Randy Wray’s Blog

. . . clear my head of thoughts in a blog post! 

I’d like to introduce another friend of mine to our blogging community.  His name is Josh Stump and you will find his blog (Stumptown) in the alphabetical list of Blog Buddies in the right sidebar.

I’d like to hear from you about ease of use and access with the new blog format.  If you are still having problems registering send me an email.  I can register you internally and send you the necessary info to login.

The first signs of panic are on the horizon.  Reese and I leave for Mexico in 30 days and I need to have the bulk of the packing done before then.  Who needs free stuff?  If you are around our house in the next month or so you can have what you want.

I’m working on my Father’s day message.  I have a great relationship with my Father so that is not the issue.  I feel so much sadness for those I know who don’t have great relationships.  I feel so much sorrow for the children and families of those idiots who cause so much physical and emotional damage.  Special days messages (Like Mother’s and Father’s Day) are becoming something I do not look forward to presenting.

We were talking about Elijah last night, about how he may have gone ahead of God following the tremendous victory at Mt. Carmel.  The text seems to indicate that he took some steps that God did not intend for him to take.  He leaves Jezreel depressed and discouraged eventually ending up (after rehab in the wilderness) at Mt. Horeb only to be asked by God "What are you doing here?"

Ever thought about what you would answer if God were to ask you "What are you doing here?"

I’m not all that adventurous when it comes to eating.  Sure, I’ll eat a fish or shrimp taco from a cart on a street in Mexico but it is a fish / shrimp taco after all!  I have a broad range of culinary interest but don’t go out of my way to try so called regional delicacies. 

Talk about a slick marketing campaign . . .

Cook 1 - “We have this grizly, fatty, entrails left any ideas?”

Cook 2 - “Lather it up in butter, serve it with a side sauce, triple the price and call it a regional delicacy.”

Cook 1 - “Brilliant!”

Growing up in Central America we were often special guests for meal time celebrations.  El Salvador, in particular, has many dishes which feature fish. No problems yet.  One of the more frequent soups served by the kind folks was fish soup.  Problem lurking on the horizon.  Fish soup was fish soup with fish parts floating in the broth.  The honored guests always received the head of the fish in their fish soup. 

One of my best memories involved running around the table with my sisters fighting for a place where the piece of fish in the bowl was not looking at you.  We played this musical dining room chairs quickly and efficiently so that we could sit in front of a bowl without the fish head.

I do enjoy cuisines from varying ethnic regions.  I do occasionally try something different.  Why just last week I had lettuce on my Five Guys hamburger.  I just don’t go out of my way to try a new ethnic genre.

In the past week I’ve sampled one thing I thought I would never eat (Foie Gras) and dined for the first time at an Indian restaurant.  The Foie Gras was palatable, though I still don’t understand the hype.  The dinner itself was by the far the best meal I’ve ever had.  I felt like a judge on Iron Chef.

The Indian food was good.  My dinner companions did a great job of ordering mainline items.  It was a different culinary experience but a pleasant culinary experience.  I’m not sure that I’m ready to fully adopt the cuisine as a must have but I’m willing to offer a temporary culinary visa.

On a funny note: A certain member of our household, when informed that we were going to eat Indian food, wanted to know if we meant we were going to eat American Indian food.  Thank you Washington, D.C. and the politically correct machine.

The scriptures are filled with many vivid metaphors. God is described as a rock, a fortress, a strong tower. Jesus describes himself as the bread of life, the living water, the door, the gate, and a few more. People are described negatively as a wayward sheep or an unfaithful bride. There are also some positive descriptions of people.

There are some positive metaphors which describe God’s intent for our life on this earth.

Perhaps the most well known metaphor is “You are the salt of the earth,” followed closely by “You are the light of the world.”

My favorite metaphor? We are the sweet smell of Christ.

2 Corinthians 2:14-15 (NCV) But thanks be to God, who always leads us in victory through Christ. God uses us to spread his knowledge everywhere like a sweet-smelling perfume. Our offering to God is this: We are the sweet smell of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are being lost.

Physical hygiene is important. Deodorant, perfume and cologne are a good thing (the latter in moderation of course). How you smell does make a difference.

