Twas The Day Before

Twas the day before Christmas and all in the office
People were working, all grumpy and scoffing
Last minute shopping and presents to wrap
Never made it to Santa to sit on his lap
Presents and in-laws, wrong sizes too
Somewhere in all of this we forgot about You!

Is that you're experience? Have you gotten so wrapped up in the busy stuff of Christmas that you've left Jesus out of the mix? Christmas is all about PRESENCE, not presents. Don't misunderstand... giving gifts is entirely appropriate... that's exactly what God did for us by giving us Jesus. I'm just saying that in all of our celebration, let's take effort to place priority on God's presence... Jesus - Emmanuel - God with us.

Recent Events and Stuff from my world:

Sunday night LifePoint partnered with Newsong to deliver a Christmas concert / story. During the show the band had a little break. I got to sit on the floor with Nick (one of Newsong's guitarists) and talk about what it looks like to have 2 very similar churches partner to behave in a KINGDOM MINDSET and give people an on ramp to experience Jesus.

Haley, my 12 year old daughter, has basically wrapped all of our family's gifts. This is a much bigger GIFT to Vange and I than Haley realizes.

Ashli, my oldest daughter, just turned 14. She got a laptop for her birthday and she is super pumped!

My boys, Dawson - 6 and Griffin - 5, finished up shopping for Vange last night. They really enjoyed shopping cart surfing! (Does that make me a bad Dad or a cool Dad?)

Vange has recently learned to text message on her cell phone..... Several days lately she has sent a quick text to me asking how I'm doing. It is the words she finishes the text with that makes me feel warm and fuzzy: I LUV U. There is something wonderful about seeing that pop up on my phone.

Last thing - I would love as many of you as possible to reply to this question:
If you were to actually give Jesus a present this year, what would it be?

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God and People with every word and every action!

I'm Crazy About You Jesus

One of the coolest things I've had the privilege doing is teaching my kids God Stuff. My boys are 6 and 5, and when we pray together we always make sure we thank Jesus for stuff, ask Him for stuff, and ask forgiveness for stuff we did wrong. The prayer from all 3 of the James guys starts with this phrase: Jesus, I'm crazy about You. The boys thank Jesus for stuff like toys, warm PJs, trees, Batman..... the list goes on. They ask Jesus for stuff like helping Juan Encarnacion be able to see so he can play baseball again (google it), help Grandpa and Grandma get better, help us be able to roller skate better so we don't fall.... Some of this stuff may not seem all that "spiritual" to you, but my boys are engaging God in a very real and personal way. They are on their JOURNEY.

So, today's blog is just a simple prayer:
Jesus, You are incredible! Thanks for putting such wonderful people in my path. You continue to make provision for us. Thanks for continuing to wrap Your arms around me and tell me You love me..... even when I smack You in the face. Today I had an opportunity to shine Your light.... and I walked away. Forgive me for being lazy and putting my petty wants above Your purpose for me. I've got several hours left today - help me love You and love people. I'm going to open my eyes and follow the spotlight You are shining down the path You have for me. Love You - Talk to You later.

Side note - The Meyer lifegroup did manage to beat the James lifegroup in volleyball Sunday night. (I'll keep my thoughts about their team stacking strategies to myself... :-) ((Actually it was a lot of fun - Steve and I tried an intimidation technique that failed miserably - we dressed up like women.... UGLY women.))

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God and People with every word and every action.

Is that a STICK in your nose?

Wow... I just noticed that it has been a month since I last blogged.... I'm a SLACKER! OK - on to recent events. The stick thing? Close your eyes and follow along..... I was taking care of a lawn client a few days ago... I have one of those shredder/vacs that mulches leaves into an attached bag. I was bending down and lunging under some branches on a small tree when one of the branches got caught in my hearing protection headset. When I moved, the pencil sized stick jammed up my nose. As my reflex jerked my face away from the tree, the stick broke off.... IN MY NOSE. I had about 3 inches of stick hanging out of my nose..... OUCH! Uhhhh... no spiritual lesson here.... Sorry. (Yes, this is the 2nd blog in a row dealing with nose stuff...)

Next item - My LOVELY wife who I am totally in love with..... happenedtodriveourminivanofftheroadandcausemuchdamage. Since our minivan was suffering, we sent it to Mexico to be enjoyed by another family (we sold it at an auction.) In our search for another mini van, we entertained the idea of an SUV instead. We went to a local dealer to look at a used van, and noticed a Ford Expedition sitting there. I found one of these SUVs on line that was for sale by owner in St Peters, MO (about an hour away from our house.) I had the bright idea to have my LOVELY wife who I am totally in love with TEST DRIVE the much newer and more expensive Expedition. Here's a quiz: Can anyone guess what is in my garage?

Next - cold weather sucks - enough said!

Next - Trixie is painting some VERY COOL waves on the walls in my boys' bedroom... it is going to be a beach theme...... Sweet!

Next - (serious moment) I am an unbelievably blessed man. My LOVELY wife who I am totally in love with is actually my best friend... and I fall for her a bit more every day. My 4 kids are very tight, a ton of fun, very smart, athletically gifted, and generally a delight to be with! I have a good job (not my favorite, but very comfortable). And last but not least, I get to partner with some incredible people at Lifepoint to help people in our communities want to pursue a relationship with God; Bob, John, Greg, Jeff, Kyle, Dan, Brandon, Chad, Lisa, Martha, Tammie, Nikki, Diane, David, Mike, Aaron, Josh, Alana, Steve, Kraig, Sam, and many others.... You all ROCK!

