10 things to do before I die . . .

Because I don't like New Year's resolutions (I either break them or forget about them . . . or don't write them until the 16th of January. Ahem.)

Besides, I find it more postmillennial to focus on the long term. So, here you go:

1.  Write a book. Any book. And get it published.

2.  Sing on stage at an opera, Broadway show, or Gilbert and Sullivan operetta. Chorus part preferred.

3.  Join a Baroque chorus.

4. Work at a bookshop. (Or open a bookshop. Called 'The Alexandrian', perhaps? )

5. Memorize the Psalms.

6. Skydive.

7. Learn to fly. (In an airplane, not with feathers and wax.)  

8. Travel the world.

9. Read 20,000 books. Or perhaps love a thousand books. I haven't decided. Either one will include ALL of Philip Schaff's Early Church Fathers.

10. Get old and die, full of days. "I'll be fine, 'cause when I die, then I'll die loving you . . ."  

There's lots more. These are just the ones floating on the surface.

2008 is going to be a wonderful year. I can feeeeel it in my bones.

What do you want to do before you die?

The Best. Capital T, Capital B.

My brother. My sweet, adorable, loveable, thoughtful, handsome, manly firefighter of a brother.

Because of him, two things have happened today that have never happened before:

             1.  I have cried at a Christmas present

             2.  I have received diamonds as a gift

I think this means that I have finally passed the pale into true womanhood.

There are no words sappy enough to say how I feel about my Zach. I challenge the world to show me another brother as wonderful as he.

Merry Christmas a thousand times . . . and a few Happy New Years thrown in for good measure!!!

Ouch.

As much as I would like to claim otherwise, I have a feeling this commentator is (quite painfully and unfortunately) right about Us.

"Us" being Evangelicals in America.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/11/08/roland.martin/index.html?iref=newssearch

I find it incredibly scary that the world sees this particular election as a test of our faith. Especially viewing how most of the Evangelical world will react.

Like I said, the whole thing is kind of "ouch"ie.

Unfortunately, the real problem is not compromise in our political principles, and the fix is not as easy as who we vote for next year.

I wish it were that simple.

What has changed in your life over the last year?

Piney Woods (our Texas CREC retreat), always makes me ponder that question, since it's at the same time every year and many of the same people are there.

It's like seeing a cross-section of our lives . . . watching us grow by years rather than by days.

I don't remember how many years we've been going. Probably four or five.

So much has changed. So much has stayed the same.

At these times, the little conference center in deep in the eastern pines becomes a microcosm our dreams and desires. We gather from the four corners of our "world" (Texas IS the world, isn't it?), we fellowship, we worship, we rest in one another.

We sing 'Sweet Home Alabama'. (Where three or more CRECers are gathered together, it will be sung. We're not asking why. We probably don't know.)  

It is inconceivable that November 2006 was a whole year ago.

And, yes, that word means what I think it means.

Just to show that I'm still alive . . .

Say hello to Gorgeous:

Why did I have to have expensive tastes?

BTW . . . I am officially never reading Harry Potter again. If Dumbledore is gay, Rowling has just officially ruined the only character worth worrying about. Hmph.