I'll get back to my series, "Where There's Smoke, It Might Just be a Smoke Machine," in a day or two.  For now, though, I need to offer my regular readers an apology.

Earlier this month I blogged about our my calling to the Red Lion Evangelical Free Church and Christian Academy.  A few days after putting up my original post, I re-read what I had posted and decided that I just didn't like what I had written.  In retrospect I felt that I had unfortunately placed too much emphasis on the "titles" behind the calling and not nearly enough emphasis on giving God the glory for affording me an opportunity to serve the Red Lion community in the first place.

Sometimes God taps you on the shoulder.  Sometimes He nudges you with a gentle poke to the solar plexus.  And every now and then He prods you with a very pronounced slap to the forehead.

This is one of those forehead-slapping times.

Matthew 18:21-22 (New International Version)

²¹ Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?"  ²² Jesus answered, "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.

Today we ponder the power of words. 

No, I'm not talking about great works of literature.  Even as we approach the 50th anniversary of the publication of Harper Lee's ground-breaking, "To Kill a Mockingbird," I thought it was time to get a little more elemental, to dig deeper into the underlying meaning and power of smaller, more discrete building blocks of language.

Today, we consider two, inconsequential, three-letter words and the ways in which their placement in a sentence can either destroy a shaky relationship or heal a longstanding rift.

Today, we consider the sublime importance of those tiny, building-block words "did" and "you."

(NOTE:  The author is not an official representative of the Lance Armstrong Foundation (LAF) or Montgomery County ARES/RACES (MCAR).  The comments expressed herein are strictly those of the author and do not necessarily represent the official positions of either LAF or MCAR.)

"Mr. Livestrong" Puts Out the Challenge

Most of my close friends and family know me as "Mr. Livestrong."  From the first time I volunteered to serve on the 2007 Philly Livestrong Challenge I have been hooked on this event.  It is one of the most professionally run non-profit fundraising events around.  My Toyota Prius still proudly sports the "official car" trunk decal that I surreptitiously spirited away from last year's Livestrong Challenge bike race.

My personal challenge to regular readers of "Pearl's Paradise" is that you, too, should adopt this worthy cause and get personally involved.  If you are a ham radio operator you are desperately needed to help staff on-course communications for this mammoth event.  If you are not a ham radio operator but just want to donate your time to this worthy cause, you are also needed.

(NOTE:  Volunteer sign-up links can be found at the end of this posting.  Please READ ON for more info.)

The official announcement finally hit the airwaves today.  I am finally free to speak openly about the amazing spiritual and professional journey of the past 9 months.

On August 1st the Pearl family will join the administrative team and community at the Red Lion Christian Academy.  It has taken a while to get here and it has been a wild and wonderful trip!  In the coming days I'll share more about how we got here, what we will be doing, and how God has graced our entire family with love and support along the way.  I'll also share a little about  why I am so passionate about what we are about to do together on that campus and beyond.

For now, though, I want to put something out there for the benefit of my current colleagues and friends whom I will probably see much less of after our move to Delaware.

As promised, I dumped facebook first thing Monday morning.  Before I did, though, I paused.  I went back and gave a long, hard look at the list of "friends" I had accumulated during my time on facebook.  The sad truth is that with very, very few exceptions I will miss being a part of that rich social network.

But there are exceptions.  No, I won't "out" people here, running around like some petulant child shouting, "You're not my friend!"  I will, however, share a confession that might shock some of you.  You might find yourself in the same boat and be as afraid to admit the truth as was I.

Merely being on facebook made me feel a degree of subtle peer pressure with that whole "friend" thing.  I felt almost compelled to accept some folks as "friends" even though I really didn't know them well enough to call them "friends" in the classic sense.  I mean…  It's not like I ever chowed down over beef barbecue and corn on the cob with them, you know what I mean?

That's my problem with facebook.

Who is a "friend," really?

Welcome to the age of obsession.  Everywhere you turn, it seems people are obsessed with something.

Cell phones.  Gadgets.  Clothes.  Food.  Computers.  Costco.

(Okay, that last one is a personal downfall.)

Take cars, for example.  There is this guy in our neighborhood who can only be described as an unrepentant “car junkie.”  This guy’s car gleams.  It is truly radiant.  On sunny days his gold luxo-mobile reflects the sun’s rays like one of those mirrors they use to gather solar power out in the Mohave desert.  Reports are that neighborhood children have been blinded by an errant glint off the high polish finish.

I, on the other hand, qualify more in the category of " car tolerant."