Tonga volcano spews spectacular plume into South Pacific
sky:

http://www.sciam.com/blog/60-second-science/post.cfm?id=tonga-volcano-spews-spectacular-plu-2009-03-19

This is happening 495 miles from Fiji.  Awesome.

2009-03-15

Whew I’m
spent.  We just finished part one
of our farewell tour of Texas with visits to five families, four cities, and
800 miles.  It hasn’t rained
 here
in six months but managed to rain every day of our trip.  Thankfully I strategically purchased
the yota camper shell two years ago much to the chastizization of my wife who
said it made me look like an old man.  At least I don't snooze the whole time on road trips!! 

  Boerne was a treat with my highlight
being the schooling received in 42 from Peggy and Leena.  These two put on a clinic with the
bones and were not scared to bid. 
It seemed like a mark bid just got you in the game much less in the
lead!  Thanks Leena for the new
sevens lay down method, it will save us hours in the future.  Autry amazed us with his in depth
knowledge of all things basketball and fishing while we got a good dose of
hospitality from Peggy.  

On top of all that we had a guest visit from the late great William B Travis, commander of the Alamo.  He described in vivid details his last days defending the famed mission.  Remember the Alamo!…and don't scratch our flat screen TV with your sword, the Spurs are about to come on!

Former:

Current:

On the way to
Austin to see Michael and Amy Cece we stopped at Natural Bridge Caverns north
of San Antonio.  I have wanted to
visit since the first time I saw the weird Donald Duck / Brontosaurus mascot as
a kid on the I-35 billboards between Waco and Fort Worth.  Who said Billboards don’t work, ‘Just
Did.’ 

The trip to
Manor Texas, east of Austin, was separated with a visit to Whole Foods market
and REI to stock up on Peace Corps gear. 
It was good seeing Austin is still weird.

Our visit with
the Cece’s was much overdue, as we haven’t seen them for over two years.  Michael and Amy live on 23 acres overlooking
rolling planes of lush farmland. 
Unfortunately the rain hampered our planned expedition in the covered
wagon pulled by their trusty Belgian draft horses.  Cece has become quite the Amish handy man and had a few plow
construction projects underway.

By
the way if ever in the metropolis of Manor, check out Ramos Mexican Food
Restaurant #1.  The Mariachi band
was awesome and complete with trumpet!

Our next stop
was in College Station visiting the hostess with the mostess, Aunt Rhonda.  Nobody can out due Rhonda’s
hospitality.  We arrived to a
three-course meal complete with a choice between sweet and regular
potatoes.  Seriously, even
restaurants don’t do that!  After
touring the new KBS headquarters we ventured over to baby-sit the triplets for
a little while.  It was kinda of
nerve racking at first being responsible for three walking midgets, but after I
warmed up to them it was awesome. 
We did a lot of reading, eating, and hand gestures.  Addyson showed me her tongue trick,
Brooklyn practiced for the 100-meter sprint, and Caitlyn chilled on Aunty
Kelly’s shoulder recouping from an awful ear infection.  The real sitter who actually knew what
she was doing showed up for bedtime and we bailed to Gander Mountain.

We found a bunch
of cheap PC gear and Kelly chastised me for purchasing $8 dollar pleated slacks
and clip on shades.  She didn’t
realize the pants where stain proof, wrinkle resistant, and only three years
from being back in style.  The clip
on shades not only where gold tinted, but had a hinged flipping mechanism
allowing 90-degree movement.  This
is critical as in Fijian villages only the chiefs can where sunglasses.  So if I seen a chief coming, I can simply
flip up the shades and say it is a rain visor for my nose.

We finished the
night at the Dixie Chicken sampling the burgers and other things, like
fries.  It was good seeing the
décor unchanged but a little unnerving as the city recently passed an non
smoking ordinance I could actually see the ceiling… Strange things where
growing up there.  We made it back
to the car before the parking meter expired, another unpleasant surprise, and
where safely in bed by 10:30.

It was great
seeing Kim, Scott, Scott’s folks, Mason, and Hudson the next morning at
breakfast.  It seems like yesterday
Mason was in swaddling clothes and now is kicking soccer balls and trying to
figure out when he can start harassing his little brother.  Soon, Mason, very soon!

