The Real Lola

After about two months of slow suggestion and mentioning the issue to my wife, she finally gave in! Last Thursday, we drove out into the country toward Graham, NC and picked up what has quickly become the 4th member of our family.


Lola, is a Black and Tan Coonhound mixed with a Walker Hound. When we got her she was 7 weeks old and about 10 lbs. Her birthday is Dec. 31, one of the last puppies born in 2008.


Our main reason for getting her is to be a playmate and company for Dakota (see earlier posts) our Black and Tan Coonhound mixed with a Plot Hound (NC state dog). Next school year, we will be very busy working and will have less time for our animals, but this way they'll keep each other company. Plus I just wanted another puppy!


She's becoming fast friends with Dakota; however, when they play Dakota still overwhelms Lola with her size.









I can easily foresee them becoming inseparable.


Her markings are strikingly similar to Dakota's, which is okay with me, because Dakota is one of the prettiest most elegant dogs I've seen...at least for a mutt.

Rutba

Shortly after the US bombings in Iraq began a group of Americans were traveling on the road away from Baghdad in jeeps. After a while the convoy noticed that the last jeep was no longer following. They turned around to go look and found their comrades' vehicle wrecked on the side of the road with only bloody seats on the inside. They traveled to a nearby town in Western Iraq called Rutba and found their friends, two of which had severe head injuries. They found a Muslim Iraqi doctor and asked him to help their friends. The doctor said, "Three weeks ago your country bombed our country, but I will take care of them anyway." When the Americans asked the doctor how much money they owed him he replied, "Nothing, just go back to the US and tell them what it's really like here."

This reminds me all to well of a story Jesus told that we often call The Good Samaritan. Samaritans were the sworn enemy of the Jews, yet Jesus' story had a Samaritan taking care of an injured Jewish man to no gain of his own. The one who is supposed to be your enemy ends up saving your life.

The doctor in Iraq no doubt had seen the devastation first hand that the American bombings had inflicted on his country and his people. But when he was faced with injured Americans he chose to extend them the same kind of charity as the man in Jesus' parable. This Muslim doctor was practicing the kind of living that Jesus prescribed and that Christians strive to follow, including his command to "love your enemies." Perhaps we Christians should follow this Muslim's example.

One of the men in the convoy from this story lives in Durham, NC. He has helped to start something called The Rutba House which is part of the New Monasticism movement. You can read about it here. The Rutba house is a covenant community that strives to follow the Acts model of community:

"All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had. With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much grace was upon them all. There were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to anyone as he had need." -Acts 4:32-35

Perhaps we could all take a lesson from Rutba, whether in Iraq or in Durham.

Twenty Six

I recently turned 26 and had a wonderful birthday full of surprises thanks to my lovely wife. In honor of my more than a quarter century on earth and in the style of Facebook's "25 Things About Me," here are 26 things I've learned about myself or this thing we call life.

1. Like my sister, my favorite ice cream is Mint Chocolate Chip. Breyer's makes the best.
2. Also like my sister I am somewhat musical and can carry a tune...unlike my dad.
3. I play the drums, most keyboard percussion instruments, guitar, and I am learning the harmonica.
4. Like my brother, my favorite video game of all time is River City Ransom for the NES.
5. I was married May 20, 2006 to my lovely wife and best friend, Heather.
6. Like my parents, I am a Christian; however, my faith is often expressed differently than theirs.
7. I have a dog, Dakota. She's great. The three of us pal around a lot.
8. Everyone experiences suffering, and no one's suffering can be compared to or judged by another person's suffering. The best way to help is to walk with another through his suffering.
9. I have worked in the grocery store business for a total of 5+ years.
10. I've always wondered what really happened to the Lost Colony.
11. I've been skydiving. And I hope to do it again.
12. I hate that I live in a culture that is sickly obsessed with material things. Sometimes I want to live in another country with as few 'things' as possible.
13. Apparently my sister can trace my genealogy back to John Alden and Priscilla Mullen of the Mayflower.
14. I graduated from UNC-CH with a Bachelor of Music and will soon complete a Master of Divinity from Campbell University.
15. Life and death are not opposites. Death is the only for sure part of life. The opposite of life is more likely loneliness. There's no refuting that humans thrive on our relationships. Without any relationships, more people would find no reason to live.
16. I love movies. My wife and I watch them all the time. My favorite movie is The Shawshank Redemption, but the Dark Knight is a close second.
17. I think that there is a God out there. After all, where did all this stuff come from?
18. I love to go skiing. I was on a ski racing team for three seasons in school. In eighth grade I placed 5th overall.
19. I've been to Alaska for over a month, Northern Ireland for two weeks and Mexico for a day.
20. I don't know what I'm going to be in the future, and I'm glad of it.
21. I'm a band geek to the end. Although, being a band geek has got me into 3 Carolina-Dook games, free trips to Florida and DC, and front row seats when the Tar Heels won the 2005 NCAA basketball tournament.
22. I get a kick out of making puns. The worse they are the better.
23. The more I write, the more I realize that I like writing. The same goes with reading.
24. Like millions of others I am into Harry Potter. I blame/thank my brother for that.
25. It seems like too often, the more money people have the more they want and worry about it. Also, the more they have the less of a realistic perspective on life they have.
26. I think every so often we all ought to cry for the violence that we allow to take place everyday in our world and for those who starve when we're trying to lose weight. Then we should do something about it.

Comments welcome.