What's the Question?

I recently heard a story… probably a preacher’s story, (a story that is not true but told as a parable to illustrate a certain point) which spoke to me about obedience.

The story goes like this: A pastor had a man come up to him after one of the worship services to shake his hand and said: “Pastor… my answer is YES. Now what’s the question?”

This confused the pastor a bit… but didn’t want to be rude or look stupid to this man… so he just humored him by smiling and saying the obligatory ‘God Bless You.’

This same scenario played out about four weeks in a row. The man continually came up to the pastor and said: “Pastor, my answer is YES. Now what’s the question?” Each week, the confused pastor would smile and nod and really just tried to ignore what the man was saying.

But after awhile, the pastor’s curiosity got the best of him and the next week, after this man said ‘Pastor, my answer is YES. Now what’s the question?’ The pastor finally asked the man what that he meant and what he was trying to say.

The man answered by saying: “Pastor, Jesus died that I might be forgiven for my sins. He delivered me from all kinds of terrible things. He paid the highest price for my freedom… Because of that my answer to you will always be YES! I just need to know the question. If you asked me to help rock the babies to sleep in the nursery… I’d say yes. If you told me that I needed to clean the toilets in the church… I’d say yes. Whatever the need… just ask and I’ll say yes…

When I heard that story… I got thinking about how willing I am to say ‘yes’ to God. Do I have this attitude in my life? Am I in a place in my life where God knows that all He has to do is ask the question and I’ll automatically say yes?

Unfortunately… the answer is no. My answer to God is not always consistently ‘yes.’ Sometimes I say ‘no.’ Sometimes I act like I didn’t hear the question. Sometimes I try to change the subject.

Even the times I say ‘yes’ are not my finest moments. It certainly isn’t always automatic. Sometimes I wrestle with my ‘yes’. Sometimes I place conditions on my ‘yes’. Sometimes I try to bargain with my ‘yes.’ (Ex: God if I do this, I need You to do something for me…) Sometimes my ‘yes’ is more like a ‘no’ because I have a spiteful attitude. (Ex: ‘I’ll do it, but You can’t make me LIKE it!’) Those of you who have kids understand that one…

I really want to get to a place in my life where my answer to God is ‘yes’ regardless of the question… regardless of the job, regardless of the person He wants me to help. I want to automatically and joyfully say yes to His will for my life.

Lord, my answer is YES! Now what’s the question?

Merry Christmas!

This was a postcard I received in the mail promoting Cardinal ticket sales... very cool!

My Favorite 10...

CHRISTMAS MOVIES:

10. Christmas with the Kranks

9. Rudolph

8. Frosty

7. Grinch (Cartoon)

6. Scrooged

5. Disney’s A Christmas Carol

4. Polar Express

3. Grinch (Jim Carrey’s)

2. Charlie Brown Christmas

1. Christmas Vacation

Keep in mind that I haven’t seen A Christmas Story, It’s Wonderful Life, and White Christmas all the way through yet. Just never took the time. Maybe this year, we’ll see. I love Miracle on 34th Street… but it’s been so long since I’ve seen it, I feel like I need to watch it again before I put it on the list. The new movie, Deck the Halls, looks kind of funny. Christmas with the Kranks is only on the list because of sentimental value. It was a John Grisham book before it was a movie. Melissa and I spent one Christmas season reading the book to each other before going to bed each night. Good times. Good movies.

Aaron's First Cereal Session

A Quick Laugh...

From my 2006 Dilbert page a day calender:

Recent Pics of the Kiddos

Aaron and his Han Solo onesie... a chip off the old block.


Aaron's play time has been upgraded to an exersaucer...


The morning of Aaron's baby dedication! What a great sister he has!

Pardon the Mess

It's been a long time since I've posted... and there's been a reason for that. I'll save that for another post. Check back every day... I'm hoping to have a new post each day this week. New pictures, family updates, and the last few Disney World vacation recaps. I might even sprinkle a new video or two in there.

I've decided to change things around. I found a template I liked, but that means that I have to redo all of my side bar links. Just so you know... when I put my blog links back up... I will only include those sites that have posted within the two months. If you haven't, I won't include it. No offense... just don't want to offer a link to a page that isn't updated.

I'm also rethinking my title. I'm using the current one as an homage to the best cowboy movie ever made. It will probably change in the next couple of days. I have a few ideas, but I want to think about it for a little bit.

All this to say that I'm tinkering with the site a little bit and hopefully a better page will emerge from all of this... stay tuned!

Halloween

Hope it's ok to post this... a friend of mine sent this my way and I thought it was hilerious. I was written the day after Halloween. I've changed the names to protect the innocent...er... guilty.

Dear Jill,

I hope you guys didn't actually celebrate Halloween (i.e. the DEVIL's holiday)! If you and Tom actually took your little one trick-or-treating... you know that you will have to go directly to hell for that. I know because a lady at my church told me so... along with other good Godly Christianly people. I want to invite you to turn from the dark side and embrace the celebration of reformation day. Last night, our kids dressed in Bible era clothing and reenacted the children of Israel leaving Egypt (a Red Sea crossing was included). Then we all ate 'testmints' to represent moving from the old covenant of the Old Testament to the new covenant of the New Testament.

Shaloam and bless you and your family... we pray the fires of hell won't overcome you today for you pagan activities last night...

Mitch

LAF Night

The first monday night of every month is LAF night. It's a little acronym for 'Ladies and Fellowship'... though I've come up with some other great little acronyms of my own for that group.

Anyway... no, I don't attend this group... but my wife does, and in her absence, I get to spend the evening with my two little kids. I'm not one of those parents that would prefer to do pretty much anything other than spend their free time with their kids. If anything, I err on the side of too much time probably. But I can't imagine that I will lay on my deathbed and say that I regret that I spent too much time with my kids when they were younger.

Tonight was a ton of fun for me. Shortly after Melissa left, Emily brought me a DVD that she wanted to watch. It was Steven Spielberg's Gremlins from the 1980's. I told her that there were some scary parts in it and asked if she still wanted to watch it. She said yes but that she wanted me to watch it with her. I told her that the Gremlins are ugly and do some scary things. She told me to put it in and that when the monsters come, she'll hide her eyes on my shoulder.

Mixed emotions settled in. Afterall, it was a movie that I thoroughly enjoyed when I was a kid, but I also wanted her to sleep well tonight. But, I figured that the first couple of minutes where ok and I could gauge how she would do. Turns out I had nothing to worry about... she mostly laughed at the Gremlins... especially when they died gruesome deaths in blenders and microwaves. That was 90 minutes of my life well spent.

After Gremlins, she said that she wanted to watch 'Kermit the Frog.' Around this time last year, I bought the first season of the Muppet Show on DVD. For some reason, I have fond memories of The Muppet Show. I can't remember if I watched it as a kid... but somewhere along the line I picked up an appreciation for it. Emily really likes Kermit and has recently really liked watching the shows with me. We saw a 3D Muppet Show at MGM Studios in Disney World and I think that influenced her a little bit. We watched two episodes together and both of us laughed at the different antics of those crazy muppets. She laughed at the silly abstract sketches where different muppets do silly things. I laughed at the hecklers and Fozzy Bear. We both laughed as Crazy Harry blew certain muppets straight to... well... straight off the stage.

In the midst of all this, I fed Aaron (10 ounces in 4 hours), put his pajamas on and eventually got him to bed. There is very little Aaron can do right now to interact with me... but I treasure the one thing he does well... smile. It's not just a small smile either... he busts out these big ole open mouth smiles that can light up a whole room. He flashed several of those to me tonight as I was changing him into his pajamas.

