Amazon Journal (cont.'d)

9 April 2010

8:10 PM

We are well on our way to Atlanta having arrived just west of Washington, D.C., and will soon be entering Virginia airspace.  We are cruising at an altitude of 35,995 feet with the exterior air temps running at -45 degrees F!  Brrrr!!  We will have roughly an hour between landing in Atlanta and departure for Manaus so Atlanta might be an interesting experience.

So far our band of intrepid travelers is handling all the travel via American airspace really well.  Josh is still not convinced that air travel is a good thing, especially during take-offs and landings whichh he really dislikes!  But I'm determined to make an air traveler out of him yet.

Ah, here comes the drink service.  So I'll sign out until later.  A very uneventful flight that has so far brought us right back past Asheville and roughly right over Hendersonville.

10:38 PM

Yes!  We have boarded our flight bound for Manaus, Brazil.  It has already been a long day but way cool to actually hear the flight attendant speaking Portuguese.  Very exciting indeed!  Now we are truly on our way to Brazil.  Our departure was soundly started with a baby screaming bloody murder just in front of Chris.  Sorry but that just made me laugh out loud.

Our flight is a little over five hours long and we get a sandwich to eat.  Good thing because I am hungry again!  I have now gone an entire day without a computer, Facebook, e-mail, Blackberry, text messaging, or any technology other than my iPod.  And wow, it feels really great to not be completely plugged in and constantly available.

At 11:40 PM, we are now flying east of Daytona Beach over the Atlantic on route to the Caribbean.  We have left the continental US.  The sense of anticipation grows with each passing mile.  By tomorrow evening, we will be aboard our boat on the Amazon River.  I still can hardly believe that I am on a foreign flight.  God is truly an amazing God who has so richly blessed me with dear friends and His amazing love.  I told Chris this afternoon that when I left Balsam in January that I was broken and hurting.  I really didn't believe I could be healed of the heart-sickness that had built up over months.  Yet, he guided me to a new church family that has cared for me and touched me in ways I did not think possible.

I believe God began the healing of my broken heart long before I first walked through the doors of First Methodist Church of Waynesville.  I believe he began the healing using a new, young Christian who served as my encourager.  Tony kept reminding me who it was that really mattered and gave me the courage to make the move that would truly help me to heal.  That is a debt of gratitude that I will never forget.

But the intense healing began with a choir that from my first introduction to them treated me with total acceptance despite my being a total stranger.  Yet, that healing only intensified as a result of something a former professor of education at Western said to me as we approached the observance of Lent.  Eddie has many reasons to rightfully be bitter, angry, upset.  But, he has overcome that and has encouraged me to release old pain.  I was searching for something to give up for Lent and did not want to choose something trite.  As this was my first celebration of Ash Wednesday and observance of Lent, I wanted to make a choice that would truly enhance my spiritual condition and draw me closer to God.  I wanted to release my anger and bitterness and truly move forward.  I told him this and he suggest that I pray God's blessings on all who had hurt me during the 40 days of Lent.  This became what I gave up for Lent.  As I moved through that 40 day period, I felt each day that the burden of anger, bitterness, resentment, and betrayal began to drop away.  The hurt will always be there but God showed me that I could indeed leave it behind.  And, so, on Easter Sunday at the 8:30 AM service, I stepped out to join Pastor Sandy Giles in front of the congregation to formally join First Methodist Church.  I count it a great honor that David Traynham stood with me and that Willie really surprised me by joining him.  There are times in our lives that are truly seasons of change.  In Ecclesiastes, Solomon eloquently teaches us this when he says:

To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:  A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;  A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;  A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;  A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together, a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;  A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;  A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.

(3:1-8, KJV)        

My time to heal has come.  My time to weep has passed.  My time to laugh, to feel the joy of the Lord, has come.  My time of silence has ended.  And, my time to speak is the here and the now.  I pray that God grant me the courage to boldly proclaim my faith and to ever remember the wonderful blessings of His grace.  A new beginning has come and I will boldly move into this new phase in life.  Thanks be to God!

Amazon Journal (cont.'d)

9 April 2010

1:50 PM

The great adventure has started!!  Our flight departed Asheville Regional Airport on time and we are 25,000 feet high on our first leg of our journey to Brazil.  We are scheduled to land at La Guardia airport around 2:30 PM EST.  Our first few hours together have been truly a laugh a minute.  We have all been mercilessly aggravating Josh about plane flights but he was a real trooper and gave back as good as he got!  I was a bit worried when we started to board the plane that he might freak out but he did great.  The first few minutes of the flight were amusing when Josh and Kim F. were shocked with some good old-fashioned April turbulence!  That had all of us giggling!  And poor Tony got placed at the back of the plane.  He says he is the bathroom monitor.  Ha, I wouldn't mess with him!

