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Several years ago when I attended a session of stake conference, I listened to a speaker discuss her thankfulness for trials, specifically for cancer.  She was a young mother of three children, but before she was even married, she had been diagnosed with brain cancer.  It ended up being curable, but it was a long process.  While she discussed the actual cancer and its treatment for only a few brief minutes, she spent the majority of the time discussing how thankful she was that she had been given the opportunity to suffer. I was incredulous.  In fact, I felt that she must be holier-than-thou, because no one in their right mind would be thankful for such a horrible thing. Fast forward to the day I was abruptly released from my seminary calling.  In the grand scheme of things, this experience surely is nothing in comparison to cancer, but I believe in my own sphere of living, it was one of the trickiest trials the Lord has given, or could have given me.  ...

A SCUBA vacation wouldn't be complete without some freak accident happening.  Most of the incidents are quickly resolved, and we forget about them, but this week we are left with a gross reminder of one of the most basic rules of SCUBA diving: "Don't Touch Anything." This rule is taught to every beginning SCUBA diver.  It's not only for the protection of the environment, but it's also for the protection of the diver. On our second to last dive this week, Glo and I were once again the last ones in the water because we use our air so efficiently.  It's rather fun to have 10-15 minutes extra time on the ocean floor with Glo, especially when we find one last unexpected creature.  We were swimming around at about 50 feet, and I saw a huge sponge.  Imagine a potter's wheel with a lump of clay on it.  As the wheel begins to turn and the potter throws his thumbs into the center of the lump, a bowl is formed.  This sponge "bowl" was at least fou...

Ingredients: 1 awesome divemaster (Mac) who also happens to be a rock 'n roll drummer  6 days of sunshine with 85 degree weather countless palm trees 1 hotel swimming pool 1 poolside restaurant 3 beach chairs 3 Musketeers (John, Glo and me) Directions: 1.  Wake up at 7:30 each morning.  Throw on swimsuit, and head down to hotel breakfast.  Grab a quick bite to eat before meeting Mac at the dock. 2.  Board Saffron, and sail for ten minutes to one of 365 diving sites off Grand Cayman island. 3.  Dive twice, seeing the most amazing things--turtles, eels, neon-colored fish, stingrays, jellyfish.  Be reminded that a greater being (than a Big Bang) created this world, both above the water and under it. We found this unusual creature back on the boat :-) 4.  Return to the hotel, walk directly to the pool, jump in. 5.  Hop five feet out of the pool, sit down at a table, and order lunch.  While lunch ...