I'm feeling a bit frustrated at the moment. I'm supposed to evaluate a DVD of myself that was filmed as I preached in one of my classes. Unfortunately both the computer and the DVD player on the TV won't read the DVD... it's a valid reason not to do homework, I suppose.

I'm also frustrated with Greek. Studying avails nothing; even when I can figure out the vocabulary, I still can't get the parsing to to smooth themselves out into coherent sentences. Arrgh!

Then Deborah and I went to the immigration office this afternoon-- only to discover that they close at 2 PM Monday through Friday... Maybe I should just go to bed. Sure, it's only 4 PM, but surely things would look better after some rest.

Oh yeah. I also tried to get on Facebook, but my site was down for maintenance when I tried to log in.

Well, that's it for now. Hope life is going better for you than me.

Your  SC whiner,

J

Sundays can be truly fun.

We have a routine where we leave the house about 8 AM, stop for a quick McDonald's breakfast, pick up another seminary student at Bob Jones, and head to church. Today we thought we would have a pianist, too, but she was sick. We didn't get the message because yours truly left the phone in the bedroom instead of taking it with him... so we waited for someone who didn't show, though she tried to call us.

Before Sunday School, my bloodsugar was just under 100. I took a sugar tablet to keep from further drops, taught the lesson, and got ready for the sermon. By the end of Pastor's sermon, I'd dropped again. My wife worried about my newest bloodsugar, so I took more tablets and the other student drove us back to BJ.

At my request we got a few items from a local fast food joint.

At the school, I took the wheel, and Deborah and I went out for lunch. BBQ sounded good, and it was.

We took a walk at a the park in Greer, and came home. Rested. Then I walked the dog, so both dog and I had two walks today. Yippee.

Did some studies for Tuesday's classes. (I studied my Greek at the BBQ joint).

Well, all for now.

Path to Paternity (Jonathan's Journal)

As the title indicates, Deborah and I had another milestone today on our journey to the birth of our baby.

We had an appointment at the doctor. After going through our medical histories and the usual discussions, the RN assistant brought out the device to listen to the baby's heart-beat. It has a good speaker. The heart-beat filled the room. Deborah broke into a grin, and I probably didn't look all that miserable myself.

The doctor said Deborah's stomach looked about right for her stage of pregnancy. She reassured Deborah that the baby won't start kicking for a while.

In three weeks we'll go in for an ultrasound. At that point, we should be able to determine whether we're looking forward to a boy or girl. As it is, Deborah's well into her second trimester, and it's full speed ahead.

I've been sharing two prayer requests at church: 1) that we would have a healthy baby and 2) that our child would accept the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior at an early age. It is our responsibility as Christian parents to train our child up in the way he should go, so when he is old, he will not depart from it.

Like the Philippian jailor, we would like to have our entire family know our blessed Savior as their Redeemer: ³⁰Then he brought them out and said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" And they said, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household." ³²And they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house.-- Acts 16:30-32, ESV, www.biblegateway.com

We know the Lord chooses whomever He wills. His elect He has called from the foundation of the world, Ephesians says. God chose Jeremiah, for example, before he was born: ⁴Now the word of the LORD came to me, saying, "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,and before you were born I consecrated you;I appointed you a prophet to the nations." -- Jeremiah 1:4-5 ESV (from www.biblegateway.com)

Well, that's it for now.

God bless.

Jonathan's Journal

It's been a while since I've written so I thought I'd give you a quick update.

* Deborah has been a little sick. She missed school last Monday and Tuesday after missing school the Friday before as well. Praise the Lord she's filling better. The folks at Welcome Baptist Church were great about praying for her, and others promised to pray as well. The Lord really does answer His people's prayers.

* We had a nice night out Thursday. One of Deborah's friends from Agape and her husband in the seminary invited us to their house for dinner. Later, another couple we met at Ryans joined us. We shared photos, stories, and had a good time. They sent us home with kimchi and chop chae.

* Korean class continues on Saturday. David (half of the 'other couple' above) seems pretty serious about Korean studies.

* We had a new pianist at Welcome Baptist Church this week.

* Deborah and I tried Dickey's Barbecue Pit for lunch today. Deborah had the ribs; I had a sandwich. The food was good. We brought home some of the bones for Pumpkin.

Is the Check in the Mail?

The boss of the Post Office (Potter) is asking Congress for permission to deliver 5 days a week instead of 6.

I find it interesting that "the Cardinal", as the Washington Post calls him,of the Post Office committee refuses to consider cutting the service. Serrano the New York congressman argues that a possible three-day delay for Monday holidays (Saturday, Sunday, Monday) would be onerous, so he rejected the idea of out hand.

Think about it. Email is far quicker, more reliable (more rarely lost, though sometimes not portable across services), and cheaper. Email can be sent from home, office, or the library. There is a reason e-cards are popular. It's even possible to pay some bills electronically. What's the point of mail? It's great advantage is bulk. If you want to see goods to a friend, you put it in a box and send it on its way. Quite frankly, if I'm mailing a check for a bill, I wouldn't mind it taking a few extra days.

So to whom would an extra two days (at most) cause problems? If you receive checks in the mail from governmental programs, there might be an issue. Your tax rebate, social security check, or the like may come the slow way.

I believe the gain of saving money is worth the cost in lost service. Many businesses the post office delivers to are closed on the weekends anyways. Most of us would be happier knowing we won't be getting any bills over the weekend. The fact that the post office is struggling means that tough choices should be made. When businesses find their products aren't profitable enough, they cut costs. Yesterday on the tv news, I saw a report about how companies are decreasing the amount of product in their packages-- less peanut butter in a container, less cereal in the boxes, etc. Surely the Post Office should use similar sound business practices.

Just some random meditations that will likely have absolutely no impact. But I got it off my chest.

God bless.