We will miss
everyone very much and are glad all are in good health.  It’s kinda sad you have to have a
reason like moving to Fiji to get up and make a tour of Texas!

~matt

2009-03-15

Whew I’m
spent.  We just finished part one
of our farewell tour of Texas with visits to five families, four cities, and
800 miles.  It hasn’t rained
 here
in six months but managed to rain every day of our trip.  Thankfully I strategically purchased
the yota camper shell two years ago much to the chastizization of my wife who
said it made me look like an old man.  At least I don't snooze the whole time on road trips!! 

  Boerne was a treat with my highlight
being the schooling received in 42 from Peggy and Leena.  These two put on a clinic with the
bones and were not scared to bid. 
It seemed like a mark bid just got you in the game much less in the
lead!  Thanks Leena for the new
sevens lay down method, it will save us hours in the future.  Autry amazed us with his in depth
knowledge of all things basketball and fishing while we got a good dose of
hospitality from Peggy.  

On top of all that we had a guest visit from the late great William B Travis, commander of the Alamo.  He described in vivid details his last days defending the famed mission.  Remember the Alamo!…and don't scratch our flat screen TV with your sword, the Spurs are about to come on!

Former:

Current:

On the way to
Austin to see Michael and Amy Cece we stopped at Natural Bridge Caverns north
of San Antonio.  I have wanted to
visit since the first time I saw the weird Donald Duck / Brontosaurus mascot as
a kid on the I-35 billboards between Waco and Fort Worth.  Who said Billboards don’t work, ‘Just
Did.’ 

The trip to
Manor Texas, east of Austin, was separated with a visit to Whole Foods market
and REI to stock up on Peace Corps gear. 
It was good seeing Austin is still weird.

Our visit with
the Cece’s was much overdue, as we haven’t seen them for over two years.  Michael and Amy live on 23 acres overlooking
rolling planes of lush farmland. 
Unfortunately the rain hampered our planned expedition in the covered
wagon pulled by their trusty Belgian draft horses.  Cece has become quite the Amish handy man and had a few plow
construction projects underway.

By
the way if ever in the metropolis of Manor, check out Ramos Mexican Food
Restaurant #1.  The Mariachi band
was awesome and complete with trumpet!

Our next stop
was in College Station visiting the hostess with the mostess, Aunt Rhonda.  Nobody can out due Rhonda’s
hospitality.  We arrived to a
three-course meal complete with a choice between sweet and regular
potatoes.  Seriously, even
restaurants don’t do that!  After
touring the new KBS headquarters we ventured over to baby-sit the triplets for
a little while.  It was kinda of
nerve racking at first being responsible for three walking midgets, but after I
warmed up to them it was awesome. 
We did a lot of reading, eating, and hand gestures.  Addyson showed me her tongue trick,
Brooklyn practiced for the 100-meter sprint, and Caitlyn chilled on Aunty
Kelly’s shoulder recouping from an awful ear infection.  The real sitter who actually knew what
she was doing showed up for bedtime and we bailed to Gander Mountain.

We found a bunch
of cheap PC gear and Kelly chastised me for purchasing $8 dollar pleated slacks
and clip on shades.  She didn’t
realize the pants where stain proof, wrinkle resistant, and only three years
from being back in style.  The clip
on shades not only where gold tinted, but had a hinged flipping mechanism
allowing 90-degree movement.  This
is critical as in Fijian villages only the chiefs can where sunglasses.  So if I seen a chief coming, I can simply
flip up the shades and say it is a rain visor for my nose.

We finished the
night at the Dixie Chicken sampling the burgers and other things, like
fries.  It was good seeing the
décor unchanged but a little unnerving as the city recently passed an non
smoking ordinance I could actually see the ceiling… Strange things where
growing up there.  We made it back
to the car before the parking meter expired, another unpleasant surprise, and
where safely in bed by 10:30.

