Pink Rose

Pink Rose
Originally uploaded by jcforgod.

Today has been a good day. I decided to go for a walk and I remembered my camera. Thus I took some random pictures. This rose is the first one, and I have uploaded the best 15. I'm enjoying walking and riding the bus. Luckily I don't have a set time to be somewhere so these first few days of bus riding were able to be experiments. I have a bus schedule now and I think I'll be able to get where I need to be now. At least until I get my new car...

If you like kinda weird music - This is interesting. Watch the bath time video. The other one is even weirder.

Well, I found a car - 1991 Honda Civic. Good gas mileage, good maitenance, and it looks like it'll handle well. Earl drove it for me since I haven't learned how to drive a stick. He also looked at the engine and liked it. Only things that the car needs is carpet and a stereo. I'll probably be able to pull the stereo out of my Sable and the carpet shouldn't cost much. So once I get the money, I'll have a car. Should have the money by Monday or Tuesday and he did say he'd hold it for me. I'll doublecheck with him on Sunday to make sure he knows we're working on getting the money.

*grins* I'm happy. Hopefully I can learn to drive a stick before the 4th. Heh. That'll be fun, driving down to Eugene with a new vehicle that I'll have barely learned to drive...

So, here's a question for you: Where did all the comments go?! I haven't had any comments on the last 5 posts! People, are you out there? I should make a t-shirt: "I believe in Readers." *grins*

I went to Half Price Books today - Court, you're right, really good deals. I bought five Sci-Fi books and a book on American Sign Language. I'm really going to try and learn that. I want to be able to converse with my Grandma without shouting. I hope I can find someone to take a class with me when I'm back in Eugene.

Well, my brain just fried. Have fun.

Anyone have a vehicle they want to give me? 1200 for parts and labor to fix my car. It's not worth that much. I'm going to ask around the church and see if there's a mechanical person around who would junkyard dive with me and patch it up for less than that. Otherwise, I may be getting a new pickup or car. Wish I knew how to drive a Manual, then I would get something that had some better gas mileage on it.

My feet hurt... I walked ten miles yesterday to and from church. I have some nice blisters to prove it too... It was actually nice to walk. I haven't walked anywhere in a very long time. I'm thinking that if we get the closer apartment, that I may be walking to college more often than not. At least when the weather cooperates. And my feet harden up. I don't need blisters every time I walk.

I talked to the Claim Adjuster (or whatever he is) today. My insurance will cover the other guy totally, but I'm on my own as far as repairing the car goes. I did have one of the pastors at new life say something about helping me out with the repair bill. So I now need to call the Autobody place where my car is currently located at, and get a price for repair. Hopefully it won't be too much. Then I'll need to call Doug at New Life and tell him how much and how much I can afford to pay (which is little). We'll see what he says.

I now have to figure out how to get to church every day. Walking more than once or twice a week is out. My feet can't take that. I'm considering trying to figure out the bus system.

Oh, I bought a notebook to journal with. Covered it in ducttape and wrote my name and number in it. And I've been writing in it. In fact, I want to share something.

Our Fortress

"God is our refuge and our strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefor we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging." Psalm 46:1-3

I've been thinking a lot about natural disasters in the past eight months or so. First the Tsunami hit Asia, then Mt. St. Helens started to rumble, then the earthquakes in southern Oregon and northern California. Plus all the movies about natural disasters. I'll be honest, I have some fear about being caught in one. I'm not equipped to deal with it.

But then I read the above passage, and I think about the fact that though Terra (earth) may crumble, my God is there, and will be my hope and my help in any type of trouble.

7/22/2005 1:46 PM



*sigh* Today started out well, but then went sour. I had an errand to run for the Camp – picking up a gorilla costume – and after a little running around, I finally found the rental place (with Stephen’s help). Well, so I get on the wet road to head out to the camp. Here I am going down the road, my thoughts somewhere else, and suddenly the traffic slows down. I slam on my brakes and they lock! I then skid into this blue Civic – luckily hitting him mostly on the corner. We pull over to the side and I call 911 – they send the paramedics out. I’m tensed up, but am uninjured. The other guy has some neck pain. After they take him to the hospital, the state patrol shows up. The officer gets my information and looks for the other driver’s. He doesn’t have his card in his vehicle. Not good, that’s a hefty fine. Anyways, I get fined for causing the accident $130. I call my dad, then the church and a guy there gets ahold of a autobody place that will tow my car to their lot. I then call the insurance company, getting all the information to them. The claim person is supposed to call me today or Monday. So I’m sitting here, waiting for the tow truck, trying to calm myself down.

