Creativity

Creativity doesn't cost money. Creativity is find a way to communicate a message in a way that people can understand and relate to.

And, leadership matters. How the leaders go, so goes the church.

Learn from everybody. If you don't, you're pathetic.

-ideas from Perry Noble (Anderson, SC)

Killer Ants

I'm currently reading "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver. It's this really long book about a Southern Baptist missionary and his family and their trials living in the Congo in the late 50s and early 60s. At one point in the book, the village where the storytellers are living comes under attack by ants. No, this isn't one of those fantasy books about giant killer ants. The reality of the novel was that there was this intense drought and the ants had nothing to eat. Everyone in village was struggling. The gardens and trees were bare. So, one night, the ants revolted and attacked.

Two nights ago, I left one of my windows cracked as I went to sleep. I did this because I was painting and didn't want to wake up high off of the fumes. So, when I walked into my living room the next morning, I saw that I, too, was under attack from killer ants. Okay, maybe not so killer, but ants nonetheless. These ants had wings! So, I drowned them in 409 and vacuumed up the remains. I've never had this problem before, and I've left that window opened a time or two.

It's my natural mindset to draw the comparison to the book. We, here in Memphis, are experiencing a terrible drought. Where some parts of the country have been flooded, we go weeks without rain. The sky deceives us. It looks like rain, feels like rain and even smells like rain. But, the rain jumps over Midtown and heads out east. Perhaps they need the rain more.

Anyways, it's dry. And, hot. But I like both. It helps me to work on my tan.

Powerful beyond Meaure

Titles of blog entries frighten me. I'm just not sure how to relate a title to my mindless ramblings. For that matter, I'm now pondering why I would exert the effort to create a blog. I think I'll do it to keep my family and friends informed. Perhaps it's worth reminding myself that my words will not change the course of history. I am too concerned, at times, with sounding profound. In reality, I could string a bunch of deeply meaning words together and superficially make myself sound like I'm searching the many layers of my soul. In reality, I only do things like that to make myself look and seem smarter than I am. I still use dictionary.com to look up the words these college kids say to me.

Update: I recently undertook the task of painting my apartment. Well, just the living room. Now, I'm tired of it and not quite done. Does it look really bad to leave it partially incomplete? I'm tired. I stayed up painting the trim until really late. Don't judge me for lack thoroughness right now. I need a nap. Maybe I'll feel more determined tomorrow.