car accident

well, i got into a car accident tonight. Even better, I had four of the guys in my cell in the car.

Yeah, so my rear drivers side door is damaged (badly) and i think the rear driver side axel is bent ($$$$)... kind of sucks but I'm so glad there wasn't any damage to her car (other than some chipped paint).
She was a really nice young lady and she totally wasn't looking to get anything out of me.

I could totally see God's hand in all this though, it could have been much worse and his grace was over me a whole bunch in all of this. Plus Steve and Kevin both know tons about body work and they said they could help me out if I thought i was being ripped off by my body shop.

Trying to decide what worship looks like right now. He is faithful and I can see that He was working in this. He's a big God and i believe he's going to do something BIG in all this.

He is so good! His faithful love endures forever
2 Chr. 7:3

I trust you Father.

i hate cats

My friend Tracy says that cats are from the Fall. I agree.

Now cats may have more than nine lives. The company that funded the first successful cloning of a domestic cat two years ago has gone commercial. An e-mail sent in early February to the company's gene-banking clients offered to clone up to six cats. The cost? U.S. $50,000 each.

...given that Animal shelters kill roughly four million animals each year because they're not adopted, The Humane Society of the United States feels cloning new pets should not be done. The group encourages people who want a cat or dog to adopt one from a local shelter.

Can't believe this stuff. It's funny that dogs are more difficult to clone apparently (more brain matter). We're just getting closer and closer to the end of the world as I know it.
Soon, they'll be cloning Donald Trump. I hope that bad toupeé isn't clone-able.

Read the entire article here.

grace and beauty

God can't stand evil scheming, but he puts grace and beauty on display.
Prov. 15:26

Yeah, so there's this girl...

Truth

"Grasp what is in your hand?
Can you grasp it....how do you know you have grasped it?
Perhaps it, rather, has held you around it?"
-- Avraham Kegelmunst

via Liquidthinking.

tired

so very tired lately,
i haven't been sleeping more than about 5 or 6 hours a night (which is really bad for me because i can't survive without sleep)... i think it's stress. some advice from About.com:

How to improve your sleep

Don't expect to fall asleep immediately after hearing or watching disturbing news. Stop watching or listening to news programs at least an hour before trying to go to sleep. Leave the war news (or other bad news on the TV or radio) in the living room or den and out of the bedroom.
Engage in a relaxing, non-alerting activity at bedtime such as reading or listening to music.

For some people, soaking in a warm bath or hot tub can be helpful. Avoid activities that are mentally or physically stimulating.
Do not eat or drink too much before bedtime. Alcohol is not a sleep aid; don't use it to try to help you sleep.
Only get into bed when you're tired. If you don't fall asleep within 15 minutes, get out of bed, go to another room and engage in a relaxing activity such as reading. Return to your bed when you're sleepy.
Create a sleep-promoting environment that is quiet, dark, cool and comfortable.

During the day:

Consume less or no caffeine. Excess caffeine has the potential to disturb sleep at night. If you feel tired during the day, substitute a short nap of about 15-20 minutes for caffeine. Naps can relieve acute sleepiness and restore alertness, but for people suffering from insomnia, daytime naps should be avoided.
Avoid alcohol and nicotine, especially close to bedtime.
Exercise, but not within 3 hours before bedtime.

... good thing about the exercise because my butt is still in winter hibernation.

judging

We spend an enormous amount of energy making up our minds about other people. Not a day goes by without somebody doing or saying something that evokes in us the need to form an opinion about him or her. We hear a lot, see a lot, and know a lot. The feeling that we have to sort it all out in our minds and make judgments about it can be quite oppressive.

