MEMORIES OF MY AUNT

" Looking for God--or Heaven--by exploring space is like reading or seeing all Shakespeare's plays in the hope that you will find Shakespeare as one of the characters."   - C.S. Lewis



For an extrovert, I am highly private about many of my own personal experiences, feelings and struggles. It is a rare occurrence that I talk about them, save for with a few close people. I am much more likely to talk about ideas than share something that is deeply personal. Perhaps blogging will help me with this. Though I am not convinced that it is a problem. This blog is a way for me to force myself to share more of myself with others, which I have come to see is healthy.

I recently found out that on Sunday night my Aunt Valerie left this world for the better one. Death at times is a hard thing to come to grips with. When a person is gone that has been around ever since you can remember or at the very least for a long time, it can be quite difficult to believe it is real.

My aunt was a good woman and I do not say this lightly. She was a successful business woman, and she gave of her resources to help members of her family a lot over the years.

I cannot say that I talked to her often in my life, as she lived on the other side of the country ever since I can remember. However all of my memories of her are fond, and the past several years I did have the opportunity to see her a few times.

I will always remember her saying not long ago that she was proud of the young man that I have become. I'll keep that with me forever.

It was only recently that we all became aware that she had fallen ill with an extremely rare illness. Such things are often unpredictable and difficult to explain. They do happen in this world. Life is not always fair, but I do know that she had made her peace with God, and now she has begun the greatest of all adventures. One day I will see her again.

IRONIC

"A taste for irony has kept more hearts from breaking than a sense of humor for it takes irony to appreciate the joke which is on oneself" - Jessamyn West



Isn't it ironic for me to wake up today to the sound of an annoying alarmclock and finding that both my hands are asleep from sleeping on them.



LOL



It happened, no joke. So here I am flopping my two sleeping hands on the alarm clock like two fish out of water, in the dark mind you... only to change the channel to an annoying song that I'd hate to hear any time of the day, only full blast. I just felt a need to say that.



Yesterday I spoke with my old friend Alana who I had not seen or talked to in two years. She is from South Africa and was here for awhile as an exchange student. That was really cool.



I have always said that I am a moderate conservative... but not like the governor of California. When it comes to ethics I am a conservative... but I think those bleeding heart liberals have some good points in certain areas... only I question if those ideals are thier own or those of the special interest groups that fund their camaign.



I saw an interview with Bill Clinton from earlier this year and he made a good point. Liberals and conservatives both tend to demonize the opposing leaders and deify the ones they support. To do either is wrong, because as President Clinton pointed out, all presidents are humans, neither devil or God.



So I took a liberal-conservative p[personality test and here is what I received...



The how conservative are you Test

written by lemonslippers



The Moderate

Okay! You scored 73!

You are a moderate. Not EVERYTHING conservatives do annoys you, but some things get under your skin. You're not entirely comfortable with liberals, but there are some issues you'll support them on. You like to think of yourself as an independent thinker and you refuse to just vote down the party line! You hesitate before leaping into things, but when you get into them, you're quite passionate!



Well got a lot to get done today, so I'll cut this short.



Blessings -

Tony

MARANATHA

QUOTE OF THE DAY:

"Be courteous to all, but intimate with few, and let those few be well tried before you give them your confidence. True friendship is a plant of slow growth, and must undergo and withstand the shocks of adversity before it is entitled to appellation." - First US President George Washington (1732 - 1799)



Today is the day of my friends’ weddings. As stated before, I can only attend one. It is really a tough thing.



Speaking of tough things, on Thursday I found a neighbors cat dead in the in the street. A car had hit it. Then I had to tell the person across the street that her cat was dead. It was terrible and she was in tears. The eerie part was when I told her, she was listening to the Evanescence song, "My Immortal" with the lyrics, "When you cried I'd wipe away all of your tears." I hope it ministered to her.



My personal feelings on it: That is why we don't let our cats out. I mean there is no reason to. Cats that stay in live longer anyways. Any vet will tell you that.



Since I first saw that cat, I had admired it from afar as it would play in their yard. On certain occasions I would see it chasing it's tail around and around in circles or playing tag with their much larger dogs. It was a real shame.



I am also seriously grieving over what happened to those kids in Russia. I am so sick of this world. I do want to fall in love- get married etc. but if Jesus comes first, you'll get no complaints from me. This is random but you know you don't have to live alone in Heaven. There is no sex so there is no need for marriage like we have on Earth. The only marriage we be in is to Jesus. However there are families in Heaven. If you fall in love on Earth or just want to stay with someone in Heaven, if they do not object, you can. However it is based purely on love of one another. Sex, jealousy and the like will be done away with.



Some people freak out when i tell them no sex. Listen. if God can create that ecstasy, imagine what greater things he will do. Trust me, you'll get over it.



"But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him."

- I Corinthians 2:9 KJV



"But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God." - 1 Corinthians 2:10



In the mean time, I just want to do a better job of helping get people ready to come with me.



"Even so, come, Lord Jesus." - Revelation 22:20 KJV



Blessings-

Tony

Random Stuff

QUOTE OF THE DAY

"What lies behind us and what lies before us are small matters compared to what lies within us." - Ralph Waldo Emerson



Today is Wednesday... I think. Well it has certainly been a full week and there is still so much more to do. I want to go to the zoo before it gets too cold, but it may be a bit much trying to squeeze it in this week.



I usually try to pilgrimage to the zoo at least once a year. I love wildlife, especially big cats... like most of you don't know that... so I'll move on.



I think I am more or less just being random today. Nothing particular to post. However, I will say that I am feeling better this week. Not totally normal yet, but normal enough to function. God is faithful.



