The whole family will be together in Woodbury (less 1 brother in law) when my younger sister arrives today. It is always good to have the entire family together for the holidays. The Christmas story is read, gifts are given, games played, stories of past times are retold, and food is consumed. While Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday (lots of food, football and family), Christmas of course has the most significant impact on my worldview. Hard to imagine the God of the universe sending His son in the form of a helpless baby to save the world. While this apparent dichotomy (omnipotent becoming vulnerable) is not the main reason I believe in God's saving gift of grace, it does tend to reinforce the fact that Jesus wasn't dreamt up by the same people who conceived of Zanu, the flying spaghetti monster, or any other character involved with different world views.
The stories of those of us who put faith in Jesus is full of failures and setbacks along our respective journeys but each concludes with ultimate victory through Him. The evidence for God is everywhere and yet many of us still refuse to submit to His authority in our lives and because of this pride we refuse the gift that He freely offers. My prayer is that those of us who serve God will really serve God, and that those of you who happen upon this blog who don't know God and haven't accepted His free gift of grace, will do so this year. Merry Christmas and may God richly bless each of you now and in the New Year.
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Monday, December 22, 2008
Mozart's The Magic Flute
While I was in Vienna, Andrea and I were able to go see the opera The Magic Flute. It was pretty cool to see the opera in the same city in which it was first performed way back in 1791 just before Mozart passed away. Well after doing some google searches I stumbled upon this incredible bird singing some of the music from this opera. Enjoy
Saturday, December 20, 2008
European Vacation
I'm back from my trip and am very glad to be home. This trip was more pleasant than most of my recent trips involving air travel and for that I am thankful. I flew out of Nashville into Paris via Atlanta for my outbound journey. I arrived about on schedule and spent 6 days in France visiting with friends, attending conference seminars, and seeing the sights.
The trip to Le Mont St Michel was interesting to say the least. I first read about St Michels 20 years ago and have always wanted to visit this interesting place before I died. Well, I talked some friends into going on my adventure with me. Scott drove while Andrea, Eleanor and I rode shotgun and provided driving instruction and encouragement from the observer positions (can you say back seat drivers). The day we made our trip 350 kilometers across Northern France to Le Mont St Michel was the most foggy day in the history of France (my personal opinion only).
We arrived and could only see the bottom 100 feet of the mountain since the rest was covered with fog and clouds. We explored for an hour or so and as predicted by Andrea the fog lifted and the sun made its appearance. The result was a good view of the mount and its buildings as well as the surrounding countryside. While I would have liked better weather for the trip it was well worth the effort and expense to make the trek (not sure if my fellow travelers would agree). It really is like a small island world all its own.
After my time was up in France I boarded a flight to Vienna to visit with some friends and see Vienna again. I have always loved Austria and this was by far my best trip to this small beautiful country. The people are polite and helpful and the architecture is magnificent. Every church is a place of worship that seems to enhance the worship experience by it's very character as well as a museum that preserves Austria's past. Most of the churches and cathedrals were at least partially destroyed during WWII but the Austrians rebuilt using the original materials where available and brought them back to original condition. The result is incredible and well worth a visit just to see inside some of the many churches scattered around the city of Vienna. Andrea and her father showed me around the city and provided incredible detail on the history and current condition and use of many historic sights around the city of Vienna. I even had the privilege of visiting the Royal palace, Hofburg Royal apartments, as well as the former summer palace (Schonbrunn) of the Austrian monarchy. Andrea's parents live right near the main downtown area which houses the beautiful Stephensdom. Another treat of the trip was attending the Opera in the Staatsoper building on Thursday evening. I was also treated to great food and fellowship by Andrea and her parents during the 4 days I spent in Austria.
Hofburg Apartments shown above.
Schonbrunn Summer Palace shown above.
St Stephen's Church shown above.
The trip to Le Mont St Michel was interesting to say the least. I first read about St Michels 20 years ago and have always wanted to visit this interesting place before I died. Well, I talked some friends into going on my adventure with me. Scott drove while Andrea, Eleanor and I rode shotgun and provided driving instruction and encouragement from the observer positions (can you say back seat drivers). The day we made our trip 350 kilometers across Northern France to Le Mont St Michel was the most foggy day in the history of France (my personal opinion only).
