Saturday, February 14, 2009

Cruise Highlights

My wife and I have just returned from a five day cruise. The cruise was a gift from the church in honor of our tenth anniversary at the church. It was a very relaxing time for the two of us.

We left Galveston on Saturday headed to Cozumel and Progresso. We slept until 8:30 a.m. on Sunday morning. Needless to say we were exhausted. Of course it helped to have an interior room where we didn't know when the sun was up and when it wasn't.

We only had two sleepless nights - one on Sunday and one on Wednesday. The sleepless night on Sunday was because of the rocking of the ship due to high wind and waves. The sleepless night on Wednesday was a different story. With it being the last night of the cruise some decided to stay out later and were noisy in the hallway. Then around 2:00 a.m. I heard an announcement, but could not understand all of it. There continued to be noise coming from the hall. Finally, around 2:30 a.m. I put my clothes on the see what was causing the commotion. The lady next to our stateroom told me there was a fire in one of the staterooms on the level above us. I woke my wife and we proceeded to the muster station with our life jackets as we were instructed. After a few minutes one of the members of the crew said it was safe to go back to our room. Needless to say, there wasn't much sleep after that.

The highlight of the trip for us had to be the food. We were treated like royalty in the dining room each night, with some very good food.

We are grateful for our church's generosity in allowing us the cruise and the time to be away.

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Random Quotes

I am officially coming out of the closet - I am addicted to books. If you ask my wife she would certainly agree. If we ever build a house, it will be built around bookcases for my books. Yes, I know I have a serious problem. But what can I do?

With that said, let me give you some random quotes.

"Two doctors standing together makes a paradox." (Sorry, I couldn't resist.)

"Sacred cows make the best hamburger, but the meat can be hard to swallow."
"The Bible does not provide a map for life, only a compass. But through this book you will discover how the compass can guide you over the bewildering terrain."
(Dr. Haddon Robinson)

"May I suggest that what the 21st-century church needs are daring people with daring plans - people who are more afraid of missing opportunities than making mistakes, more afraid of lifelong regrets than temporary failure."
(Mark Batterson)

"Some want to live within the sound of church or chapel bell; I want to run a rescue shop within a yard of hell."
(former missionary C.T. Studd)

"So ... when there are no answers to your questions ...
Trust Him when you don't understand
Trust Him when your heart is broken.
Trust His purpose. Trust His heart. Trust His goodness.
Trust Him beyond the grave. Trust Him to know best.
Trust His plan to be bigger than yours.
Trust Him to keep His word. Trust Him to be on time.
Trust Him to be compassionate. Trust Him to set you free.
Trust Him - and Him alone!
(Anne Graham Lotz)