It worked!

So was it the hint that "nobody ever comments" that sparked such a quick reply or was it the fact that I inserted links in the text of my post? Well, whatever your motivation, thanks for the quick responses (all 5 of them), offering me the motivation to keep on writing about nothing. And thank you, Michelle (my preacher's wife) for giving that little extra bit of inspiration. By the way, missed you at small group.
Oh, and Timmy, about Bryan Weber... we made plans to meet that first night after dinner. Guess what? He didn't show up. But really he had a legit excuse, and we did meet up again and we spent a lot of that week together before I left Guatemala. It was good to see him, and it was good to have a friend around who knew me and with whom I shared something beyond those 3 months in Guate. He should still be there, but I haven't heard from him in a while. Who knows, maybe he decided to take a bus to Colombia just for the fun of it. And speaking of people who never update websites... when is the Timmy website going to be back up and running?

Who really reads this thing anyway?

I got harassed this morning at church by my preacher's wife. Michelle York wanted to know why I have a blog if I am never going to update it. Never going to update it? I made two posts on the same day less than a week ago, and she says I never update. Granted, I may not blog with the consistency of a Mike Cope, or the humor of a Grant Boone, or the inspiration of a Ryan Porche, or the passion of a Jeremy Jackson, but come on, like my life is interesting enough to merit a blog of such grandeur? I tried to defend my minimal blogger activity to Michelle by citing the following argument: Why should I post if nobody ever comments? I mean, who really reads this thing anyway. But then another woman from my church piped up and said "Yeah, you hardly ever kept us updated while you were gone."
So, for the sake of Michelle and all you other anonymous Kent Brantly blog fanatics out there, I will add this post today, so that when she and you check kentbrantly.blogspot.com you won't be disappointed once again by my ever so exciting life.

For those interested in viewing pictures from my time in Central America, I have begun the arduous task of posting them online. I don't know if all 580 pictures will meet the ever-so-high publishing standards, but for the few that do, you can find them here.

So who does read this thing?

Quick Update

To clarify my med school situation:
I will begin med school at Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis on August 12th, 2005. The bioethics degree will have to wait a bit. Thanks for all of your concern. I've talked to a lot of people who still thought I was having to defer enrollment for another year, so I wanted to clear that up.
So to summarize, if you want to ever talk to me again, you should probably do so before the 12th of August, because that is the day my social life hits the back burner....
ok, so I hope that isn't really the case, but I'm sure this whole thing will be harder than I am capable of imagining.

i continue to covet your prayers.
thanks,
kent <><

Granny

Please pray for my Granny (Ruby Snell). Last Tuesday (June 14th) Granny, my mom's mom, was taken to the hospital after falling and pushing the button on her Lifeline medical alert necklace. (You know, the old "I've fallen and I can't get up" commercials) Granny is 93 and still lives by herself in Florence, Alabama. After lots of tests they determined that she suffered a light stroke. She had weakness on her left side and, although most of the time she is very lucid, she experiences periods of extreme confusion and irrationality along with short-term memory loss. Granny is now in a rehab center where they will put her through physical therapy this week to see what kind of progress she can make. She has been regaining strength on her left side, and her long-term memory is as sharp as ever, but she is not quite herself sometimes.
I went to Alabama on Friday to see her. It was like a make-shift family reunion. I saw 7 of my mom's 9 siblings, and the other two had been there before I arrived. I'm glad I got to see Granny again. It was my first time to talk to her since getting back from Guatemala. I thank the Lord that I was able to see her again and give her a hug.
So I ask that you pray for Granny and for my family. It looks like she won't be able to live on her own any more, so finding a way to share the work of caring for her will be hurdle the family will have to find a way over. Granny is a Godly woman, and she and Papa have given a rich Christian heritage to their family. Nobody gets to choose into what family they are born, so I consider it a great blessing that I was born into a Christian home. And I am blessed to have Granny for my grandmother. Papa (Ralph Snell) died in 1982, when I was one year old. I wish I had known him, but even without knowing him personally, he has blessed my life by the way he led his family, the way he raised his children, and the legacy of a life of Christian service that he left behind. I look at my uncles, my mom's 4 younger brothers, and I can see what kind of man my Papa was - a man of integrity, humility, and compassion. A man whose presence commanded respect, but whose demeanor was gentle and peaceful. A man with a passion for Jesus Christ, His body, and the Word of God. And a man whose love for his family was surpassed only by his love for the Lord. And Granny is his matriarchal equal. For the last 23 years she has been a widow, living BY herself but not FOR herself. Although 93, she still keeps up with her 10 children, 34 grandchildren and 27 great-grandchildren. She raised her 10 children to love God and to pursue Godly lives. She has taught countless Bible classes and spoken at retreats for more years than you or I have been around. She always cooks something to take to the church pot-luck dinners (in fact she fell and broke her hip 2 years ago while trying to get her casserole dish out onto the front porch so she would be ready to go when her neighbors arrived to pick her up.) She lives a life of selfless Christ-like service rendered out of a heart of love.
I love my Granny and Papa. Please pray for her, for her recovery, and for our family as we care for her.

Home Sweet Home

Back home again in Indiana.... at least for a couple days, before going on vacation with my family. Antigua was a great experience, and I will never forget many of the people I met there. Especially my new Guatemalan family. I also had a fantastic visit with my good friend Dearing Davis in Costa Rica. Beautiful country. Beautiful friend. It was a great ending to a great trip. Thanks to all of you who have commented over the months, who have sent me letters and cards and emails, and especially to those of you who have been praying for me. I couldn't have made it through any other way.

Gracias a Dios por la vida. Es una bendicion a respirar y vivir cada día.

And here is the sum of all that I learned in Guatemala:
Sólo sé que no sé nada.

more to come,
kpb <><