Tornado

Okay, I hope this graphic shows up alright. This is a graphic detailing the pathway of the tornado that went through Iowa City last week. If you look closely where the tornado veers due east and then back northeast, you will see a red dot.

That is where my brother and sister-in-law's house is located. The tornado was heading directly towards their house and then ACROSS THE STREET decide to head due east, thus avoiding their house.

Thankfully they weren't home at the time, and thankfully their house was spared. I really like what Dana wrote "God spared us. He didn't have to but He did. I am so thankful." (Her graphic might show up better). It reminded me of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednigo who told Nebuccadnezer "Our God will save us, but even if he doesn't, we still won't bow down to you!" It's a faith that's not dependant on circumstances to be thankful to God.

We visited them last weekend to celebrate Easter and Josh's 30th birthday and took a tour through tornado alley. Wow. It looked very similar to destruction we saw in Louisiana (albeit on a micro-scale in terms of area of land affected). Seeing twigs and boards imbeded into pre-stressed concrete walls made me convinced that the stories of tornadoes pushing hay through tree trunks are actually true.

UPDATE: Click on the graphic to see a more clear picture

answered prayer

Since I began campus ministry, I've known many of the Hmong students at the U of M. Their office is just a few doors down from the Rock Students office. Frankly, I love them! They have the largest, proudest, most active, and supportive student group I've seen. Since that time I've prayed for them, and that God might reach the Hmong community with the Gospel.

This afternoon, I had a student stop by the Rock Students office on the way to the HMSA (Hmong Minnesota Student Association) office and tell me proudly "I started going to church and I'm getting baptized this week!" How exciting to hear!

I didn't have a huge influence in this student's life in terms of sharing the Gospel with her or anything like that. But I was praying for her people, and I was a witness for Christ.

And God began answering that prayer of mine.

Quickert Rd.

Most people don't know this about my dad, but he grew up on Quickert Rd, which is up on the mountains above Saratoga, CA. At the time, Mr. and Mrs. Marvin and Geneva Quickert were the only ones living on this private road.

Thanks to google images, I've also learned that you too can live on Quickert Rd at the tune of almost $4 million in a 6 bedroom, 5000+ square foot mansion. In addition, the Stanford cycling has used Quickert Rd and the surrounding area for training. They offered this picture and review:

"Brutal, oppressive, brutal, painful, savage, arduous, killer, murderous, blood-and-guts, formidable, backbreaking, grinding, fatiguing, unsparing, harsh, merciless, intense, exhausting, austere and even slavish!"

Heaven from a kid's perspective

http://www.startribune.com/462/story/335148.html

Surprise

Last week Maren told me she had a surprise for me on Sunday. So on Sunday she blindfolded me and where did we go? The World Short Track Speed Skating 2006 Championships of course, at our very own Mariucci Arena.

One of my dreams that will never happen is to go watch the Olympics. Maren figured this was about as close as we'd get.

The South Koreans pretty much dominated. Typically they'd be towards the end of the pack for most of the race and then just dominate the last two laps and beat everybody. They also had a loud and proud cheering section which you can see to the left of the "M." Complete with drums, flags, and signs. Maren and I found it surreal that we were actually at the 2006 World Short Track Speed Skating Championships. Partly 'cause why would they choose Mariucci Arena? Partly 'cause as you can tell hardly no one was there to watch. That was fine with us, though, because we got great seats!

So apparently when there's a big nick in the ice, snow and water won't quite do. They have to bring in more specialized equipment - like a fire extinguisher. What's funny is college-age skating minions usually do all the work on the upkeep of the ice, replacing lane lines, etc. I swear they end up skating more at the end of the day then the competitors! The only time the judges get involved is to inspect the minions' work...and to use the fire extinguisher. I think they secretly enjoy using it.