I'm not going to write too long tonight. I just wanted to publicly thank God for my great family. We went down to visit some more family in the town where my dad grew up. We went to church with everyone who was there (not everyone showed up until later) and we took five whole rows. My grandpa was especially proud because he had "seven kids, nineteen grandkids, and three greatgrandkids who all were in the church." One of my uncles, who is a missionary supported by that church, got up and thanked the people for their work in welcoming in their family and supporting them as they grew up. It was especially touching for all the people that worked in children's ministries and had worked with mixed families. After that we all went out for Chinese food and then took some family pictures. It was interesting because I spent most of my time talking with two cousins that I hadn't been very close to growing up, but now we seemed to get along very well, although I still get along fine with the others. While we were down there we played some volleyball, ping pong, and a hand of canasta. It was a really nice, relaxing time.

Then when we got back to Hillsboro, I got to see one of my best friends since elementary school. We went to a bar and played pool until 1am and talked about what was going on in his life. Since this last summer, he has discovered that God is real, but he doesn't know enough about spiritual matters yet to distinguish what is true and false. So for now he believes in a hodgepodge of Christianity, Buddhism, astrology, new ageism, Christian Science, and pop psychology. I believe that the Spirit is working in his life and I'm really excited because this was the first time I'd ever heard him excited about spiritual issues. Please pray for discernment on his part and that God would use me and other people to seize this formative period and help him to discover the truth.

In Other News...
All of my clothes now smell like smoke and I found another alcoholic drink that I don't care for. I bet that if Jesus were alive today He would smell like smoke a lot.

This was a good Christmas. We are at my grandma's house in Oregon so we got to see lots of family. We got up around 9am, went out into the living room (I dragged my sleeping bag in so I was comfortable) and just kinda sat there for a while. Dad read part of the Christmas story and then we opened presents. I mostly got things like socks and a small electric burner so I can fry stuff in my apartment. Nothing glamorous, but definitely useful. I did however get get two books of Peanuts comics and a book 'The Gospel According to Peanuts'. I am looking forward to reading them. I don't care much about presents and I was just happy to see all of my family.

Around 10:30 we went over to my aunt's new house. It is a nice house, but it is always odd when you go back to what was once your home and things have changed. We messed around for a while and saw some cousins who I hadn't seen in a couple of years. Then they left and the more family showed up. It was great to see them all again. I especially enjoyed seeing two of my cousins who we spent all of our time with growing up. The third brother is in England but gave us a ring later on. My aunt's house has a second floor with a railing overlooking the living room and a ceiling fan just within reach from the balcony. Just within our reach and just beyond our aunt's reach. So at first I was below and tossed up a candy wrapper to one of my cousins, then asked him to put it on the top of the fan blade so when Aunt Donna turned the fan on, it would go zooming off. Well this led to seeing what other things we could put up there like a paper plate, a chain of paper clips and a ribbon with a bow. Well while we were up in the loft, we noticed a bunch of sticky pads and thought about putting one on top of the fan that said 'Hi Donna'. We decided against it, but did make 10 such notes and hide them around her house. So now there are little yellow notes under the hall rug, behind a picure, on top of a mirror, and in the middle of the pad of sticky notes. So it will take Aunt Donna at least a few months to find all the sticky notes. They knew we were up to something but didn't know what.

We sang Happy Birthday and had a birthday cake (altough we didn't light any candles because we couldn't exactly fit 2000+ candles on the cake). There's a thought for you to chew on: What would Jesus want for His birthday? Around 4ish we had a big ham dinner (we were all full by the first round but my grandma and I decided it was worth the effort to go for seconds). Then we went into the living room and opened stockings.

Now you have to understand that stockings are a family tradition. Growing up our families would give gifts to the other families but as the families grew we knew this was going to get expensive, so instead we opted to get stocking stuffers to give to everyone and we would all open stockings together. Of course all the stocking stuffers are wrapped so there are lots of small pieces of wrapping paper. Well, the only good thing to do with wrapping paper after it has been used is to press it into a ball and throw it at someone across the room. So if you're afraid of flying objects, don't spend Christmas with my family. All in all it was a very good time for everyone.

Happy Birthday! Merry Christmas!



In Other News...
Boy did we miss out. A white Christmas in Houston! They had around 6 inches of snow. You can tell that someone was really praying for a miracle!

Happy Birthday! Merry Christmas!

