A seven foot inflatable birthday turkey

I have had a very lazy weekend. I felt sick at the end of the week so I tried to get some extra rest. I thought I might be getting really sick but I think it may be an allergy build-up. This is good and bad because I have not gotten worse but it also means I have to figure out a way to have less dust in my life. This is difficult since open windows serve as our ghetto air-conditioning here.

So, most of the weekend I spent lounging around my house in betweeen some intense napping. The island life is not what people think. On Saturday I mustered enough energy to surprise my friend, Gena on her 24th birthday. I had previously found an inflatable 7 foot turkey at Wal-Mart on clearance for only $3! I would have been a fool to pass up that sweet deal. I decided to fashion a sign that said, "Happy Birthday Gena" and have this large poultry hold the sign. She came out as the turkey was being inflated but I think I made my point. I am sure it was her first 7-foot inflatable birthday turkey, or at least she made it seem like it was her first. Later she and I went out to dinner and watched a movie at my house.

Today I went to church. I have been getting a bit frustrated by how much our church talks about speaking in tongues. I am so over speaking in tongues. With the constant bombardment, I decided to see what the Bible has to say about the subject. From what I read, I have come to the following conclusions: There are three different types of tongues. One kind is where you are miraculously able to speak another language for ministry purposes like at Pentecost. This kind seems cool and useful. Then there is one that is like a prayer language between you and God. It lets you communicate with God beyond what you can do with words. Then there is the kind used in church, but the Bible says that you should not speak tongues aloud unless you or someone else can interpret what is being said. The Bible also says that tongues is only one type of spiritual gift and that some of the other gifts like prophecy are more important. I think all this stuff is true but I think that many churches put too much emphasis on this stuff and then other churches pretend it doesn't exist. It can be annoying. For now I am content to not speak in tongues and I am still a bit wary of the way I feel that it is being exploited as a test of one's spirituality. No tongues means no faith. I don't think so.

This afternoon Amy and I hitched into town so she could buy a laptop. Now she has become very technologically advanced being the new owner of both a digital camera and a laptop. She is going on a research tour this Fall to the countries that we have committed to. She needs to be able to document her experiences properly. If I was not staffing the summer school then I would seriously consider joining her. It is cool that she will be visiting the country I will be doing outreach in.

Right now she and her friend from home, April, are on an adventure with a bizarre little man from our church. He had been offering Amy for a while to take her to the top of Haleakala, our local volcano, to watch the sunset. Amy finally consented today and included April and I in her affirmative answer. By the time it came time to leave, I was feeling a bit sick again and the prospect of spending an extended amount of time in the little man's company did not sound very appealing. I decided not to go. Amy was not happy about this but I had done her some favors that day so she couldn't be too mad at me. If April was not going and she would have had to go with small bizarre guy alone, I would have sucked it up and gone. Instead I took a bit of a pseudo nap and a shower. I feel confident I made the right decision.