Spencer and Becky Hines, wooo!

Ruby!

Very very very cute.

Emails...

Earlier today, Eason sent a confusing email out to myself and several of our friends. My favorite part:

"will have a good time go to dallas and hit of six flags why not two
day for the price of one buy a day pass and get a season ticket this
year, party."

To which Krueger replied: "I don't get it. If you buy a day pass do you automatically get a year pass and they throw you a party? If this is true I am in!!!!"

More Nouwen

From "The Return of the Prodigal Son" by Henri J.M. Nouwen:

"In a world that constantly compares people, ranking them as more or less intelligent, more or less attractive, more or less successful, it is not easy to really believe in a love that does not do the same. When I hear someone praised, it is hard not to think of myself as less praiseworthy; when I read about the goodness and kindness of other people, it is hard not to wonder whether I myself am as good and kind as they; and when I see trophies, rewards, and prizes being handed out to special people, I cannot avoid asking myself why that didn't happen to me.

"The world in which I have grown up is a world so full of grades, scores, and statistics that, consciously or unconsciously, I always try to take my measure against all the others. Much sadness and gladness in my life flows directly from my comparing, and most, if not all, of this comparing is useless and a terrible waste of time and energy.

"Our God, who is both Father and Mother to us, does not compare. Never. Even though I know in my head that this is true, it is still very hard to fully accept it with my whole being. When I hear someone called a favorite son or daughter, my immediate response is that the other children must be less appreciated, or less loved. I can not fathom how all of God's children can be favorites. And still, they are. When I look from my place in the world into God's Kingdom, I quickly come to think of God as the keeper of some great celestial scoreboard, and I will always be afraid of not making the grade. But as soon as I look from God's welcoming home into the world, I discover that God loves with a divine love, a love that cedes to all women and men their uniqueness without ever comparing."

The long way home

Right now I'm re-reading "The Return of the Prodigal Son" by Henri Nouwen (Click to check it out). On the third time around it's still my favorite book, every bit as moving and challenging as it was when I first picked it up 4 years ago.

I love that autobiographical connection I can have with a passage upon a second or third read as I take note of things I've underlined or highlighted in previous readings. In those situations I like to give myself a minute or two to let my mind wander back to the moment of defilement. Recalling and re-recalling spiritual lessons or cleverly phrased wisdom usually brings about a kind of satisfied nostalgia when I realize that the familiarity of a concept indicates a certain level of internalization. On the other end of that, it's also nice to come across an underlined passage that sounds totally foreign, as if brand new. For example...

(keep in mind the parable of the prodigal son)
"Recieving forgiveness requires a total willingness to let God be God and do all the healing, restoring, and renewing. As long as I want to do even a part of that myself, I end up with partial solutions, such as becoming a hired servant. As a hired servant, I can still keep my distance, still revolt, reject, strike, run away, or complain about my pay. As the beloved son, I have to claim my full dignity and begin preparing myself to become the father."

Numbers and Words, etc. etc.

Four Jobs I’ve Had in My Life:
*Bus boy at Theo's
*Landscape Maintenance Specialist (lawn mower and weeder and garbage pickup) at the East Ridge Mall in Sioux Falls, SD.
*Interior Technician (shingle roofs, demolish and rebuild fire/water damaged homes, sewage cleanup, blood cleanup, etc.)
*Avacado Picker

Four Movies I Could Watch Over and Over:
*Indiana Jones Trilogy
*Back to the Future Trilogy
*Willow
*Ladybugs

Four Places I Have Lived:
*Sioux Falls, SD
*Minneapolis, MN
*Kibbutz Ma'abarot, Israel
*Kibbutz Evron, Israel


Four TV Shows I Love To Watch:
*Seinfeld
*Arrested Development
*The O.C.
*

Four Places I Have Been On Vacation:
*Deadwood, SD
*Yankton, SD
*Aberdeen, SD
*Waubay, SD

Four Websites I Visit Daily:
*Gmail
*
*
*


Four Favorite Foods:
*Shrimp Fried Rice
*Lobster
*Ribs
*Strogenoff

Four Places I Would Like to Visit:
*Solomon Islands
*Irene, SD
*Japan
*Beresford, SD

Four People I Am "Tagging & Bagging":
*Rodney Dangerfield (1921-2004)
*Tupac Shakur (1971-1996)
*Conway Twitty (1933-1993)
*Rosa Parks (1913-2005)

Mini Resolution

Starting next week on Tuesday (one week from today) I will eliminate AOL Instant Messenger from my computer entirely. I only use it to talk to a few people that I am just as easily able to connect with by phone or email or in person, so I figure I don't need it anymore.

Also starting next Tuesday I will be giving up pop, or "soda" as it is known in weird-speech. Yes, I know this will be a mega thing for me and I don't look forward to it one bit, but I figure a man's gotta have goals. Since I am a man (in the loosest definition of the word), this will serve as a small superficial change that will hopefully affect my lifestyle to a much deeper degree. Every day between today and next Tuesday I will attempt to ween myself from such beloved drinks as Mello Yello and Dr. Pepper. Diet pop may be allowed, but I haven't decided for sure about that yet.

In the infamous words of Kevin McCallister, "This is my house and I have to defend it."