What's bugging you?

I took a walk yesterday after work - thought I'd get some exercise. I thought to myself part way into the walk (picture me walking down the street with a speech bubble over my head), "Wow, this is great. Here I am walking and those nasty little gnats aren't bothering me at all. It must be too cool outside." (It was only about 78 degrees at 6:00 PM.) No sooner than the thought processed through my brain, when swarms of gnats descended. They made this little "eeeekkkkk" sound while trying to fly in my ears, then tried to fly up my nose, landed on any exposed skin, and were just generally annoying. So, half of my walk was fun, the other half was more beneficial aerobically, as I tried to escape the little buggers.

I just went outside with Short-stuff and met up with a lovely female tarantula. I thought for a moment she was dead, so I blew on her - oops, not dead, just napping. She has now wandered off to parts unknown.

Last week after a rain shower we had a lovely, colorful snake on the patio. "Oh," I say to hubby, "there is a snake on the patio." "What kind?", he asks. "I think just a king snake," I reply. Hubby gets up off couch and grabs camera to photograph said snake, then attempts to remove snake from patio with first a dust pan, then a broom. The snake tries to climb up offensive broom - not good! So, I offer some wifely advice: "Why don't you just pick it up at the back of the head and remove it to the wash?" (Of course, you would never catch me doing this!) We watch this snake for a while, who eventually slithers away, then come inside to look him up in our Audubon Society book. Scarily enough he was an Arizona Coral Snake! Scientific comments about this snake include, "Do not handle! Venom is highly dangerous." Hubby did have a good story to tell around the water cooler the next day.

What do you think about the planet Pluto, which was discovered by Clyde Tombaugh at Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff in 1930, being demoted to a dwarf planet? I grew up learning and memorizing the 9 planets of our solar system; how many other so called 'facts' that I've been told were a sure-thing, will be changed to accommodate 'new scientific understanding'? God knows all about the planet we call Pluto - I wonder what God named this planet?

Psalm 147:1, 4-5 (NIV)
Praise the LORD. How good it is to sing praises to our God, how pleasant and fitting to praise him! He determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name. Great is our Lord and mighty in power; his understanding has no limit.

One thing that won't change?
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. (Hebrews 13:8, NIV)

Anything bugging you today?

A Numbers Game

Do you Sudoku?

Those who do, practice regularly, and are likely addicted to the game. Those who do not, seem to think that those of us who do are, well, warped.



Sudoku is a logic-based placement puzzle. The aim of the puzzle is to enter a numerical digit from 1 through 9 in each cell of a 9x9 grid made up of 3x3 subgrids, starting with various digits given in some cells; each row, column, and region must contain only one instance of each numeral 1 - 9. I find it fun - others find it annoying.

How many times a day do numbers influence our life? A number may represent: time on the alarm clock; the hours slept last night; the caloric content of breakfast, lunch or dinner; the miles driven to work, school, or church, or the grocery store; the ounces, pounds, kilograms or grams of items purchased at the grocery store; the translation of the food just purchased to the weight on the scale; the dollar amount paid for the food; the amount of ready cash in your pocket, checkbook, or coin holder in your car; the mpg my car gets from the number of gallons of gas it will hold; the price of gas; the bill for college tuition due at the end of the month; the rent/mortgage due at the end of the month; the minimum balance due on credit card bill(s); the amount written on the check given to the Lord each week; the number of times we are to forgive someone who has sinned against us; the number of times we ask for forgiveness; how often we pray; the number of books of the Bible; the attendance figures for the assembly last Sunday; the number of people who came to earth as the Messiah and died for our sins; the number on the house that defines our address; the number of bedrooms in our homes. . . well, you get the idea.

Numbers, both large and small, are embedded in our lives. Another way to use numbers that I've not listed above? It is really quite simple, yet also quite complex. This thing, used for millennia, has the power to quiet, create peace, emit emotion, generate hype, cause social unrest, promote debate, create culture and counter-culture, and the love and expression of it becomes part of our profile or personality. Do you know what it is?

This simple, yet complex thing is music. Music is basically sound we hear. But music is primarily how those 8 notes (the octave) are manipulated to create the sounds we hear. There are different pitches, timbres, melodies, and rhythms with different tonal qualities. We play it in our cars and in our homes. We have CDs, radios, computers and iPods to capture it; we use music in our celebrations and in our good-byes to loved ones.


I find it phenomenal that the same basic structure that Brahms used to create his lullaby is the same structure used by heavy metal "musicians", yet we have drastically different results in what we hear. Listen to the 'oldies' and you may be reminded of songs you danced or sang to in your youth - the same songs that caused your parents to cringe when heard. Yet for all the years we've had the ability to create different sounds with music, we continue to find new ways to put the notes together to keep creating new music.

