God’s Dominion

Well, it’s Thursday so I guess I should mention the weekend I hinted at on Monday.  Nothing spectacular happened, but I did have a visitor.  A friend of mine from California who moved to Chicagoland a couple of months after I did (Elk Grove, to be specific), has been complaining for months that she’s been here for over half a year and hasn’t seen me.  Two weeks ago I drove down to Woodfield to hang out and this weekend she and her seven year old son came up for the weekend.  I actually wasn’t expecting them but she called me Friday night to tell me they couldn’t come Friday night because of the storm (which completely missed me) which was a surprise to me because I wasn’t aware they were planning on coming.  I had planned to get some chores done, but it wasn’t anything important.  She had mentioned the possibility of coming up again this weekend
but I don’t know if she’s really coming or she was just saying that.  We didn’t really do much last time but if she comes up again I may suggest a movie as I’ve only been to the movies three times in the last year which is way low for me.

Anyway, mom & dad come home Sunday night…which means I’ll miss the Bears – Seahawks game.  I’ll probably record it and watch it later….if they win.  It’s looking like I won’t be working Monday so I can stay up half the night on Sunday night.

As always, post a comment and let me know you’re reading my blog so I know more than two people are reading it (hi Nezy!).  Laterz!

Okay, I’m still watching the game and I just heard something I found very disturbing.  I understand that rebuilding the stadium and various other economic areas is important because the city needs to make money to rebuild, but what I don’t understand is why nothing is being done about the houses.  I just heard Harry Connick, Jr. (yes, that Harry Connick, Jr.) talk about his work with Habitat for Humanity.  Apparently they built 81 homes (all volunteers) and this is the only major housing rebuilding effort in New Orleans.  Where is all the other rebuilding?  How come there isn’t any construction going on except for a non-profit organization staffed by volunteers?  I just don’t get what’s going on.  Sorry for two posts in one day, I just had to say something when I heard that.

As I normally do on Mondays, I was sitting here watching Monday Night Football and I just felt like I had to write something here.  In case you didn’t know, tonight was the first game in New Orleans since Katrina.  I knew it would be a big deal for New Orleans, the team and the fans, and that there would be a lot of emotion and energy but I didn’t realize how big it would be.  The rebuilt Superdome looks great.  You would never even know the roof was ripped off just thirteen months ago.  The people, however, were just amazing.  There was so much emotion in the stadium it was unreal.  During the national anthem there were people in tears and it wasn’t because of the singer (although she and the pianist did an excellent job). 

The team has been playing excellent (it’s only halftime) and I think they really understand how important this game is to the city.  The emotion in the dome was incredible and the team gave their fans many reasons to make noise.  This year the Saints have sold out their season passes.  That may not sound like a big deal (the Packers are sold out for the next thirty or so years), but it’s the first time they have ever sold out their season tickets in the history of the team!  That’s just amazing.  At this point it’s really all about the symbolism and the residents looking for some reason to be happy.  They are looking for something that says that New Orleans is back.

However, New Orleans isn’t really back.  All the tourist areas are back (like Bourbon Street) and they are begging people to come back because they need the money.  The football team is back (but not the basketball team).  The Superdome is back.  But the people aren’t back.  Why aren’t they back?  Because their homes aren’t back.  They were showing video they took today and it didn’t look all that different from videos I saw from a year ago.  It has been thirteen months since Katrina hit.  Why do all the neighborhoods still look like Katrina hit yesterday?  Houses are collapsed.  In some neighborhoods, they’ve taken what’s left of some of the houses away but nothing else has been done.  How is it that a country with as many resources and as much money as America can’t rebuild some homes?  I am watching a new development go up on my way to work and they will have made a lot more progress on those in a year than New Orleans has made.  Why is it that the NFL gave millions of dollars to the city (either $15 million or $50 million, I couldn’t understand) to rebuild the Superdome but when one of the players asked that every NFL player donate $5000 (what’s that to an NFL player?) in order to raise $8.5 million towards rebuilding New Orleans they didn’t come anywhere close to raising the  money.  $5000?  They couldn’t give $5000 each?  Players making millions of dollars couldn’t donate $5000?  I just don’t get it. 

I guess I’m just ranting a little bit but it’s my site so you’ll just have to deal with it.   Anyway, I had a rather interesting and unexpected weekend, but you’ll just have to wait to hear about that.  Laterz!

With my parents gone it’s been a pretty slow week.  Other than Thursday when Jake from the Chapel invited me out for Mongolian BBQ.  Other than that I’ve spent a lot of time watching television by myself (you know, you could come visit ).  Saturday a friend of mine who moved here from California is coming up to visit.  I’m not really sure what we’re going to do yet, though. 

By the way, the computer’s toast.  I can probably save it, but it won’t be long before it dies anyway.  It’s on its last legs.

Well, not much to say when I didn’t do anything but work.  Next week is my last week, then I’m off to find a new contract.  Hopefully it won’t take long.  Signing off for now and reminding anybody in addition to Wendy who’s reading my blog to leave a comment so I know I have more than one reader!

I’ve been meaning to post this for a few days.  The camping trip was a lot of fun.  We went to Devil’s Lake State Park in Wisconsin.  The group was very friendly (although meeting one of them whose parents are one year older than me made me feel old).  For the most part, the weather was nice.  It rained Saturday night, but I slept through most of it.

On Saturday we went hiking.  I was told it would be a nice easy trail but instead we climbed up the side of a mountain (rock climbing, no less).  Now, in case you didn’t know, I am afraid of heights.  I got part way up and suddenly didn’t feel very good.  The occassional lose rock didn’t help.  I eventually made it up to the top (with a lot of encouragement) and vowed never to do that again.  Next time, I’ll take the trail!