We arrived and could only see the bottom 100 feet of the mountain since the rest was covered with fog and clouds. We explored for an hour or so and as predicted by Andrea the fog lifted and the sun made its appearance. The result was a good view of the mount and its buildings as well as the surrounding countryside. While I would have liked better weather for the trip it was well worth the effort and expense to make the trek (not sure if my fellow travelers would agree). It really is like a small island world all its own.
After my time was up in France I boarded a flight to Vienna to visit with some friends and see Vienna again. I have always loved Austria and this was by far my best trip to this small beautiful country. The people are polite and helpful and the architecture is magnificent. Every church is a place of worship that seems to enhance the worship experience by it's very character as well as a museum that preserves Austria's past. Most of the churches and cathedrals were at least partially destroyed during WWII but the Austrians rebuilt using the original materials where available and brought them back to original condition. The result is incredible and well worth a visit just to see inside some of the many churches scattered around the city of Vienna. Andrea and her father showed me around the city and provided incredible detail on the history and current condition and use of many historic sights around the city of Vienna. I even had the privilege of visiting the Royal palace, Hofburg Royal apartments, as well as the former summer palace (Schonbrunn) of the Austrian monarchy. Andrea's parents live right near the main downtown area which houses the beautiful Stephensdom. Another treat of the trip was attending the Opera in the Staatsoper building on Thursday evening. I was also treated to great food and fellowship by Andrea and her parents during the 4 days I spent in Austria.
Hofburg Apartments shown above.
Schonbrunn Summer Palace shown above.
St Stephen's Church shown above.
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Paris the city of Rain and Fog
Well, to all of my faithful readers, I've arrived and spent the past 2 days re-seeing famous places around Paris. I spent a couple of cold hours on the Eiffel tower's 2nd level, a few minutes under the Arc de Triumphe, 10 minutes in the church of the Sacre Coeur (Montmartre), a couple of hours at a Christmas market, 2 hours at the Louve, a quick outside viewing and walk-around of the Sorbonne, and finally an hour or so at Notre Dame (sights not listed in actual order of viewing). I did however do the obligatory greeting from Samantha to Mona Lisa (or as I call her Hannah with long brown hair).
The weather has been pretty horrific so far with temperatures right around freezing and rain and drizzle most of the day. Despite the bad weather it has been great catching up with friends. Tomorrow we (about 6 of us) plan to rent a van to drive over to Versailles and then on to Le Mont St Michel for the day. It is about a 4 hour drive each way but I am looking forward to getting out of the city and seeing these 2 incredible spots. For those wanting pictures, you might have to wait for me to return home to upload some. All for now.
The weather has been pretty horrific so far with temperatures right around freezing and rain and drizzle most of the day. Despite the bad weather it has been great catching up with friends. Tomorrow we (about 6 of us) plan to rent a van to drive over to Versailles and then on to Le Mont St Michel for the day. It is about a 4 hour drive each way but I am looking forward to getting out of the city and seeing these 2 incredible spots. For those wanting pictures, you might have to wait for me to return home to upload some. All for now.
Monday, December 8, 2008
Building Progress 16 and travel update
This past week was rainy and nasty so not a lot of outdoor progress was made. Saturday however was nicer and things had dried out a little so the gentleman framing up and finishing my sidewalk was able to get gravel in place and ready to grade it and prep for framing and concrete. Then, today (Monday) he came back and finished grading it ready to install all of the framing ready to receive the concrete. I also had the electrician back in to touch up a couple of things to make sure we are ready for drywall, The drywall guys were supposed to start hanging drywall today but they never showed up. I have a backup guy ready if the don't do it tomorrow morning, I'll call them and have them hang it for me. Both of them are good from all reports (of course no-showing without notification doesn't really impress me too much). Don was there today doing more brick work and below are some recent photos of where the building's progress was as of Monday morning.
View of the Southern side (SW corner) of my new "home".
A wider angle view of the Southern side of the house.
