The last 1000 days

So, xanga has that nifty thing on the top that tells you how long you've been a part of this blogging community.  For me, that number is in the 2000's.  That means that approximately 2000 days ago, xanga was my clandestine way of communinating with my mother while I was at school (high school, that is), and other than that I used it to debate the respective appeals of Marlon Brando and Elijah Wood with my buddy Ashley.

My oh my how things have changed.  I was just a few months into marriage when I last posted.  Three years later, and I'm back.  So let me tell you about the last 1000 days.....(don't correct my math, because I won't care.)

Still married.  Still obnoxiously happy about it.  What can I say, Mark is awesome and life is good.  Done with school.  Miss it.  Suprised about that.  Totally different social circle.  I love all my college friends, but it wound up being a lot like after high school.  We just went seperate ways.  Now, I live two blocks from my best friend, and my main social circle consists of five people (including me and my spousal).  I'm good with that.

I'm a housewife.  We are buying the house my husband grew up in.  The real world is setting in.  I remember feeling like I was a real grown-up when I got excited about the paint colors in our married housing apartment, but that's not grown up......that's a bit more like playing house.  Paying student loans, buying a house, and balancing a shoestring budget is closer to grown up.  It's not all the way grown up, but it's considerably closer.  But, I still play video games.....and by "still" I mean "hey, guess what!  I started playing video games in the past 1000 days!"  I still stay up way too late, in fact, I have perfected that talent....for those of you keeping score, check the time stamp on this post.  I haven't gone to bed yet.  Yeah.  Mind blown.

Mark works third shift......so I do this late night thing a lot.  And, there's only so many video games I can play before my brain melts out my ears, I get frozen in the basement, or I start getting creeped out.  So here is my proposal:  I need to do something at night to keep my sanity.  Xanga used to give me hours of entertainment.  I am just curious how many of the people that used to glance at my blog are still out there.  (keep in mind that I will ramble on whether or not you are there, I just want to have an idea of my audience)  One thing that has not happened in the past 1000 days: I have not gotten any more interesting.  The same sort of jibberish will keep on coming........so, ignore me, or read me, but either way I'm back!!!

Mark is getting PUBLISHED!!!!!!!!!

I'm excited.

My 8:10 class

"Meaningless! Meaningless!"

       says the Teacher.

       "Utterly meaningless!

       Everything is meaningless."

    Ecclesiastes 1:2

That's just a cheerful way to start your day, thank you Nugent......

   So, as Christians, our lives have meaning in Christ.  That's a bonus, because we don't have to deal with that whole "life is pointless" thing.  We can get a lot out of Ecclesiastes that helps us as Christians.  It helps us understand and deal with injustice.  It shows us our need for God.  In fact, it shows us how we're wired for God, that  there's something innate in our nature that tells us that something is massively wrong with the way the world works.  Bad things happen to good people, and good things happen to bad people.  In Ecclesiastes, we learn that this is nothing new.  In fact, nothing is new.  But, the thing that makes all of this ok is the fact that God has everything well in hand  and we have hope of eternal life through Christ.
   But, what happens to those who don't have that hope?  What happens to someone who isn't confident in God?  They look around, and see that the world doesn't make any sense, and it's unfair, pointless, miserable, and meaningless.  They are trapped in their own hopelessness.
     What can we do for someone trapped like that?  How can we give hope to the hopeless?  Obviously, Christ is the answer, as He is our hope, so He must be hope to everyone.  But what if the trapped person doesn't think that Christ is the answer?  What if they're convinced that they have sinned too much for Christ to possibly forgive them?  If they are so convinced of their own wickedness that they don't believe that God Himself is capable of making it better, what can be done to show them the truth?  I know that it's not on me to save these people, that is something that only God can do.  But, what happens when they choose to ignore God?  If they won't accept the hope God offers, then there's nothing left for us to do, right?  We've done all we can, left the important part to God, and the person has turned Him down.  That's their choice, so that should be the end of the matter, right?  Then tell me, why does it hurt to watch it?  Why can we not give up on these people?  We see them trapped in hopelessness, we see them turn down the only One who can save them, and we can't let it go.  Are we then just doomed to ache over it unless they change their minds?  The only thing I can come up with is that all amounts of aching would be completely worth it if they did change their minds. 
   So yeah, I guess we're stuck.  We're gonna ache when we see someone trapped in hopelessness.  But the good news is that there's a point to it -- they might be saved.

I love my husband.  Really, really a lot!  Cuz he's great! 

Just thought you should know. 

Nursery attack in Dayton Ohio

           On September 26th in Dayton, Ohio, a 10 year old girl was working in the nursery at a prayer service when two men came to the window and sprayed her in the face with some unidentified chemical.  This chemical spread from the nursery and emptied the service of some 300 people.
           This incident did not make the news outside of Dayton.  The police are saying that it's not a hate crime, but they're failing to come up with any kind of motive.  They appear to have no leads, and from the tone of the Dayton Daily News' latest article, it sounds like there might not even be any more media followup.
           I want to know why this didn't make the news.  I want to know why no one is talking about this, and why seemingly no one is disturbed by this.
           My personal opinion is that if this had happened at a public school, it would be all over the news.  I think that if it had happened at a grocery store, it would be all over the news.   I think that if it had happened at a church, it would be all over the news.  But, it happened in a Mosque, and somehow, nobody is reporting on it.
            In an age where we are constantly looking out for terrorism, be it biological, chemical, or anything, how is it that we can ignore an attack on a nursery?

Read the articles for yourself:

http://www.daytondailynews.com/search/content/oh/story/news/local/2008/09/27/ddn092608evacweb.html

http://www.daytondailynews.com/n/content/oh/story/news/local/2008/09/29/ddn092908mosquefoloweb.html