Happy Fourth of July! Or at least what is left of it. Rather quiet around here. Not much to blog about. Somehow I like that for a change.

Another month is finished! I posted 23 times on the main blog in June, bringing the total for the year so far to and even 200 posts. Of course, I probably should somehow factor in the 12 posts on the Carlisle to Lakeshore blog and the post on everyday::images photoblog. There were 1,041 visits to the blog, fueled, I suspect, by the Giglio-Tomlin church plant rumors (which, by the way, Louie addressed in the latest Passion podcast.)

Here are the top posts for June:

Tomlin + Giglio = new church?

Go and sin no more …

Downloading from eMusic …

Randomness …

Passion::Kampala

The top posts for the quarter (as June ends the second quarter of the year) were:

Wednesday Worship Thoughts: The Easter Journey

Tomlin + Giglio = new church?

I just want you to know who I am …

#47 How to come up with creative ideas

So, how tall is Chris Tomlin? (Somehow the height of Chris Tomlin continues to be a question on many minds as there is at least a Google search every couple of days that leads here.)

Technically, I suppose I failed in the attempt to make it the full 365 days because we didn’t get to the hotel in Bristol until 12:05 … meaning that it was Sunday morning instead of Saturday night. So I missed a Saturday post by a mere five minutes. I’m thinking it ought to count because it was still Saturday somewhere.

It’s funny how a week out of your element wrecks your sense of how things work. I hope you were able to follow along during the week at the Carlisle to Lakeshore blog. Fun stuff there.

My mind is racing around with ideas of what to post … none of which are coherent enough for actual posting. Instead, listen to this lovely song about blogging from Kristian Stanfill.

… for posts for the next week? I will try to cross-post between this blog and the one I am keeping for the mission trip, but click here if this site is not updated and you will find the most recent information. Such as you would today were you to click.

I don’t know if curiosity counts as an emotion, but here’s one curious feline.

Technorati Tag: PhotoHunt

It’s been quite some time since I offered advice on how to spend eMusic downloads. No theme this time. Just some notes on how I ran through my 40 downloads … and a few spares I had received from customer service after a downloading problem.

Evil Urges by My Morning Jacket. This is actually the first MMJ album I have downloaded. I guess I just missed the bus on these guys the last couple of times around.  I listened to the whole thing on their MySpace last week so I knew I’d want it. I haven’t yet had the chance to listen to the whole thing again. Favorite tracks so far: Evil Urges, I’m Amazed

The Smithereens: Live in Concert - Greatest Hits and More! I totally forgot how much I loved The Smithereens about 15 years ago. This live set is stunning. You’d swear it was done in a studio except for the occasional crowd noise. It has all my favorites — A Girl Like You, Blood and Roses, Beneath the Wall of Sleep. Good stuff.

Day&Nightdriving by Seven Mary Three. I just stumbled upon this one. Last Kiss is a great summer song. Slide back the sunroof, put down the windows and enjoy.

So, I don’t know that you’re in sin because you didn’t have a quiet time today but I can’t imagine having the opportunity to meditate on God’s Word and not doing it. We don’t have a scroll that’s kept away somewhere with only limited chances to memorize it and carry it around with us, we actually have it available in our culture all the time. So we are able to be faithful and to do things that previous generations quite literally died for.

— Mark Dever, in an interview on the New Attitude blog.

I don’t know what it is about this time of year, but things just seem to take off at a ridiculous rate of speed. Sometime within the next 48 hours, I have to …

• Clean a corner of the spouting so the rain that’s predicted doesn’t run into the house.
• Watch a nephew play basketball.
• Go to a graduation party
• Read library books that are due soon.
• Put some plants into the currently empty garden.
• Prepare materials for the mission trip meeting on Sunday.

Of course, I absolutely don’t consider any of these activities a burden. I love each one. It’s just that they all crowd together.

I’m especially excited about the mission trip, which is only 21 days (give or take) away. We’re taking 21 people from the church — youth and adults — to Lakeshore, Mississippi to help with the work at Lakeshore Baptist Church. Thanks to the wonder that is Twitter, I have discovered not only what we are doing but also the name of the person (family?) for whom we are doing it.

But it wouldn’t be fair to say it here before the team finds out, would it?

An article in today’s local newspaper reveals that lovely southcentral PA hides a dirty, little not-so-secret. Despite the beautiful mountains and criss-crossing creeks and streams, we have a mighty large carbon footprint.

According to a recent study, the region’s residents generate about 3.19 tons of carbon emissions per year to maintain their lifestyles. The study does not include commercial sources so the overall impact of carbon emission must be much higher. Certainly, there are folks in this area who are devoted to driving their large SUVs to work by themselves Development is also such that there are communities located far from grocery stores, gas stations and other basic shopping. Even transporting our students to rural schools factors into the whole equation.

But, to defend the locals, it’s not just us …

My opinion — which the article addresses only peripherally — is that the carbon footprint of my region is inextricably tied to the interstate highways that pass through here. If you are going north to New England, you pass through here. If you are taking goods west from New Jersey, you are using the highways that adjoin our backyards. Let’s not forget the numerous warehouses in the area and the truckstops. Stop by either at any time of the day and find diesel trucks idling.

With this study in hand, activists are hoping to influence lawmakers to focus attention on areas such as ours with policies intended to lower carbon emissions.

This is what scares me.

That may not be the exact right phrase, but it is what comes to mind just now. Who exactly is going to bear the brunt of any proposed policy revisions? I’m guessing that it’s going to be me and my neighbors — not the trucking companies. Of course, even if those companies were to bear further restrictions, the cost will inevitably be passed on to consumers.

Again, me and my neighbors.

What’s the solution? I don’t know. It’s unfair to have the locals bear the brunt of policy changes in consideration of the millions of cars and trucks that are just passing through. Yet, it’s hardly feasible to create some sort of restrictions on those drivers.

We can’t change the fact that high levels of traffic pass through our area. We can, however, take individual steps to lessen our carbon footprints. Little steps taken individually create a greater impact in the world around us.

And that’s the only fair thing … to take care of God’s creation.

I posted some thoughts on Psalm 25:3-5 on the photoblog.