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Sunday, March 30, 2008

Sun, 30 Mar 2008 10:40:35 GMT

Sometimes, God's provision is wonderfully clear.

Last night, while Amanda and I were out shopping, there was a tremendous thunderstorm complete with, just as we arrived at Walmart, about five or ten minutes of dime-sized hail. We pulled under the gas station roof to avoid any potential damage to the car (along with just about everyone else who was within a quarter-mile of Walmart at the time). The hail never got any larger, though, so the damage concern turned out not to be an issue.

Or so we thought. We did our shopping, and when we arrived back on campus over an hour later, our next-door neighbor was looking over his cars. Half-jokingly, my wife said, "How many dents did you get?" "Quite a few," was his rather glum response. Sure enough, when we looked closely, both cars had multiple significant dents on their upper surfaces. "How big did the hail get here?" I asked. Mark's response was to walk over and pick up a stone, larger than a golf ball, that was lying on the ground near his patio (keep in mind that this is over an hour after the hail ended). Immediately, my wife and I felt thankful that we had not been on campus, because a dented car would not have made us particularly happy.

Then, on the way back from getting laundry, we decided to check on the church van that our church keeps on campus. As soon as we pulled into the parking lot where it is kept, we knew the hail had been even worse than we realized. The first three cars we saw in the lot all had broken windshields. Sure enough, so did the van, along with about two-thirds of the rest of the cars in the lot. After surveying the damage, we returned home.

Our sympathy is with our friends and neighbors whose cars have been damaged. But we cannot help quietly thanking God for arranging our day somewhat differently from our plans, such that we were at Walmart during the hailstorm, and thereby sparing our car potentially significant and expensive damage.

Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Wed, 18 Jul 2007 21:02:34 GMT

From the vast and sometimes imprecise world of the internet, a misunderstanding of the difference between French and English turns Beethoven's beautiful "Pathetique" sonata for piano into "Beethoven's Pathetic Piano Sonata."

In other news, 31 days until the wedding!

Friday, May 18, 2007

Fri, 18 May 2007 08:30:43 GMT

The ten days of being together went by all too quickly. Now, day two of ten long days apart has arrived. It's all so worth it, though, because after this week, we'll never go our separate ways again. We'll never be farther apart than across town from each other. And, so soon, we shall be wed.

Just don't expect any posts that don't relate to the wedding in some way for the summer.

Wednesday, May 02, 2007

Wed, 02 May 2007 13:33:39 GMT

"For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin. For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I. If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good. Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: but I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" (Romans 7:14-24)

I hate me.

Monday, April 30, 2007

Mon, 30 Apr 2007 22:10:51 GMT

I'm so busy being excited that I'm forgetting to tell everybody here about it!

I shall see my beautiful and wonderful fiancée in a mere six days!

And then, ere long, we shall be man and wife!

I love you, sweetheart!

Sunday, April 08, 2007

Sun, 08 Apr 2007 15:18:43 GMT

He is risen!

Sunday, March 25, 2007

Sun, 25 Mar 2007 15:14:32 GMT

I'm still alive! A very busy me doesn't have much time to keep the world up to date on my very busy life. I did want to give you something to chew on. This is from the liturgy of the Anglican church. No, I'm not Anglican or from a liturgical background, but I do recognize that traditional church liturgy is traditional for a reason. The texts recited in liturgical services are not haphazard, meaningless phrases to repeat. They are very deep, thoroughly thought through ideas that carry in them tremendous doctrinal and theological significance. This one in particular, called the General Thanksgiving, is very meaningful to me. As you read it, think about the full import of each line and the great doctrines underlying it.

Almighty God, Father of all mercies, we your unworthy servants give you humble thanks for all your goodness and loving-kindness to us and to all whom you have made. We bless you for our creation, preservation, and all the blessings of this life; but above all for your immeasurable love in the redemption of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ; for the means of grace, and for the hope of glory. And, we pray, give us such an awareness of your mercies, that with truly thankful hearts we may show forth your praise, not only with our lips, but in our lives, by giving up our selves to your service, and by walking before you in holiness and righteousness all our days; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, be honor and glory throughout all ages. Amen.

Monday, February 19, 2007

Mon, 19 Feb 2007 16:22:23 GMT

Well, the day I've been waiting for has arrived. Today I received a rather handsome offer from GE in Wilmington to take a summer internship there. I just can't believe how amazing God is, and how He works everything out far beyond my wildest dreams! I can't wait for summer…

All praises be to the King of kings,
and the Lord of lords,
He is Wonderful!