To be honest, I'm still in the midst of a personal discouragement. It's kind of a hang-over from the summer. There are just a few things in my life and a few decisions made by others that have brought me some disappointment and some disalluisionment. Some days are better than others. It hasn't been a deep discouragment by any means... it's just lingered around me for longer than I expected.

But as I look at my beautiful, fun-loving little girl who shares an appreciation for the same movies that I loved when I was a kid... and when I look at my fifteen pound baby boy with the million dollar smile... many of my concerns temporarily melt away. I thank God for these two gifts that He has given me. I know it won't last forever. I know these precious moments will be gone in the blink of an eye. But I will do my best to live life to the fullest with them while they are still young.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a couple more Muppet Show episodes to watch with my little girl...

My Take...

DVD: Lost, Season One
Summary: Wow. In my mind, this show rivals the X-Files for mystery and mythology. It has excellent character development. The character flashbacks are a twist that really helps move the show forward. The island is a character unto itself. Each episode that answers one question you had ususally makes you ask about three more. I'm up to about 24 different questions right now. I should make a list. The cliffhanger leaves you with pretty much no idea what the heck is going on. The death of Boone proves that no main characters are safe in this show... I am hooked!
Grade: A+

Book: Mastering Outreach and Evangelism
Authors: Ratz, Tillapaugh and Augsburger
Summary: The only chapter that I found helpful in this book was the one on Assimilation written by Ratz. (It's the very last chapter of the book.) Having three authors from three different churches write on evangelism might seem like a good idea... but editors of this book choose three extreme situations that won't relate to the majority of the pastors that read this book. (In my humble opinion) Combine that with the fact that this was written 1990 and you have an outdated, irrelevant book. Not great.
Grade: C-

Book: Christianity Through the Centuries
Author: Earle Cairns
Summery: My church history book from college... I finally finished it. I've recently grown very interested in learning more about my Christian roots... with a particular interest in the early post-Acts church from about 100AD to 500AD or so. This book was very good... it just took forever to get it completely read. Long, but very rewarding. If you are interested in church history... this is a good book to pick up. Next up for me... to pick up a few books that deal extensively with the early church...
Grade: A-

GAME FIVE BABY!

Wow! It's hard for me to believe. The Cards are the 2006 World Series Champions! WHAHOO!

A few of my favorites from the night:

Favorite signs hanging around the stadium:

-The Experts are Idiots
-Hit it to the pitcher

MVP award should have gone to the Detroit Defense.

Within ten minutes of the final out there were fireworks being shot off in my neighborhood to celebrate the win. How cool is that?

I'm too scattered brained tonight to write a legit recap... but congrats to the Cardinals. Against all predictions and odds, they played good fundamental baseball. They saved their best baseball for the last month. It was a thing of beauty.

According to my calculations, there are 154 days till Opening Day 2007!

Game Four

-This was the best game of the series so far if you are simply a fan of the game. Back and forth it went there at the end. This was the first game where both starting pitchers pitched at about the same level... no one blew it open. Fun to watch for everyone else... high blood pressure game for me. Gut wrenching game for a Tigers fan.
-In my mind, this was the Tigers game to win. Their hitting was better than the Cards. Their pitching was better than the Cards. The two areas where the Cards were better: defense and timely hitting... which is much different than just hitting. The Tigers pretty much gave the Cardinals five outs in the 7th inning. It must have been brutal to watch.
-I know I sound like a broken record... but Encarnacion is terrible. He couldn't have had a poorer at-bat when he pinch hit late in the game.
-I didn't get a chance to watch the Tigers play much this year... so I can't say this with confidence... but it sure seems like they were uncomfortable defending small ball. Defense on bunts and dribblers have been brutal for them. I imagine that American League ball doesn't necessitate small ball as much as in the National League. To be honest though, I'd rather watch a team manufacture a run like that than see a home run. So last night's game was very interesting to me.
-Class Acts: Jim Leyland: Love this guy. I want nothing but the best for him except in this case, of course. Sean Casey: Always been a tough out for us... plays the game with respect for his team and his opponent. Curtis Granderson: Could have blamed the rain and the slick grass but decided to dodge excuses and assign the blame to himself. (Didn't have to do it, I know how much rain we've gotten, I imagine the field was very slick.)
-Verlander vs. Weaver: My heart says that the Cards will win tonight by a score of 6-4. My head says that Detroit will win by a score of 6-1. I don't think Verlander will be bad two times in a row. I think Weaver will give us about the same type of outing. (To be honest, I wouldn't even be going with Weaver... I'd probably go with Reyes again after his game one performance... but that's why they pay LaRussa the big bucks.)

Game Three

Due to a serious computer problem... I have not been able to do any kind of a Game Three wrap up until now. Though they are late... here are my thoughts on game three.

-To the writer that thought the Tigers would win in three... well, it looks like they are going to need five games now!
-Chris Carpenter was a delight to watch. All his pitches were working. The Tigers had no idea what pitch he was going to throw. Many of their swings were weak 'guess' swings. This is why he won the Cy Young award last year... he is a tremendous talent. I looked closely at his hand too and I didn't see any type of dirt or dark substance at all. So either he's cleaner than Rogers by nature... or he's less of a cheater. The world will never know, I guess.
-I think Jim Edmonds is worth his option next year. Memo to Cardinals ownership: Keep Jimmy Ballgame around... you won't find anyone better for the price.
-Belliard in the five hole? LaRussa... you must be nuts!
-Encarnacion on the bench? LaRussa... you must be a genius! Is there anyway we can trade this guy?
-Zumaya can throw a 100MPH heater, sure... but does it matter if he can't play defense?
-Game Four will be a key game... Obviously, I like our chances if we win. My gut says that if we win, we win the series in five or six. But if we lose, I see us losing the series in seven. Who the heck really knows though? It's fun to predict.
-Suppan vs. Bonderman: Soup's been good... but Bonderman scares me with our free swinging, undisciplined line-up. I'm expecting a 5-4 type game... but we'll see.
-Here's a little picture that's going around St. Louis... thought I'd share...

Game Two

• Not as much fun to watch tonight. We looked like the Tigers did last night.
• Kenny Rogers is frustratingly good. Though I’m not sure about that foreign substance on his hand. I would like to know what that was.
• Craig Monroe wasn’t able to hit a homerun the rest of the night because he hit his chest so hard after his first home run… I think he pulled a muscle or something. What was that about? It wasn’t a walk off, buddy. Take it easy.
• Juan Encarnacion takes some of the worst at-bats I’ve ever seen. He’s not a smart baserunner… and he plays a terrible defense. I can’t believe I have to watch him play for another two years. Terrible.
• So close at the end… So close… nice job by the Cards to at least mount a little resistance there in the top of the ninth. Hopefully you Tiger fans were a little nervous... it was probably the only time you were nervous all night.
• Carp vs. Robertson in game three. I’d feel confident, except that Robertson is a lefty and we suck against lefties.

Game 1

Okay, I officially declare this week to be 'World Series' week on my blog. I'll finish up my Disney Trip Report next week... Considering that I've had more comments on my congratulatory post to the Cards than I have on just about any other post I've written... I thought I'd go this direction for awhile.

Here are just a few thoughts from last night's game: First... to Keith Law and that idiot that wrote the Tigers would win in three and that the hardest thing for the Tigers to accomplish in this series is to keep a straight face:

Were the Cardinals bad in regular season? Yes and No. They had two eight game losing streaks and one seven game losing streak. That is a total of 0-23. They finished five games above .500... which means that if you take those prolonged streaks out of the equation, they played 28 games above .500.

