Northern Los Angeles… 

Beautiful flowers… 

I found this post very interesting, especially as my Tunisia team is preparing to visit a mosque on Friday…

The author is a missionary in West Africa (Burkina Faso), and says many things that are identical to the training we received last night regarding dialoguing with Muslims.

It’s worth a read!

I seriously love Google–they have added so many features that make the internet fun, and it’s all free! (By the way, they just added another gig to Gmail–so we now have 2061 Mb of storage, and it is growing by the day! If you want an invite, I still have 50!)

Well, today I discovered a new feature they have added to Google Maps: Satellite imaging. It’s so awesome! While they don’t have detailed images of places like Red Bluff (my hometown), they have detailed images of places like Washington, D.C.

Here’s APU!

It’s awesome! Check it out!

Monica always seems to find the most relevant, most thought-provoking articles! This article is quite incredible, dealing with “Disneyland Christianity”…

It has given me a lot to think about, and I hope it will cause you to ponder these things as well…

Tonight I spent the evening on a “blind date”–and it wasn’t at all bad (like most of the stories I have heard before!). Though I’m certain that we will just be friends, it was still a very enjoyable evening with plenty of amazing conversations.

One thing really stuck out to me about the man I was with, and I realized that this is something I truly value. He is very wise, very intelligent…but he was also extremely gentle and humble about it. He would ask questions to get me to think about things in a new way, but was so gentle about it that I didn’t realize what he was doing. He didn’t force his ideas upon me or try to get me to agree with him…rather, he used his skills in apologetics and philosophy to ask questions to cause me to think for myself, and to form my own opinion.

I have known too many people in my life who were arrogant about their intelligence, and who made me feel “unworthy” to spend time with them–even though I know that I am also intelligent–or would complain that I didn’t have “deep” conversations with them enough. So, this evening, I realized that there are indeed a few people in my life who are just like my “date” was tonight, and I need to treasure that trait they possess.

Overall, as I said, it was enjoyable, and I learned a lot about both my date and myself. I can now say that I have been on a blind date. 🙂 Everyone’s supposed to go on one, right? 🙂

34 days…that’s all I have left…amazing. 🙂

You’ll notice that I have posted a new link to a site that is fascinating in an odd sort of way…

After reading through the notes on that site, my heart ached for the people–all people, really–who live with guilt and shame, and who feel so alone…and it caused me to pray for these people–God alone knows who they are!

I’d encourage you to read these heartfelt revelations…I pray that they will touch your heart!

I am a political science major…I love the political world–the excitement, the challenges, the thrill of victory…

But something has really begun to resonate within my soul as of late…I have come to realize that I am tired of partisan politics.

As I watched season 1 of “24” this week, and as I observed David Palmer–the candidate for president–I realized just how much I dislike the games, the deception, the cover-ups, the bickering…

Most people claim that they want to be in politics to make a difference, to make changes in the world…David Palmer is in it for that reason. He remains true to his moral principles, and he succeeds by doing so.

However, his wife, his campaign advisors, and others seem to care more about the campaign and winning than they do about the people involved–including his own family. And it really struck me as being so realistic!

When I look at what our Congress is like today (generallyspeaking), I see bills being defeated simply because of the party which developed and presented them. I see the President’s nominees for judicial positions being filibustered–and there are not always good and sound reasons for those filibusters. I see people who care more about being re-elected than about doing their part to make the world a better place while they are in office…I see politicians not working together to solve the nation’s problems because they are of different parties.

Is that the best that we can do?

It really saddens me to see our Congress in such a state…they have the potential to do SO much good–to be an instrument through which the Lord can bring justice and peace to the world…and yet so much time is wasted arguing and debating just for the sake of arguing…because “those liberals” have no idea how to deal with these problems…or “those conservatives” are ignorant and not worth our time…

It is really frustrating…and it also shows just how much I really have changed (and am still changing) since ASP–because I still struggle with the same mindset about the “other parties”, but I am beginning to see it in a different light.

May the Lord help us all to remember that being in elected office is a privilege, and an opportunity to do GOOD… that we are all Americans, none better than any other…and that each of us is worthy of respect and dignity, no matter what party we join, because we are God’s children, first and foremost…

After tonight, I will have seen the entire first season of “24”…I think that I am officially addicted.

By the end of April, I hope to have seen the 2nd and 3rd seasons as well! I joined Blockbuster’s new deal where you pay $10 a month for unlimited rentals, and I did this JUST so that I can watch 24. 🙂

Three more episodes to watch tonight!! What a great show! How did I go so long without watching it?!