Any concerns I had about how the lone United Methodist would do among the Southern Baptists have been alleviated.  For all intents and purposes, we are now a mission team.  We also got word this morning that we will be coordinating a youth rally on Thursday night!  People know that engaging young people in growing their faith and serving the Savior are my true passions.  My heart is full knowing that I will get to do this on the mission field.  I know that dad would be proud of me on this day.  I remember that fateful last day he was aware of all of us that we promised him that we would continue his work here on earth.  Today, I have started a trek to fulfill a dream of his that was never fulfilled.  By Saturday morning, I will be a servant on a foreign field sharing the faith of my father and my own faith with children and adults who have so little.  May I do so in a way that would honor my dad's memory.

2:45 PM

Start spreadin' the news . . . . . We have landed at La Guardia after flying by the Statue of Liberty and Manhattan.  I hadn't seen either since I was a Junior in college back in the late-1980s.  It is truly a breath-taking view and was extra special knowing that the Twin Towers, which were there when I first visited, are gone.  I thought that Josh was going to float out of his seat!!  His joy of everything new is just so fun to watch.  We currently are sitting on the runway awaiting a gate opening.  And then, the all important search for some decent food!!

7:00 PM

Stage 2 has begun.  We boarded our flight to Atlanta around 6:30 PM.  I am on my second Starbucks Mocha so I am doing great!  Ha!  My traveling companions may be ready to throw me off the plane when that much caffeine starts to work its magic.  It was truly fun going via New York city because it was a treat to a number of the team members.  We are now preparing to taxi for our take-off on the second leg of our journey to Atlanta.  As usual, the Atlanta connection is a tight one which will leave us running to catch the flight to Brazil.  I am amazed to watch Kim D. out of the Waynesville environment.  He shared his faith with our waitress at Chili's in La Guardia airport.  She was very sweet, twenty-one years old, and a Christian as well.  Laura is exhausted and a little under-the-weather.  Both she and Tony slept for a while in the floor at La Guardia.  Laura has been coordinating everything for days and needs to rest during our overnight flight to Brazil.  Tony also needs some rest because he has worked and prepped materials and assignments for his classes for the past two weeks.

I am tired but am really running on full adrenaline.  It is good to be on planes again!  I guess it is true that there are two types of people:  those who love to travel and those who hate to travel.  I definitely am someone who loves to travel.  And this group has already proven that it is never going to be dull!!  We have all laughed so much today.  And yes, Chris is being remarkably well-behaved.  I'm definitely impressed.

The most amusing thing that we've seen was watching three Delta flight attendants try to figure out how to stow Kim D.'s fishing poles!  It took them about ten minutes to figure that one out leading to the inevitable jokes . . . "How many flight attendants does it take to stow a fishing pole?"  Hopefully, all will proceed smoothly and we will make our connecting flight to Manaus.  More to come later!

A Journal Relating My Experiences on Mission to the Amazon River Basin of Brazil

9 April 2010
Asheville, NC

And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me.  Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you.  And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age."

Matthew 28:18-20 (NRSV)           

There are times that experiences lead us to opportunities that we never would have expected.  I have often thought that my first trip abroad would be to Europe, most likely a visit to the home of some of the greatest literary authors known to humanity, England.  But, life has a way of sending us surprises as we progress through the journey of our allotted time on this amazing creation of God.  Such is the story of how my first trip abroad became participating as part of a mission team on its way to the Amazon River Basin of Brazil.  How did I end up going to Brazil??  It is an interesting story and one that illustrates how our best laid plans get altered by God.

When Laura and Kim DeWeese returned from their first mission trip to Brazil over a year ago, they came back to Balsam Baptist Church where they gave a presentation about their experiences sharing the gospel with the Brazilian people.  It was truly a fascinating presentation; and I found myself wondering what it would be like to visit a remote region of the world among the indigenous people of Brazil.  But, the very human side of me kept saying "no, you couldn't do that.  That's not for you."  Of course, I heard the clarion call as clear as day that this was something that I needed to do.  But being the rational person that I am, I kept finding reasons I could not do this (read that "excuses").  Indeed, I felt just a little like one of my favorite Bible characters, Moses.  My pastor at First Methodist said something in one of his sermons a few weeks ago that reminded me of my vacillations.  Sandy said that he had come to realize over the years that humans are exceptionally talented at rationalizing any and all of their actions.  It was a statement that rang very true for me, a statement that likely left me with a goofy grin on my face in the choir loft.

