The Newest Angel

How do I comfort a friend who lost her daughter today?
What do I say that won't sound trite or cliche?
Is there anything I can do to take some of the sorrow away?

Katie was actually the reason I spent so much time with the Mugeles, at least at the beginning. When I was still a young high school student, I learned to use her feeding tube and adjust her oxygen levels and set up her wheelchair. She is such a huge part of my life with the Mugele family, it's hard to imagine life without her.

But Katie walked for the first time today!
The first words she ever spoke were to her Father.
Pretty freakin' awesome, huh?

I love you, Katie. I'll miss you a lot.

Six-pack abs, here I come.

I recently joined a very expensive gym. It's more like an exclusive health club, actually. I grew up in a home where we did NOT spend money on luxuries. Ever. So even though I feel like I should feel guilty about spending so much on the gym membership, I actually don't.

I decided it's one of those things that I get to do because I'm single.

Like buying really nice underwear.
Or getting my groceries from Albertsons instead of Walmart.
Or taking vacations to places like Costa Rica and Morocco.

Anyway, I've gone to the gym six out of seven days for the past two weeks. And I feel great! The early morning spinning classes are much more intense than the one I attended at the YMCA. Each cardio machine has a personal TV so thanks to The Food Network, The Discovery Channel and VH1, I do cardio longer now. The locker rooms are very high end - the spa, sauna and steam room make for a relaxing and quite enjoyable gym experience.

So Merry Christmas, me.

A Funky Little Christmas Gift

Merry Christmas!

Play on, John.

I realize that many of my posts recently have been about John Mayer. One may say I'm obsessed.


However, I just can't get over how much I love to hear him play.
Check it out.

ht: Skip

Rice is Nice

Here's an easy way to make a difference in the world.
(AND as a bonus, you learn stuff too!)

www.freerice.com

According to their web site,

FreeRice has two goals:

1. Provide English vocabulary to everyone for free.
2. Help end world hunger by providing rice to hungry people for free.

I got up to 240 grains of rice (which is probably only, like, an eighth of a cup) but every little bit helps!

I couldn't have said it better ...

myself.
Right on, Brant.

Here's your Friday morning inspiration ...

My friend Carolyn posted this on her blog.
This is a 13 year old boy from Nebraska who called a Texas radio station...

Wait

Have you ever had a day when you just wish with all your heart that Jesus would decide that today is the day He will come back? I had one of those days today.

Sometimes I just get utterly overwhelmed with this mess we call a world. I'm tired of being here. I want to go home.

Living in Colorado Springs, it's basically impossible to get away from everything that happened at New Life Church yesterday. It's everywhere. I drove past all the national news media vans with their huge satellite dishes on my way to and from work. I heard the latest updates on every radio station I turned to. Everyone at work either attends New Life or knows someone who was there, so that's all anyone talked about all day.

Most of the discussion at my small group tonight centered around fear. It's a daily battle, it seems, to live a life free of fear. So when some seemingly random act of violence happens, it's hard not to let fear overwhelm me.

There's this song called "Wait" by Caleb Rowden that moves me deeply every time I hear it. It just makes me long for Jesus.

Cold, all alone
'Cause where I am is so far from home
So far from You
But I know You're there to see me through
All my days, and every step I take
But for now, this is all that I can say

I'm longing for my home
To rest before Your throne
To be with You
My faith will be complete
When Your glory shines on me
When that day comes
My heart will find its place
But for now I'll wait

Lost, so afraid
Searching for a better way
To be in that place
To feel Your heart and finally see You
Face to face
Forever and a day
But for now, this is all that I can say

I'll wait for You, I'll wait for You to come
So please come soon
I'll wait for You, I'll wait for You to come
So please come soon

"Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord."
~Psalm 27:14

Weekend in Winter Park, CO

My small group rented a house in Winter Park for the weekend. Despite the almost non-stop snow, good times were had by all!

Jade and I paint the town red.

Some random boarders get on the bus for the slopes. I liked all the pink.

Apparently hula hoopers are spotted frequently on the streets of Winter Park.

Talk about a room with a view , huh?

Another view from the house.

There was close to 12 inches of new snow. Which I appreciate from a distance.

Out the window on the drive home.

Hey Mr. Pullman, get your own story.

I'm in the middle of reading the book The Golden Compass, by Philip Pullman.

I put my name on the waiting list for it at the public library after I saw the preview for the movie several months ago, back before any of the controversy. When I started getting email warnings forwarded to me about the movie and heard about all the Christians that were getting t.o.'d about the subject of the book and certain statements the author made, it made me want to read it even more.

I'm only a few chapters into it, but already I've found so many blatant similarities to C.S. Lewis' The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe that I honestly can't believe that Pullman ever got this published! Check this out:

1. In Lewis' book, the main character is a young, adventurous girl named named Lucy. In Pullman's book, the main character is a young, adventurous girl named Lyra.

2. While set in England, the majority of Lewis' book takes place in Narnia, a cold, harsh wintery landscape. While set in England, the majority of the Golden Compass is set in what's simply called The North, a cold, harsh wintery landscape.

3. In the first chapter of Lewis' book, Lucy hides in a wardrobe. In the first chapter of Pullman's book, Lyra hides in a wardrobe.

4. In Lewis' book, the main antagonist is the White Witch, a beauiful, exotic, yet terrifying woman. In Pullman's book, the main antagonist is Mrs. Coulter, a beautiful, exotic, yet terrifying woman.

5. In Lewis' book, Edmund meets the White Witch and is both scared and intrigued by her. She convinces him to go with her by offering him Turkish Delight. In Pullman's book, Tony meets Mrs. Coulter and is both scared and intrigued by her. She convinces him to go with her by offering him Chocolatl.

Coincidence? I think not. And that's after only five chapters.

As my friend Suzanne so astutely pointed out the other day when I was telling her about this, isn't that always how the devil works? He can't even come up with his own original material. He takes truth and twists it just enough to serve his own purposes.

In 1950, C.S. Lewis was inspired to write a fantastic piece of fiction that told the story of the gift that God gave us in his Son.

45 years later, Philip Pullman took that story and twisted it for his own atheistic agenda. In Pullman's words, "I'm trying to undermine the basis of Christian belief."

Undermine all you want, Mr. Pullman, but do it with your own story. Don't steal someone else's.

CNN article on The Golden Compass