Still Sick and Tired

Just when you think you've kicked it, here it comes again, creepin' up.



Essentially the entire Christmas break, I've felt like crap. I'm getting pretty tired of it. This isn't exactly how I planned on spending two weeks off of work, but I guess there isn't really a better time to be sick, than when there's no work to go to.

It actually has forced me, (and Amber) into a Sabbath, as we really are prohibited from doing anything to further ourselves. It's crazy how God built this time of rest into everything, and yet we don't really take him seriously in it.

Leviticus 23:3 " 'There are six days when you may work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of rest, a day of sacred assembly. You are not to do any work; wherever you live, it is a Sabbath to the LORD.

Leviticus 25 3For six years sow your fields, and for six years prune your vineyards and gather their crops. 4 But in the seventh year the land is to have a sabbath of rest, a sabbath to the LORD. Do not sow your fields or prune your vineyards. 5 Do not reap what grows of itself or harvest the grapes of your untended vines. The land is to have a year of rest.

Leviticus 25 8 " 'Count off seven sabbaths of years—seven times seven years—so that the seven sabbaths of years amount to a period of forty-nine years. 9 Then have the trumpet sounded everywhere on the tenth day of the seventh month; on the Day of Atonement sound the trumpet throughout your land. 10 Consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you; each one of you is to return to his family property and each to his own clan. 11 The fiftieth year shall be a jubilee for you; do not sow and do not reap what grows of itself or harvest the untended vines.

The year of Jubilee is crazy. Both Shane Claibourne and Ched Myers expand on it a lot in their writings. Read the whole Jubilee passage, it'll shake your world, and make you look at capitalism, 401ks, and retirement, a little differently.

Toy Hauler from 1938

I was watching some Mickey cartoons with the girls this morning and was surprised to see a "toy hauler" travel trailer from "Mickey's Trailer," made in 1938.

Then





Now

Keirsey Personality Test

My sister sent me this personality test because she was curious what the results would point towards.

I think that these type of tests aren't impressive because they teach us anything new about ourselves, but it is amazing to take a quiz involving 50 questions or so, and to then be surprised with how well the descriptions match who we really are, (or at least who we see ourselves as).

So here's what I reconfirmed about myself:

Idealists share the following core characteristics:

* Idealists are enthusiastic, they trust their intuition, yearn for romance, seek their true self, prize meaningful relationships, and dream of attaining wisdom.
* Idealists pride themselves on being loving, kindhearted, and authentic.
* Idealists tend to be giving, trusting, spiritual, and they are focused on personal journeys and human potentials.
* Idealists make intense mates, nurturing parents, and inspirational leaders.

Sounds like a pretty accurate description of how I would describe myself. Take the test for yourself, and see if it matches up with what you see in the mirror.

Funny stuff.

I wish I had that much creativity, but I'm pretty sure that Amber is glad that I don't.

MARIO KART (REMI GAILLARD)
Uploaded by nqtv

My Favorite New App

If you have friends outside of your own city, (or more specifically "longitude"), I've found a great application for thinking about them throughout the day:





EarthDesk is available for mac or pc, and replaces your desktop wallpaper, with a satellite image from space in real time. You can watch the sun and moon rise and set over the entire planet. Seeing where it is dark, where lights are on, what the cloud cover looks like, and where the sun is shining.

It's been awesome to open my computer and see how far along my brother's day is in Philadelphia, whether or not the Kingsley's are sleeping in Ireland, and I get to think about whether the Rhodes are going to sleep, or waking up.

It helps me to be more globally aware, knowing that my life represents just one perspective among many.

The trial version is free, and places a watermark in the center of you map, and it costs $24 to buy the offical version.



(The sun is about to go down in Philly)

Kevin's Spoken Word

Since Mike DeVries spoke at Hume, I haven't really been excited about any of our speakers, but this summer I was deeply impacted by one of the speakers, not the hired speaker, but by one of the staff.

As worship ended, the lights on the stage went dark, and a spotlight came on a single person who performed a poem that he wrote a year earlier. It was one of the coolest things I have seen at Hume. I would be so up for going to Hume for a week of camp where the evening messages were three minute spoken word performances, or that made use of other mediums besides 45+ minute didactic monologues.

While at camp I told Kevin and Rich how much I appreciated him sharing his poem(s) with us, and in October I received a DVD in the mail with both of Kevin's "performances" on it.

Now through the blogosphere I've been able to keep in contact with Kevin, and recently got his approval to post them on YouTube.

Advent Conspiracy

I've seen this posted on a lot of friends' blogs, but just in case you haven't seen it here it is:



It's a video for the Advent Conspiracy, and I love how it emphasizes Christmas presence over Christmas presents.

This is the first Christmas that we are really focusing on presence over presents, and I am really excited about it.