Fresh Air

Personal revival can be compared to the first deep breath in the morning in the midst of cool mountain air, or it can be like gasping for life after breaking the surface of water after nearly drowning. Today was a little more like the latter for me. I had a wonderful experience this morning in a very unusual way. Kristi and I attended the early service at Northside Baptist, and then went out to the beach to Eastgate Christian Fellowship for their second service. The first service was very typical for a pre-4th of July meeting at a traditional southern church. Everyone was red, white and blue-in-the-face (pun intended). They sang songs of America and did the very routine "shout out" to each branch of the armed forces. It's a time honored ritual at many southern churches to do this on all of the American holidays. At the beginning of church we were asked to track down to ye old alter and offer up prayers for those serving abroad in Iraq. None of this has anything to do with the purpose of church, which is to worship God, but I tried to remain humble and graciously partook in said nuances. The sermon was about praying for the state of the nation that it will turn from it's wicked ways. I began to pray for this, but in probably a most different way than most of my fellow christians. I began to pray for peace and more love being shown by our churches, rather than more useless political hurrahs, which is prevalent in pulpits today. But, some things the pastor said about recognizing pride inherent in America, that mimics early Babalyonian and Roman arrogance struck a cord with me. This mesage really needs to be brought up more often, rather than just on the 4th of July.

When we got to Eastgate, we were privy to some really good praise and worship time that I really just don't feel anymore at Northside. Not that I don't feel people at NSB (Northside Baptist) want to experience God.....I just haven't. The main reason for that is I begin to quabble in my own mind about the things I disagree with in the church itself. The message at Eastgate was about "simplifying the gospel". The regular pastor was on hiatus. His brother gave the message. It hit me like a ton of bricks. Because, it was the EXACT conversation I was having with some random Yahoo! Chat guy on the Christian chat room. My main point was that different forms of doctrine must be examined for truth and expelled if they are heretical. But, this is a conversation among christians, not the discussion to bring up when sharing the Gospel. Also, even correct doctrine can be worshipped as more important than the simple truth of Jesus and the love that he showed the world. If you don't ground your doctrine in the light of that truth. It is meaningless. A "clanging symbol". This is the danger inherent in ANY religion. But, even more so in Christianity, with so many differing opinions on scripture.
I pray God make me more like Paul and begin to strife to simplify my spiritual life down to just "one thing" (kind of like Curly's "one thing" in the movie City Slickers) and that is to know only Jesus Christ and him crucified!.....everything else is arbitrary.

United Bloggerdom

Up until now I thought blogging was mostly a causal experience. A digital diary of the "daily funny's" of peoples real life, or at most a place where the religiously and politcally charged could rant and rave about their opinions to their friends. BOY WAS I WRONG! I am sure some of you may have heard of the Daily KOS. This is a Blog-o-sphere EMPIRE built up of a vast community of people concerned with overthrowing the minds of millions. I am not saying this a bad thing. Maybe what we need is some Via La Revolucion. As a political independent I am VERY pro-freedom and believe that forums like this is a great way to get your points accross to a large audience. From what I've learned about blogger sites like Daily KOS is that they are extremely popular, open the floor of discussion wide open, but allowing the vail of anonmity to prevent percecution towards someones set of beliefs. People chastize the Klu Klux Klan for their anonymous prescence, but groups like Alcoholics Anonymous and similar support groups would not have the success they've had without some secrecy. I am not saying that I support the KKK. Their cause undermines their hoods and makes their outfits a badge of cowardice. I do not think that the bloggers at KOS mean to hide behind their screennames. They recently had a Blogger convention in which most of the editors, facilitators, and writers of KOS were more than happy to reveal their identities. But, for the majority of bloggers on the internet, their screenname provides them aminesty from hassle at their workplace, opposition groups, and harassement from what they call "Trolls" or just mean spirited persons who can't deal with healthy debate. Anyways, hats off to Daily KOS and their contribution to the Blog-O-Sphere!

