Well, my dad sent me out a new router to set up out here, so now my laptop is once again connected to the internet. (Up until now, we were making do with a tired, little 566MHz system running Xubuntu...which was still a bit too much for it.)

I don't really have much to update on, but I at least wanted the world to know that I have not totally abandoned the Daily. Also, I have a plethora new photos that I will be going through in the near future. It's just that...my photo database is on the computer that I left back in Tulsa. I may post one or two that I have in reserve here on the laptop, but the daily skiasma posts will have to wait until I'm back in Tulsy Town.

The Olympics have been fun. The past couple of Olympics had been a bit of a let-down to me, so I was surprised and happy to find my interest piqued again. I really enjoyed the swimming (especially the men's relays--Go Lezak!), but also found myself rooting and cheering during much of the gymnastics (both men's and women's). Oh...and tennis. Really amazing tennis.

I was a bit disappointed with the couple of basketball games I watched (USA vs. Greece and USA vs. Germany). I'm glad that the USA is winning. Seriously, 4 years ago was just pitiful. At the same time, though, I just don't like the NBA style of play. I feel like the US wins because of the absolute ridiculous athleticism the players have. But as far as actually running an offense...Greece was much more fun to watch.

Okay, I guess that's enough to count as an update for now. I preach my "goodbye" sermon in Boise City on Sunday, so I'll be working on that for much of this week...along with helping my mother can the peaches that are now weighing down the peach trees. Peaches...yummy.

Sorry for the recent blog silence. It's been caused by two things. Firstly, upon returning to Boise City, I found that the internet was being very, very slow. Some prodding proved that my router has finally given up the ghost. Or, is at least on its last legs.

Secondly, we took a short family trip up to Colorado. You'll be seeing some photos of our journeys on skiasma pretty soon.

So, now I'm back in Tulsa for 2 days for a friend's wedding. That means 2 days of blazing fast internet, so I guess I'd better get my updating and such done while I'm here!

Well, my writing sabbatical is officially over. I've posted a summary of how I think things went over at BDWHITE.com. Also, there is a new chapter of Elixir published already, to let you enjoy at least some of my efforts.

We're really getting close to the end now. I have an estimated 4 or 5 more chapters to go, and that's it!

Today is the day! The beginning of my Writing Sabbatical. So, I've done some preparations for anyone else who would like to participate, or if you just want to keep up with how it's all going for me. So, check it out:

• The forum is set up and ready for anyone who wants to join in the the writing fun over at the {art of language} forums.
• You can keep up with how things are going with me via my writer's journal.
• Also, I'll be posting smaller updates on my identi.ca microblag.
• And, everyone is welcome to come and chat and post writings and fun stuff in the #bdwhite irc channel on freenode.

I'm really hoping this will be a fun time, and anyone who wants to is welcome to participate. Any writing style, any subject! All you need to do is go and register for an account on BDWHITE.com, which will let you post your work in the forums and participate in the discussions.

So, for this next week, most of the action is going to be going on over at BDWHITE.com, so if there haven't been any updates here, go and check out what's going on over there. Thanks! And hopefully I'll have something to show for the work by the end of the week!

Thanks for all the kind words from everyone regarding the sermon. It went pretty well yesterday. Everyone was very kind and said many complimentary things about it. The best surprise was that my friend, Becky, came to hear me speak, even though she had just driven across the country and had gotten into town very late the night before. Thank you, Becky! :-)

I've posted the sermon. You can check it out in the BDWHITE.com sermons section.

I've been working on this sermon for what feels like weeks. Kind of because I have been. Except that I took all last week off.

I knew from the beginning, when St. Mark's asked me to preach, that I would have to talk about my time in Japan. St. Mark's and Praise were the two churches that did the most to sponsor me...and I had a lot of personal support from family friends at St. Mark's who sent me letters and email and care packages while in Japan. When I requested children's books, they came through in epic form. I think I had over 100 by the time they were done...and I really only needed 10 or so. :)

So, yeah...St. Mark's needs to hear what they helped with.

The problem is, I find it difficult to really talk about my time in Japan. Not because it was bad, or that I don't want to talk about it--more because I don't really have any epic, life-changing stories that one comes to expect from missionary experiences.

So how do I write a sermon about my time in Japan, when I don't really have a lot to say? I gave a talk about the generalities of Japanese Christianity to my parents' Sunday School class just after returning. And that went well. People seemed really interested in it. But that won't really work for a sermon.

A couple of weeks ago, I preached at St. Paul's in Boise City, and I did a kind of "rough draft" missions sermon for them that I hoped I could adjust and reuse for this occasion. Unfortunately, I was never very happy with how that sermon came out. And it didn't go over all that well at St. Paul's. Again, it didn't go over badly...I just don't think people really understood it, or they didn't feel like it was a pressing issue in their lives. That...and I just had a hard time figuring out what I was trying to say.

And that's the problem I'm having. I want to say something. I've been asked to say something. I just don't know what that something is. But this is part of the job--when there is no time to wait for creativity to just flow, and you just have to force it. And very few things hurt worse than forcing your own creativity.

Truly awesome:

Because I am a fan of the classics, after all.

Well, I'll be driving back to Tulsa today. I'm preaching at my home church on Sunday (St. Mark's UMC). After that comes the writing sabbatical. I'll still be posting here on the Daily, but most of the writing action will be taking place over at BDWHITE.com. The mircoblag will of course be getting regular updates as well.

Also, I'm guessing I'm going to have cell phone service again once I'm back in Tulsa (been without it out here in Boise City for the better part of a month now). So, if you've been just dying to give me a call (and I know you have!), you'll have your chance for about a week and a half starting tomorrow!