Friday, April 27, 2007

Please Tell Me...

That this guy is a Mormon.

I never realized that Satan was Latino. You learn something new everyday. I would say "Only in Utah," but then again, nothing surprises me.

In other news, I turned in a 16 page paper on North Korea today and now I am free!! (Almost.) Just an excuse to celebrate. Like I needed one.

Saturday, April 21, 2007

Introducing the Coonses!

Most of you probably know my good friend Dave Coons who is now my good MARRIED friend Dave Coons! I just got back to the hotel from his wedding to Katie Evans, another longtime Tianjin alum (TJIF Hook It UP!).

On the way up I drove Katrina and Ella along Lake Shore Drive in Chicago on a beautiful spring afternoon. We drove on up Sheridan Road past Northwestern to my Aunt Zen's house in Wilmette. Not only did she treat us to lunch (Chinese!), but she took us to this great store for kids and bought Ella some much-needed clothes.

Then we criscrossed the suburban jungle to make it to the Bible buckle of Wheaton. I got to spend three days with some of the best people on earth, and introduce a few of them to Katrina and Ella. To say it's a privilege would be an understatement. Here are some photos (click on them for a larger view):









恭喜恭喜你们!我非常高兴认识你们。在耶稣里我们是一家人。我爱我的家人!

In other words, Dave and Katie, we love you. I am confident that God is with you, as His light has shone through you brighter even than the smiles on your faces. See you soon.

P.S. Here's one more photo of the aftermath of an awesome hailstorm last week at our new place:




Friday, April 06, 2007

On Shattered Illusions

Hot things and cold things don't always mix well.

That's one of those laws of physics (pardon my paraphrase) that doesn't really affect you a whole lot until it affects you a whole lot.

Yesterday, in our new kitchen in our new apartment, we (by accident) left a blue casserole dish sitting on a hot stove top for a couple of minutes. When I saw smoke begin to rise, I sprung into action. I gingerly moved the hot dish off of the hot stove and onto the cold counter.

Tick.

Tick.

Tick.

BOOOOOOOOOOM!

No gunpowder. No plastic explosives. Just simple physics.

The aftermath a thousand pieces later? I was standing about two feet away, but by the grace of God, I only got a few tiny scratches. Ella (who was about three feet behind me on the floor) and Katrina were scratch free. That is actually quite incredible, because there were pieces of hot glass that melted into my sweatshirt. And into the linoleum floor. And the dining room carpet. There was even a small piece that was impaled in the drywall.

So much noise.

No match for the power of God.

The Son of God was piereced for our transgressions, and crushed for our inquities.

It was God who brought the noise. So much noise. So much that He was able to drown out all the noise of all the sin and all the evil and all the murder and all the suffering.

The punishment that brought us peace was upon Him and by His wounds we are healed.

I was unscathed. Katrina was unscathed. Ella was unscathed. But He wasn't.

Peace.