It was great
seeing Kim, Scott, Scott’s folks, Mason, and Hudson the next morning at
breakfast.  It seems like yesterday
Mason was in swaddling clothes and now is kicking soccer balls and trying to
figure out when he can start harassing his little brother.  Soon, Mason, very soon!

We will miss
everyone very much and are glad all are in good health.  It’s kinda sad you have to have a
reason like moving to Fiji to get up and make a tour of Texas!

~matt

• 6,393,600 seconds
• 106,560 minutes
• 1776 hours
• 10 weeks (rounded down) 

Technically we aren't supposed to use these forums for commercial purposes but selling our cars is directly related to our Peace Corps assignment so I thought I would ask for forgiveness and soldier on.

 

• 6,393,600 seconds
• 106,560 minutes
• 1776 hours
• 10 weeks (rounded down) 

Technically we aren't supposed to use these forums for commercial purposes but selling our cars is directly related to our Peace Corps assignment so I thought I would ask for forgiveness and soldier on.

 

I love travelling! I love going places! I love visiting new cities, seeing friends and family, I love coming to work! But I’m not a big fan of anything with wheels…

Never have been a fan of driving. When I was little I didn’t even like riding a bike. Instead I had a scooter, because I was ok with one foot on the ground. Every summer, my grandfather would take all the grandkids out to the farm to drive his truck and I always said no. I told him I was going to be rich and have a driver!

But if I didn’t drive I would only know the 1-mile radius around my apartment! How depressing would that be? So I daily come to the realization that I HAVE to move to get where I need to go. I have to endure the journey to get to my destination.

I guess life is like that too. We get to endure the journey to reach our final destination. At times life stinks! There is fear in the journey, fear in wondering what is around the corner. But if Jesus is your Lord and Savior, then you know that the final destination is Heaven where we will spend eternity with God.

But God didn’t zap us up into Heaven when we became a Christian, He left us here to travel the route He has us on.

And thankfully, God didn’t give us the full map. If we had the map, our brains would probably explode! Think about it, God knows EVERYTHING about EVERYBODY that has ever walked, is walking, or will walk on this planet. And sees every second of everyone’s past, present, and future all at the same time. Holy cow! Can you imagine? I think a little part of my brain just squirted out of my ear just thinking about it!

We don’t need the full map anyway because God provides signs to keep up on the path He has for us. But we love maps don’t we?

Matt loves maps. He highlights them, writes on them, and keeps them as souvenirs from our travels. When we lived in London Matt covered our entire flat in maps. He had a world map so he could see where all his classmates came from. He had a map of Europe so we could plan upcoming adventures. And he had a map of London so he would know where he had been, where he was, and where he needed to go.

Nowadays, everything is digital. Last year we got a GPS system for Christmas and that day my husband Matt got it all programmed, he chose and downloaded a female with a British accent (Let’s just call her Elizabeth), and now Elizabeth plans all our road trips.

She knows our destination and she chooses the best route. And she gets a little agitated when we deviate from the route. Even more agitated than Matt… he likes to keep a tight schedule.

For example, Matt and I are heading to west Texas to see family and I spot a Dairy Queen. I immediately think, you know what, I deserve a dipped cone! I have been sitting in this car for 2.5 hours. I have endured the boredom, the talk radio, the fumes coming out of my husband’s body. So I deserve, I need this dipped cone!

So I try to talk Matt into pulling off at the next exit and buying me this dipped cone. It takes some effort because we are “making good time.” But I have a college degree in sales and negotiation.

We start to exit and Elizabeth says – “Do not exit. Stay on the motorway (British for highway). Do not leave the planned route.” We exit anyway, pull into the Dairy Queen and she says – “Do a roundabout immediately. Return to the motorway.” And she repeats it over & over.

At this point, I am totally numb to her, All I can think about is the way the hot chocolate melts the ice cream and how perfect it will taste in my mouth! So I tuned Elizabeth out a long time ago, all I can think about is that dipped cone. And after my persistent sales pitch, eventually Matt just leans over and turns her volume down.

I think I do that with God too. He is speaking but I tune Him out. I turn down the volume on His voice. God is telling me where to go, but I see that Dairy Queen, I see that distraction. I feel that I deserve to go the scenic route, I need the latest and greatest thing, I want to take that detour. And so I do. I exit the highway, I leave the path God has me on.