My fantasy football league is about to start and next month the big one for me, "Fantasy Basketball." I get butterflies in my stomach this time of year. There is something warm and fuzzy about fall. The only bad part is that it is the transition from summer to winter.



I won my league last year with the team name "2004 NBA Champion Pistons." I did it as an act of faith, sort of. Then my Pistons won the NBA title! I was so thrilled.



No one really gave them a chance to win against LA. and they whipped them like I knew they would.



Well that's enough rambling.



Blessings-

Anthony

ONE BOOK AND ONE WEDDING

QUOTE OF THE DAY

"The creative mind plays with the object it loves." - Carl Gustav Jung



I've got this problem. It is an overload of creative ideas. The opposite of writers block. There are five or so book ideas in my head and I can't focus on them all. One is fiction and the rest are non-fiction. Any advice?



This Saturday my close friend Bert is marrying his fiance. Another dear friend Missy is marrying her fiance. Both weddings are taking place at the exact same time. So I will be missing Missy's wedding. Bummer.



Coincidently both weddings were scheduled similarly. I was there when Bert and his fiance were planning the date. They asked me to check the calendar and see what date the second Saturday of September fell on. I did not think about it as I read off the date, but when they heard it was the September 11th, they quickly chose another date. Turns out Missy's wedding was selected the same way. Funny, when I said the 11th, I wasn't even thinking about 911.



Oh well... stranger coincidences have happened to me.



Blessings

- Tony

WISDOM AND MATURITY

QUOTE OF THE DAY

"I think age is a very high price to pay for maturity." - Tom Stoppard (1937-)



Maturity and wisdom, the two go hand in hand and recently I have been reflecting on how much I have grown as a person and how much I need to grow.



For example, when I was 20 years old, I usually started out looking for a reason to do something, to spend money, to date someone or to go someplace. Now at 27, I find myself first looking for reasons why I shouldn't. Will it benefit me? Can I afford this? Is she any good for me? Is that a safe place to go?



I have also learned to better manage my finances. Right now, I have my second credit card. The first one I ran up to the high heavens (well not that high-not compared to others). I spent most of the money on things I thought I needed (i.e. food and other essentials).



It took that first credit card to teach me the lesson that it is often better to do without than to create debt that you cannot pay back.



Back to relationships and this includes friendships. The older I get, the less of me I expose early on and the less I let my other guards down. Now don't get me wrong, I am outgoing and I love people. I am just not quick to trust people.



Maybe it is because I have been burnt before or maybe it is because I really value deep quality relationships over shallow quantities of them.



No doubt both.



I once read in a Bazooka Bubblegum fortune,

"One true friend is better than 1,000 false admirers."



So true... so true.



- Tony

MY REVIEW OF EXORCIST THE BEGINNING

QUOTE OF THE DAY:

"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." -Edmond Burke (1729-1797)



I saw the new Exorcist movie, "Exorcist The beginning" on Thursday night. I must admit that at first I did not like it. In fact I nearly walked out of the theatre. Reason being, there are some scenes that are quite disturbing. I mean more disturbing then I have seen in any horror films. Those scenes include a few children meeting horrible, violent and grotesque deaths.



For me, I felt that they did not need to show all that they did, and coming out of the film I hated it. That was until it was pointed out to me what a great movie it was.



You see as upsetting and disturbing as this movie was, it did show that violence against children, prejudice, perversion, and war all are inspired by darker origins. Too often people get mad a God for these things. The movie also depicts that the main scene is the spot where Lucifer fell to the Earth and that he is the one directly responsible for all of these atrocities.



Best yet, unlike the first Exorcist, God is glorified in the actual Exorcism. In the first film, the Priest was unable to cast out the demon, and instead made a deal with it, inviting it into himself.



This time around, a priest does rededicate his life to God, is accused by the Devil for his past sins and then by the power of God, casts it out. I hated it, hated it more, then realized it I liked it... well, with the help of someone else.



Additionally, the beginning was not only depicted as this prequel story, but the beginning was when Lucifer fell.



For entertainment value, I was not a fan. One star. *

For exposing the Devil's works, I give it five stars. *****



- Tony

MY FIRST BLOG

FAMOUS QUOTE OF THE DAY:

"If we only have the will to walk, then God is pleased with our stumbles." - C.S. Lewis



Well this is it. My first blog on my new blog. Here I will be updating often, talking about myself. How conceited does that sound? Well, anyways I will also be talking about my thoughts, feelings and the people and things I care about etc...



I will also begin each post with a quote I really like or fits my circumstances from somewhere, the Bible, a novel, a movie, a scientist, a garbage-man... somewhere.



Tonight I am going to go see Exorcist the beginning. I was planning to see it last Friday, but I was in too much pain due to a Epididymitis bacterial infection. It hurt so bad, you just have no idea.



I ended up in the emergency room Saturday, but thankfully it was something that could be cleared up with antibiotics. My recovery process is suppose to take 4-6 weeks, but I am healing faster than the doctors said because God has sped up the process. I was not able to even walk normally. Every step hurt. Today is the first day I can walk like a human.



You know, being sick or encountering adversity can sometimes cause us to grow spiritually because we realize that we have nothing to trust in except for God's word.



During my disabled time I watched Prince Caspian and the Silver Chair. I had only previously seen The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. I liked that one, but I think I like The Silver Chair best (so far). I have only seen three of the six Chronicles of Narnia so that could change.

Before the year is out, I plan to buy the novels. I liked it a lot as a kid, but I drifted away from it.



Well anyways, I will try to be back on here often if not most everyday. Take care everyone.



- Tony