The core of this team is still intact from the last two seasons when they won 100 games or more. Yes, they won 83 games all year... yes, that is pathetic... but it was enough... and it is irritating to hear media guys pass the Cards off as some minor league team. Last time I checked we had the reigning MVP and the reigning NL Cy Young Award winner. Last I checked, we had glove glovers in center and third... and probably future gold glovers at first and catcher.

I'm not saying that the Cards are going to win this series. But they will, at very least, put up a fight.

Last night's game was fun for me to watch. Rolen's homer was a good sign. The Tigers actually pitching to Pujols is a good sign... though I don't expect it to last. Edmonds got a couple of hits. Anthony Reyes was stellar. He was supposed to be a 'throw away' starter... only starting game one because every one else had taken a turn in the NLCS. Coming into the series... I wanted the Cards to steal one in Detroit... and I thought their best chance would be game two... so now I'm greedy would love to take both.

One observation I made about the Tigers last night... their line up is deeper than the Mets... but the Mets had scarier hitters. I wasn't near as nervous when the middle of the Tigers order came up than I was with the Mets. Of course that might have been because none of the Tigers' hitters were patient last night... and most of them had the whole infield pop fly down pretty good.

However, the Cards have big time trouble with hitting finesse left handers. Rogers is among the best of those. I predict that we'll score less runs than last night and the Tigers will score more. We'll see what happens...

YA HAHAHAHA!

Congratulations to the National League Champions:
The St. Louis Cardinals!

Pumpkin Patch Visit

Even though there are things we have not enjoyed about having a day care in our home... one of the things we enjoy very much is the fact that Melissa has decided to guard her Fridays and not work at all. That is also my day off... so we are going to try and take advantage of all of us being together on a weekday for as long as it lasts! Last Friday, we went to the pumpkin patch... here are a few pictures from that adventure:

Disney Trip: Day 3

We started the day at the Animal Kingdom. One of my favorite moments of the entire trip happened first thing when we went on Kilimanjaro Safaris. Emily was picked to be an Honorary Game Spotter. She got to ride in a seat right behind the driver; she was given a pair of binoculars to help her 'spot' the game; and the driver interacted with Emily the entire trip. So the twenty other people in on our bus heard the driver say Emily’s name a few different times. The driver asked Emily what her favorite animal was; Emily said that hippos were her favorite animal. When we passed by the hippos, the driver specifically pointed out the hippos to Emily. At the end of the trip, we were given a little card that said that we had experienced a Magical Moment at DisneyWorld… and they put Emily’s name on it. It’s part of a new celebration that have going at Disney about fulfilling dreams. Pretty cool. Emily really enjoyed it.


Another attraction that we saw on this particular day was a show called The Festival of the Lion King. This was a tremendous show that Emily just loved. She especially liked the “tumble monkeys.” (men dressed up as monkeys that did cool gymnastic tricks) This was the first day that we encountered a ‘character.’ We ran into Rafiki… Emily got her picture taken with him… and we bought her an autograph book. She ended up getting around fifteen or twenty character autographs by the end of our trip. That was fun for her.


That night we went back to Epcot. We ate at San Angel Inn, which is the full service restaurant located in the Mexico pavilion. It’s one of my favorite settings. You are sitting inside… but it makes you feel like you are outside at night in a courtyard. We got a really nice table that overlooked the water and the Aztec pyramid. (The water was for a little boat ride… but it was pretty neat.) I’m not a huge fan of Mexican food… but it was alright… especially since every bit of it was free.

Later, we got Fast Passes for a newer ride called Soarin’. It was a very cool ride… they lifted you up off the ground in front of a screen that showed you images of flying over California. They pumped in different smells like pine tree and oranges. It felt like you were hang gliding over the scenery. It was pretty cool. It’s a very good addition to Epcot.

That night was the Extra Magic Hours for Epcot. Disney Resort guests like us were able to stay in the parks an extra three hours after the official closing time. I’ll write my full thoughts on this in a future trip report post… but I’ll summarize by saying that I don’t think I’ll ever try to take advantage of this again… because it tends not to be worth it.

The kids went back to the hotel with Grandma and Grandpa… and Melissa and I stayed after to ride a few of the rides that stayed open. We saw ‘The American Adventure’ which is a show about the history of America… which I really enjoyed. We rode a small flume boat ride at Norway. Our favorite ride at Epcot, without a doubt, is Test Track. That was the last thing we did… and it was pretty fun to ride it at night too. We also took in Illuminations, which is my favorite nighttime show at Disney World.

Cooin' Aaron

Disney Trip : Day Two

We started the day by going to Epcot. I wanted to start with a tame ‘dark’ ride that would help Emily make the transition from the stuff she rode at Disneyland to now. It didn’t start great… because I forgot that there is a small simulated thunderstorm at the beginning of the Living with the Land boat ride. She whimpered for a little bit… but the ride lightened up and so did she.

Next on the agenda was to watch two shows… one was an educational show about conservation that used the Lion King characters, and the other was a little show called ‘Turtle Talk with Crush.’ You know… the sea turtle from Finding Nemo… the one who talks like Bill or Ted. The show is very funny and very innovative. Somehow they have created a computer animated image that can be interactive with the audience. In other words, there’s a dude behind a wall somewhere that is talking into a microphone like Crush… and as he talks… the computer animated image mimics the words that are said. It appears like Crush is actually talking to the audience. They even have cameras hooked up so 'Crush' can see his audience... he can single people out by what their wearing... It was a very cool show… and it was Emily’s favorite attraction at Epcot… by a long shot.


After looking at the fish tanks, we saw Ellen’s Energy Adventure… which was freakin’ loud. I had to cover Aaron’s ears and Melissa had to cover Emily’s ears because the film portion of the ride was so loud. We stopped for lunch… and used our free dining plan for the first time on the trip. The total bill was around $30.00. We finished our morning at Epcot by visiting Spaceship Earth… the huge geosphere that is the park’s icon. I have always enjoyed this ride… even if it’s about the history of communication… it’s still pretty well done. It needs a major update at the end of the show to reflect the last ten years or so… but other than that… it’s fun.

We tried to give ourselves some time each afternoon to nap, relax, go to the pool, or whatever. Each afternoon break got longer and longer as the week went on. I was very tired by about day three. I’ll definitely rethink doing the parks five days in a row next time around.


That evening, we went to dinner at the Contemporary Resort at a little place called the Concourse Steakhouse. I ordered the Filet Mignon which cost $29.00… but our meal plan covered it… along with an appetizer, a dessert, a drink, and the tip. The bill for Melissa, Emily and I came to $110.00. Much more than we would have ever spent for a meal at Disney… but the free dining plan was really, really cool.


Once we finished our meal, we took the monorail around to Magic Kingdom and took in the Country Bear Jamboree (which Emily really enjoyed) and the SpectroMagic Parade (which Emily really enjoyed, except for the times when there were Disney Villians on the floats.) We tried staying around for the fireworks… but the Magic Kingdom was extremely crowded on this particular night. (not a big surprise, I know) We decided to leave in the middle of the fireworks… which was kind of disappointing to me, as Disney firework shows are among the most unique, well timed, and well themed shows that I’ve ever seen. Oh well. I learned in a hurry that we wouldn’t be able to see everything...

Disney Trip: Day One

The trip started with us hitching a ride with one of our friends from church to the airport. Traveling with a preschooler and an infant in a car has it’s own set of challenges, but I think it’s much more difficult to fly with them. We had five check-in bags… not including two car seats, we had four carry on bags, we had a double stroller, and we had Aaron’s car seat. Needless to say, once we got through security, it was a big relief. Both times, they made Melissa dump out the nursery water that we had in bottles. Pardon my language, but terrorists suck.

