This pretty much sums it up.  In loving memory:

Thanksgiving was great. Lots of football, lots of food, lots of friends, lots of fun. The four Fs were all there. We had two football games this year because a lot of the competitive guys that get together every year wanted to play early, and then later the girls and some others came out and we had a more low key game. It rained for the first half of the week, so even though it was blue skies and not too cold, the field was soking wet, and everyone who played football got covered in mud. Between games we went to the Nystroms house and hung out in their garage playing foosball and backgammon and eating snacks and basically replenishing our bodies for more football. The thing that made the day the most enjoyable was the Jodrey family. They have seven kids, 4 boys and 3 girls, and all of the kids and parrents are so much fun to hang out with.

So the food was great. Lots of turkey, lots of pie (no one to tell me I can’t take three pieces 0=). Mr. Jodrey led a devotional and spoke about the history behind thanksgiving. Its important to remember what really happened because the way history is being re-written these days soon it will be difficult to find out.

When we weren’t eating we were playing games. I basically killed everyone at air hockey. We also played bang, a speghetti western cowboy role playing card game like mafia that is so much fun. It was awesome because its hard to initially teach people how to play bang, and some people just don’t get into it so all the time spent teaching is wasted, but these guys loved it, especially the Nystrom boys, and we played quite a few games.

From early in the morning till late at night we were surrounded by the people we love. I am most thankful for my families and my friends and all of the good times we have together. I am also thankfully for all of God’s blessings to us, giving us so much enjoyment in life. Lastly I am thankful to live in a country that still takes one day out of the year to praise God for his provisions and sustaining grace.

Here are the promised trip pics! By the way Melissa has a blog on xanga, and she gave an account of our trip as well, which you can read here.

The drive down was fun, in Karissa’s beautiful new car. No I was not looking at the camera, I was driving.

It might have provided a nice shot, but would not have been very safe if i had stuck my head out too.

At the Conley Cove trail head of beautiful Linville Gorge. Melissa is in love.

The hike down was quick and easy since we didn’t go very far.

This was a very fun little climb to open the day that was trickier then it looks.

This cave was huge, probably big enough to fit 100 people and you could stand up everywhere except in the very back. Definately a great camping spot for the future.

Lunch was most excellant and was cooked up on two backpacking stoves that we brought.

mmmmmmmmm, Chili and corn bread!

Here was the sunbathed peak which we all eventially attained. Probably one of the most incredible views from the west side of the gorge available, with Table Rock directly accross, Hawksbill Mountain on the left, and North Carolina Wall on the right. Stunningly beautiful and hard faught for.

The treck back was anything but easy. We identified over a dozen different species of thorns. Ian tried to perk everyone up by suggesting that we meditate on even less desireable situations. Melissa thought for a second and then shot down the suggesting by replying that nope, this was probably the worst case scenario.

Back in navigatable terrain we went back to bouldering.

The hot chocolate was welcomed enthusiastically.

Despite a hurt ankle Karissa was still gung ho for the hike up and out.

With plenty of light left over and only a little farther to the trail head we stopped and passed the pipe around. Nothing better then pipe smoke and cool mountain air.

Ahhh yes, the sunset over the mountains. This is why they call them the blue ridges.

And last but not least good southern style BBQ to finish off a perfect day. FYI that is catFISH, not cat.

Yes, slow but steady progress is being made.  This article reminded me that our primary focus in Iraq isnt to defeat the terrorists, but it is to rebuild the country.  Lots of camparisons are being made between Iraq and Vietnam.  However in Iraq there is a clear objective, which is to rebuild the infrastructure of the country so that it can stand economically and governmentally.  The terrorists are slowing our efforts to do that, but the work is still going forward.  This reminds me of the story of Nehemiah, in Nehemiah 4:11-18

So Ian, Karissa, Melissa, and I went out to Linville Gorge on Saturday to boulder, and had a fantastic time.  There were a few snags along the way but overall everything was incredible.  Pictures will be comming but for now you will have to be happy with the tail.  So we left Mebane around 8:45 after getting a McDonalds breakfast, and we were at the Conley Cove trail head by noon.  None of us were hungry yet so we set off down the trail looking for rocks to climb.  We did not have to go far at all.  About a quarter mile down the trail we came accross huge outcroppings of rocks with overhangs and caves and cracks and all kinds of good stuff to cimb.  We stayed in this area the whole day, never getting any closer to the river.  There are a few more places to boulder further down, and some spots along the river, but at least on the Conley Cove trail there is no better spot then where we were.

