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| WE'RE HERE...
well, we are officially piedmontonians. or is it piedmonites? or piedmontians? who knows... but we are here and the only word to describe it is... very. very excited, very lonely, very scared, very insufficient, very happy, very anxious, very much missing the kids in sentinel as well as our friends there. lots of different feelings right now. can't wait to get started. | | |
| MOVING
well, it looks like we are going to be changing addresses. piedmont here we come! happy times, but sad at the same time. hate to leave sentinel (very much), so many amazing friends here. gonna miss the youth a ton. but i know God has bigger plans in store for all of us. | | |
| LIFE
why do we have to go through times in life when we get ran over by a mack truck, it backs up, runs over you again, and then does it about 40 more times? | | |
| THOUGHTS FROM KICHIJIRO
i finished a book a few days ago, a japanese novel at that, entitled Silence by
shusaku endo. it is historical fiction (one of my youth informed
me of that), dealing with the Christian persecutions which took place
in the mid 1600's in japan. the main character is a portuguese
priest named father rodriguez. he is eventually betrayed and
turned into the government by a fellow Christian by the name of
kichijiro. after denouncing Christ, kichijiro has lived as a
double agent for the government turning in Christians and
priests. he is always very sorrowful and regretful after each act
of betrayal.
after turning father rodriguez in, he seeks out the priest
to beg his forgiveness. as he pleads with the priest, he makes
this statement: forgive me father,
for i am weak. i was not born strong like so many others. i
am weak. oh, if only i had been born twenty years earlier (before the persecutions began, when being a Christian was the cool cultural thing), i
would have made a great Christian. yes, i would have been admired
by thousands. but instead, i was born in this time when the weak
cannot survive. forgive me father.
makes me think about my own life and the times in
which we live. if being a Christian was suddenly made difficult
by the government or other faction, would i be strong or weak like
kichijiro? would i utter the same statement - oh, if only i had been born twenty years earlier, i would have made a great Christian.? how easy it is for me to be a Christian in america.
by the way, i would recommend this book to all.
explores Christianity on so many levels and from so many different
angles. very good read.
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| CURLING, WHAT A SPORT
i am sitting here watching the united states take on finland in curling at the olympics. for a sport that requires very little if any athletic ability, it is definitely addictive. i never realized there was so much strategy to it. these guys are placing guard stones all around the target, sliding rocks to take out three of four of the other teams' rocks, it is pretty amazing. the guys with the brooms are pretty rockin' too. what's really cool is the fact that the american team members are all wearing tight underarmour type uniforms to show off their lack of muscle while all the other teams are bundled up in heavy coats and ski pants. good job u.s.a.!
side note: one of the commentators just described one of the u.s. team members as being "on fire. yes, he's on fire. he could be the surprise of the olympics." | | |
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