The Weekend Report

Whew! It's Monday morning, and I am just trying to sort out how exactly the space between Friday evening and now could have vanished so QUICKLY!?! Not sure where it all went, but I have at least a couple of suspicions:

1. Friday night - Scientist Acting Troupe - On Friday, Kat and I went with some non-scientist friends into the dangerous world of "Scientist-Thespians" - This was a first for me. The TSRI playwrights presented 5 Short Plays for the Attention Deficit to a packed crowd. I've got to hand it to them... For people who spend 12+ hours in the lab, they really had their stuff together on this acting business.

2. Saturday - MBAs and Amillenialsists - Kind of a strange combo, right? I started the day with Admit Day for the MBA program at UCSD, and finished it at a debate about Amillenialism vs. Postmillenialism out at a house in east county. (For those who were similarily as fuzzy as I was, these are two similar but different views held in various Christian circles about the "end times")



I've got no proof of this, but statistically, I think it very unlikely that anyone else on Earth on Saturday attended both an MBA session and an Eschatology debate. Prove me wrong!

Kat worked hard in the lab, and then had a middle-eastern FEAST with some of her fellow scientists... I was fortunate to be saved some leftovers, which were divine!

3. Sunday - Day of rest... Once we get past the busy Sunday morning, with kids to teach, announcements to make, and stuff like that, the day did finally relax a bit. We had a visiting scientist named Juliet over for dinner, too. It is so neat to hear biologists talk about their research. I bumble through the terms and terminology, they smile and correct me, and then use the dinner napkin and their hands to try to explain what the cellular membrane is doing. I LOVE it! So neat to have a view down to life at its most minute level.

Anways, that brings us to today! *Sigh* - Vacation in just 4 weeks... We can make it!

You start to forget...

"... that this is really happening." Or at least so go the first few lines of the Al Gore documentary, "An Inconvenient Truth," which we watched this weekend. It has really been one of those weekends where life seems so idyllic out here in the fun and the sun of San Diego, but is so menacing everywhere else.

First, the film. I am developing a growing interest in climate change. The data is, quite frankly, pretty horrifying. As the level of CO2 in our atmosphere climbs further and further into uncharted territory, our summers get hotter, storms get fiercer, droughts get fiercer... and this is just the beginning. I find myself really fired up to do something about this, even if it means in the short term just reducing our carbon output. Longer term, I think it would be great to target clean technologies for post-MBA employment. Its a pretty hot (no pun) topic around UCSD. I think there will be lots of opportunities there.

Yet, on Saturday night with friends at a Beach BBQ in Encinitas it is easy to forget that such environmental horrors loom, as we bask in nature's splendor on a rather chilly evening at the beach.


Kathryn, with Sara and Katie

Humans seem much better at dealing with imminent, immediate threats, as opposed to longer-term, slower-developing threats. I wonder when we will collectively realize we can't be just "business as usual" about climate change?

And this horrible news from Virginia Tech, and to a lesser though still chilling extent, the NASA command in Texas. Back in San Diego, I watch the kids run around on the lawn after church and shake my head at the thought that any kid could grow up to do what the gunman in Blacksburg did.

Yet it happened... and will undoubtedly happen again. Its interesting how our reactions to such a tragedy are so varied. I read a recount of the violence and felt... anger. I felt that sense of bile rising in my throat, as my thoughts flickered to somehow delivering vengeance. Kat said that she felt a wave of grief, followed by just sadness.

The presence of evil in our world is one of those most uncomfortable things, for both Christian and secular humanist alike. For the humanist, it seriously undermines their theory that all people are really good, and just need the right circumstances to show this. The college educated shooter seemed to have the advantages and opportunities necessary for success, yet was trapped in such darkness. For the Christian, the question we must ask is how a loving and supposedly sovereign God would allow such an event to occur.

Our pastor preachd on this subject this evening, from Romans 9:9-22, when Paul writes of how God's power and glory are shown most clearly when His wrath will be delivered to the evil. "Vengeance is mine, sayeth the Lord."

So back to my reaction. I realize how foolish it is for me to steam about such things. God is a just judge, and this gunman in Virginia will experience the awful consequences of justice. And God is a great god, who can use even something as dark and dreadful as a mass murder, to show his glory and power to a world which, if nothing else, for at least one news cycle has been reminded of how little we truly control our own lives and how blessed we are to have faith in a sovereign God who does.

Vaccination Quiz

OK, folks... Let's see how well you know your world travel trivia... Or at least, how much paranoia you have to be checking the CDC website!

