hiya.

i've been away a bit too long. gotta update before i lose my blogging streak.

firstly, i just wanted to make it clear that in my previous blog entry, when i was speaking about how i felt about dan & the other guys at the usmc ball, i was in no way promoting war. i hate war. dan hates war. it's awful for families, governments, the environment - everything. we can't wait until jesus returns and war is thrown into the pit forever. but, because we live in a world consumed by sin, ("big S" Sin and "little s" sin...) war is inescapable. country will come against country. nation against nation, blah blah. and i am proud of the men who will chose to step up and protect their country. who chose to go even when the don't want to. who have a sense of duty. the men who know that even if they decide they would rather not go and put themselves into danger - inevitably, someone else will. and as for the "thou shalt not kill" commandment...in the context of the original hebrew, it is saying "thou shalt not murder." murder, unlawful and premeditated killing of another human. (also, just clarifying. any soldier who has gone to war and was put in the position to have to kill someone to save his or someone else's life -- i can't think of a worse situation to be in) god called men to war many times. jesus is not a pacifist. when god promises groups of people healing in the old testament, often he promises to heal them and their land. we are knit to our land. we are called to protect our land.
but that's enough of that for now.

i'm re-reading a really wonderful book that i read when i was in portland several weeks ago. it's called serve god, save the planet. dan and i are reading it together, a chapter a night out loud - and frankly, it's changing our lives. we are seeing so many things differently. we're seeing how wealthy we are. we're realizing how our actions and choices directly affect so many impoverished people in other lands. i would strongly suggest reading this book. every single christian should read this book. he perfectly ties environmentalism and christianity in a straightforward and practical way. he's not preachy, and he's also not a hippy. he just found that it makes perfect sense. creation care is an essential part of serving the lord.

a man was trampled in a walmart on black friday. trampled to death. a pregnant woman was also trampled over. she survived, but was in critical condition after the incident. are we that blinded by consumerism and selfishness that we will push and shove our way in to get what we want before anyone else - totally oblivious to the lives we're crushing beneath us?

onto a lighter note, geeeeesss!

ben & mackenzie, ashley & jay came over last night. we played apples to apples. it was so fun. mackenzie and i drank too many martinis and ashley complained about being pregnant, and we laughed a lot at dan & jay's explanation skills. it was wonderful. i love fun.