http://gentlewhisper.com/blog Life is random, so is my blog. Wed, 03 Dec 2008 21:19:15 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Pastor Jim Bradford is finishing up a great sermon series titled, Engaging Faith Questions. Along with his messages, he suggested reading The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism. I've really enjoyed this series and I think you will too. You can listen online: Is There a God? Is ... http://gentlewhisper.com/blog/2008/11/30/engaging-faith-questions-listen-online/ My twin sister and her family are here! Here's a slide show documenting our Thanksgiving day celebration. I'll be updating it through out the day and I might actually come back and write something worth reading later. :) http://gentlewhisper.com/blog/2008/11/27/thanksgiving-2008-slideshow/ Sarah sharply saluted as she walked through the living room. I asked her, "Sarah did you just salute?" "Yes." "Who did you salute?" "God." "You saluted God?! Why?" "Just to be nice." "Um... OK." She walked to the fridge, got a drink out of her "HOOAH! It's an Army Thing" water bottle, took a bite of ... http://gentlewhisper.com/blog/2008/11/26/just-to-be-nice/ I'm enjoying a freshly roasted Sumatran this morning. After my last post, I realized that random tea bags are not for me. I contacted a local coffee roaster friend and Joel lovingly drove to Nixa and picked up a few pounds of green coffee beans. Thanks Joel ... http://gentlewhisper.com/blog/2008/11/23/morning-cup-xxiii-napkin-sermons-oj-simpson-and-skipping-church/ This morning I made half of a cup of coffee... That's all. I carefully poured my last few beans into the coffee grinder then brewed only six ounces of coffee using the inverted Aeropress method. Ahhh... it's so good. Last Christmas I got a Sweet Maria's gift certificate and bought ... http://gentlewhisper.com/blog/2008/11/20/half-of-a-morning-cup/ Joel sits at the table, working on lesson plans. Jeremiah and Sarah are fighting in the living room... playfully... I think... for now... no one is crying yet. I'm sitting in the corner in my map chair, with my new head phones in my ears playing Shawn McDonald ... http://gentlewhisper.com/blog/2008/11/15/mid-november-evening/ It occurs to me that I can no longer consider myself a 'blogger.' After twelve years and 1,878 posts... I somehow stopped writing. A few factors have led to my exit from the blogosphere. 1. Facebook: I post all of my stuff there now. Photos, links etc. 2. ... http://gentlewhisper.com/blog/2008/11/14/mid-november/ On September 29th, I prayed a simple desperate prayer. "Lord, help me to love you...  To be in love with you." A few hours later I received an email promoting Francis Chan's new book, Crazy Love. The email said, "Does something deep inside your heart long to break free from ... http://gentlewhisper.com/blog/2008/10/23/book-recommendation-crazy-love/ Sarah started crying within a few minutes of coming home from school.  Then the sibling fighting began, quickly followed by insane whining... We HAD to get out of the house!  So the two of us left for a little girl time.  We talked in the car about all of her ... http://gentlewhisper.com/blog/2008/10/17/a-little-one-on-one-time/ Joel just took the kids to school... or as I like to say, shipped them off to the state for their daily indoctrination... ok I don't really like to say that but I thought I would today.  Homeschoolers feel free to bash me.  Public Schoolers don't get so uptight, I'm ... http://gentlewhisper.com/blog/2008/10/15/mid-october-morning/ Chaplain (Major General) Cecil Richardson spoke at Evangel University's Homecoming banquet on Saturday night.  CH Richardson serves as the Air Force Chief of Chaplains.  He's also an Evangel graduate and an awesome speaker.  I wish they had his speech available on podcast, I'd definitely link you.  Since they don't, I ... http://gentlewhisper.com/blog/2008/10/13/air-force-chief-of-chaplains/ Hey friends, I suppose I should write an update in reply to all the "how are you" and "where are you" comments. :)  I haven't felt like blogging lately.  I've been doing this for over a decade... I guess I get tired of it on occasion.  Sometimes I start to write ... http://gentlewhisper.com/blog/2008/10/09/brief-update-im-fine-thanks/ I just finished reading The Radical Wesley and Patterns for Church Renewal by Howard Snyder. I loved this book!  