Question: In order to travel to Africa, it is either required or highly recommended that you receive a vaccination for: (Choose all that apply)

A.) MMR (Booster)
B.) West Nile Virus
C.) Hepatitis A
D.) Meningococcal (Meningitis)
E.) Whooping Cough
F.) Tetanus, Diptheria, and Pertussis
G.) Typhoid
H.) Yellow Fever
I.) Green Fever
J.) The Gout

Want the answers? Scroll below













Answers: A, C, D, F, G, H

Whew! I tell you what! These CDC cats don't mess around! Our trip is coming along well, though. We met as a team for the first time this week, and we are hard at work getting ready to raise support, develop our project, get those vaccines out of the way, and more!

The Stegosaurus on the Ark

It's Monday morning, and I am sipping my third cup of coffee, working up the motivation to head into work today, and reflecting over the course of events this past weekend...

All in all, relative to Midwestern tornadoes and Eastern Nor'easters, our mild, partly sunny weekend was superb. We were fortunate enough to see some good friends, visit a new place, plant some flowers, and do a great deal of prep work for the Uganda missions trip that we are involved in...

Not to say there wasn't any wierdness for me to ponder this morning along with my third cup of joe. We had plenty. The main source of befuddlement was our "couples date" on Saturday at the Institute for Creation Research with my former landlord and current friend, David, and his girlfriend Lisa.

Now, this ICR place is something truly exceptional...



It is located in East County San Diego, and according to their website, they do the following:

The Institute for Creation Research equips believers with evidences of the Bible’s accuracy and authority through scientific research, educational programs, and media presentations, all conducted within a thoroughly biblical framework.

It all sound well and good until you find yourself deep inside their labryntine museum staring at an illustration of Noah's Ark with a stegosaurus in one of the bays of the hold. It's at that point that you realize you aren't in Kansas anymore!

I think the thing that felt the wierdest to me was that I felt like... the enemy there. We walked in and got latched onto a tour group, and from the moment I arrived I felt like a total outsider. I should say that I embrace more of a "Theistic Evolution" perspective. Though I am certainly not an expert in the field, I recently read Francis Collins' wonderfully readable book, "The Language of God" and really resonated with the compatibility he outlines between modern genetic biology (which owes much to the theory of evolution) and Christianity.

Alas, such compatibility is not to be found anywhere in the winding passages of the ICR museum. I only made it through Day 3 of the 7 days of creation with the tour group, before the leader's bandying of that most horrid of Christian-ease aphorisms, "God made Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve" drove me over the edge and I had to flee for fear of becoming unhinged. Kat made it to Day 4 before fleeing in similar anguish.

We somehow escaped from the museum that day with our sanity and friendship with Dave and Lisa still in tact. After further prayer and reflection, Kat and I were able to come to a conclusion about why we were so disturbed in there. We realized that the people who run this institute, while certainly well-meaning, have become so totally fixated on this one non-salvation related facet of Christianity that they set it up on par with the cross. "You must believe on the Lord Jesus... and a literal 6-day creation... to be saved.'

We serve a bigger God then that, one who didn't crumble when scientists in the 1600s showed quite clearly that the Earth revolved around the sun, and not vice versa, and won't crumble now if we see that He works His sovereign will for us through the means of seemingly random genetic mutations over many millions of years.

Or at least that's what my great, great, great grandpa Mr. Bojangles told me the last time I stopped by to seem him in Gorilla Tropics at the San Diego Zoo... *grin* - B -

Our new neighbor

This handsome footballer just appeared the other day at our complex. We're working on bringing him cupcakes as a welcome gift.

Of Birthdays, Beaches, and Borders

This past weekend, Kathyrn and I celebrated her birthday. In keeping with the newly-minted Applegate tradition of "mystery" birthdays, I concocted a weekend of "firsts" for us.

First... Kat had told me awhile back that she would want to go horseback riding "more than anything else" - Being the ever eager husband, I tucked that info away for later. I found this place in Imperial Beach called Beach Horse Rentals . It was such a trip - It's like 10 feet from Mexico, as far south as you can get, and its run by these two European girls. Really small scale kind of operation, but neat, as they guide you out on a 3 hour trail ride that ends on the beach where you can trot your horse through the surf!







Next, since we were so close to Mexico, we did another "first" and crossed over the border on foot to check out Tijuana. We went to a really great restaurant called Cien Anos, checked out the Tijuana Cultural Center (which is about the history of Baja California... Talk about "European-ancestry Guilt" though) , and went to the Arts and Crafts Market.





