grace.kindness.peace.disruption.pain.processing.rinse.repeat.have a nice day.

I once again have traveled out to the fine state of Washington, a habit as, um, habitual as paying my taxes, only much more enjoyable. This is the fourth year in a row that I've visited my friend Brad to spend some time in the majesty that is Washington wilderness. The landscape out here allows me to relax and think clearly. It was almost one year ago when I came out here to get some alone time and ponder life's big questions. It was at that time, the last switch flipped and I knew that I had to do what I'm about to do in Sierra Leone. At that time I didn't know the place, or even the organization, but I knew I had to go. This happened in December '04. Ten months and many conversations, thoughts, and prayers later, I turned in an application. The rest is in the process of becoming history.

But this day, this trip, has been great. We drove down to Mt. St. Helens on Saturday only to be met with a layer of clouds at 4,000 ft completely covering the glory of the volcano. We camped out nearby and were blessed with a clean view of the mountain the next morning. Stunning.

After soaking in the beauty for a while, we proceeded to drive to the Pacific coast. We grabbed some lunch in Astoria, OR, the home of Mikey, Bram, Chunk, Mouth, Data, & the rest of the Goonies. The nice lady manning the visitor center at the Astoria column (a monument of importance in that area … apparently they had a large sum of money to play with in 1926) provided us with a map of the stars. Astoria was the Hollywood of Oregon before the writers' strike of the late 90s. Some fine flicks filmed within the city limits were: The Goonies, Kindergarten Cop, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III. Yes. Apparently there was a third. See the photo album for sites from these movies. The little boy in me was smiling from ear to ear.

So I'm not sure it is really a full half turn around the globe, but it is really far away. Sierra Leone. I'm headed there in February with Word Made Flesh. If you'd like to learn more, please drop me an email at sl (at) mattprentice.com.

To those of you who have faithfully checked this blog, I say two things: I am sorry for the extened period of utter uselenessness of this space and you need to find a good book. But (hopefully) no more. Life seems more interesting these days. I should share some of this with you.

I eavesdrop on my friends. I even eavesdrop on people I don't know. Ah, the Internet. I've gotten into the wonderful world of reading others blogs. It it as if people leave their journal on top of their beds with the key in the lock in front of a door by which everyone in the world can shuffle. I saunter by most. Frankly, most people have very little to say and what they do say is not worth spending sweater lint to read. "Harsh," you say? In that case I must demand the residue of your favorite cotton blend from last winter. The buck (or lint) stops here. I think more people should take up rap to express themselves. Take some lessons from Mr. T on expressing yourself.

But where was I? Oh yes, eavesdropping. I have good friends. Even those with whom I have fallen out of consistent contact, they are very good people whom I respect and admire. I was eavesdropping on one such friend today and fell humbled by his honesty, brokenness, wisdom, and hope. His ability to see signs of hope amidst such suffering is evidence that he understands something that most do not. He takes the offering of hope when bitterness and despair are offered as the soup du jour. There is much for me to learn from him and my other friends.

So I introduce them to you, at least to eavesdrop. They're over there … or maybe over there … there're somewhere on this page. Maybe one day you'll be blessed with the opportunity to meet them in person. Consider yourself blessed, if so.

That's all for today.

Ok. How do I start this? Consider yourself privileged: this is my first-ever web log (blog for those of you web-savvy cats) entry and you have stumbled across it. Thank you for coming alongside me during this momentous event. I’m actually cheating by composing it in a downtown Starbucks. I’ve talked with the guys behind the counter and they've agreed to sponsor this event. So, this blog entry brought to you by Starbucks.

I feel as though I’m on dangerous ground for several reasons. I shall now itemize said reasons:

1) I’ve attempted to attach a corporate sponsor to my website without seeking proper permission from the Man in Seattle. I’m ok with this. Oh, I would definitely lose in court on this issue, but I would then factor in the amount of money that I’ve already paid to "The Man" and we'd call it even. Perhaps I’m unaware of a historical court settlement that I'm paying off $3.74 at a time.

2) I’m attempting to place my thoughts, feelings, opinions, and pictures … daresay my life on bulletin board for the entire world to see. Who are you and the other two people who've been here to read into my life? Stop judging me. On the other hand, this is completely voluntary, so there is no fault on your part (sorry about the judging comment). This still leaves the concern that all this stuff is coming almost unfiltered from my head to the worldwide web. I guess at some point I determined that I was ok with this and purchased my domain name. So, cautiously I will press on.

3) I’m already feeling a hesitation to do this because of the time commitment. This writing stuff takes a lot of time. I get bored easily. My thoughts are many times frenetic. I guess you'll have to just take my table scraps of time. Considering that you'll forget about this site the moment you navigate away from the page and see the Cubs won another game, …. ah, never mind. You probably stopped caring about point 3 and want a fresh one.

4) I spent so much time on the previous two items that I forgot my real hesitations for putting my stuff on the web. Therefore, I will continue with non-itemized text. I sit here preparing my self physically and mentally for my 11:00 a.m. dentist appointment. Rapidly I chug my Grande Verona, now wishing that I’d ordered a tall so as not to waste black, velvety goodness. I’m sure that my dentist will appreciate my love of coffee twenty minutes from now. so as not to let you think that I am completely heartless, I purchased two tins of wintergreen Altoids (I saved $1 by buying a pair) and am packing a toothbrush to clean up my pie hole before sitting in that ever-so-comfortable chair. I place a considerable importance on oral hygiene. You should too. Your teeth are more valuable than diamonds. At least that is what an ADA commercial told me a few years ago. Don’t go trying to sell them, or even trade them for real diamonds. Logically, trading something more valuable than diamonds for real diamonds would seem like a good deal for the person with the diamonds, but those people don't see it that way in reality. Also, the tooth fairy only gave out quarters. This fact caused me to grow up with a skewed view on the value of diamonds, but that is beside the point (as if there is any iota of a point thus far).