For those of you who pray.... the families of Lifepoint are being really hammered by a bunch of Satan stuff... Please remember us all in prayer. Also, The steel plant in Granite City is scheduled to temporarily close impacting about 3000 employees... several of these people call Lifepoint home. Pray for God's guidance and mercy.

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God and people with every word and every action!

Spiritual Lessons From Boogers

One thing I have "experienced" as a soccer coach for 6 year old boys is that boogers are fascinating. Boys love picking their noses. What really grosses me out is when they pick the booger, stare at it on their finger for a minute, and then EAT IT! (This makes me want to blow chunks!) How can they think something so GROSS can be good????? I mean we parents and coaches KNOW that its wrong and disgusting! It seems like no matter how many times, or how many ways we try to instill in them that BOOGER EATING is BAD, they stop for a little while, but then return to their old ways.....

Shift gears with me.... Imagine God as our "Coach" and we are the players... eating boogers (whatever your gross habit is). God tries over and over, through many methods, to instill in us that our activity is disgusting. He is trying to help us live HUGE, without yukky stuff getting in the way.

Learn from the boogers..... Let's quit doing the things that disgust God (by the way, those "boogery" things are called SIN).

Live loud, live intentionally, live BOOGER FREE, and love God and people with every word and every action!

Windshield

All I can say is thank God for windshields! I'm still driving my motorcycle to work every day. Yesterday morning, as I took off at 4:55 am for work, it was 29 degrees. At 70 mph that gets a bit chilly!! I recently installed a windshield on my bike. That knocks a bunch of airflow down.... OK - this may shock you if you have followed this blog for very long.... but I don't have any spiritual correlation for that tiny story.... yikes!

Life is good. Our Lifegroup is doing great. We are taking a scenic boat ride on the Mississippi River this Saturday... can't wait..... The leaves are supposed to be gorgeous this weekend. I'll post some pics.... Gettin' late and I get up early, so see ya later.

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God and people with every word and every action!

Starting Point

Yes, it is 2 am... I'm working overnight tonight..... YUK!
Wow... it has been really hard to find a few minutes to blog.... Sorry! Tonight, LifePoint had a newcomers event called Starting Point. It was simply a dinner and informational session for people who are new to the LifePoint family. It was beautiful. There was some relationship building, some good food, and a time for Bob to share a bit about what LifePoint is about.

Other Stuff:
The boys soccer team I coach just finished our season... I'm very proud of how they have progressed as players and as sportsmen. They are 6 years old and learning how to have fun together and increasing soccer skills every week. (They happened to go undefeated...)

The political races are winding down. Do your part - take time to look at the candidates and what they stand for. Vote for the people you believe will help our communities and our nation take forward steps.

Saturday, one of the drummers at LifePoint, Chad, married his sweetheart, Emily. The wedding was short and beautiful. The reception was so much fun! A few notes from the events: Chad and Emily look great together and fit together like pieces of an incredible God-created puzzle. Ryan can DANCE! Despite all the guys lined up for the dollar dance with chad, I think he has proven that he is not gay..... Emily is a beautiful GIRL! Vange finally danced with me (it was a slow dance, but it counts.) Dan is VERY fond of ranch dressing. Chad's parents, Jeff and Lisa, are NOT afraid of the dance floor...... very entertaining. Robbie is Chad's Mini-Me. I got to hang with AE and Mrs Cope at the rehearsal dinner.

Last note for the day.... Brooke was in town today and busted me for not blogging. My family had the chance to quickly grab Orange sherbet with Kyle and Emily tonight. There are some people in life that I really enjoy hanging out with.... this couple is at the top of the list!

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God and people with every word and every action!

What did you do to Jesus?

Sounds a bit scary doesn't it.... "What did you do to Jesus?" I recently had a chance to give a soccer ball to Jesus..... Uhhh He plays soccer? Yep! And rumor has it He's pretty good.....

OK, here's the deal. There is a boy on our soccer team who told me his soccer ball fell victim to the family dog. Since the guys have to bring their ball to practice, this caused him a bit of a problem. His family tries very hard to balance the income they have, and with 4 kids coupled with hurdles that life throws at them, they have to be careful on spending. I did not hear God with my ears, but I could "hear" Him on the inside... you know... in my heart - my soul. The Bible verses from Matt 25 kept coming to my mind. Here it is from The Message:

32 Then all the nations will be arranged before him and he will sort the people out, much as a shepherd sorts out sheep and goats, 33 putting sheep to his right and goats to his left. 34 "Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Enter, you who are blessed by my Father! Take what's coming to you in this kingdom. It's been ready for you since the world's foundation. 35 And here's why: I was hungry and you fed me, I was thirsty and you gave me a drink, I was homeless and you gave me a room, 36 I was shivering and you gave me clothes, I was sick and you stopped to visit, I was in prison and you came to me.' 37 "Then those 'sheep' are going to say, 'Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry and feed you, thirsty and give you a drink? 38 And when did we ever see you sick or in prison and come to you?' 39 40 Then the King will say, 'I'm telling the solemn truth: Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me - you did it to me.' 41 "Then he will turn to the 'goats,' the ones on his left, and say, 'Get out, worthless goats! You're good for nothing but the fires of hell. 42 And why? Because - I was hungry and you gave me no meal, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, 43 I was homeless and you gave me no bed, I was shivering and you gave me no clothes, Sick and in prison, and you never visited.' 44 "Then those 'goats' are going to say, 'Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or homeless or shivering or sick or in prison and didn't help?' 45 "He will answer them, 'I'm telling the solemn truth: Whenever you failed to do one of these things to someone who was being overlooked or ignored, that was me - you failed to do it to me.' 46 "Then those 'goats' will be herded to their eternal doom, but the 'sheep' to their eternal reward."