I’m always challenged by this passage that God intends the fragrance of our life, in Christ, to be like a sweet-smelling perfume. Certainly the sweet smell of Christ represents different things to different people, as the passage continues to explain. Why does it often seem that church things tend to leave a different smell behind?

I’m continually reminding myself, sometimes more than others, that my words and actions carry a certain fragrance. How you smell does make a difference.

AC FACT OF THE DAY (Two for Tuesday)

1946 - After World War II, the demand for room air-conditioners begins to increase. Thirty thousand room air-conditioners were produced that year.

1947 - Air conditioning becomes a bargaining issue when textile workers in North Carolina strike because of stressful heat and humidity in the workplace.

The Dolphins came out on top of a very hard fought, sloppy, messy 9 to 8 win. With a final record of 15 and 1 the dolphins finished the season as league champs and tournament champs. For many reasons it was a tough win.

I’m conducting some maintenance and experiments on my blog today. This of course will invariably mean that I will loose everything, cause a widespread blackout, and further accelerate global warming.

AC FACT OF THE DAY: (MONDAY BONUS 3 facts for the price of 1)

1928 - The Chamber of the House of Representatives is air conditioned.

1929 - The Senate is air conditioned.

1930 - The White House, the Executive Office Building, and the Department of Commerce are air conditioned.

Madison and Beth had their final softball practice last night in preparation for the championship game on Sunday. Normally I frown on Sunday games but that’s just one less meeting to attend! The mighty dolphins are 14 in 1 as they head into the league championship Sunday afternoon. This softball team has been a great experience for all involved. The parents are the type of parents you want representing your team. The coaching staff is top notch. The head coach is a hottie!

With the girls practicing softball, Reese and I went to watch the Washington Nationals play at RFK stadium. We had great seats and no one around us. No one. The row in front of us was empty. The row behind us was empty. The nearest person to our left was 5 seats away. The nearest person to our right was 6 seats away. We tried unsuccesfully to take someone with us because we had three seats between the two of us. I only mention this because Reese spent the bulk of the time in my lap. I know there will come a day but for now . . .

AC FACT OF THE DAY:

1917 — The first documented theater to use refrigeration is the New Empire Theatre in Montgomery, Alabama. In that same year, the Central Park Theater in Chicago is built to incorporate the new technology: air conditioning.

June 8.  One of my favorite days of the year.  It’s the birthday of my sweetie.  Lucky for her my scanner is not working properly this morning.  I had a sweet picture to post.  Come to think of it, perhaps it is lucky for me.

I am not a fan of the garage sale - hosting or attending.  I have friends, and you know who you are, that physically cannot pass a garage sale without stopping.

I can remember my parents having a garage sale, during the time in which my room was in the garage (I’ll save that story for later) and though the sale of the century was to start at 9AM people were looking through the windows (of my bedroom) at 6AM.  So my disinterest in garage sales may relate to some Post Traumatic Garage Sale Syndrome (PTGSS).

I’ve seen people going around on garbage day stopping and picking things up.  Yes, it is possible to pick up a great find.  The trash of one is truly the treasure of another.  I don’t recall every doing such a thing until this morning.

Hi, my name is Randy and I stopped and picked up some items someone set out for the trash.  It was a true moment of weakness.  I couldn’t pass them up.  They were really nice boxes.

So what’s the best garage sale item you’ve aquired?  What’s the thing you sold at a garage sale for $2 only to see it on EBAY selling for $2,000?

AC FACT OF THE DAY:

1913 — The first international exposition devoted exclusively to refrigeration is held in Chicago.

Today’s post may look like nothing more than a desperate attempt to boost readership participation. That’s probably because it is. Yes, it’s time for the yearly blog membership drive.

Registration is quick and easy. In fact, if you registered to comment on blogger you can register to comment on Wordpress. To go to the registration page click here: Register For Randy’s New Blog.

Just a reminder. You are not registering for your own blog - though you should consider that. You are not registering for an account with WordPress. You are registering for this blog and this blog alone. Though you may be able to use your registration information for other WordPress blogs. Use your same blogger info to remove some of the confusion factor.