What I don't realize is that all of those distractions are a lie! I don’t need those things. I definitely don’t want to pay for the consequences of the detour. I am just wasting precious time on my journey doing what I want to do, not what God wants me to do! But I make excuses for my behavior and do it anyway.

Admit it. We know what God wants us to do. Deep down, we know the right path because God said He would tell us. Check out what God’s word says…

Psalm 119:105 (NLT)
Your word is a lamp to guide my feet
and a light for my path.

Psalm 16:11 (NLT)
You will show me the way of life,
granting me the joy of your presence
and the pleasures of living with you forever

Proverbs 3:5-6 (NLT)
Trust in the Lord with all your heart;
do not depend on your own understanding.
Seek his will in all you do,
and he will show you which path to take.

You see, when we listen to God, we AUTOMATICALLY tune out the world around us.

How many of you guys like music? I love it!! But when I’m driving it can be a little bit of a distraction. I sing super loud, and if the music movies me – my eyes start to close, my hand starts to go up… not good.

My dad and Matt had installed this killer stereo system in my first car. It was a 1980 MG convertible, British racing car. It was awesome but I couldn’t live with the original radio because there wasn’t a CD player and the speakers were poop! And with a convertible, you have to have good speakers to be able to hear the music. Oh man, how I would crank up those speakers as loud as they would go!! I would get lost in a song. The music entertained me, it distracted me.

One day I was coming home from school and pulled into the garage. We were building the homecoming float at my house so I pulled all the way over to the right to avoid all the parade stuff on the left side of the garage. The MG was a tiny little 2-seater, so no problem, I just zipped in, got out, and went inside.

Well, my dad came home later and was FREAKING OUT. “What did you do to the car? When did you get into a wreck?” I had no idea what he was talking about! But apparently I swiped the entire side of the car with the garage. The radio was so loud I had no idea I hit it, so I didn’t stop. I ruined the entire side of my car. I was listening to the radio and missed everything that was going on around me. I wasn’t paying attention.

How many times in our lives are we not paying attention to where God is leading us? And someone asks = what happened to you? Your life is a wreck!

You see, God is showing us the path, but we have to open our eyes, open our ears to see it. God speaks to us in many ways – directly to us, through His word, through His teaching at Fellowship Church, through others – like Jeff and Chris and all the people in this world that love you.

But we are too distracted to hear Him. There are many, many things that distract us in this world! Here are some of the things that pull me off God's path. I challenge you to think about what distracts you on your life's journey.

1. Friends and Family – I have to protect my mind and stop listening to certain people because they want what is NORMAL for me (not God’s BEST for me). Some of us have "friends" that just want to use and abuse us. They don’t care about us, they just care about them.

2. Love for Money – It is too easy to live outside our means. The debt caused by our consumerism weighs us down. Matt and I had credit card debt, car payments, and student loans out the wazoo. We recently paid off $112,000 in debt so we
would be unshackled for what God has in store for us.

3. Peer Pressure – I was worried about what will people think of me instead of what God thinks of me. I kept forgetting that I only need to be concerned about my audience of one – God. No one else's opinion matters.

4. Laziness – I don't always want to put in the prayers, persistence and hard work to complete the road trip God has put me on.

5. Fear of Failure – What if I can't cut it? What if I make a wrong turn? I think I would rather just stay in park…

All of these distractions boils down to one thing. Pride. I want to be self-sufficient. I can do it, all by myself. Remember the scooter? I couldn’t ride a bike because I wanted to keep that one foot on the road.

Daily I have to ignore these distractions and have FAITH that God will direct my path and God will fill me up with the fuel I need to get there.

Move forward. Put the car in drive. Yes, you will detour. Yes, you will wreck. But GET BACK IN THE CAR AND KEEP MOVING FORWARD.

I have had many wrecks on my journey! I mentioned my first car-wreck… well, I have been in 4 others. And all 4 of those, I was going in reverse. I guess I’m just not good at going backwards. You should see my bumper…

Same with life, we have to move forward. We have to focus on God, and what He is showing us, so we can not only get to our final destination, but have a road trip that is worth journeying.