The desert fathers said that judging others is a heavy burden, while being judged by others is a light one. Once we can let go of our need to judge others, we will experience an immense inner freedom. Once we are free from judging, we will be also free for mercy. Let's remember Jesus' words: "Do not judge, and you will not be judged" (Matthew 7:1).

from Nouwen.net via .Liquidthinking.org.

wait upon the wind

I will wait upon the wind
I will wait upon the wind
I will wait upon the wind to carry me away

I will wait upon the wind
I will wait upon the wind
'Cause I know that they that wait upon the wind
You will rise them up like the eagles, rise them up like the eagles
They will run and they will not faint, run and they will not faint

I don't wanna run another day, on these legs so weak and small
I don't wanna run another day, trying to run and climb these walls
But I want you, I want you to carry me, like you promised you would do
Carry me above the clouds, let me see the storms from above

Let me fly, I want to fly
Let me fly, I need to fly

Oh if I had wings, I could fly away and I'd be at rest
So I wait upon you God, with my wings spread out I wait
Oh I wait upon you God, with my wings spread out I wait
Oh I wait upon you God
I know you carry me with your gusts, that are coming

I will wait upon the wind
I will wait upon the wind
I will wait upon the wind to carry me away

Wait Upon The Wind from Jason's Upton's Jacob's Dream.

do justly, love mercy, walk humbly

With what shall I come before the Lord, And bow myself before the High God? Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings, With calves a year old? 7 Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, Ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? 8 He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God?

Micah 6:6-8

In the name of U2

As i write this, i'm listening to the new In the Name of Love CD. It's actually really good!

Nichole Nordeman's version of Grace is awesome and there's a couple of really fresh versions of some quality U2 stuff.

I was talking to our Rep from CMC who told me that they've been having tons of trouble getting this CD into Canada. It's a really sucky situation. He said it almost looks like the only people who are going to be making money from this CD is Lawyers.

Boo.

I think I've stayed at this hotel

the Big Picture

I just read an article from the updated Heart of Worship website.
Matt Redman says some good stuff that has me dreaming again:

One of the biggest obstacles to consistently fervent worship in a local church is that we miss the magnitude of the occasion. We focus in on the four walls surrounding us, and that becomes our reality. We see and hear a group of people in or out of tune with each other - sometimes passionate, at other times a little apathetic. And that becomes our whole reality. But there is a bigger picture to be seen.
Most of us have found ourselves in the midst of a large crowd at some event or another. Whether it’s 5000 or 100,000 people, we experience an amazing dynamic when we’re part of that many gathered voices.
...
let’s be honest, singing our hearts out in a home group setting with three or four of our less vocally talented friends just isn’t the same somehow. Or is it? Perhaps it can be, if we somehow in our spirits grasp the bigger picture. However small or large a gathering, however in or out of tune we are musically, we are joining with the eternal flow of praise that rise every moment before the very throne of God.
...
Take a moment to put the sound of this worshipping choir into perspective. Imagine every language you’ve ever heard. Every accent and dialect. Every beautiful vocal sound. Add to that every harmony and every crowd, every choir, every large gathering. As these voices blend into one in your imagination, they are just the tiniest ripple of what is to come. One day every tribe and tongue will join this song. Multitudes and multitudes of passionate worshippers. Add now the sounds of all creation – every birdsong you ever woke to, every ocean wave you heard reach shore, every clap of thunder, every wild animal roar - and every time you experienced a wind whistling through the trees. Blend this sound with those cries of the nations, and the orchestration begins to take shape. Yet it is still a mere whisper.

Find the whole article here.

it's 3 am i must be lonely

ok,

so it's almost 3 AM and it's been a long time since i've willingly seen this ungodly hour. I can't finish this stupid essay for my insipid Music class. I'm not even a music major.

the story:
i'm upgrading my degree from a BA to an Honours and I need some extra credits so i figured I'd finish that minor in music i never started... and now i find myself sweating (because i'm dieing or i'm too tired to type) and trying to stay awake and finish this paper.

God if you get me through this, i'll never leave anything again to the last minute. ok, maybe i'll just try better not to leave anything to the last minute.

right now i need your help Papa

another one bites the dust

Another friend of mine has started his own blog. That's right kids, Jon Puddle has begun the joy of blogging.
I really respect this young dude and i recommend you visit his site. Regularly.

have fun Pudd

:)

encounter

Well,
back from another awesome encounter... this time we were at the Ontario Camp for the Deaf which was stunning. Everything was frozen but it was so beautiful. I went for a (too) short walk on Saturday after a nap and was completely amazed at how much God's creation sings out his beauty and faithfulness.

Made me think of The Darkling Thrush by Thomas Hardy

I leant upon a coppice gate
When Frost was spectre-gray,
And Winter's dregs made desolate
The weakening eye of day.
The tangled bine-stems scored the sky
Like strings of broken lyres,
And all mankind that haunted nigh
Had sought their household fires.