Hallelujah! Salvation and glory,
honor and power unto the Lord our God!
For the Lord our God is almighty,
yes, the Lord our God is omnipotent,
the Lord our God, He is wonderful!

Monday, February 19, 2007

Mon, 19 Feb 2007 12:50:20 GMT

If you enjoy good humor, this is the post for you. I got these in an email from a friend. Flying friends, I think you'll particularly enjoy quite a few of them.

"A slipping gear could let your M203 grenade launcher fire when you least expect it. That would make you quite unpopular in what's left of your unit."
– Army's magazine of preventative maintenance

"Aim towards the Enemy."
– instruction printed on U.S. rocket launcher

"When the pin is pulled, Mr. Grenade is not our friend."
– U.S. Marine Corps

"Cluster bombing from B-52s is very, very accurate. The bombs are guaranteed to always hit the ground."
– USAF Ammo Troop

"It is generally inadvisable to eject…directly over the area you just bombed."
– USAF manual

"Tracers work both ways."
– U.S. Army ordinance

"If your attack is going too well, you're walking into an ambush."
– Infantry Journal

"Any ship can be a minesweeper. Once."
– unknown

"Don't draw fire; it irritates the people around you."
– unknown

If you see a bomb technician running, follow him."
– USAF Ammo Troop

"Though I fly through the valley of death, I shall fear no evil, for I am at 80,000 feet and climbing."
– entrance to the old SR-71 operating base, Kadena, Japan

"You've never been lost until you've been lost at Mach 3."
– Paul F. Crickmore (test pilot)

"The only time you have too much fuel is when you're on fire."
– unknown

"There are more planes in the ocean than submarines in the sky."
– an old carrier sailor

"If the wings are traveling faster than the fuselage, it's probably a helicopter—and therefore, unsafe."
– unknown

"When one engine fails on a twin-engine airplane, you always have enough power left to get you to the scene of the crash."
– unknown

"What is the similarity between air traffic controllers and pilots? If a pilot screws up, the pilot dies; if ATC screws up, the pilot dies."
– unknown

"Mankind has a perfect record in aviation; we never left one up there!"
– unknown (note: some might make an exception for the case of Amelia Earhart!)

"A pilot who doesn't have any fear probably isn't flying his plane to its maximum."
– Jon McBride (astronaut)

"Never fly in the same cockpit with someone braver than you."
– unknown

"If something hasn't broken on your helicopter, it's about to."
– unknown

"Basic flying rules: try to stay in the middle of the air; do not go near the edges of it; the edges of the air can be recognized by the appearance of ground, buildings, sea, and/or interstellar space; it is much more difficult to fly there."
– unknown

"You know that your landing gear is up and locked…when it takes full power to taxi to the terminal."
– unknown

"As the test pilot climbs out of the experimental aircraft, having torn off the wings and the tail in the crash landing, the crash truck arrives. The rescuer sees a bloodied pilot and asks, "What happened?" The pilot's reply: "I don't know; I just got here myself!"
– attributed to Ray Crandell (Lockheed test pilot)

Saturday, February 10, 2007

Sat, 10 Feb 2007 00:28:26 GMT

God continues to be amazing. Just thought I'd let you know.

Monday morning, I got another email from GE (a different person this time), asking me for some additional information and telling me they wanted to set up a phone interview with me. Of course, I responded right away, and Tuesday afternoon they called me and set up a time for the interview—I'll be talking with them next Wednesday morning (on Valentine's day). So I've been pretty excited about this, and I'm very happy that God is working things out so that I can get this internship at the place I really want to be.

Today, however, I got another phone call. This time it was from the person who originally contacted me. She was verifying that I was still interested in the position, and then told me that there was a particular manager who was "definitely" interested in having me come to work for him, after seeing my resumé. She proceeded to briefly describe the project I would be working on. She seemed not to realize that I had an interview with another person there, so I mentioned that to her. When I told her the name of the person interviewing me, she said that, yes, that was the manager who had to do that and made it seem very much as if the interview would actually be just a formality and that they had basically already decided that they want me to come work there. Needless to say, this made me very happy!

So now I'm looking forward to the interview on Wednesday even more than before, I'm just so happy that everything is already falling into place for the summer. There are still worries that need to be taken care of for next fall, when Amanda will be coming here. But I know that God will take care of those, too, just as He is taking care of everything else.