Great. Just what I need

Marko posted a link to yet another incredibly addictive time-waster. My high score is 21. He predicts that you'll spend about 3 minutes before it gets mind-numbing. He was pretty close.

sadly, it takes very little to get me off track

Allergies. Nuff said. It's that time of year when my nose runs all the time, I sneeze with regularity, and my eyes itch so bad that I think of investing in a Dremel tool to go after the itch.

It's not so bad when I'm out playing, or leading worship, or when I'm busy. But there are days when all I seem to do is gripe about the drip/sneeze/wheeze/blow cycle. I get caught up in thinking about how bad I have it.

Then I run across a story about people who are truly suffering--people in third world countries living in houses the size of my bedroom with no running water and sewage in the dirt roads in front of their houses. Or families dealing with the loss of a loved one, terminal illness, sick babies, no food...

In the midst of my sneezing, I saw a show on TLC last night called Overhaulin'. It was a sweet (say it like a 10th grader) show about a guy who has a beater of a Ford Bronco. His wife gets these car dudes to nab the Bronco and totally restore it. From trash to treasure in a week. The work these guys did was totally amazing. I don't know who pays for all of the upgrades, but this guy's Bronco was awesome when they were done.

My attitude needs an overhaul lots of days. When I stop to think about my life, I realize that I have been blessed in so many ways. From family to general health to the place where I live, work, and play, I have it really good.

Can you hand me another tissue?

Where Would You Go, If You Could Go?

My daughter (Lilly) pulled a secret agent passport out of a box of cereal a couple of days ago. That in and of itself is bolg-worthy! I mean, a SECRET AGENT PASSPORT! Does it get much better than that? It came ready for her fill in her personal info, and had stamps from all kinds of countries for her to place inside.

She asked me: "Dad, where would you want to go?" She started naming the countries--Ireland, England, Germany, France, Russia...

First of all, I was pretty impressed with her reading ability. She's one smart cookie! Then I began to think of how to answer her breakfast question. I could take the rabbinical approach (Where would you like to go, daughter of mine?). I could blow her off--we are talking about a breakfast cereal toy, after all. Or I could play along.

It dawned on me that other than Hawaii, the Dominican Republic and Canada, I haven't been much of anywhere. My dad was in the Air Force, and we didn't travel much. Vacations were spent at my grandparents in Tryon, North Carolina--fun, home of the world's smallest daily newspaper, but certainly not an exotic travel spot. For our honeymoon, my wife's aunt gave us a Timeshare week--tradeable anywhere in the world. Kim had us looking at Aruba, Jamaica (ooo, I wanna take her to) Bermuda, Bahama (come on pretty mama). I set her on the right path pretty quickly, though, and we honeymooned in the paradise that is The Poconos. Do I know how to live or what?

But I digress.

Where would I go if I could go anywhere?

Where would you go if you could go anywhere?

There are a lot of places I want to visit, but at the top of the list for me and my family is the great nation we call China. You see, my newest daughter is somewhere, waiting in an orphanage; waiting for us to get our paperwork done, to get the $$ together, and to get on a plane.

To get her. Take out the spaces and it spells together. Did you ever notice that?

Sometimes it gets me. My guts hurt. Tears well up in my eyes. To think that there are whole buildings full of babies/children who need homes...and yet it's so stinkin' hard to make it happen...

Where would I go? I'd go get Annabelle. That's her name. We pray for her every night. I can't wait to meet her, to hold her, to love her.

You want to go with us? There's lots of babies there...click on to read other stories of adoption. And get your kleenex ready.

It feels a little like cheating...

This Easter season I've been using the internet to work on my spiritual condition. There are quite a few resources available, and many of them are incredibly well done.

I ran across most of them while reading the Emerging Church Blogs site. From the creator of Sacred Space (an interactive, reflective prayer site run by Jesuits)comes the Pray-As-You-Go podcast that I've been listening to (though not daily). It's a daily helping of music, scripture, guided prayer, and one or two questions aimed at connecting the listener with the Eternal God.

Another site that I've found inspirational (no, not the same word as associated with greeting cards and holiday movies on tv) is from the good people over at rejesus. There's a good bit of Easter material there, and much more.

Is it just me, or is there something about a British accent that makes spiritual stuff sound more spiritually? Have you visited the Online Labyrinth? My case in point...

All that being said, it feels a little weird to be looking at my computer screen and trying to pray, think, meditate, etc. on the spiritual. It feels like I'm cheating somehow, to not have a book in front of me, to be reading scriptures from a website or a computer program. It feels goofy to bounce from deep spiritual encounter to "I wonder how my bid on that coon hunting headlamp on eBay is doing..." (I think I got hosed on that one, but that's another story.

I'm more of a tangible book guy. I like my journal and fountain pen (thank you, Paw Paw). I don't know if I'll stick with it after Easter, but I think I'll give it a shot...