So, how did I end up yielding to God's call to go on this mission trip?  Well, God for some reason has this amazing ability to use mere humans to prompt us to do what he is asking us to do.  In this case, God brought a young man into my life that has become one of the best friends I have ever had.  I believe God brought him to me to help break me out of my comfort zone.  Tony Wing was the first volunteer for the trip.  As we chatted one evening, he told me he was going on the mission trip.  I told him that I just couldn't do that.  With his typical enthusiasm (and sometimes bluntness), he said "Well why not?"  It was at that point that I realized that I was putting up excuses to avoid launching out on faith and doing something that God wanted me to do.  If a young Christian could so easily commit to going on a mission for Christ, what was wrong with my faith?  At that moment, I knew that I would be going to Brazil as part of the mission team.  I had no job, no clue what I was going to do, but I had the faith to go ahead and commit to going on this trip.  It was one of the most uncharacteristic moves I have ever made but I can say that sitting in the Asheville airport with this group is one of the most peaceful moments I have experienced.  There is no fear, but there is an overwhelming excitement and anticipation to be about the work of the master.

Blogging the Amazon River Basin

Between April 9th and April 18th, I went with a group of seven other people on a mission trip to the Amazon River Basin.  During our trip, we visited two remote villages located approximately seven hours up the Amazon River from the city of Santarém, Brazil.  Our trip to this region included time spent in two villages, Curuaí and Aracurí.  While in Brazil, I wrote over 70 pages of journal entries detailing my thoughts, experiences, and observations about the flora, fauna, indigenous peoples, and the conditions in the villages.  Over the next few weeks, I will be bringing my written journal online in an electronic format for all of those who were interested in our experiences in Brazil.  The experience was life-changing in so many ways and causes one to reassess many aspects of life.  Naturally, when one writes a journal there are some elements of that journal that become very personal.  The most personal of observations that I deem something I do not want to share with the web community will remain in my written journal only.  There are things that are too personal to share (well, at least for some of us!).  I hope everyone enjoys my thoughts about what I experienced in the Amazon River Basin.  It was truly a time of discovery of many things about myself.  Stay tuned for more posts.

A must have reference book for C# developers.

C# 4.0 In A Nutshell: The Definitive Reference

Authors:  Joseph Albahari, Ben Albahari

Edition:  4th Edition (covers CLR 4.0)

Publisher:  O’Reilly

ISBN:  978-0-596-80095-6

Price:  $49.99 (US); $62.99 (CAN); £38.50 (British)

Catalog Page:  http://oreilly.com/catalog/9780596800956/

TOC Listing:  http://oreilly.com/catalog/9780596800963#toc

O’Reilly User Group Discount Code:

(5 out of 5 clownfish)

Without a doubt, O’Reilly Media produces many of the finest information technology books on the market. Whether your need is beginner’s level introductions to information technologies or are a more advanced programmer in need of more complex and refined topics, O’Reilly has a book that can meet diverse needs of an audience often with vastly wide-ranging skill levels. One of their numerous series of books are the Nutshell series which their website describes as “topical quick-reference guides that document every nook and cranny of a topic or technology area . . . Designed to be daily companions, these books belong next to your keyboard, at the ready when you need a quick answer” (http://oreilly.com/store/series/nutshells.csp). Having used a couple of the Nutshell selections for a couple of years, I have to say that this description perfectly fits these books. They are not really a book you sit and read cover to cover.

The text contains twenty-six chapters covering all elements of C# 4.0. Notably, the book covers “features new to C# 4.0 and the associated Framework are flagged so that you can also use this book as a C# 3.0 reference” (Albahari & Albahari, 2010). This fourth edition of the book covers the significant new feature set being provided in C# 4.0 including dynamic binding, type variance with generic interfaces and delegates, optional parameters, named arguments, and COM interoperability improvements.

The first three chapters of the text concentrate purely on C# covering the basics of syntax, types, and variables. This front content finishes with advanced topics including unsafe code and preprocessor directives. New C# users should read all three of these chapters sequentially to gain the foundational understanding of the language before moving into the remaining chapters that cover the core .NET Framework including such topics as LINQ, XML, collections, I/O and networking, memory management, reflection, dynamic programming, attributes, security, concurrency, application domains, and native interoperability. For new C# programmers, chapters six and seven (Framework Fundamentals and Collections) should also be read sequentially as they are integral concepts. The text also contains three chapters covering LINQ that should be read sequentially (LINQ Queries, LINQ Operators, and LINQ to XML).

