“What did you want?”

“I’ve managed to break the first few passwords.”

“Well?”

“Tricia is in Hawaii, but I don’t know where.”

“Okay. Keep trying.”

“Well, have fun. Bye.” I shut the box and put it back where I found it.

“Who was that?” My bride asked.

“That was Noah. We’re trying to pinpoint Tricia’s location.”

“What for? You sent her after those two crooks about a week ago. She called just before we got married to tell us that she had tracked them to L.A.” My bride came over, putting her arms around me. “Do you miss her on our honeymoon?”

“Do I hear a ring of jealousy in your voice?”

“No. Just why is it so important that you find Tricia? She’ll call in when we get back.”

“I’ll tell you over lunch.” I said. We got dressed and went out. Going into the dining room, we went to the same table. The two gentlemen did not show up.

“Well?”

“Well– you see– Tricia and I are the only real ones in this game. Or at least I am.”

“Your getting me confused.”

“Me too. No, Tricia and I are the only real ones. Noah is being controlled by the real one from outside, though.”

“So there are only three real people?”

“Essentially. That is why it is so important to find Tricia. Only the three of us working together can get out of this game.”

“Well, you can count on my help.”

“As long as you aren’t being controlled by Matt and Noelle to slow me down!”

“I don’t think so.”

“Well, that was a delicious meal. Shall we go to the pool this afternoon?”

“The pool. Adam, you said you were real.”

“I did.”

“Then you know you can’t swim.”

“I can so. I learned this morning.”

“I’ll have to see it to believe it.” We left the dining room and went to our cabin. I wore a pair of my nylon shorts, since I hadn’t packed a swim suit. My wife got into hers, a one-piece swim suit which I had to zip up. Leaving the cabin with towels around us, we made our way to the pool. We claimed two chairs. There were a bunch of ladies and gentlemen sunbathing in less than modest attire. We made sure to enter the pool, with a splash, around their area. The rest of the afternoon was spent at the pool.

We came back to the cabin to change for dinner. I put on a suit and tie while my bride changed into a flowing gown. “Is something that formal necessary?” I asked.

“We are sitting at the Captain’s table, and I want to make a good impression. But I suppose that because I’m just some holographic image I should go without clothes!”

Welcome to the January 18, 2008 edition of standing in the gap.

Chris Scharf presents Don’t Lower Your Standards! posted at Christian Dating Experiences, saying, “This article is about not lowering your standards when looking for a boyfriend or girlfriend. Need other Christian dating advice? Look around the website to find what you need!”

Sunny presents What is the Meaning of Advent? posted at Observation and Principles.

Sunny presents Advent Activities for Young Children posted at Observation and Principles, saying, “It is the challenge of families to bring the focus of Christmas back onto Christ. This article has some suggestions for Advent activities for young children”

Tupelo Kenyon presents Consciously Programming Your Subconscious Mind Before Sleep posted at Tupelo Kenyon, saying, “We are all continuously feeding our minds with the words we read, the audio we hear, and the images we see on the screen. The ideas we expose our minds to immediately before going to sleep are powerful. They sink deep into our subconscious mind as we ease into the alpha state of consciousness, as part of the sleep cycle. Here, the subconscious mind reviews the ideas over and over, not because they are the most important, but simply because they were the most recent. For a life of excellence, you must be the proactive, deliberate, aware, and conscious gatekeeper and feed your mind on purpose. (Enjoy soothing instrumental music as you read plus songs with lyrics related to each article – all free.”

Sholom Anarchy presents Stumping for Ron Paul again posted at Anarcho-Judaism.

Chris Scharf presents The Three Possible Types of Couples You’ll See On Earth posted at Christian Dating Experiences, saying, “This article talks about how to interact in a Godly way with the three types of couples you’ll ever encounter.”

Balanced Life Center presents 2007 Lessons Learned posted at Balanced Life Center.

Culture

Matthew Spears presents Breaking through the chains of identity posted at Loving Awareness, saying, “Having a strong identity is greatly emphasized in this culture. We have expectation upon expectation placed upon us. This article explores what identities are, how they’re limiting, and gives an exercise on how to move beyond some limitations.”

Tupelo Kenyon presents Ego or Soul? Who’s Driving? posted at Tupelo Kenyon, saying, “Even though I identify my sense of self with soul, there seems to be another “something” inside forever jockeying for position and making its presence known. This is the ego. What’s the difference? How can you know which one is in charge? What are their characteristics? Since I prefer peace to mayhem and contentment to perpetual, blind striving, my goal is to keep soul in the driver’s seat as often as possible. Instead of an either/or situation, I like the idea of soul and ego peacefully coexisting in a manner that best serves the greater good. (Enjoy soothing instrumental music as you read plus songs with lyrics related to each article – all free.)”

Joshua Seth presents Getting Lost in Istanbul posted at Joshua Seth Blog, saying, “A Voyage to feel the taste of Old Europe through Hippodrome, the site of chariot races in old Constantinople and the Egyptian obelisk.”

