I Hate It When That Happens!

All day today, I kept thinking it was Friday.  It just hit me again that I have to get up and go to work in the morning.  I hate it when that happens!

Quote for the Day

"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy."                -Martin Luther King

Chew On This

"Unhappiness is in not knowing what we want and killing ourselves to get it."
                                                                                    -Don Herold

Learning Lessons is Hard

Once again I feel like a total failure.  Why is trying to do the right thing so stinking hard?  Sometimes it seems like the whole world must be watching my life like it's a pathetic comedy.  Having what I think is a great idea once again come crashing down with the success of a faceplant.  Watching me get my hopes up and allow myself to become excited about something only to have it grossly underacheive the desired outcome.
No, I am not sitting here feeling sorry for myself, but for the group I am supposed to be helping.  I am frustrated and embarrassed that I have let them down once again.  I can't help but wonder if there is something I am supposed to be learning...am I taking on too much, filling my life with unnecessary stress?  Should I be standing up for (or against) something that I am not?  Should I be asking for help instead of trying to do it all myself?  I have learned how to do things differently next time to get a better result, but that doesn't comfort me RIGHT NOW.  It is a lesson learned for the future but does nothing to help the present situation.  Learning lessons is no fun at all....

Memories of Okinawa

The whole world laid out bare before us....waiting for us to touch and taste and smell and drink in all that it had to offer....walking through the streets without fear....reclaiming childhood as we plagued the playgrounds until the wee hours....silently watching the sun sink into the sea and then marveling at the beauty of the moonlight on the water....becoming one with the depths of the sea....looking up at the sun, the moon, from beneath the rippling surface of the ocean and thinking I'd never seen anything so beautiful....laying in bed with the window open, listening to the sound of racing engines in the distance and smelling carbon in the air, the tropical breeze gently kissing my skin....the thrill of winding narrow roads in a fast car....wandering into the nearest bakery and tasting something sweet and new and different every time, sharing them with someone sweet and new and different, someone special....the red & green of the traffic lights repeated in each leftover raindrop on the windshield, like a million tiny Christmas lights strung out just for me....breath-taking views of intriguing places....hiking in the lush green jungles where the ground fell away so suddenly sometimes, it would catch me by surprise and take my breath away....and cutting through all the green, the rocky riverbed with it's ice-cold water rushing over smooth stones and the contrast of the jagged boulders that jutted from it's banks....money that could be strung onto a chain or a keyring....clown fish eating sea urchin right out of my hand....suddenly finding myself in the midst of a school of tiny fish, the sun glinting off their silvery bodies, the whisper of thousands of tiny fins on my skin, and then gone....the controlled fear of coming face to face with my first sea snake....looking up from eighty feet underwater at a massive wall of coral teeming with life and feeling like everything is in slow motion - like time itself has slowed to all but a standstill....secluded little beaches....suicide cliffs and her ghostly legends....reckless abandon and new-found freedom - freedom for the mind, for the body, for the soul....strolling along the seawall being crazy americans and admiring the artwork left behind by the creative and the Creator....fast car by tracy chapman....soba, yakitori, and canned hot coffee from a vending machine....looking out at the endless ocean stretching beyond the horizon and seeing the big picture....finding my soulmate....and myself.

Black or White

Which dog are YOU feeding?

Youth Group Update

We finished our Book Drive Fundraiser yesterday and I think it was pretty successful.  We will see when the last few donations finish trickling in and I can haul them to the buyer.  Thank you to everyone who participated and donated!  Our next fundraiser is a 12-hour-long Rockathon!  We will be out in front of Texas Snow on Wesley Street in Greenville, Texas next Saturday, June 12th.  If you're in the area, please come by and see us and show your support!  Our Youth Group at Floyd Baptist Church is really excited about summer camp at Alto Frio!  It's coming up quickly!  It's going to be an crazy time of awesome fun and worship!  Can't wait!