Monday, May 28, 2007

A Farewell & A Welcome

Solomon, wise man that he was, observed that "there is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven: a time to be born and a time to die...a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance." And, as so often happens, these times overlap or melt one into the next, so that the tears are still drying on our cheeks as a smile tugs at the corners of our mouth and a laugh escapes. Such has been the case within my family this month.

Even as we are saying goodbye to my grandma, we are rejoicing at the arrival of the newest addition to our family, Landon James, Grandma's 14th great-grandchild, born to my cousin and his wife just over a week after Grandma went home.

Welcome to the world, little one.


Thursday, May 24, 2007

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

Makes me smile every time.

I firmly believe that every day should be graced with a little silliness.

Today I discovered that you can listen to all of Chipotle's recent radio ads here on their website. For the past couple weeks I've been saying to friends, "Have you heard Chipotle's "Pork" commercial? Makes me smile every time." I've then proceeded to attempt to sing a bit of it, and they humor me, silently wondering if I'm sane.

Well, if you haven't heard the Pork song, or any of the other entertaining jingles from Chipotle (and you appreciate a burrito as much as I do), I invite you to open a new browser window, click on the first one, and let them play through. I promise you'll smile. My favorites are, of course, "Pork," as well as "Moo" and "Salad Kountry." Enjoy.

Monday, May 14, 2007

In Loving Memory

Lena
1911-2007

This post is in loving memory of my dear grandma, Lena, who slipped away from this world and entered the presence of Jesus early Saturday morning.

Though it made for a very hard Mother's Day weekend for my family, we rejoice in knowing that she is now truly home and more alive than she ever was here on earth. We also celebrate her life -- her kind and gentle spirit, her strength through years of adversity, and her legacy of faith that has shaped her children, grandchildren, and countless others. So while we grieve, we do not grieve as those who have no hope (1 Thess 4:13-14), but instead "we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us [are] greatly encouraged. We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure" (Heb. 6:18b-19a).

Please pray for my parents, brother, and I as we travel to Florida this week to celebrate Grandma's life with family and friends. Thanks.

Thursday, May 10, 2007

I Could Have Been an Edwards Sister.

Fact: Jonathan Edwards (Puritan theologian of "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" fame) had 10 sisters (no brothers), all of whom were at least six feet tall.

You know, I bet they're glad basketball hadn't been invented yet, because complete strangers would have come up to them all the time and asked if they played, and that sure does get annoying.

Opinion: Jonathan Edwards never met a comma he didn't like.

My latest freelance endeavor has been proofreading and indexing a volume containing an interpretation of Edwards' Religious Affections and Personal Narrative. In the preface the author relays his hope that this work will whet the reader's appetite for Edwards' larger body of work. Not the case here. I am glad to be rid of him and his egregious comma abuse. Somewhere in the midst of my tedious task I decided to pick a sentence at random and count: 10 commas, 2 semicolons. Seriously, Jon?!?! We'll have some punctuation business to hash out in heaven.