Photo Friday

Photo Friday: Dark

My Day

A friend of mine did a photo journal of his day and thought it was a neat idea. People ask me all the time what I do during the day. Today was an unusual one, but I never have normal ones. It all started @ 9AM. I had a meeting with these guys about a mission trip over Christmas Break. I got back to the office about 11, made a few phone calls and ate lunch with my lovely wife who refused to be photographed. She brought take out. Cheeseburger, Raw fries and a coke. We started cleaning my office. THREE YEARS of junk mail and old stuff. I am the most unorganized person in the world. I have NO sense of neatness when it comes to files. Kim came to help. I forgot the "before" picture, but this is the midway point of cleaning. I took two 33 gallon trash cans full of trash to the dumpster along with about 10 boxes of old clothes, computer parts, sports equippment, game console parts and a 13 inch tv. I had to assure my co-workers I was cleaning to clean, not to leave. These guys came by about 2 and gave me a welcome distraction. We ended up here and had some killer stuffed french toast. Nobody in the place spoke english as a primary language and they were probably making jokes about us the whole time I started to get offended until I remembered it was the INTERNATIONAL house of pancakes. Next, we were off for Muddy Mochas and an Orange Crush at the Pavillion Coffee shop. I love this place and I hate muddy mochas but after investing over $3, I dealt with it. It got better. On the way back to the church, we ran into my "I really need a mullet" friend. We got a good photo op and headed back to the church. Check out the 80's mirrowed sunglasses. I predict cotton blazers with pastel tshirts by easter. These guys left and I got back to finishing the job of cleaning my office. If a picture is with a thousand words, actually seeing the before and after first hand would be worth a million words. You would not believe how bad my mess was. I had a counseling session @ 5 and finished the cleaning a little after 6. Here's the finished product. For those who have been in my office over the last three years, BE AMAZED, just don't look in the drawers. That's next week's project. I found out something about blogger's photoshop. It sucks when you post a lot of pictures.

Photo Friday

Burn.

B-52 Bomber

A B-52 Bomber has been recovered from the bottom of Lake Murray outside of Columbia, SC. It crashed during a WWII training flight. Traffic has been heavy since they started bringing it to shore as people stop to take a look, but I don't see many complaining. A piece of history. The pilots of the planes bailed before crashing. I've lived near this lake almost all my life. It was one the made back in the 20's to bring power to Columbia. They routed the river into a huge valley and dammed it all in (kind of like they did on the movie "Oh Brother Where Art Thou.") I've heard about all the houses, cars, churches and graveyards at the bottom. The stories abouth the 300 lb catfish use to scare me. I'd love to see what else is down there.

Photo Friday

Divine

Intimacy

Intamacy is knowing someone fully and being fully known by that someone without the fear of rejection. Relationships built on this principle make up real community. We attempt to only show the part of us we want others to see, the best or the worst is saved for few individuals or none at all. We are not real, but counterfeits, seeking what we will only attain when we let down our gaurd.

Photo Friday

Photo Friday: Massive

Fitting Quote

I couldn't help but post this. It's from a book I have not yet read, but it's next on my list. The picture of the church in the Bible is a messy one. Why? Because community is messy. The lies our culture wants us to buy into are not new. The church has struggled against them since its birth. The mess happens when people who are not like each other begin to do life together. We soon realize that community requires us to fall at Jesus' feet and beg Him for the love it takes to obey the "one another" commands. We find we often have to ask people to forgive us because we have not served and loved them the way Jesus wanted us to. (p. 162 Jesus In the Margins by Rick McKinley) Check out a full review on the book here.

We're Helping

Our church has been asked to host a triage center for Katrina Evacuees. We should see over 1000 people come through over the next week. Most will have family members in area hospitals. We're just a stop over for most. They'll be going to area motels for the extended stay. How long is extended? Who knows. I hope we can make a lasting impact on some people.

New Orleans

I just saw on the news that many New Orleans Police officers have walked off the job and two have committed suicide. Shoot outs over interstate bridges and crime running rampant. British Students made it back home from the superdome. They said the situation was horrifying. My heart breaks for all of these. Now we're on to the finger pointing. I know there are things to fix and words to hand out, but I don't see how this is helping to do anything but slow down the process and change the focus of view off of the people who need the most help. Around 6000 victims are coming to Columbia, SC over the next several weeks. Our church is trying to help. If local Red Cross chapters are helping in your area, considerhelping them. If not, please consider giving to the relief.

My View

This is my view for 4-6 hours a day. this contraption bends my leg. I'm up to 120 degrees. 10 more to go. I can go back to work in 4 days. This hasn't been the vacation I thought it would be. I really wish I could help the people suffering from the hurricane. I have no money to give, just prayer. Maybe I can do more later.