So there was a kid who needed a soccer ball. When I obeyed what I felt prompting me to do (by the way, that is one of the really neat functions of God's Holy Spirit), it was as if I was treating Jesus with kindness. You could say "Jesus, when did you ever go without a soccer ball?" His reply would be "When you hooked up #*&$ with that ball, you were taking care of ME."

So, what did YOU do to Jesus this week?

Live loud, live intentionally, and Love God and People with every word and every action.

Violation

I'm having a bit of trouble trying to think Christ-like thoughts today...... My thoughts are more along the lines of "the gun is loaded, right?" I got a call from Vange today while I was at work stating that someone had broken into our home and stolen our laptop. I was a "bit" fired up!

OK, here's the good news: The laptop that was stolen was NOT my MAC, which houses my LIFE! The MAC was sitting on the counter literally 3 feet from the machine that was taken. There was no super important data on the stolen machine. 2 Dan's checked on me tonight..... Dan C lives in my neighborhood and came to my house to tell me that his wife saw 3 suspicious guys in the neighborhood today, and that she could ID them if needed. We talked for a while and I just felt like he CARED. Dan M called me and offered to help me repair any broken doors, locks, windows, or whatever got tore up. This guy has proven MANY time what a friend is!

So, in trying to notice God in all the details of everyday life, I tried to think about any God connection from this event. Besides the guys who displayed genuine compassion, there was another thought. The big deal about our house being broken into was a feeling of violation. I had to do a quick recap of how that made me feel and how I wanted to react. In the grand scheme of life, this was a pretty minor issue. So, how did Jesus feel as He was betrayed and brutalized for us? Talk about VIOLATION! And the bigger question... how did He react? In all the mess His attitude was "Father, forgive them. They don't even realize the gravity of their actions...."

We have friends that have recently, or are facing now some big "violations"..... Doctor reports of cancer, marriages that are being torn apart, theft, unwelcome career changes..... the list goes on. What is the answer? I don't completely know. Here is what I've decided to..... WORSHIP - MY REACTION TO WHO GOD IS AND WHAT HE HAS DONE. He continues to provide for my family, He continues to protect us, He continues to give us favor in so many areas....

Live loud, live intentionally, and love GOD and People with every word and every action.

No Socks

That's right... no need to wear socks this Sunday at LifePoint. We are finishing the FANATIC series... and we are going to use some HIGH ENERGY music to move toward God.... and possibly blow socks off. :-) There is a band named DecembeRadio.... and they have a song titled Live and Breathe. Check out this chorus:

I live and breathe for you
there's nothing I wouldn't do
I live to worship you
I'd walk a thousand miles
oh just to see you smile
I live to worship I live to worship you


I think about all the things that I give my energy to... what do I worship? Is it my career... no. Is it my family.... close. Is it my motorcycle... nope. Is it LifePoint.... nah.

Bob made 2 statements Sunday about worship:

1. Worship is what we value greatly and how that decision affects our lives.
2. Worship is responding to who God is and what He has done.

So the question is what do I (you) value greatly and how am I (are you) responding to God. There's nothing wrong with having important things in life. Our responsibility is to make sure they do not become more important than God. See Exodus 20:3.

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God and People with every word and every action.

Hello? Hellllloooo?

Blogging has been a bit sparse lately for me...... Schedule changes are making time to blog a bit tough.... Hopefully I can blog 3 times a week.... that's my goal for the next few months... I'm sure all 4 of you appreciate that.....

So, the latest developments.... Griffin started preschool last week - yes, Vange cried!

Lifepoint spent yesterday at a local gas station serving the community and paying 50 cents for every gallon of gas that customers bought. It was an incredible experience.

Camping - finally we are taking the family camping... we are going to have a blast!

Olympics - I'm already having withdrawal symptoms..... All I can say is the USA rocks! What were your favorite sports to watch? We were hooked on Volleyball, Swimming, and Gymnastics. There were a bunch of cool events though... Kayaking? very cool! Soccer? Gotta love it. Probably my biggest surprise sport that I really enjoyed was Water Polo.

Until next time...

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God and Family with every word and every action.

Vacation

I'm blogging from Cocoa Beach, FL. The family is having a great time. Dawson and Griffin got out of the car Sunday afternoon and ran full speed to the ocean.... They did not even think about putting on a swimsuit. Ashli and Haley are loving the waves. We went across the street and bought body boards (boogie boards) for all the kids. Vange is in Heaven just hanging on the beach. Aunt B (my sister) came with us and is enjoying the escape from everyday life... I got to go to THE Ron Jon Surf Shop today and bought a Skim Board.... Of course I had to get back to the beach and try it. All I can say is I'm an excellent Skim Boarder!! (OK - that translates into "I finally rode it a few feet without falling") Sea World was sweet! .... Here are a few pics:

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God and people with every word and every action.