We left St. Louis in 65 degree weather… we arrived in Orlando to 90 degree weather. It was a little hotter than I expected it to be. It wasn’t terrible… but it was pretty warm. Southwest passed out a new snack this time: ‘Plane’ Crackers. Basically, they were Ritz crackers in the shape of a plane. They were good. I was also able to have TWO glasses of Sprite.

When I was a boy, my Grandma Sands used to pack us a box of candy and other cool things… and we weren’t supposed to open it until we got on the road. She would double duct tape those boxes. In the same spirit, we packed one of Emily’s book bags full of different things. She wasn’t allowed to open it until she got to the airport. It was full of candy, coloring books, and various other things. I think she liked it. While we were on the plane, Melissa sat with Aaron in his car seat and Emily sat with me in the row in front of them. We met Melissa’s parents at the airport. There is a certain point when it becomes real that I am back in Orlando for another Disney vacation… hitching a ride from the terminal to the main airport building. Few airports utilize such a transport… and whenever I ride it in Orlando, that’s when it becomes ‘real’ to me.

In my trip planning, I found a website (mousesavers.com) that allowed me to sign up for the National Car Rental membership for free. (usually it costs 50 bucks) They allowed us to book at an intermediate size price range… but we could choose any car in a certain aisle called the ‘Emerald Club Aisle’ or something like that. So we looked and found two very cool looking Sorento (kind of an SUV type of vehicle) in the aisle. We were able to take those for the week… even though we only paid for an intermediate sized car. It was great!


After stopping for some groceries, we made our way to Disney World. We stayed at All Star Movies Resort… which is a value (lowest priced) resort at Disney World. I had made a few requests… (To stay in the 101 Dalmatians themed buildings; to have first floor rooms, to have connecting rooms...) Disney met every single request. I was impressed.


We finished the night by using some coupons that came with our package through Disney at Planet Hollywood in Downtown Disney. I had never been there before and I probably wouldn’t choose to go back without some similar incentive. It was very loud… though the décor was very interesting… as it was all a bunch of movie props and such. During our dinner there… they played a video of U2’s Mysterious Ways on the TV’s and Big Screen… and we sat next to a couple of Indiana Jones props. The service wasn’t great, but my burger was pretty good. Good times.

First Cardinal Game

Here are a few pictures from the night of Aaron's first Cardinal game: All four of us went.

Andre the Giant

Since I have already written a post detailing my feelings about Andre Agassi... I didn't feel like I needed to write another one saying the exact same things in honor of his retirement. This week I have read many different articles covering his last match... I wanted to share the following article which I thought was the best of all that I read: I will write a post this week about several sporting topics... but until then... enjoy this article, it's pretty dang good:


Las Vegas Review - Journal

Before all the cortisone and anti-inflammatory needles, before his body finally refused to run through that brick wall of pain another day, before the flame was blown out by a qualifier ranked No. 112, before the tears began flowing, before the standing ovation that lasted long enough to blister the hands and feet of thousands, Andre Agassi spoke about survival.

"The great part about tennis," Agassi once said, "is that you can't run out the clock. As long as we're still playing, I had a chance."

The clock has run out. The final two-handed backhand has been whacked.

Tennis has lost its ultimate baseline giant.

The debate will begin in earnest now, the discussion of where to place Agassi within the game's history. That's what people do when someone of such immense talent retires from the sporting world, a decision made official Sunday when a weary, wincing and wounded Agassi lost his third-round match of the U.S. Open in four sets to Benjamin Becker.

Different eras are incredibly difficult to compare given the strength of today's athlete and the technical improvements of equipment. Rod Laver swung a chunk of wood in a time when skill was still the most valuable advantage. Roger Federer swings a graphite/ aluminum missile in a time when power has allowed little room for a variety of styles. That's another reason Agassi's star will always shine brightly upon the sport. He wasn't like everyone else. Like anyone, for that matter.

He returned serve like Ted Williams hit a baseball, with better timing and balance and hand-eye coordination than anyone in his sport's history. His game was old-school enough to grind away 60 tournament titles and eight Grand Slams from the baseline and flamboyant enough to leave a lasting impact for so many children that tennis is a pretty cool sport to take up.

In the end, leave it as such: Agassi (one of five players to win a career Grand Slam) sits comfortably at the same banquet table as Laver and Federer and Pete Sampras and Bjorn Borg and Jimmy Connors and Ivan Lendl and John McEnroe. Not as talented as a few of them and better than others.

In the end, what matters is not Agassi's exact placement among peers but rather how he achieved such a supreme position. His was a fascinating journey that rivaled Columbus for discovery, one of such extraordinary highs and lows that no specific ranking could do justice.

Brad Gilbert wrote a first-person story this week for the London Times and in it Agassi's former coach described a scene before a 1994 tournament final against Sampras in Key Biscayne, Fla.

When Gilbert and Agassi arrived, Sampras was terribly sick to the point he was lying in a locker room with an IV drip in his arm. Gilbert assumed Sampras wouldn't make the start and Agassi would be declared the winner.

But then Agassi asked those with Sampras how long the player needed to recover, was told five-to-six hours and then requested of tournament officials to delay the match.

Five hours later, Sampras took the court and beat Agassi in three sets.

"Andre wasn't annoyed in the slightest," Gilbert wrote. "He said, 'I came here to see how I am against the best. I wanted to know where I'm at and now I know.' To me that marked him out as someone very special."

To me, it embodies all that will be missed.

Forget all the stories about Agassi arriving to the game with long hair and denim shorts and neon shirts and an impetuous attitude. Forget about the brashness. He was a teenager back then, which by its very definition suggests a species prone to intolerable and inexplicable behavior.

Don't forget he epitomized a sporting spirit we desire athletes of his stature to own but few ever do, that a major reason he departs as the most beloved player in American tennis history is for the respect he grew to possess over time about the game he obviously loved. He transcended the sport not only for how he matured off the court, but mostly for how he played on it.

The clock stopped ticking Sunday and when it did thousands rose to their feet and began applauding for more than eight minutes. Shortly after, Agassi hobbled into a locker room, where fellow players also stood and cheered. Shortly after, he rose to depart a news conference and gathered media took to their feet and began clapping. If that doesn't tell you where Andre Agassi fits among the greats, nothing will.

In the end, leave it as such: No one had a bigger impact on tennis than Agassi, a chameleon who by transforming his image became one of the greatest philanthropists and champions of needy children sports has known.

And we're supposed to assign him some subjective all-time ranking?

Please. He rose above that debate a long time ago.

(c) 2006 Las Vegas Review - Journal. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.

Family of Four

So, the adjustment of having two kids has been a trying one at times… but it has also brought me so much joy. I was just thinking the other night about how, just five short years ago, I would have never been able to predict just how much joy and fulfillment I would receive from having children.

Aaron is still not sleeping very well. We have tried just about everything we can think of and everything we have been told to do by others. (short of the really weird ideas that get thrown at us from time to time) Nothing has worked. A typical night for him is going to bed around 10:30PMish. Waking up a little after midnight. Waking up a little after 2:00AM. Waking up a little after 4:00AM. Waking up around 6:30AM. Every night is a little bit different… and we don’t usually know what to expect.

Melissa measured him today because it looks like he pretty much went from 0-3 straight into 6-9 as far as his clothes are concerned. He is getting too long for 3-6 already. He measured in at 23.5 inches! He has been smiling a lot more lately. Usually he’ll have something to ‘say’ while he smiles. It’s really fascinating to watch.

