Izzimeth sketch

Let me know what can be changed, Shedu. I am working on a more finished and more dynamic picture, but want to know I am drawing him right before hand.

How Precious

Thanks to Shedu for putting these up

Derkus

I don't know how this happened, but I know God's involved.

You Are 64% Gentleman

You are definitely a gentleman. You're very considerate and you have excellent manners. Occasionally, you slip and do something foolish... but usually no one notices!

Are You A Gentleman?

Great pictures

These are the best pictures ever

Dogimed

And Yhhric, don't die!

Softball

Today was a good day. I decided that I was going to play softball the year no matter how I felt and so far its been turning out alright. It was rainy and muddy on the field and we had a lot of errors. Not too many people showed up, so I got to play a little more that I have the last couple weeks. I was surprised that I actually out ran and overshot a fly ball to right. I also beat a throw to first which I thought I wouldn't make. All I could hear was my little league coach screaming "Run Torreson, Run!" It felt good.

MAN IT IS HOT!

I like humor. I think I am a pretty funny at times. But, I think God is funnier. Here is yet another poof He exists. Well, not really proof, but it must be Him or the aliens playing a joke on us.

I just think it is great that it seems every event or expedition that is aimed to showcase or record Global Warming has occurred at the same time as a blizzard or snowstorm. A handful of summits on global warming have been canceled this year because of extreme cold. An expedition to the north pole was just canceled because it was so cold that people were getting frostbite and their vehicles wouldn't start.

Now I believe that there is a current pattern of global warming right now. I am not towing the republican line or anything. Now I do think we are either experiencing the the warm end of a natural cyclical process. On top of that, I also think that the earth is still warming up from the Ice age, or "last Ice age" as scientists like to call it. So while I do think it is getting warmer, I just think it is funny that every time Al Gore opens his mouth it snows...a lot.

I wanted to say how deeply I feel for the Dave Matt and Sarah and all those who loved Suzanne. She was a very special lady who really showed the love and joy of God in her life. While we know she is with Christ, it is still hard for us left behind. She sees the resotration of things now, while we remain in this broken world. Yet our hope is that we too will one day stand beside her in the presence of God. This chapter from Romans has always given me comfort in of the most difficult times in my life. I pray that it will strengthen you now and in the years to come.

In the Love of Christ,
Ted

Romans 8
1Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,2because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. 3For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, 4in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit.

5Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. 6The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; 7the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. 8Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.

9You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. 10But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. 11And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.

12Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation—but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it. 13For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, 14because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 15For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, "Abba, Father." 16The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. 17Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.

Future Glory

18I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. 19The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. 20For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21that^[i] the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.

22We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. 24For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? 25But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.

26In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. 27And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will.

More Than Conquerors

28And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 29For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.

31What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? 33Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. 34Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. 35Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36As it is written:
"For your sake we face death all day long;
we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered." 37No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

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So long for now

One of the great joys in my life was going to Parkers Prairie, Mn every summer and most winters. It was always with great anticipation that we made those last 25 miles after Alexandria. Sometimes I would doze off to try and make the trip seem shorter, because the anxiousness was too much for a boy to handle. Yet, I always managed to be awake when we rounded the final bend of Mn-29, just in time to catch the growing expanse of Lake Adley. How I love that lake, waves licking air, glistening in the sun. I can picture it now with clarity that is hard to fathom. It is like it’s on the other side of a great chasm that I cannot cross. I can see it for its beauty, but cannot be there for time is too large a span to be crossed.

Parker's Prairie was right after that lake. We would pull into my Grandparent's small driveway. An old red tractor, a couple sheds, an old aqua blue fishing boats, piles of firewood, and an old picnic table filled the yard. Usually towels and linens would be hanging from a couple clothe lines. Behind those, we would often find my grandparents working in their garden. I remember running to them, trying to be the first to feel their love.

My grandfather passed away 8 years ago, a few months after the picture above was taken. My family flew out for the funeral. My grandmother was never the same. Since then, there was always some distance in her eyes. It was as if she was looking over that same great chasm that I see now, when I look for my grandparents.

Earlier this week, she found her way across. She spent her last weeks in a great deal of pain, unable even speak in her final days. The last time she spoke she asked one of her nurses if she was a Christian. The nurse then asked her and she answered, "Oh, yes, I love the Lord." After that, she could not muster any more strength to talk. In her final days, my aunt played a tape that my Grandfather had made of himself singing hymns. When my mom called, to tell me the news, she said that "Grandpa sang her into heaven."

As I write this, my family is getting ready to go to the funeral home. So much of me wants to be there. So much of me wants to see that town that I love so much. Yet, it wouldn't be the same. I yearn for the life and the love that once resided there. What I yearn for is on the other side of that chasm that I still cannot cross. Yet I can see it clearly: two young figures standing in a garden, smiling with those familiar eyes.

You....Shot...ME!

Read this and laugh

Bathroom Nazi

I don't ask for much in life. I'm a pretty simple guy. I don't get too fussy about things. Up until I moved to St. Louie, alls I really wanted was a beautiful woman, 20s rolled on command, and all change returned to me rounded to the nearest 64. Things have changed though.

I crave and covet creature comforts that I once took for granted. One such comfort is being able to stand in front of a urinal without stepping in a puddle of the drippsies. Every day I ask myself, "ARE WE FREAKING KIDS!?" I don't understand it. Urinals are made to be stood over. Our man-bodies are meant to pee on, pee over, and pee beyond any object we see fit. Yet strangely, in this life, many master only the "pee on" stage. I mean, seriously, our man-parts are meant for precision as well. That is why we don't have to sit on a target just to hit it. We can stand from some distance and complete our desired objectives. With all these skills, why then did someone persistently pee on my floor, for the last 5 months?

Last weekend, I finally had enough and wrote up a nice sign requesting that the urine flow where it ought to go. Problem solved, or so I thought. Now instead of standing over the urinal, they are just sprinkling the toilet seat. Why do they always think they can slip by the seat without leaving a trail. It rarely works! I guess I just need to write another sign or just lay down another protective layer of paper.

Jello

See that Clock there, the one on the tree? That is how I feel most mornings. I am not really trying to complain, since that is what generally goes on in these types of things. It's just lately I have found myself draped over my desk in my early morning classes. It is not even that I am that tired. Most mornings I afeel okay once I get up. My back just generally doesn't want to hold my body together if I don't get enough sleep. It is a strange feeling. I know this isn't that cool of a post, but it is that time of the month were I realize I haven't posted for about a month. But don't worry. I have an idea for tomorrow. Hopefully I'll remember. Would anyone like to email me to remind me to post?

Cause we bad boys fo' life

I did one for Thor too.

If I could be an animal, I'd probably be a tree Kangaroo

Once again, I have not blogged much as of late. I guess I really don't have much to say...because I don't have much of a life. I think that is why I feel like I would enjoy being a tree kangaroo. Here is this kangaroo is sitting in his tree in the middle of Borneo and BAM, out of nowhere comes some hairless dude that he has never seen before and he wants to rub his belly. Now that is cool. I want my life to be like that. I am sitting in complete isolation. I just want see something new...and...well...maybe get a belly rub out of it too.

No, Seriously Guys, I think somebody shaved this cat.

Mel

That's how I learned