A close-up of the Western most porch column (I will cap the bricks and install decorative wood paneling around the post)
Travel news. On Wednesday I head to Paris and Vienna for almost 2 weeks. I will spend the first 7 days in Paris at an academic conference and then hanging out enjoying Paris. I will then fly on to Vienna to visit my friend Andrea from grad school. She is now a distinguished professor at U. of Delaware. She and her folks (her parents live there) should be able to show me Vienna in a more informative and knowledgeable way than I have seen it in the past. So, while I am not very fond of air travel anymore (since 9/11 and our introduction of the "new and better" TSA), I am looking forward to seeing two great cities after a long hiatus.
View of the Southern side (SW corner) of my new "home".
A wider angle view of the Southern side of the house.
A close-up of the Western most porch column (I will cap the bricks and install decorative wood paneling around the post)
Travel news. On Wednesday I head to Paris and Vienna for almost 2 weeks. I will spend the first 7 days in Paris at an academic conference and then hanging out enjoying Paris. I will then fly on to Vienna to visit my friend Andrea from grad school. She is now a distinguished professor at U. of Delaware. She and her folks (her parents live there) should be able to show me Vienna in a more informative and knowledgeable way than I have seen it in the past. So, while I am not very fond of air travel anymore (since 9/11 and our introduction of the "new and better" TSA), I am looking forward to seeing two great cities after a long hiatus.
Saturday, December 6, 2008
Lastest Happenings
Not much exciting news to report from Sparta. Some good news is that the semester is rapidly approaching the end. The last day of classes was Friday and finals week is next week. It is nice to know that I have almost a month off from work before classes start back in the Spring. I do have some work related activities over Christmas break (including my trip to Paris and class prep for Spring) but for the most part it should be a relaxing and fun time with family and friends.
This coming year could be an interesting time at the college level here in TN. We are expecting huge cuts in funding and with that there will be changes coming our way. There is talk of involuntary furloughs and other cost cutting measures to help with budgetary constraints. A part of me is tempted to volunteer to be furloughed for a year or two and travel or volunteer at an overseas school. For a few years I have been playing with the thought of teaching at an international high school in Vietnam or Malaysia. With all this is going on here this might be the time to take a year and go do it. I'm not sure why but Dalat school keeps popping into my thoughts as a place to serve and give of my time and talents. My only concern with overseas work is accessibility issues that could cause a burden on the school. I'm not sure how accessible the Dalat campus is or if it could even work for me to teach there for a year or two.
The building is still slowly progressing. It has rained a few times this week so all outside work is on hold until Monday but the electrical and plumbing rough-ins were inspected and approved and the insulation has been installed. Monday the drywall guys are supposed to get to work and sheetrock the walls and ceilings. Hopefully I can line up the painters and have it painted while I am in France. Then if Bob is willing he can start laying the floor for me and simultaneously the tile guy can be tiling the bathroom. If all goes well I will return from my trip with the bathroom finished and some/or all of my floor in place. Also if I can agree to the price I will have the HVAC guy install the radiant heat system, water heater, and air conditioning system in place. If all of this happens I will be on my way to still meeting my goal of moving in before teh start of the Spring semester.
This coming year could be an interesting time at the college level here in TN. We are expecting huge cuts in funding and with that there will be changes coming our way. There is talk of involuntary furloughs and other cost cutting measures to help with budgetary constraints. A part of me is tempted to volunteer to be furloughed for a year or two and travel or volunteer at an overseas school. For a few years I have been playing with the thought of teaching at an international high school in Vietnam or Malaysia. With all this is going on here this might be the time to take a year and go do it. I'm not sure why but Dalat school keeps popping into my thoughts as a place to serve and give of my time and talents. My only concern with overseas work is accessibility issues that could cause a burden on the school. I'm not sure how accessible the Dalat campus is or if it could even work for me to teach there for a year or two.
The building is still slowly progressing. It has rained a few times this week so all outside work is on hold until Monday but the electrical and plumbing rough-ins were inspected and approved and the insulation has been installed. Monday the drywall guys are supposed to get to work and sheetrock the walls and ceilings. Hopefully I can line up the painters and have it painted while I am in France. Then if Bob is willing he can start laying the floor for me and simultaneously the tile guy can be tiling the bathroom. If all goes well I will return from my trip with the bathroom finished and some/or all of my floor in place. Also if I can agree to the price I will have the HVAC guy install the radiant heat system, water heater, and air conditioning system in place. If all of this happens I will be on my way to still meeting my goal of moving in before teh start of the Spring semester.
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