Well, as of right now I haven't bought a new car, but if I can make the journey down to Detroit (the weather here has been AWFUL) I am going to look at yet another car. I found this lovely little jem on the web, it's the same year as the blue car, but has about 6000 fewer miles on it, and is $100 more.

It's the same color as my parents' car, so it would be funny watching my mom getting confused as to which car belongs to whom, even though they are different cars! Several years ago she and I had Ford sedans that were both the same color of red. Whenever we would all be at my grandparent's house, and they were sitting in the driveway next to my grandma's same-color red car, and my aunt's red car, mom never could get it right, it was quite funny!!!

So what do you think??? Will this make a suitable replacement for me to make my Xanga Tours with???

Hi everyone....

I'm sorry it's been so long since I have been on here. I really have been keeping up with all of you. Things have just been really busy with me.

I finally broke down and bought myself a new laptop! It's a Dell and so far it's working wonderfully! Of course, when compared to my old, broke laptop, anything was better!!!

I could really use some advice. I have been thinking about replacing the Oldsmobile with something a bit newer and cheaper. I know, shock and horror is coming from all of you at the mere thought of me giving up my beloved Oldsmobile!!!

Do I have to replace it??? No. In fact, even though it's almost five years old and has almost 78000 miles on it, it still drives as lovely as the day I bought it.

I guess the thought that something could go wrong with it, and the warranty is long gone gives me some concern.

I wanted to replace it with a nice Toyota or Honda, but they are terribly expensive in this area. So I have been looking at Fords,(I know Jonathan, more shock and horror!) mainly because of the three Domestic car companies, I feel that Ford has the best chance of survival. I was thinking of looking for a nice Focus, in fact I took this one for a drive this past weekend while visiting the family near Detroit. It was pretty nice, but a bit too sporty for me The dealer that had it also had sitting in a corner of his cramped little lot, this lovely blue Fusion sedan. The Fusion was an Oh-Six, a year older than the Focus, and had 30000 miles on it, and was $500 more than the Focus. It was unique in that it was the not real fancy model; it had a four-cylinder engine and a five-speed manual transmission, but it had a lovely beige leather interior. I took it for a drive and fell in love with it, even though it has a few scratches and has been bumped in the rear, though it's been fixed. (For comparison, the Oldsmobile is an Oh-Four and has hardly any scratches at all on it anywhere.)

Another thing for me to consider is that the Fusion is slightly bigger than my car, and for those of you that have traveled with me know that my little Olds is just that, kinda small inside. My annual trip to Detroit to attend the North American International Auto Show is coming up next month, and I always take some of the teens from my church with me, and they're rather tall!!! The Fusion has a huge back seat, and a larger trunk. Thankfully it's still a somewhat low-slung car, so it won't feel big and will handle nicely. I'm not a big fan of tall autos that have lousy handling. Plus...I have this rule about only owning cars that I can reach across to be able to wash and wax, and seeing how I am only five-feet-five and a half, short-ish cars are ideal for me!

Now, I am sure that many of you are all wondering why I am sharing all this with you. Here's why...I would greatly appreciate both your wisdom and prayers in this matter. Buying a car is a big decision, and shouldn't be done quickly.

Thanks you all.

With Love,

-Richard.

There is within my church, a family that I have the great honor of being able to be somewhat close with. They are tremendous Christians, and I consider them role models for my life. They have several kids, and I love them as if they were my own. One of the kids, we'll call him um, "Jacob", in order to protect the innocent, has really been on my heart for a while, and today I finally had the chance to sit and talk to him alone for a while. He's a great teen kid, and I love hanging out with him when I can. The one thing that I have noticed about him in comparison with his siblings is that when we are at church, he seems rather aloof and uninterested. So today I finally asked him how things were in his walk with God. He told me that he didn't really know, and that he hated being made to go to church all the time. So basically, he has lots of "head knowledge" (trust me), but no real "heart knowledge". This absolutely breaks my heart. I have to say that I am somewhat surprised that his parents haven't picked up on this, and as much as I want to talk to them about this, I can't, because I promised him that it was just between the two of us. I'm not done talking with him. Like I said earlier, I love this kid as if he was my own, and I couldn't help but keep tearing up whenever I looked across the room today and saw him.

