After 7 sunny days cruising the Carribean, we are finally home. Not once did I feel seasick, but the house is "rocking" as I type this post. Never having experienced a cruise like this, I have decided that they are simply huge floating buffets. Food to the left, food to the right, food all around. Definitely not a place to start a new years resolution.

This trip was sponsored by Edward Jones, and had @ 45 brokers with families onboard. Jones has a program that allows their brokers to be elegible to win 2 trips per year-all over the world. I think @ 50% win these trips. When Geri had her office in Littleton, we won 9 trips. We have been blessed to literally see the world. Now that she is a partner with Jones, they assign her the trips to "host". These are working vacations. If this is work-sign me up for more.

If you are like me, I try and bring things to read and study when on vacation. My books of choice were Soul Survivor (Phillip Yancey), Visions From A Foxhole (WWII), A Beth Moore study on Paul (Since I'm teaching that class on Wednesdays), The Bible, and Let's Roll (wife of Todd Beamer-known for 9/11 crash in PA).

I am dissapointed in myself having read very little of the Bible, and not focusing on my study of Paul. I sometimes think I am a lazy Christian-easily interested in anything but feeding my soul. Two good examples are my lack of study of Gods Word, and my propensity to drink while on vacation. Right now I will focus on the latter. My thoughts have consistently been I don't want to drink to be drunk, or drink when it causes someone else to stumble. When we went skiing a few weeks ago, that was the first time I have been skiing without imbibing (if that is the correct term) for as long as I can remember. Lately I have been struggling with my rationale on this subject.

One of my favorite movies is Saving Private Ryan. A memorable scene is when Capt Miller (Tom Hanks) leads a frontal assault on a machine gun nest. In this assault their medic is killed, and dies very graphically. The scene is set-here's a squad of men sent out to rescue one man off the lines, Private Ryan. A noble idea in theory, but their lives are at stake, and even expendable in this quest. Once they have captured the MG, and killed all but one German, the squad is debating what to do to the prisoner. Kill him or let him go. After all it was the Germans fault for starting the war, manning that gun, and ultimately killing their medic. A fight breaks out. Allegiances are split-kill the German? turn back emptyhanded? go on to find Ryan? Capt Miller decides to let the prisoner live, and walk blindfolded back to the American line. Why didn't the captain just order the kill? By now we have found out all the secrets about Capt Miller like where he is from, what he did as a civilian... He didn't want to shoot the prisoner because with every person they killed, he felt farther away from home-he was slowly becoming unrecognizable to himself. In the same sense I am coming to the conclusion that the more liberties I take (in this case social drinking)...the farther I feel from home (God). I push God away from my thoughts. I am embarrased to talk about things spiritual and my faith. I am unrecognizable to the man I want to be. I just find it too ironic to profess this aspect of my life over drinks. I am consistently wondering if anyone else feels this way? I guess it doesn't matter-because only I am responsible for my relationship with God. I think my solution is to cut this liberty out of my life and see what happens...