A few weeks ago I made a new friend. She told me about life being married to a soldier in Vietnam.
Naomi: It was a very different time. These days, the country supports the troops. It wasn’t like that when my husband was in Vietnam. Troops were yelled at, spit on, all kinds of things when they returned.
I lived in Memphis at the time. I didn’t tell anyone where my husband was. I just let people think I was a single mom raising 3 kids on my own. I knew army wives who were recieving hate phone calls.
People called them “baby killers”
Me: Why? Where did that term come from? What sparked that?
Naomi: Well, there was a picture that came out of Vietnam. It was a picture of a of a young girl running down the road, her clothes burned off by the napalm, screaming in horror. People reacted.
I knew the Vietnam War was unpopular. But, I had never considered what it was like in the U.S. for the spouse of a soldier fighting in Vietnam. The war in Iraq is unpopular, but nothing like what Naomi described to me. I wonder, could it get that bad?
Someone left this comment on my blog a few weeks back. I deleted it for obvious reasons, but thought I’d post its contents for your consideration and bewilderment.
Dear,
I’m a korean living in seoul.(name: Oh Minseok)
Korean special investigative team are investigating samsung
corporation.
But they do not work right.
Suspicious to be bought off.
samsung corporation has many crimes.
And the team investigates samsung corporation.
It contains korean companies samsung,huyndai,sk CEOs’ illegal issuing
stocks or bonds.
The quantity are plenty.
(Three company CEOs did(and are doing) many crimes to me.
Many koreans are knowing it.
But many koreans are bought off by illegal issuing stocks or bonds.)
The team are knowing it.
Korean special investigative team must investigate this.
But they are trying to conceal it.
I ask for asking for this criminal investigation to prosecutors in any
country.
And help the shareholders and me . . .
Ok. Alright. So, my Monkey Kick-Off score wasn’t as insuperable as I originally thought. First, Jen B (a girl) beat it.
Then, I get an email from my arch enemy good friend, Arnold Austin, IMB missionary in Peru. It contained this screenshot. The subject line read: Gotcha.
Ok, Mr. Austin. I concede (for now).
You might beat me, but I doubt it. Click here and give it your best shot.
I carried two Fuji disposable 27-exposure cameras. Here are my favorites from the two day, 18-mile trek.
Carlos wrote this a few days ago. It’s good stuff. Take a look.
I’m in verse 2 and I look to my left and am hit like a blind side pick and roll.
Swaying on the front row was a guy I later learned was named Matt.
Standing in front of him was another guy named Jefferson.
It was a moment that stands out above all else in my 11 years of leading worship.
You see Matt and Jefferson were worshipping God, together.
Literally.
Jefferson has severe cerebral palsy. He has little, if any control over his body.
Matt was standing behind Jefferson.
Holding Jefferson.
20 minutes.
Dancing with Jefferson and singing at the top of his lungs.
Jefferson was singing too. I think could hear him.
And it was the most beautiful song I have ever heard.
At 6am Easter Sunday I set the tent up in the living room and put a big camo tarp over the top of it to make it look more natural, more tomb-ish. I put a white sheet in there too. Nothing else.
The girls came out of their hallways ready for breakfast and church.
“It’s empty!” I said excitedly as they came out.
Bewildered expressions.
“It’s empty! Go look!! It’s empty!!!”
By this time they were pretty interested. I pointed to the ‘tomb’.
“Go look! There’s no one there!”
They hustled over to the ‘tomb’ not sure what to make of all of it. They cautiously peaked inside not knowing what to expect (a lot like Peter and John did, I think). They looked back at me puzzled.
“There’s nothing but a sheet in there, Mr. Ryan” they said.
“I know! That’s where they buried Jesus. And now HE IS GONE!”
They smiled. It clicked. Jesus is alive.
Honor isn’t passive, it’s active. We honor our wives by demonstrating our esteem and respect: complimenting them in public; affirming their gifts, abilities, and accomplishments; and declaring our appreciation for all they do. Honor not expressed is not honor.
Gary Thomas, Sacred Marriage, 63.
Easter isn’t about eggs, candy, rabbits, new dresses, spring time, flowers, family, peeps, cadbury eggs, easter baskets, fake plastic grass, et al.
It’s about the fact that two women went to decorate the grave of Jesus Christ and found it empty!