Please, please keep him in prayer, that God will speak to his heart, and that he'll be willing to listen and see that being a Christian is sooo much more than just going to church and hearing Bible stories over and over. Please pray that I will be able to say the right things to him so that he will not want to rebel or tune me out.

Please...pray for God's will to be done in his life.

Thank you all.

Love,
-Richard.

This coming month, my young adults group from church, you know, the one's who came up with "A Laughing Matter Comedy Night", are proud to present to you, our latest community outreach...

This was the brainchild of myself and Judy, our group's co-leader. We are doing everything we can to make this as authentic as possible. This means that we still are in desperate need of 80's items, such as furniture and other things. If any of you might have anything and would be willing to let us borrow them for the evening, we would greatly appreciate it!!!

And...all of you are most certainly invited to come up to the "Corner of Nowhere" and join us that night!!!

Till next time...

Love,
-Richard.

I'm sorry that I am slow in getting around to writing to you all here, I've just been really busy.

As you all know, I finally got to have me much needed vacation, which after much debate, ended up being both a trip to see the family in Tennessee, and, in a manner of speaking, the Xanga Summer Tour Oh-Eight.  I decided to pack up the Oldsmobile and head off to Tennessee because even though it was farther, I knew that I could stay with family and that would save me a ton, plus, I hadn't been since I came back from Florida in Oh-Six, so a visit was long over due. It was great seeing everyone, and I got eat at some of my favorite places, such as the Dari-Ace and Chick-Fil-A. And...I got to drink LOTS of sweet tea!!!!  It's one of the South's finest traditions, and one that I, as a Southerner by heritage, take great pride in!!!

Here is a pic of Unaka Mountain, near Unicoi, Tennessee.

The pic doesn't do justice to how tall that mountain is!!!

Where I was in East Tennessee is some of the highest and ruggedest parts if the Appalachians. Driving some of the roads there are not for the faint of heart!!!

This is the pond in front of my Uncle Ted and Aunt Pat's house up in the mountains, and the holding pond in front of it...

On Wednesday I headed up To Roanoke, Virginia to visit my Aunt Charlotte and her family. She is my Grandpa's sister on my mom's side. I had never been that far into VA before and I wanted to see them. I stayed for a couple of hours and had lunch with them. We had a lovely visit. From there I traveled north through the Shenandoah Valley...

And on through West Virginia and into Maryland...

And then finally stopping in one of my favorite places....Chambersburg, Pennsylvania!!!

Even though Daniel was away at college (and was missed), I still had a lovely time with Marti and Jonathan. We had dinner at Red Robin and then went back to my hotel to visit and get caught up.

Jonathan entertained us with his iPhone...

Marti was basking in the luxury that was my suite at the Chambersburg Super8...

Here we are all together on my bed. You'll have to check out my Facebook page to see us "in" bed together (when I get them loaded)....

Afterwards we went out to the parking lot to say our goodbyes, and I suggested that Jonathan pose with his Toyota. I think the car didn't like the idea so it tried (and succeeded in) running him down...

Poor Jonathan, he never stood a chance...

Afterwards, Marti and I visited for a bit in the Oldsmobile and discussed what we should with the body er, I mean what a lovely time we all had

The next day I headed back towards home, taking the famous Penna Turnpike. I'm seriously thinking about investing in one of those EZ Pass things. Anyways, I traveled through several tunnels along the way...

