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Friday, July 25, 2008


  • life is a series of accumulations.

      we attend school to gain knowledge, we gain wisdom, go to work to become gainfully employed, gain weight, gain more wisdom, gain strength, lose the weight you gained only to gain it back again.

    we get a life, get the credit, get involved, get high, get lost, get married, get divorced, get hired, get fired, get around, get around to it, and some of us just get it.

    we get our fill. We are full of secrets, full of bottled-up emotions, full of things left unsaid, full of love that we are afraid to give.

    a kind of fullness that is really ...


    empty






Saturday, July 19, 2008

  • OK, I'll tell the rest of the story now.

    How did I meet my spouse?   We met on the train at Knott's Berry Farm.  I was a passenger, and he was a train robber (actual job title ... imagine putting that on a rental application!).  Now the "gun in my face" story makes sense.  And he has learned the "danger" of carrying a firearm.

    We met in August, and started dating in September.  About a month after we started dating, my dad asked me if this guy that was holding me hostage was ever going to send a ransom note.  The ransom note was delivered on Halloween night.  Here's what the note said: 

    "Dear Mr. T.,  I am holding your daughter for ransom.  My demands are:  $73.82; an ugly necktie; a year's subscription to MAD Magazine; and a whoopie cushion.  If these demands are not met, I will return your daughter to you."

    Dad did not hesitate to pay the ransom. 

Friday, July 18, 2008

  • "How did you meet your spouse or significant other?"

    Earlier this week I answered the Featured Question "How did you meet your spouse or significant other?"  (see post below), and gave the simple, honest, straight-to-the-point answer.  But it seems that simple honesty is not enough for some Xangans and Revelifers.  So it's time for me to 'fess up and go into more (but not every) detail of what really happened that fateful moment nearly 20 years ago.

    I was riding on a train through a California ghost town, when suddenly two masked men carrying fully functional firearms approached me.  One walked directly toward me, with pistol pointed at my person, and asked me if I had any money.  Well, I wasn't going to admit to him that I am an heiress to the Al-Mart fortune ... after all, I didn't even know this man ... so I told him, "I don't have any money.  Are you taking hostages?"  He asked two seemingly random questions that a gunman could ask:  (1) Are you married?  and  (2) Do you have any children?  My answer to both were "no," (although if either were a "yes" answer it may have been reason enough to be taken hostage ... ANY excuse just to get away ... but I digress ...)

    Honest.  I'm not making this up.  That's how it really happened.

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Sunday, July 13, 2008

  • Breach of contract???



    I recently read an article titled "How Responding to People's Needs Hurts the Church" by Elizabeth I. Steele. The article talks about how in a consumer culture, talking about a church's ministry in terms of responding to people's needs, "puts the church in the position of being defined not by its faith or history but by people's wants." People come to church because the church feels a perceived need that is not fulfilled elsewhere. Some of the needs/wants that people expect to be fulfilled by a church are things such as unity, non-judgmental acceptance, fellowship, Biblical principles, and accountability with other Christians to strengthen each other to live holy lives. Some look for specific programs to meet the needs of their family, such as youth or children's groups, social outlets, or ways to use their gifts to serve the community.

    But what happens when the church fails to meet these needs? Often, a person may see this lack of fulfillment as a "breach of contract" on the part of the church. After all, they see the church as a place that fills the needs of people. In response to this "breach," they may leave, or they may challenge what is (or is not) happening and who is in charge until the "promised" care-taking and attention are provided.

    Wait ... I didn't realize that a church had a "contract" with its members to provide for such things. So I asked a few people on a Christian chat service for their input.

    Most of the "wants and needs" the chatters mentioned are stated in the opening paragraph. One of the people that I talked with said that she and her family recently moved to their area and were presently attending a mega-church. She commented that in a church that size it was difficult to connect with other members who are like her. She also admitted that there are many opportunities to connect, and it was up to her to put forth the effort to start building relationships.

    After a brief discussion, the general consensus was that if people want music and aesthetics and a message that gives them a warm-fuzzy feeling, then they're going to church for the wrong things. God's needs should be met first -- the need for us to be in a relationship with Him. Then our own needs will be met by God, starting with our need for reconciliation with God through Jesus Christ.

    Jesus tells us in Matthew 20:28, "The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." He also tells us, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me." (Matthew 14:24). If we are followers of Jesus we should not have the mindset of the church exists to fill our needs. As Ms. Steele puts it, "Lost is the idea of people being and becoming the church. Lost is the understanding of the church as a community of faith whose members struggle together to draw closer to God and to express that closeness in how they live and interact with the world."     As disciples of Christ, we should actively participate in partnering with God to use the gifts and resources He has given us to reach out to those who are lost, and point them to a place where they can encounter the saving grace found through Jesus Christ.