I forgot my camera!   I wanted to take pics so bad.  It was beautiful.  The lake was nice.  There were actually a few people in it despite the temperature of the water (freezing!).  Of course, most of the swimmers were children, but still.  I’m hoping I can go again some time before it gets too cold.

Anyway, thanks for watching the house again.  I’m sorry my mom scared you by telling you she would attack you.  Pepper already knows you both and wouldn’t hurt you if you came in.  You could’ve taken the garage door opener (my side) and she would’ve been fine.  She would’ve greeted you at the door with her tail wagging.

I know this post is a little disjointed.  Oh, well…!

I’m still struggling to decide which church I want to attend.  The one major advantage the Chapel has (besides it being five minutes from my house) is that they have a very active young adult/singles group.  I’ve been able to hook up with them for a few activities which has been cool.  Of course, this week I’ll be going camping with them, which I’m looking forward to (thanks for house/Pepper sitting ).  Sign of the Dove (SOTD) seems to have more things like the trip to Africa, but the Chapel has more things like fun activities for me (in addition to the standard ministry opportunities both churches have). 

As far as the preaching goes, it’s pretty much a wash.  Both churches have excellent preaching (although SOTD sometimes gets a little political), although different styles.  SOTD, having a black pastor, has more of the fist-pounding style.  Meanwhile, the Chapel, having white pastors (I think there’s about 680 of them….okay, maybe I’m exaggerating slightly), is more low-key.  However, it doesn’t feel like preaching, though.  It’s almost like they’re just giving a public speak.  It’s very casual.  There is no altar or podium.  They normally don’t read off notes or anything.  They just talk.  It’s not dull, though.  They use visual aids, personal stories, other stories, and multimedia.  It’s really enjoyable.  As a matter of fact, I was shocked that Charles, who is used to a black church, preferred the Chapel to SOTD.

The music is…interesting.  Obviously, SOTD has that excellent gospel praise and worship.  the Chapel doesn’t have typical “white church” music.  It’s almost like rock & roll worship.  I actually hear most of the songs they sing on the radio.  It’s not standard praise & worship music.  I like it, but I prefer SOTD.  Although the music is important to me, it’s definitely not important enough to be the deciding factor.

Services at the Chapel are definitely something I’ll mention as an aside.  Their service consists of praise & worship, a five minute “family time” (where they make one or two announcements and remind you to fill out an information card), and preaching.  That’s it.  Pretty cool, huh? 

I’m so confused!  I wonder if they can merge…;-)  Anyway, I’ll be camping this weekend (and enjoying myself quite a bit) but I’ll probably go visit SOTD next weekend again.  I’ll keep you posted (you should visit the Chapel once.  You might enjoy it and Elijah would love the almost Disney-themed Sunday School there).

On August 27th – 30th, Charles and I went up to the Dells.  The last time I was there, I was so young that all I remember is the pictures my mom showed me.  It was larger than I expected it, but the individual parks were smaller than I expected.  We stayed at Treasure Island which is attached to Mt. Olympus, which has an amusement park, an outdoor waterpark, an indoor waterpark, and go-karts.  Staying at the hotel gets you free access to the entire park each day (including the days you check in and check out). 

The hotel was nice, but the amenities were sorely lacking.  Maybe I’m spoiled, but there is no continental breakfast, no internet, no newspaper.  However, they did offer a 10% discount on some of the area attractions.  The people at the hotel were friendly and seemed to enjoy their job.

The park was another story.  The Hades rollercoaster was probably the best wooden coaster I’ve ever been on.  It tops out at 70 mph and has a 140 foot drop at 65 degrees…right into the longest underground coaster tunnel in the world.  The tunnel goes under the parking lot and comes up on the other side, then returns.  Wait, there’s more…at one point under ground in the complete darkness, there is a 90 degree left bank.  You read that right, 90 degrees!  It’s a serious coaster.  The other coasters are all also wooden.  They’re not bad, but they pale in comparison (okay, maybe Medusa is bad).  The indoor park has four whole slides.  They’re all pretty good and they have a good mix.  The indoor park was open until 10, so we were able to goof off there after we were done with our daily activities.  The outdoor park had quite a few slides including two large slides with four-person tubes and a racing slide where up to six people could race down on mats.  There were like six or seven go-kart tracks and most of them went up as high as five stories.  Now comes the “another story” part.  The employees, while not rude, didn’t really seem like they wanted to be there.  They never smiled and rarely talked.  Even when they did it seemed like it was quite a chore for them to open their mouths.  My first thought was that they would all get canned at Disneyland where you are required to be happy and friendly.

In addition to Mt. Olympus, we also saw some alligators, went mining for gems, took a Duck Tour (the Original Duck Tour is highly recommended!), went horseback riding, saw the Bartlett Show (not bad, but a little corny), and visited kalahari, the largest indoor waterpark in the country.  Kalahari was a lot of fun with a “water coaster” which actually uses water to propel you up hills during the ride.  The hotel there looked much nicer and if I return in the winter, I’ll probably stay there.

All in all, it was a very enjoyable trip.  There are quite a few activities I didn’t get to do and I hope to return soon.  Although the outdoor activities are closed in the winter, the shops are open and the indoor waterparks (like Kalahari) are open.  I hope to put up some pictures soon, but I still have a computer to fix and some server work to finish.

I felt I need to apologize for two things:

1) I’m sorry for not making it to your shower.  Had I known the flight and shower were going to be at the same time, I would’ve scheduled the flight for a different time….way back in early July.

2) I’m sorry for not updating my blog.  Now that he’s gone, I’ll have much more time to update it.  I’m hoping to update it almost every night going forward.  I plan to start Sunday or Monday with my mini-review of my trip to the Dells.

Anyway, we’ll talk soon!