The land's sharp features seemed to be
The Century's corpse outleant,
His crypt the cloudy canopy,
The wind his death-lament.
The ancient pulse of germ and birth
Was shrunken hard and dry,
And every spirit upon earth
Seemed fevourless as I.

At once a voice arose among
The bleak twigs overhead
In a full-hearted evensong
Of joy illimited;
An aged thrush, frail, gaunt, and small,
In blast-beruffled plume,
Had chosen thus to fling his soul
Upon the growing gloom.

So little cause for carolings
Of such ecstatic sound
Was written on terrestrial things
Afar or nigh around,
That I could think there trembled through
His happy good-night air
Some blessed Hope, whereof he knew
And I was unaware.

This poem's actually been on my mind for a while now. It's funny how creation just knows to trust Him.

All creation looks expectantly to you to give them their meals on time. You come, and they gather around; you open your hand and they eat from it. If you turned your back, they'd die in a minute - Take back your Spirit and they die, revert to original mud; Send out your Spirit and they spring to life - the whole countryside in bloom and blossom. The glory of God - let it last forever! Let God enjoy his creation! He takes one look at earth and triggers an earthquake, points a finger at the mountains, and volcanoes erupt. Oh, let me sing to God all my life long, sing hymns to my God as long as I live!

Psalms 104:25 - 33

Big Mac 1, Andrew 0

Ok, the French are nuts...

Two top French nutritionists are telling people to go for a Big Mac and keep their fingers off the traditional French quiche. In an unexpected message to a country priding itself on the superiority of its food, a new food guide praises the McDonald's burger for having a higher and healthier protein-to-fat ratio than France's Quiche Lorraine.
"Strangely enough, the products which are the most demonized are not necessarily the worst," Jean-Michel Cohen and Patrick Serog write in their book "Savoir Manger," in which they analyze 5,000 dishes available in shops and restaurants. The verdict published this month comes as McDonald's launches a new campaign to add healthier food choices to its menus. It has also said it is eliminating Supersize fries and soft drinks.

Link

i want to be here

it's eekwonox ... not eckwonox

I once got in a pretty heated argument with one of my best friends about the prounication of equinox (past argumentativeness isn't something I'm proud of)... Anyway, I read this great article today. So, what's the meaning of "equinox"??

... whether you are entering the season of light or darkness, don't be fooled into thinking that on the equinox the length of the day is exactly equal to the length of the night. It's not.
The day of light and dark equality always happens before the spring and after the fall equinoxes, according Geoff Chester, a public affairs specialist with the U.S. Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C.

"Exactly when it happens depends on where you are located on the surface of the Earth," he said. For example, in Washington, D.C., sunrise and sunset were exactly 12 hours apart on March 16. Solar balance occurred in Bogota, Colombia, on February 24.

By the time the center of the sun passes over Earth's Equator (the official definition of equinox) the day will be slightly longer than the night everywhere on Earth. The difference is a matter of geometry, atmosphere, and language.

And you better pronouncence it right, Jeremy...

Read the whole article here.

Throw away a stone

Find a small pebble or stone and carry it around with you for a week. Use it to symbolise the things you are sorry for, or the things that are heavy and which you have been carrying around.

At the end of the week, throw it away – perhaps into a river or the sea.
Forgotten and left behind.

"If you are tired from carrying heavy burdens, come to me and I will give you rest." Jesus, in Matthew 11:28

From ReJesus.

Hello World

Good Morning!

Astronomical Brainabetizer via Adam Cleaveland (who left a comment on my blog... man, it's mega weird when you've been reading someone's blog for some time and then [all of a sudden] they're like a real person... reading my blog and everything. I guess it's easy to think there's distance when it's just words on a site sometimes...)

Beware the Ides of March

My prom date (circa 1998) just emailed me because today's the Ides of March! In act one, scene two of Julius Caesar, Caesar hears from a soothsayer what the future holds.

Caesar: Who is it in the press that calls on me?
I hear a tongue, shriller than all the music
Cry "Caesar!" Speak. Caesar is turn'd to hear.
Soothsayer: Beware the ides of March.

I guess that says it all. I'm gonna go straight home after work and eat cheese.

we're all learning...