I have been so proud of Emily. She has adapted very well to having a little brother. (Even though some in our church predicted that she wouldn’t handle it very well… I’m glad to say that they were dead wrong.) She loves to help with bath time. She washes his legs and stomach while mommy washes his head and back. She gets defensive of him around other kids, in fact. Basically saying: ‘Don’t touch him, I’m the big sister.’ Which is an attitude that, quite honestly, I like and won’t try to change.

Emily has started pre-school… and she seems to really like it. She has learned some things like knowing her right from her left… and they are working on her letters both in identification and in actually trying to write them… among other things. When I pick her up, she is as excited as can be and talks my ear off about all the things she did the whole way home.

Since Melissa has been busy trying to feed Aaron and put him to bed… I have taken over the duties of putting Emily to bed. It tends to be a very involved process. First, we clean her room, which tends to look like a bomb hit it. Second, we get her pajamas on. Third, we get a bedtime snack and drink for her to consume while I read to her. Fourth, we read through a story. (About a month ago, I bought a Preschoolers Illustrated Bible online, each story is about four pages long and she loves to look at the pictures and try to remember names like ‘Jacob’ and ‘Esau.’ We are currently stopping with the story of Joseph so that I can read a Disney World book to her as we countdown our trip together.) Fifth, we pray. Sometimes she prays first, sometimes I pray first, sometimes she has her stuffed doggies pray. Like I said, it’s pretty involved… and I wouldn’t change it for anything.

Her prayers have become more and more elaborate. “God Jesus, so glad to see you today, and I love you very much. Mommy is a smart cookie, daddy is a smart cookie, Aaron is a smart cookie, Sherlock is a smart cookie, Sam is a smart cookie. (Sam is the little boy that Melissa has started watching at home.) I like Disneyland and want to ride the Pirates ride, the Buzz Lightyear ride, the ghost house ride, and the Mickey glasses ride. Amen.”

I want to hold on to these prayers… these not quite perfect phrases and sentences when she is still trying to understand things… I don’t want to forget just how unique a time it is to listen to a four year old pray and express her feelings.

Anyway… all this to say: I really love my family. I love spending time with them, I love getting to know them better. I just really, really love them…

My Little Man

His facial reaction when he finds out that the Cubs have won:







His facial reaction when he finds out that the Cardinals have won:

Unlearning Success

I grew up at Heritage Wesleyan Church. When I was a small kid… the church ran in low 100’s. By the time I was in high school, the church had grown to a very solid 300. By the time I was a freshman in college they had grown to 500. And as a sophomore in college, just one year later, they were regularly breaking 1,000 people in the Sunday morning worship attendance. As of right now, they are running about 2,800.

While Heritage isn’t a perfect church, (what church is?) God has certainly poured out His Spirit upon that congregation. People are coming to Christ through the ministries of that church; people are being set free from spiritual oppression; people are being educated about having a world view and a missions mindset; people are genuinely worshipping and growing in their walk with the Lord.

I am proud to say that I grew up in that church. I have hundreds of fond memories which I’m sure I’ll take time to recount in another post. I am proud of and look up to the lead pastor there, John Bray. My father is a staff pastor there and my mother has worked there as an administrative assistant for years. I love going back to visit. I love seeing what they are doing. I love stealing their good ideas.

That said, I sometimes wonder if having grown up in Heritage has created an unrealistic expectation in me. I have been a full time staff member at two churches and I have worked at two or three others on a part time basis. I have been conditioned since my high school years to think that if a church isn’t growing, it isn’t successful. Nobody at Heritage came out and said that… but since I observed growth… I naturally fell into that mind set.

When I went to Kalamazoo, I went with high expectations. The youth program there was in pretty good shape, though disorganized. There was a good base of kids to work with… and with visions of Heritage dancing in my head, I figured that growing a large youth group would be easy. Not so with me. If anything, attendance slightly declined in my first year… and drastically declined my second and third years there. It wasn’t until my fourth year that I sort of ‘figured it out’ and I experienced my highest attendance while at Kalamazoo. Even then, it wasn’t explosive growth.

Again, when I went to St. Peters, I really thought we were on the verge of a sustained growth pattern. I went in with these dreams that we’d be running 300 in a couple of years. It has not happened and I’ll be honest… because I have been conditioned to think a certain way… my first instinct is to despair… and my second instinct is to question my call… because in my paradigm of success, there wasn’t much room for a pastor that can organize a good event, lead worship, and help the body become better rooted in Christ… all that mattered to me was that the church grew.

All this has been difficult for me to balance. Questions like: Am I a bad pastor because no church that I have been involved with in a full time capacity has ever really grown… and no ministry that I’ve been in charge of has just exploded off the map? Can I be a successful pastor, even if I never pastor in a large church? I know the answers to these questions. I really, really do. But in the midst of unlearning a paradigm… sometimes my mind can still play tricks on me…

As Yoda once said: “You must unlearn what you have learned.”

For the record, here’s what I’m NOT saying:

• I’m not saying that large churches are bad.
• I’m not saying that the goal of growing our churches is bad.
• I’m not saying that we should stop reaching people for Christ.

All I’m suggesting is that my definition of success might need some tweaking…

Judge Not...

The other day, I was listening to a CD of a service from my home church, Heritage Wesleyan. Pastor John Bray was speaking about the issue of being judgemental. In one section, he provided some warning statements that might signal that I have become judgemental in my life:

1) If you see the world in black and white. -Obviously there are some things that are clearly black and white. I think John was talking about the times when we decide something is black or white without having any knowledge about it. An example that I have run into recently is the DaVinci Code. It is clearly a work of fiction that pulls quite a character assassination of the church. Most Christians just condemned it without even reading it. To me... that's judgmental and ignorant all at the same time. That's just an example... but I have to ask myself... do I tend to see people's actions as black or white... without trying to understand the grey; without trying to understand the WHY behind their actions?

2) If you tend to offer your opinion whether it is your business or not. -Sometimes I do, sometimes I do...

3) If you tend to be negative more often than you are positive. -This one hit me pretty hard... because I tend to be this way.

4) If you have an inward smile at someone else's failure. -I am shamed to say that I have done this before several times.

5) If you find confrontation to be easy. -John talked about how confrontation is needed in certain situations... but that it should never come easily to anyone. He talked about how confrontation usually brings a certain amount of pain and hurt into the other person's life... and if you find yourself liking confrontation or find it easy to do... then maybe you should check your motives and your spirit... because none of us should ever grow comfortable adding pain and hurt to another's life. Even when confrontation is sorely needed... it shouldn't come easy.

I was humbled to find that, with the exception of number five, all of these statments have been or are currently a reality in my life. God has since been working on checking my spirit when judgemental thoughts and words make their way in my head and out my mouth.


"Judge me by my size, do you? And well you should not. For my ally is the Force, and a powerful ally it is." -Yoda

Sorry... I had to throw a Yoda quote in here!

Unchanging

I’m not sure how to explain this, but the past few weeks have been difficult for me. It might be the added stress of having a newborn around. It might just be the heat. It might be church related circumstances. It might be a combination of a bunch of things… but I feel spiritually and emotionally drained. I’m stealing a phrase from one of my favorite U2 songs here… but I’ve just felt numb. Numb and empty.

I go through phases when I feel like this… but usually I can pinpoint exactly why. This time is different. For the most part, this should be a happy time in my life. There have been no major disappointments, I haven’t received any bad news about my family… there hasn’t been anything terrible that has happened in my job, though, nothing altogether exciting has happened either.

