Check this out … it’s the Top Ten Letterman Top Ten Lists. In my opinion, it’s a pretty funny idea that should’ve been done a long time ago.

My favorite? Hands down, it’s the Top Ten Ways the U.S. Would Be Different If Evel Knievel Were President:

10. Nation’s interstate system would include regularly spaced jump ramps.
9. Giant flame decals added to side of Air Force One.
8. More fatalities at annual Easter egg hunt.
7. Court packed with judges favoring 270 mph speed limit.
6. Secretary of state would wear special suit to greet diplomats while on fire.
5. Son Robbie Knievel would be screwing up S&L industry.
4. While jumpsuit de rigeur at state dinners.
3. Quayle would still be Vice-President — but his kids would take him seriously.
2. Americans closer to dream of seeing guy jump over his own face on Mt. Rush more.
1. More babies named Evel.

This inspirational video was created during week four of Pleasant Vineyard Ministries’ summer camp in 2005. We originally wanted to create a video called “I Have A Mother” … then realized, in a moment of rare lucidity, that there actually might be a camper whose mother died or something. So we settled on something more universal … belly buttons.

Features the voices of Alex Schubert, Caleb Sunvold, David Schwab, Ryan Ellis, and Jake Farthing and the original song “I Have A Mother”, by Bryan Edwards, Luke Maynard, and Lance Webel.

Last winter in Loudi was absolutely brutal … even though it’s at roughly the same latitude as Florida, it gets quite cold there. And they don’t insulate buildings or have central heating in southern China, so I always had to wear my winter jacket throughout my classes and bundle up heavily at home.

That’s why I’m happy to announce that all thirty three of the children in the Loudi foster care program, SWI (orphanage), and rural physical therapy program will be receiving new winter coats this year! It’s the first of many ways that the money donated from my calendar and marathon are being used … and at $10/jacket, it’s money well spent!

Many thanks to those of you who so generously donated to keep these kids nice and toasty. You’re awesome!

Hit traffic on the way to school, got thrown for a loop in a meeting with my boss, committed to a big new project, made a fifth grade girl cry in my class, found out that my grad school work was due three months ago, visited an underpriced repossessed home in a great neighborhood that would require lots of TLC (and a quick decision by my slow mind), and realized that I’ve been scraping by on about two hours of sleep.

It’s days like this that make me wish I had someone soft.

When I was hired to produce a DVD for the graduating eighth graders two years ago, I couldn’t help but create this set of hilarious outtakes from the otherwise heartwarming and inspirational footage of students’ memories and teachers’ advice.

I kinda wonder if it’s nearly as funny to watch when you don’t know the kids, teachers, and inside jokes … but it still makes me laugh every time!

Here are some of the interesting Internet searches that have led people to webeldotnet recently:

meet interesting people and kill them
Till We Have Faces all the trips Orual made to the river in visiting Phsyche
hunan map
“child beater” video “playing with his kids”
top ten love poems for 12 year olds
changsha SWI #1 countryside building
linda webel
“sarah pechan”
“we run faster than your”
loudi adopt group
yawning
songpan horse trekking trotting
goodbye spam karma
“Everywhere like such as and.”
love poems to boyfriends
ga-yeon lee violin
modest is hottest
working mothers China
poems for obese person
austin webel
Dirty Surroundings in China
slow page load
chinese discipline problems
super mario brothers online
crazy queries
five minutes to kill (yourself)
“dao le”
“katherine baker” birthday “taylor university”
lunatic calendar chinese 2007
lg fusic isync compatible
6th grade camping
nappy hair
map of Loudi hunan in Chinese
buy apartment yueyang hunan
laura rothenberg picture

And my top five favorites …

Bucyrus Cheerleading Bratwurst Festival
abercrombie and fish
turtles poems of love
only in china
“smooth move” nate wagner

Which ones did you like the most?

I like sayings, like the ones in these headers, that make you think and smile. I even had a job once as a headline-writer (and layout artist) for the student newspaper at my university! But in the end, as this Voltaire quotation suggests, cleverness without action is merely words.

[original photo]

I just found out that this photo of me at an alley in Changsha, Hunan was blogged in the Consumerist last April. As I remember, Rick and I were in the midst of a game of fun-and-crazy-oneupmanship, and Amy apparently had her camera ready to capture the moment.

