Battle of the Titans - World Cup Style

It has happened just as World Cup lovers dream! Argentine vs. Germany. Two international powerhouses playing each other. Each team playing its own unique style of "football". There has been 120 minutes of play (90 regulation and 30 minutes overtime) and penalty kicks (5 for each team) have been kicked. Germany has done it - penalty kicks masterfully blocked by Germany's tired, but amazingly skilled keeper. In the 63rd minute or so, Argentina's incredible goalkeeper was severely injured. He was taken off the field and the backup keeper was brought in.

This is never a good scenario and certainly did nothing for Argentina. The backup keeper just did not have the passion and momentum as did their no. 1 GK. (Having a daughter who is a phenomenal keeper in high school, I was feeling strongly the goalkeepers pressure. Wow! What instinct the German GK had! And that's what it took!) He was able to block not just one, but two penalty kicks to clinch the win. Argentina's less experienced goalkeeper substitute never had a chance against the kicks by German strikers who nailed the ball into the net every time. It was a win well deserved. And they did it in front of their own fans -- at home. Though the Germans have not been one of my favorites in this World Cup, today they have certainly won my utmost respect.

There's frustration, tears, anger, and disappointment on the Argentine side; but the Germans? I just know they are waiting for England......

Is there enough security in the country of Germany to hold the lid on that kind of matchup?

Italy took Ukraine down 3-0. Not a huge surprise, though you have to tip your hat at the Ukraine team. Playing in the quarterfinals of the World Cup is an honor that they should relish for a very long time.

Portugal meets England tommorrow morning; then in the afternon, France meets Brasil. No premature results here. Anything, I repeat, anything can happen.

Deviation (from World Cup stuff)

This morning I thought that it would not be wise to do yet a third blog about World Cup soccer being played from June 9-July 9 in Germany. So, even as I am watching Australia and Italy play, and anticipating the Ghana-Brasil game tomorrow, I will not bore you with my sentiments....at least not today!

There's a couple of things I would like to address today. First, we saw our youngest daughter on Saturday. We were able to wrangle an hour of her time in a laundromat where she had come to wash off a week's worth of dirt and sweat! She is a counselor at a Christian camp in the North Carolina mountains this summer. Last summer she was also was at camp for five weeks, as a CIT (Counselor-in-Training). It was then that she realized that this was a ministry she wanted to do for God in her high school years (and perhaps also in her college years). Her very first week of being a counselor, she saw 4 of her campers come to know Christ. She called us that weekend to tell us about this and that she was really excited about what God was showing her.

If you are a parent and have ever had the privilege of knowing your children are hearing God talking personally to them.....you'll know that there are no words for it. I'm excited for Lauren and what God is showing her. She seemed very tired when we saw her Saturday, but that would be expected. As I sat down and watched her put the quarters in the washing machine herself and put her clothes in the machine herself -- I realized that she is growing up. She'll be 16 in a couple of weeks, and I'm proud of who she is and who she is becoming. Even though seven weeks is a long time to be without her, I am reminded once again that she is not really ours. Not first of all. She is God's first. If He has asked her to serve Him in this capacity this summer, then who am I to get in the way of God's plans? I am her mother, yes, but He is her Creator and Savior. How I'm proud of that girl!

Secondly, blogs. In the past couple of weeks, I have read much from bloggers writing about blogs, the intentions of blogs, the misuse of blogs, the addiction of blogging, and so on and so forth. It's disturbing to me, but on a far different level.

First of all, I realize that when I created my personal and ministry blogs that there was a part of me that truly thought people would care to know what I was thinking. That's pretty heady stuff and probably not as true as we would like to think. The intention of my ministry blog is to keep those interested updated in a more detailed way. Prayer letters must be somewhat concise and compact, and in a campus ministry such as we are involved, often many of the really good details must be forfeited. That was the intention of that particular blog.

As for this blog, I have honestly had to rethink why I am committed to it at all. I do not have a vendetta of some sort to air out here, I do not necessarily like to "stir up others" - as in the intention in many blogs that I have read, and I do not think it's necessary to give private, very personal details about myself. If others need to do that, then okay. For me, it's just to let others know the multi-layers that make up Me. The things that I find funny, disturbing, and amazing. As I am in the process of writing a book on our experiences as missionaries in West Africa for nearly 20 years, this blog gives me another avenue of creativity and "blowing out the cobwebs" - so to speak. Writers need motivation and exercise of their writing abilities. This is just a "workout" for me, so to speak.