Anyone Seen My Girls?

The house is a bit too quiet. My girls, Ashli and Haley, left for a week long camp yesterday. I know they are going to have a ton of fun, but I already miss them. Dawson, my 6 year old son, said "Well it's just the guys now." So I asked him "What about Mom?" He replied "It's just the guys and 2 girls... Mom and Daisy." Daisy is our Golden Reteiver puppy.

For those of you who are very used to having certain people in your life every day, it is a very empty feeling when they are suddenly gone. God has done an incredible job of wiring us for companionship. I feel very blessed to have such a great family. I can't wait for my girls to get home!

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God and People with every word and every action.

Good People

Think about all the people you connect with every week. I'm sure some of them may make you snarl.... others may make you smile..... others may generate very little reaction. Be careful.... our whole purpose is to love God and love people! (It seems I've seen that printed somewhere else......)

I was thinking about people in my life and several of them make me smile. There is a guy named Brandon who is a worship leader at LifePoint church. I'm finding that Brandon is a guy who thinks thoroughly through everything he does and is willing to do whatever it takes (sometimes on very short notice) to help people connect with God. There is a lady named Kate. She is my boss at AT&T. Kate is a great leader and takes very appropriate control of situations and projects. She is very positive in her daily approach to business. Bob is a guy who appreciates a good scooter. He also happens to drive LifePoint Church and is a catalyst for helping people step toward God. There is a guy named Lee. He is my dad and has taught me so much about life. Phyllis is my mom. She did anything she needed to to keep me in line.... including whoopin' me with whatever happened to be handy (tennis rackets, sweeper handles, etc....) Dan is a guy I trust to give me spiritual guidance and general life advice. He is also fun to hang out with at Applebee's. I do have to teach him a few things about mowing grass though.... :-) Rick is a guy who made some contacts that enabled me to get my job with AT&T. Sam and Jodi are friends and neighbors that are great people in general and help shuttle my kids to school and swimming. Vange is my sweetheart. She is my soul mate. She is the balance for me in life. A man named Jesus became God wrapped in a normal human body and came to this Earth to teach me about life to the fullest. He gave it ALL for me.

CONNECT with people - it is the legacy you will leave.

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God and People with every word and every action.

Big God Stuff

YEAH BABY!!!!! (Imagine a screaming cheering crowd... maybe at a football game and our team just scored in overtime to win...) God just scored HUGE... kickin' some disease butt! Here is the basic scoop:

We have some friends (by friends I mean a family that we met a year or so ago and have been steadily building a very meaningful relationship with them) that have had their share of adversity in life. Most recently, one of them was faced with a potentially life threatening physical issue. After a few anxious days waiting for test results, the doctors confirmed God's handy work - All is well!

Psalms 103
103:2
My whole being, praise the Lord and do not forget all his kindnesses.
103:3
He forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases.


Isaiah 53
53:4
But he took our suffering on him and felt our pain for us. We saw his suffering and thought God was punishing him.
53:5
But he was wounded for the wrong we did; he was crushed for the evil we did. The punishment, which made us well, was given to him, and we are healed because of his wounds.

I can not explain all of God's decisions about healing. Honestly, I get frustrated by good, Godly people suffering from disease. Here is what I know... God is able to heal... period. Sometimes He does it supernaturally, sometimes He uses medical professionals that He has blessed with the gift of healing, sometimes healing takes place when He takes us home to Heaven.

Today is a day of celebration! God, You are magnificent! Thanks for wrapping your arms around us!

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God and People with every word and every action!

Fast Cars

Man, dem sum faast cers! Translation - Man, those are some fast cars. Saturday night, Haley and I went to the Nascar Nationwide race in Madison. (We drug Kyle along with us too.) It was very cool. I found myself wanting to drive a fast car...... That may be a problem since I don't own a fast car... I don't even own a "peppy" car... Rats! The night was certainly entertaining. The knucklehead next to Kyle wanted to pick a fight over who was sitting in what seat... (I don't normally bet, but I would have bet a LOT that Kyle would not have lost his seat.) That situation fizzled quickly when the knucklehead looked at his ticket again and saw his seat assignment. Then there was the girl in front of us who apparently had just got some new tattoos strategically placed on the top front of her body. She felt the need to show them off to everyone. Another girls in front of us was lying down across the seats.... apparently the heat was too much for her.

OK, aside from that nonsense, the race was sweet! Cars buzzing by at 160+ MPH is an adrenaline rush! There were a few crashes, one was bad enough to force a few cars to be towed off the track - noone hurt though. I really enjoyed the night. My favorite part was seeing Haley smile!

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God and People with every word and every action.

Lessons Learned

Have you ever had those AH-HA moments when the light flipped on in your head and there was a lesson learned. Come on... remember when you learned that sticking something metal in the outlet was a bad idea? Remember when you learned that your friends are not perfect... and they even tick you off sometimes? How about when you realized that your parents actually are fairly smart? Spiritual moment warning: How about learning what a huge sacrifice God made by allowing His Son to be tortured for us? (By the way, I'm not God - and if anyone ever comes after Ashli, Haley, Dawson, Griffin, or Vange, I will take them out!)

