Even More

This is overwhelming! I like Hillsong, and they're Australian! If you're not familiar with Hillsong, just listen to the second and/or eighth song on my playlist at the bottom of the page.

More Australian Evidence

My sister pointed out to me another way in which I am Australian. I not only like Keith Urban, use Aussie shampoo and conditioner, and eat Wallaby yogurt, but I also like the new GTO's that were originally built from an Australian platform.

The Final "Squirrel Saga" Post?

Tragic news. PETA is going to be all over this.

I have not said much about the squirrels in a while because I think my dad finally won. I've said this before, but this time I am very confident. After he moved the hummingbird feeder, he has not had any trouble with them--even the smart one.

However, it looks as though my dad may not have triumphed on his own. It seems a certain neighbor of ours, Bill, is also having a squirrel problem. (It's like an epidemic!) The little creatures have not only been getting plump from birdseed--if that's possible--but they have been dipping into Bill's corn as well. His garden is a vast feeding ground for them.

To solve his problem and, by the transitive property, solve our problem and to prevent them from spoiling all his cantaloupe along with corn, he began to shoot in their direction. He was only trying to scare them off. It did not work, so he hung up some dead squirrels. Unfortunately, they are too tame. He then shot them, one by one. He only has about six more to go, I believe, out of the original twenty--no lie.

This is tragic because though the squirrels are pesty little animals, I have grown attached to their being around or at least the amusement they bring. They are cute and furry and smart--sort of. If they were truly smart they would have ran and not returned after the first one was shot. Anyway, I feel compassion for them, but it is too late for any intervention from me.

How sad that Man vs. Squirrel must end on such a bittersweet note!... at least for now. "It's not over 'til it's over," Yogi says. Six of them are still alive. Can they pull themselves together for a comeback? We can only wait and see.

PC--Never Mind--Faith

My dad bought a used computer from a man who lives near Manchester (St. Louis, MO). It is a 2002 Dell Optiplex GX240. I have been setting it up for my parents after Dad and I plugged everything up and got all the parts situated.

Oh! Sudden change of writing plans...

My dad was just talking about my mom's possible test of faith. My parents and my sister returned from Jeffersonville, IN, yesterday. They were moving Rachel's furniture to her new apartment. My sister's going to seminary, but that's a whole other blog.

Before they left on Monday, my mom's foot was hurting severely. (If you are unfamiliar with my mom's foot problems, check out my past posts labeled "Prayer Requests and Praise Reports." Her foot is healing now, praise the Lord.) She went on the trip anyway, and has not had any severe pain, to my knowledge, since that morning. My dad and I think that it may have been a test of faith from God for my mom. She still went, even though she was in pain. It was like a step of faith. It is also possible that the devil may have been rearing his head. She very much wanted to go on the trip, for she had not seen the apartment or the seminary campus before the trip.

I promise that was way better than what I originally was going to write about.

Everything from the Word "Hiatus" to Greek

Apologies upon apologies to all my fans (just kidding) for seemingly abandoning the blogosphere. Some definite blog-worthy happenings have transpired, but because they are so much in the past, I cannot recall them.

From what I can salvage, allow me to fill you in on what you have missed.

• I am pretty convinced by now that I am Australian at heart. By reflection I have come up with these three facts to back up my claim: (1) I use Australian shampoo, Aussie; (2) I eat Australian-style yogurt, Wallaby (Jeremy, if you should happen to run across this post, know that it is organic.); and (3) I like Keith Urban, who is Australian.
• I recently delved into a friend's New Testament Greek textbook. I have had it since school let out, but I had only opened the book sparingly before last week. I am on the exercises portion of Unit 2. I enjoy learning Greek. To me, it is an exciting language to learn. The whole Greek culture fascinates me. The main cause of my interest, however, is in my desire to get to the raw text of the Bible. To read New Testament Scripture in Its original language would be like embracing Truth in a hug--enveloping It in order to comprehend Its worth and understand Its exact meanings (not the "big picture" meaning but meanings of individual points). I know that I cannot possibly do either of these things, but that is the measure of significance I place on proficiently knowing New Testament Greek. It seems as though it would open a whole new, for lack of a better word, facet of the Bible to me...
• June 23rd my cousin married at Stonegate Glass Chapel just north of Branson, MO. My sister and I headed down to Harrison, AR, (where he lives) the Thursday before. We viewed his brother's house and met his brother's roommate, ate my aunt's DELICIOUS food, and enjoyed making comparisons of my aunt and uncle to our parents--at least I did. Besides the rehearsal dinner, wedding, and reception, we did not have anything on our agenda before we went down there. It was truly a vacation. Before the rehearsal dinner I chilled in the living room for a few hours doing absolutely nothing but observing my surroundings and napping a bit. After the rehearsal dinner, my uncle took us all (my aunt, my aunt's sister and niece, and us) to Branson Landing. That place is NICE. The street lamps change colors, the walkway is brick, music plays outside constantly, and the Landing has good stores. It's right by the lake too. I very much appreciated my famly throughout the vacation. I think much of the time I take them for granted, but not that time. They are a great group of people! Oh, by the way, the wedding and all its appending activities were very enjoyable as well.

Writing of vacations, I am currently on hiatus from work for some R&R in the country. I took off with the aims of soaking up amazing scenery, wide open spaces, and birds' songs instead of endless buildings, small spaces, and traffic noise; and--this is my primary aim--of digging into the Word and reading my current books in peace and quiet with focused attention. I have done hardly any of the two and hope to achieve better tomorrow.

Sweet Treat

I'm in church again down in All Stars. Something great happened last Wednesday. Rachel and I had become accustomed to dessert the weekend before while we were in Harrison, AR, and, therefore, were craving something sweet. We went to Applebee's for a chocolate meltdown (yum!).

Not long after we were digging into our scrumptious, devilish delight, without my knowing, a man--who heretofore shall be dubbed Charlie--tapped on the window (the one separating Drury Inn from the restaurant) and asked Rachel if our food was good. At the time I was looking down at my food (one track mind) and didn't notice anything was going on until I looked up at Rachel, who was gazing over to her left with a grin on her face. She said, "That man is talking to me." In a quandry, I slowly peered over to my right with an apprehensive expression, and when my eyes landed on Charlie, I immediately, in conjunction with my sister, busted up into laughter. Charlie came around to our table and asked, "So am I going to get a bite of that?" We were both thinking, "Sure, go ahead." He laughed and said, "I'm going to pay for your dessert." "No need for that," I replied.

When we finished our dessert, we gave the waitress our payment with the ticket and figured, Well, I guess Charlie isn't coming by. A couple minutes later, the waitress returned with the ten I had given her and said, "That man over there said he'd pay for your dessert." Well, okay! Before we left, we thanked him. He said he figured since he had joked around with us that he'd pay the ticket. How nice of him! God used him to be a financial blessing in both of our lives, so praise God.