Are you the person that sets the GPS to the destination and then gets distracted by a Dairy Queen? Are you the person that sets the GPS to the destination and then says, you know what – I know how to get there and then you take your own path? Have you turned down the volume, are you tuning God out? Is He even in your car? Do you have a GPS system?

I pray that I have set the GPS and I follow each sign. I pray the same prayer Daniel prayed in Psalm 119.

Psalm 119:33-35
Teach me your decrees, O Lord;
I will keep them to the end.
Give me understanding and I will obey your instructions;
I will put them into practice with all my heart.
Make me walk along the path of your commands,
for that is where my happiness is found.

Father, I thank you for you who are. I thank you that you have the ultimate map and you know where we need to go. I ask that you show us what we need to unload in our lives to become unshackled for You. I ask that You show us the turns we need to take to get back to Your path for us. And I pray that we keep Your volume up and the world’s down. We love you and trust you. Amen.

1. I secretly have wanted to do this since I got the first one… but
thought who besides me actually reads them!!?? 

1. I secretly have wanted to do this since I got the first one… but
thought who besides me actually reads them!!?? 

2009-02-18

The following is a transcript
from a dream I had on February 14, 2006. And no, I did not recall this from
memory. I wrote it down the next morning.

I was with a group of teenagers.
I myself was a teenager and we where riding in a late 80’s Suburban. We went to
a place in the woods, somewhat like a church camp. We met several older ladies
who where excited to see us and revealed to us an ancient wooden table. The
table had several carved words and symbols.  The only symbol I remembered was a 3 with a circle around
it. The circle was tight to the 3 and the font resembled Arial. I also remember
the name Sam Abrams carved below the table in an open drawer. 

The next event I recall was
riding around with a body lying prostrate in the back.  He was a teenager with weird Romanesque
style garments. He was unconscious at first, but when he came to he said he was
Jesus. I was doubtful at first and looked closely at his skin and hair to see
if he was real. He was real as ever and all the others believed.

Then we resolved our duty was to
take him to Heaven. Again, I had doubts whether we could take Jesus, who still
could not move, to Heaven. Someone got the idea that we needed books. Not good
books, but bad ones so we would know what not to do. We stopped and looked at
books in an open-air market. The only book I remember was a Hemmingway book
with a spiritual title, something regarding Heaven. Someone mentioned our
mission again, and I commented it would be hard to make it to Heaven with a
Jesus who could not walk. I looked over and he had gotten out of the Suburban
and was stretching his legs. End of Dream.

I am sure there is a lot to
analyze here and my trifecta Doubting Thomas qualities should definitely be
examined.  However, before I call
in Oprah the entire reason I re-discovered this journal entry the
Holy Spirit showing me the circle 3 vividly again today.

The recall spawned from a Perry
Noble message I listened to yesterday regarding committing to Jesus instead of
comfort.  Then, this morning I read
about an Old Testament prophet who proclaimed to King Jeroboam that his altar
would split and Josiah would heap burning priests on him (1 Kings 13).  King J wasn’t thrilled and reached out
his hand calling for his arrest.  The King’s hand withered and froze in extension mode.  The King changed his tune and asked for
help.  Through the prophet, God
healed him and King J invited the prophet over for drinks.  The prophet said God told him not to
eat or drink with others and return home on a different route.  On the way a false prophet invited back
the prophet for food and drinks. He at first said no, but compromised after the
stranger said he was a messenger from God. God wasn’t happy and had a lion kill
him. The moral of the story was don’t compromise the mission God gives. 

Thus, it lead me to the three
C’s; turn from Comfortable Compromise and run to Commitment
to Jesus.  Then I remembered the
Circle 3 symbol in my past journal entries, which in turn lead me to the dream.
To make it even more confusing, the Creative Church Conference starts at
Fellowship tonight. I am not sure if God is mocking me or talking to me!  It’s all interesting nonetheless.  I am off to find out whom Sammy is and
if Hemmingway ever wrote a book with Heaven in the title. 

//
//

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