I just feel like my life is slipping away from me faster than I can absorb it. I look around and realize that my four year old is about ready to start pre-school. I can’t believe that my new-born is already six weeks old. There are days at work when I look around my office and the church and wonder what difference I am making… not only in my community, but even within the church that I am working for. I’ve been here three years and I sometimes wonder if I’ve made any kind of contribution.

Last night, I was on my way home with my family after running a few errands. A song came on the radio from Casting Crowns that caught my attention. The song is called: Praise You In This Storm. Even though I do not feel like I am going through a particular storm in my life right now, the lyrics of this song’s chorus really ministered to me:

I'll praise You in this storm
And I will lift my hands
For You are who You are
No matter where I am
Every tear I've cried
You hold in Your hand
You never left my side
And though my heart is torn
I will praise You in this storm

Especially the part about ‘For You are Who You are, no matter where I am.’ The doctrine of God’s immutability (unchanging nature) has always been a tremendous comfort to me. Though my life is constantly changing around me… God remains the same. God remains in control. God extends the same promise of wisdom in times of confusion; strength in times of exhaustion; peace in times of stress; and hope in times of despair.

And so, even though I don’t feel my best right now; even though I am confused about many things; even in the midst of my own personal weakness… I rejoice that God’s faithfulness never fails. Even though I might struggle to see His hand at work right now, I am encouraged that the God who never changes is always at work in my life… always molding me, always shaping me, always drawing me into deeper communion with Him. For that, I do praise Him, storm or not… I praise Him.

Irritating Inconsistency

You can say alot about the 2004 and 2005 St. Louis Cardinals... but the first thing that comes to my mind is the word consistent. They were consistently good. Over the span of two years, I think their biggest losing streak was four games... and that only happened twice: The World Series and late in 2005 after they had clinched their division. It was truly extraordinary.

This year has been different. They are consistent... that is, they are consistently inconsistent. They are either really, really, really good... or they are really, really, really bad. Check out these numbers: Here are all the steaks they have been on this year. (This includes every game they have played till now)

3-0 (Sweep in Philly to start the year)
0-3 (Swept in Chicago)
14-5 (Long run of excellence where they won six straight series)
0-4 (Swept in Cincinnati and Houston)
15-5 (Another great run of winning six straight series)
3-7 (Bad stretch at home against Chicago and swept by the Reds)
7-2 (A mini-run against inferior teams)
3-13 (Eight game losing streak included: Swept by the White Sox and Tigers... lost series to Cleveland and KANSAS CITY.)
13-3 (Seven game winning streak that including four extra inning wins... showed great resilence and dominance over the Dodgers)
0-5 (Laid down in Chicago against arch-rivals... forgot how to play defense... looked like a bunch of bush leaguers all weekend and last night)

How does a team that can look so good for weeks at a time turn around and look so pathetic for a week or so? It is hard to figure and it has been hard for me to stay interested and get excited about our chances in the post-season this year. Here's hoping that we even MAKE the playoffs this year... and if we do, that it will be during one of our good stretches of baseball and not one of our bad stretches.

VBS

This is Emily reciting a Bible verse that she learned at VBS... I'll post another video of her singing a few of the songs she learned sometime in the near future...

Imperial Singalong

I found this video on youtube.com. It's from the Star Wars Weekends that takes place earlier in the summer at Disney World. This particular clip is a pre-show routine put on by a couple of Stormtroopers. I got a kick out of it...

My Take...

Book: a.k.a. "Lost"
Author: Jim Henderson
Summary: This was a great book that will hopefully help church people rethink the way they have been taught to do evangelism. I found this book to be very 'freeing' and very practical. Henderson encourages the church to shift their vocabulary as it concerns the unbelievers. Traditionally, we have called non-Christians 'lost.' Henderson suggests that we start calling them 'The Missing.' Even this subtle vocabulary shift can be powerful. Other practical tips and stories are included. I strongly recommend this book... it has opened my eyes to many mistakes the church has made as it relates to evangelism... and has given me hope that I can be an effective witness for Jesus Christ even by doing very small things.
Grade: A

Movie: Fun With Dick and Jane
Summary: I actually liked this movie... as far as a humorous story is concerned. I laughed out loud several times during the various attempted robberies. I know that Jim Carray is a love him or hate him type actor... but I've always liked his stuff... and he was pretty good in this movie. However, the movie wasn't strong enough that I would run out and buy it...
Grade: B-



Book: Deep Fathom
Author: James Rollins
Summary: Good book about an ancient secret at the bottom of the ocean. Good suspense. Good characters. Enjoyable book. James Rollins is becoming one of my favorite authors. His stuff reminds me of Indiana Jones... in that they are usually supernatural thrillers in an archeological type setting. I've still got about five of his books left to read and from what I understand, they just keep getting better.
Grade: B



Book: Agassi and Ecstasy
Author: Paul Bauman
Summary: Entertaining at very least. This book takes a look at the first ten years of Andre Agassi's career... and also takes a closer look into his childhood. Bauman tended to ramble on about the people that helped shape Andre's career. If I wanted to read a book about Brad Gilbert or Nick Bollettieri or Mike Agassi... I would've gone out and bought their books... but Bauman spends too much time on these people. I also found it interesting that Bauman wrote in the last chapter of the book (written in 1997) that Agassi wouldn't win any more Grand Slams and would probably retire soon. Hmmmm. Ten years and five Grand Slams later makes this guy look like a moron. Here's hoping that somebody in the Agassi family, or Agassi himself will put out an authoritized biography or autobiography sometime soon.
Grade: C

Loving Sister, Broken Record, or Both?

Something Old, Something New

The following is a quote from Len Sweet in the latest Relevant Magazine... it really resonated with me and I wanted to share it:


"And that brings me to a related issue: confusion between relevancy and recency. Some of the most relevant things are not the most recent, but the most ancient. Without a historical sense, or the spiritual discipline of historical context, there's confusion between keeping relevant and just keeping up. We have to be in touch with the culture but in tune with the Spirit."


To me, it's a reminder that there are certain things about Christianity that will always be relevant, regardless of how old they become. But also, there are many 'recent' things about the current Church that may seem hip and cool ... but in the end are not really all that relevant. There is tremendous wisdom in this statement from Len Sweet about how to balance the two.

"A truly fulfilling life must contain three essential requirements: Something to live on, something to live for and something to die for. The lack of one of these attributes results in drama. The lack of two results in tragedy."
-19th Century Polish Poet, Cyprian Norwid

Aaron: One Week Old

Aaron's Story

Melissa and I went into the hospital at about 5:00AM on Monday morning… they quickly got her into a pre-operation room where they gave her the epidural and got her ready to go.

We were wheeled to the operation room… where they performed the operation. It wasn’t a long operation. When they were just getting ready to pull Aaron out of Melissa’s belly… they said that I could stand and look over the curtain… so I was able to see his head and eventually his whole gooey light blue body. That was at 7:55AM.

They took him over to the table where they cleaned him off and tried to get him to cry. It took about 45 seconds for him to cry… so there was some concern already about how ready his lungs were for the real world. Eventually he let out this wail… which made everybody a little more at ease.

At that point, as they were stapling Melissa back together… they took Aaron and me down to the scale… where he weighed in at 8 pounds 4 ounces. He measured in at 20 and a quarter inches. The very first observations that I made about my little boy: He had tons of dark hair; He looked very similar to how Emily looked when she was a newborn; He was not as ‘fat’ as I imagined he would be… he had nice chubby cheeks… but I imagined him coming out looking like the ‘Stay Puft’ Marshmallow Man from Ghostbusters… but he didn’t at all.