As I examined this book, I realized that it would serve as an excellent quick reference for developers of all levels. However, the book is targeted at intermediate to advanced audiences. For beginners who make the wise decision to include this book in their library, it will serve as an exceptionally useful complement to a tutorial-style instruction to programming in C# 3.0 or 4.0. It will also serve as an ideal companion to books focusing on applied technology such as WPF, ASP.NET, or WCF. In fact, this book should be a required supplementary text for beginning students in C# 3.0 or 4.0 programming classes.

To work the code examples (especially those specific to C# 4.0) you will need the following software tools and documentation:

• C# 4.0 Compiler
• Microsoft .NET Framework 4.0
• Microsoft’s .NET documentation

All three of these items are available in Microsoft® Visual Studio 2010 which includes an express edition of Microsoft SQL Server®. SQL Server is required to run the LINQ to SQL and Entity Framework examples in the text, and includes IntelliSense. Currently, Visual Studio 2010 is available as a download from the Microsoft web page in a Release Candidate version (http://www.microsoft.com/visualstudio/en-us/products/2010/default.mspx). Official launch events for Visual Studio 2010 are scheduled for April 12th.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in developing applications using C# 4.0. In fact, if you develop in C#, your library or bookshelf should not be missing this book. Clear concise examples, a great writing style, and wonderful diagrams of key concepts just add to the overall value of this book. Add to that the fact that you can use this book as a resource for C# 3.0 and it is a no brainer! Another excellent work from the O’Reilly team.

Moving On Down The Road Of Life

In the book of Ecclesiastes, we read that there is a time for everything, a season for all things under the sun.  And, so it is in life at times.  The last year has been a journey for me, a journey that at times has been anything but fun.  Rather, there have been moments when the outlook seemed bleak and the atmosphere seemed dark.  Indeed, there were moments when the storm clouds seemed to be on the verge of overwhelming me.  But, as is so often with the cycles of life, things turn around, decisions are made, movement happens.

For much of the past few months, I have wandered blindly through a dark haze that wouldn't seem to lift.  In short, I had gotten so mired in dismay and despair that I had forgotten to remember that God always has a plan.  We don't always know that plan because we are trying to find our way as we listen to his promptings.  But, after a long dark night, I can finally say I'm moving on down the road of life.  There is sadness which will remain for sometime.  There is pain that will lessen in time.  There are wounds that will heal with time and God's urgings.  But, through the deepest and darkest moments of the past year and the bitterest moments of the past few months, one thing, one person, has been a constant.  God never left my side.  He never gave up on me.  He never forsook me.  His loving arms were stretched tight around me and his hands were wiping away every tear that fell from my eyes.  And there is a comfort in that because I know that this will always be a truth for me.

There is a peace that comes with being able to make decisions that resolve problems we face in life.  And that peace truly passes all human understanding.  Although I know there will be sad days and sad moments in the time to come, I will march forward into the bright new future that God has prepared for me.  Whatever he has in store, it will be good and I will be happy.  That should be enough for all of us.

The Joy of Friendship

Today has been a good day. Not because I have done lots of things (I haven't!). And not because I have felt particularly great (because I haven't!). But despite having a late summer head cold, this has been a great day! My day started awaking early because of "snotitis". I didn't know the nasal passages could create that much stuff. Wonder if you could sell it for the purposes of laboratory research? *he he*

I got myself up out of bed and got ready for church. I particularly enjoyed playing the organ today. Maybe it was the cold medicine induced euphoria but I did enjoy it. The special singing was one of my favorite songs. And the preacher did have a wonderful message that all of us need to take more to heart. Sometimes it is very difficult to love as we should. Let's face it folks, human beings are not always the most lovable of creatures! But it was a good lesson and I look forward to more of it because it will be good for us to re-learn this important element of our Christianity.

Following church, I gathered with some of my truly best friends for lunch at Bogart's in Waynesville. There were nine of us all together and it made my day! No matter how I feel, how down in the dumps, whatever, these people ALWAYS lift my spirits. And that is what is so good about having friends, people that you truly care for and love. To be a friend, at least to me, is to give completely of myself. To be there in the ups and in the downs, in the good times and in the worst of times, in the fun times and in the not so fun times. In short, friendship is about allowing yourself to be loved and to love in return. And when that gift is given freely, I believe you evidence the love of God in its purest of forms, the agape love spoken of in the Bible. It is a love given, not because it is necessarily deserved, but because you want to give it. It makes you feel good to give it. That kind of love is transformative in your life because it serves as a solid post in the storms of life, a rallying point to hold on to through the toughest parts of our daily lives.

So, in short, it is friendship and the love of great friends that has made my day truly blessed!