NAH nah nah nah, nah nah, nah NAH- It's OVER

Wow. Africa was soooooo much fun, and it didn't turn out as awful as it was looking it was going to be.

But let's just say that I hope we don't do it again anytime in the near near future. I'm gonna need a bit to regain my sanity.

Going to bed, since I got barely zilch sleep today/last night (slept 6:30 a.m. - 9 a.m., but kept on waking up within that time). Will post pics later!

This is it

Joshua leaves for Baghdad tomorrow at 4:30. Please pray for Private Joshua Cook's quick return to his wife Heather and family.

Godspeed Josh! I love you and I'm so proud of you... my brother.

Can you hear the beat of those African drums?

I'm excited about International Marketplace next weekend. I'm team leader of Africa! I can't wait!

To those who don't know...

Our church youth group is raising money for missions this coming Saturday. We are setting up 7 booths, each a different continent. Each team will decorate their booth to represent their continent, and serve food native to that land. We're charging $5 for an International Marketplace Food Extravaganza!!!! I'm hungry already...

I have so many ideas. I think this is gonna be soooo great! Can't wait to find out what kind of ideas my team members have!

Two Men who Knew Jesus

One man said that he knew Jesus, and he did. He had spent the last three years of his life with Jesus. He had loved this man. But with a kiss, a token of what should have been love and friendship, he sold his savior for thirty pieces of silver.

And there was another man who knew Jesus. He also had spent three years walking closely beside the Man of Truth. But in his Friend’s darkest hours, he denied ever knowing the One who had given him life.

One man said he knew Him. The other said he didn’t. Both betrayed Him.

The first man, upon realizing what he had done, gave himself over to despair and took his own life.

The second man, upon realizing what he had done, wept bitter tears of shame.

But his story didn’t end there.

The man called Peter wept tears of repentance and rejoiced to find that even though he had not been there for Jesus when it mattered most, Jesus was indeed there for him, ready to receive him back into his arms once again, no matter what he had done.

I am that second man. I may not be a man, and I may not be named Peter, but I too have failed Jesus after having walked with Him. I too have denied him with my thoughts, words, and actions. But THANK GOD that the enemy did not win the battle for my soul! I am so thankful that His voice called me back with Love, and while showing me my sin, He opened wide his arms and accepted my heartfelt repentance and enfolded me in His Love.

Thank you Jesus. Help me to stay where you’ve put me and follow you all the rest of the way HOME.

Joshie and Other Randomness

I just got to talk to Josh!!! Dude I love my brother. I miss him. It's so cool to be able to talk to him and not feel like I'm making him put up with me. He's got a wife now! Dude! Joshie is married! I'm working on a surprise for them... hahaha I'll never tell!! :-)

Anyhow... why can't people remember that unless they are Native Americans, their own families were strangers in this country once too?

I think the picture of my eyes looks weird. No one has said it looks nice so that must mean that they think it's weird but don't want to be rude and say that. :-)

The Rest of the Story

Brad called right after I posted this... He had gone into the mountains to read and watch the sunset and had a flat on the way home. He fixed it and called to let me know what was going on. It's so nice when he calls instead of letting me worry.

Time is slipping away

Brad is out doing who knows what. Think he was gonna go hiking but it's dark now and I'm kinda getting worried. Times like this is when I wish we still had the cell phone, but we didn't want to pay for that and DSL. Maybe later on.

I've been working on fixing the checkbook. Fun fun fun. And listening to the Day of Fire pre-release CD I got from Goodwill for three bucks. Yay!

Their song "Time" says "Have you got the time to waste the day away?"

And the truth is, I really don't.

A girl at work lost her mother yesterday. She had called her brother's cell phone to ask him about something, and he was crying. She wanted to know what was wrong, and he wouldn't tell her, but then he went ahead and told her that their mother had committed suicide. I was on break when it happened, so I wasn't there, but everyone said she was absolutely hysterical. I can't blame her. I would be too.

It really shook everyone up. When things like this happen, it's so hard to understand WHY. I know that God could have prevented it, but God does not force anything on anyone. Everyone has got to make their own choices. This was NOT God's will. But I DO know that my Jesus can take something very very bad and make something good come out of it. I got to talk to Connie. We really don't know how much time we have. Every second counts.

We've got to make sure that there is nothing in our hearts that would get between us and Jesus. No sin will enter heaven. I'm so thankful that I don't have to live this life on my own! When Jesus changed my heart, I didn't want the same things I wanted before. I know that He is real because the me before is not the me that is now. No one can do that for me, I couldn't do that for me. But Jesus did.

Please, everyone that I love, PLEASE look into Jesus. Don't look at the people that claim to be Christians. Don't even look at me. But why not look into who Jesus is, and let Him speak for himself instead of the people who try to speak for Him.

You might not agree with me now, but wouldn't you rather find out now what the truth is now than to come to the end and find out you were wrong?

You lose nothing by looking into Jesus now.

In fact, you have everything to gain. Why don't you find out if what I say is true or not?

Please. Before it's too late.