OK, OK... My big lesson for this week has been "Make sure you accurately evaluate the other Lifegroup's athletic ability in kickball BEFORE you talk trash about whoopin' them." Sunday night, 2 of the lifegroups (small groups) from LifePoint got together and played kickball and had ice cream. Sadly, after I trashed talked Dan's group, my group lost.... by just a run or two...... or twenty - who was counting..... It was a ton of fun, even with the loss. Kyle and Emily (LifePoint's Youth Pastors) came and hung out with us and brought some friends from Texas with them... Nick and Lacey were unfortunately on the losing end of the game.

Alright, enough of that... Next week we are kicking Dan's group's butts in DODGEBALL! Oh yeah baby... bring it on! (Apparently I'm slow to learn lessons..... and, I can't promise that we are actually getting together with them next week......)

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God and people with every word and every action.

Bad Driver

A few nights ago I went to a swim meet and parked my motorcycle in a a row with some other bikes. When we came out of the pool area, we found a few of the bikes had been knocked over. After a bit of investigation, it appears that some talent challenged driver hit the first bike and they "dominoed" from there.... mine was in the middle. Fortunately, my Shadow suffered very little damage. I'm going to another swim meet tonight in the same city.... please pray for my bike's safety!! :-) Paddlers Pirates ROCK!

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God and People with every word and every action!

Variety

This weekend at LifePoint we are going to spend a few minutes adoring God with an acoustic set of songs. We are taking a Rock-N-Roll breather. Psalms 150 says to praise God with all kinds of instruments.... so we are going to use everything we can find..... the message of Christ is worth all of our creative effort!

Check out Psalms 150 from The Message


Psalms 150

1 Hallelujah! Praise God in his holy house of worship, praise him under the open skies; 2 Praise him for his acts of power, praise him for his magnificent greatness; 3 Praise with a blast on the trumpet, praise by strumming soft strings; 4 Praise him with castanets and dance, praise him with banjo and flute; 5 Praise him with cymbals and a big bass drum, praise him with fiddles and mandolin. 6 Let every living, breathing creature praise God! Hallelujah!

Wherever you are, whatever day it is, praise God with all you got (borrow some if you need to... :-)

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God and People with every word and every action.

Holy Crap!

I've been going to church a long time. A few years ago, the Pastor of a church I went to asked if anyone had a testimony (open floor time for people to stand and tell something cool that God did.) A teenage girls stood up and told her story. She was very new to a relationship with God. She wrapped her story up by making the statement "I can't believe that God puts up with all my crap and loves me just the way I am!" All of the air was sucked out of the room as people gasped.... Several people made it very apparent that saying CRAP in the house of God was wrong. She was embarrassed and felt very awkward. When she left that day her primary thought was one of discomfort.

Fast forward a few years in another church setting.... A five year old girl sat and listened to the story of Jesus feeding 5000 people with just a couple fish and few loaves of bread. In the middle of the story, after hearing the amazing details, his young girls blurts out "HOLY CRAP!" Everyone chuckled a bit, and the teacher reinforced the girl's reaction by saying "that's probably what everyone there at the time thought too." This girl left that day with a primary thought of amazement and trying to figure out how Jesus did that.

Here is the question..... What will it take - what does Jesus have to do for you to have a HOLY CRAP moment? Tonight, go out and look at the sky... all the stars.... He named every one. Think back and find a time in your life when something incredible happened and you wondered how it could be. Over the coming weeks, look for times in life that you know God puts His hand on the wheel and drives the situation. Be amazed!

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God and People with every word and every action.

Stunts Gone Wrong

How many of these have YOU tried??




Live loud, live intentionally, and love God and people with every word and every action

Paddlers Pirates

We belong to a swim club called Paddlers. 3 of my 4 kids swim for the club. Last night was our last home meet! Good stuff. Imo's pizza is always a tradition after a swimm meet.... What are your tradition? Hope you are building family memories - it is time well spent!

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God and people with every word and every action.

Simple Pleasures

Life is so busy and hectic that it hard sometimes to slow down and enjoy some simple things. This weekend was not necessarily slow, but it was very enjoyable. Friday night was guys night... I took my boys, Dawson and Griffin, to the pool and just had some fun.... of course we had soft pretzels and slushees. Saturday night some friends and I went to see Rush in concert.... wow - the boys can still rock! Sunday night our Lifegroup (a small group of LifePoint people who get together every week) hung out at Jeff and Jaime's house. Not only did we have some great conversation, but the kids all had fun in the pool.... Greg brought the "instigator" toys (squirt guns)... so the kids opened fire on us..... What a beautiful gift from God to have such wonderful friends and an incredible family!


James 1:17
Every good action and every perfect gift is from God. These good gifts come down from the Creator of the sun, moon, and stars, who does not change like their shifting shadows.

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God and people with every word and every action.

Water Everywhere

We live near St Louis, MO. With all the rain we've had, and the rain North of us, we are haviong major flooding issues. This morning on the news I heard another story of a levee breach. The community of Winfield is now literally running for their lives (they actually have a few hours to evacuate).

















The destruction is UGLY!











Water can be a source of so much positive... even a source of life. But it can also destroy. (Side note - our attitudes / behaviors have the same potential.) Please keep these families and communities in your prayers. It's a trying time - let's stick together.

