Blizzards and floods and tornadoes, oh my!

I'm still in Seattle, approaching the last day and a half of class. The past two weeks of class have truly been eye-opening. This class is basically an introduction to the entire program, so it covers urban theology and missiology, and several components on transformational leadership. We've had a wide range of speakers from all over the West Coast (mostly the Northwest, though) to expose us to the various tracks in the program. I'll be doing a leadership track. I will expand more later.

Yesterday, there was a blizzard on Mount Rainier yesterday (that's just north of Seattle). So, needless to say, it's been cold here the entire time we've been in Seattle. (Someone was commenting this week that it's a beautiful Junuary week!) In the meantime, Cedar Rapids and surrounding areas are having terrible floods. (That's the city in Iowa I fly to this weekend.) Many areas in the city and surrounding areas have been evacuated, and more rain is coming down on an already treacherous area.

Danette's home is removed from the areas in danger of flooding, but we'll probably go and help sand-bag etc when she picks me up from the airport Saturday morning. (Red-eye flight from here takes me through Portland and Minneapolis for an early-morning arrival. Yikes.)

And in the meantime, Danette is on a business trip in Omaha, where a tornado killed 4 scouts today and injured 40!

Please join in praying for all those affected by the floods & tornadoes, for the rain to stop, for the waters to recede, for safety for all. And let's pray that God will show us how to support those whose lives have been affected by this weather.

On a much lighter note: I have made some really neat friends this week! Our class is truly diverse, not only in nationalities, but also in denominations and backgrounds. Unfortunately, class has been so packed that we've not had as much time for discussion. It seems like everyone's truly using every moment, though, to work through some of the concepts. Meal times, break times, even the drive home (3 of us are staying at the the house of the dean, a former professor of mine from APU) is used to wrestle with ideas presented.

One simply cannot go back to your ministry environment unaffected by that which you have talked about this week. Well, at least I can't.

One of my new friends is a techie from around this area. So I've learned a few tricks from him. One of the most handy ones? To use Google Reader.

I know, a bunch of you are probably already doing that. I just hadn't taken the time till now to explore Google Reader. As with all other Google products, this concept is brilliant! I no longer have to check in to see if a friend has finally posted a new blog entry. All blogs that I subsribe to are delivered right to my customized Reader page (and better yet, to iGoogle!)

Some of you are thinking I'm coming out of the Dark Ages here. Oh, well. What can I say. I live in the bush. But if you're clueless what I'm talking about and were like me, opening one news site and blog after another to catch up with friends and news, I'd highly recommend that you spend an hour to set up Reader. It will save you many hours!

I'm rambling. Still need to journal about today's class. Much to write about. Much more to learn, about far, far more than computer stuff.