Ok, i just told Kenny that I was going to try and stay away from heavy posts this week but Pomomusings had a really good post about being at a dance competition:

I found myself slightly amused at the few dancers from other groups I saw who had absolutely no idea what was going on. They were improvising the whole time, trying to follow others who were in the front lines. They were always a few steps behind - I couldn't help but laugh at them a little [maybe not a full-out laugh; more of a chuckle]. They were lost. Strugglers.

And then I felt like an ass. Well, at least realized that I too am a struggler. I too am so often a few steps behind - struggling to find the beat, to get the moves down. We all are. We are dancers, trying to figure out the steps of life, the hand motions, the moves necessary to follow God - and we're not doing the best job at it. But somehow -- with the help of watching those who have the moves down a little better than us (or have been practicing more, or...hmm, maybe the Holy Spirit?) we're able to get through...to make it to the end...

Pretty sweet truth. I had one of these moments yesterday at an extra long band rehearsal - I was ready to tell everyone what to do (even though i wasn't leading the practice)... Holy Spirit was quick to get things in check when I made a suggestion that sounded awful. It's good to swallow the humility pill and realize that I'm in the learning process too. I'm thankful for those times when i see my own ass-ness... it reminds me there's more to the journey and it keeps my heart humble.

Starbucks©

this is what i feel like whenever I go to Starbucks...
I just can't say no :(



Updated: did you know Starbucks has more than 19,000 ways it can serve a cup of coffee and it also has five kinds of milk to stir into it: whole, non-fat, half & half, organic and soy... via
USA Today.

Krispy Kreme Planning a Low-Sugar Doughnut

Yeah, ok. Aparrently Krispy Kreme is planning a Low-Sugar Doughnut... is this going to be another one of those McDonald's "now with white meat" things?

Father Jake

I've found a new Blog that i really enjoy reading. Father Jake. He is a self-confessed eccentric and sometimes heretical Anglican priest... but I love the stuff he is saying.
I think this may be appealing to the hunger for discipline that's growing in me. He had a really good post yesterday about Grace. He writes:

When my youngest son was born, the nurse gave him to me to hold. I walked over to a corner of the room away from the bright lights, and rocked him in my arms as I whispered words of joy. He shook his tiny head, and struggled to open his eyes. We gazed into one another. Time stopped. Nothing but the flow of love between us existed. A moment of grace. A moment that seemed so natural, so spontaneous, and in some ways, so familiar. I had been to that place before. But I couldn't remember when, or where.

As the years went by, the grace flowed. As love was given, it was now returned; not because I was such a perfect father, or the most handsome, or the smartest; but because I was Dad.

This is the root of my understanding of our relationship with God. God is madly, head-over-heals in love with us, and woos us, and all of creation, into being, because we are. I have a hard time holding on to this foundational relationship. In day to day life, it doesn't fit very well.

Head over there and read his discussion... I promise, it will make you re-evaluate grace.

Grace

She carries a pearl
In perfect condition
What once was hers
What once was friction
What left a mark
No longer stains

Because grace makes beauty
Out of ugly things

Grace finds beauty
In everything

Grace finds goodness
In everything

-U2

discipline - Nouwen

God's been doing a lot lately in me as I've been reading Celebration of Discipline still... I'm really hungry to have God establish more truth in my daily patterns of life. Read this and it resounded:

Henri Nouwen, Lenten Reflections on the Prodigal Son
Discipline is the human effort to create the space in which God can be generous and give you what you need. When you are fearful, worried, or anxious, you want to control your life and to hold onto the reins. You want to do it your own way, whether it's like the younger son or the older son. The practice of discipline is to let the Father touch you, let the Father forgive you, let the Father receive you. And for that you need to be available; you have to be home. You have to have an address if you want to be addressed. You have to be at home in order to receive a guest or to receive God. So disciplines are ways of creating a space, a home within, in which God can come into your life to forgive you, to heal you, and to bring you many gifts.
The first discipline is listening. The word listening in Latin is audire. And if you listen with great attention the words are ob audire. That is the word for 'obedience.' The word obedience means listening. If you are not listening, you are deaf. The Latin word for deaf is surdus, and if you're actually deaf, you're ab surdus. The 'absurd' life is a life in which you're not listening. And obedient life is a life in which you are listening.