You will want to register because you won’t be able to remain silent, you want badly to participate and share your thoughts on redundant redundancy. Not the easy targets such as:

Today is the 62nd anniversary of D-Day.  I know this might sound stupid and trivial but it wasn‚Äôt until I saw the movie Saving Private Ryan that the sheer terror and horror of the surrounding events had an impact.  I‚Äôm not comparing watching the movie to storming the beach.  Certainly I knew about the events prior to the movie.  Seeing the battle scene, hearing the bullets whiz around, and feeling the thud of mortar explosions rumbling gave me a greater appreciation for those who stormed those beaches.

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I was having a discussion yesterday with one of our Spanish speaking church members.  He was lamenting the state of the Hispanic church in America.  He talked about he, himself, didn‚Äôt know everything about the Bible but didn‚Äôt believe that increasing in Bible knowledge required a decrease in rationale and logic.  It seems most of our Hispanic churches are where the Anglo churches were 20-30 years ago.  That‚Äôs the result when The Church is preached and The Christ is not.

He was worried that some of the more ‚Äúmature‚Äù Christians (his parenthesis not mine) were so insistent that everyone see things their way.  He was worried that these same ‚Äúmature‚Äù Christians interpret the Bible without any common sense.  He believes God calls us to be thinking people.  That our job is to see how best we can live for Christ.  He doesn‚Äôt see how the advancement of ‚Äúsacred‚Äù (his parenthesis not mine) traditions is ever going to win his people for Christ.

He feels unqualified to say much in this area because he has only been a Christian for 5 years.  He never even read the Bible until about five years ago.  He will be the first to tell you that he‚Äôs not perfect and continues to make mistakes trying to live like Christ.  He‚Äôs ahead of the curve, in my opinion, for where many are reading to live under a system he has been reading to live for a Savior.

AC FACT OF THE DAY: 

1902 — Willis Carrier builds the first air conditioner to combat humidity inside a printing company. Controlling the humidity in printing companies and textile mills was the start of managing the inside environments.

Tourist season is in full bloom here outside the Nations Capital.  The motorcycle ride on Washington. known as rolling thunder, for Memorial Day is the loud, rumbling alarm clock that signals the start of tourist season.

For the church family it means we will average between 10 to 30 visitors a Sunday.  This brings some unique challenges.  Those of you who work with or have attended a tourist town church can appreciate the difficulties.

For the Wray family it means we will average between 2 to 4 visitors a week for the next month.  Seven years ago when we moved here we were told that the visits would drop off after the first year.  That didn‚Äôt happen.  In fact, it seemed the longer we were here the more visitors would arrive.

We‚Äôve enjoyed most of our visitors.  Now you can spend the day wondering if we didn‚Äôt enjoy your particular visit!

We look forward to our next wave of visitors.  Two repeat visiting groups and one first time visiting group.  I‚Äôm glad they are all coming to visit.  I‚Äôve been working on my tour pitch: ‚ÄúHere‚Äôs the Washington Monument, here‚Äôs the White House, here‚Äôs a box, some tape, and a sharpie.‚Äù

AC FACT OF THE DAY:

1889 — Central station refrigeration is used in large cities to preserve foods and documents. 

We are still without central AC but are enjoying the wonders of a few window units.  This, what we hope is only a temporary solution, reminds me of visiting my aunt and uncle. 

When I was a young warthog we would come back from Central America and visit Uncle Frank and Aunt Peggy in Victoria, Texas (located in South Texas).  It was hot in Victoria, Texas during the summer.  Uncle Frank and Aunt Peggy had a large window AC unit in the living room of the house.  Care to guess where everyone hung out?  You‚Äôd walk into that room and would not want to leave. 

It‚Äôs funny the memories you have.  I remember that AC unit and I remember they didn‚Äôt lock the door to their house.  My grandpa in Coquille, Oregon never locked his car doors when we would run errands around town.  I remember thinking - a perspective heavily influenced from living in Central America - wow, what a great place to live.  You don‚Äôt have to lock the door to your house. 

Where we lived people were always breaking in to your house or car.  In fact, my mom would hang out clothes on the line to dry in the back year and without fail the next week I would see someone walking down the street with my shirt on.  ‚ÄúHey, cool shirt, I have one just like . . . wait a minute!‚Äù

Until our AC is repaired I will share a daily fact about the history of AC (yes, once again the blog is your source for entertainment and educational enrichment).

1882 — Thanks to Thomas Edison, the first electric power plant opens in New York, making it possible for the first time to have an inexpensive source of energy for residential and commercial buildings.