I’d be able to say that I don’t have another Fall semester left too, but one of my independent studies was denied and assuming they accept me, I’ll be taking my final class at that seminary in Fort Worth.  Don’t worry, after four years at NOBTS, there’s no way I’m transferring.  It’s a transient class, and I’ll be back in New Orleans in December for graduation.

Oh yeah… I’m moving to Texas soon.  How soon?  Sometime between mid-June and the last week of July.

That’s all, folks!

PS: No, really, there’s one more thing.  My folks got a dog.  Which is why that picture is in this post.  They’ve adopted from one of my professors.

I think the tiny two foot alligator startled Liz.

It took them a little time to get up the courage, but they finally went over the sketchy bridge. Shortly after Liz and Nicole made it across, some lady with a German accent showed up and, as Nicole put it, “pogo’ed across.”

They said hello.

The end.

We encountered a decaying boat house with broken windows that fit in a scene from Scooby Doo. Which reminds me… do you ever notice that about half of the Scooby Doo episodes take place in the swamps? I think there’s a significant point in that. Anyway here’s the boat house.

Then we saw the Giant Buddha, which I didn’t get a good picture of. The Buddha looks over the garden, because no real garden is complete without a 20 foot tall Buddha. Remember that when you start your next garden project. After the Buddha we went to Bird City, which is definitely filled with birds. Herons or cranes of some sort. It smelled like the zoo. I mean, really bad too. I always thought the smell at the zoo was because of the elephants and giraffes and rhinoceroses. No. It’s the birds. I’ll leave you with a glimpse of the birds.

The Tabasco Factory Tour was hilarious.  We get inside the factory itself to find that it’s pretty small.  The way our tour guide read from her script made us wonder if she’d ever read it before- it took all I had not to bust out laughing at the humor of the presentation.  Our ten minute video was preceded by our guide’s comments to “let yourself out this door to the right when the video is over.”  Sometime just before the video began I mentioned how we should model our Seminary Preview Weekends like this.  Oh how great it would be.

After finishing our now self-guided tour, we ran up to the Tabasco Country Store for something to eat and drink.  Liz and Nicole sampled all the types of Tabasco, including the Tabasco Soda and the Jalapeno Ice Cream.  One lady behind the counter stared at me for a few minutes before finally asking where my chicken was.  Apparently my doppleganger visited the Island the day previous, carrying a giant yellow rubber chicken.  Interesting.

The other part of Avery Island is its Jungle Gardens.  I’ll post about that next.

It’s not that Christianity itself is lacking anything.  It is my depth of understanding what it means to follow Jesus that is lacking.

There are moments when I catch a tiny glimpse of the hugeness of God, and I know beyond the shadow of any doubt that the God I follow is the real One.  In the Scriptures I hear the notes of a symphony that sings God’s story.  I do not hear the whole symphony; only one or two instruments at a time.  And then, for a fleeting moment, I hear the harmony of whole of Creation singing at once, and I am reminded that this symphony will be played out in full in its own time.

And that I am, in such a small way, a part of this symphony that has been going on since the beginning… and will continue long after I’ve left this beautiful blue planet.  It’s moments like these when I remember that the Creator from whom salvation comes is not lacking in any way.  God is not dissatisfying.  It is only my perspective that is at fault.

So, then, shall it change.

Best quote I’ve heard in the last couple weeks. I can’t think of one arena of life that this isn’t blatantly screaming out at us- from religion to politics to you name it. What aren’t you understanding?

I just wanted to remind you that I’ve been posting photos weekdays at The Photo Room. Since I’ve been playing with Adobe Lightroom, I’ve really been able to make some of them pop. Check it out.

Anyway, I’ve really tried not to pay much attention to this topic, but I ran across a very interesting post about Miley Cyrus’ “grooming” by Vanity Fair on Gawker.  Gawker makes a connection between the magazine and a manipulative style used by pedophiles:

There’s a technique called “grooming” that pedophiles use on their victims (yes, we just learned about it today, thank you). One definition says “Grooming behavior is intended to make the victim or potential victim or victim’s guardians feel comfortable with the molester and even interested in interacting with him.” And here’s a characteristic of a regressed child molester: “They place pseudo-adult status on their victims and then view them as they would their peers.” Now take a look at the following behind-the-scenes pictures from Vanity Fair’s controversial new Miley Cyrus photo shoot by 58-year-old lesbian photographer Annie Leibovitz and ask yourself if any of that rings a bell. We’re not accusing these stylists of being pedophiles, we’re just saying… ugh…

All I’m saying is… WOW. In this PC world, I’m almost as surprised by the connection by Gawker as I am by the photoshoot itself.  I’m not sure where I stand, nor do I think it’s even important where I stand.

What’s important to me is the concept of “grooming.”  The thing that disturbs me is that I’ve watched adult volunteers “groom” youth in the same way.  You know what?  That’s sick.  (On another note, Louisiana is working on a plan to make more predators pause before pursuing.)

[Photo copyright Vanity Fair]

Out of the deep I cry,
The woeful deep of sin,
Of evil done in days gone by,
Of evil now within.

Out of the deep of fear
And dread of coming shame;
All night till morning watch is near
I plead the precious name.

Lord, there is mercy now,
As ever was, with Thee.
Before Thy throne of grace I bow;
Be merciful to me.

Henry W. Baker, 1868

I’m just saying…