Nonsensical Ramblings of Mark

For the truly bored, here is the latest update from the aquarium side of the house: We finally found another corydoras panda to add to the two that we bought more than a couple of months ago. It is interesting to see how big the other panda cories have gotten in comparision to their new tankmate. He (or she) is adapting well to the new environment and has been hanging out with the other two. I finally got rid of the anubias hastifolia that was biting the wax tadpole...hard. My advice to future generations is to not use the hastifolia in a submersed environment. It was nice and tall, however, and made a nice background plant. I re-introduced the anachris into the tank for some floating plant cover for the tetras. They took to it right away. This does mean, however, the dosing with Flourish Excel is completely out of the question as it decimated the last bunch I had. I bought two more anubias to replace the hastifolia that I got rid of (lanceolata and minima) and placed them near the bac...

OK, so I thought I had it all figured out. I thought I knew the reason why I blog as much as I do and write about the things I write about, but there is just something that cannot be expressed in words that compells me to do it. I know that people visit my blog, but I do not get a lot of comments on my posts. That fact doesn't bother me at all. I am happy that some people find the topics I ramble on and on about somewhat interesting (interesting enough for a return visit or two) but I have to say that my blogging is more for me than for other people. Maybe that's selfish...I don't know. I have nothing against putting family times up on the blog and enjoy reading blogs that are family-oriented, but that is not as motivating to me than to just, incessantly, do a brain dump into the keyboard. I do think that my blogging helps me to develop my written communication. I think that I can more adequately express myself when I write as compared to when I speak. I know that most peop...

Well, I have determined that I either need (in descending order of hot) a theme song, logo, or signature dish. There are pros and cons to each: theme song: If I nail this one it would be epic. I am not sure if I want lyrics or not, but it has to have a good beat and be easy to dance to. I am partial to something along the lines of a surfer rock anthem so a few tunes by the B52s are definitely in. If I had to go with one now I would have to say that Roam would be at the top of the list, but I could be persuaded otherwise. The playing of the theme song upon my arrival anywhere or just before I exit a certain place could be a bit tricky but would be a wow of gargantuan magnitude. logo: Since my boys were old enough to utter anything intelligible every time they saw the golden arches they screamed "McDonald's"! I would like to develop a logo that I could incorporate into a personal clothing line that would make them scream "Daddy"! This would deal decidedly less ...

An alternate post title could be "What am I interested in glorifying?" Of course the easy answer to this question is "great" or "short" or "can't wait to go back" or "I need a vacation from my vacation" etc. I have lived long enough to know that there are only so many responses to the question that people are interested in hearing as they pass me in the hall on the way to a meeting or to refill their coffee. It is so easy for me to be enamored with the gifts that have been given to me and so difficult to get behind the gifts to the Giver. I find this in my relationships with the ones who love me as well. I just finished reading "The Four Loves" by C.S. Lewis and he mentioned something very interesting about the love of friendship that I think applies here. He noticed that when friends serve one another it is almost embarrassing to mention it. When a friend says "It was nothing" or "Don't mention it"...

On Saturday night I returned from a time that I had no business having in a place that I had no business being in with people that I had no business being around. Does the term "better than I deserve" apply more appropriately to any other situation than the one I was just in? From the moment we found the perfect rental car for our situation to the delay in the flight time that allowed my boys time to eat before boarding the plane for the ride home I had the absolutely perfect vacation to Disney World. It is hard to imagine a more splendid time and I had absolutely no business being blessed the way I was. The easy thing to say is that God is delighted to bless His children. He could not have poured more blessings into my cup last week. There were times of unbridled joy and pleasant surprises, and there were teachable moments for me and for my sons as well. I saw too much last week to attribute it to anything other than His movement in my life to bring me back to a realization ...

We don't have cable. We don't want cable. We don't even want the hassle of "reception cable". We have been trying with all our might to get into the DTV mode. I have to say that when DTV works, it works brilliantly and I love the extra channels, especially the PBS ones, we get with the DTV reception. We live in a house that is surrounded by very tall trees. We have so many trees in our back yard that we cannot grow grass. Well, this has some interesting effects on the DTV signal when it is windy outside. It doesn't even have to be a strong wind. Gentle breezes, swaying the trees, will mess with the signal so that we get a pixelated picture and the sound cuts out. I bought a DTV antenna (around $60 on Amazon) that did get some nice reviews and this has helped somewhat. But, the picture still has issues in rather idyllic Summer conditions - you know the one where we glory in the cool breeze, usually from the North. So, where does that leave us. Well, we are goi...