I also had the opportunity to stop at Shanksville, PA and visit the Flight 93 Memorial. As you may recall, this is where one of the hijacked planes crashed back on 9/11. This makes two memorials I have had the privilege of visiting, the first being the memorial in New Jersey that featured a piece of twisted metal from one of the towers. Both times were a humbling experience for this boy who lives in the upper Midwest, aka the Corner of Nowhere...

This was one of several plaques that featured the names of all who died there...

It was over in that field that the plane crashed. There was a man there telling of his eye witness account of it all. He said that he lived not far at all from the crash site, and how he saw the plane crash. It was traveling over 500 miles an hour when it hit. It was flying upside-down when it hit the ground.

He said that he was grateful to God that it landed where it did, because it wasn't all that far from his house.

What else is amazing is that this is some rather mountainous country, yet where it landed was in a big valley, with not much around.

The National Parks Service is currently looking after this site, and while simple, it certainly does the job for the time being...

From there it was on down the Lincoln Highway towards Pittsburgh and then I detoured north to Sharon, PA to visit one of my favorite restaurants...

After that I headed west towards Akron, OH then north to the Ohio Turnpike and then home to Ypsilanti to spend a few days with the family there. (Ypsilanti is what I consider my second home because I travel there so often, and most of our family is there) While there I went to Dearborn to see the godson and his family. they recently had this portrait made of all of them...

Doug (Brendan's dad) and I took a ride to Detroit to check something out (they only live about twenty minutes away), and while there I took these pics of General Motors' world headquarters, which is also the signature of Detroit's skyline...

And here are a couple of random shots of the Motor City...

On Sunday my mom and I (Dad had taken her down to visit the family and left her for me to bring home) went to Victorious Life for church, and that evening we went to my Uncle Doug's across the street from my grandparents for his birthday party where most all of the family had gathered.

On the way home, we had to stop and pick up the lovely Ashley and her brother, who were visiting with relatives and found themselves without a way home. So in a way it could be said that she kinda got to go on vacation with me!!! You should have seen the Oldsmobile, we were so loaded down it looked like a lowrider!!!

In all, it was eight days, eight states, and 2,458 miles of much-needed fun!!!

---

This past week I was involved in helping our church with our annual Missions Convention Weekend. Our church is very missions minded, and on this weekend it really shows. I had went Saturday afternoon and picked up Ashley and her brother so that they could be there for the event. We had a lovely time.

Ashley has said for some time that she would like to be a missionary to Argentina, though it really hadn't come up much this summer. Well, after the night's activities, she felt the need to tell me that those feelings were still there. I tell you, Ashley is wise beyond her years, and takes her relationship with God most seriously, it's one of the reasons why I love her so much. She told me that she felt that it was for the best that she concentrate on preparing for college and the mission field, and in order to do that, we needed to go back to being friends for now.

Does it hurt? Of course it does. A lot. But, I am in 100% agreement with her that the things of God must come first. She knows I still care very much for her, and she still cares about me, and we made a promise to keep our friendship intact, and I intend to do all I can to make sure that it stays strong.

Ashley, I am sure that you will see this, so please know that your commitment to God makes you all the more beautiful in my eyes. No matter what, I will be here for you, supporting you in all that you do.

And that, my friends, is how the latter part of my summer has went down.

I love you all very much. Thank you for taking this journey with me!!!

Your Friend Always...

-Richard.

I can't believe it, my much-needed vacation has finally arrived!!! After much, and I mean much, thought, I have decided to pack up the Oldsmobile and travel to Tennessee to visit family. It's been two years since I've been there, so I think it's best that I go and see them. If all goes well and the money holds out, I want to leave from there and head up to Chambersburg and spend Wednesday afternoon and evening there. I am sure that Marti will come down, and Jonathan and Danny, if you are reading this and can possibly make it, it would be so great to see you again!!!

If you could, please keep me in prayer this coming week. I have the chance to have a lovely and memorable time. I also have the chance to get into trouble, and I don't want to. I must remain faithful and true, both to God and to Ashley.  Please pray that all will go well.

