A whole lot of nonsense

I'm home in Cleveland, but there's a big fiasco going on here at the church. It's the saddest, most pathetic thing that possibly anyone has witnessed in the history of church conflict. Lord willing, it will be worked out this Sunday afternoon, but I would appreciate any and all prayers that could be offered. Basically there's a lot of power grubbing, selfishness, hatred, and twisting of the Word being done by a few to the detriment of the whole church here. I honestly think that if people would sit down and read the message in the Bible instead of memorizing a few verses out of context, they might get an understanding of how God wants to work in their lives and so much good could be done because of it. Instead they argue about things that are plain (to me) in the Bible and they do things that are so blatantly hurtful and not at all loving. I appreciate your prayers.

Wii, this is fun!

I think I'm finally coming out of my bunker today. I've been trying to pass the time peacefully the last three days, looking for a good combination of not having to think and talk too much (to avoid crankiness, my most prominent side effect from jetlag) and physical activity. Turns out that the Nintendo Wii can be a pretty good thing to have around. If you haven't ever played with one of these, you should definitely find someone who has one and make them your friend. If only I was as good at bowling, tennis, and golf in real life. I think I may be better at target shooting in real life, though. My right arm is a little sore from swinging at tennis balls and golf balls for a few hours yesterday, but it got my blood flowing and got rid of the headache I've had for the last four days. That's always nice. I guess I could have tried going outside or something, but I settled for the Wii.

Mom and I are going home to MS today. We'll hang out there until after some ridiculous thing we're going to on Sunday afternoon and then we'll head back to Nashville. We'll only be spending one night here because on Monday we'll be going to Ohio to my aunt's and then Wednesday morning we'll be going to PA to my granny's. We'll come back to Nashville again on Saturday and then I don't know what the plan is. I think it's fairly open after that. If anyone wants to call me at my mom's this weekend, call 662-843-8050. We should be home by 6 tonight. I wonder if I can talk Jennifer and Matthew into loaning me the Wii for the weekend...

Home ______ Home

Well, I'm back in America. My first two or three days back are always interesting because that's when I hide in a secret, underground bunker sleeping and my evil twin Bryan pretends to be a cranky, jetlagged version of me and yells at everyone for things like asking what I want to eat for lunch. I never know which of my friends and family will hate me when I come out of that bunker. Now you know what to look out for, though. I figure in a day or two I'll feel well enough to come out of my bunker, but until then don't let Bryan fool you. I was hoping to feel better this morning, but for some reason I decided to wake up at 3 and not go back to sleep EVER. I'm not sure what compels me to do such crazy things. I should seek help. Right now I'm sitting in Michael's (my brother's) house watching his dogs roam around the backyard. I would read but I already read for about 3 hours this morning. I ate some waffles. That was fun. Maybe today hasn't been so bad.

End of the year additions

We've been blessed in the last two or three days to have two girls who went Swimming here in Shiyan. I've only met the two of them briefly, but I know that we'll have a great experience growing in the Family together. I'm so thankful for all the friends we have here in Shiyan, and the ways that they interact with those around them! There is a great work of love under way in this city.

The countdown has begun

Only one week until I leave China for the summer! It's crazy to think that it's already time to go, but at the same time it's crazy to think that I've only been here another year. I'm basically done with my classes. I've got one more class next Thursday and then I'll be done for the year. I still don't know if I'm leaving town on Friday or Sunday. Angelyn, Derek and I might go to Wuhan early to visit some friends and check out a coffee shop run by some foreigners there, but I may stay and leave on Sunday with Cindy so that she won't have to go alone. It's still being discussed. I'll be home for a little over 6 weeks this summer, so feel free to contact me, one and all. Just comment on here, email me, facebook me, or call me. Or walk up and shake my hand. Whatever you have the ability to do, any of those are fine with me. Angelyn and I (and maybe Darla) will be coming back in early August so that we can make a trip out to Xinjiang province. I think I've mentioned this before, but I think I may have spread some false information. I've said before (somewhere, sometime) that the Gobi Desert is out west in Xinjiang. It's actually in the northeast next to Beijing. The Taklimakan Desert is in Xinjiang. Anyhoo, we'll be going to Urumqi and Kashgar, maybe stepping over the border into Kirghistan or Kazakhstan if it's affordable and feasible. An interesting fact: Urumqi is the farthest city from the sea in the world. It's also more than two days from here by train. We may check into flying from Xi'an or something. This next week should be full of meals with students and saying goodbye to graduates and foreigners who won't be returning after the summer. Then it's on to America. I hope I can see anyone and everyone who wants me to visit, but I'm not sure what my transportation situation will be. I'll let you know when I get home!