one more to go...

i head home to raleigh today. i was just chuckling at two things:

-the southwest airlines clerk at the ticket desk is wearing a halloween costume. it's a head wound with a motorized rat gnawing away at it with bright red eyes.
-there are little birds inside the terminal. not flying around, but bouncing lightly on the floor; about three of them in all, following each other, startling weary passengers.

spending the weeks with Tim and Kristin this time around has made me wish I'd been able to every time (this would've been impossible as they just moved into the house). these two weeks, though heartbreakingly hard away from J & B, have just flown by. I felt so at home staying at the Ernst house. I got to see them every day. make human contact outside of work. have a home cooked meal every day, SITTING DOWN (crazy how this simple fact cuts way down on the drive-through quotient).

I stayed so busy I barely had time to read or play guitar - which is good and bad.

we're getting geared up for boston's first birthday party and baby dedication this weekend. should be loads of fun. pictures and stories soon....

birthday recap

for those who didn't know, yesterday was my thirty-#@!# birthday. here's an excerpt from my conversation with my mom:

mama wahba: happy birthday! thirty-#@!# years!
me: thanks mom.
mama wahba: now you're as old as Jesus was!
me: (puzzled) yeah... as old as he was when he was crucified....
mama wahba: uh. um. well. but that's how old he was.

ha ha. love you mom.

all in all, it was a good one. our close friends Tim & Kris (whose guest bedroom I happen to be occupying this trip to AZ) got me a cake with real candles and everything. and last night the folks at work chipped in to get some amazing mexican food platters from garcia's - including the mouth-watering Pollo Fundido.

I got birthday cards from most of my family that somehow found their way to me in Phoenix. and not one person sang an embarrassing, off-key version of "happy birthday" to me (that's a good thing).

thanks everyone. you made it a good-as-a-birthday-could-be-while-away-from-my-family.

come pick me up (live)

I accidently caught this on letterman one night a few months back. then I accidentally stumbled upon a link to it on a buddy's myspace page today.

one of the best, hard-core-yet-really-soft-core, broken-hearted love songs ever written. grab a hanky....

Ryan Adams Com Pick Me Up

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why philemon?

please don't misunderstand. I mean no blasphemy.

but as I read this morning, i sit and ponder, "why - tell me why would they bother to include the book of philemon in the new testament?"

random little letter (think email-length compared to the rest of paul's letters). written by paul, in jail, letting his buddy Philemon know that he is sending a slave, Onesimus to be a slave for him. that's it. random.

day without a mexican

anyone who knows Jodi and I will agree that we love mockumentaries. last night we got to watch one that's been on our blockbuster cue for a few months: A Day Without a Mexican.

while I'm definitely opinionated/passionate about the topic of immigration (both my parents immigrated to this country; I work at a hospital where 85% of the patients are non-legal immigrants; the list goes on), i'll do my best to refrain from this post becoming a PSA. here's my super-quick review of the movie itself:

the good: great premise. really good message. mockumentaries rock - especially with social commentary, comedy and a little controversy thrown in.

the bad: poor acting. multiple story lines that don't really go anywhere. really preachy. and apparently they got lots of their facts wrong.

overall opinion of the movie: watch the trailer online. then sit down with some level-headed friends/family and talk it out over a few beers and a game of cards. you'll get more out of it.

dc trip

this week, we went to visit our friends Alvin & Nicole in the DC area. so great to see them and their little Jeremiah.

we also managed to make it to Ikea.

Ikea... great furniture. cheap prices. huge migraine by the end. we spent like 5 hours there and had to rent a Uhaul trailer to get everything back home to NC. not to mention that we've been home for three days and I'm still putting furniture together....

we're finally settling into the house though (if you're a numbers person, we're about 95% done with the remodel and 60% done unpacking). can't wait till it's all done so I can get back to writing and recording again....

superbowl XL rematch - same outcome

steelers annihilated the seahawks 21 to zip today. my condolences to daniel - again.

the ladder

alright. so i've encountered a minor dilemma in my faith-relationships with a few friends.

god's been revealing himself so much to those around me, i could explode with my excitement for them and their growth. only weird deal is: I feel a little left in the dust - and I feel a little reponsible for said dusting.

i see growth in the faith as a ladder - all of us (or maybe just some of us) striving and reaching for the next rung. somehow in the mix though, it becomes easy to peek down at the lower rungs and be glad we're not on them anymore. be glad we're not the same person. be glad we're not at the same church. and openly criticize the leaders/churches/believers who still hang out on those rungs.

i've been totally guilty of this type of growth. yet at the same time, I'm learning a new humbleness. one that's helped me to realize that I was working out my salvation in pride and cocky-ness - not the inverse as I was instructed.

you know the type: "THAT's not where it's at! THIS [worship style, evangelism method, way to read the bible, holy spirit trick] is where it's AT." ... that was me.

this is merely a word of encouragement, not a condemning finger. i beg of you, my brothers, please don't make the mistake i've made. the mistake I may have taught you.

don't look back on the ladder rung you just climbed, the one without which you couldn't be on your present rung, and call it a 'bad one.' what then can be said about those who are several notches above us, yet who serve at churches that seem decades behind their faith? let's face it - we'll never reach the top of the ladder without Him anyway - and without the encouragement of those around us. so let's watch each others' back in His name, shall we?

home, sick

so i'm back home in NC and loving it! the house is about 90% finished before we start the fun part: unpacking.

only bad thing is that we're all sick. i came home with a virus. and jodi & boston each have one. we're guessing they're not the same virus since we caught them across the country from each other (different virus gene pool?).

but here's the question: can we now give our respective viruses to each other? you know, share viruses so we each have two?

if you know any smart medical person, ask them that question, would you? :P

3 and 1 - and it's all my fault...

had a blast with t-money at the game yesterday. it was so great to actually be there and watch my boys play. bummer they lost. i'll never go to another game and jinx them like that again... maybe.