Ziphen Central

During the summer of 2010, there was a bullfrog living in our stock tank, the largest we had ever seen on our property (in Parker County, Texas):

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I took these pictures at Copper Breaks State Park in Hardeman County, Texas last June. I have many other pictures to post, both from North America and Europe, but I’m putting them up little by little, and eventually they’ll all be posted.

Hope you like these pictures!

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These are some pictures from a camping/kayaking trip I went on with some college friends in April 2010. Yes, that was more than a year ago, so long ago that I don’t even remember the name of the river we kayaked on! And although I may be behind on posting pictures, that doesn’t mean I haven’t been taking pictures. There are plenty that are just waiting to be blogged, so stay tuned!

It is always fascinating to me how different words and phrases in scripture will catch my attention when I read a passage in a different language. I don’t know how many times I’ve read I Peter in English before, but today as I read it for the first time in Greek, a word in chapter 1, verse 18 stuck out to me. The verse reads thus:

“…οὐ φθαρτοῖς, ἀργυρίῳ ἢ χρυσίῳ, ἐλυτρώθητε ἐκ τῆς ματαίας ὑμῶν ἀναστροφῆς πατροπαραδότου…”

The English Standard Version says “you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold.”

As you may be aware, words carry connotations that are unique to every person. This does not usually hinder understanding of scripture, and in English I can understand the verse just fine. But in Greek, when I read the word πατροπαραδότου, I thought about the word that it is derived from: παράδοσις, or “tradition.” My mind wandered to παραδοσιακές τυρόπιτες, traditional Greek cheese pitas (not so relevant), but then I thought of the traditional culture and religion of the Greeks.
(keep reading)

Here are some pictures I took at the Pittsburgh Zoo (in Pennsylvania!) in March 2010. I’ve uploaded them to Photobucket, so click here to go see them all.