Just wondering

Sorry, no good picture to go with this post :)

So I have been wondering about a few things lately .....

What is going on with my next door neighbors?
This is the house that was "raided" by the police last spring. Seriously - 3 patrol cars, two "unmarked" cars, plain clothes officers and men in bullet proof vests in the driveway, on the back porch, at their front door. One of their cars was searched extensively and hauled off and has yet to return. Neighborhood gossip says it was a drug bust. That the father was some big time drug dealer charged with trafficking and possession of heroin and cocaine. Gossip also says he got to stay out of jail for a while b/c he was rolling over on other dealers and this also earned him a shortened sentence. The man himself says it was tied to the IRS and Immigration. Says his Uncle who worked with him at his construction business kept a double set of books. Says he himself "accidentally" hired illegal immigrants to work for him. Who knows. All I know is they have always been odd. I swear they are "white trash" but they happen to have black skin. Their backyard is a veritable junkyard and don't even get me started on the weeds, length of the grass and stench of dog poop. They have 4 kids, one in high school, two in elementary, and a 4 year old who was in pre-school last year but was staying home with dad at the start of this school year. The dad is gone now, I'm assuming in jail. I have only seen the 4 year old little boy a handful of times in the past 3 months. Now the dad's truck is gone. Last week I saw the mom in the driveway with a friend, it looked like she was crying and the friend was comforting her. Monday, I drove Audrey to school and I thought I saw the mom's car parked outside the office entrance. That same day the mom was sleeping in her car in the driveway in the afternoon- it was 20-something degrees outside that day! And for the last 3 days, the two elementary kids haven't been on the bus with Audrey...... What's up? Was she at the school withdrawing the kids? Where are they? Where is the 4 year old all the time now? It seemed as if mom was working but since January she is home most of the day, is she tele-commuting? Is their house going into foreclosure? Are they moving? Hmmm.....

Church
The past few sermons have set me wondering. He keeps asking things like - "Have you been verbally assaulted for your beliefs? Have you been challenged by others for your faith? for your stand on certain issues? And if you haven't why not?" and then last Sunday "Have you led anyone to Christ and then stayed with them to see them to maturity? Are you discipling anyone at the moment?" And I have had to pretty much answer no to every one of them. Maybe I have led someone to Christ but I don't know that for a fact. But everything else is a definite "no". Why? I'm not sure. I would guess most of it is because the majority of my friends are believers. I do know non-believers but none of them are close friends that I see or talk to regularly. And usually when I am around non-believers, they most often know where I stand but very few have ever really challenged me on my beliefs. Not in high school, not in college, not now. With all this talk of standing firm and standing strong - am I about to be challenged? Is God prepping me for something? And now I'm starting the study of Esther who was placed in the palace "for such a time as this". Am I too being prepared for "such a time as this"? hmmmmmmm .......

The Bachelor
Why the heck do women even go on that show?!?!? It's pretty much one small step away from prostitution and they never seem to end up benefiting in any way. What woman in her right mind would subject her self esteem to that kind of treachery?

The great DVD hunt
Where in tarnation is the "12 Dancing Princesses" DVD. It has been missing for a long time now. The case is where it should be, but the DVD is not in the case. Where is it?!?! We are pretty sure Allison put it somewhere. But where?!?! I have torn this house APART looking for that thing and I still haven't found it!