Friday was my birthday. My office was celebrating Veteran's Day so we had the day off. I woke up around 6am. As is my usual habit, I sat in bed, praying and cuddling my cat.

Then I got up, put on the coffee and toddled off to pray the Liturgy of the Hours while it brewed. There's just something about knowing hundreds of Catholics in my time zone are praying with me that's COOL! Most monasteries, abbeys, convents and cloisters pray Laudes between 6am and 6:30am. Yeah me!

Prayer accomplished, I set off to get my coffee. I flipped on the tube, which was still on channel 44 as I'd managed to catch the tail end of my one and only TV show, "Supernatural" the night before. Low and behold, there's Stephen Baldwin and his lovely wife on some Christian program I've never seen before talking about their conversion.

Whoa...

Now, I'd recently rented a film called "Six: The Mark Unleashed" - check out the link...
http://themoviesix.com/index.htm

Stephen Baldwin was in it. I thought it was a little "out of character" which is funny because isn't that what acting is all about? LOL! I thought he was the flakey Baldwin. I may not agree with his brother Alec's politics, but I certainly appreciate all he does for animal rights. Someone has to stand up for the innocent. It's seemed to me that baby brother was more self-centered.

That was the old Stephen. New Stephen is a changed man. The interview was very short. Only 4 or 5 minutes. I was lucky to have caught that much. He talked about his new book, "The Unusual Suspect," he talked about being on fire for Christ, he talked about extreme sports. What a concept. Extreme Jesus! Sounded a little Fr. Stan Fortuna to me. I had to check it out.

I had breakfast then toddled off to The Door in San Carlos. Here's the funny part. I had planned on taking the train to San Jose and checking out Our Lady of Peace and the shop there. I love Our Lady of Peace. Great church, great religious. GREAT Christian store! But I woke up with a SPLITTING headache. So I just wasn't up to it. After a long shower and a good brekkie, the headache was a bit better. But I still wasn't up for a train ride and a long walk. The Door was easier to get to.

Sadly, The Door has lost a lot of it's verve for me. Their shelves were stocked but it seemed to be a lot of repetition. And no Stephen Baldwin book. Off I went. I figured I'd try two cities down and their Christian book store.

I just missed the bus. It was one of those things where, I was about 3 feet away from the stop but I didn't look up, so the bus blew right on past me. Dag-Nab-It! I figured, it was a lovely day, 20 minutes to the next bus. I'd walk on down one or two stops depending on how long it took. I'd gotten about half way along to the next stop when I noticed a folded bill in a driveway. I figured it would be a dollar, or maybe a 5. I picked it up and it was a $100 bill!

My second WHOA of the day. I was certain it was fake. I looked and look trying to spot a flaw.

I called my best bud on the spot and told her I was taking her to dinner, courtesy of The Almighty. Nothing like an affirmation that you are right where He wants you.

I ended up finding the book at Barnes and Noble. Why don't the Christian stores have it yet? It's GREAT! I plowed through it. Dragged poor Stevie B. around with me everywhere all weekend. To the grocery store. To church. To the mall. Reading and walking.

Highly recommend it. Is your faith a little lack luster? Are you usually pretty high energy? This book is no Juan de la Cruz's "Dark Night of the Soul." This is Extreme Jesus. Baldwin peppers his story with humor and fun.

So few Christians I know really "get it." Get what Christianity is all about. I went to this Pro Life deal on Thursday. Out of 13 people in the room, two of them were complete jerks, and one of those two is the leader for my county. UGH. They pooh-poohed a couple of our legislators who, while doing a lot of good, don't have their same views. They Boo-Hissed the help undocumented immigrants are getting. Would you rather they die in the streets? What is WRONG with people???

Throughout his book good ol Stevie B. pokes fun at himself. Calls himself less than smart. But ya know what? Biblically speaking, God tells all the good stuff to the simple people. The people willing to trust in His will rather than their own knowledge. God bless them! As such, Stevie B. really gets it. Gets what being a Christian is all about.

Best birthday EVER!