Monday Morning Update cont...

> Found out I could take two more classes and receive a Masters of Arts...instead of a Masters of Divinity (around 8 classes left). Since I'll really never need either one to accomplish what I'll be doing - Master of Arts here I come! Dana and I plan on walking together next May.

Monday Morning Update

> Trip to Dallas was phenominal! (More to come on that as we prayfully consider accepting the position.)

> I paid no attention to the NFL draft this weekend. College ball is WAY much better.

> My boy's t-ball team is 0-3. But they think they're 3-0. Plus, they get juice boxes and chips after the game...so who cares, eh?

> God continues to bless Oak Leaf. It is way way way exciting! People are being saved and families are being changed. Me and Dana are migrating back into Kidventure, helping out where we can.

> Every other Sunday night I get together with a group of guys to play poker. Fun fun times. It has become my quality "guy time"...which has been lacking for a couple of years. We have a ton of fun.

> Thank you Lord that warm weather has finally arrived! Can't wait to start heading over to the lake.

> Today's verse: Psalm 119:16
I delight in your decrees; I will not neglect your word.

Holy Softball

Yesterday I was daydreaming a bit and starting thinking back to Seminary. I was remembering all the friends we made and the places we lived and our involvement in a really great church there. One memory that kept surfacing was how I would skip class to play softball on the main lawn. I really enjoyed it. Too much. Yet another sign that I didn't quite fit in.

Dallas Bound

Say a prayer for me and Dana as we fly out to Dallas this weekend. We are meeting with the founder of Kids Beach Club. They are wanting to bring it to ATL and we will get to see what it's all about first hand.

Thanks.

Tuesday's Pic

Good Guy / Bad Guy

My 4yr old Logan has developed an ingenious system. When wrestling around with his older brother Braden, he is often a good guy, teaming up with Braden to conquer the forces of evil (the couch, chair, and imaginary foes). But at any given time he can turn to Braden and say, "Braden, I'm a bad guy" and proceed to punch and hit and conquer his older Brother. And then when Braden responds by fighting back...and Logan has had enough, he will say, "No no no, I good guy, I good guy...". And surprisingly Braden plays right along and goes back to conquering their enemies together. It's quite humorous to watch!

Do you see the deep spiritual analogy? Yeah, me neither....but I'm sure there's one there. :-)

Apostasy

I sometimes visit dictionary.com to get the correct spelling of a word or check a definition. Today I go on there and see the word of the day is "Apostasy" - Total desertion or departure from one's faith, principles, or party.

It made me think of people I know who have totally deserted their faith for one reason or another. I've talked with people who attended church for a couple of years then gave it up. I've also known people who abandoned it all after saying yes to the call of ministry.

I think it's too easy to just say, "Well, they were probably never saved to begin with." That statement is WAY overused. That may be true for some but we too quickly dismiss their reasons and too quickly give up on trying to bring them back.

"Total desertion" is a strong statement, isn't it? It's one thing to temporarily give up on something...but absolutely and positively leaving something is another ballgame. So today, while I'm at work, I'm praying for those that I know who have walked away. I'm praying that they'll see God do a new work in their lives. I'm praying for their families and those that have influence around them. I'm praying they will see that God is full of mercy and love and purpose. I'm praying for an awakening.

Pic of the Day

No, I'm not promoting Nascar, just a cool pic of my two youngest at the Mall.

Never Say Never

I've concluded that the following statement is absolutely true: "Never Say Never". Never say you won't do something. Specifically, never say you won't do THIS or THAT in ministry or in your career. You just never know. God has a sense of humor. More importantly, he has the power to change your heart...and your desires...and your passion.

When Dana first started leading the kid's ministry at Oak Leaf, I mostly stayed away. I think I did what most people do when it comes to children's ministry (unfortunately): I only helped out when I ABSOLUTELY HAD TO. And my mind was not focused on the task at hand. It was only thinking about what I was missing elsewhere.