I just watched Miracle on 34th Street. I don't know that I've ever seen all of it before (even this time I watched most of it and then had to go back and catch the beginning). I really, really enjoyed it. In fact, I would have probably watched it through again if my brother hadn't wanted to go to bed in the adjoining room. It is a classic movie about one man who believes he is Santa Claus and how people believe and disbelieve him. It got me thinking again about the nature and character of Santa Claus. He's good natured, amiable, kind, just, hard working, playful, and just plain loves people. St. Nicholas was a probably the bishop of Myra, Turkey in the fourth century. He became well known for his generosity and holiness. I also just reread The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, and it has Father Christmas on the side of Aslan (if you have no idea what I'm talking about hethen I demand that you spend Christmas with your family and friends, read the birth narative, and then tomorrow go find that book and read it). Aslan is superior but Father Christmas is a servant and a blessing. I think that we could learn a lot about Christ if we actually considered Santa Claus. Of course, I'm not saying that he is real or should take priority, but I would certainly be intersted in a book or, even better, a sermon on Santa and Jesus. What would be even better is a sermon series on Christ in Christmas movies. I know a lot people that might not come to church for a regular Christmas series, but might be interested in coming to see something like 'God and the Grinch' or 'A Charlie Brown Christmas Service'. By the way, 'A Charlie Brown Christmas' is the only movie that I can wholeheartedly recommend to everyone. I can't say that about any other movie. But I can imagine a Christmas scene where the three wise men come bearing gifts: Charlie Brown, Santa, and the Grinch. It would crtainly give you food for thought. So before I go to dream of Sugar Plum Fairies, I'll leave you with a final quote from 'A Charlie Brown Christmas'. Think about it.

Charlie Brown: (shouting in desperation) Isn't there anyone out there who can tell me what Christmas is all about?

Linus: Sure, Charlie Brown, I can tell you. Lights, please. (A spotlight shines on Linus.) "And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the fields, keeping watch over their flocks by night. And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the lord shone round about them, and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not, for behold, I bring unto you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you this day is born in the City of Bethlehem, a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; you shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel, a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God, and saying, 'Glory to God in the highest, and on Earth peace, good will toward men'". That's what Christmas is all about, Charlie brown.

Things To Never Do Again #1:
Miss a flight and get stuck for 27 hours in the Dallas airport.

Friday I finished with my first semester at GIAL and headed back to visit my family in Colorado. Due to a series of unfortunate events (although not of the Lemony Snicket sort) I missed the check-in cut off time by 3 minutes. I probably could have just gone through security and still made the flight, but I didn't know that at the time. Twenty-seven hours, one hundred dollars, and four asprin later, I finally got out of the airport system and met my family. At one point I was physically on a plane looking for a seat, when they decided it was overbooked (like every other flight) and pulled me off. I would have been willing to stand for the whole flight if I could have stayed. So here's a tip for you: if you miss a flight during the Christmas season and get put on standby, immediately pay the hundred bucks to get onto the next flight, because they're all overbooked (at least on United) so you will have to pay eventually anyways. Maybe you won't waste as much time as I did. I missed picking my brother up from the Air Force Academy. I did finally make it to Colorado and I got to see my family. Aunts, uncles, parents, brothers, grandparents, are all doing well. They say hi.

In Other News...
I my grandfather who died a month or two ago left me a nice camera, which will be a lot of fun. Its too bad he's not around to show me how to use it.

Today was a really good day. We went to watch some friends run in a marathon. I really enjoyed that (watching, not running ;-) We had lunch, I read a book, took a nap, watched a movie, and played ping pong. It was a really relaxing day. Just what God knew I needed.

One more week left.

I was just looking though my pictures from the last year. They are even worse for making a guy homesick than watching Kate's video because I relive so many different things. Everything from the MAN trip to Katherine's dance recital to Elephant Distraction at the art show to climbing 90 to graduation. Sigh...

I was thinking about putting a picture up here to break up the bland textness (can you tell that I only got 3.5 hours of sleep last night?). I don't have a picture of myself that I like enough to put up, so that's out. Any other suggestions? I just got some pics from the Congolese church that I had been going to, but they really don't fit. I was considering putting up a pic of how people around the world see Jesus and portray Him in their art, but I don't know if that would work. Its definitely an interesting thing to search for online.

Man, I knew he was smart, but that's just crazy. According to the Rice Website my former roommate is now an Elec and a Musi. Love was so hard to find because none of us were looking in Musiland!