As Bushie's World Turns (The Update Thread)

[Brittain33]

Are you still applying to business school?

Do you have mechanical skills (plumbing, electrical) that are lacking in Kenya?

Do you owe your parents money?

This trip could be a great experience, but even if it is organized as a mission, it is your spending money you likely don't have on an experience for your own benefit. There's nothing inherently wrong with it, but if you believe that you are doing others a favor by taking the $2,000 and spending it on this trip, you are not being honest with yourself.

[Brittain33]

This is probably a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to go overseas which is something I've always wanted to do and with the situation I'm currently in, this could possibly be my only chance.

No. Mission trips like this happen all the time and will continue to happen in the future. You said they do this every March! If not mission trips, there are plenty of other ways to go overseas, now or in the future when you may have your own funds to do it.

You are falling into the trap of convincing yourself you must do something you want to do which your brain is telling you you can't afford.

[Brittain33]

Have you already put down a deposit on the trip?

Who is your $750 commitment from?

[Brittain33]

Is the deposit refundable?

What is the latest date at which you can put down a deposit?

[Brittain33]

inb4 its not his church but a church that emailed him

This sounds completely legitimate.

[Brittain33]

Depending on your bank (and I really have no clue if any banks normally exchange to Kenyan currency), but perhaps exchanging here would be best.

I've heard I can get better exchange rates in Kenya than I can in America.  I don't know if that's true or not, but it's worth investigating.

It's not going to be worth the hassle to try to find the places offering good exchange rates. In practice, you will get to the airport and find you need money right away and get robbed at the airport exchange desk. But on the other hand I don't know where you'll have to go in OKC to get Kenyan currency.

[Brittain33]

So what if the trip is about him? If his parents and grandmother decide they want to gift him with this, at least it's a contained amount of money and not some major life change.

[Brittain33]

I don't really get where some of the negativity in this thread is coming from. I think it'd be good for the guy to go somewhere different and see the world. This church has done this trip multiple times; I'm sure it'll all be fine. Bushie has made a lot (A LOT) of boneheaded moves in the past few years but I don't really see how this is one of them.

Yes, agreed, Suze Orman would scream "denied" on this trip if he called into her show... but people make decisions considerably more destructive than this all the time, and it will be a great experience.  

[Brittain33]

Do you believe that God protects people He loves very much from an early death?

[Brittain33]

Since we are here to promote logic, it is undeniable that both the OT and NT believe in a coming Judgment.  And the both the OT and NT state that the old covenant would be superseded by a new covenant.  So both OT and NT are on the same page.

To claim the underlying mindset of the bible is the work of multiple minds, is to be purposely dismissive of its deeply embedded connectivity and cohesiveness that is either explicitly stated or can be logically deduced.  And such purposeful ignorance would be most illogical, Councilor Torie.

Clearly, the books of the bible have to have a single author because they deeply profound and are interdependent, not standing on their own - much like the forces of nature are interdependent.  One would not claim the forces of nature themselves are the collaboration of the followers of science, that would be absurd – the laws are too remarkable, too profound to be the work of the human mind, and too interwoven to be the work of a committee, esp a committee of several dozen throwbacks seperated by a timespan of hundreds or even thousands of years.

How does this account for multiple competing creation stories in Genesis and the use of different names for God in sequence?

[Brittain33]

Where does the money for the tribal medical care come from?

[Brittain33]

Things change.  God doesn't.  You were telling us you knew that God was telling you - that he spoke to you.  God's spoken words don't change.

What are you trying to accomplish, Inks?

[Brittain33]

I'm considering renting the house to help with the cost, but I'm not really fond of the idea..

No one likes or enjoys renting out their property. It's the cash flow that makes it compelling because otherwise you can't afford to maintain two properties.

[Brittain33]

Hoping for a White Christmas!

Well, it is Utah...

I was reading online that there is a 53% probability of having 1" of snow on the ground on Christmas Day.

I'm pretty sure Phil was implying something else.

I'll admit, that bird just flew a mile over my head!  Unless it has a Mormon reference, he lost me...

Persons of color are thin on the ground in Utah. Even the landscaping crews tend to be white. I didn't see anyone of color at the two fast food joints I patronized in Provo a few years ago either. In fact the only persons of color I have seen in Utah were in Boulder, two Hispanics tending the horses at a remote guest ranch, very remote, which offered that amenity. Speaking of "color," Boulder, Utah, yes Utah, not Colorado, is the "darkest" place in the continental US when it comes to light pollution, and is at 8,000 feet elevation,, and fairly arid, which equals crystal clear night skies. I plan to go back soon with a telescope when the moon is not making an appearance, to savor the cosmos, while sipping a cocktail on the porch of the ranch. It is an undiscovered treasure, and very cheap, about 80 bucks a night. It won't be for long.

I have so many things to do before I sleep, and time is slipping away.

Was this the Boulder Mountain Lodge? I stayed there in 2001. Would love to go back, but not for that drive.

[Brittain33]

It is purely by the grace of God that I've been given this promotion and this opportunity.  Though it means I will have to leave all my family and friends behind, I know His hand will guide me every step of the way.  It's a lot of sacrifice to move up there.  I am 100% confident that I will be living up there and on my own before the end of August.

If I were religious, this is the point where I'd start to pray for you and that you come out of this ok.

[Brittain33]

While I was on the road in Southern Wyoming, my boss called me and wants to meet up for lunch tomorrow at 1:00 pm in Salt Lake City!

By "my boss called me," is this a way to refer to God speaking to you in a way that someone might "accidentally" misinterpret as referring to the private job which is putatively the cause for this trip?

Or am I being too cynical?

[Brittain33]

The idea of Bushie teaching children represents what's worst about America.

Seriously?  Teachers only get like $30,000/year, who do you think will become a teacher?   If they'd double or triple the salary it might attract someone a bit more exciting.

Where are teachers only making that much a year? Most teachers are starting off at 40 grand. A friend of mine who I went to school with is a teacher now, and is making almost 60 thousand a year. Teachers make good money, and have great benefits.

Here's a schedule of minimum salaries for TX teachers. I don't know how many make the minimum or more.

http://www.tea.state.tx.us/index2.aspx?id=2147507406

Going to salary.com shows the median for teachers in various parts of TX at $45,000, higher ($52,000) in Houston.

[Brittain33]

What are your tasks at work?