The deeper issue I have with those who blog in lieu of developing personal, face-to-face relationships with others is this: it feeds the underlying problem of feeling isolated. While this may be a connection to the world in some strange way, that is certainly not how we are designed to interact on a day-to-day basis. We need people - and not just the words gleaned from a blogging comment section. Just a couple of days ago, I read an article that put definition to my concerns. While the article never addresses our advanced technology as a factor in the study that was sited, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that it does figure greatly into the problem. Despite all the technology in the world and hundreds of ways to stay connected in some way, more and more of the world's population feels isolated and disconnected. The reason (in my opinion)? We replace those eye-to-eye, voice-to-voice relationships with static, distant cyber relationships. And, in the long run, they can never totally satisfy and complete us as a warm, caring face that we can see.

Anyway, this is just some simple thoughts I have on blogging. I think some people take this new, fandangled opportunity way too seriously and misalign the intentions of what a blog should really be. I don't believe it should be a place to antagonize, rant and rave (on a consistent basis), or feel that we now own a right to be a bonafide journalist, just because we press "publish post".
Though we can inform and educate about something important to us, blogging does not necessarily make us experts.

Enjoy blogging! Have fun with it! Let those who care about you already know a little more about your whims and wishes, likes and dislikes....but I don't think it should be a pulpit or podium, though it can always be a place for encouragement, friendly discussion, enlightening, and finding others who think in uninimity or not - with us!!

Enough deviation! Australia and Italy are still nil-nil at the 81st minute (which means there is only 9 more minutes in regulation play). Italy was favored to sweep this game, but, that's what makes soccer so exciting. Anything can happen in any given game! (Like Ghana, for instance!)



http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,200769,00.html

Still An African At Heart

Yes, I'm still talking soccer. Yes, the World Cup is still going on. It takes four weeks to meticulously move 32 teams down to 2 - then finally to THE ONE - on July 9th. It's good stuff.

The game today between the USA and Ghana was a hard one for me. I am a born American and proud of it! However, since 1983, I have either lived in West Africa or have been closely tied with two countries there. (We have actually lived in Liberia and Ivory Coast for a total of 10 years - and that includes being in the middle of two civil wars in both of those countries) One of our daughters was born in Liberia. Some of the greatest people I know live there. Saying all that, when Ghana took USA down 2-1, I cried. On one part, it was sadness for the US, though I have felt no particular affinity with this soccer team. They simply have not showed themselves World Cup contenders. They just didn't have the "gusto" that it takes to play "football" with the rest of the world. But Ghana did!

Now, Ghana.....commentators on ESPN are calling them a surprise. Well, they didn't ask me. I said it from day one when they played Italy and only lost 1-0. There was something in their eyes, a rhythm to their team that bore watching. But I'm not sure if other Americans caught it. I imagine they didn't want to see it. I tired of the commentators not giving Ghana the critique that they were due. It was all about how US was fast and sharp and this other stuff. Meanwhile, Ghana dominated the passing, possession, and scoring. Hm....

It basically takes an African to play football with another African. A European team nor a North American team will have a hard time taking Ghana down. However, South American teams have some of the same kind of rhythm in their play. Brasil possibly could do it next Tuesday, but Ghana will not lie down for one second. It will be a match made in heaven, to coin a phrase.

They are an incredibly organized team with precise speed and extraordinary passing ability. And, of course, if you have known any West Africans, they do have the gift of flair, drama, and charisma. You just gotta love them! And, Kingston, their keeper, was amazing. He was fearless and intimidating. Having a daughter that is a keeper for her high school team, I always watch closely the talents of the goalie. Kingston is a "keeper" - a pun was intended!


So, pull up a chair, and watch with me as this Ghanian team makes world history by moving into the second round. In the privacy of my living room, I was dancing the dance that most West African women dance when they are celebrating anything, particularly a birth of a baby.