Thanks so much!!!

With Love,

-Richard.

First of all, thanks to Marti, Chris, Amanda and the others that have stopped by to wish me well, it means a lot!!!

I imagine that there are people out there that would find it hard to believe that someone could find themselves on the road to recovery at such a high speed, but you know what??? I really believe that it is possible!!! I will admit that there are times when I can still feel the struggle, but I am determined to do all I can to cling on to God, and trust Him for the strength that I need to get me through each day.

I don't get to see Ashley every day, but we still somehow manage to find ways to make up for lost time. The other night after church we went with some friends to Dairy Queen, and while we were there we discovered that we really have our personalities crossed!!! And by that I mean that her interests are mainly those of a typical guy, and mine, well, aren't!!! She loves the outdoors, hunting, fishing, action movies, hates the mall, and isn't too fond of boy bands. I of course, am the complete opposite. Yet in spite of it all, when I asked her if she was still sure (about us), she said yes.

Due to the fact that we are handling our relationship as an old-fashioned courtship, we are very slow to say or do certain things that most people would be apt to rush along in a relationship. But can I tell all of you something???  Even though it's only been a few weeks, and we are taking things kinda slow, I am discovering deep within my heart, that I truly love her. We got to spend quite a bit of time together last weekend, and every time I looked into her eyes, it was all I could do to keep from saying to her "I love you..."

As strange as it may seem, and as unlikely as it might look to the rest of the world, I'm beginning to see Ashley as someone I could really consider marrying one day.

Just do me a favor and don't tell her I told you all this, mmkay???

Love Always,

-Richard.

I don't know about all of you, but I've been really busy this past weekend, and I won't get to rest till who knows when!!! Anyways, as you all know love has found it's way to me in the form of the lovely Miss Ashley. This past weekend our young adults group had a day retreat out at the point, so she and I got to spend LOTS of time together. I'm so thankful that as time goes on and I spend more time around her getting to know her that I am finding more and more reasons to love her. Each day it amazes me more and more as I am learning what it TRULY means to let go of one's self and give your all for the sake of another. Or in other words, God is showing me how to love with the kind of love that He wants me to love with. Talk about healing!!!!

Would you all like to me the lovely Miss Ashley???

Here we are standing on the shores of Lake Huron this past Saturday...

Isn't she beautiful, and aren't I blessed???

All my love to you my friends, and my heartfelt thanks for being here with me throughout this journey that has been...my life.

Your Friend,
-Richard.

I have to say that these past two weeks have been well, interesting, to say the least. Since Ashley has come along, I have had to learn what it means to actually feel accountable to someone. When I say that I mean that before it was always "just me", God and family of course being a given.

I will admit that it feels strange having to give thought and consideration to the feelings of another, but I like it, because I like her. I love the fact that I have someone to give devotion and attention to, because it proves to me that I really can move past all my "issues" and really can find it within me to love a girl. And it goes even beyond that, because I am once again beginning to feel the stirrings within of wanting to finish my schooling and perhaps be of use to God in ministry. I find that as I dwell more and more on that subject that I realize that my wife must also be my ministry partner, and though Ashley and I are really no where near being ready to plan a wedding, it's nice to know that the thought of her in that role hasn't caused me to panic!!!

I love the fact that she want's us to have an old-fashioned "courtship", meaning that we never date alone, and she does not  even want to kiss until her wedding day. Of course truth be told, the whole intimacy thing isn't a big deal to me, you know, because of the whole "issues" thing, but nevertheless, it makes me respect her even more.

Today she and I and her brother went out for dinner, and we had a lovely time. I find it funny that she gets upset that another female friend of ours from church, who for some strange reason seems to like me, keeps coming around, and she plans to "do something" about it if she doesn't stop flirting with me!  Truth be told, it makes me care about her all the more

Please keep praying for me to find another job. Now that I have Ashley in my life, I want to be able to provide for her and buy her "shineys" as she calls them, as well as other things. But most importantly, if she and I were to marry one day, I want to be able to be a good provider for her, and I can't do that with my meager income.