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God and People with every word and every action.

Unity

u·ni·ty (yōō'nĭ-tē) n. pl. u·ni·ties

The state or quality of being one; singleness.
The state or quality of being in accord; harmony.
Singleness or constancy of purpose or action; continuity: "In an army you need unity of purpose" (Emmeline Pankhurst).

What can we do when we are united? The answer is CHANGE THE WORLD. Unity is very important and is addressed several times throughout the Bible. Check out this passage:

Philippians 2

1 Does your life in Christ give you strength? Does his love comfort you? Do we share together in the spirit? Do you have mercy and kindness? 2 If so, make me very happy by having the same thoughts, sharing the same love, and having one mind and purpose. 3 When you do things, do not let selfishness or pride be your guide. Instead, be humble and give more honor to others than to yourselves.

I unfortunately have been experiencing some lack of unity lately in some of my social circles. My goal is to be a catalyst for creating/maintaining unity.

This weekend at LifePoint ( a great place for winners and losers to connect with God) we are launching a new song from Sanctus Real called Sing. Check out the chorus:

Sing oh sing With one voice how sweet it will be When we sing oh sing One church under one King and we will sing

One! Unity!

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God / Family / and Friends with every word and every action.

Olympics

The 2008 Summer games will be starting in less than 2 months. I watch very little TV, but the Olympics is something I really enjoy watching. In celebration of the games, take a peek at these Olympic bloopers... some of these made me grimace...




Live loud, live intentionally, and love God / Family / and Friends with every word and every action.

Shadow

Well I am pretty excited... I sold my Kawasaki recently, and about a week ago I bought a Honda Shadow Aero. All I have is the stock photo at this point.... But I'll take a bunch of pictures eventually. I'm on a mission to get all the guys at LifePoint to get bikes... there are about 7 or 8 of us that have bikes already. We are trying to organize a ride day in the next couple of weeks. I'll post details and if any of you live near us in the St Louis area and want to go, come on out.

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God / Family / and Friends with every word and every action.

Which Way

I heard something this weekend that really bugs me.... In a street interview, there was a guy who said something about a bunch of different religions and they are all right. Say WHAT?? Uhhh.... NO - they're NOT all right. Let me paint a quick picture... I live near St Louis, MO. Let's say God lives in Chicago... (probably not, because the Cubs are there and God and Evil don't mix...) But, for the sake of our story, God is in Chicago. There are several roads in St Louis... Int 55 will take me to Chicago, Int 57 will take me there too. But, if I jump on Int 44, I'm going away from Chicago. Int 70 won't get me there either..... Those roads will take you somewhere... maybe even some good places.... but they don't get to "God." If you want to connect with God, you must choose the right road... follow Jesus... period. Proverbs 14:12 says this: Some people think they are doing right, but in the end it leads to death. Be careful which road you take... make sure it leads to God.

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God / Family / and Friends with every word and every action.

For the Married People

How much effort are we putting into our relationship with our spouse? (OK guys, this is for us...) Take a look at what God says about wives...



Ephesians 5:25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.



Ephesians 5:28 In the same way, husbands should love their wives as they love their own bodies. The man who loves his wife loves himself.



Proverbs 18:22 He who finds a wife finds what is good and receives favor from the Lord.



Proverbs 31:10 A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies.



Hebrews 13:4 Marriage should be honored by everyone, and husband and wife should keep their marriage pure. God will judge as guilty those who take part in sexual sins.




I just read a story about a guy named Michael Sweet, whose wife was diagnosed with stage 4 ovarian cancer. The doctors basically had no hope for her. Michael has been evaluating and focusing on how much she means to him. The cool thing is that God has done what no one else could.... wipe her body clean of disease! I'm sure Michael placed very high value on Kyle (his wife) BEFORE this ordeal... but how much more does he appreciate God's gift of her now...... Guys, don't let a tragedy or a threatening time in life be the only thing that causes you to HAVE, HOLD, and CHERISH her until God takes you home! I gotta go - I need to express to Vange what she means to me!







Live loud, live intentionally, and love God / Family / and Friends with every word and every action.

Good Tunes

I was searching for a song from Boston called Peace of Mind on You Tube the other day. I ran into this live clip featuring Michael Sweet (of Stryper) doing the lead vocals for this Boston tune. I also found out that Michael is doing this summer's tour with Boston as the front man. Check this clip out:




Live loud, live intentionally, and love God / Family / and Friends with every word and every action.

God Doin' God Stuff

This weekend at LifePoint we are introducing a new song - Broadcast by Steve Fee. The chorus says this:

We're gonna broadcast all over the world

That You are God and You are good

It's great to hear reminders of how good God is. A good friend of mine told me this story Monday night. His wife had taken their daughter to a camp in Southern Illinois. On her way back, she had chosen to take a different route. The "normal" route that she would have taken would have put her in dangerous situation driving through a town where a tornado had touched down... she would have been driving through at the same time the tornado was "visiting".

You may see this as coincidence.... I choose to believe that God has his hand on this family and steered her from danger! So, maybe your question is why didn't God protect everyone in that town? Good question..... one I can't answer... (maybe they are all Lakers fans.... :-)

For me and my friend's families, it will be easy to sing this weekend.... You are God and You are good!

