Due to the economy I can no longer afford witty blog titles

I had planned on typing out a blog on a single topic, but this week there've been couple things bouncing around in the romper room that is my brain, so instead you will get another conglomerate of ideas. Enjoy.

- Arthur had our 4th of July Fireworks on Saturday night and I kinda struggled with it. As I've said in a previous blog, due to this missions journey God has taken us on, I'm kinda ruined for the American way of thinking. And as I sat waiting for the show to begin I felt a little torn. On one hand I know that the Arthur fireworks does a lot of good for bringing revenue into Arthur and supporting our local economy. But I couldn't help and think of the good that could be done in the world with the absurd amount of money spent on 45 minutes of instant gratification entertainment. The economy can sink, but if there's one thing we as americans will shell out cash for it's entertainment. We might not do it as frequently as before, but we will still pay for our movies/cable/sporting events/gaming systems/etc. Now, I'm not pointing fingers or taking a "holier than thou" stance, cause I'm just as guilty as the next guy... it just got me thinking. And to be honest I'm not sure how I feel about it all yet, but I'm certainly not as comfortable with it as I was before. Of course, as you well know, if I do sort it all out, you'll hear about it. :)

- And yes, that fireworks show is the one that apparently made national headlines. Yes, the 16 inch shell had a malfunction and didn't detonate until it hit the ground a couple hundred feet from the spectators. No, noone was seriously injured. Yes someone was taken away in the ambulance, but it was not a serious injury according to someone who would know. and Yes it was freakin awesome. I loved it. Kaylee loved it. No, I'm not talking about anyone who got burned in any way, but the effect of seeing a massive explosion and then seeing fire literally rain down upon me. I'm a bit of a pyro and adrenaline junkie, so that rush was just what I love. As for the people who are making all the "it was irresponsible" and "I'm never coming back" comments, when you go to a firework show and sit close, there is always a risk and you choose to take that risk. Was the malfunction intended? Of course not, but accidents happen, be glad noone got seriously hurt and move on. Thank you.

- My current favorite songs are "praise the father, praise the son" and "exalted" both by Chris Tomlin. Check em out.

- We are even deeper into "missions mode" since I will be in Mexico (along with 11 other guys) in less than a month. And Jennifer and I are working on sorting out a trip to Northern Ireland/Scotland in Sept. to attend a LWI/Adopt-A-Child conference. I've made the joke before that my life now has a category I call "APC" which means "After Paul's Call". I can still vividly remember the strange message on our answering machine from a guy I didn't know in an accent I couldn't understand. Since that call our lives have been full speed ahead and we're loving every minute of it. :D

- I saw the Transformers movie for the first time the other day (yeah I know I'm behind, but we're broke... I had to borrow it from a friend). I'll be honest I was disappointed at the language and the innuendo. I remember watching transformers as a kid (the cartoon) and loving it (side note... LOVED that they got the same guy to do Optimus Prime's voice.... SUCH a huge nostalgia thrill), but the innocence of that cartoon is lost in this movie. And I know a lot of young kids who wanted to see that movie because it's transformers, but I certainly wouldn't let Kaylee see it as a non-teenager. I've heard one argument from someone my age of "yeah I loved it as a kid, but I'm not a kid now, so I'd rather have a movie more my style". I've heard the same thing about "land of the lost" that recently came out, the Dukes of Hazzard movie and others. Basically, the original concepts have been pushed to the edge and lost it's innocence. The problem with this argument is it is totally and disgustingly selfish. Basically what the person is saying is that "I don't care about being able to share my nostalgia with kids today. That's not enjoyable for me. I'm past that, I want a movie for my enjoyment." And we wonder why american society is seen as self-serving and arrogant by the rest of the world. sigh.

- And finally on a fun note, you know how it's said some things are just lost in translation? One of my closest friends, Chuck, had a brilliant idea one day. He went to one of those translation sites on the web and entered John 3:16 from the King James Version "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life". Chuck then translated it into Japenese, copied it, and using the site translated it back into engligh. Here is the translated phrase:

"For God, his only son he was born, his love of life gave the world forever Please do not believe he killed anyone"

You gotta love it.

Hope you all have a great holiday weekend. God bless.

- Shrek