I found this e-mail tonight and wanted to post it because all I have is the printout, and I had lost it for a long time. This was a pretty seminal event in my religious and relational life.

Juno e-mail printed Fri, 22 June 2001 21:08:56 , page 1

From: Xxxxx X Xxxxx

To: gkamprath@juno.com

Date: Fri, 22 Jun 2001 16:46:00 -0400

Greg,



I’m not really sure what you think about gifts of the spirit, such as prophecy, but I’m all into that. Prophet Glen Miller, an extraordinary man of God, comes to our church quite a bit, and has been teaching at the church meetings I’ve been going to the last couple of nights. I’ve gotten prophetic words from him and other people many times, and each time they’ve been what I needed to hear. God reveals things to people and speaks through them. Prophecy is a very helpful tool for the church to hear God’s will.

For a while I’ve been asking God for direction in my life and to make some things clear for me. Well, on wednesday night God was really clear. He spoke to me through Prophet Glen. Here’s a bit of what he said: “...The Lord has got your husband. I’m sorry, he’s not coming now. He’s not comin at 17, he’s not coming when you’re 18, and you won’t see him at 19. And if you start chasing, you’re gonna get something that’s not yours… the Lord says ‘you concern yourself with me.’”

There was more to the word than that, but that sums up the part concerning us. And I know in my heart that he’s right. As much as it hurt me to hear, and as much as it could hurt you, I know that I’m not supposed to have any dating-style relationship with you, or anyone else for that matter. I am trying to seek God’s kingdom and his righteousness first, and in order to do that I need to follow his way, not mine. I realize I’ve hurt you a couple other times when pulling out of the relationship, and you’ve said you’ll wait. But don’t wait this time, because we can’t start it up again. I can’t be in a relationship that I know God doesn’t approve of.

I pray that God protects your heart, Greg. You really are a one-of-a-kind friend. And hopefully you’ll still be up for a group bike ride by the canal some time – I’ll see you sunday. May God give you peace in Christ,



Xxxxx

For the record, she would not see me on Sunday because I was leaving the next day to work at camp for the summer. As I understand it the word from the Lord didn’t exactly come true either. Although it could be just because she started “chasing” and got something that’s not hers… Anyway, you can see Glenn’s website here: http://www.lionsshareministries.com. It’s kind of weird, I never looked him up until now, and there he is. He became this sort of mythical character in a story I tell, but now he has a face.

Lately I’ve been playing geography puzzle games online. I have no knowledge of geography, so I thought it was a good idea. It’s humbling to play a game intended for children and find yourself saying, “Oh, so that’s where Somalia is!” The thing about this site though, is that I think it’s tailored to children who are home schooled. Why? Well there was the ad that said “Finally, a Christian alternative to health care!”

It’s called Christian Share Medi-Share. I can’t get the image to upload right now, but that tag is the most interesting part. I agree that the health care system has all sorts of problems, and I can’t speak for the efficiency of the “Christian alternative to health care.” But I like how much the ad says about the company placing it and the intended audience. Apparently there is a group of long-suffering people just waiting for a Christian alternative to health care. And a group of people who thought, “Health care is so messed up! Why can’t Christians just figure out another (religiously based) way?”

I was just washing my hands in the men’s room. I watched the man next to me finish, go to the automatic paper towel dispenser, and hold his hands out. He held two hands out, palms up, not moving, like a child receiving a gift. He stood there for a while. I assume that he thought it was broken and eventually left. I finished washing my hands and walked over to the dispenser. I waved my hand in front of the part that said “motion activated” and dried my hands.

That, my friends, is the title of some spam I got a couple years ago, and I only deleted it just now. I’ve kept it so long for nostalgic reasons.

I was driving on I-90 on the way home from New Jersey, and there was a sign in the rest stop bathroom: Wash your hands. It’s the law. This is news to me.

This summer Kelly and I went to a session of pre-marital counseling at her church. We didn’t realize we’d only be going to one, but there were scheduling problems, so it didn’t happen. As it turns out, we weren’t too sad about it. The pastor gave us a video to watch that we’d never heard of, (“You’ll cry,” we were told) and we got a paper to sign and bring back with us:

The Purity Covenant

Get alone together. Sit face to face and hold hands. Begin by having the man read the scripture passages below. Then the man is to read the promise of purity to his fiancee. Next the woman is to read the promise to the man. Finally, pray and both of you should make your commitment to God.

(Then it quotes 1 Thessalonians 4:3-8, 1 Corinthians 6:18-20, and Acts 24:16.)

• In obedience to God’s command, I promise to protect your moral purity from this day to our honeymoon.


• Because I respect and honor you, I commit to build up the inner person of your heart rather than violate you.


• I pledge to show my love for you in ways that allow both of us to maintain a clear conscience before God and each other.

(Then there’s two spots for signatures and the date)

You know, I would sign it except I have a problem with the part where I “commit to build up the inner person of (Kelly’s) heart, rather than violate (her).”