Lots of people don’t, but I choose to believe.
That being said, here are some pictures of the eggs, candy, new dresses, easter baskets, and fake plastic grass that we enjoyed yesterday.
The tickets made it in plenty of time (good job, Fedex). The games were a blast! Yes, Barnes and Texas got booed. Really booed. I promise I didn’t participate (much). Now, I’m getting stretched out for the Razorback game.
This whole NCAA shindig went down today. That’s a little scary because it takes time to get tickets. I ordered the tickets out of Austin, TX today at 2:38pm. The first game starts at 11:30 tomorrow morning.
The tickets’ gauranteed arrival time, 10:30am, is precariously close to tip-off. So, here I am, tracking the package on fedex.com to see what’s happening. Right now, all they are giving me is this cryptic statement: in transit.
That doesn’t help! Give me a city name, a mile marker, anything!!! These bad boys have to go through Memphis (yeah, I know) and then back to Little Rock. That doesn’t make much sense. I mean, I could probably go wait on the side of the interstate and flag the truck down as it passed through Little Rock on its way to Memphis.
I am pumped! I get to attend the first session of the NCAA Tournament at Alltel Arena in North Little Rock! Look for my dad and me on TV. We’ll be watching the Texas/Austin Peay and Miami/St. Mary’s games.
Today, they had open practice for the teams at Alltel. Each of the eight teams had 45 minutes to get themselves accustomed to the court. It was free to go and watch so I loaded up the preggies (my wife excluded) in the mini-van. We saw Oregon and UT Arlington and ate some fire jalapeño nachos.
Sophia is going to be a big sister! Needles to say, we are very excited about the news! It looks like #2 will be arriving in late October or early November.
I can definitely mark #4 off my list!
And, for all you old-timers, here’s a flashback.
God is good!
Once upon a time, I had a Nano. It kept me company while I ran. We lived in Peru, the Nano and I. We were happy.
Then, I washed the Nano in the washing machine. By mistake, of course. And the Nano died. And I was sad.
The dead Nano traveled by USPS to California and received plastic surgery by this guy. Now, the Nano lives again.
Radiant Magazine online is currently using an article I wrote about life here at the Promise House. The story is called “To Know that I Know”. You may remember seeing it here sometime back. Go here to have a look. And, if you like it, leave some feedback!
Here’s a pic from the Central Baptist Church Global Impact Conference. That native looking guy is Arnold Austin. He is on the REAPSouth team and took over a lot of our responsibilities (and more) after we left.
Really. Saturday morning, my brother, dad, and yours truly were dropped off at Ozone Camp Ground. That’s one spot of many you can jump on the Ozark Highland Trail, which stretches a grand total of 165 miles.
Destination: Haw Creek Falls.
Total distance: 18 miles.
Time limit: 2 days.
Experience: None.
We covered 8 miles on Saturday and then pushed hard to get across 10 miles on Sunday. It was absolutely beautiful. I was truly inspired by God’s creativity and majesty.
The toughest part was probably having to carry a twenty pound pack. My shoulders alternated between numbness and something akin to broken glass being ground into them. Also, the 10 or so ice-cold creeks we had to wade across were quite exhilarating.
Pictures to come soon!
The Senior Singles class at Central Baptist Church in Jonesboro rocks the house. They single-classedly outfitted one of our rooms with brand new furniture. It looks amazing!
Remember what I said about Jesus taking care of us. This kind of thing happens all the time!
In the end, said Brother Lawrence, it doesn’t take skill or a high IQ to come to God — just a heart totally sold out to the Lord, devoted to him alone.
Here they are. All 12 of my grandkids (the 13th is due in two weeks!). If you’re interested in height and weight, head over to the kiddos page.
Enjoy!
Shirley, Joy, Wanda, and Otis (pictured) from Gaines Street Missionary Baptist Church visited us at the Promise House last week. They hooked us up with some corn on the cob, Shirley’s fire green beans, rolls, and fried chicken.
Jesus takes care of us. It’s amazing to see how God uses his church to encourage us.
Sophia and I decided to go exploring at Pinnacle Mountain. This kid loves to try new things. She was particularly fond of the jungle gym and the river!
Again! But, even better! I just had a snowball fight with a gaggle of pregnant teens!
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