robes of eternal life.

I don't have to cut off my hands or pluck out my eyes, but I have to choose love. I have to choose peace and sacrifice. I have to die to self, to the selfish and worldly instincts that drive me from my brothers and sisters and leave me in an island of loneliness and death. The great millstone around our necks is a choice, and one made available to us out of love, not anger.

I choose life, and love, and faith.

~~

It's been a crazy weekend here in TouristTown, USA. After watching 3/4 of Monk, season two, J and I took care of errands around the house and in town. I love living in the center of town. While the constant sounds of sirens, motorcycles and thundering big-rigs leaves something to be desired, I adore waking up on a Saturday morning, walking half a block to the local farmer's market on the square, buying fresh bread and produce, getting a hot cup of coffee at the local shop, stopping by the library, and then meandering home to enjoy the fresh homemade whoopee pies we got just a short while ago.

Militant Suburbia? City Living? I'll take a small town any day of the week.

 

Tag: faith, whoopee