FYI, the Consumerist is a pretty famous Gawker blog all about, well, consumerism … and it gets over a quarter of a million readers every day! If only they’d blogged a photo from Whiskerino …

Light a fire for a man, keep him warm for a night.
Light a man on fire, keep him warm for the rest of his life!

Last year, I discovered that China was a very secular society … the only churches were in big cities (there were none in Loudi), and those that could be found were government-sponsored and tightly-controlled. As a result, I spent an entire year without the fellowship, corporate worship, and public teaching that comes from being a part of a healthy church body.

At first glance, this would seem to most Christians like a terrible thing for my spiritual growth and well-being. I found, however, that it actually allowed me to clear away the “drivel” that is associated with the Church and instead focus on the deeper elements of my faith. I wrestled with real life more, confronted the juxtaposition of mortality and the Eternal, tested my convictions, spent much more time communing with my Father, and generally felt like I finally had a chance to grow down.

Since returning to America, however, I’ve found that my faith has been tested in a very different way … through my re-immersion in the Church!

To be honest, it’s been quite a lackluster and frustrating experience for me. I don’t really feel like I understand what’s going on there and why it’s happening … and after four or five weeks, I’m having trouble figuring out both what I think about it and what I should do with it.

After a lot of thought and prayer, however, I think I’ve identified a few reasons why things might feel like this.

1. Now I’m an outsider. I’ve spent my whole life going to church and being deeply involved in Christian “stuff”. It’s always been a really comfortable place for me where I could relate to the people, understand the backstory and rationale for the things that happen, and generally feel like I “belong”. But after a year of absence, I definitely don’t feel at home … I’m a visitor, someone who’s walked in from the street and isn’t really certain about how I fit in to the Christian bubble. I suspect that it’ll eventually be really good to remember this feeling, but for now it kinda sucks.
2. It tastes like applesauce. I feel like almost everything that’s been presented in church has been prepared for babies … it’s bland, watered-down, and spoon-fed to the congregation. I’m not really a toddler anymore … and it really doesn’t help me to sit there stagnantly while blatantly obvious spiritual truths are spelled out in detail. I need meat.
3. I’m not a good consumer. As an outsider, I feel like I’m almost always the “direct object” of the things that happen at church … I’m listening, receiving, absorbing, and retaining. But this passive and sedentary role really doesn’t suit me … I’m a creative person who learns and grows through experiences, relationships, and the creative process itself. So if I don’t take the step of getting involved in some sort of leadership or service role (like I can freely do at school), I’m stuck simply consuming things, one after another. And that’s not a good place for me to be.
4. I just want to worship. This one’s really simple … my heart and soul just want to cry out with others, to celebrate and surrender and lift up the God of the Universe. I want to sing at the top of my lungs and dance for joy … but the opportunity to do this freely (for more than a couple of songs, at least) still hasn’t presented itself at church, school, or with other believers. And I’m beginning to understand, more and more, how immensely big of a problem that is.

I could probably talk (or type) forever about it … but in the end, you’d find that I really don’t have it figured out. And I want to be clear … this is not really a critique of my church, but an analysis of my current relationship with the Church. I notice the same dynamics throughout my experience at the Christian school where I teach and even in the circle of friends that I have. And I know that for now, I must simply be patient.

Hmm.

There’s a moth in my shower. How is that possible?

Every fall, we take the entire CHCA sixth grade class to a three-day overnight retreat at PVM, the summer camp where I work. It’s a blast … the students get to worship in outdoor chapel services, explore the creek and pond, do team-building exercises, zip down the 500 foot zipline, see birds of prey and reptiles up close, do bible studies, climb the 40 foot rock tower, spin around on the orbitron, and generally have a good time.

The theme is treasure … how God values each of us, the worth He’s placed in His creation, how we can value those around us, and the difference between earthly and eternal treasure. It’s pretty amazing how it hits these sixth graders right where they’re at, digging down deep into issues they tend to confront at this fragile age and ultimately giving us teachers and parents a unique way to connect with their hearts and minds.

Sure, it’s a lot of work to put together … but it’s worth every minute. There’s nothing like blending together two of my greatest passions in life, teaching and camping. And I love giving my beloved students a chance to experience a very different kind of learning … in God’s classroom!

Check out this video from the 6th Grade Camp two years ago … it should give you a pretty good idea of why I love doing what I do!