Bruthr...

Two days ago my 19-year-old brother Mark and his friend Dane LaBue came from Indiana to visit for my dad's birthday. On Saturday we went to Shooters of Columbus (gun shop and indoor range) and shot for a while at the range. We had brought with us my dad's Ruger New Model Single Six .22 caliber revolver; also, we were able to rent a Glock 17 9mm. The targets were hilarious-you could choose between several different posters of "threatening people" that actually looked pretty pitiful. Every once in a while, some insane person down the range would go trigger-happy with some powerful semi-automatic, resulting in a fast series of loud booms and wind-like air disturbances. The 9mm had more kick than the .22, of course, but it felt pretty cool to have more power in your hands than just a weak little plinker. The shop had some nice stuff. SKS's, Gewhers, and other wartime/standard issue guns (that were nastified in oil from being in storage so long) from various countries like Yugoslavia, Germany, Russia, and England were arranged in racks next to signs that read "unissued." On top of a glass case of more guns lay a beautiful, engraved commemorative case, opened, with an M1 Garand in it. I also spotted a genuine Red Ryder BB gun. They even had a "Robin Hood Hall of Fame" on one wall displaying incidents when one arrow pierced through a previously shot one. On Sunday, Mark and Dane went to church with us and met some of the people there. Afterwards, we went to Buffet City (which almost does seem like a city because of its size and amount of people). Shortly thereafter, Mark and Dane had to leave.

...

Sometimes I think to myself, can life get better than this? And myself responds, with God, the answer seems to be no! God is wonderful though. Everything he does in our lives is inexplicably connected in strange ways, the majority of which we never get a full comprehending of. There's no way to describe his workings-to simply say "wonderful" is the most enormous understatement of the age. It's interesting to think sometimes of how He orchestrates how all the people in your life will play a part in affecting or helping you, why they are there, when they'll enter your life, their characteristics, personality, etc.; and it gets more complex when you turn it around and realize that you're a part of others' lives around you, too, and you affect or help them. It boggles the mind even to begin the process of trying to think of how complex His workings are. And He funnels it all into something good, every time. So not only is His plan complicated, it is beneficial. I especially should know this. Before I moved to Georgia, I was horrible, very selfish, depressed, having rejects for for friends, immature, ignorant, and all that stuff. Then it's almost as if the Omniscient One, sitting high on His throne yet still filling every cubby and corner and crack of the earth as well as the universe beyond, decided that He'd had enough of this miniscule wretch, and was going to teach him a lesson (although not through the usual "fire and brimstone"). He let me gain so much knowledge and grow so much....It's amazing. Everything was(and still is) wonderful: He gave me friends that help and care, a pastor-as well as staff-that lovingly reproach and teach very well, a church that's beyond being kind and compassionate, the works. And the thing is, all of that collaborated to teach me a lesson that I'll never forget. But anyways, God is great. And Omnipotent, and omnipresent, all-knowing, and the list just goes on and on....

Signing off,
Dan(although I feel like I should change my name because I'm not the same person anymore)