I used to not be able to even SEE the floor over there, much less walk across it ... there were stacks of mail and things piled all over that corner ... i'm so excited ... i find myself just standing up and walking around the office ... because i CAN!

we invited several of our friends who are working here over the winter for the first time (they are usually the summer crew) to spend Christmas day with us. we got their sizes and information from them about a month or so ago, and one of the churches in the area wanted to take on a mission project for Christmas, so we relayed the information to them -- they REALLY did a fantastic job --- all the guys got a shirt, a pair of pants, and shoes or boots of some kind ... they came in two waves -- four and four ... which was actually nice ... it meant that we could sit at the table with each group and eat with them ... 

Gabriel and Panuncio are at the bottom left of the picture, Mundo is in front of the stereo, and Gabino is to the far right ... in the picture above, Ruperto is in the blue rocking chair and Gabino is in front of the piano. Cirilo is to Ruperto's left, and Oscar is putting some trash in the bag that Caleb is holding. 

Hanna Zhu, a friend of Leslie's from seminary, who is from Hunan province in China, was also with us. She has her back to the camera in this shot -- to the bottom right... Hannah (our Hannah) can be seen just above the lamp light ...

See? it really IS possible! between last night/this morning/and today i worked on my office and got it clean --ALMOST completely. there are still a couple of spots that need work -- see the bottom shelf behind the chair ... but that will come... now the challenge is to see that it REMAINS AT LEAST NEAR to this condition ... for me to be able to work and not lose stuff ... to be able to look around and actually FIND something i'm looking for ... i'm going to be more intentional about sorting through mail when it comes in, and getting rid of the dross as soon as i see it ... not bring it into the house to wind up anywhere OTHER than in the trash can.

Interesting quote from C.S. Lewis today: 

"Atheism turns out to be too simple. If the whole universe has no meaning, we should never have found out that it has no meaning..."

hmmmm ... hasn't changed since i first took the test in the early 80's. perhaps it has gone more to the extremes on each of the markers.

oh well. :-)

And yet another time ...

What's your theological worldview? created with QuizFarm.com

You scored as Emergent/Postmodern You are Emergent/Postmodern in your theology. You feel alienated from older forms of church, you don't think they connect to modern culture very well. No one knows the whole truth about God, and we have much to learn from each other, and so learning takes place in dialogue. Evangelism should take place in relationships rather than through crusades and altar-calls. People are interested in spirituality and want to ask questions, so the church should help them to do this. Emergent/Postmodern 79% Neo orthodox 71% Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan 50% Classical Liberal 39% Roman Catholic 36% Charismatic/Pentecostal 32% Modern Liberal 29% Reformed Evangelical 18% Fundamentalist 4%

Theological Worldview

Hmmmm .... veeerrrrryyy interestink .... what a difference a week makes! just can't figure anything different, other than location ... and thinking more about how the answers apply to the questions ... or rather ... in my head i was completing the answers beyond the 'yes/no' realm.

Example: QUESTION: God calls us to faith at the preaching of the Gospel (during the church service) : Choices: disagree ... through 5 degrees ... to agree (strongly disagree, somewhat disagree, whatever, somewhat agree, strongly agree.) I chose disagree BECAUSE I believe that God calls us to faith through our ENTIRE life experience, INCLUDING during preaching. It's not a lightswitch event ... though ... then again ... sometimes it is. Just ask Martin Luther (I guess that would be a lightning event) :-)

What's your theological worldview? created with QuizFarm.com

You scored as Emergent/Postmodern You are Emergent/Postmodern in your theology. You feel alienated from older forms of church, you don't think they connect to modern culture very well. No one knows the whole truth about God, and we have much to learn from each other, and so learning takes place in dialogue. Evangelism should take place in relationships rather than through crusades and altar-calls. People are interested in spirituality and want to ask questions, so the church should help them to do this. Emergent/Postmodern 79% Neo orthodox 64% Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan 54% Classical Liberal 46% Roman Catholic 36% Modern Liberal 36% Reformed Evangelical 21% Charismatic/Pentecostal 18% Fundamentalist 11%