Flight 93 Memorial

Here is a copy of the email I submitted to the National Park Service regarding the proposed Flight 93 memorial. If you care. I honestly can't believe it's true. It's got to be a hoax, it's so bad.

To Whom It May Concern,
The proposed crescent design of the Flight 93 memorial is a slap in the face of the people who gave their lives defending themselves and our country on that fated flight.
You should by no means approve this design that blatantly honors the terrorists who were responsible for the crash of Flight 93.
Sincerely,
Mark Lindberg

I got this story from Michelle Malkin.

[update]I tried to send the email and got a 404 server error - file not found for the uninitiated.
If you want to try it, you can go here. I hope this is happening because they're getting inundated with emails. You can also call at 814.443.4557.

First Official Day as a Missionary

Well, that was fun. I slept way too late because I've been working on AIM's Katrina Relief Effort database all weekend. After I woke up, I did some more db work and fixed various errors on the site that we built and posted in one day.

We went to see the March of the Penguins - here's news for you...it's a documentary. Haven't you seen them before? What's the big deal? I paid $24 to see a documentary. Shoot me now.

After the movie and some dinner with the cousins at Grapevine Mills, the girls and I went to Dallas to find a man at the evacuee center in Reunion Arena. His family is at a center in Baton Rouge and he is, supposedly, here in the DFW area. I wasn't able to find him, but I think I will be able to track him down tomorrow. Apparently, he is an older man and doesn't know that his family is safe in Baton Rouge.

What's really cool is that tomorrow, I'll get to go on an errand of mercy, serve God and it'll be part of my job. Is that great or what?

I met a guy tonight from SGI. He said it was a world peace organization that is chartered by the UN. He was fairly reticent about it and it seemed kind of creepy. Anyone know what they are and what they do?

Ok, forget that. I just went and found them on the internet. They are officially creepy and I refuse to link to them. Here's a quote from their website:

Soka Gakkai International (SGI) is a Buddhist association with more than 12 million members in 190 countries and territories worldwide. For SGI members, Buddhism is a practical philosophy of individual empowerment and inner transformation that enables people to develop themselves and take responsibility for their lives.

The problem I have is that he never said he was Buddhist. He just came across all...I hate to use the word again, but creepy is it. It's Humanism. Man, it's too late to start that debate.

The Whole Support Thing

So, I'm a missionary. I raise support for half of my income.

There, I said it.

One can't imagine how hard it has been to say that.

It has been very difficult to view myself as a Missionary. Note, if you will, the capital M.

I have been raising support for almost a year. I am attempting to go on staff with a missions trip organization in Gainesville, GA called Adventures In Missions. I will be their internal web guy. Throughout all of this, I've been a missionary. I've been on multiple mission trips, gone to prison, and even did an interview with the child of a friend who needed to interview a missionary. But I wasn't officially on staff because I didn't have my support raised.

Yesterday, 9/4, God provided all of our support.

Our church was discussing the possibility of upping our support $200 a month so that we could get over the hump. They had to table the issue because of budget issues - they don't have a mission budget right now. Then, on Sunday, a member of a sunday school class said he and his wife would support us for $200 a month. Praise God! Now we're at 100.99% of our support.

Thanks be to the great God of the universe for his marvelous love and favor. I will praise him as long as I have breath. Who am I that he is mindful of me?

Why Did You Make Me This Way?

Why are you the way you are?

I don't mean this in a 'God, why did you make me this way?' kind of lament. I mean, for what purpose was I crafted?

Think about all the things that make you you.

Ok, here's me: I'm a daydreamer, I make jokes all the time, I'm really good at looking for shortcuts, I am introspective, I'm very gregarious, I'm very loquacious (I LOVE that word), I love to ask people questions, I love to know the truth - from the source, not from you (as my wife, Carla, says, 'what does it say in the text?'), I'm very sarcastic, I love to read.

Somebody stop me...that list could go on forever. The Bible says I was made for a purpose - see Ps 139:13-15 and Jeremiah 29:11-13. God took whatever was required to make the unique person of me and had some sort of plan. All these parts are put together so that I can do...? What? What is it that God had planned?

Look at the list of attributes above. All of them come from some God-given characteristic. But look how the enemy has taken what God has made and turned it to evil: I can wile away the day doing nothing, I'm inconsiderate of others, I'm lazy, I'm withdrawn, I talk WAY too much, I'm nosy, I'm arrogant, I'm mean, I put myself before others.

Two things I'm NOT trying to do: 1 - Absolve myself of responsibility for my own actions, 2 - Fish for compliments.

Think about it - what if I was able to take all those cool, God-given attributes and use them for Him. Rather than serving my self and my own interests, I could serve Him. It would be so awesome to find the groove, wouldn't it? That place where you are being used as you are, as you were created, and as you were intended to be used.

I am praying for myself that God would make me part of his story. No, I don't mean that as a play on words of 'History.' I mean, God has a story that he wrote a long time ago. Now, I'm asking God to show me my part in his story, rather than asking him to be part of mine.