Randy Wray’s Blog

Haven’t we passed that point in eatery history that a food establishment charges for refills?  I have a general principle not to frequent a place that charges for refills. 

Sure, the sandwich and pasta salad I had at one local !joint was quite delicious (though the chicken sandwich could have used a little more aioili) but a 25 cent charge to refill my ice-tea?  Are you kidding me?  The insult to injury, slap to my pappy insult is that the beverage machine was one of those self-service, fill up yourself refreshment dispenser.

A 25 cent fee to refill ice-tea?  To some it may just be an extra quarter.  To me it’s at least $2.50!  It’s ice-tea for crying out loud.

Beth and I frequented a Japanese restaurant in VA quite frequently.  She would get hot tea and not be charged.  I would order ice-tea and get charged.  I finally started asking for a glass of ice and a pot of hot tea.

When I’ve payed over a dollar for a glass of ice tea I think I should get free-refills, or am I just squeaking as I’m typing?

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One of the signs of healthy (or desperate - there is a fine line) relationships is the spontaneity of last minute plans.

Friday afternoon at 4PM do you know anyone you can call and say, "hey, come over for some dinner and poker" and they would without hesitation cancel a meeting with the leaders of major corporations and foreign leaders to come over.

It takes time to build such relationships.  We enjoyed many such relationships in VA.  It’s taking a while to develop such relationships here in CA.

So when the call came yesterday afternoon at 4:45PM to go fishing at 5:45PM out on the delta I was thrilled.  It didn’t matter how far down I was on the list or who else had said no (if such a thing happened.  It’s nice to be called. 

In other news, Kristi over at My Life The Musical, has provided this very funny link to a new website dedicated to bringing maps to US American children and such.

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This Sunday, in addition to the "accepted acts of worship",  I’ve planned for us to experience a time of reflection and a time of silence.  I make the distinctions in the following manner.

 The time of reflection will be to consider a portion of text from Christian literature followed by our weekly selection from the Psalms.

The time of silence will be a portion of time of waiting silently before the Lord.

We’ll read the classic passage from Habakkuk 2:20 joined with Zechariah 2:13 (though we won’t sing the corresponding song) I’ll show a video snippet about silence and then we allow for a time of silence.

I’ve posted the entire assembly structure on our website if you care to perouse. 

 Any similar experiences?

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We here at randywray.com are ever concerned about your safety and well being.  We don’t just publish frivolous posts about Krispy Kreme, Guitar Center and our dog (wait a minute that’s another blog).

We care about you and your safety and would like to extend to you this public service announcement.

This picture is an actual picture from inside the trunk of Ford Mustang.

Some friends from VA visited us this past weekend and were sporting this rather sporty rental car. In the process of checking out the car we noticed the large, expansive trunk. It looked large enough to store a body (or a dozen or so cases of bibles).

Obviously the engineers over at Ford considered the possibility of storing a body in the massive cavern of a trunk for they included a quick release to be used in case you ever found yourself in the back of the trunk. Who says litigation doesn’t provide results?

What you should look at carefully, pay attention to this important detail — the icons on the green lever.

According to the icons, should "a family member" stuff you in the trunk, you should . . .

Step 1 - Pull the release button down (as signified by the down arrow)

Step 2 - Wait for the trunk to open and hop out of the trunk (as signified by the open trunk and the dashed arrow line.

and finally here’s the most important step . . .

Step 3 - Run Forrest, run. (as signified by the running man icon)

Those Ford engineers thought of everything.

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I marvel at the difference between "could" and "do". 

Generalizations and exceptions aside . . . 

Could we get by with less?  Yes, of course.  But we don’t because we’re not content with merely getting by.

Could some of us stand to loose a few pounds?  (Doesn’t muscle weigh more than fat?)  Yes, of course.  But we don’t because cheese cake tastes better than rice cakes.

Could we treat others properly, as Jesus expects us to?  Yes, of course.  But we don’t because of whatever reason we give to excuse our behavior.

The difference between "could" and "do" is just one word but that word makes all the difference.

That word, of course, is discipline.

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Move over Wiggles there’s a new group making a splash in the kiddie pool! 

Am I the last one to hear about the Go Fish Guys? 

Even if your kids are older I’m willing to bet you might enjoy the flavor. 

All you closet acappella beat boxers, I know you can’t wait for a Go Fish singalong.

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School began today and it’s official, we are parents of middle schoolers!

After chapel Beth and I went out for coffee.

The place was buzzing with all the parents enjoying their respite and a new season of freedom.

Not us, of course, we were very, very sad.  :-) 

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My mind has been whirling at some serious RPM’s lately.  I’ve got pads of paper filled with notes and ideas.  Useful stuff like, "the easiest way to pay for the remodel is to write a best-seller."  

Amidst the nonsense I always fine some worthwhile ideas and some interesting questions.   I like the questions because it gives me the chance to wrap my brain around some ideas and concepts to become more effective. 

In the midst of the flurry I wrote down this question  "If tomorrow your church disappeared what difference would it really make?"

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We spent the afternoon yesterday with some folks from church that have become better than family.  To be able to relax, unwind and enjoy a lazy Sunday afternoon is a real treat.  When the trinity (Good Food, Good Fellowship, and Good Fishing) is present you know it’s been a good day.

Meanwhile back at the ranch, the work on the house continues and continues and continues.  We are still waiting on the engineer to draw up the schematics for the beam.  Even from a non-biblical perspective I loathe the beam.  It has been the holdup for the entire project.

In the meantime, the exterior stucco has all been patched around the windows and should be finished up by the weekend.  The kitchen cabinets have been ordered and the appliances have been ordered and the kitchen sinks and faucets have been ordered.  We’re now broke so please send money.

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I caught the end of a program last night on a particular religious group using religion to defend a certain practice that is currently illegal.  As I listened to an advocate of this position I found it curious that he said things like:  (These are not direct quotes)

"We have to follow what our religion teaches us regardless if it is popular or unpopular."

"Doctrine is doctrine and it must be followed no matter what."

"We have a constitutional right to practice our beliefs." 

I pondered these statements and got to thinking about the assumptions we make in the observance of religious tradition. 

I was able to condense an entire list of assumptions to just two:

1.    We assume that we are right.

2.    We assume that others are wrong.

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