Yee Haw, Boo Hoo

Mamas don't let your cowboys grow up to be babies.

Shut The Window

My computer froze this morning. I felt so concerned for it. It just kept telling me that it was trying to close the Windows. For two hours it was trying to close the Windows. Poor frozen computer. So I brought it a blanket and some hot chocolate. It seems to be doing much better now.

Tuesday Night Worship & Prayer

It was encouraging to see so many at our Tuesday Night Worship & Prayer service last night. I just have to thank God for His faithfulness to meet with us as we gather together -and His encouragement for us to call out to Him. He is amazing.
Tuesday nights, from 7 to 8, we dim the lights and the prayer times are focused on certain things throughout the hour. We also worship throughout the hour -as so many songs are actually prayers. This service is open to everyone. We reserve this time strictly for worship and prayer...no announcements or offering. No church membership required! The way we see it, your prayers offered up helps your church as well. I encourage you to join us and connect with the God who created everything, who cleanses us from all sin, who is a very present help in time of need, and who loves us more than we could possibly imagine.

It's A Gas!

Yesterday I was quite excited to receive a letter from my buddy Don Croswhite. He is serving in the Army at Fort Benning, Georgia. This is directly from his letter:
"I did the gas chamber today. That really sucked. You walk into a 20 by 50 ft. brick building with your gas mask on. And almost instantly any exposed skin begins to feel like you have a major sun burn. The Drill Sergeants then make you pull your mask away from your face and yell out the last four of your social. You then have to do a procedure that blows out the gas from inside your mask so that you can breathe again.
Then the fun begins. In groups of 15 out of 40 you take off your masks completely, take your helmet that has been resting on the barrel of your M16 that you're holding up with your legs, put the helmet on properly, strap it and then hold up your weapon and gas mask. As soon as all the members in your team have done this you grab the back of the guy in front of you and orderly walk out. If you run or panic or drop your weapon arm, you go back in.
This gas is a harsh chlorine burn but 10x worse. Your chest hurts, your eyes burn. It's "CS Gas". You can Google it and check it out."

I was a bit stunned to read this because we went through this same procedure when I started working at Dairy Queen.
Don closed his letter saying, "I am having a great adventure here, don't worry." That is so cool.

Surfing Tahitian Airwaves

Last Saturday morning I was in the car with my Tahitian brother, Tama. Our conversation was all about his wedding -which was to occur that afternoon. I'll post some pics soon.
Then he said, "I heard your song on the radio again this week." I said, "What?" He repeated his statement and I replied that I didn't even know they were playing a song of mine. He couldn't remember the title so he told me to sing one in the car. I did and he said, "No, that's not it." Then I sang one titled "For All Time" and he said, "That's the one!" I was quite happy about that. The Christian music station has been playing it. They may like it because it features some drums and congas and percussion in the middle of it.
Sometimes at night as I'm falling asleep on the island, I can hear some native drums in the distance. Sometimes I wonder if I'll wake up in a big pot of boiling water surrounded by vegetables. But I think Tahitians like their meat lean. So I'm pretty safe for now.

Protecting Families

Had a wonderful 4th of July with my family. Went swimming with Gary & Lauren & Tyler. We played Marco Polo but Tyler cheated. I'm placing him on the prayer chain.
Then my folks served up these Fred Flintstone-sized steaks for dinner. Yowsa! It was wonderful to just relax, visit, and laugh with the family.
I'm very thankful for people like Don Croswhite, Eric Ure and Sammy DeLaRosa -who serve in our military. They actually protect us to continue on in our way of life. Their willingness to serve helps make life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness possible. God bless these individuals who are willing to stand up and be courageous in these times. I hope they had an awesome Independence Day.

C'est fini.

Well, it was an amazing trip. God did some pretty spectacular things which I hope to mention here in the near future -along with some pictures. Today is my first day back in the office so I'm playing catch-up. Also, right now I'm 3 hours behind California time. But the real issue is getting myself out of vacation-mode.
My stay was extended -which the airline had told me was not possible. But I believe that God made it possible for several reasons. One of the greatest was -I was able to attend Tama's wedding. He is like a little brother to me. I was able to be a witness at the signing of the license. I'll tell you more later. But I just have to say here that we serve an awesome God.