Catchy Title

I've been meditating a lot on various verses lately. I'm not sure I've ever been challenged in the ways our interim preacher has challenged us lately but am thoroughly convinced his material, derived mostly from Luke and Isaiah, is primo, high end, old-fashioned good news stuff. Our slogan at Sycamore View is 'Helping People See Jesus,' taken from a play of the name of the road our building is situated interacting with a story from Luke's gospel about a wee little guy name Zacheus. I feel like Isaiah 58 would be a great sub-slogan (although it wouldn't be very easily placed on a T-shirt, PowerPoint, or street sign). I'd love to see it as a purpose statement for churches or individuals. Its in the context of fasting but I think inserting all kinds of service, or church, could give them greater depth of purpose. Here it is:

6 "Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?
7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
8 Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.
9 Then you will call, and the LORD will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I. "If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk,
10 and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday.
11 The LORD will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.
12 Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations; you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.
13 "If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath and from doing as you please on my holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight and the LORD's holy day honorable, and if you honor it by not going your own way and not doing as you please or speaking idle words,
14 then you will find your joy in the LORD, and I will cause you to ride on the heights of the land and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob." The mouth of the LORD has spoken.

Verily, verily, Amen!

9 Years Baby!!!

Yes, as of February 13th Rachel and I have kind of sort of been together nine years. Nine years ago to that day, I borrowed my friend Josh Allen's clunker of an old car (perhaps a Ford Tempo) to pick up Rachel at Hall-Roland Hall for some dinner at the Five and Diner in Jackson. I had the Phily cheese steak (I know this not b/c I have a great memory, but b/c that's just what I eat at grease pits if they have them). Since then, we've had a ball.

Highlights since then for me have been:

• Cooking dinner for Rachel at other friend's homes in undergrad and using butter cups as the floral arrangement b/c the work study check had stretched as far as it possibly could already.
• Popping the question in a beautiful ball room of the Peabody hotel!
• Sitting on the beach together in Florida, Thailand, and Japan.
• Helping orchestrate a beautiful and down right perfect romantic scene to help Damon and Amy get hitched. Just call us Love Doctors.
• Books on CD during road trips.
• Eating raw horse and other uncooked yumminess together.
• Dinner at La Table de Izumi!!!! Oishii so!!!!!
• Most recently, News Radio and Cosby Show on lunch break. One is just funny, the other just silly, both are pleasant during lunch with m'lady.

Okay, no more sappiness. Just thought I'd share the milestone. 9 years, crazy. Time to get started on the next 9!

What's Your Name?

As most of you know Rusty and I have been in the States for almost a year now. While in Japan, we often frequented the downtown Starbucks. Every Sunday morning to be exact and sometimes in between. However, since being repatriated we have only visited a handful of times. (Although I have a sneaking suspicion that I have not been informed of some of the trips to Javaland.)
If you are living in the U.S. then you know that when you walk up to the counter and place your order, they proceed to ask your name and write it on your cup. One assumes this is to limit the amount of misgiven beverages. Well, I don't like to give my name to strangers who then yell it to a random crowd of more strangers. And... I don't have to. So Rusty and I decided to take a stand last weekend at a nearby Starbucks. Yes, that's Kiki and Tomas (long "o" and emphasis on the "mas").

A Saturday Breakfast

I thought that when we left Japan, that we left natto(fermented soy beans) behind. No love was lost between natto and I in our parting. Imagine my shock and displeasure when it reappeared in our Memphis refrigerator.

Here is Rusty's stinky, stringy, gross to watch someone eat breakfast:

Here is my delicious blueberry cream cheese bagel: