"I believe that much of our evangelism is ineffective because we depend too much upon technique and strategy. Evangelism has slipped into the sales department. I am convinced that we must look at Jesus, and the quality of life he calls us to, as a model for what to believe and how to reach out to others."
--Rebeca Manley Pippert
Out of the Saltshaker
FYI, I've answered all comments, as far as I can tell. If I've missed any, y'all are welcome to point 'em out to me.
We started and almost finished painting the church building this week. Pictures to come soon. We wanted to finish today, but it's raining, so we're hoping to get it done over the weekend.
There's a serious situation developing in Ed's family. I can't give you any details, but I'm asking those of you who pray, please pray for strength and wisdom and guidance for Ed's family and for Ed and me. Just trust that God knows what you're praying about. Thanks.
Love to all,
C.
Credit where credit is due, I got this idea from my Honorable friend Patricia. ;o) I typed my name into Google. What follows is my Top Ten List of Google Items Related To My Name. Google yourself and see what you come up with!
Courtney, Googled
1. Courtney…protected under United States and International Copyright Laws.
No cloning, please. I'm ticklish.
2. Courtney plays jazz in the UK.
Yes…I’m really wicked on the tenor sax.
3. Courtney…gives seminars on EMF Balancing Technique an energy system designed to work with the "Phoenix Factor", a model of the human energy anatomy.
Did you know I’m one of the original Ghostbusters?
4. On Motorsport Images, Courtney covers rallying in Ireland.
This is on the weekends, when I’m not toting my saxophone around the United Kingdom.
5. Courtney wants to talk about piracy and music.
Arrr, matey…what be them sweet notes you be singin’ thar, ye yellow-livered landlubber?!
6. Perhaps you are looking for Courtney?
Oh, I found me a long time ago. But if anyone else is looking for me, please let me know.
7. Courtney is in the second half of her weight loss journey.
The first half must’ve been rough…I seem to have blocked it from memory.
8. Courtney often engages in scandals and obscene actions.
The truth comes out…that’s just the kind of girl I am.
9. The company must just know that Courtney is a hussy.
I think I read a memo on that.
10. Gabriel is a SATAN detector, similar to Courtney.
That’s much better! Even archangels are compared to me. ;o)
For those of you reading this, I've got a few questions for ya. For those of you not reading this...it's not gonna affect you one way or the other, so stop not reading. ;o)
Anyway...I'm just curious:
Do you leave comments on the blogs of people you don't know?
If so, then why?
If not, why not?
Gentle Readers,
I want to apologize to you for inconveniencing you by enabling word verification on my blog. It was a necessity, as the volume of spam I was getting increased by 100% over the last 10 days. Since I loathe such infestation--about as much as I loathe the real-world infestation my sinuses are suffering--I felt compelled to fight back the only way I know how. I know it makes commenting a little less quick-and-easy, but I do hope you won't let that deter you from flooding my blog with your witty and generous responses to every single post I make here.
And I'm not at all shameless about hinting! How dare you insinuate such? ;o)
(P.S. Anybody get the "Gentle Readers" reference?)
Well, it looks like I'm headed back up, out of the pit of slime and ooze infesting my head. You liked that mental picture, dintcha? ;o)
Seriously, though....the meds seem to be kicking in. I definitely feel better this morning, though I must add the caveat that mornings and early afternoons are always better. It's evenings and nights that tell the real story. I think the antibiotics keep me awake at night--I wake up several times each night, feeling as though every nerve in my body is just thrumming. Like bugs crawling under my skin. I also have weird dreams anytime I'm on antibiotics. Last night, I was a little kid with a Star-Trek-esque communicator, and I was frantically calling for help while an orbiting satellite shot laser beams at me. What a life.
Anyway, at least my ears are moderately clear today--I can hear again--and my sense of smell is starting to return. I was able to identify a slight taste to my cereal this morning. Woo-hoo.
April and Clint sent me this hilarious e-card, which I wanted to share with all of you. It really made me laugh, which is a rare occurrence when I'm feeling the way I am right now. But, as James reminded me just a few days ago...laughter is the best medicine!
It certainly seems to work faster than any of the pills I've been swallowing. ;o)
So thanks, guys!!!
P.S. I'd say the gooky green color is pretty accurate. ;oP
November 11, 2004
The following lyrics are Sting’s song “Dead Man’s Rope” from his Sacred Love album. This album will never be my favorite—it’s too “techno,” too synthesized, not enough variety to suit me. But this song has really touched me deeply. Here are the lyrics, and then my comments:
A million footsteps, this left foot drags behind my right
But I keep walking, from daybreak 'til the falling night
And as days turn into weeks and years
And years turn into lifetimes
I just keep walking, like I've been walking for a thousand years
Walk away in emptiness, walk away in sorrow,
Walk away from yesterday, walk away tomorrow,
If you're walking to escape, to escape from your affliction
You'd be walking in a great circle, a circle of addiction
Did you ever wonder what you'd been carrying since the world was black?
You see yourself in a looking glass with a tombstone on your back
Walk away in emptiness, walk away in sorrow,
Walk away from yesterday, walk away tomorrow,
Walk away in anger, walk away in pain
Walk away from life itself, walk into the rain
All this wandering has led me to this place
Inside the well of my memory, sweet rain of forgiveness
I'm just hanging here in space
Now I'm suspended between my darkest fears and dearest hope
Yes I've been walking, now I'm hanging from a dead man's rope
With Hell below me, and Heaven in the sky above
I've been walking, I've been walking away from Jesus' love
Walk away in emptiness, walk away in sorrow,
Walk away from yesterday, walk away tomorrow,
Walk away in anger, walk away in pain
Walk away from life itself, walk into the rain
All this wandering has led me to this place
Inside the well of my memory, sweet rain of forgiveness
I'm just hanging here in space
The shadows fall
Around my bed
When the hand of an angel,
The hand of an angel is reaching down above my head
All this wandering has led me to this place
Inside the well of my memory, sweet rain of forgiveness
Now I'm walking in his grace
I'm walking in his footsteps
Walking in his footsteps,
Walking in his footsteps
All the days of my life I will walk with you
All the days of my life I will talk with you
All the days of my life I will share with you
All the days of my life I will bear with you
Walk away from emptiness, walk away from sorrow,
Walk away from yesterday, walk away tomorrow,
Walk away from anger, walk away from pain
Walk away from anguish, walk into the rain.
--Sting
“Dead Man’s Rope”
Earlier, for the first time, I listened to this song while reading the lyrics. I don’t know why—maybe because I’m tired, maybe because I’ve felt pressured from many sides lately, maybe because I’ve been doubting self and most people around me lately—but as I sat there, reading and listening, I started crying. The crying turned into outright sobbing, and I just sat here with tears running down my face...
...[T]hat’s what it is to walk into the Lord’s embrace. It means walking away from emptiness, sorrow, yesterday, pain, anger, anguish, from life itself. It means that all my life, Jesus will walk with me, talk with me, share with me, bear with me. And I’ve felt this way for so long: that I’m suspended somewhere, in between somewhere, heaven above me, and the past—my sin, which creates hell for me—below me. I’m waiting on Jesus to fold me to him and hide my soul forever in the cleft of the rock, protected forever from everything. I am walking in his grace, because he has saved me.
Got 10-day antibiotic from doctor this afternoon. Has cool-sounding name (meds, not doctor): ciprofloxacinhydrochloride 1 H2O.
Since my daily beta-blocker is propranololhydrochloride, I wonder how off-the-charts the level of hydrochloride in my body is right now. Wish I knew more about chemistry. Be fun to draw the chemical structure of the stuff I'm taking. Always liked drawing chemical structures in school.
I remember hydrchloride is HCl. Don't remember if there are + or - numbers that go with it. Don't remember how to draw it, either. Sad.