The crossing home was smooth ~ Only slightly trepidatious part of the trip was the van taxi that we unwisely took from the museum to the market. We got in and I had that "bad feeling" - It was packed with an entire family, and this boisterous guy who looked a little bit sketch started talking with me immediately ~ The close confines, the shady character, two naieve gringos... I had visions of "Traffic" going through my head.

But they got us there, and only 2 dollars the poorer we were. It was a great weekend, and a wonderful way to celebrate Kat's birthday

Recipe for a birthday surprise

Now, the recipe for an excellent birthday surprise is very easy to follow. Here's what you do:

Step 1 - Find two good friends with birthdays just a few days apart from each other (Kat and Sara)

Step 2 - Have one boyfriend of one of the two friends (Shawn) secretly change his travel plans to arrive a day early to be picked up by the other of the two friends (Kat)

Step 3 - Have the same boyfriend (Shawn) recruit the husband of the other of the two friends (Brent) along with two other friends of the two birthday friends (Dena and Katie) to arrange for food, cakes, and the like.

OK, here's where it gets a little tricky.

Step 4 - Convince the two birthday friends that the birthday lunch is for the other one (So, Kat thinks they are celebrating Sara's, and vice versa)

Step 5 - Surprise both birthday friends with bunny ears, cake, smiles, and good times in the sun!

Easy as pie... You can see the rest of the photo's here

Two tickets for Uganda, please

I bought and paid for two tickets to fly to Uganda today.

Now, I won't startle you with the price of such seats (Blasted vacationing Europeans and their 8 weeks of vacation running up the prices in August!), but I will tell you that if you are reading this, don't be too shocked if you see a letter requesting support for our short-term missions trip to Uganda this summer...

*grin*

Still, it is an exciting time. God is moving in our hearts, and I pray that he would continue to stir us and use us in whatever way that he pleases... So goes it.

NCPC Mission to Uganda 2007

Great news!

We've been putting together a team to travel to Uganda, East Africa, for a 2-week missions trip this summer, and Lord-Willing, we've got our team and dates lined up.

We'll be going with a team of 6 people from our church from July 30 - August 13. We will do a church-planting project in Kampala, the capital city, for the first week, and then will be doing work in support of the Orphan Sponsorship Program that members of our church administer for the 2nd week.

There is much more to be done, but the first hurdle has been cleared, and we are on our WAY!!!

Weekend Recap

It's been a lovely, mild, sunny weekend out here in paradise. San Diego is definitely earning her 500K median-priced home this weekend! Here's what's happening with us!

Driving lesson - Part 1

Kat and I went over to our local driving range on Saturday. I haunt this place pretty regularly, though my progress has been pretty slow since I haven't taken any lessons since the wedding... It was Kat's 2nd time at the range in her entire life, but let me tell you, this girl can HIT!

She is one of those classic Softball-hitting golfers. Its so neat to watch her wrists just flip the club effortlessly through, like its just total muscle memory. True, true, getting clean contact was a bit more challenging, and she may have averaged more than one swing per ballstrike, but when she hits it, it GOES!

Driving lesson - Part 2

Fresh off her triumph over the game of golf, we decided to try another "first." My car is a stick, and her family hasn't had a car with a manual transmission since she's been driving, so for all of our marriage, she hasn't been able to drive one of our cars.

We set out to change that! Now, hear me now, THIS was like total "Ripley's Believe it or Not." I explained to her how it works, we drove over to an empty parking lot, switched places, adjusted the seat a little,... and she just... STARTED DRIVING!

It was the most amazing thing! First time driving a stick, and she just puts it in first and starts going, easy as you please! She did so well driving around the parking lots and side streets that I, ever of the pedagogy of "throw 'em in the deep end to teach 'em to swim," said, "Why don't you just drive us on home from here?" (Home is about 10 miles away)

Kat, to her credit, is one tough cookie, and so reluctantly agreed to do it! We pulled out on the road, crossed busy Mira Mesa Blvd, drove down Vista Sorrento, crossed under the 56 Freeway, and were almost home when we had a little snag with a stall at a red light and some rude honking drivers behind us...

But that crisis was quickly averted, and she got us the rest of the way home. It was TRULY a remarkable feat!

Golf



Not that that time at the range was too helpful, but some buddies and I took advantage of the beautiful Sunday to play golf at Tecolote Canyon. Its a fun Executive course that really makes you work on your short game. Good times!

All in all, this was a wonderfully blessed weekend!

B