Now I'm gonna gripe.

We've been looking at Northlake for the last few weeks. As a matter of fact, it's been 5 weeks since we went to Campus. Yesterday, Randall asked John where we'd been. He's the first person from Campus who has asked about it. 5 weeks and only one person noticed / cared. I've said all along that I felt invisible at Campus and now I'm proven right.

We talked to one of the Northlake elders last night and will be placing membership a week from Sunday. The people there have made a concerted effort to seek us out and introduce themselves and make us feel welcome. The classes we've attended have been well done and thought provoking. They have some interesting ideas about service - like a communal vegetable garden. (I've got to look into that a bit more. I'm not talking about a couple of tomato plants and a cucumber. They're using enough land to warrant a tractor to cultivate.) And they plan to break ground for the new auditorium this fall.

It's not high church, but there's a strong feeling of community there.

FDR's Prayer on D Day

Last night, when I spoke with you about the fall of Rome, I knew at that moment that troops of the United States and our Allies were crossing the Channel in another and greater operation. It has come to pass with success thus far.

And so, in this poignant hour, I ask you to join with me in prayer:

Almighty God: our sons, pride of our Nation, this day have set upon a mighty endeavor, a struggle to preserve our Republic, our religion, and our civilization, and to set free a suffering humanity.

Lead them straight and true; give strength to their arms, stoutness to their hearts, steadfastness in their faith.

They will need Thy blessings. Their road will be long and hard. For the enemy is strong. He may hurl back our forces. Success may not come with rushing speed, but we shall return again and again; and we know that by Thy grace, and by the righteousness of our cause, our sons will triumph.

They will be sore tried, by night and by day without rest - until the victory is won. The darkness will be rent by noise and flame. Men's souls will be shaken with the violences of war.

For these men are lately drawn from the ways of peace. They fight not for the lust of conquest. They fight to end conquest. They fight to liberate. They fight to let justice arise, and tolerance and good will among all Thy people. They yearn but for the end of battle, for their return to the haven of home.

Some will never return. Embrace these, Father, and receive them, thy heroic servants, into Thy kingdom.

And for us at home -- fathers, mothers, children, wives, sisters and brothers of brave men overseas -- whose thoughts and prayers are ever with them -- help us, Almighty God, to rededicate ourselves in renewed faith in Thee in this hour of great sacrifice.

Many people have urged that I call the Nation into a single day of special prayer. But because the road is long and the desire is great, I ask that our people devote themselves in a countenance of prayer. As we rise to each new day, and again when each day is spent, let words of prayer be on our lips, invoking Thy help to our efforts.

Give us strength, too -- strength in our daily tasks, to redouble the contributions we make in the physical and the material support of our armed forces.

And let our hearts be stout, to wait out the long travail, to bear sorrows that may come, to impart our courage unto our sons wheresoever they may be.

And, O Lord, give us faith. Give us faith in Thee; faith in our sons; faith in each other; faith in our united crusade. Let not the keenness of our spirit ever be dulled. Let not the impacts of temporary events, of temporal matters of but fleeting moment -- let not these deter us in our unconquerable purpose.

With Thy blessing, we shall prevail over the unholy forces of our enemy. Help us to conquer the apostles of greed and racial arrogancies. Lead us to the saving of our country, and with our sister nations into a world unity that will spell a sure peace -- a peace invulnerable to the schemings of unworthy men. And a peace that will let all men live in freedom, reaping the just rewards of their honest toil. Thy will be done, Almighty God. Amen.

Pres. FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT, June 6, 1944

In Honor of D Day

Marine Corp - Baker Company

taken in Iraq

Where in the United States have I been?

Bold the ones you've been to and add one to the end and repost to your journal.

The Alamo
The Aleutian Islands
Amana Colonies
the Arch (St. Louis)
Aspen, CO
the Badlands
the Berkshires
the Big Ball of Twine
the Winchester Mystery House
the Black Hills
Broadway
Brooklyn Bridge
Busch Gardens (any location)
Cape Cod
Carhenge
Carlsbad Caverns
Central Park
Chimney Rock
Chinese Theater
Churchill Downs
College World Series
Colonial Williamsburg
Crater Lake
Death Valley
Disneyland (CA)
Disneyworld (FL)
Door County
Empire State Building
the Everglades
Fenway Park
Fisherman’s Wharf
Florida Keys

Four Corners National Park

French Quarter/Bourbon Street
Gettysburg

Glacier National Park

Golden Gate Bridge
Grand Canyon
Great Salt Lake
the Hamptons
Harper's Ferry
Hoover Dam
Independence Hall
Johnson Space Center
Joshua Tree
Kennedy Space Center/Cape Canaveral

Knoebels Amusement Park, PA

Lake Placid
Lake Tahoe
Las Vegas – the Strip
Mackinac Island
Madison Square Garden
Mall of America
Mammoth Cave

The Mississippi River

Mojave Desert
Monticello
Mt. Rushmore
Mt. St. Helens
Mt. Vernon

The Mystery Hole

The Mystery Spot

Napa Valley
Niagara Falls
the North Shore of Mauithe

Opryland

Ozarks/Branson

Pearl Harbor

Petrified Forest
Pike’s Peak

Pike Place Market

Redwood Nat’l Park
the Road to Hana
Rocky Mountains
Rodeo Drive/Beverly Hills
Route 66
Sea World (any location)
Sears Tower
Sequoia Nat’l Park
Sierra Nevada Mountains

Six Flags over Georgia

Six Flags Over Texas

Smithsonian Institute Museums
Smoky Mountain Nat’l Park
Sonoma Valley
South Padre Island
Space Needle
Statue of Liberty
Stone Mountain
Times Square
United Nations
Universal Studios
Vail, CO

Washington D.C.

The White House

Wisconsin Dells

World of Coca-Cola

The World's Largest Garden Gnome

Wrigley Field
Yankee Stadium
Yellowstone Nat’l Park/Old Faithful
Yosemite Nat’l Park
Zion Nat’l Park
King's Island

Which Action Hero Would You Be?

You scored as a William Wallace
The great Scottish warrior William Wallace led his people against their English oppressors in a campaign that won independence for Scotland and immortalized him in the hearts of his countrymen. With his warrior's heart, tactician's mind, and poet's soul, Wallace was a brilliant leader. He just wanted to live a simple life on his farm, but he gave it up to help his country in its time of need.

William Wallace - 83%
Indiana Jones - 75%
Maximus - 71%
Lara Croft - 63%
Captain Jack Sparrow - 63%
The Terminator - 58%
James Bond, Agent 007 - 54%
Batman, the Dark Knight - 42%
El Zorro - 38%
Neo, the "One" - 33%
The Amazing Spider-Man - 29%