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God / Family / and Friends with every word and every action!

Dusty

I was moving my office today from one building to the building next door. It scared me a bit how much dust there was on the desk... you know, the places that you don't really bother to clean often.... under the PC, the back of the monitor, under all the cables that are piled on the desk.... I had a great physical revelation that could easily hold spiritual significance.... We can not afford to "clean" only the places that are highly visible. Those other places are real and important and the ugliness shows through when things are moved around or shaken up..... I'm going to think about that for a while.... Later Gators

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God / Family / and Friends with every word and every action!

Project Completion

I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one who starts projects and does not finish them.... Bad habit... I've heard that in general, men are more prone to this than women. So, tonight I'm going to FINISH fixing the shower, and hopefully reseed the back yard (with straw this time...). Yesterday at LifePoint we talked about asking God to make us willing to do whatever it takes to change the world.... If we are honest, the best place to start changing the world is in our own homes, on our streets, in our office, in our classroom..... in the places where we have an influence. One of the hurdles to accomplishing world change is laziness.... While I'm far from lazy, I'm not a great time manager. So, this point about being lazy grabbed my attention and made me want to focus on taking effort to complete what I start (opposite of lazy.) What is it that you need to give more attention to? Do what you do with all you got!

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God / Family / and Friends with every word and every action.

Singing Chipmunks

OK, I must admit that I really hate "Alvin And The Chipmunks", but my boys love it! So... what do the guys do when Mommy and the Sisters are out of town.... and we just got back back from the pool???? Grab some snacks and watch Alvin And The Chipmunks. The time spent with Dawson and Griffin is INVALUABLE! ... and Daisy is hangin' with us too... This is what it looks like when the guys are chillin' with the Chipmunks....



On a side note... since I sold my Kawasaki motorcycle this past weekend, I've been on a mission to find a new (at least new to me) one. I've test driven a few and liked them... but have not fallen in "love" with one yet........ So, I'm off to check Craig's List.... Later Gators

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God / Family / and Friends with every word and every action!

Just What I Needed

How many times have you been at a place in life when something happened or someone did something for you and you thought "that is just what I needed"? I've lost count of the stories I've heard about something Bob said at LifePoint that really hit home for someone, or a day when one of the songs was a comfort or confirmation for someone. Church is a great environment for events like that..... Maybe you had this happen outside of the church..... maybe a coworker gave you a compliment that just set the tone for the day... maybe you got an unexpected refund check.... maybe your husband / wife finally let their guard down so you could get past some tough relational barriers, maybe you got TURNED DOWN for that job you really wanted... (only to get a much better offer a short time later), maybe you got on the scale this morning and finally got to your desired weight, maybe that guy or that girl showed some interest in you, maybe that physical pain you've been living with has subsided (that's called healing and it's some of God's neatest work)....... The list goes on and on. Think about this... how many times have YOU been just what someone else needed? The more we move toward God, the more He moves toward us.... and I'm convinced He uses us for more and more incredible moments in the lives of others.

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God / Family / and Friends with every word and every action.

All Guys Week

Dawson, Griffin, and I kicked the girls (Vange, Ashli, and Haley) out for the week! Actually, they went to youth camp..... So, what are the plans? We are going to stay up late, eat nothing but junk food, lay around in our underwear and watch sports, make chocolate shakes every night...... you know - GUY STUFF! OK, I can't back that up..... We ARE going to have fun... take Daisy (the only girl left in the house) for walks, read a few Bible stories, there will be a chocolate shake or 2 made, ride bikes, play baseball, and talk to God like He is our best friend! Oh... and I almost forgot... we're going to wax the new Harley... (at this point, I'm wishfully thinking...)





Live loud, live intentionally, (hug your kids), and love God / Family / and friends with every word and every action!

Weekend Fun

One of the huge blessings in my life is to have a chance to have some family time on the weekends. There are so many things we like to do... but don't always get to do them all. We have a really nice park with a 1.25 mile walking path... Daisy (our Golden Retriever) loves walks around the park. The boat is always a hit... we love skiing and tubing (gas prices put a bit of a damper on this activity...) Six Flags is always fun.... Volleyball outside... Motorcycle rides....

Take some time to enjoy family time this weekend...

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God / Family / and Friends with every word and every action.

Brain Teaser - Answer

First, the waiter stuck the match into the lemon wedge, so that it would stand straight. Then he lit the match, and put it in the middle of the plate with the lemon. Then, he placed the glass upside-down over the match. As the flame used up the oxygen in the glass, it created a small vacuum, which sucked in the water through the space between the glass and the plate. Thus, the waiter got the water into the glass without touching or moving the plate.You can try this experiment at home with appropriate supervision.

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God / Family / and Friends with every word and every action.

Brain Teaser

A man in a restaurant asked a waiter for a juice glass, a dinner plate, water, a match, and a lemon wedge. The man poured enough water onto the plate to cover it."If you can get the water on the plate into this glass without touching or moving this plate, I will give you $100," the man said. "You can use the match and lemon to do this."A few minutes later, the waiter walked away with $100 in his pocket. How did the waiter get the water into the glass?

I'll post the answer tomorrow.....

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God / Family / and Friends with every word and every action.

Weekend

Memorial Day weekend was pretty nice (except for the abundance of rain.) THANK YOU to all the military who help make this country the incredible place it is.