All the family members were able to come into the post-op room where they saw Aaron for the first time. Emily was in my arms and Aaron was in Melissa’s arms the very first time that they met. I think Emily was a little shell-shocked that first meeting… she acted very shy. Emily had been pretending the whole pregnancy that she’s been carrying a baby too. So, Melissa bought her a baby and carriage that we gave to her during the first meeting with Aaron… saying that her baby came out too. That seemed to warm her up a little bit.

Shortly after this, they took the baby to work with him some more. Probably about a half an hour later, we found out that he had been taken up to the special care nursery because he was having a hard time breathing on his own. The next time I saw Aaron, his head was in an oxygen hood… which looked like a huge plastic square box on his head. By Tuesday, he was off the hood, but still had to wear little nasal oxygen thingies. By Wednesday, he was completely off of all oxygen. By Thursday, he was finally allowed to stay with us. We were discharged on Friday.

From early Monday morning to Tuesday evening, Melissa was not able to see Aaron. Which was a terrible thing. Here she was feeling lousy, and she couldn’t see or hold the reward for all this pain she was going through. Really, up through Thursday night… Melissa was only able to see Aaron for a total of about 3 hours throughout each the day.

As far as Melissa’s health is concerned… there was a scare on Tuesday about her blood pressure… but the doctor’s figured that it was pain related and once they got her pain regulated, her blood pressure steadily went down and stayed down.

Emily has taken very well to the new baby. She talks to him… she likes to stroke his face and hair. She calls him ‘beautiful’ and ‘cute.’ I know there have been several funny stories since coming home… but I just can’t think of them right now. She has shown no signs of aggression yet. I think she is struggling with the fact that mommy can hold Aaron, but Emily is still too big to hold until the incision heals a little bit more. All in all though, she has done better with the whole thing than I would have thought. I have been proud of her. We’ll see if it keeps up.

We are still tired… but Aaron’s night’s have started to normalize somewhat. Last night he feed once around 1:00PM, I think… and again at 5:30AM. Not terrible… and I remember Emily being a lot harder on us during the nights. Continue to pray for Melissa as her incision heals. She is still at minor risk for blood clots for another five weeks or so.

In a very small nut-shell, that’s what happened last week. I’m sure I’ll have tons more to write and share as we get to know our little boy more and more…

Melissa wanted me to share this link:

Aaron's Hospital Page

Aaron James Howard

After a brief sabbatical from the internet and pretty much everything else: Finally, here are some pictures from this past week: I'll write a description of everything that went down soon... as it was a pretty eventful week.


Here's one of the first pictures taken on him... while he's getting cleaned and stuff.



Daddy and the little guy taking a nap together.



He had some trouble breathing after he came out... the hospital staff called it a wet lung... so he needed to be on some form of oxygen until Wednesday afternoon.



In his car seat the first time... after he had peed all over his 'going home' outfit... we had to make due with a few various pieces of clothes that we had laying around... hehe. (In total, he has peed into the wind four times while getting his diaper changed...)



Official weight: 8 pounds, 4 ounces. Length: 20 and a fourth inches. Time and Date of Birth: 7:55AM, June 26, 2006.

We absolutely adore him!

LARGE and in CHARGE

Some of you out-of-towners have been asking for a picture of a pregnant Melissa. I'll give you two and some additional details:

We've settled on a name, I think. Aaron James Howard.

Not A.J.

I said Aaron. Period.

The doctors are predicting a nine pound baby, plus change. For reference... Emily was 7 pounds 7 ounces and she was one week early. Aaron will be born about three weeks early... two weeks earlier than Emily... and he'll be about two pounds more than Emily. Clearly, he is already taking after me.

Surgery is next Monday, June 26, at 7:30AM. Please keep Melissa in your prayers. She will be unable to do much of anything for about two weeks... because if she tears any scar tissue, she could clot. The doctor made it clear today that she should not do much of anything the first two weeks. So, we are trying to make the necessary arrangements... we'll see how it goes.

That's all I have for now...

Never Done

I was recently reading an article in a Leadership magazine and one of the writers had recently heard Dr. Paul Brand speak and had included a quote from Dr. Brand’s speech. I had known of Dr. Brand because he co-authored a book with Phillip Yancey… but I was floored by how much this particular quote resonated with me on a personal level:

“I remember well when I was at my physical peak. I was 27 years old and had just finished medical school. A group of friends and I were mountain climbing and we could climb for hours. For some people, when they cross that peak, for them life is over.

“I remember well my mental peak, too. I was 57 years of age and was performing groundbreaking hand surgery. All of my medical training was coming together in one place. For some people, when they cross this peak, for them life is over.

“I’m now over 80 years of age. I recently realized that I’m approaching another peak, my spiritual peak. All I have sought to become as a person has the opportunity to come together in wisdom, maturity, kindness, love, joy, and peace. And I realize when I cross that peak, for me, life will not be over, it will have just begun.”

It reminded me of a promise that I have clung to in the past… and continue to do so: God is never finished with me. I am becoming painfully aware that I am past my physical prime (mostly my fault). I love learning and growing… but I know that over time, even the mind slows down a little bit. But spiritually speaking, God will never be ‘finished’ with me. There will never come a time where He will wash His hands of me and say… ok, I can’t do anything more with this Josh character.

I remember taking a graduate class on the life and thought of John Wesley… and one of the things we covered was ‘Wesley’s Order of Salvation.’ I found this study to be really fascinating… especially the part about ‘glorifying grace.’ Which Wesley would say is when we enter heaven… and we are finally restored to the natural image of God… we will be resurrected in a new body… but that for all eternity, we would still grow in love and knowledge of God.

Wesley would say that even in heaven, God isn’t done working on us. We may become morally perfect… there may not be any more sadness or sin or whatever… but there will still be opportunities for growth in our understanding of who God is. Mind you, I have no idea what heaven is going to be like… I am not pretending to know how all this will work out… but this type of thinking really resonates with my spirit.

Even in eternity… God will not be done with me. Even in eternity, I will continue to learn… my understanding of Him will continue to deepen. I will continue to be stunned by the new ways that He displays His love… I will continue to be shocked by His immensity… and all this will happen without sin clouding my vision. I will finally get to see/experience God the way He always intended for us to see/experience Him. Even in that sinless state, even with all of eternity, we will never ‘get to the bottom’ of God’s infinite love, holiness, and sovereignty… and I’ll be honest… I wouldn’t want it any other way...



“Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.” (2 Corinthians 4:16)

Medal Ceremony

Now I'm experimenting with video: This is a snippet from Emily's gymnastic class last night...



I'm working on an actual written article to be posted early next week... I've just been fascinated with all this audio and video stuff!

Toy Story Podcast

I finally found a site that will allow me to embed an audio player in my posts... makes it easier for you!


powered by ODEO

Bull Durham Wins!

After doing these polls about baseball movies since mid February... I have finally crowned a winner:

Bull Durham...

All three of you who voted four times a week crowned Bull Durham your champion!

Thanks for voting... here's another movie question that I'll keep up for awhile:

Which Star Wars movie is the best?

No Longer Comfortable With Izzy Time

I have been holding it in... I can't hold it in any longer.

I am no longer comfortable with Jason Isringhausen as the Cardinals closer.

This isn't anything new for me. I'm not just complaining because he looked like a timid little school boy tonight and blew the lead. Just ask Melissa, I have been upset with Izzy since early in the year.