On a different note, I FINALLY have high-speed in my house!!!!!!!! Though tonight it's acting rather dial-upish...And ever since we hooked the comp up to it I keep getting these annoying pop-ups that claim that my comp's "registry" is corrupted and that I need to go to their site and register to get it fixed! The tech that installed the high-speed said that he'd never seen that before, and it WILL NOT go away!!! Any of you have any ideas on how I can make it go away???

And on yet another different note. My friends the Fernandezes from Florida, the ones I stayed with back in Oh-Six (remember the pig pics?) are planning to come for a visit in a few weeks. They were pastoring a church in Brooksville, FL, but gave it up and surrendered to the mission field and plan to move to Kenya, Africa. They are right now touring around the mid-west visiting churches looking for support, and when they get to Michigan they want to come up for a visit. Personally, I'm excited about seeing them!!! I've known them for years, so it will be good getting caught up with them again, especially since I don't know when I'll get to see them again. It's kind of neat to think that God has allowed me to be friends with so many pastors and teachers, and now missionaries!!! Really, when I think about it, even though my life seems so mundane and pointless at times, God has blessed me in such tremendous ways. that it's just well, overwhelming at times!!!

And yes, all of YOU are included in my list of fabulous blessings!!! I mean seriously, you all are definitely "cream-of-the-crop" caliber and I appreciate knowing you so much.

Well, that's all I have for today. Know that, as always, I love you all very much, and hope that those of you that I talk to regularly, and even once or twice, will get to get caught up again soon.  Till then...

Your Friend,

-Richard.

Hello everyone...

First off I want to start by saying that God is so good!!!  Yesterday I went to Bay City for the afternoon, and while there I stopped for a small bite at Rally's. They have some picnic tables there and I decided to sit there and enjoy my sandwich. It was such a beautiful day, and I remember that while I was sitting there I just couldn't help but want to just praise God, just because I could.

On the way home I couldn't help but notice this incredible hunger for Him and His Word. I tell you, it's such a wonderful feeling to know that God loves us so much that He puts these longings and desires in our hearts, we just have to be willing to be open to them.

On a different note, you all remember Jennifer???  Well, I am thankful to say that she really did teach me a lot about life and love. She taught me that I was indeed capable of loving a girl. She taught me what it meant to be willing to give it all up for the work of God. She was an example of what it would be like to not only have a wife and lover, but a true partner in ministry. Now I am sure many of you are asking how she did that when I never had a chance with her??? Well, you see God ended up using her to show me what true love is all about. He allowed me to use her as the standard by which I should judge all girls. Yeah, she was to me the poster girl for Proverbs 31.

I said all that to introduce you to this new chapter in my life on this Happy Journey...

Tonight, by the grace of God I was able to officially end my twelve year streak, for you see, as of tonight, I am no longer single!!!

For reasons that I still cannot fathom, God as allowed me to get to know a lovely girl by the name of Ashley. What's so wonderful about her is that she possesses ALL of those wonderful qualities that God taught me to look for and treasure in someone. Even though I still have a hard time believing that I am worthy of being loved, especially when you think about my past, it just blows me away to think that she seems to find something worth loving in me!!! She says that looks aren't important to her, but the heart. Oh, and get this...she's neither a freak, a nut nor a whack job, and...she's BEAUTIFUL!!!

I sure don't feel worthy...

All I know to say is all praise be to the Lord our God!!!

To me, this is truly a huge step on my road to recovery from all that I have been through.

Thank you all for always being here for me. I promise that I am not going anywhere. If anything, I'm going to need all of you now more then ever, because this is really like a new experience to me again, and I want to share it with all of you, who are some of my closest friends.

I love you all very very much!!!

Your Friend,
-Richard.