Wow! the price of gas went up 40 cents overnight and nearly a dollar over the past week! I am so glad that I filled my tank last night I just wish that I could have filled ten reserve tanks. $3.19 this AM....ouch.

Yesterday was a thought provoking day. I had many things rolling around in my noodle. 

One that has been cooking my noodle for some time is about friends who are straying from the Lord in one way or another. At what point in your encouraging them to turn from those things do you have to step back and say "hey, wait a minute, I am being an enabler. This person feels supported by my actions." I discussed this some with Pastor Brad last evening.

Also there is the question of being able to have close friendships between believers and unbelievers. This topic was up for discussion in Turning Point last night and as a friend put it last night we *can* but *should* we. It makes me wonder about alot of things. First how is close defined. “Bound by mutual interests, loyalties, or affections; intimate: close friends” and then: Does 2 Corinthians 6: 14  "Do not be unequally yoked believer with unbeliever, for what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness, and what communion has light with darkness" pertain to close friendships? What defines yoked? I have included some definitions. Look particularly at the 3rd definition of yoked. To join securely as if with a yoke; bind. What binds us together? Are we "bound" together as friends? as fellow believers? Certainly I think the approach to a fellow believer who has strayed and also the expectations as to the conduct of fellow believers are different then those for a non-believer. There are defining differences between believers and non-believers in their world views. Also if we are able to be as close to a non-believer as with a believer we should maybe be examining our hearts. Are we where we should be? Romans 12: 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. The things that are nearest and dearest to the heart of a believer should be the things of God. These things will not be near and dear to the heart of an unbeliever because they cannot comprehend the joy and fulfillment that comes to a believer through saving grace.

As far as the right type of relationships to have believer with unbeliever I think that it is very important for believers to witness to and develop involvements with unbelievers in order to demonstrate Christ’s love to them and to demonstrate the fruits of a Christ-like walk. You should be compassionately involved but not yoked. Christ was compassionately involved in the lives of everyone he met. He did not become bound to them. He showed concern for the things that troubled their lives. He showed them the things they needed to do to have joy and peace. Christ’s relationship with believers was different in that he is their Master and Lord but he loved them and had much closer relationships with His followers than with everyone else. But we should model Christ’s relationships with believers and unbelievers.

All of these thoughts are very incomplete…maybe more later. I need to read this again when I haven't been looking at it for awhile.

v. yoked, yok·ing, yokes
v. tr.

1. To fit or join with a yoke.
2.  
1. To harness a draft animal to.
2. To harness (a draft animal) to a vehicle or an implement.
3. To join securely as if with a yoke; bind: partners who were yoked together for life.

v. intr.

To become joined securely

yoke (y k) n.

Something that connects or joins together; a bond or tie.

close

1. Bound by mutual interests, loyalties, or affections; intimate: close friends.

relationship.

1. a paticular type of connection existing between people related to or having dealings with each other

Here are the anals of a recent adventure. I and 6 other college “kids” went to the sad, sad Orioles game the 12th. It's a laugh because we are all homeschoolers and who says homeschoolers don’t know how to have fun. We cheered on our discouraged team as they struggled on to the very last in a 12-0 loss. Then we celebrated (go figure) with a fireworks display that topped the fourth of July. Quite wonderful really. After walking back to our car and then getting lost in the parking lot (grin) we decided to find a restaurant that would be open at midnight. We drove hither and yon for about an hour before settling on a poor unfortunate Denny’s. We then proceeded to lay waste to their food supply. It was a feast fit for a King. We then watched Dan and Stan  in a syrup chugging contest which they both won and which sent all of the other patrons and staff into howling laughter. Stan then attempted to drink something much worse, "Christine's midnight special." Ugh! Made me gag just to watch him try to sip it. Very disgusting. While at Denny’s we decided that this adventure was to be an all-nighter and that the only planned event from here on out was a Balderdash game at 3AM. For any who don’t know Balderdash is best played at 3AM when minds are tired to the point of hilarity and everything is funny even the stupid stuff. We then drove back to the house (headquarters) and went on a hike up the road until oh about 2:30AM then we played Balderdash which didn’t last but 5 or 6 rounds because the laughter threatened to become loud enough to roust the sanely sleeping household and the party decided to move outside. At this point we decided that a 4:30AM swim in our clothes on in a neighbor's pond would be the best adventure and so we tiptoed down the road and snuck across the yard to a beautiful and very clean pond. The swim can only be described as marvelous. Then, since no one had brought dry clothes we changed into borrowed clothes and I into a bathrobe (alas, I am too tall to borrow anyone’s clothes) Our creative minds still at work and all of us looking highly silly in our various garbs, we decided to dress even sillier and paint our faces and then walk around Wal-Mart and take pictures. The Wal-Mart in the town where we were is not a 24 hour Wal-Mart so we had to wait until 7AM, which gave us plenty of time to do up the faces. I was one the official makeup artist since my skin is too sensitive to put anything on it. Well since we didn’t have any real face paints we decided to use sharpie markers. They worked quite well and when we were finished we had a mouse, a wrestler, a clown, a hippie, a rabbi, and an old lady in a bathrobe (me) with a broom to hit the mouse. We then drove to Wal-Mart and walked around. I tell you for some odd reason people were looking at us as if we were crazy…. No idea why. It was quite funny because some people were trying to be polite and not stare just sort of peeking, some were openly laughing, and some looking positively scared of us. From there we went to Starbucks and ordered coffee and took more pictures and finally ended up meeting Dan, Amy, and Lindsay's dad and colleagues for breakfast in our garbs. More pictures. The very saddest part was having to go home and go to bed or to work as the case was for some of us. What an adventure though! (I know some of you already thought I was crazy but for those of you who only suspected here is your proof. For those who are blindsided by this information I appologize but can only say that it is time that you knew the truth. )

This is hopefully only the first in the anals of the history of the walmartians.

Next up The Ethiopian Incident.