This victory for Ghana and the advance to the next round is definitely a birth of something big for West Africa!! Don't let them catch you by surprise -- you have been warned!!

More Than a Game

This afternoon my heart is heavy for my African friends in Ivory Coast. As a few of you may have noticed, I have not written in this blog since 8th of June. The World Cup (the best of the best in soccer - known as futbol or football by the rest of the world) started on June 9th, and every spare moment I have had, I have spent watching some of those games.

After having lived in Africa off and on since 1985, we have become very familar with soccer and what it really means to the countries around the world. Someone wisely said that a soccer match is not just "life or death" to a team, to a country; it's much, much more than that. To you Americans reading this, that statement may sound extreme as well it probably is, but the fact still stands that there is a majority of countries in the world that eat, drink, live, and dream soccer! Most likely if you think of soccer, you think of Brasil, and rightly so. They are a dominant force in the international world of soccer. But there are others, and a World Cup year (played every four years) puts on the world stage the best of the best.

You may or may not know that we lived five years in the country of Ivory Coast. We know what soccer means there. This is their first showing in the World Cup, along with Togo, Ghana, and a couple of others. The Ivorian Les Elephants by far, for the first-timers, have had the best showing, the most stamina, the strongest persistence in the face of formidable opponents. Placed in the bracket known as "The Death Zone", they held their own, showed their incredible talent, and won over the hearts of those who watched them. Playing two of the toughest teams in the World Cup: Argentina and Holland would possibly had caused a weaker team to "tuck tail" and retreat. But not the Ivorians.

Facing these two amazingly talented and complex teams is nothing compared to what they and their countrymen have endured in the past four years in their country. Civil war took this stable, productive West African country completely by surprise in September of 2002, and it has and never will be the same. We were there at the beginning of the demise. Trapped in a guest house in the capital city of Abidjan for ten days. Even then our hearts ached for what these people would have to face. We had seen it all before in Liberia.

So, for the Ivorian soccer team to be able to play big on the World Cup fields in Germany this summer has been a boost to people who are war-fatigued, discouraged, distressed, and who have lost hope in the foundation that was once solid underneath them. Not to mention that the soccer team consisted of players from both the south and north parts of the country, bringing a strange kind of unity to a country viciously divided by political, tribal, and religious obstacles.

When the whistle blew at the end of the game today against Holland, even while wiping tears from my eyes, I cringed at the thought of the fighting that will possibly start back up again tomorrow. Or will the two sides decided to watch the rest of the World Cup (not to finish until July 9)? Will they restrain themselves in order to cheer on their African counterparts: Angola, Togo, and Ghana?

Just today on BBC it was sited that the segment of militia that was due yesterday to meet at a neutral camp and turn in their arms did not show. Not a one of them. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize why they did not show. It's World Cup time and their Elephants were playing today. And, believe it or not, that is more important than fighting a war.

"A Segment of Society"

When Tom Hanks remarked that he realized a "segment of society" would be offended by the controversial The DaVinci Code -- was he speaking only of American society or the world as a whole? This morning as I was scanning my favorite news sites, and besides the 72-point font headline that related how Zarqwahi had been killed in an air raid and it was a great blow to terrorism, (I have some comments for that one, too) the other really big story to me (besides the World Cup starts tomorrow in Germany!) was that China has now completely banned The DaVinci Code from its national theatres. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/5059658.stm


Well, Tom, add China to India, Pakistan, and the Fuji Islands, who have already banned the movie in their countries, and that is a substantial amount of "society" that is doing more than just being offended. And these are not even Christian countries! While some religious groups in America are making a loud, gritty to-do about the movie, there are others (including pastors and churches) that are sitting back and watching to see what will happen (or choosing not to address it because it doesn't deserved to be addressed?). Do we not consider that there may be baby Christians in our midst that are struggling with Truth and may need some mature spiritual guidance through this phenomenon?

In our summer Bible study with college students, we will address this controversy to the extent of projecting Truth in the dark face of heresy and depravity. If we don't, who will? Their professors certainly will, their friends and classmates will -- and what kind of "truth" will they hear from those? It is not our intention to give full face to this movie, but to simply give some guidelines of Truth to help these students (most who titter-totter from one extreme to another) handle properly the things of God and know how to discern and "garbage" the things that are not from God. What another great opportunity to train young Christians in apologetics - defending their faith in a very dark, debased world!

