Third Day

Some friends and I went to the Third Day concert the other day at the Patriot Center in Fairfax. It was the very first stop on their "Wherever You Are" tour.

It was great!!!

The David Crowder Band opened the show and literally got the whole crowd hopping. If you haven't heard their latest album "A Collision", I recommend you check it out. It reminds me a lot of some of the stuff I used to listen to in college. Really experimental and creative. Kind of Rock Opera-esque with a great sense of humor.

I really wish I could post some pictures from the show, but, like a doofus....
I forgot my camera!!!

Sooooo....

I took a picture of a concert tee.

There was a moving World Vision video during the intermission. This ministry is devoted to rescuing and healing children who have been effected by tribal wars and AIDS in Africa. It attempts to help the children who have suffered unimaginable atrocities and give them hope for a better future. Many of these children have been kidnapped and forced to serve as "soldiers"/killers or sex slaves. AIDS is used as a weapon upon entire villages and those who are not taken are left behind to care for their dying parents. It is almost too much for me to comprehend. I can't imagine how I would react to such a hopeless and frightening situation in my own life, and I'm an adult.

The World Vision booths allow concert-goers to do something for these children who are so far away. I know a few people who have "adopted" a World Vision child and have been so blessed by the letters they have received from these very thankful children. They are even more blessed in knowing that they are answering God's call to help others. This ministry mobilizes people to make use of contributed gifts and resources-- turning them into hope and a future.

After the break, Third Day took the stage. They were awesome, of course. Their set list was, by their own admission "ambitious". There are so many great songs for them to choose from, and I think they played them all (ok, that might be a slight exaggeration).

These guys, who have been playing together since the early nineties are still able to bring it. The difference between now and then? Now they have families, mortgages, and an appreciation for the many blessings they've received over the years. You can sense it in the maturation of their lyrics as well as in how they've chosen to invest their time. They've taken the opportunities afforded them, through their name recognition, and used them to focus on God's glory through service to others (i.e. World Vision). It's so anti-rock-and-roll. The concert was not a salute to ego. It was worship and encouragement and motivation.

Like the World Vision ministry, the Third Day concert was also a vehicle for hope, in that the latest album's focus is on hope and peace and rest to people "wherever they are", and they played many songs from the new album. Think "Cry out to Jesus", the first single from the album, and you'll get the idea.

The only disappointing thing about the whole night (other than sitting in the parking lot for an hour after the show, trying to get out) was the fact that I forgot my camera!

But.....

I did happen to pick up another concert tee......


***warning*** the following photo contains images of small creepy rodents***




Squirrels Rock!

Snow Day!

A foot of snow fell on Washington, D.C. this week. It was the good, fluffy, perfect for snowball making kind of snow too. Not that I threw any, um, at anyone...er... especially not at nice young men working diligently to shovel it away.





Fortunately, the work crews were out in force and speedily cleared the roads up quite nicely. So, after church, we trotted downtown to take some pictures before everything turned to a hard, gray slush.

The city was so serene in its fluffy white blanket.


All was quiet and still. It wasn’t too cold or windy—perfect.



What a beautiful day.

Groundblog Day!

So I went out his morning looking for a groundhog. The best I could find was this gray squirrel.
It’s in the rodent family, right?

Those beady eyes have to be good for something other than creeping some people out (don't worry, Amy, I won't tell anyone about your bizarre squirrel phobia).
So why not use them as an organic meteorological predictor of seasonal weather patterns?

Makes sense doesn’t it? AND its compact size makes the squirrel far more commercially attractive than its outdated and cumbersome cousin. Let's face it-- the groundhog is so yesterday. Innovation is the answer!

I decided to set up camp and do some research. I needed to observe the squirrel in action to determine his accuracy and, more importantly, his likeability factor. If I intend to get people to buy the legitimacy of a Groundsquirrel Day, I'm going to need some verifiable results.

Not having small (and, some ((Ahem, Amy)) might argue "potentially evil") squirrel eyes myself, I knew I was going to have to look very closely in order to see whether this tiny tree rat could see his shadow or not. I also knew that these little nut hoarders could be a tad jittery, so I was prepared to be very still—and wait.. for as long as it took... or... until I grew bored or my hands got cold.

Thankfully, before too long I spotted him.


I sat motionless, awaiting a verdict.

Would he see his little squirrelly shadow, thus ensuring another, say, three weeks of winter?(Possibly less if we're talking straight squirrel to groundhog ratios here. I'm not sure about this as I'm still gathering data.)

I wish I could say the experiment was a complete success. Unfortunately, from where I was sitting, I couldn't see said squirrel's shadow, and he wasn't giving me any indication, through his expression, as to whether or not he had seen it himself.
(To tell you the truth, I don't even think he was looking for it!)

So, I started to move in closer, for a better view.

Instantly, the darn thing took off like a silver streak of 21st century, micro-technology, doppler-grade fluff. In less than two shakes of a bushy tail, my acorn-eating almanac was down the fence, across the sidewalk, up a tree, over the power lines and out of sight-- leaving me with no clue as to how much more winter to expect!


Drat!






No service.

I guess this is the price one pays for progress.