We seem to be quite the team, my wife and I, and I would be less of a counselor without her. There are times, when we are working with someone, when I just want to cut to the chase. All the chit chat and blah blah just crimps my style and does not allow me enough time for my agenda. "No more digressions, please," I say in my head, "there's no need for them. I have almost arrived at the climax. The demand for work will soon follow." My brilliant plan is often derailed by the humanity my wife insists on injecting into the interaction. And thank God she does. She sees sides of things that I do not see - stresses and strains on the face of the one we counsel as she insists on pursuing a relationship with the person we are counseling. And thank God she does. She's sees a human where I see a project. She sees feelings where I see rationality. She sees fear where I see resistance. She sees hope where I see hope, but the hope she sees is in the relationship the one...

There is nothing more discouraging, at times, than reality. My wife and I were talking with someone a while back and confronted them with reality and a situation that they were oblivious to. I am not exactly sure why they were ignoring something that was patently obvious to us, but we built the story for them and showed them the truth. They had no real choice but to embrace it - it was there for them in black and white. Now, ignorant no longer, they had (and continue to have) a choice to make. They can either face it and kill the beast in front of them or continue to struggle. Prayerfully they'll look at what they've done and deal with it in a way that will glorify God. I think they will - I have confidence that God will deliver them from this. Even though reality is cold and hard and holds multitudinous suckage at times I can't help but see it as my friend. Ignorance is bliss for sure but it is so damaging. I could lose people that are very dear to me if I ignore reality. ...

This blew my mind. I am not sure that I should be surprised, it is The Four Loves by C.S. Lewis after all, and the experience I had with Miracles should have prepared me, somewhat, for this one. But there I was, in the middle of a soccer field waiting for registration to begin for soccer camp, where I read words that were very foreign to my way of thinking - those that said that Nature does not teach. It merely illustrates that which is being taught. Of course this threw me a bit though I can't think of a reason why it should have. I would like to have thought that I could be instructed by the ant, or the changing seasons, or the warmest of breezes ahead of the approaching front...but what part does the mere physical have in my spiritual instruction? How can it speak apart from what has been spoken about it? How can it instruct apart from what has been revealed about it? I thought that it may be a bit strong to think that I come to the conclusions I want to about nature based on ...

There were some things that I had known to be true about my youngest son and I heard the same things about him today from his (now former) Kindergarten teacher. The first thing she had mentioned was that he was enjoyable. That I can attest to especially when I am relating to him one-on-one. He rarely (if ever) does not enjoy being with me wherever our travels take us and whatever we find ourselves doing. It is precisely that attitude that makes him enjoyable and fun to be around. The second thing that she mentioned was that he was other-centered and cared about other people around him. That is something that I see in him as well. He is a lover of people and has a heart for people and for animals as well. Maybe that is why he is interested in becoming a veterinarian. Having those traits that I knew to be true about him reinforced by someone who spends a lot of time with him gives me confidence that they are, indeed, true about him. They also help give me confidence that I am being objec...

I remember a story (I think it was well-publicized) that there was a church that was planning on having a sermon about the biblical standpoint concerning the homosexual lifestyle and the impact that standpoint had on the entire topic of gay marriage. Well, there was a group of activists that got wind of the sermon and planned a protest outside of the church on the morning of the message. In a good fit of wisdom the church decided to meet the protesters with refreshments and the like outside of the church building where the protests were taking place. Well, it turns out that their reaction to the protesters angered some of their Christian brothers and sisters to the point that there was no small amount of backlash against them. The pastor of the church that was being protested said that he thought that he was probably doing things just about right as both of the extreme sides of the issue were angry with him. I think he was right. Our President is heading to the Middle East in the next ...

Every word of God is flawless; He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him. Do not add to His words, or He will rebuke you and prove you a liar. Proverbs 30:7-9 One of the many things that I appreciate about teaching/preaching God's Word is that I simply need to accurately represent what is says. That's it. Now that is enough of a challenge, but I don't need to add my own wisdom to it or bring in other supporting material unless it aids in the understanding of the text. Obviously adding and subtracting (which is really adding when it gets down to it) to God's Word is fraught with danger. Not the least of which is that I will find myself squarely in God's sights where He will be bent on rebuking me and proving me to be a liar. He will accomplish that because, as I have written about before, He is relentless. So there it is: the rest that I have as I look to bring God's wisdom to those that need it. There is great power in that and unbelievable weakness in the...