A Weekend is TOO Short!

Topsail Beach is just too beautiful to spend so little time there. I think I'm just gonna have to go back. =) 

I can't help finding this ridiculous

I got a kick out of my coworker yesterday. She is moving today, and was lamenting the fact that she would probably have to have an exhorcism performed on her new house. I'm hoping she was not serious about that, but one never know when talking to her...

I asumed this was not really a big deal... until I started reading the Drudge Report headlines, and saw things like "30-YEAR MORTGAGE AT 6.66%" and "Hell, Mich., Heats Up for Party..."

Suddenly this so called "devil's day" is beginning to feel like Y2K pt II.

Some fear the date 06/06/06, which falls on Tuesday, signifies 666, the Biblical number of the Devil, and will usher in calamities and even the end of the world.

Some people really give the devil (and themselves) far too much credit.

We believe that the plans the enemy has for this date (June 6, 2006) will be destroyed through violent worship and praise.

I'm just really surprised that so called Christians are getting worked up about this. Every day is a "day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it." ~ Psalm 118:24

Baby Tigers

One of my CDs has a song entitled "Paper Tigers." When C. first heard it, she replaced "paper" with "baby," thinking it sounded much cuter. "Besides," she used to say, "who ever heard of being chased by paper tigers? At least baby tigers can chase you." I have recently been keeping up with the new baby tigers in the National Zoo, via the "TigerCam," and it made me think of C. and this song. Here are the lyrics, as modified by C.

Heart pounds to the sound comin after me
Step back. what is that? its a mystery
Is it somethin'? probly nothin'
Still I find a way to scare myself
Til I remember this all feels familiar
And I know better

They are only baby tigers followin' me
In the wild imagination of the make believe, oh
And there's a fighter, a survivor arisin' in me
I'm not afraid of baby tigers

Night brings creepy things, and I hide away
False fears disappear in the light of day
(light of day)The sun is risin; Im realizin
The only thing to fear is fear itself
Now I am certain that my beast of burden
Isn't worth the worry

They are only baby tigers followin' me
In the wild imagination of the make believe, oh
And there's a fighter, a survivor arisin' in me
I'm not afraid of baby tigers
~ Jaci Velasquez

If you want to check out the baby tigers, it is best to try between the hours of 0800 and 1200 because that is when the lighting is best.

I can't help it. I just think she is SO funny!

Here is an sentence from the latest email from my adorable (and rather precocious little sister).

Well, after leaving Grandma's house, I went through the woods, and over the bridge back to our house, lol okay so I went through a green light, and
over a pot hole, what's the difference?

It's sad, really.

Rome has got to be the most religious city in the world! It always has been religious; the dieties are the only things that have really changed in 2,000 plus years. Many of the ancient pagan temples are still standing, and the alcoves, built into the corners of most buildings, still house asundry shrines. Yes, the pictures have changed. What was once Zeus, is now St. Peter. What was once Artemeis, is now the virgin Mary. So, the icons and forms of worship are different, but the superstitious nature of Rome remains.

In one of the many art-filled rooms of the Vatican Museum, there was a painting on the ceiling (shown above) depicting one of Rome's many marble gods, knocked down, broken, and replaced by a golden crucifix. This painting seemed to me very sybolic of what has happened in that great city. One religion was traded for another - marble for gold, but both are still merely statues, and neither glorify the One who created and sustains all things.

I'm not homeless!!!

I never actually was homeless (thankfully), but there was a point last week that I was pretty sure that is where my future lay... in the streets. As late as Thursday afternoon, I had no clue where I was going to go today (my lease is up today). But God, in His mercy, provided me with the most adorable apartment! After searching for two months for a place to live, I found it Thursday night, signed the papers within an hour of seeing it, and moved in yesterday. I just LOVE my new place. I am all on my own for the first time in my life, and it feels great. I guess that means it is actually time to feel grown up (I say that every time something in my life changes, but I never actually feel it).

The move began at 6 a.m. and did not end until 4 in the afternoon. Even then, I did not get all the boxes unpacked (I think I only have 4 left - out of 20 - so I guess I'm doing pretty well) because it was Memorial day and I went to a barbecue. =) I would not even done that well if it were not for my dear friends, C. & R.! They were absolute lifesavers!

I'm a little sore this morning, but I am not complaining... it's a good kind of sore - the kind that screams freedom.