Back to Tom Hanks. It makes me wonder what Tom Hank's agenda about acting in this movie when I read his reaction to critics of the movie. He, himself, in an article written a few days ago, said there was a lot of "hooey" in the story, but that religious dialogue is always good to open up. What is he saying? What is his intentions in getting involved in this? And Ron Howard? Opie of Mayberry never would have dreamed of this! Read the rest for yourself if you are so inclined. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/4764407.stm

Have I seen the movie? Probably won't. But I do have a friend who owns the book, and without having to contribute a dime to author Brown, I probably will read the book.

What? No Transfats in Poptarts?

You may or may not know about the law that went into effect this past January ('06) that every food item being marketed for sell to consumers had to list, along with nutritive values and such, the amount of transfats found in that particular food product. While I like the idea of having that defined, I am wondering about how it is really calculated and how accurate it is.

One of my lazy, quick, and very unhealthy breakfasts is to eat a Poptart with my coffee. This morning I looked on the back of the package and saw where there are 0 Transfats found in the Poptart I was going to eat. When I looked at the ingredients on that back, there are no tell-tell signs that would prove otherwise. Hydrogenated and partially-hydrogenated fats is a sure sign that there are transfats in a food product, plus, let's don't forget the saturated fats. Transfats are the main ingredient in some (mainly processed) foods that cause major cholesterol buildup in arteries and longterm damage to the circulatory system. They're not good in any form, at any time. And our bodies do not do a good job of ridding themselves of these fats either. So...

Still, how do you get a Poptart to stay in its infamous, perfectly formed rectangular shape, popping with fatty, but good stuff right underneath the surface? It's a mystery to me - and please know that I am an extreme skeptic when it comes to food products and usually what I put in my mouth (okay, except for the Sundrops and Poptarts! -- but we all have our dark sides!).

If you are a purist when it comes to food, you will consume absolutely no processed foods. A purist will only eat those things that are grown in nature and that are not brought together with binders, fillers, and artificial anything. I am a partial-purist. Probably 85% of my diet is all natural, whole foods. My family has slowly, and mostly unknowingly followed my lead, but it has taken 10 years for the process. Now, when my husband or daughters go off somewhere and are not able to eat as I usually feed them, they say that their bodies crave for healthy, natural stuff. That's a great compliment and relief to my culinary beliefs.

While it takes a lot more effort to cook from scratch using no shortcuts or processed additions to the meal, it is a tastier, more satisfying meal.

So, as I'm writing this about healthy foods and all, I am feeling pretty guilty about eating that Poptart this morning. If it were up to me, I would not even keep them in the house. That would force me to eat cereal and/or fruit for breakfast. But Poptarts is one of the few things that I relent and buy for my family.

Sigh....so I guess I'll just trust that my arteries are no worse for eating that Poptart since there are no transfats in them.....and go on with my day!

What in the World?

Al Gore is wanting us to know that he's probably not going to be running for president in '08. Who's asking? And who really cares? Do we really want to relive all that?
And would he stand a chance against the former first lady?http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,198102,00.html


What's all the hype about 6-6-06? Well, if you are superstitious or ultra-religious, you might want to read something into those numbers. Actually, I find it the most interesting that a town named HELL in Michigan is going to make some money off these numbers!http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,198104,00.html


What in the world were these college students thinking they would accomplish by entering a large balloon filled with helium? A dare? A moment of exhiliration and excitement? This is so sad and such unnecessary deaths. What is it about some kids in their 20's that make them think they are invincible, immortal?
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,198108,00.html


Perhaps the most sobering article in this blog. Pakistan is banning The DaVinci Code as to not be offensive to the extremely small minority of Christian under its sovereignty? Plus, they (even Muslim leaders) take offense to how Christ (to them an important prophet of Allah) is portrayed in the movie. And in America, how many theaters are showing this movie? This is irony at its darkest hour.
http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=entertainmentNews&storyID=2006-06-04T085617Z_01_ISL154282_RTRUKOC_0_UK-LEISURE-DAVINCI-PAKISTAN.xml