Not only does it tell the exciting story of John Wesley, but it gives a model of church renewal.  Snyder convincingly argues that Christian fellowship or community are essential elements in renewal. ... http://gentlewhisper.com/blog/2008/09/23/the-radical-wesley/ After my earlier post, I failed to clarify that my little girl did in fact get birthday presents.  Don't worry,  grandparents and uncles have it covered. :) I was also able to fix my old digital camera, so she had that surprise yesterday. Thanks so much to those who were concerned. http://gentlewhisper.com/blog/2008/09/10/sarahs-birthday-no-worries/ Last Monday evening I worried about not having the money to pay for rent, tuition and groceries.  Joel sat at the diningroom table looking for answers through the screen of his laptop.  I called the children into my bedroom.  We held hands and prayed that God would provide the money ... http://gentlewhisper.com/blog/2008/09/08/answered-prayers/ We cuddled early this morning.  My almost six year old daughter sighed happily and whispered, "one more day."  I said, "Sarah, I'm sorry I don't have the money to get you a birthday present... What am I going to do?"  She sweetly replied, "You already got me something."  "What?" I ... http://gentlewhisper.com/blog/2008/09/08/now-thats-a-gift/ Hello friends, No, I've not forgotten you, I'm just really busy.  I do have some posts coming soon though. This is what's going on: Joel has deployed to Louisiana with the National Guard. God keeps answering our prayers... My kids are getting excited. I'm loving my classes. I met the staff at Central Assembly yesterday ... http://gentlewhisper.com/blog/2008/09/04/drive-by-blogging/ While at CHBOLC, a Korean chaplain in my platoon would occasionally take me aside and offer some encouraging words. He would tell me that I reminded him of his sister. He spoke so very highly of her and said he hoped we would get to meet some time. ... http://gentlewhisper.com/blog/2008/08/27/chaplain-grace-bong-in-the-news/ Today marks the beginning of my third year at AGTS. I'm half way done! My classes: Christianity in modern & postmodern eras Communicating Christian faith in a pluralistic society Practicum in Pastoral Ministry - With Pastor Loralie at Central Assembly of God I'm really excited about this semester. Jeremiah and Sarah started ... http://gentlewhisper.com/blog/2008/08/26/half-way-done/ My friend CH Shulman is in the news again. Last December I linked to a story CNN did about him. He showed up on my Google News page again today. This time he wrote the article. Read it here. http://gentlewhisper.com/blog/2008/08/23/chaplain-shulman-writes-about-his-time-in-iraq/ Rachel told me about a song she heard on the radio. It told of a father missing out on his kid's life because he was always on the road. We talked about this Army life and the inevitable separation that we dread. Sarah walked into the room ... http://gentlewhisper.com/blog/2008/08/22/what-if-you-die/ When questioned about a candidate's stance on abortion, a dear friend recently said to me, "I'm not voting on that issue." The comment reminded me of my friend Matt's recent post: One Issue Voting « From the Straight and Narrow http://gentlewhisper.com/blog/2008/08/18/im-not-voting-on-that-issue/ Somehow I've neglected to post for 10 days. And I had almost tricked anyone into thinking I was coming back to blogging. I've been really busy. I had four papers to write for a class I got an incomplete in last semester. [Finished! I got a B. ... http://gentlewhisper.com/blog/2008/08/15/im-still-here/ This morning started with a phone call. Jami called to tell me that Zach Whitcavitch had died. It turns out he was killed by a drunk driver. Zach was a 23 year old Marine who recently returned from Iraq. He was also one of my favorite ... http://gentlewhisper.com/blog/2008/08/05/a-really-really-bad-day/ Joel just threw a few bananas on the grill... DELICIOUS! We peeled them, poured chocolate, caramel sauce, and cinnamon on top and... gracious they're good. Sarah said it's the best desert she ever ate. Jeremiah plans on opening a grilled banana stand soon. :) http://gentlewhisper.com/blog/2008/08/04/grilled-bananas/