Bryant Family Blog Game Round 1: Continents

This internet thing is amazing. Who knows, it might catch on after all. I have been blogging to one degree or another since the summer of 2007. I converted from the blogdrive service to this site in March of 2008. Up until that point I had no idea how many people actually accessed the things I posted.

On April 20, 2009 I added the Google Analytics tools to this blog. This is an amazing resource that tells me many things about the traffic that visits this site. This tool tells me what internet browser readers are using, what operating system they have installed, what their screen resolution is set to, and it even tells me where they are visiting from. It is really cool to see how many people are getting to experience my wit and wisdom (and yes, that last part is a joke).

I have been tracking this info in a spreadsheet for a little over a month now. I want to give you a chance to guess some of the statistics. I also want you to let me know how you first heard about the blog. This is purely for my curiosity, so no wagering please.

So, the first question is, of the 500+ unique hits on this site, how many continents do you think are represented? For extra credit, name the continents that you believe might be on the list. And don't forget to let me know how you heard about the blog.

Please submit your answer using the comment link at the bottom of this post, and if you don't mind please give me at least your first name when commenting (although signing in with your full name, e-mail and your blog URL is preferred).

Thanks for playing...

Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian

Mary and I went to see Night At The Museum this afternoon. We visited Washington DC in December of 2008 and many of the Smithsonian employees were talking about Ben Stiller and crew having recently shot the movie. With those stories fresh in our memory we were eager to see this sequel to the 2006 comedy. We enjoyed the original, but both of us thought that this follow-up was even better. You should go see it if you get the chance.

Happy Birthday Cyndi!

Today is my older sister's birthday. Happy twenty something sis!

Lance, Gaylin, Jared, Grant
Britta, Cyndi, Abby

Memorial Day Photos

Memorial Day photos from the Boston Globe. Click on any of the pics to be taken to the source.

Yearning for Peace

Listen Here

Chuck Colson: Breakpoint.org

This Memorial Day we remember those brave men and women who gave their lives in defense of our most precious freedoms.

And we would do well to pray for the members of our armed forces who are placing their lives on the line even as I speak. They long to accomplish their mission and return home to their loved ones. Above all, they yearn for peace.

So do we all—especially since our nation has been at war for six years now. So I think it’s important to think about how our longing for permanent peace—unattainable though it is in this world—points us toward a world in which it is possible.

This longing was illustrated by two teenage boys I know. The older boy received a DVD player for his birthday. He was allowed to pick several movies to go with it, and chose nothing but war films: The Patriot, Saving Private Ryan, and The Sands of Iwo Jima. Over the next few days, he and his brother were engrossed in the action, cheering whenever the good guys finally whipped the bad guys, relieved when peace broke out.

Most of us react exactly the same way to real-life wars. Those of us who are old enough certainly remember the elation that swept the country after Germany and Japan surrendered, ending World War II. And it doesn’t seem that long ago when General Schwarzkopf led the massive victory parade down Pennsylvania Avenue as the country celebrated the end of the first Gulf War. We rejoiced that the enemy was defeated, but we also hoped that peace would last.

Well, peace never has lasted. Within five years of the end of World War II, we were fighting in Korea. Then in Vietnam. And now, we face the sobering prospect of a long, protracted struggle against radical Islam in Iraq, Afghanistan, and maybe even Pakistan.

Which leads to an interesting question: Why is it that humans desire good and noble things we cannot possibly have?

Considering this question, C. S. Lewis came to a fascinating conclusion. If our deepest desires cannot be satisfied in this world, he wrote, then we must have been made for another world.

The Scriptures confirm that we are designed for a different world, and they urge us to focus on the world which is yet to come. As Paul told the Colossians, "Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth" (Colossians 3:2).

Sadly, our inner longing for the good guys to win, for true peace and justice, has often led to tragic efforts to obtain them on earth, including dangerous utopian schemes that ultimately destroyed millions of lives. And that's why it's so vitally important that our children understand where these longings come from.

We need to teach our kids that while we should certainly fight for justice and freedom here on earth, we must do so in the knowledge that our true desire for peace and justice will only be satisfied in heaven.

One day, as the prophet Isaiah wrote, men will "beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, [and] neither shall they learn war anymore."
Until then, however, we honor those who fought our wars and sacrificed for a peace—transitory though it is—that is also a precious reflection of the peace which is to come.