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Saturday, 23 February 2008

  • Currently Listening
    Magical Moments of Rhythm
    By Zakir Hussain
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    What a tremendous Friday night.  We went to Memphis to see Aradhna.  The concert was wonderful.  We saw some friends from Little Rock that we hadn’t seen in a long time which was nice.  The tabla player is from Memphis so there is a way for me to have a teacher.  I began to talk to Fiona Hicks (of Aradhna) and she immediately recognized our name because we had been communicating with them over the last several years but had never met.  Her and Elizabeth got along right from the start, they had a lot in common.  I talked a bit with Peter and Chris and they, as well as I, were glad to meet.  Liz and I did not get a chance to eat beforehand.  The guy that was organizing everything invited us over to the house where Aradhna was staying to hang out and eat.  We had some AWESOME Indian food and conversation.  Thursday we looked online for hotels but did not find anything that we were sure was close to where we were going to be or in our price range so we figured we would stay at some Motel 6 somewhere.  When it was found out that we had not a place to lay our head, the organizer, Basu and his wife, invited us to stay in an extra room they had.  Elizabeth was missing her toothbrush and Basu had an extra packaged one and he gave it to her.  To end the night we had a group prayer time which was blessed.  Basu’s wife Shaliui offered to give Elizabeth a sari.  The next morning we came downstairs where there was prepared chai and biscuits which were excellent.  I got to talk more to Basu and he and Shaliui are Yeshu Bhaktas, Hindu devotees to Christ.  They are Christians that stay as close and true to Hindu culture as possible while worshiping Christ alone.  I had been wanting to meet one of these folks very much over the last few weeks.  He patiently told us many things about the importance of this movement and a little of what it looks like.  He was preaching to my heart.  It meant being the person God made you to be not what others say you should be, being fulfilled totally through the change of Christ in the heart.  Indians can be Indians, Turks can be Turks, so on, uniquely drawing near to Jehovah by the blood of Christ.  This shows the transcendence of Christ; one does not need to be a certain culture or change certain things first and then come to Christ, one simply needs to be who God made them to be under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.  On our way home Shaliui made sandwiches for us for our trip back to Little Rock.  Incredible hospitality.  We now have made good friends with some Yeshu Bhaktas in Memphis and the Hicks in Cincinnati and Chris Hale in Toronto.  We left with full hearts and stomachs.

Thursday, 31 January 2008

  • Currently Listening
    Thirakwa
    By Ustad Ahmedjan Thirakwa
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    Still loving the married life.  Liz and I are looking to go to an unreached with gospel area this summer.  We both have a heart for India but open to whatever God leads.  I am loving taking the Perspectives course again and Liz is taking it time #1.

Sunday, 23 September 2007

  • I haven't been a very good blogger as far as quantity but I'm going to stick to it because I think it's important.  Liz and I are loving marriage.  We're praying about what to do next summer and when and if to get into a house.  We also realize that there is a lot of newness going on in marriage right now so that's an adjustment, plus her new job in Little Rock and her just plain beginning to live in Little Rock.  So it's a season of adjustment and decision-making, down the road that is.  I've been in a big reading mood recently.  I am currently reading George Mueller's autobiography, Isaiah, the Qur'an, A Godward Life by Piper and the latest two issues of the International Journal of Frontier Missions.

Saturday, 18 August 2007

  • Elizabeth's perspective of the wedding

    Note the high contrast in number of details between her account and mine.  I love her.  She complements me very well:

    Wow, what a blessing! It was definitely a whirlwind day. First, I woke up really early (around 5:00 or so). After having a quiet time, I went back to sleep for a while. When I woke up again, I really wanted to go running, but I had (within the past day or so) hurt my Achilles tendons—there were even visible bruises on my feet). Anyway, my younger cousins ended up coming over and helped me pack my car for our honeymoon. After  awhile, it was time to go to the brunch at the Bristol for family and out of town guests, thrown by my aunts. It was there that I first saw Kevin that day—it was good to see him, although things were a little crazy (i.e. trying to say hello to tons of people, including my friends from grad school who had come from different areas of Tennessee).

    After eating, my cousin Kate and I and my grad school friends went to get our hair done. While Kate and I were getting our hair done, it was so much fun talking with Kate and with my grad school friends—some of whom ended up getting pedicures. After my hair was just about done, Kate and one of my grad school friends did my makeup—I needed a lot of help in this area because I usually don't wear makeup. The person who did my hair was Debbie, who had done my hair since I was in first grade. Once our hair was done, Kate and I went back to my parents' house to get dressed. Kate was such a blessing that day—she was like a personal assistant all day—I am so thankful for Kate, she is like my sister. At Bonnycastle, Kate was able to lace up my dress without much hassle, since we had practiced beforehand.

    Once we all were dressed, we went to the church. The bridesmaids gathered in the ladies lounge on the first floor, near the nursery. It was fun to see everybody—they all looked beautiful J Pictures went well. First, we took a bunch of pictures with the separate wedding parties (bridesmaids and groomsmen) and then Kevin and I had a couple of minutes to see each other. It was fun to be able to see him in the sanctuary and we prayed together really quickly—I also remember seeing Kevin's family looking through the windows of the double doors of the sanctuary.

    When my dad and I went into the church, I remember seeing how full the church was. When he and I walked across the back of church I wanting to hug a bunch of people, however it would have taken forever to get down the aisle!

    During the ceremony, I remember wondering a little if Kevin was going to faint or cry during "How Great the Father's Love for Us" or during our vows. One part I especially remember is patting his hand after I put on his ring. The reason why I did that is because he had been so excited to get his wedding ring, so I was patting his hand as a way of saying, "Look, you have your ring!" I think my favorite part of the wedding was being able to pray with Kevin as two people sang a song. Praying together was the first thing we did after saying our vows and doing our rings; it was a way to say that prayer would be a foundation of our marriage. At the end of the ceremony, Larry (the pastor) said our names and honestly when he said "McCormack" I remember looking out at the audience because it took me by surprise and reality hit that we were married! As Kevin and I were walking down the steps in the sanctuary, he leaned over and asked me in my ear if we should skip down the aisle. We did, and it added a little fun to the end of the ceremony—there was one point when I slipped a little, but everything turned out okay.

    Kate and Paul drove us to the reception in my dad's Cadillac. It was fun to spend that time with them. We were the first people to get to the Muhammad Ali Center. The reception went by really fast. Kevin and I and our parents were in a receiving line for at least an hour; it was fun to see everybody and Kevin did a great job talking with hundreds of people he didn't know. One thing I appreciated about the receiving line were people's comments about the service. Kevin and I really desired that Christ would be the center of the ceremony and be glorified in the service. Kevin and I ate for a while and then walked around saying hello to people at different tables. Some of the high points of the reception were Donnie and Kate's toasts—they were very heartfelt. Again, I was reminded of how thankful I was for Kate. When we cut the cake and fed it to each other, we decided not to smash it in our faces. I remember, though, that some of the cake dropped down inside my dress! When Kevin and I were leaving the reception, I remember skipping down a corridor on the top floor of the Center with people on either side of us, cheering and clapping. As we were skipping, I remember giving my mom a hug and then we rounded the corner, where someone was waiting to push the elevator button. One last memory—it took a few minutes to find our car in the parking garage and I remember telling people goodbye as we were driving out of the garage.

    Overall, it truly was a whirlwind day and one to remember for the rest of our lives.

     

     

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kevindmack

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    • Name: Kevin
    • Country: United States
    • State: Arkansas
    • Metro: Little Rock
    • Birthday: 9/12/1977
    • Gender: Male
    • Member Since: 3/21/2006

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