Think I'm running a fever, so I'm gonna stop writing now.
Stupid-kenupid sinuses. >:o/
Please disregard the date above. I posted this here for the sake of convenience on August 17, 2006.
Picture:
Description:
'Prophetess of the Dragon'
Painting created sometime in 2001. I saw a glass head in a store. It was one of those glass heads intended for displaying hats. I saw this glass head, and I knew I had to have this glass head. I knew I had to paint this glass head. So I bought this glass head and painted it. Ta-dah. ;o)
I call her "Prophetess of the Dragon" because when I was finished with her, I realized that she's the perfect representation of a race of prophetic, elf-like creatures in the fantasy trilogy I've been writing since my late teens. Exactly what the "Dragon" part means, I don't know yet. (No relation to Robert Jordan's "Wheel of Time" series, I assure you!)
She now sits atop a huge sideboard in my livingroom, surveying her domain from above and weirding out first-time visitors to my apartment. ;o)
Someday, I will buy more glass heads and paint them, too.
Oil paints on hollow glass head-shape, young adult human head size. Photo taken by me; used
with permission. ;o)
Uploaded August 2006.
Some Writing-Life Resources:
Thesaurus.com, the thesaurus and dictionary that work best for me.
Wikipedia, where I've learned about bellmetal, fencing, Redwoods, archivolts, and lots more!
Leo, an English-German, German-English online dictionary.
NaNoWriMo, where you can undertake the crazy task of writing a 50,000 word novel during November each year! I've NaNo-ed four times now, and am pleased to call it a yearly habit. ;o)
NaNo 2003: over 50k (novel incomplete)
NaNo 2004: didn't make it past 12k :o(
NaNo 2005: over 50k (novel incomplete)
NaNo 2006: over 50k, and new novel complete!!!
Others:
My Other Blog, where I post Bible studies and other helpful materials.
ChessWorld--play chess online.
Oklahoma Christian University, where I graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in English/Writing in December 1999.
Ancestry.com--build your own family tree and research your ancestors.
TCK World, which explains a lot about who I am and why! ;o)
Gentle Readers,
I would like to point you in the direction of two blogs:
1. Chocolate Fighters
This blog is for (A) all of you health-conscious crazy people who want to join the crusade against chocolate together with Vanessa and me, and (B) all of you possibly more realistic people who'd like (a) to read about how tough it is to give up chocolate and (b) to laugh at those of us who are making this nutty attempt. As part of an attempt to live and eat healthier, Vanessa and I have decided to give up chocolate, and she started a blog about it, which I suspect is going to be more of a support club/therapy group.
For those of you who know me, you already know that my giving up chocolate is more than likely to put me in therapy, anyway. ;o)
Just FYI, most of the Chocolate Fighters blogposts will be in German, but I plan to make mine in English for my non-German-speaking readers. I'll be posting under the name "noMerci."
2. Opera Singer's Daily
I am most pleased to announce that my dad, Bill Weger, has a blog! Over the last 25 years of living as an American opera singer in Germany, Daddy has gotten multiple thousands of questions from people wanting to know what it's like to be an American opera singer in Germany. So, finally, modern technology has given him the perfect tool for answering these questions all in one fell swoop. Over the years, his operatic adventures have ranged from watching a fellow singer getting her toes cut off, to performing in truly beautiful productions of shows such as Aida, Don Giovanni, Zauberflöte, La Bohème, and My Fair Lady, among dozens of others.
His blog is brand-new, but I'm sure if you ask, he'll be more than happy to regale you with some of the more eye-popping tales of life in the operatic theater. :o)
You'll find links to both these new blogs here.
Hi friends. Just a momentary gripe:
I'm sick of getting sick with these stupid sore-throat-turn-into-sinus-infections. I just wanna say I'M REALLY TIRED OF IT, because I keep getting them, no matter how many positive changes I make to my exercising schedule and eating habits!
