Tuesday, February 28, 2006
Little Sugar Mama
Tori has plugged into the Blogging Matrix.
Her posts will revolve around her and our family, but most specifically Micah.
Her blog is: Little Sugar Mama and Son
the address is: www.littlesugarmama.blogspot.com
I'll put a link to it on my sidebar.
Her posts will revolve around her and our family, but most specifically Micah.
Her blog is: Little Sugar Mama and Son
the address is: www.littlesugarmama.blogspot.com
I'll put a link to it on my sidebar.
Monday, February 27, 2006
Hikers find mission in mountains
Hikers find mission in mountains
Backpackers often eager to unburden
By BILL OSINSKI
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 02/27/06
Oftentimes, the heaviest thing carried by hikers of the Appalachian Trail is a burdened soul.
To lighten those loads, Craig and Suzy Miles have created a ministry called Appalachian Trail Servants. Their brand of evangelizing comes after they and their volunteers have passed out buckets of trail mix and boxes of foot medicine to weary long-distance hikers.
"Most of the people who walk the trail are at a transition point in their lives," Craig said. Typically, they are young people recently graduated from college, or adults facing a crossroads such as retirement or divorce.
"They start off with questions like, 'What is my purpose in life? What am I going to do with myself now? It can be pretty scary," he said.
Surprisingly often, Suzy Miles said, people who started out seeking solitude in the wilderness will openly talk about such spiritual questions with someone they've just met.
"When you've walked through the same rainstorms with someone, and have been kept awake by the same person snoring at a campsite, then you're not really strangers," she said.
The Mileses spoke about their ministry Sunday at their home church, Mountain East Community Church in Lilburn. Their unusual mountain ministry started about three years ago when a brief prayer turned into a life-changing moment.
Craig, who grew up in Snellville and graduated from South Gwinnett High School, said he was praying for some direction in his life. At the time, he was working as a technician for an information technology company. He wanted to do something more in line with his education — he has master's degrees in both philosophy and divinity studies.
At the end of his prayer, he glanced at a table. On it was a magazine with a cover story about missionaries who minister to hikers in China.
For Craig, the article was an answer to his prayer for guidance. He and Suzy, who was a college student at the time, decided to turn their pastime of hiking into a ministry. Rather than China, however, they chose to stay closer to home.
Suzy, a native of Dahlonega, had hiked parts of the Appalachian Trail with Craig. They'd been married only about a year, but she said she did not hesitate to support Craig's vision.
They developed a 50-page plan and presented it to officials of the North American Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention. They received an endorsement, but were told they would have to raise funds on their own to make the ministry a reality.
The couple spoke at dozens of churches along the 2,175-mile Appalachian Trail, seeking financial support and volunteer workers.
This year, the third of their ministry, Craig and Suzy will leave their home near Cleveland and do a "through hike." That involves walking all way from Springer Mountain in North Georgia to the trail's northern terminus, the peak of Mount Katahdin in Maine.
Besides walking and talking with fellow hikers, the Mileses will work with the volunteers who support their ministry. These "trail angels" staff the way stations set up by Appalachian Trail Servants, usually at spots where the trail crosses a road. They offer food, drink, medical supplies, and conversation — if it's wanted — to the hikers.
Craig said the deep wood is an ideal setting for deep conversations.
Find this article at:
http://www.ajc.com/news/content/metro/stories/0227mettrail.html
Backpackers often eager to unburden
By BILL OSINSKI
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 02/27/06
Oftentimes, the heaviest thing carried by hikers of the Appalachian Trail is a burdened soul.
To lighten those loads, Craig and Suzy Miles have created a ministry called Appalachian Trail Servants. Their brand of evangelizing comes after they and their volunteers have passed out buckets of trail mix and boxes of foot medicine to weary long-distance hikers.
"Most of the people who walk the trail are at a transition point in their lives," Craig said. Typically, they are young people recently graduated from college, or adults facing a crossroads such as retirement or divorce.
"They start off with questions like, 'What is my purpose in life? What am I going to do with myself now? It can be pretty scary," he said.
Surprisingly often, Suzy Miles said, people who started out seeking solitude in the wilderness will openly talk about such spiritual questions with someone they've just met.
"When you've walked through the same rainstorms with someone, and have been kept awake by the same person snoring at a campsite, then you're not really strangers," she said.
The Mileses spoke about their ministry Sunday at their home church, Mountain East Community Church in Lilburn. Their unusual mountain ministry started about three years ago when a brief prayer turned into a life-changing moment.
Craig, who grew up in Snellville and graduated from South Gwinnett High School, said he was praying for some direction in his life. At the time, he was working as a technician for an information technology company. He wanted to do something more in line with his education — he has master's degrees in both philosophy and divinity studies.
At the end of his prayer, he glanced at a table. On it was a magazine with a cover story about missionaries who minister to hikers in China.
