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).”