---I think I even said somewhere in the middle of it all: "I will never do any kind of children's ministry."---

Funny how things change. After several months of working in Kidventure and realizing undiscovered God-given gifts, I think God has prepared both of us for a future of working with kids. The setting? Not sure yet. There are some upcoming possibilities...one involving doing kid's ministry IN SCHOOLS - which I'm very pumped about since my heartbeat is to connect the church with the community.

Funny how the one thing you thought you would hate can become the VERY THING you long to do.

Community

Cool pic of response to the VT tragedy

Guns

The tragedy of the VT shooting has stirred up the gun debate again. I find it very interesting that people can look at the exact same event and draw completely different conclusions. But that's how life works, eh? And that's part of living in freedom.

Gun control advocates say this dude obtained a gun too easily. Within hours the media jumped on this, interviewing the owner of the gun shop and bashing VA state gun laws.

Gun rights people argue that perhaps the tragedy could have been avoided if guns were allowed on campus....if citizens with permits had their concealed weapon on them, they could have defended themselves.

I think both sides of this argument have valid points. (I do lean toward the gun rights side however.)

Perhaps one of the worst parts of this event (besides the horror of what happened) is how quickly the media started placing blame on the campus police and the University. While no system is perfect, it ends up they responded like they were supposed to. The media really annoys me. Why can't we just call this what it is - a freak event, nobody saw it coming, hardly preventable - and stop ripping apart those who were there doing their job and trying to help.

Ok, that's all for me. I meant to just bring up the gun issue.

Close Call

Wrecks and sports bloopers are fun to watch. But it's a bit different when it's someone you know. Blogworld, meet Allen. Allen, Blogworld. Allen is in our small group at church. Fortunately, despite the wreck, Allen is still with us. And believe it or not, no hospital visit either. Just a busted leg and a thumb swollen to the size of a grapefruit.

My curiosity for riding motorcycles is now tamed for awhile.

Monday's Post

I'm really tired today. That's about all I got. Enjoy.

Batter's Up

1st t-ball game today. They had a blast. Us coaches have some work to do...teaching them how to field and stuff. But everyone had a blast. Braden and Logan are the two in the middle. Logan is hammin' it up.

Restlessness

So my wife Dana calls me today and says her and the kiddos are heading up to the gym so she can workout. "Workout?!" I asked, "Honey, on Monday you were in bed all day with strep throat...what are you thinking?" Fortunately I was able to convince her that she needed to just take it easy and let her body fight off this sickness.

She cracks me up sometimes. And what cracks me up about her is what I love about her. She's often restless...never ready to just sit around. She motivates me. She likes change. We are opposite when it comes to this. I'm "loyal" as she puts it. I'll keep working a bad job b/c I'm committed to what's in front of me. She thinks ahead a lot. Constantly thinking. Constantly moving. We make a great pair.

But in this case I'm glad I was able to speak wisdom in to the situation. She later started running a fever. The gym treadmill can wait a day or two.

Hockey and Pancake Battered Shrimp

What a great weekend. It started by having a Good Friday...fixing my eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of my faith. Saturday, I took off work to be with family and do some landscaping. The day included t-ball practice in Alaska-like weather. Seriously, what's up with it being in the 20's in April???!!! After t-ball we went to our favorite Mexican restaurant in C'ville, El Nopal. When the guy brought the food to the table, he was warning the kids, "Hot Plate, Hot Plate." My 5 yr old Braden didn't quite understand him so he turns to me and says, "Dad, that's Spanish for 'the plate is hot.'" Dana and I just looked at each other and starting laughing. I was trying to contain myself in case the guy heard Braden and was embarrassed...but dude, that's just funny stuff right there.

After making 4 trips to Lowe's that afternoon (around the house projects always end up costing too much $), I cleaned up and got ready to attend my first Pro Hockey game. I met my younger brother Justin off of exit 255 on I-75. If you are not familiar with exit 255 off of I-75, then I have sympathy for you...you poor unfortunate soul. Exit 255 is home to The OK Cafe. If you like southern eating (and don't mind spending $11 for blue plate special)...then you MUST stop by there and experience one of the best places around ATL to eat. I've only been twice but I will now make it a requirement of any out of town guests that come stay with us to eat at this fine establishment. My brother Justin ordered the Pancake Battered Shrimp....weird, yes, tasty, YES.

