Fat Tuesday

Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday and the start of Lent.

I like to do something for Lent, which usually consists of giving up something that I enjoy as a form of sacrifice. I've decided to forego sweets until Easter. This pretty much means no cookies or other desserts. It also includes sweet tea.

A lot of folks don't put a lot of stock into making Lent a participatory season. Over the last several years, I have found that participating makes me more aware of Christ's sacrifice. I have a Lenten devotional that I picked up several years ago at a local church that I use to help focus myself.

Will you be doing anything for Lent? If not, please at least devote some time to examining your heart as we approach the crucifixtion and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Confession

Yesterday, I was angry. 

 

It's not ironic that we were just discussing anger in my small group earlier this week. 

 

You see, a local newspaper did a story about the economic situation and how it's affecting local churches.  And they happened to discuss my church specifically.  That's not what made me angry.  My anger came after I started reading the comments that readers were making about big churches and my church in general.  Some of what they were saying was so stereotypical about churches our size that I wanted to systematically call them out online one-by-one.

 

But I didn't.  And now my anger has faded into disappointment.  Disappointment that people don't know more about the church, so that they can speak from an educated perspective.  They don't know about the international and local missions that we support.  Or the ministries that we offer.

 

And I'm hurt by the things that they said.  And I'd like to know the perspective that they're coming from.  Are they basing their comments on what they know about Joel Osteen's church?  Did they have a bad experience at my church?  I can't know their hearts, but I wish I could.

 

 

Two opera posts in less than six months!

As you may recall, my first trip to the opera occurred this past fall when I went to go see "La Boheme" (recap here). While flipping through tv stations tonight, what should I come upon, but the very same "La Boheme" being performed at the Met! But it gets better!

They are actually close-captioning the opera with English sub-titles! So now I actually know what people are saying!! Turns out that this opera had more comedy in it then I was led to believe. You miss so much when you don't speak Italian...

So watching this on the telly made me realize that the Center Stage Opera has another production coming up. So I'd like to take the opportunity to plug "Don Giovanni" which will be performed next month. Details here. Hopefully, I'll be at one of the Camp Hill performances.

Soul-Singing

So we were in church yesterday and we were singing "Beautiful One" by Tim Hughes. And I found myself dwelling on this line: "My soul, my soul must sing."

And I wondered to myself "What does my soul sing?" When people look at me, what is my face saying? When I speak, how do my words sound? Not the actual words themselves, but the tone of the words. My actions, what do they say to people?

Do they sing praise to my Almighty Creator? Or do they sing the ho-hum tune of an ordinary life?

Dinner at Good Stuff Eatery

So I spent Saturday down in our nation's capital. My friend suggested eating at the Hard Rock Cafe. I politely suggested that we somewhere where the food was a smidge more healthy. I did some research and came up with Good Stuff Eatery, which I was fairly certain would meet my friend's approval. And it did.

After closing down the American History museum, we walked down to 351 SE Pennsylvania Ave. It was around 6:15 or so in the evening and I was expecting a bit of a line. Suprisingly, there were only five people in front of us. Good Stuff is a quick service kinda joint (it is often compared to Five Guys). You step up to the counter, place your order, get your drink and wait for your food. You get a buzzer to let you know when your order is ready. There's not much eating space available downstairs, so you have to head upstairs to find a table to sit down at.

Soon enough, my buzzer went off and I snagged my dinner. We headed upstairs and found someplace to sit down. Here's what I got:



What you see is the Farmhouse Bacon Cheeseburger, with a side of Village Fries and a Boylan's Ginger Ale (no HCFS). The burger was good. Better than Five Guys. It helped big time that it appeared to have been served on a Martin's potato roll. The fries were pretty decent. The Village Fries were your average fry tossed with rosemary, garlic and some other herb. Very tasty. They had a couple different types of mayo if you were interested in dipping your fries. And Boylan's makes some good soda made with sugar cane. The bill was a little on the expensive side (roughly $11.00), but I'd go back in a second and just grab a burger and some water.

They also serve some pretty good milkshakes. My friend got their signature shake, the Toasted Marshmallow. It was good. Tasted just like a marshmallow slightly charred over the campfire.

A beautiful weekend

This weekend was awesomely beautiful. I got the chance to spend some time down in DC, soaking up the sunshine and the unseasonable temperatures. I got to head over to the newly-refurbished Museum of American History. They did a really nice job with the museum and they've given that huge American flag a nice new protective home. We didn't have much time in the museum, but they had a fascinating exhibit on Abraham Lincoln, with aftifacts from Lincoln's presidency.



My friend and I were able to take a nice walk from the Smithsonian down to Good Stuff Eatery for dinner. Along the way, I was able to take the above picture. I'm very pleased with how it came out, considering my camera's lack of zoom.

More on dinner tomorrow

Free Breakfast at Denny's

Denny's is offering a free Grand Slam breakfast tomorrow from 6:00 AM to 2:00 PM. Details here.

Now, do you want to know how healthy that breakfast will be? Details here (you're looking for the Lumberjack Slam, the French Toast Slam and the All-American Slam).

So if it's free, but not so good for you, is it really worth it?