"Mmmm, old man pelican has died..."

So this weekend was the best weekend ever! Camping Extravaganza with the Dean, Jenna, David, Tori, Kenley, Joe and Diane; later joined by Tamara, Nicole and Janelle.



The Dean showed up in the boat to pick us up. He is quite the street sailor.



It's important to stay hydrated. After we drank the water in the bottles we drank the bottles too. It's difficult to digest caps, though. (However, not as hard as a fishing hook. "mmm, old man pelican has died...")



After we set up camp, me, the Dean, Joe and Jenna went to Tony Roma's for dinner.



It was super good.

That night the rest of the gang came down, and they didn't know that Joe was there. It was a surprise. So, Joe went and hid himself on the sand dune behind our campsite. After everybody had settled down and started a campfire, Joe came down the sand dune making monster noises and scared the crap out of Tori. It was amazing. Uh-mazing.



The next day we got up, ate breakfast and headed to the beach.



I had no idea at that point about the sunburn I was destined to get.



Tori is practicing her fish face.



Me and Jenshka



We are so amazing. (This is before Jenna falls and takes off half of her knee.)



David takes good pictures.



Back at the campsite. We're trying to look tough and camper-like.



That's a good one.



David says this is his "K-String's Angels" pic.



David's best "redneck tourist" pose.



Me, Jenshka, Tamara and Nicole found some swings. Yay.


Tamerica



Nicole



I think we need to invest in some swings, Jenshka.



Me, searching for dolphins



Tamerica, showing off her skimboarding skillz.



Cooking up some hotdogs.



On the way home I was super cold, so David gave me his sleeping bag.



Nicole buckled me in.



Jenna came to see me turn into a beautiful butterfly.

It was a super great trip. We thought about doing it every weekend, but I don't think my skin and Jenna's knees could withstand the pressure. Oh well.

Spending Most My Life in a Beanpole Paradise

I'm going camping this weekend. Camping at the beach. This means 3 things: 1) Sunburn, 2) Sunburn, and 3) I need to buy a new bathing suit. I haven't bought a new bathing suit in probably 5 years. I haven't bought new tennis shoes in about 5 years either, but this is different. When I tell people I haven't replaced my amazing New Balance tennis shoes they say, "Oh, well they definitely don't look that old," or, "Oh, they're in such good shape, though." (The tennis shoes, not me.) But when I say "I haven't bought a new bathing suit in 5 years," everyone looks up at the ceiling, twiddles their thumbs and crickets can be heard chirping in the background. I took that to mean it was time to brave the department stores and get ready to join the masses screaming and crying in the dressing rooms. (It's true. Grown women, bursting into tears in the dressing rooms of the swimsuit department. You laugh, but it's true...)

I made my way over to the Tallahassee mall and was unsuccessful at Goody's and Oshman's. Then it was over to Dillard's where I had wild success, but could not justify paying $100 for a swimsuit. The thought that I could send 20 more Bibles to China this month with that was too much. So in a last ditch effort, I trekked over to Target.

It was paradise. Bathing suits everywhere. All different colors and styles. And only about 50% were the slutty ones, so I had a good chance of finding a decent one. And then, as I made my through the first rack, panic set it. They were all smalls. All of them. No mediums, no larges, no extra-larges... I watched the little Mary Kates and Ashleys blissfully grab handfuls to take to the dressing rooms. It was beanpole paradise. I walked dejected through the aisles. And then a thought hit me. I left the light bulb over my head in the dust and went to the return rack outside the dressing room. There, shining in all their glory, were 3 mediums! My search was over. I only screamed for a second and happily went to the checkout.

Quote o' the Day:

"Yeah, I dropped it like it was hot, but then I couldn't pick it back up." -Selena

We shall have all eternity to celebrate our victories, but we have only one swift hour before the sunset in which to win them." -Robert Moffat

Me and the gang watched Schindler's List last night. The idea was sparked with a round of "Shout About Movies." My team correctly guessed that the last black and white movie to receive the Academy Award for best picture was Schindler's List, but none of us had ever actually seen it. Obviously, that's not really a movie that you get together with a group of people and have a party to watch. "Hey guys, Miss Congeniality, Legally Blonde, or Schindler's List?" But as all of us at one point or another had wanted to see it, Kenley ordered it on Net Flicks.

I was amazing at how Schindler could act completely indifferent with Nazi officials, convincing them that his Jews meant nothing to him except a few extra coins in his pocket over and over. He spent his entire fortune bribing Nazi officials and buying supplies to keep his workers alive. He even bought artillery shells from other factories to pass off as his own so that his own factory would not have any part in helping the German war cause. In the movie Schindler says to his accountant Itzhak, "Stern, if this factory ever produces a shell that can actually be fired, I'll be very unhappy."