After climbing around a little we decided to stop for lunch, and what a perfect lunch it was.  We had two backpacking stoves and enough Chilli for everyone to fill up, and to go with the chilli were some most excellant cornbread muffins.  Truly scrumptious (sp?).  I should give this a little context now.  We were on the west side of the gorge, still fairly high up on the edge, and as we looked accross the gorge we could see very clearly the three main features of the gorge on the east side: Hawksbill Mountain, Table Rock, and NC Wall.  It was a perfectly clear day and the sun was out, but since its November the temperatures were in the 50s.  When we stopped to eat lunch we all got a little cold so a ledge that was jutting out from the side of the mountain that was bathed in sun suddenly became attractive to all of us.

This is where we made our mistake for the day.  Looking up and over at it, it seemed very atainable.  Karissa wanted to go over and then up to it.  Ian Melissa and I wanted to climb up the cliffs that were closest to us and then go across to it.  We found that either way we went the going was terrible due to all the thorns and brush and fallen trees and more thorns and more brush.  I have hiked off trails quite a bit, but never have i had to weazle my way through anything so bad as what we did to attain that ledge.  Eventially we all made it to the top, and then back to the trail, but we all were very dirty, very scratched, and just a little wiser concerning scrambling in Linville Gorge.  Despite the terribleness however, we were still having fun, and it was very satisfying to reach our destination in one piece.

So after returning from that little adventure Ian and I went back to bouldering and the girls decided it was time for some hot chocolate.  Out came the stoves, and in a few minutes we were all enjoying the warmth thoroughly, along with some brownies that Melissa had managed to keep a secret.  Around 4:30 we could tell it was getting ready to get dark, so we decided to head back.  The hike out was quick and easy since we didn’t go very far down into the gorge, and by 5:00 we were at the crest of the west side looking out at the sun setting over the blue ridge mountains beyond.

The day was filled with beautiful sights, fun climbs, and good times.  I really enjoyed showing Linville Gorge off to the other three and we all vowed to return to the gorge in the spring for a weekend of backpacking/bouldering/scrambling.  Let the good times roll!

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/17/opinion/17fri2.html

Wow, this blogger is doing something really far out, and he is making the news for it. He is actually reading the Bible. He is Jewish so he is only reading the Old Testament, but his blog concerning his daily readings is causing quite a stir and opening a lot of eyes as to what the Bible is really about. Here is an article in Reuters about it, and here is a link to his blog. I haven’t read much of what he’s written but from what I have read he is basically giving his own commentary on the story, which is sometimes pretty crazy.

So what is he discovering? He is discovering that the Bible isn’t a book about “how to be good.” In fact the Bible is packed full of stories of sinful people who are exactly the opposite of “good.” The bible isn’t about being good, the Bible is about man’s inability to be good, and about how God overcame that by sending Jesus, who was perfect, to accept the punishment for man’s sin. God also sent the promise that those who commit their lives to Him will have their sinfulness hidden and will be given the power of the Holy Spirit to live as God originally intended. The entire old testament points to man’s need for Jesus and points to his comming. The gospels give us the story of his comming. The epistles give us the implications for our lives of his having come. The bible isn’t about being good or learning how to be good. Its about God and his love and provision for man.

I earlier posted on environmentalism and the perspective we as Christians should have on it. Here is a post in the blog The Evangelical Ecologist that hits the nail right on the head.

So a while ago I wrote that the Marlins were the team of the future. Joe Girardi almost made them the team of this year, falling only a few games short of the playoffs while his teams payroll was a mere $15 million ($5 million of which was Dontrelle.) He did an incredible job pulling a bunch of rookies together, finding a place for everyone, and rasing them up out of the dust and ashes to contend for the NL wildcard.

Girardi was rightly awarded the NL manager of the year, but the weird part is that after such an amazing season he was fired from the Marlins because of “irreconcilable differences” between him and Florida’s owner. If I were an owner and I had a manager who could do as much as Girardi did with a $15 million team, I don’t care what kind of differences I had with him I would hold on to him no matter what. Now Girardi is waiting for his next manager’s job. My bet for where he lands? Oakland A’s. We’ll see!