gross

the pool at the YWCA was temporarily closed due to a fecal incident. gross. even more gross was that the sign for this annoucement was laminated.

Friends are friends forever. . .

After Thanksgiving, Heidi and I were riding back to MN with my sister, Sally, and her husband, Kent, and their 2 attractive children. Our conversation turned to the impact that certain friends have had on our lives. Since then, I have been thinking about how my life is so much better because of several people’s presence in it. Two of them are people I have not seen in years. Drew Marcus moved to CA when I was 13, but he was a great friend. Marc Maez and I were friends from 7th grade through high school and his fearlessness led me leave our small private school to attend Aurora Central High School and try activities that I would have never tried without his encouragement. He helped me build my confidence by just who he is. Sadly, we lost contact a few years ago. Jess Rector is the most fiercely loyal friend I have ever known. He is the kind of guy who would take a bullet for you without a thought. His wife, Kristi, is my oldest friend and Heidi and I love visiting the Rectors in Loveland, CO. Duane Trantham is the funniest person I have ever known. If you need a laugh or a coconut, Duane will hook you up. He is the subject of the funniest pictures in our wedding. Last, but most importantly, is Chris Heng. The guy is more like a brother than a friend. He and I became friends when we were 7 years old and are still friends to this day. The contributions that he and his wife, Zong, made to Heidi and my wedding were incredible. (He also introduced me to her.) I am so blessed to have Chris for a friend.

For the sake of this entry, I am only mentioning friends from my childhood. My college and post-college friends will have to be the subject of another blog entry.

I am truly blessed and grateful for the wonderful people that the Lord put in my life.

Movie review: King Kong

King Kong is a wild ride. I (Tim) liked it a whole lot. Peter Jackson made an interesting, pulse-pounding movie that does not let up once you reach the island. The 1930’s setting was far more interesting than if it was set in 2005. The actors did a great job, despite spending much of the filming in front of a blue screen. Kong looked amazing and actually seemed like a real ape, not a man in a rubber mask. The movie had little swearing and no artsy sex scenes (like Titanic – gag!). In fact, the interactions with Ann and Jack have a more innocent quality to them, unlike most modern movies. It was also refreshing to see a brave man who did not strut around and a heroine who did not take her clothes off. All in all, I would recommend this film.

Sweet scenes: The Running of the Brontosaurs
Kong vs 3 T-Rexes (big mouths, little arms)
Kong vs. bi-planes

Turd in the punchbowl: There was way too much taking the Lord’s name in vain in this film. It drives me crazy when people do that.

Recapping the week

I (Heidi) was sitting in my psuedo-living room this afternoon thinking, journaling, and praying and it hit me that God really blessed us this week. We had a really REALLY rough night Sunday evening and not much sleep was had. Come to think of it, the entire weekend was really heavy for us emotionally and spiritually because of some incredibly disheartening news we received. But anyway, it's always hard to go into a new week with things weighing you down like that. I even called in sick on Monday because of the aftermath of the prior evening's pain. Thus began our week. As the week progressed though, God blessed us. Looking back on the week I can see answered prayers and much provision. We were also blessed with opportunities to fellowship with old friends and connect with new friends.

God cares about the little things, for instance the UPS package that you really need to come early. (Because we all know UPS is certainly never early - at least not in my experience!) God cares about us and our lives and He knows every detail. I know we read that all the time, assuming you read your Bible :) and we hear it in church from time to time, but sometimes, it's just really, really nice to see it. To see God intervene in a small way just to show that He hears us and He cares.

The older we get, the more hardship we see and experience, and the harder life seems to get. But the closer we draw to Jesus, the less we focus on the hardship b/c we can't turn our eyes away from Him. In the last week a dear friend of mine lost a friend to a bus accident in Nigeria (love you Nicole!!!!) and some dear friends of ours recently found out one of their beautiful adopted sons has HIV. This is some really hard, heady stuff to deal with. It's not fair and I don't understand it. But I know in my heart of hearts, that God is a good God and He desires GOOD things for us. I praise Him for the struggle that I am in b/c it has drawn me nearer to the thrown than I ever could have come without the trial. Has it been a long time? Yes. Too long? It sure feels that way. But I praise Him for the trial and I count it joy.

I know I am rambling on and on, but I wanted to share my heart with you for just a moment. This week I have been blessed by reminding myself that God knows. He knows. He knows everything and I am thankful for that. Know that He knows. And be blessed.

Movie review: Narnia

Heidi and I went to see the new Narnia film with great expectation. We were not disappointed. While there were certain points when the special effects were less than perfect, it was still a great film. The acting was top notch and the story was adapted from the book fairly well. Every book ever turned into a movie has the problem that it never looks as good as it does in your mind, but Disney did a good job. I am particularly glad they did not turn it into a musical and remove all mothers from the story. (What does Disney have against mothers, anyway?) Also, my fears of the Christian allegory being removed or watered down were unrealized.

Heidi and I both give this film a high recommendation. It is well worth your time and money.

“He is not a tame lion, but He is good.” – my favorite line from the movie (and book)

MIT's

We are officially Missionaries-in-Training. That's right, M:MM accepted us!

We found out last week that we were accepted (without any stipulations, I might add) to be overseas missionaries with Mission: Moving Mountains. We're really excited, but it's all a little overwhelming at this point.

So now we begin the lengthy training process: LOTS of reading, about 21 books I think, forming a relationship with an M:MM mentor, working on our IDP's (individual development plan), and learning how to be good missionaries. It's really like a dream, I don't think it's sunk in yet for either of us. Even though we kind if knew it was coming, it's quite surreal. From here on out, it's strategy, stragegy, strategy.

We won't know our placement for a few months yet, but as we get more information, we will post it.

Concert Review: Project 86 and P.O.D.

Last night I (Tim) wandered downtown to join Matty D and the infamous Cape brothers at Club 3 Degrees for a rock concert. And rock it did. The opening act was a local band called Silverline. I expected them to stink, but was pleasantly surprised. They played a short, tight set and I enjoyed them. Next up was Project 86. Wow. They are amazing. Andrew Schwab’s vocals were outstanding and the band was energetic. They tore through some classics, like “Stein’s Theme”, “Play On”, “The Spy Hunter”, and some new songs, like “Sincerely Icabod” and “Something We Can’t Be”. After only 45 minutes they left the stage while the crowd lamented the end of their set. Soon enough the chords of “Tribal” resounded through the Club and Sonny’s long ‘locks were flying everywhere. They played “Southtown”, “Satellite”, “Youth of the Nation”, and quite a few new songs before they ended their set with “Alive”. Sonny communicated a real sense of humility and gratitude to be performing and clearly enjoys what he does. They only played an hour, but they were great. I am glad I got to go. It was a great show.

Narnia

Heidi and I are getting excited for the Chronicles of Narnia, which will be in theaters December 9. We are inviting people to see it with us. So, if you are available on December 10 at around 7 pm, we are going to the Wynnsong Theater in Mounds View. Please let us know if you plan to join us so we can get you a ticket. It will almost certainly sell out beforehand. Please let us know by Wednesday of that week. We look forward to a great film and some fun fellowship.

Check out this 9 minute trailer for the film!
http://www.tv4.se/player/categories.aspx?progId=32353&itemId=%20&treeId= 30141&displayTreeId=