And while the ending was incredible, with Oskar Schindler saving nearly 1,100 Jews from certain death in Auschwitz, it was Schindler's own reaction to everything that moved me the most. He is surrounded by 1,100 Jews who owe him their lives and this is what he says:

Oskar Schindler: I could have got more out. I could have got more. I don't know. If I'd just... I could have got more.
Itzhak Stern: Oskar, there are eleven hundred people who are alive because of you. Look at them.
Oskar Schindler: If I'd made more money... I threw away so much money. You have no idea. If I'd just...
Itzhak Stern: There will be generations because of what you did.
Oskar Schindler: I didn't do enough!
Itzhak Stern: You did so much.
[Schindler looks at his car]
Oskar Schindler: This car. Goeth would have bought this car. Why did I keep the car? Ten people right there. Ten people. Ten more people.
[removing Nazi pin from lapel]
Oskar Schindler: This pin. Two people. This is gold. Two more people. He would have given me two for it, at least one. One more person. A person, Stern. For this.
[sobbing]
Oskar Schindler: I could have gotten one more person... and I didn't! And I... I didn't!

And that got me thinking (as movies usually do). When my life is over and I stand before God, I know I'll have my share of cars and lapel pins. Selfish ambitions and wasteful living, time that could have been spent furthering the kindgom. I won't stand there going, "I could have made more money. I could have gotten that promotion," but I am almost certain I will look around me and say, "I could have gotten one more person. I could have fed the hungry, shared my time, and told one more about the love of Christ."

In church a few Sundays ago, Erik was talking about what we build our foundation upon. We're reading in I Corinthians. Paul said this, "But each one should be careful how he builds. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's work. If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames."

I know I've gotta be more careful about how I build. Maybe I should quit typing and go do something. Do widzenia.

Quote O' the Day

"I will eat anything that swims." -Me
"I will eat anything that swims and is a chicken." -Kenley




Maybe this will work?

You are not unknown

A few weeks ago I sent a letter to Pastor Wang. He was arrested and imprisoned in December with 7 other church leaders in China simply for sharing his faith in Jesus. I was saddened to find his letter in my mailbox yesterday with the word unknown in French and Chinese checked off on the envelope.

I wonder how many persecuted Christians believe that they are unknown and that the world doesn't know.
I wonder how many Christians know that more of their brothers and sisters have been killed for their faith in the past 100 years than the previous 1,900.

As Paul pleaded with the church at Colosse to "remember [his] chains," let's remember our brothers and sisters like Pastor Wang who are imprisoned, tortured and killed because of their faith in Christ. May they not be unknown.



"Remember those in prison, as if you were there yourself. Remember also those being mistreated, as if you felt their pain in your own bodies." Hebrews 13:3

Jacob Mumm- A Great American

I would like to take this time to honour a friend of mine, (Notice, honor is written with a "u." This generally means that if the writer is not British, then it must be an important recognition. That is how much I care.) Mr. Jacob Mumm. I would write Jacob's middle name, but I don't know it and Lori is currently somewhere over the Atlantic, or I would ask her. I will take a guess. Jacob Schmidt Mumm. Schmidt is pretty much the worst name ever, as Jacob would likely agree, but somehow he makes even this horrid middle name something to marvel over.

Jacob Mumm is famous for many things. Decendent of the 3 brothers Mumm, Jacob is the decendent of Jacobus and Georges Hermann Mumm, founders of Mumm Champagnes. Following my very rigid search through Wikipedia, I have found the following things about him:

*Mr. Mumm is the first person to sell a human being on E-bay. Although this sale was never finalized, due to high shipping costs, Mr. Mumm is currently researching new ways to make human sales easier on the mega bidding engine.

*Mumm Peak is named after Jacob Mumm after his amazing rescue of seven mauve-spotted mountain goats, nearly extinct in Canada. Mr. Mumm is a national hero in Canada.

*Mr. Mumm is the founder of "Jakeism." When asked to comment about his pseudo-religion of sorts, Mr. Mumm said, "Calvinism is fading, Arminianism is SO last century. We now have Jake-ism." Jakeists generally conform to 4 or 5 "points." Girls normally can only adopt 4, as the first point is believing that girls are hot. Other points include the hatred of horses, and the mandatory love of stars and star-gazing. No one can be a Jakeist without first committing to this key point.

*Mr. Mumm is a semi-famous freelance photographer, well-liked by all of his clients. He is highly regarded in nature-circles as an expert yozhek photographer.

*Mr. Mumm is the co-owner of a blossoming bag company. His handmade bags are well-known in America and are currently being displayed overseas.

*Mr. Mumm is also drummer for the famous "Dawson Schmidt" band, climbing the charts and sweeping its way across America.

Mr. Mumm prides himself on his drumming and longboarding skills, as well as his expertise in Brazilian Jujitsu. His heroes are William Shatner, the creator of shaving cream, Henry Earl and Ukrainian babushkas.