Tupelo Kenyon presents How to Live the Life of Your Dreams Through Intuition posted at Tupelo Kenyon, saying, “Intuition feels good. That should be enough of a clue it’s something that can be trusted. But, our culture has done a thorough job of instilling doubt about the wisdom of following our instincts. Instead, we are taught to think things through and be logical. These mental tools are important, but they were never intended to be used instead of intuition. They work better when used in conjunction with intuition. If we are open to it, we get nudges and insights to move us in the direction of our greatest joys, our most valuable contributions, and our most satisfying life. Those quiet whispers and gentle taps on the shoulder are examples of inner guidance in action – intuition. (Enjoy soothing instrumental music as you read plus songs with lyrics related to each article – all free.”

Dr Martin W. Russell presents Self Help For Sleeping Pills - The Campaign posted at Dr Martin W. Russell, saying, “A campaign against our pill-popping culture.”

Tupelo Kenyon presents Is Food Your Medicine or Poison? posted at Tupelo Kenyon, saying, “Food is not what it used to be. In the relatively recent past, food was universally recognized as the fruits and nuts that grow on trees, the vegetables that grow out of the soil, plus some fish and game. If you were to take a ride in a time machine and show our ancestors what we eat today, they would recognize very little of it. For the most part, it’s over-packaged, over-processed, over-rated and under-nourishing. Every day, we choose our future health and vitality by what we choose to put in our mouths. Three times a day we have the opportunity to act upon our resolve to experience optimum health and vitality . . . at breakfast, lunch and dinner. Bon appetit. (Enjoy soothing instrumental music as you read plus song selections with lyrics related to each article – all free.”

Phil B. presents The Blame Game << Phil for Humanity posted at Phil for Humanity, saying, “Recently, I heard a racial slur against Jews because of what they supposedly did to Jesus Christ. This insult was not against the Jews that were alive two thousand years ago but against the Jews living today.”

Family

ChristianPF presents Would Jesus have an emergency fund posted at Money in the Bible | Christian Personal Finance Blog, saying, “Discussing the balance between trusting God for our needs and being wise stewards of our resources.”

Warren Wong presents How To Feel Better And Be Happier posted at Personal Development for INTJs, saying, “Some practical tips you can use now to feel better and be happier.”

Society

Todd Goldfarb presents 50 Ways You Can Be The Change posted at We The Change, saying, “hi there– here is a terrific article which describes 50 Ways we can “be the change”. Enjoy!”

Sunny presents I shall not want, reflections on Psalm 23 posted at Observation and Principles, saying, “What did the Psalmist mean when he wrote, “I shall not want?” What does that mean in my life?”

Teens

Joshua C. Karlin presents How Should We Give? posted at Marketing & Fundraising Ideas.

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of standing in the gap using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

Technorati tags: standing in the gap, blog carnival.

“August 26? That’s in about a month. See, if we consummate our wedding now, it may change our futures!”

“Okay. So now what do we do for the next two days?”

“Have fun!”

“Well, let’s start our day off with ‘the most important meal of the day’, breakfast!”

“I’m game if you are.” She got dressed in a pretty combination of a v-neck shirt and shorts. I put on a polo shirt and shorts. I gave her my arm, and escorted her to the mess hall. Once inside, we made our way to a table. After getting our food, we walked to the table. I pulled out a chair for my bride, and she sat down. While we were eating I heard a conversation going on behind us.

“Boy, you should have seen the look on the face of that chief after he saw his tent go up in smoke.” The younger man said.

“That was pretty clever the way you blamed it on the sightseer. Boy was that chief mad.” The older man said.

“Yeah, it’s too bad that I left the diamond in that statue’s mouth.”

“We could have been out of the country by now, we were already in L.A.”

“I know, but I remember exactly where it is. Underneath the face that looks like a fish.”

“Shh. You want the whole world to hear you?”

“Keep your shirt on, nobody heard me.” They kept on talking for a while, and my bride finished.

“I’m going to go for the exercise program. How about you?” My wife asked.

“I think I’ll go look in the communications room.” I replied.

“Fine. See you then.” We left the mess hall and split up. Going upstairs to the communications room I passed the pool. A young man dashed quickly by and bumped me into the pool. Not knowing how to swim, I struggled, screamed, and practically drowned. By the time the life guard came out, though, I had learned the basic technique for swimming. Boy will Noah be surprised. I got out of the pool, and went back to my cabin to change. What a strange future! I thought. I went again to the communications headquarters and talked with the sailors until lunch.

Lunch time came and I went back to the cabin. My wife was inside, again taking a shower. At least she’s always clean. I found a note on the table. My bride came out. “Hi honey.”

“Hi. Have fun in the communications booth?”

“Sure did.” Just then I heard a phone ring.

“Where’s that?”

“I’m not quite sure.” Going through my belongings I found a box, which opened up to be a phone. “Hello?”

“Hey Adam! How’s the honeymoon?” Noah said.

“Great up until now.”

“Did you…?”

“No.”

“No!!”