All of a sudden I here a screech and I see this yellow panel truck hit the back of a white SUV, which then hits another vehicle, and so on. Four vehicles in total. So I check to make sure they’re all getting things under control and then watch them direct traffic and talk to the cop who shows up. That SUV was totaled. No one hurt, but it crumpled up. Getting hit by a moving van would do that…

The church sent a couple guys out to pick me up and take me to the camp. Right before I left, (leaving the key in the visor so that the tow guy could take my car) I asked the cop if he needed me. He said that it was all straightforward and that they didn’t need a witness. So, I came out to camp. I’m sitting here, typing on my laptop, waiting for people to check out sports equiptment.

It could have been a lot worse. I’m happy about that. But it’ll cost me. I have no collision on my car and so insurance won’t repair my car. I think all I want to do is get it drivable. I need new lights, and a radiator to make it drivable. There is a lot of cosmetic damage and the hood is buckled. I’ll have to talk with the mechanics and see what needs to be done. Maybe Earl will help me when he gets back.

Meanwhile, I don’t have a vehicle and I’m wondering how I’m going to get back to town. Not to mention getting to go south of where I’m staying to the church.

Pray for funds. That’s the worst part of this happening now. I have no funds.

Scotty passed away

James Doohan: March 3, 1920 - July 20, 2005

We are deeply saddened to report that James Doohan, the beloved actor who portrayed engineer "Montgomery Scott" in the original Star Trek and seven movies, has passed away. He was 85.

Doohan died in his sleep at his home in Redmond, Washington, at 5:30 a.m. local time with his wife Wende at his side. Cause of death was pneumonia, complicated by Alzheimer's disease, according to Doohan's agent and longtime friend Steve Stevens of Los Angeles.

More here...

James Doohan was one of my favorite star trek actors, especially in the movies. There's something about that moustache. We're starting to lose the Original actors - first DeForest Kelley, now doohan... Makes me wonder if we'll lose Shatner or Nimoy anytime soon.

I was heading home from a friend's house tonight and Focus on the family came on. It was a Q&A Session recorded a few months ago at New Life Center, the church I'm interning at. Pretty cool actually. Listen to it at Oneplace

This day has been interesting... Started out on a groggy note and I wasn't feeling like doing anything, but it did get better. Once I got out to camp, I woke up. Hung out with the kids and the counselors. Then I sat in the sports shack from one to four. There's a snack shack next door and the guy manning it is a 16yo who reads a lot. We were having a great conversation about books and etc. Very cool. Then I went to dinner at Scott and Sandy's. That was fun.

Well, I lost my bible and my bible journal. *sigh* Stephen and I went to the park today to study and to hang out. As we were leaving this guy, maybe drunk, maybe a little high, asked to use my cell phone. I was nice and let him. Then we left, went up to Stephen's place, hung out there for awhile, and I headed home. I got home and went to pick up my bible and journal. Not there. I searched the car and couldn't find it. I then called Stephen and he said it wasn't at his place. Drove back to the park, watching the sides of the road, and looked for it there. Not there. So, I'm out the bible and my life journal. Maybe it'll make its way back to me, maybe not. Losing the bible doesn't bum me out as much as the journal 'cause it had a lot of thoughts about verses and I was going to use that in the future to jump start sermons, etc. Oh well.

I'm going to go to Kids camp tomorrow. I'm slated to work 1-5 checking in and out sports equiptment. That'll be fun. Then on Thursday and Friday, I have some errands to run for them in the morning. I'm thinking that this week will be a great week.

There's something about watching children worship God. There is an innocence that says "here I am God, I love You." I watched a little girl today, probably around 10-11 dance in worship to God. I watched a group of about 20 kids go up to the altar to worship. Watching one girl pray while the song was playing really touched me. These kids honestly were worshiping God. They love the Creator. Yeah, sure there were some who were up there because their friends were or it was the thing to do, but there were those that were really, truly seeking God. It amazed me and made me realize the truth of Jesus' words "...Become like this little child..." There's so much we forget and let slide as we grow up. I want to enter that little childlike mind again. I want to worship God without thinking about what I'm getting out of it or the latest thing on my mind. I want to surrender my heart to my God and truly worship Him.

Things I have learned so far this summer

• Misquito bites on the hand really, really, itch. I have one that is driving me nuts right now.


• Big churches have lots of stairs.


• Moving chairs up those stairs is a work out.


• I now know how to mix concrete/cement (BTW, what's the difference between Concrete and cement? I've always wondered that.)


• Writing "No Alcohol or Tabacco" on Safeway gift cards is a good way to make sure you're not feeding a person's habits


• Long hair cats look funny halfway shaved.


• It's fun to hang out with RIers in person.


• Garlic sauce is a good topping for chicken tacos (BTW, Kali, where can I get that?).


• I have a leadership style of Shepherding. (Discovered by reading Courageous Leadership by Bill Hybels)


• Being proactive all the time is hard for me, I tend to just want to do what I'm told to and when I haven't been told, to dink around on the Internet, or watch TV.


