this weekend is going to be especially hectic. my dad's coming up this afternoon from out of town, i'm leading worship with my wife at the homeless shelter, and the things that come out of my mouth are never interpreted as they are meant. in a world like this, dear God, please bring your Presence!

ever have one of those mornings when you just can't wake up? when you look in the mirror and are disgusted by what you see, when the kids are especially wild at 7am for no particular reason. lately the delightful squeal of children sounds like purposeful torture.

self pity is the most destructive form of pride

my new little nephew Justin Carl. he doesn't care about politics or money. That's the life. Congrats Fred & Crystal! 

and of course here's my favorite. this one says it all. once again God is forced to put up with the stupid decisions his people collectively make. "Give us a King!" They said to Samuel. George W. Bush is a Christian, yeh we want him. "Arrgh!!" God says. "Remind me again why I put up with these people?" 

this one's even more silly 

yes i ripped this off somewhere.  

i just keep hitting the "next blog" button in the top right part of the screen.

some observations....

if you use those little windows that pop up and ask me questions, i despise you!!!

if you use music--again-- you had .5 seconds and you blew it! That's how long it took me to get off your page!

if you use blogspot to sell insurance or anything else you are the lowest form of humanity (that's a blog-type exaggeration) but anyway you should be dragged in the street and shot! I like that one better.

otherwise, clicking "next blog" is more addictive than TV. I've looked into the souls of more people than I think I know in person at this point in my life. Thank you. The sea of humanity on blogspot is strange, sordid, at times interesting, and I'm grateful. If you didn't want me viewing your blog I'm sorry. I do feel a little guilty.

man are there ever a lot of old faces returning here to visit. is it the season? why do they all converge at once? I can still hear my neighbors upstairs cutting tile for their bathroom. that's got to be the most irritating grating sound i can think of currently. but i don't say that out loud. curses that i'm such an easy going guy. the only person i complain to is my wife. she complained last night bout my planned trip to Miami. Unfair she said. I've gotten to go to much cooler places than she in the last two years. this morning she said she was just grumpy. that spite is still too real though. guess i should be thankful im not the only one with it in my heart. father forgive us our trespasses as we forgive

i'm using this fancy wi-fi thing in the sideyard. welcome to the 00's. chris aaron peering over my shoulder wanting to play games. i'm now one of those people sitting outside in the sun still staring into a screen! that's sick.

i have been trying to post all day and this is the first time i've been able to get through. what's up? does everybody gotta get their three cents in? cut me a break! anyway, like many others i'm depressed about the results of the election. and bush is now asking for my trust because its the only decent thing to give. bring the nation together. well if the bush administration didn't isolate itself from the rest of the world maybe it could establish trust!!! does giving our trust mean offering up our brains?

guess i should say something about the cards getting swept in the world series. but i'd rather not talk about it. or think about it for that matter. they really let us all down. i keep saying i wish they had shown up at all. their playing was that bad. what's worse? losing in the playoffs or doing nothing in the series?

Top of the 7th. Calero's pitch'n now. Osmos strikes out! Yes!
Last time I enjoyed a Cards game this much was in 1982 as an eight year old. And then I don't think I even saw it first hand but only heard the stories from friends at school. Brewer's fans supposedly throwing stuff on the field. Ozzie Smith doing triple backflips. Did that really happen? Everyone in the Cards hitting lineup hitting home runs. Jack Clark's grand slam. Well all that was in the World Series. . . . I'll have to look that up.

I'm sitting here watching game seven of the Astros vs. Cards. Its 4 to 2 Cards and its a beautiful thing. My friend Mike is with me from St. Louis. I commented this morning to a friend that this may be the year for the underdog. Look at the Red Sox last night. Who'd of thunk it? Now if we can only win the inevitable legal battles against Enron/Halliburton on November 3rd. . .

My life is in a phase where I have to turn everything I do over to the Lord every moment. I really struggle with knowing that he loves me and that I have value apart from what I can accomplish. When I was young it was engrained into me that I had to be doing as much as I could all the time to make life worthwhile. Leisure was just not as important, in fact it was more often than not sinful. Those things were more often lived than spoken to me, but I adopted a lot of that into my world view and now I've got to work to really see reality for what it is. God uses whatever I give him, however I give it. He doesn't judge a man based on his eloquent speech, the ability to lead scores into conversion, deep thoughts and arguments on the divine. He just loves and gives and recieves whatever I offer in faith.

My friend Gary Booth 

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christ died for our sins