Since Holly has a couple of cute kittens, this video was very helpful to me.

They don't mention that cats can have noxious gas, but it's true. Just beware.

Any other tips?

P.S. Human animals can have noxious gas, too. Not just kitties. Holly will vouch for that. I plead the 5th Amendment to avoid self-incineration.

Tom Ascol has some fun with his translator starting at about 1:45 in this video.

Hearing Portuguese again (even Brazilian Portuguese) brings back a lot of fond memories for me....

A Limerick for Someone Special

My girlfriend's name is Holly
I like that she's usually jolly
She makes me smile
With unequaled style
I pray that God keep us from folly.

Here are the rules for this game:

A. Post the rules at the beginning.
B. Answer the questions about yourself.
C. Tag 5 people to do the same. (Sorry!)

1. What was I doing 10 years ago?

I was finishing my junior year of high school. At this time of year, some significant things going on would have been band and choir solo/ensemble contest, prom, and the PSAT.

2. Snacks I enjoy:

I don't snack much, but when I do, I almost always go for a chewy granola bar. If I'm hungry, I'll eat anything that's around....

3. Five Things on my To-Do List:

1. Finish AC/DC Schematics and panel wiring diagrams for work
2. Send in my tax payment to the state of Colorado.
3. Get a Bible lesson ready for community group tonight
4. Get my hair cut
5. Eat something green and healthy for dinner

4. Things I would do if I became a billionaire:

- Pay more in taxes than I ever dreamed of earning in my whole lifetime
- Give some of it away to various Christian and humanitarian organizations
- Set up some sort of foundation that will continue to use the money for good causes

5. Three habits, good or bad:

1. I'm always right.
2. I tend to leave dirty dishes in the sink for a long time.
3. I keep up my personal hygiene.

6. Five places I’ve lived:

1. Sanford, NC
2. Ames, IA
4. Porto, PT
5. Lakewood, CO

7. Places I’ve worked at:

- First Presbyterian Church, Manning, IA, lawn and sidewalk care
- Sound and Service, Carroll, IA
- Iowa State University Academic Success Center
- Nebraska Public Power District
- INESC Porto
- Peak Power Engineering

8. Things people don't know about me:

Ha! If you don't know, I'm not tellin'! :)

Last night Holly and I played a series of Parcheesi games. Without going into the details, we ended up making each other angry by certain tactics that we used. By the end of the third and final game, we weren't talking any more and neither of us was smiling. This was just a Parcheesi game, but I think it stands as a metaphor for more significant things in life, and that little conflict offered me an important lesson:

Value the relationship more than winning.

I like winning, and I like being right, and sometimes, like last night, I end up pridefully pursuing victory at the expense of hurting the feelings of someone I care about. In that case, even if I win, I still lose.

The Apostle Paul describes another situation in which even if you win, you still lose in his letter to the Corinthians:
One brother goes to law against another—and this in front of unbelievers! The very fact that you have lawsuits among you means you have been completely defeated already. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be cheated? (1 Corinthians 6:6-7)

You might win your lawsuit, but you still lose because you dishonor God in taking your brother to court. There is a bigger issue at stake than whatever offense of injustice has led you to the lawsuit.

The most profound expression of this principle of losing even though you win is found in Jesus' teaching:
What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? (Mark 8:36)

I think that's worth thinking about....

In one section of his book, The Cross of Christ, John Stott expounds how God reveals himself to us through Jesus' work on the cross. One of the things that God shows us in the cross is his love for us. In one particular paragraph, Stott quotes William Vanstone's work Love's Endeavour, Love's Expense, highlighting Vanstone's contrast of true love and false love as the following, which I found insightful.

Three marks of false love, by which its falsity is exposed:

• Limitation (something is withheld)
• Control (manipulating people)
• Detachment (we remain self-sufficient, unimpaired, unhurt)

By contrast, authentic love is characterized by

• Limitless self-giving
• Risk-taking with no certainty of success
• Vulnerability which is easily hurt

God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)

It is through my encounter with Jesus at the cross that God shows me fully what it means to obey the golden rules "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind" and "Love your neighbor as yourself". I am humbled at the inadequacy of my own love and amazed at the depth of the love that God has shown to me. Who could behold such love and not respond with repentance and faith?!