Quote via Onehouse.

no more roast pastor

Was reading The Heresy today and Leighton Tebay said some real things about Church conflict:

It’s been 8 years since I finished my 3rd year at bible college. I’ve watched many of my friends enter ministry and come out shattered and broken. Most of my closest friends that went in to ministry aren’t in ministry any more. They were so deeply wounded they changed their career. In many cases they were treated unfairly with very little regard for their feelings. Their critics were harsh and in some instances cowardly.

There is a big problem with the way we handle conflict in the church. Some people feel they have the right to say whatever they want because it is the “truth”. Some people feel they have the right to say whatever they want because they have been victimized. What these people are not seeing is the profoundly negative impact their actions are having on the church in general. Those who can’t see beyond their interpretation of the truth or their own hurt feelings have neutered the leadership of the church. Some leaders are so deeply wounded that their faith in church and God is profoundly damaged. They leave ministry in tens of thousands of dollars of debt with no other marketable skills. For some they would rather make 8 dollars an hour than work in a church. Many of the leaders that do survive learn how to play politics and keep people happy but are completely ineffective at actually leading or challenging the church.

Like most, I've experienced some awful church conflict in my time in Christendom. I don't quite know what it is that makes us buck against pastors and leaders when we don't approve of a decision or opinion (or when they don't agree with my opinion).

I really like what Paul says in Ephesians 4:1-6

In light of all this, here's what I want you to do. While I'm locked up here, a prisoner for the Master, I want you to get out there and walk - better yet, run! - on the road God called you to travel. I don't want any of you sitting around on your hands. I don't want anyone strolling off, down some path that goes nowhere. And mark that you do this with humility and discipline - not in fits and starts, but steadily, pouring yourselves out for each other in acts of love, alert at noticing differences and quick at mending fences. You were all called to travel on the same road and in the same direction, so stay together, both outwardly and inwardly. You have one Master, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who rules over all, works through all, and is present in all. Everything you are and think and do is permeated with Oneness.

Judging vs. Mercy

Jordon Cooper had this great quote by Henri Nouwen:

"Freedom from judging, freedom for mercy
We spend an enormous amount of energy making up our minds about other people. Not a day goes by without somebody doing or saying something that evokes in us the need to form an opinion about him or her. We hear a lot, see a lot, and know a lot. The feeling that we have to sort it all out in our minds and make judgments about it can be quite oppressive.
The desert fathers said that judging others is a heavy burden, while being judged by others is a light one. Once we can let go of our need to judge others, we will experience an immense inner freedom. Once we are free from judging, we will be also free for mercy. Let's remember Jesus' words: 'Do not judge, and you will not be judged' (Matthew 7:1)"

It reminds me of a story Pastor Steve Long, here at TACF, told once.
The gist is that he was severly offended by someone. He went to God and said "I want justice... this is unfair. I haven't done anything wrong to this person God. They have no right to act the way they have."
God said, "are you sure you want justice Steve?"
Steve: "Yes!! This is not fair and I want what's fair."
God: "Go to hell."
Steve: "...ok, maybe I don't want justice Father."

McDonalds strikes again...

If you think you'll lose weight by choosing McDonald's salad over their cheeseburger, think again. According to the Interactive Nutrition Counter on the McDonald's web site, any one of their salads may contain 7 more grams of fat than their standard cheeseburger. That's just plain disgusting.

Happy Birthday to ME

it's my Happy Birthday!

so, according to Encarta and Wikipedia, on this day

1834: Toronto, Ontario, (originally called York) is incorporated as a city.

1899: Bayer registeres aspirin as a trademark (i'm actually allergic to aspirin...)

1836: About 170 Texans perish at the Alamo in San Antonio, Texas, when approximately 3,000 Mexicans commanded by general Antonio Lopes de Santa Anna overrun the Republic of Texas garrison.

1980: Novelist Marguerite Yourcenar becomes the first female member of the Académie Francçaise.

1981: Walter Cronkite, longtime anchor of the CBS evening news, signs off for the last time.