What's the point of eating right, eating all this healthy stuff that doesn't taste nearly as good as the unhealthy stuff, WHEN THE HEALTHY STUFF DOESN'T EVEN KEEP ME HEALTHY?!?!??!?!??????????
These are rhetorical questions. I just needed to vent some frustration. I feel slightly better now. Thank you.
Blech.
There is an old story that one day, Satan gathered his assistants to discuss the most effective method of destroying meaning in people's lives.
One assistant suggested, "Tell them there is no God."
Another said, "Tell them there are no consequences to their actions."
A third proposed, "Tell them they have strayed so far from the right path, they will never be able to change."
Satan considered these proposals carefully...and then a smile slid slowly across his lips. "No," he said calmly. "Such things will not matter to them.
"I think we should simply tell them, 'There is plenty of time.'"
Here are some pics to illustrate this evening's activities, followed by a bit of randomness thrown in for good measure!
Exhibit A: Greek Birthday Follies
Okay, so Karen's birthday was several weeks ago. However, we losers had left her to her own devices (we'd all temporarily departed the country, if not the whole continent), so we "nachgefeiert" this evening. That means we made up for it by celebrating late, but the single German word is just so much clearer than the long English explanation! ;o) Anyway, that's Pam, Karen, and April up there. As is our Chem-merican tradition, we went to Palas Athen, our favorite Greek restaurant, to celebrate. Ed is good pals with the owner, who served us himself! And he gave Karen a free gift, but I won't tell what it was. ;o)
This is Felix. While Guido and Silke are on vacation with their family, Ed and I are cat-sitting at our house for two weeks. So far, Felix has been a lot of fun. He engages in random, mad dashes through the house and insists on being petted at least every five minutes. He greets with a happy "Mrow?" every human he sees. Though he has already tried to ingest several of my houseplants, I can't really blame him for it--I think he thinks they're grass.
Here, I offer you documentation to show that in spite of my recent mishap with kitchen instruments, I still have the courage to face the dreaded culinary domain and attempt to produce something edible therein. Tomorrow is "gemeinsames Essen," i.e. "communal eating," i.e. potluck after worship, so I decided to bring something. Since I need to get rid of all the sugar and chocolate chips in the pantry, thereby eliminating these items from my realm of temptation, I chose to bake some cookies this evening, so as to foist this sweet, delicious poison off on unsuspecting church members. I figure they're all adults, they can decide if they need to be eating said cookies or not. ;o)
Well, Faithful Readers, if you've been reading faithfully, you will recall this post, in which I regaled you with the first two tales of our whirlwind trip to Oklahoma. Now, without further ado, I present you with:
PART III--Clint and April: The Wedding
The calm before the storm?
April and Courtney (unfortunately a little blurry!)
Googly-eyed Ed ;o)
Jason and Clint and the sparkly-thingy
What can I say? Tradition lives. ;o)
Left to right:
Mark, Jason, Jonathan, Clint, Ed, Dennis, Peter
April and Amy, her sister and matron of honor
Top row: Peter, Jason, Jonathan
Bottom row: Ed, Dennis, Clint, Mark
On the side: Jared and Zachary, but I don't know which is which! ;o)
Clint's chicken-walk?
A sample of how our bridesmaids' dresses were all wonderfully unique!
April and the guys
Clint and the girls
Will the REAL bride and groom please
step forward???
I have always loved these "hampsters". And I guess I always will. They just make me really happy! ;o) (You might have to wait a moment for the music to load properly.)
Also, I just wanted to post a link here to one of the funniest things I've ever seen. I know, I know, this is an oldie, too, but I just laugh hysterically every time I see/hear this. You oughta get a look at me "dancing" along with this guy at my computer! But don't expect me to make a video of it. ;o)
For those who don't know, the song is "Dragostea Din Tei" by O-zone, and the guy performing is not, as commonly believed, Dutch. He's a guy named Gary from New Jersey, and rumor has it he's not too happy with the publicity his little video has gotten.
Gary, if you're out there, be happy: You've brightened up the days of many, many people. :o)
