Category: personal

after almost 1 1/2 years of pam and the boys saying over and over that we should remove the cyst on montana’s back i finally gave it and had it removed today. don’t worry folks i take good care of my dogs. it is just that the cyst is just an encapsulated oil gland that was causing no harm to her. it isn’t pretty and people who saw the cyst for the first time usually thought that it was some sort of cancerous tumor but it really wasn’t harmful to her so i felt no real need for us to put her through surgery to remove it. after all it is merely a cosmetic issue.

so i let it sit on her back for a long time. it got a little worse every day. it began to reach a point where our vet said it really needed to go. so i gave in and montana had surgery today. turns out it had become infected so it was really time for it to go. she pulled through fine and is back to her gorgeous self only with a really tough looking scar now.

here are before and after photos. montana will have the staples in her incision for 21 days. then everything should be back to normal.

 

of course, pamela wanted to see the cyst so i asked the vet if he could save it for her. she’ll be thrilled when she gets home. i, on the other hand, want to throw up.

basic thoughts from day 2

• “youtube theologian” was my favorite term of the day. it was used in connection with the “i hate religion but love JESUS” video that was so popular in the past year.
  
• good theology hits every part of life. miroslav volf talked today about the fear of GOD and its connections with how to live the good life. it was great. made all the more impact sense i am presently reading his work “embrace and exclusion”. good stuff.
• the church has to get more involved in immigration reform. how we treat the “stranger inn our land” is of huge importance in scripture. if we are followers of CHRIST our attitude and approach to this issue should be determined by scripture.
• the moral case for free interprise by arthur brooks was very interesting if for no other reason than his statement that “the moral argument will always overwehlm the material argument.”
• i need to read some abraham kuyper. how have i missed this 19th century theologian.
• there sure are a great number of “beautiful people” who come to and present at Q. makes me feel out of place.
• three things i have already come away with are 1) i need to start work on a sabbath retreat for tapestry similar to what i did with youth at parkview in baton rouge, 2) i’m interested in getting together with a group of threads to read the new testament over 8 weeks, and 3) i need to start praying for all the other churches in point more purposefully. i think i am going to pick a different church each week and encourage tapestry to join me in praying for them.

i guess that is it for now.

so today was the 1st day of QDC. as usual it was fantastic. the presentations are always challenging and amazing. here are a few thoughts from today.

• i have a love/hate relationship with the presentations. i love the ideas and hearing what others have done. i am always challenged to think differently and try new thinks. i hate the fact that hearing the presentations almost always leaves me wondering why i haven’t done anything in my life.  that’s not the presenter’s fault. it is just that these people areamazing. it is hard to measure up when you hear a 28 year old who has a phd, developed an entrepreneurial plan in africa, preaches better than me, and runs a 2:45 marathon.
• GOD always provides opportunities but for some reason they are very easy to find at this conference. every year i end up meeting someone who does something that i am sure fits withwho we are in tapestry. it happened again last night. i ate supper with a couple who are involved in respite care in their church. has me wondering about us doing something.
• it is alway a good thing when people start quoting c.s. lewis. there were 4 quotes today.
• GOD is doing some really cool things through HIS people. lots of stories of interesting things being done in and through the kingdom of GOD?

i’ll write specifics when i get back. i don’t really have the time or desire right now. i’m also writing this on my nook color which is a pain.

i saw this earlier today and thought it was well worth a quick share. gorgeous.

adam and i are out of the woods after spending a few days hiking some of the appalacain trail around damascus, virginia. we did 32 miles pretty quickly (14 miles on day one, 13 miles on day two, and then a short day of 5 miles). we went over the peak of mount rodgers, white top mountain, pine mountain, and several other places that were high enough that both of us are now walking like 80 year olds. we met some interesting and great people, saw some amazing scenery, saw 40 to 50 wild ponies, and carried our packs a long way.

it was a blast.

i’ll post a few stories and photos later.

by now many of you have seen the above video from invisible children. perhaps you have received facebook invites to join a group that is organizing people to be a part of the planned plastering of posters and everything else to raise awareness.

i have mixed feelings about all this. to be honest if it wasn’t for invisible children i would have most likely known absolutely nothing about the about the lord’s resistance army (lra) and the terrible things joseph kony has lead them to do to kids in uganda. i am thankful for what invisible children did initially in raising awareness and sparking some action but thanks to a friend of mine i have my questions about their latest film and campaign (kony 2012).

david is a former student from the student ministry i led at parkview baptist church in baton rouge. david’s background both culturally and educationally makes him someone i automatically respect in regards to anything african (actually i just pretty much respect david because he is an awesome person). david posted his thoughts on the kony 2012 campaign on his blog (you can find his post here). he basically says that the kony 2012 campaign is dealing with a problem that isn’t the main issue anymore in uganda. he describes it as selling 6 year old newspapers.

i’m still not sure how i feel about the kony 2012 campaign but i am sure that you should read david’s post and that his thoughts are shaping my opinion. so go read his post.