Other people born on this day:

Michelangelo, Italian painter, sculptor, architect, and poet (1475)

Elizabeth Barrett Browning, English poet, political thinker, and feminist (1806)

Valentina Tereshkova, Soviet cosmonaut and first woman to fly in space (1937)

I also thought, since it's my day, I should post an amazing poem:

Pied Beauty

GLORY be to God for dappled things—
For skies of couple-colour as a brinded cow;
For rose-moles all in stipple upon trout that swim;
Fresh-firecoal chestnut-falls; finches’ wings;
Landscape plotted and pieced—fold, fallow, and plough;
And áll trádes, their gear and tackle and trim.

All things counter, original, spare, strange;
Whatever is fickle, freckled (who knows how?)
With swift, slow; sweet, sour; adazzle, dim;
He fathers-forth whose beauty is past change:
Praise him.

Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844–89) Poems, 1918.

This is probably my favourite poem of all time... it reminds me to look for the beauty and the handiwork of God in everything. Even though this past year has had its challenges, I have seen my Father's love and grandeur in so many new ways...

Here's to another year!

FUN THINGS TO DO DURING BORING SERMONS

i know we've all been in this situation... but here's some fun things to do during boring sermons from Ian's Messy Desk.

Lord of the Rings in about a minute

you know you want to watch the entire trilogy here in about a minute...

enjoy

The Passion of the Christ

Saw The Passion of the Christ on Sunday night. Man it destroyed me.
There were a few times I felt like I was going to lose it... I mean,
I was crying for most of the movie, but a few times I couldn't control the weird combination of grief and love that was building in my chest and I felt like I needed to either wail or explode.
I didn't explode.

The most difficult aspect of the movie was watching Jesus carrying his cross. Don't get me wrong, the scourging and the actual crucifixion were dreadful… but watching him drag the object that would mean his death was too much for me. At one point he falls and just as his mother comes over to him he says, “see Mother, I make all things new.”

I had to describe it to a few friends and my sister on Monday and all I could say was that it was horrible and awesome.
The torture and pain he suffered was apparent in a new and terrible way… and yet The Passion of the Christ I walked away thinking “that’s my Jesus…” and loving him so much more than ever.

The only thing about this movie that makes me a bit disappointed is how some people are using it as a tool to shove the gospel down the throats of pre-believers. Paradox talks about his 2nd viewing of the film and how two guys got up and tried to do an altar call.

I’m kind of torn on this. I felt like doing an altar call after I watched the movie and looked at the shocked faces of people leaving the theatre. I could tell they were recognizing not just the scope of what Jesus did but also the love present in that act. But for some reason the world (or at least my perception of it) tends to have a strong distaste for Christianity on the offensive.

I did pray for them afterwards in the car and at Billy’s place that night.

I’m hoping that for each one, there would be someone in their lives who could throw out a net that they would respond to. And I pray that Father would use this movie as a tool… in the same way he uses a sunset or his word or a death in the family or a street preacher to bring his children home.

Lent

"Lent can be more than a time of fasting; it can be a season of feasting.
We can use Lent to fast from certain things and to feast on others."
Lent is a season in which we can:

Fast from judging others; feast on the Christ dwelling in them.

Fast from emphasis on differences; feast on the unity of life.

Fast from apparent darkness; feast on the reality of light.

Fast from, thoughts of illness; feast on the healing power of God.

Fast from words that pollute; feast on phrases that purify.

Fast from discontent; feast on gratitude.

Fast from anger; feast on patience.

Fast from pessimism; feast on optimism.

Fast from worry; feast on divine order.

Fast from complaining; feast on appreciation.

Fast from negatives; feast on affirmatives.

Fast from unrelenting pressure; feast on unceasing prayer.

Fast from hostility; feast on nonresistance.

Fast from bitterness; feast on forgiveness.

Fast from self-concern; feast on compassion for others.

Fast from personal anxiety; feast on eternal truth.

Fast from facts that depress; feast on verities that uplift.

Fast from discouragements; feast on hope.

Fast from lethargy; feast on enthusiasm.

Fast from thoughts that weaken; feast on promises that inspire.

Fast from shadows of sorrow; feast on the sunlight of serenity.

Fast from idle gossip; feast on purposeful silence.

Fast from problems that overwhelm; feast on prayer that undergirds.

from a Benedictine website as quoted in The Tablet, 3 March 2001, p. 325

via Jordon Cooper via Grace Lent Blog.