Music is a way we worship our Lord. Nothing compares to a room full of people singing praises to God - beautiful! Read the words of the psalmist below:

Psalm 150 (NLT)
Praise the LORD! Praise God in his heavenly dwelling; praise him in his mighty heaven! Praise him for his mighty works;praise his unequaled greatness! Praise him with a blast of the trumpet; praise him with the lyre and harp! Praise him with the tambourine and dancing; praise him with stringed instruments and flutes! Praise him with a clash of cymbals; praise him with loud clanging cymbals. Let everything that lives sing praises to the LORD!
Praise the LORD!

Let's praise God today. Whether in the car, office, or even the shower - let our singing be beautiful music to His ears.

Queuing

Having traveled on business several times during the past month, I've noticed more than ever the territorial aspects of waiting in line at the airport.

First, you park your car in the "car park" (as my Australian colleague names it), and wait to be picked up by the shuttle. Once the shuttle arrives, you negotiate your luggage and company belongings onboard, then look about for a seat.

Secondly, you arrive at the airline counter. Did you "check-in online"? If not, then you must wait in the long, zig-zagged line of persons waiting to check baggage and obtain their boarding pass. If you did check-in online, then you can go to a shorter, different kiosk line that allows you to complete the check-in process and get your luggage tagged. (By the way, I've learned a new trick for checking in online at SW Airlines: while traveling, I often don't have access to a printer, so I've learned to find a computer and check-in for my flight (up to 24 hours in advance); then, when I arrive at the airport, I can complete the check-in process at the shorter kiosk line and simply ask the touch screen on the computer to reprint my boarding pass. Hooray for the "A" boarding card!)

Next it is time to queue for the security checkpoint. No wait, you first must queue to have your ID and boarding pass checked to make sure they match - then you line up for the security checkpoint. Once at the security checkpoint, you unload video projectors, laptop computers, shoes, jackets, sweaters, purses, etc. into the provided bins. Stepping through security, you once again have your pass checked before you must redress and repack.

Now comes the fun part! Flying Southwest is an adventure in itself when it comes to the boarding process. Currently, SWA boards passengers on their planes according to the appropriate letter on their boarding passes: A, B, or C. The earlier you check-in for your flight, the more likely you are to receive an 'A' boarding pass. The letters correspond to the most likely place you'll sit on the plane: 'A' is mostly equivalent to the front of the plane or seats together (if you're traveling with a group), or at least finding bin space for your carry-on luggage above the seat in which you're sitting; 'B' corresponds to an aisle seat, or a seat toward the middle of the plane, and likely, bin space for your carry-on luggage, but most likely not near your current seat; and, 'C' corresponds to a seat toward the back of the plane, a dreaded middle-seat, or having to gate-check your bag because all the overhead bin space is gone.

It is fun to watch people try to find the most advantageous place to stand, sit, or wait to be closest to the front of the plane. Two flights ago we sat down to wait the requisite hour before our boarding time, sitting in the line of 'A' passes, and were joined by another business traveler. People came and stood around our seats, assuming we were later boarders. When it came time to board, our new fellow traveler said "let's go!", and stood up, elbowed her way in line and boarded the plane.

On my last flight, the queuing process at the gate was, to describe it simply, messed up. There were two gates directly next to one another and the A,B,and C designators radiated from the specific jetway doors at 45 degree angles. The seats however, intersected the purported lines so that it was not obvious where the lines began amongst the sitting area. We thought we were sitting in the appropriate line for our 'B' boarding passes, but unfortunately, we were mistaken. After trying to find the correct line, we finally boarded the plane at the end of the 'A' line, eclipsing our fellow passengers (not on purpose, really!), finding seats in front of the wing, and even finding good bin space!

Now for the rest of the story - The funniest part of this story was the elderly gentleman sitting directly across from us as we waited to be called to board the flight. He had an 'A' boarding card, and calmly waited as people began scurrying around to board. He stepped forward to claim his 'A' spot at the end of the 'A' group, and then stopped. You see, his 'A' boarding pass was for the next flight out of this same gate! He was elated at being the very first in line with his 'A' card.

None of this account describes the sideways glances of people trying to scan my boarding pass to see if they were ahead or behind my boarding. My colleague and I even tried different security lines to see who would beat the other through - competitive, do you think? And a great majority of the plane felt satisfaction that the very last person to board the plane was stuck with the seat next to the young mother with the crying child - a middle seat, of course!

And yet, even though that event took place a few short days ago, future traveling has already changed. Bin space will certainly be much more available. Perhaps as fellow travelers we will be more patient with one another, while once again and at the same time, more suspicious while we wait to board our flight.

It is somewhat ironic how our church experiences can sometimes be the same way. Aren't we quilty at times of queuing up for Heaven?

Trying to be first, or the best, or be standing next to the most popular? Praise God that I don't have to be the earliest to check-in for my trip to Heaven, or worry about bin space. Praise God that He doesn't compare me to my fellow Heaven bound traveler. Praise God that He has provided a way for us, in the form of prayer, to 'check-in online' with Him any time we wish. And, isn't it great that while I've already received my boarding pass, should I lose it, trample it, or misplace it, I can have it "re-printed" with His gracious hand?

Our God is an awesome God!