Whenever he is warming up with one or two run lead, I cring. Heck, I'm no longer positive that he can pin down many three run leads.

Here are some stats for you:

He has appeared in 25 games. He has walked at least one man in 16 of those games. That means that in 64% of the games he has played in... he has walked at least one man. Those are unacceptable numbers for a top notch closer... and probably not acceptable for most teams in the majors.

He has pitched in about 23 innings... he was walked 23 men. That is horrible.

He has pitched in about 23 innings... he allowed 18 hits AND 23 walks. That is worse than horrible. That is pathetic.

Sure, he has 17 saves... but eventually those numbers will catch up to you... as they have recently. His defense has saved him several times. His three run leads that turn into one run leads have saved him several times.

He says that he is comfortable pitching with runners on base... so he chooses his matchups. I think that if you are getting paid closer money... you should have the mindset that you can get anybody out. Obviously, where the runners are might dictate whether you walk a guy to set up a double play... but when you have nobody on and two outs and you pitch around a guy (as he has done on several occasions this year)... that just says that you are weak and that somebody else should be pitching the ninth.

When Pujols goes down and your offense scores you seven runs against the only team that is even close to you in your division right now... you find a way to win that game. Period. End of story. Hallelujah. Holy crap. Where's the Tylenol?

Izzy stinks. That is all. Good day.

Podcast 2

Here is my second podcast with Emily... there is some pretty funny stuff in here:

Podcast #2

Too Short For A Podcast

I can't really call this a podcast... but it is my first venture in the audio recording world of the internet. It's a brief interview with Emily. You'll have to click on the link and it will take you to the place where you can hear it:

Podcast 1

Personal Favorites...

The ladies at our church just threw Melissa a baby shower this past weekend and we received some really cool items and outfits:

Here is a picture of my 'personal favorites' of all the outfits that we received at the shower...

Bits and Pieces

EMILY: She says the funniest things sometimes. Yesterday she came upstairs crying and told us that she had fallen down the steps. She wasn’t acting hurt anywhere… I think it just scared her. We asked her how far she had fallen (basically, we were wanting to know from which step she had fallen.) She responded by saying: ‘I fell about 45 or 46.’ The rest of the night, when we asked her how far she had fallen, she responded with the same numbers. Just makes me laugh every time I think about it. (Her response, not that she fell.)

NO BOY NAME YET: Melissa and I cannot settle on a boy’s name. We’ve gone back and forth about several. Maybe I should auction the naming rights off on ebay? Have people bid on the chance to name my kid? *Melissa… stop hitting me…. I was just kidding.* However, maybe after the baseball tournament is done… I can create a poll on the blog with our top five picks and see what the public opinion is… Hmmmm.

EMILY 2: We were at gymnastics with her the other night and she was really doing some cool things on the bars. At one point, she was hanging upside down with her feet and she looked over at us to make sure we were watching. We both gave her a huge thumbs up and she smiled really big. Then she got down… ran to the door to the lobby area where all the parents are… opened the door… turned to us with all the other parents watching and yelled: ‘MOMMY, DADDY… DID YOU SEE THAT? DID YOU SEE THAT? THAT WAS AWESOME!’ We laughed along with all the other parents. The ways she says ‘awesome’ cracks me up… she almost growls it out and it comes out ‘aweshome.’ Very funny.

BARRY BONDS: I don’t like him. That’s all I have to say. I just don’t like him.

THE CHICAGO CUBS: I can’t stand them… that’s all I have to say… I can’t stand them.

ULTRASOUND: Melissa had an ultrasound on Tuesday. The baby already weighs 5 pounds and Melissa still has six weeks to go. As a comparison, Emily weighed about seven and a half pounds when she was born. They think he’ll come out weighing about eight and a half pounds. And he’ll be born about two weeks earlier than Emily was. A strapping young chap. I’ll post a side pic of Melissa in the next couple of weeks… with her permission, of course.

NEXT DISNEY TRIP OFFICIAL: We will be visiting Walt Disney World from September 20 to September 26. Melissa’s parents have offered to come with and help watch the newborn. Disney is offering a great deal for September where they offer you their dining plan for FREE. For every night that we are there… we will get one Table service meal, one counter service meal, and one snack… ALL FOR FREE. We usually budget about $350 for food… but with Emily… probably more like $425. But the great thing is that it will allow us to try some ‘sit down’ restaurants that we wouldn’t normally be able to afford. According to my calculations, it will save us about $800 worth of food… because we are going to take advantage of all the ‘sit down’ meals given to us. We are excited. Our first night there will be at the Animal Kingdom… and we’ll be eating at the Rainforest Café. Emily hasn’t eaten there yet… and we think she’ll love it… what with all the animatronic animals moving and making noise all around. Should be cool.

So long for just awhile…

Book and Movie Review

Lord of War: Rated R... for violent images, strong language, and sexual situations. I'll be honest, I have a hard time recommending Rated R movies for various reasons. Braveheart, Matrix, Shawkshank Redemption are just a few exceptions to the rule. Well, it's time to add another. I loved this movie. It's a look at the life of an arms dealer. Nicholas Cage was great... as was his supporting cast. The story was well written and held my interest the entire movie. Even the beginning credits were interesting to watch as it followed the 'life of a bullet' all the while "For What It's Worth" by Buffalo Springfield plays in the background. I do not remember any blatant nudity... but there is very strong language and violence... just so you are warned. On the whole, this film is engaging, entertaining, and timely. 9.7/10


Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller: It's hard to describe this book. I loved it... it was funny and honest and insightful. It's definitely a postmodern book. It doesn't offer any easy solutions to life and faith... which is probably why I like it so much. The chapter on the author and his friends setting up a Confessional in the middle of their college campus was worth the price of the book all by itself. Very fun and quick read. 9.2/10


That's all for now!

For the most part, our house is finally ready for the new baby to arrive. Here are the pictures:


The nursery in all its' sports teddy bear glory...



More nursery...



Emily's has upgraded to a bigger bed size... and Melissa has finally gotton all white furniture in Emily's room! (She's been wanting that for awhile...)



Because we turned our home office/computer room into the nursery... we had to get creative in where to put all our office stuff. Here was solution number 1: An armoire to house all the computer stuff... down in the basement now.



Solution 2: Two new oversized book shelves for all our books. Solution 3: Throw the rest of it the guest room closet, the storage room, or in the garage.

Prayer Labyrinth

We put together a prayer labyrinth at the church here last Sunday night. I got the idea from Group's 'Prayer Path' and David Drury at Spring Lake... in fact, we adapted many of David's ideas into this labyrinth. The few people that came really seemed to enjoy the time.

Basically, our labyrinth was seven different stations that were located throughout the sanctuary... each station dealt with a different portion of the Lord's prayer. Some stations were just meditative in nature... but most of them prompted the participants to engage in various activities. Here are a few pics from the experience:


People were encouraged to take a rock from the table and drop it in the bucket of water to symbolize their releasing any unforgiveness in their lives.


This is a blurry picture of a wide shot of the sanctuary... I guess it's kind of hard to tell what is going on here... but I wanted to include an 'overview' shot of the labyrinth.


Participants were given a list of the names of God... then they were asked to write the one name that they cling to most on the white board: For some it was Yahweh Jireh... the God who provides. For others it was the simple acknowledgement of the great 'I AM.'


This station asked people to light a candle for someone they wanted to come to know Jesus... or someone who needed God's healing touch.


Communion was served... right in the middle... they had the opportunity to use the altar for this station as well.

Overall, the night went well... I just wish more people would've take advantage of it. I think we are going to try one again sometime soon.