The Surreal Life.....Class of 96

Well, I've had some "strange" experiences in my life. I think my highschool reunion ranks up there with the first time I ever saw a French woman's armpit hair. I graduated from Enterprise High School in Enterprise, AL in 1996. To this day, I'm not really sure how. I smoked enough marijuana in highschool to stone all the elephants in Africa. Infact, that's all I did besides play pool every night. But, I think somewhere in that mess I managed to B.S. my way to a highschool diploma. Anyways, so there I was, sitting in a room with almost 80 of my former classmates. It was like an empisode of The Surreal Life. I felt like I was in an alternate universe, walking the halls of my highschool, except everyone was fat and bald or pregnant. I made my rounds like everyone else talking to ex-classmates about where their lives had taken them. Most of them sounds like they didn' t have much to say about themselves other than their work. Here was my typical conversation.....hey how are you? I'm good. So, where are you living?? What's business are you in?? Yeah, well I'm blah blah blah......send in the next person.....Hey how are you?? I'm good. So where you living??.....and round and round we go. I felt a more effective way of doing this little catchup would have been to hand out business cards with my MySpace account and just let them read up on current events in the life of Johnny Claunch aka Johnny Caffiene. Anyways, I was somewhat glad I went. I did get to talk to a few interesting people. Including, having a drink before the reunion with an old buddy of mine who didn't even go to highschool with me. Well, that's my story and I'm sticking to it. If any of you ex-classmates of mine read this, some of you (and you know who you are) really have changed since highschool and are better for it.

Memmette has the "Eye of the Tiger"

For those that didn't get the joke in the title of this blog, the song "Eye of the Tiger" was by the group Survivor. For those that don't already know this very regal and vivacious lady, she is my grandmother, known very affectionately as Memmette (the combination of her first and middle name Mary Emmette). This woman is the epidomy of a survivor. She has faced cancer, surgery at almost 90 years of age, and years and years of tense Auburn football games. This qualifies her as Super-Survivor. (Don't you just love this picture also, she looks as though to say "this is my plate of yummy food, BACK OFF!")

If you keep up with my blog, you know she was recently in critical condition at Baptist Medical Center in Montgomery. She was near death, but by the grace of God miraculously came jumping back in the game. Because of her condition, she, unfortunately, wasn't able to attend my wedding. She was extremely missed and will be privy to a full reinactment via video and Power Point presentation sometime during July when my uncle, who also could not attend, will be home. I have already begun to send pictures up to Hayneville via my wonderful Aunt Carole, who has been caring for Memmette diligently for years. Fortunately, she has gathered more help, with the addition of the Memmette care crew, the "bedside" nurse ladies.

She has had a core crew helping for awhile, including my cousin Sonya and the always reliable Kat. Kat is our families very beloved housekeeper, who is known for her biscuits! All of these ladies are co-survivors in MemmetteCare and "rear'in younguns"! Go Team Haynville!

So...I'm going to my 10 year highschool reunion

Alabama has some fond memories for me, most of them being at my grandmothers. Not so many at my highschool. I had a hard time making friends when I moved to Enterprise, Alabama. I was held back a year because Pensacola High School only let's you go on to the next grade if you "pass classes". Also, PHS instructors don't really give two sheets if you have a learning disability. This was made obvious when I went from making D's and F's at PHS to making A's and B's at Dauphin Jr. High. Well, so I graduated in 1996. I knew my 10 year reunion was coming up, but I haven't heard from any of my old classmates in most of those 10 years. Barring some run in's with some of them who still thought they were in highschool. Then something strange happened.....I made a MySpace account and all the sudden I ran into all kind of crazy people from Enterprise. Infact, just yesterday, I got a message from my friend Ben, who was one of my closest friends in Enterprise. Also, I spoke with my buddy Buddha aka Ray Crumpler who was known in highschool for always having about a pound of marijuana on him. Surprisingly, he is now in the army and going to school to be a nutrionist. He also doesn't smoke anymore, or do much of anything phyiscally harmful. Glad to see people change. Anyways, I heard from another MySpace buddy that my reunion was going to be held on June 17th in Enterprise. I decided to go for two reasons. I can flaunt my new wife and I want to see how miserable all the jerks in highschool have become in their hell-hole jobs and have become become sedated by not giving life a chance. What I mean by this is most of the people who I didn't like in highschool did not have much substance to them and had a good chance of never finding purpose in life. Although I don't wish the worst on these people, I just want to be reminded why I made the life decisions I have and why they have their benefits! Also, this one dude named Mark Wilkerson I used to play guitar with became a rockstar and married Melissa Joan Heart. I wanna see if Sabrina the Teenage Witch comes to my highschool reunion.