After filling up on turnip greens and fresh corn, we drove down a few exits to see the Atlanta Thrashers finish out their regular season. They had wrapped up the division the previous night, so the game had a celebration feel to it. Overall, I was quite impressed with everything there. They certainly know how to keep you entertained between periods and during breaks. And I was definitely surprised at how the crowd stayed in the game...even when the Thrashers were down 2-0 to the Tampa Bay Lightning. Did I mention I had free tickets? But forget the multi media stuff and the chants we heard from the cheap seats (where we were) or all the observations I had with it being my first game...there was a HOCKEY game being played on the ice. The Thrashers came back from being down 2, tied it up and sent it to overtime. Nobody scored in overtime so it went to a shootout. It was still not decided after 3 shots each, so it went to a sudden death shootout. FINALLY, the Thrashers pulled it out...but only after a 10 minute break b/c one dude shot the puck so hard it went THROUGH the glass. Fortunately it did not hit anyone.

And yesterday at the Leaf was awesome. Tons of new faces, getting to work with kids and talk to them about Easter and about Honor (the lesson yesterday), and the guest worship leader Jason from Westridge Church was incredible.

Now it's time to take care of Dana, who has strep throat. What? You think we can go a whole month without someone getting sick? Yeah right.

Good Friday

Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him

endured the cross,

scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:2

What's It Worth?

2 days a week I work for Verizon Wireless (best wireless carrier in the country...don't even try to argue, I'll put you in the ground - with cold hard facts!...oh, sorry about that). So tonight a lady comes in looking to activate 3 lines of service. She said her credit was not so great and when we ran her application it came back with a $1000 deposit...(wait for it)....PER LINE. Usually that's plenty to scare them away.

But not tonight.

She proceeds to sign up, adding to the sale 3 high end phones with 3 leather cases and 2 car chargers. Grand total of $3545. Pays with CASH. (Yes, customer was verified, not anything shady.)

So, what's a cell phone worth to you? The price of a used car?

300

Fan of the movie 300 + College Football Fanatic + Time to waste =
THIS

Stronger Than Words

Dana and I went to Huntsville this past weekend for my father's retirement party. I had never been to this type of gathering, but I figured they would have some sort of "roasting"...so I prepared. And just so you know, he's not really retired. In fact, he starts with another company mid-April. (But hey, any excuse to throw a celebration!)

So I wrote a few funny (at least in my mind) things down about his career...as seen threw my eyes growing up. I won't bore you with inside jokes, but just know there was a lot of bathroom humor involved. I concluded my little roast by reading a portion of an email he recently sent me. It was an encouragement he felt compelled to send b/c he knows Dana and I are going through a trying time (no, not in our marriage...she knows she's stuck...ha). Just with ministry and job(s) and life overall, it's just one of those times. So through this email he reminded me that God has great plans for us and that He is preparing us for something big. And he said something else that has stuck: He reminded me that God is concerned with my reaction (to our circumstances).

So it was neat standing in front of people that have known my parents for decades - church folk, co-workers, family, friends, neighbors - and saying to my Dad, "Thanks Dad for the encouragement. It was something I needed. But please know that you didn't have to say anything, you have already taught me this BY EXAMPLE."

Actions truly do speak louder than words, don't they? Many of us SAY we are trusting God or SAY we doing this or doing that...but actions reveal a lot, don't they? My Dad is no perfect dude (he would want that to be said), but as I thought back to his attitude and reactions to tough circumstances, I realized what I needed to emulate. When life throws you curveballs (overused analogy) you can stand firm, unshaken, knowing you are being prepared.

Sometimes some things just need to be said. But most often...it seems to me...that your actions (and reactions) say plenty.

Thanks Dad.