Road Trip + Praying for Trump? + Jokes

Road Trip News

We got back from our 2nd summer road trip yesterday, after taking 3 of our grand-kids "glamping" at Platte River State Park. I say "glamping," because we stayed in a cabin, which was a pleasant surprise. There were 4 bedrooms, a kitchen, & a common area; also a deck & a grill, where we cooked hot dogs, hamburgers, & made s'mores.
      On TUE we took the kids--Brianna (15), Hadley (9), & Bentley (5) to the Juvenile Overstimulation Facility (JOF) in Omaha. That would be the Children's Museum, where Bentley ran wild, spending an average of 1 minutes or less at each station. Since it was rainy for much of the day, the museum was a good choice. We had originally planned on going to the waterpark @ Mahoney State Park, but it was not only rainy but chilly.
      On WED we took the kids to the Henry Doorly Zoo. Highlights included a train ride, the Skyfari, carousel, Stingray Bay, & playground. Oh, yeah, we saw animals, too. On WED we took the kids to a melodrama at Mahoney State Park, where they had fun throwing popcorn at the villain.
     Yesterday morning the girls went horseback riding while Bentley & I fished. (He was too young to ride.) The one sunfish "we" caught cost me $4.25, which was what I paid for a container of nightcrawlers, of which I used maybe 3. [On TUE morning Bentley caught, with a little help from me, a 12" bass.]
      After we packed the SUV, we headed to Lincoln. After dropping off the girls at home, we took Sarah's SUV, which we had borrowed, to Sid Dillion's auto dealership, where Sarah had dropped off our vehicle for an oil change. They misplaced our car key, so we had to wait an hour-and-a-half while they made a new key & programmed it. That' right. You can't just have a key made. It has to be programmed. We got home around 5:30.
      Our next road trip is June 28-July 1, when we're getting together with Nathan, Laura, Calvin (3); Craig, Sarah, the girls; & Derek, Rachel, & Bentley for a mini-family reunion in Omaha. This will mean another visit to the Zoo, which can hardly be taken in all in one day.

Pray for Trump?

      "The Apostle Paul was unequivocal in his directions to Timothy. 'I urge then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession & thanksgiving be made for all people--for kings & all those in authority, that we may live peaceful & quiet lives in all godliness & holiness.' Like it or not, Trump is a man in authority. This verse applies.
      "Make no mistake, the command to pray for leaders was not contingent on the virtue of the leader. The Roman Empire of Pau's day makes Trump's presidency look like a dimly imagined utopia. We lack perspective. We lack a sense of proportion.
      " . . . In other words, Christian virtue isn't a tactic for Christians to use only as long as it 'works.' Instead the counterintuitive Kingdom of God requires us to often deny our innate sense of outrage & do the very thing that so often feels wrong. Love our enemies? But they're terrible. Bless those who persecute you? They deserve nothing but ruin. Yet this love is modeled by a Savior on the cross who looked at the very men who were murdering Him, mocking Him, & casting lots for His clothes, & asked God, 'Father forgive them, for they know not what they do'"
--David French, National Review Online, 6/12

Dept. of Shameless Joke-Stealing *

* courtesy of Reader's Digest, May 2019

• Why do Communists drink herbal tea? Because proper tea is theft.
• How did we know communism was doomed from the beginning? All the red flags.
• What is the difference between capitalism & socialism? In a capitalist society, man exploits man, & in a socialist one, it's the other way around.