Ever Distant Lives

Something occured to my as I was sitting up having my morn'in cuppa. My family has changed ALOT. I think back to my younger days as the oldest boy in a family of 6 as my father made his livelyhood as a Methodist preacher. We moved around together, much like a traveling band of gypsies, without people offering to sell us their children. My dad is no longer a preacher, and has not been for 10 years. All of my siblings, save myself, are done with undergraduate college, and I will soon be joining their ranks. All of us, but my little brother, are now married and moved out of the house. Finally, my sister and her husband are embarking to the furthest location away they have lived from either one of their parents. So, what does this all mean? Well, since Kristi and I are still "just around the corner" from our parents, literally, it doesn't mean as much for us yet. For Mary and Lane it means that they will be picked up at airports for holidays and the dropped back off reluctantly. It means that my mom won't be washing or ironing my clothes anymore, which I should have been doing more of when I lived at home. It means I need to be more responsible about emailing not only both my sisters and their husbands, but cousins who live in Tennessee, Florida, Nebraska, and Alabama. I need to call my grandparents more often and tell them how much I love and miss them. These are sins I am guilty of. Thank goodness I have a very loving and forgiving family. As I write this blog, I am reminded of a song by Derek Webb called "Faith My Eyes". In the song, he writes "And how I'm all wrapped up in my mother's face ,with a touch of my father just up around the eyes. And the sound of my brother's laugh, But more wrapped up in what binds our ever distant lives.".....This is so true of my life. This is just change, not bad nor good, just change. You learn to adjust. Btw, thank God for email.

The Married Life.....almost one month.

.....and so it begins. Kristi and I have almost been married one month. We were getting ready for bed and it occured to me last night that ......I AM F'ing MARRIED!......YES MARRIED!!! *Chinese Guy from Sixteen Candles Voice* This was just one of those milestone type feelings, like when you realize you are graduated from highschool or you drink your first legal beer. I kind of compare it to the "moment of clarity" alcoholics experience when they finally see hope in their lives for the first time. I am sure feelings like this will occur again when Kristi and I have our first child. Alot in my life has changed MAJOR in the past 3 years. I am almost about to graduate college, something I thought I'd never do. I have been in a 3 year relationship, something else I never believed was possible for me, and I LOVE IT! I LOVE not being single and having to prove myself to every Jane Doe that walks my way. I mean, not that I don't still try to say impressive things or walk a little more confident when I encounter the opposite sex, but I just don't feel like I HAVE to impress them, because I am not playing the "pitch 'em woo" game. It's more as in a professional atmosphere or acedemic sense. The crazy thing is, I think my confidence and savy derive frpm being with Kristi for so long. She gives me that in AMAZING WAYS. Kristi and I respond to each others "love languages" pretty well. If you don't know about "love languages" those are the things that either turn you on emotionally. (i.e. acts of services, affectionate touch, words of affirmation and encouragement.) If you are currently in a relationship, I HIGHLY reccomend you discover what your significant other's love languages are. Hopefully, you are like Kristi and I and have natural tendencies towards adhereing to your partner's language.
Well, I hope I'm not being to mushy gushy about how wonderful it is to be married to Kristi, which it IS! Maybe we are still in the "honeymoon period" so to speak and really haven't allowed the QUIRKS to set in. I am really trying to make a conscience effort to work on some of my flaws to avoid having them on the QUIRK list. (i.e. doing chores around the house). Please pray for my vigilance in accomplishing this. I really don't want to replace my mother with Kristi (well, not in this capacity). Kristi is STILL going to have to comfort me in SICKNESS....it was in the vows man!