China pastor, wife forced from home

I came across this news story online today and thought it appropriate to post the link here. We should be thankful for the freedom we have in the states to worship . Yet, there is something to be said for the refining power of persecution. While I wish persecution on no one, it would certainly do America's watered down version of Christianity some good to be forced to choose between prayerlessness and fervency, comfort and eternal rewards, popularity and obedience, our way of life and the Way. It is too easy to get lazy and comfortable in our mediocre style of Christian living when we are not challenged. Praise God for those believers in China and around the world who stand fast in the midst of persecution.

Please pray for the believers in this story and if you have the opportunity, write the Chinese Ambassador, Zhou Wenzhong.

BEIJING (BP)--A leader among China's unregistered house churches and his wife have been forced from their home and hounded from shelter to shelter by Chinese authorities since July 6, according to the human rights group China Aid Association. The only explanation given by officials for the couple's treatment was that the pastor "met the Americans and destroyed the harmony of the Beijing Olympic Games."
Click here to read the remainder of this story.

Ketchup: Kyle's Kryptonite

I was rushing off to work early this morning so I could open up the room for the D.Min. seminar that's going on for the next two weeks. As I stepped outside to get into my car, I just chuckled, walked back inside and yelled upstairs to Kyle that his car had been attacked. Kyle came outside to see this (see pictures below taken with my phone I got for $0.01). For most people, this would just be sort of humorous but for Kyle, it was disgusting, which made it all the more funny. Apparently, the people who did this are aware of Kyle's great aversion to ketchup. I thought it was hilarious. The ketchup packets are from several different restaurants, which makes it even better. Thanks for the early morning laugh, guys.

Colorado Vacation - Part 2

So, I promised more pictures. Here they are! Hopefully I'll have a video or two of Kyle on the trail to post soon.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Colorado Vacation - Part 1

So...I'm a horrible blogger. I know. I need to be better about giving updates and posting pictures. I have tons of pictures to post of our Colorado vacation but...ya know. God gave us a wonderfully relaxing yet adventurous trip that helped to refuel us for our busy lives here in Texas. Here's a quick overview of how the trip went with a few pictures from my cellphone as a preview of what's to come.

Kyle and I left early (5:30am) Saturday morning and drove straight through to Colorado, reaching our destination at about 6:30pm. The drive through Texas was barren of any good scenery (sorry to those people who live in Northwest Texas...your portion of the state is just not aesthetically pleasing...you can't help that).

(notice the barrenness in the background...a very desolate drive except for the cute little prairie dog I saw!)

New Mexico was prettier but very sparsely populated, except for the pronghorn antelope. Amazing. I don't think I'd ever seen one before and it was nearly the highlight of my trip (yep, I'm still a Biology nerd at heart). We stayed in the Marriott Mountain Valley Lodge and saved a bunch of money by cooking nearly every meal there. I have more pictures of the scenery from my camera but here are a few from my phone (you know, the one I got for a penny).



(Notice the difference between the first picture of Kyle in this post and this one)

Here's a run down of the week:
Sunday: Church in Denver at Riverside Baptist with Pastor Jim Shaddix followed by a Denver Rockies game against the Mets (the Rockies won)

Monday: Hiking at St. Mary's Glacier. Snow everywhere but it wasn't that cold.

Tuesday: Georgetown Loop train ride and silver mine tour

Wednesday: Ended up hiking up to about 13,000 feet elevation on Quandary's Peak when we wanted to be on McGullough Gulch. Lotsa snow+no snowshoes=soggy feet. The quotable conversation of the trip had to have happened that day. I was worried about the quickly approaching clouds; Kyle was worried about mountain lions and then later, black bears.

Kyle: What do we do if a mountain lion attacks?

Rachel: I don't know. I guess we fight back or climb a tree or something.

Kyle: Don't worry. I'll fight for you.

Thursday: White Water Rafting on Clear Creek, the same creek where they get the water for Coor's Beer (so our guide said).

Friday: Hiking on the Mohawk Lake trail with snowshoes. I still ended up with soggy feet. I have two hilarious videos of Kyle from this trip...well particularly one. I'll have to post it later.

Saturday: Drove home all day but stopped at Capulin Volcano in New Mexico. Kyle was a little disappointed that is was all grown up inside but we did get to see free range cattle.

And now to wrap up with my favorite picture of the trip:

Moderation is less than you think

I'm not making a statement in any form in this post about my convictions on drinking. They're complicated and somewhat personal. I just want to give an appropriate warning: Ladies, be careful. Moderation for a woman is much less than you'd think.