Snippets of weird and wonderful observations on American life

We landed in Denver on January 9th and so have been here for two weeks. Geoff and I are off to another land already. Saturday January 23rd we travel to Mendocino, California for a minister/missionaries retreat week at a lighthouse. It should prove to be a restful and insightful week. We are definitely looking forward to it.

With two weeks in Denver already having flown by I decided I'd share some observations.

Though we're not in Rome anymore I have had "When in Rome, do as the Romans do." swimming around in my head. A more grounded statement could be argued from Paul's perspective, "Be all things to all people." Of course his ultimate goal was in saving souls, whereas the previous statement is mostly geared at fitting in. Now, in Denver, we find ourselves doing as the Denver Brittons do . . . Watching Wheel of Fortune every night. Obviously this is not qualified as an activity geared at saving souls, nor is it our effort to simply fit in. But, this is an activity already in place in this household when we arrived and so we participate.

I have to admit, it is nice to switch off the brain (though some of those puzzles can be quite challenging :) ). The other night we watched one of the contestants win a weeklong trip to Italy and the prize was valued at three times the amount we spent on our 18 day Italian holiday. My observation? What on earth could cost more than three times the amount we spent for less than twice as long as our stay?  Truthfully? We lacked nothing. We toured Florence, Venice, Soriano and Rome. Every day was rich, full, invigorating, insightful, beautiful, historical and yummy.

Watching Wheel of Fortune has renewed my observation that the world's system produces an insatiable hunger for more, but less is always delivered. With God we are dealt abundant blessings, always.

WHY do people arriving at the gym (to exercise) spend extra time vying for that closer parking space? No less than five people were lined up for a closer space last week. Are we NOT there to exercise people? Just park and walk for crying out loud!

The nearby liquor store is advertising a rewards program for frequent buyers. Is this the epitome of health in the land of often obsessive attention to Both healthy eating and safety?

The DJ on the Christian radio station the other day shared how a friend recently panicked when she arrived at a job interview because she realized she'd forgotten to put on perfume before she left home. THIS is a problem to panic over? Her solution? Smear the car air freshener all over herself. Yessssss, this is a picture of maturity.

And in a bit of a confusing twist I saw an AARP ad the other day in which they proudly highlighted quite a few of their "poster children." Members of AARP who have started new careers at age 50. WAIT? Isn't AARP for the retired person????? Those "go-getters" aren't retired, how can AARP claim them?

Today Geoff and I passed a High School on the left and on the immediate right was a Planned Parenthood office. Coincidence? I think not. Just as a candidate's posters can't be within 100 feet of the polling place on Election Day, there ought to be some sort of law that a Planned Parenthood business should be placed roughly a billion miles from a high school.

We are being inundated by all the updates in technology in place since we were here in 2013. We hear the Islamic call to prayer often while in Uganda. Today we passed a Mosque and realized we NEVER hear the call to prayer here. We wondered if the silence was due to a "call to prayer" App because, despite the silence, there were MANY cars in the parking lot on this holy Friday.

A few days ago Toby couldn't contain his excitement regarding a planned trip to Sonic--the fast food restaurant. Wednesday featured 50 cent corn dogs and he wanted to make sure he also could get tater tots. He was so exuberant about it I smiled and told him that I love him for his joy over such things. He sported a defensive tone, "but we might live in Uganda for a very long time so whenever we're here we should capsize on these things." I laughed. Of course he meant capitalize. But, since capsize is to turn oneself upside down, that's a pretty good description of what tater tots and corn dogs might do to you!

Enjoy life and stay healthy, friends.

To the unknown god

Settling into this furlough with some time on my hands almost seems foreign.  In Uganda, I rarely find enough time in the day to sit and ponder, but now that we have somewhat of a routine here in Denver I find that there are many things to think about.  As a family we are going through a process of evaluating where we are now and setting some goals for 2016 and beyond.  But, as we look at where we are going we can’t help think about where we are.

Finding your bearings regarding which way to go requires you to know where you are.  The fancy technology out there, GPS, google maps, smart phones all require you to have a starting point or they really can’t help you.  So where are we? To add to the musing, really knowing where I am requires that I think about where I have been. Where and how far have I come?

From the beginning God has encouraged his people to remember.  He set the rainbow in the sky to help us remember (Gen 9:14-17), as the Israelites left Egypt (Ex 13:3) he set precepts to cause them to remember and when Joseph was in prison the butler's failure to remember to mention Joseph's plight left Joseph in prison for an additional two years (Gen 40:23). We, the Brittons, don’t want to fail to remember where we have come from and what God has done in our lives.  

Of course, as I think back over the past ten years and the process of God orchestrating our move to Uganda, I am reminded of so many people He involved and numerous things He did. God opened doors, brought sermons, did miracles and set things in order to lead us to Africa. There were the people who prayed, those who prophesied, those who gave sacrificially, encouraged, and offered advice. It has been a fantastic journey and not for one minute regrettable! But, more than just feeling good about what we have seen and done, I am increasingly grateful for HIM. “The one in whom we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28).

We understand as the apostle Paul did, and even before HIM Epimenides, the Greek prophet from the 7th century, B.C., that there is one God above all others. The One that is good, Who loves and cares for us in the midst of our failures to do good. He shines His face upon us, a broken and selfish people, and calls us His offspring. Paul addressed the men of Athens drawing their attention to the fact that this “unknown” god they worshiped and that Epimenides wrote about was actually the One True God.  Elohim, creator of all and the one that determines the times and boundaries of our dwelling places. He directs our paths, leads us into all truth and cares for all our needs along the way.

Knowing where we are going must begin with remembering that the One true God knows us and invites us to know Him. How else can we move forward into our destiny? As we have taught our kids, this is the beginning of all things because in the beginning there was God and all things originate with HIM. So even as we think about goals for 2016 we can’t leave God out; He is the beginning point. Remember that truth.

These pictures were taken on Palatine Hill in Ancient Rome. It was an ancient altar to an unknown God from around the 1st century BC.

Mary, Kevin, Acacia, Toby. 

The Forum, Rome, at the base of Palatine Hill.