Our trip is going extremely well. The team is working hard, and everyone is excited to be making a difference in the lives of these people. I plan to write more later, but I thought I'd share some pictures so you can see what we have been doing these last couple of days.
This will probably be my last post for the next few days because I am leaving in the morning with a team from Grace Family for a missions trip to Juarez, Mexico! We are going to be working with missionaries there, helping them build a facility for the elderly. Please pray that God will use us to share His love and hope with everyone that we meet, and pray for safety for the team.
We spent this weekend heavily focused on family time and hanging out with friends. On Sunday, we spent the afternoon at Anne's parents house. Lately, we've become fans of a card game called Hand and Foot. It's rare to go through a Sunday afternoon without somebody getting a game going. A couple of weeks ago, Morgan and Sydney asked if they could learn how to play. We didn't really think that they would be able to understand all of the rules, but we showed them anyway and they had been playing by themselves because we didn't think they could play with the adults. Well, yesterday it was decided that the "adults" would play one game while the "kids" played a game with me. I am not proud to say that they both beat me! In fact, it wasn't even close. But, it made me feel better when they did the same to the other adults later in the evening.
Today, we had our Memorial Day picnic at my aunt Cheryl's house in Palm Harbor. The kid's always have fun with Lauren, and having uncle Bob throw them in the pool. At sunset we went to Wall Springs Park for a nice walk and a beautiful view. At the end of a pier that looked out over the water I told the girls to take a mental picture, because the scenery's going to be a lot different in Texas. Oh yeah, we're also still trying to sell the house, and had become a bit lax in keeping everything spotless for a showing. So, this morning as we were getting ready to leave for the picnic, we received a call from our realtor letting us know that someone wanted to see the house! Arrgh! Of course we wanted them to see it, so we all ran around and cleaned up and the house looked great when we left. Of course, it sure was nice coming home to a clean house after the picnic! :)
20 bonus points to Angie Macy for doing her research and figuring out the Random Abstract was the name of an album by Branford Marsalis released in 1988. (In fact, she found a good review of the album which I'll post below.)
10 bonus points to my sister Angela Malz who also guessed it, just a little later. She probably remembered hearing it in the room next door and being annoyed. :)
5 bonus points to Stephanie for at least responding, even if she didn't really hazard a guess. :)
Thanks for the participation!
Here's the review of Random Abstract:
For those people
searching for an album that represents the highest
level of music being produced at the time, Random
Abstract is what you've been searching for. Recorded
in 1987 at the time where the direction of jazz had
been heading in a different direction for quite some
time, Random Abstract re-focuses that bearing to what
some people may call mainstream today. As the third
jazz album to be released by Branford Marsalis there
is evidence that an artist mature beyond his years has
emerged. In not only sound but also his ability to
create melody's that can stand on their own, without
the aid of a band to back them up.
Random Abstract comprises of several tributes to some
of the main contributors to Branford's concept of
music. The two most memorable is Crescent City, a
tribute to John Coltrane's 1963-1964 period, and his
`steep plays bean' version of I Thought About You. You
can tell there is a close place in Branford's heart
for Ben Webster when he plays a whole song as accurate
as he can in one persons style. The hidden track on
his latest release Contemporary Jazz is only testimony
to this fact. The other is a tip of the cap to the
Blue Note concept with a fantastic rendition of Wayne
Shorter's Yes And No. Yesterdays is also a highlight
not only because of the groups cohesiveness as a unit
but also the unusually slow tempo.
I'm very disappointed that I have not been able to award the bonus points mentioned at the end of my Random Abstract post. In fact, nobody even ventured a guess! Well, I'll give you another day to give it a shot. I was kind of expecting to hear from Shakadu, because I thought he might be able to figure it out. All guesses will be worth 5 points. If someone gets it right, they will get 20 points! Here's a clue: It's a reference to a title and it has to do with music. Oh, the points...they're not worth anything in the real world, but they are extremely desirable here, so start guessing. :)
This week I have spent a lot of time in prayer asking God to help me truly TRUST Him through this moving process. In fact, I've realized that I'm more of a worrier than I ever thought. And so, today as I was reading the bible, I came across a passage that hit me right between the eyes. In 2 Corinthians 6:8-10, Paul shares his experiences, "through glory and dishonor, bad report and good report; genuine, yet regarded as impostors; known, yet regarded as unknown; dying, and yet we live on; beaten, and yet not killed; sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; HAVING NOTHING, YET POSSESSING EVERYTHING." (caps are mine) Wow! I have been focusing so much on my problems, that it's clouded me from seeing all of the blessings that are all around me. The truth is, I have so much to be thankful for. I have so many experiences to draw upon where God has provided and sustained me. Instead of worrying, I should be thanking Him for already providing the answers. "Thank you God for helping me to see that you are taking care of me, and that with you, I have everything!"
With all of the preparations for our upcoming move, the uncertainty about when we will sell our house and what house we will be moving to, as well as keeping up with my regular responsibilities, my mind has been a little more random than normal...
Just finished watching American Idol. I'm glad that Jordin won, but we had a split vote in our house. Morgan and I were Jordin fans, but Anne and Sydney were Blake fans. Samantha couldn't split her affection, she was voting for Jor-ake. :) Last night, Anne and I were in a "call a thon" and I'm glad to see that my extra perseverance paid off!
Speaking of random music...yesterday I loaded the Yahoo music jukebox with the new album from Linkin Park. I was interested to hear what Terry Storch had been raving about. Then I decided to check out Gretchen Wilson, (Texas prep music) and I couldn't pass up Andre Previn playing Gershwin. Tonight I added the new Maroon 5 album. I've been waiting for this one...
Whatever happened to Basia? When I was in college (half a lifetime ago) she was the freshest voice around. I was reminded of her while I was waiting in line for takeout at Pei-wei. They were playing the track From now on (Live). I loved how great her voice sounded with just an acoustic guitar and simple percussion. I have a dream that one day I'll be waiting in line at a take out store, and hear my music played in the background. Lofty stuff, I know....
I had to open a new bank account since my current bank doesn't have any branches in Frisco. I looked online and found a Washington Mutual branch in Frisco, and there's one here too. Even though I originally chose it for the free checking account, I was pretty impressed with their approach to banking. (It may not be new, but I haven't shopped for a bank in a while.) Instead of the usual line up of tellers, these tellers stand at kiosks in the middle of the bank. The bank has a real open feel to it which I find refreshing. I'm always thinking of ways to make the church feel inviting, and it seems like these guys are doing the same thing with banks. I like their slogan too, "free checking, free smiles."
I just finished reading (actually listening to the audio versions) two books by Rob Bell. Velvet Elvis talks about doctrine and the basis of Christian faith. He uses an interesting metaphor and says that our interpretations of the bible and doctrines should be more like springs of a trampoline, rather than bricks that are built upon. I'm still processing that...
His second book is called Sex God. I liked this much more than I thought I would (I'm not a big fan of titles for shock value). The premise is that God has created us as both spiritual and sexual beings. If we are too far on the side of sexuality we become animalistic, but if we repress and ignore our sexuality we become angelic, which is not who God created us to be. You'll have to read the book to get the longer explanation. But, it makes a lot of sense and also is a great celebration of what true love is all about.
Well, that's all I've got for tonight. Oh, one more thing...20 bonus points to the first person who knows the significance of this post's title.