For Craig, the article was an answer to his prayer for guidance. He and Suzy, who was a college student at the time, decided to turn their pastime of hiking into a ministry. Rather than China, however, they chose to stay closer to home.
Suzy, a native of Dahlonega, had hiked parts of the Appalachian Trail with Craig. They'd been married only about a year, but she said she did not hesitate to support Craig's vision.
They developed a 50-page plan and presented it to officials of the North American Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention. They received an endorsement, but were told they would have to raise funds on their own to make the ministry a reality.
The couple spoke at dozens of churches along the 2,175-mile Appalachian Trail, seeking financial support and volunteer workers.
This year, the third of their ministry, Craig and Suzy will leave their home near Cleveland and do a "through hike." That involves walking all way from Springer Mountain in North Georgia to the trail's northern terminus, the peak of Mount Katahdin in Maine.
Besides walking and talking with fellow hikers, the Mileses will work with the volunteers who support their ministry. These "trail angels" staff the way stations set up by Appalachian Trail Servants, usually at spots where the trail crosses a road. They offer food, drink, medical supplies, and conversation — if it's wanted — to the hikers.
Craig said the deep wood is an ideal setting for deep conversations.
Find this article at:
http://www.ajc.com/news/content/metro/stories/0227mettrail.html
Stress
This has been a very stressful last week or so. There just seems to be stress coming from every direction. There's tons of paperwork I have to do at work, Micah is sick and cranky with his ear infections - which in turn is hard on Tori, etc., etc., etc., It's one of those situations where you wish you could pull an ostrich and stick your head in the sand (preferrably on a Pacific Island) for about 4 months, and then pull it out again to see if it got any better.
But, such is life. God never said it would be easy. But He DID say that he would never put anything on us, more than we can bear. And I know that He has a purpose in all of this craziness.
----------
God hath not promised skies always blue,
Flower strewn pathways all our lives through;
God hath not promised sun without rain,
Joy without sorrow, peace without pain.
But God hath promised strength for the day,
Rest for the labor, light for the way,
Grace for the trials, help from above,
Unfailing sympathy, undying love.
God hath not promised we shall not know
Toil and temptation, trouble and woe;
He hath not told us we shall not bear
Many a burden, many a care.
God hath not promised smooth roads and wide,
Swift, easy travel, needing no guide;
Never a mountain rocky and steep,
Never a river turbid and deep.
-Annie Flint
But, such is life. God never said it would be easy. But He DID say that he would never put anything on us, more than we can bear. And I know that He has a purpose in all of this craziness.
----------
God hath not promised skies always blue,
Flower strewn pathways all our lives through;
God hath not promised sun without rain,
Joy without sorrow, peace without pain.
But God hath promised strength for the day,
Rest for the labor, light for the way,
Grace for the trials, help from above,
Unfailing sympathy, undying love.
God hath not promised we shall not know
Toil and temptation, trouble and woe;
He hath not told us we shall not bear
Many a burden, many a care.
God hath not promised smooth roads and wide,
Swift, easy travel, needing no guide;
Never a mountain rocky and steep,
Never a river turbid and deep.
-Annie Flint
Sunday, February 26, 2006
Thursday, February 23, 2006
Charlie Moment de Jour
Yesterday the counselor was in my classroom to show a drug video. I had shown the video before, and I had the volume turned WAY WAY up. I was having to fiddle with it and in the process it flipped to a TV channel. It was a soap opera. Fortunately only one phrase made its way out. Unfortunately that phrase was, "Give me the D*#$ phone!"
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
Monday, February 20, 2006
Sunday, February 19, 2006
Thursday, February 16, 2006
Color Samples
I can't really find a picture of a car on the internet that has quite the color I'm trying to think of. Many come close. I found some that are in the neighborhood. I'm really looking for something half-way between some of the more "gold" look and this color on the cervinis picture. But it would be more on the gold tint than silver. This is my personal preference.
I found a cool site called "redlinegoods.com" They make custom boots for shifters and ebrakes,etc. They do dual colors / stripes / tubed, etc. With the exterior I'm thinking of, I think the boots in this picture would go good.
Also, since I'm on the thought of the interior...I kind of like some of the racing seats out there. I'm not to high on the ones that look like they have four arms trying to wrap around you, but I've seen some cool ones that are less extreme. This would be something to think about if the seats in the one I had were all messed up.
Also, I've been looking at high-powered headlights. There is such a variety...color tinted, but then you have to be careful there for DOT regulations, different shades of white. When I've looked at the scales that compare them to regular headlight bulbs though, the low on the Xenon ones are equal to the brights on regular ones. So I guess everybody that you drove past would think you were bright-lighting them. But I guess if they turned their brights on you, you could flip your brights on and burn out their retinas.
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