• I also do better with devotions when I'm with someone and we're discussing different things.

I suppose I should update. I'm partaking of the new Sci-Fi Friday. Stargate SG-1, Stargate: Atlantis, and Battlestar Galactica are all starting their new seasons. I've read the synopses of the Stargate episodes, so I'm caught up, at least story wise. Haven't seen many Atlantis episodes and am only up through season 5 with SG-1. I need to find a source to borrow the rest of the seasons. Should be a good evening...

In real life I got to spend the afternoon and evening yesterday with Court and Kali and their kids. That was a lot of fun. Court and I attempted to take apart my laptop (to clean it) but it was way too complicated. So, I didn't get to take it apart. We also talked about geeky things. Twas fun. The kids were a lot of fun to play with. Bryn (Kali's brother, 6, is that the right spelling?) really enjoyed telling me all about the different movies he's watched, not to mention the lego stop action video he made. That was actually cool, 'cause I wanted that studio when I was younger and it was good to see how Bryn made it work.

Next week I get to help with Kid's Camp. I'm slated to be a runner and a helper in the sport tent. Should be fun.

This week I made $70!!! This lady had called into the church and needed help setting a tv Stand up. Well, I called her back and this last thursday Stephen and I spent about 2.5 hours putting together her tv stand and a fertilizer spreader. Then, she also needed some help with moving the rest of her stuff from one house to the other. So today Stephen And I got to help out with that. Very cool that we made money. I need money since this internship isn't a paying job.

I'm hoping that the word will get out and Stephen and I will be able to make a bit of money by doing odd jobs. It would help - alot!

The Yellow Snake Head

The Yellow Snake Head
Originally uploaded by jcforgod.

Yeah, I know, I haven't really updated since getting up here for the internship. Haven't really felt like it. But I did get to go to a little boy's 5th birthday party and I did get to see a lot of snakes. Look into flickr to see the rest of the pictures. As far as life goes... I'm doing pretty good. Haven't burnt out yet, so that's a positive thing. Well, comment on this and I'll see about updating sometime this coming week. (Yes, that means you, you lurker!)

06flag070405

06flag070405
Originally uploaded by jcforgod.

Fourth of July and I actually went to a parade. I kinda dislike parades, but this one wasn't bad. Firetrucks, old cars, a couple of bands, and the usual advertising, combined to make an enjoyable parade. Since I have a digital camera, I decided to do a series of flag pictures. I've taken several US Flag pictures in the past, so I figured that with all the flags around on the Fourth, that I'd make a large edition to my new series. *grins*

So tomorrow I go back to the church and see what they have for me this week. I'll probably be a floater sometimes, but I will have a schedule.

This is in response to Sar's comment:

I think it depends on the size of the town and how effective the church is - plus its vision. I've lived in smaller towns in the NW and most of the churches I've gone to don't exceed 300. But if you're going to LA or San Fran, yeah, there's a lot more big churches. But there are also small churches all over the place. I think the biggest church in Eugene is aroun 1200 or so, but I know of at least four churches that run 100 or so. A lot depends on the publicity that the church gets. A large congregation with a large building is a lot more noticable than a small church that meets in a school.

Being in a larger city gives me more appreciation for the larger church because they draw off a larger population base, but I often wonder just how effective they are. They have the budget to run a good sunday service, but are they actually discipling and caring for people? Some are, some aren't. I think the ones that are effecting people are the ones that have a cell group program that gets people in a group to learn more about God.

I'm very much a relational person and I look at large churches and almost cringe because I know that the pastor can't possibly know a quarter of the congregation. I've grown up in and attended churches where the pastor was able to minister to most of the congregation and those that he didn't get to were ministered to by the leaders in the church. This really is the core of what I envision church as. I see a pastor shepherding around 100-200 people. But when you really think about it, that barely dents the surface of a city's/town's population. I read somewhere that Eugene is one of the most unchurched cities in OR, if not the US. Yet you drive down 18th and there's 15 or so church buildings. It makes me wonder why people aren't in the churches.

I think some of it has to do with the culture today. Churches are associated with boring and hours of droning. TV has priests and pastors being wishy-washy and corrupt. Even I, who grew up in church and grew up loving God, have a problem with church buildings. That's why I'm more comfortable going to a school and worshiping in the cafeteria. And I know that more and more churches are doing that.

I don't know if I've talked about this on here, but I have felt like God may be leading me in the direction of planting a church. Well, I have some what of an idea of how I want to do this. I don't want to enter a town, build a building and then get my congregation from those who have already accepted Christ and are just going from church to church. I can see myself working in a community, developing relationships with my neighbors, eventually having a home church come out of that.

But I really don't know what it'll look like when God gives me the goahead. I do know it'll be a relational church, whatever the organization of it is.