The innermost thoughts of a very private person...

I think one of the neatest things about having a kid is seeing things through their eyes. Isaiah is fascinated with the leaves that are just starting to change color. When we're playing outside or driving down the road he points to the trees and says, "Mommy, that one's almost going to be orange!" I remember in previous years that sometimes the leaves had already fallen off the trees, and I hadn't taken the time to notice the changing colors. Maybe it's one way that God reminds us of the beauty of His creation - through the eyes of a child.

I'm excited about the future of the Church. Not our local church, but the universal Church. I'm excited about our generation of leaders. Every generation seems to have its own style of leadership which works for that generation. I see in our generation a renewed quest for authenticity among ourselves and with God. It brings to mind the scripture from Hebrews 4:12 "The word of God is living and active..." We are moving forward as we should be. As we continue on our journey closer to Christ, let's remember to thank those older generations for the legacy they passed on to us - a legacy of integrity and truth and so much more. So young church leaders, be bold in what God has for you to do.

Dan and I went to the Melting Pot in Station Square yesterday to celebrate my birthday - the last birthday before I turn 30! I think that indulging in some great food once in a while is really worth it. It's fondue, so you get to cook your own main course and it's just a great time. Plus we got in some good quality time because there were four courses. You get the cheese course, the salad, the main course and the dessert. It took over two hours to complete the meal plus the tables are really private and you feel like you're the only ones in the restaurant. If you want an unforgettable meal I would definitely recommend it.

So I'm sure everyone has one - a weird obsession. Mine is bejeweled. Have you played the game for PC with all the shapes? Anyway, I find it oddly relaxing. At the end of the day I like to play a round or two of bejeweled just to unwind. So, what's your obsession?

Tonight at small group we were talking about Jesus' encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well (John 4:1-42). Something that stood out to me was her response when Jesus asked her to go get her husband. She responded by saying, "I have no husband." Did she tell the truth? Yes. Even Jesus said, “You’re right! You don’t have a husband—for you have had five husbands, and you aren’t even married to the man you’re living with now. You certainly spoke the truth!” She did tell the truth, but notice how Jesus' version of the truth (divulging all the details of the woman's life) is more thorough, complete, and transparent. It's a good example of how sometimes we think we're telling the truth or living the truth, but maybe we need to take a closer look at the Truth's (Jesus') example.

Where were you when you heard the news about the planes and the towers? I was at school. I didn't have any classes to teach on Wednesdays until after lunch. I was walking down the hall and a fourth grade boy came out of his classroom and said, "Guess what just happened" in an excited voice. So I thought it was something good. Then he told me that a plane had just crashed into the world trade center. It was about 9:00 a.m. at the time. I couldn't believe how this could happen. So I went into the gym office and listened to Rush on the radio. The details were so sketchy at the time. When the incident happened at the Pentagon, some eye witnesses were saying they thought that a helicopter flew behind the Pentagon and blew up. And the second plane hit. That whole morning felt like a twilight zone.

My sister was at Nyack College at the time, and from their campus they could actually see the smoke from the world trade center billowing up to the sky. Then she heard the news that a plane had gone down outside of Pittsburgh, and she got sick and had to leave class because she thought that might be near us. Now I knew Somerset County was nowhere near us, so it didn't occur to me to call my family to tell them we were ok. So they were in a panic for a while until they could reach us. A lot of families came to pick their kids up from school because we didn't know if Pittsburgh was a target for these attacks. So the rest of the school day was really fragmented.

Later Dan and I ate dinner at Climo's in Cranberry. We sat near the window and were very conscious that there were no planes in the sky because all planes had been grounded. It was eerie. We went into a store to watch the TV coverage of the planes going into the buildings. It was the first time we had seen those videos. I just remember standing there watching and not believing what I saw. You could just watch it over and over and still not believe it really happened.

Later that night we went to our landlord's house to watch President Bush's address (because we didn't have a TV at the time.) I remember that it was very reassuring to hear his address and know that the whole country wasn't just falling apart, that the government would still function and that we would come through this.

And you just had to ask God, "What happened here?" Why? Six years later we still don't have all the answers, but the memories of that day are still fresh in my mind.

AKA Missionaries. Missionaries are really cool people. They are true lion chasers. I have had the priveledge of spending a decent amount of time with a couple of different missionaries. Erin Sabol and the Fugate family are all crazy, intense, and have a great sense of humor. Erin is all for new ideas and cutting edge ways to reach people for Christ. She has a thing for Argentenian celebrities. She prays for them and has even come into contact with some of them. It's great! She also schemes wacky ways to get into the university library so she can have access to college students. She is definitely a 'people person' and is a blast to talk to. Then you have the Fugates. I don't think I've ever laughed so hard with any other family. They are the people you want at your party! So I just want to thank Erin and the Fugates for being willing to follow God's call on your lives, and for being such great examples of how fun our journey with Christ can be.

I was reading I Peter chapter 2 this morning. Verse 1 starts out by saying to "get rid of all evil behavior." What is evil behavior? Killing? Theft? Hijacking? Assault? Verse 1 goes on to define evil behavior as "deceit, hypocrisy, jealousy, and all unkind speech." It's hard to know how to respond to that. Often we think it's normal to be jealous or say whatever we want to about people who aren't present. But one of our goals as Christians should be to have the mind and attitude of Christ, who was never deceitful, hypocritical, jealous, or spoke unkindly. It's very humbling to read that verse, because just as you think "I'm doing ok in my Christian walk," you realize you have so far to go. So hopefully that will motivate us to rely even more on the Holy Spirit to guide our thoughts and our words.