Pasty Olympians / Dining in Heaven

The Olympics ended with our country finally flexing their Canadian Beef. 18 medals is great and we should feel proud of our 300+ that laid off good food and TV for 4 years only to lose out on a medal by a fingertip and then get judged by their own blackberry carrying, escalator riding, uncultured, unfeeling, fatty countrymen. (dial 119 for the Harsh Police). Our Olympic athletes are heroes. Nothing less. Except for the 50km speed walkers. They're kinda wierd.

How is this an event let a lone an OLYMPIC event?? I watched it for like 40 min one day, it was a stay inside lazy day ok, and damn - its intense. I wondered at one point how a person might qualify for such an event, especially since it requires SO much skill. I've narrowed it down to 3 qualifications:

1. Must be white.

2. Must have been bullied all through grade school.

3. Must currently be homosexual.

Come to think of it, some of you could have qualified. Ha ha, jk.

Moving on now. (remember 119)

I'm not sure what to think of Heaven. I'm pretty sure Hell involves speed walking while listening to Joel Osteen podcasts but heaven, that's a mystery. Some think its a literal place, others think its a state of mind, others think its all around us while others think its a myth. I usually vascilate between all these things although after Sunday, heaven may be a little more clear.

As my family and I descended the stairs leading into our church fellowship hall the word surprise came flying toward us. We stopped dead when we realized that the 175 mouths were open and smiling directly at us. Turns out, our good friends Ty and Hope had thrown us an EPIC going away party and had invited all our dear friends. You can't prepare for moments like these. All I can say is it felt like Heaven as we walked into a thunderous applause before finally managing to take our seats. The night continued on wonderfully for another 3 hours and I haven't laughed and cried that much in a very long time. Besides all the great food, humbling words and Epic video by Ty, our church proved that money can grow on trees. We were able to use that money towards a 12 day mediterranean Cruise of a lifetime that will hit such cities as Rome, Florence, Naples/Pompeii, Athens, Olympia, Izmir and Istanbul, among others. Italy, Greece and Turkey. AHHHHHHHHHHHHH! (that's my excited scream). The most amazing thing about the cruise is we had really wanted to go to Greece and Turkey on our trip but had ruled it out due to the cost. We will always remember that night as the time we dined in heaven. And we will always be thankful for friends like the ones here. The kind that love you more than you deserve.

Thank you Maryvale. You had me at "you're hired."

John