We took the family to Six Flags Saturday and had a blast. We went out to eat a few times, including Orange Sherbert at Dairy Haven in Caseyville. The kicker was getting some BIG projects done around the house..... leveled / fertilized / seeded the back yard (Thanks Kyle and Jeff), and totally cleaned out and organized the garage. (This makes a wife happy :-) Of course, there was some grillin.... Thanks Greg! Hope you had a great weekend too.

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God / Family / and Friends with every word and every action.

Being Christ-Like

I'm super pumped about a story I heard a few days ago. The short version is this....



One of the LifePoint people (who happens to be connected in a Lifegroup) had some friction with another family because their kids were not gelling well. There was some misunderstanding that resulted in some harsh words. The LifePointer I'm talking about took the effort later to make a call and make sure the tension was eased. It's this kind of action that indicates a person's desire to be Christ-like.

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God / Family / and Friends with every word and every action.

Cook The King

David Cook - the rocker from Blue Springs, Missouri is the American Idol! Sweet! To all the broken-hearted Teeny Boppers out there... Na na na na na! OK, just between us... even though I wanted and predicted that Cook would win, I was just sure that the judges had swayed America to put Archuleta on top. But, the better man ended up winning. So, who was your favorite of the top 12? Cook was at the top for me from early on... Of course, Kristi Lee Cook was way up there too.... primarily because she is beautiful! I asked Vange if I could put Kristi on my list of girls I plan to marry some day... her reply was simply "Whatever..." Hope you enjoyed AI this season.



Live loud, live intentionally, and love God / Family / and Friends with every word and every action.

David Who?

We set Tivo for American Idol and are just sitting down to watch. I'm just sayin... David Cook is gonna SMOKE David Archuleta... That's my prediction. Alright kids... Let's see what they brought...... Anyone got a prediction?

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God / Family / and Friends with every word and every action.

Talkin' Trash

Last night, the Lifepoint family had our first picnic. Since we run 3 identical services every Sunday, it's hard for people to meet others and build relationships. The picnic was sweet! There was ALL kinds of food..... pork steaks, brats, burgers, hot dogs, and every side dish and dessert you can imagine. There were a bunch of games going on too. There was a kickball game, some washers, bocca ball???, a soccer goal for the little ones, a playground, a monster hill that the kids rolled down, basketball hoops, and my personal favorite..... volleyball. (I'm sure Bob will post some pics on his blog...)

We had a little "30 and over" versus "the young punks" volleyball game. I was not sure how the game would turn out, but (in faith) I started the trash talkin'. I am (unfortunately) in the 30 and over group. Every time one of the "punks" missed a ball or hit it out, I promptly shouted out "You are our best player!" Side note: I'm not really sure if Jesus trash talked when he played games..... I may need to ask for forgiveness..... Of course, the 30 + group whooped the punks... twice.

If you don't live near Glen Carbon, IL or if you're not part of the Lifepoint family, all I can say is I'm sorry... you are missing out. We are a bunch of ordinary people who are collectively connected to the extraordinary God! I look forward to many meaningful long-term relationships with a bunch of Lifepointers....

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God / Family / and Friends with every word and every action.

Quality Control

Every week I assemble a pack for each band member at Lifepoint and deliver them to everyone. Included in the pack is an audio CD of the songs we are doing that week, a Notes page, a Set List, and the actual Charts for each song. I'm usually very thorough in my accuracy in designing and facilitating the music each week. This week, however, I had to fire the Quality Control manager for the packs (of course... I AM the QC person..... so I fired myself...) We are doing a new song by Big Daddy Weave called FOR WHO YOU ARE. In my iTunes library I have 2 songs titled FOR WHO YOU ARE..... One by Big Daddy Weave and one by Hillsong. Guess which one I put on the disc.... You guessed it.... The one from Hillsong..... I intended to load the BDW song and the chart is for the correct song. Live and learn!

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God / Family / and Friends with every word and every action.

Find the word

Alright.... that moment has come. You know... the moment all parents face.....I was trying to help Haley with a school project and got stumped.... The task was to find a word that starts with "e" and ends with "v". Anyone? Anyone?

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God / Family / and Friends with every word and every action.

Blessing In Disguise

Have you ever been handed a situation in life that you dreaded, only to find out later that it was a huge benefit? Early in my professional career, I experienced a Reduction In Force (RIF) from McDonnell Douglas.... Basically I was let go. At the time, I was crushed. I took 2 different short-term jobs just to keep our family supported. After 4 interviews, and a 9 month process, I was hired at AT&T. When I look back, I can confidently say that I would not be near the salary that I'm at now, and I would still have double the drive time that I do now if I were still at McDonnell Douglas.

Here I am again - forced into a job (or place, or situation) that I'm not thrilled about (Kim, you know the pain...). Here is my attitude this time - "God, what part of YOUR story do I get to play through this situation?"

Early in his leadership at LifePoint, Bob spoke about the idea that God is always at work in our lives. We should be looking for Him in all kinds of situations. OK God, here we go... my trust is in YOU!

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God / Family / and Friends with every word and every action.

Cartoons

I got a chance to hang with Dawson and Griffin last night and watch a little Scooby Doo. It made me think about all the cartoons I used to love as a kid.

Bugs Bunny
Tom and Jerry (which my boys love)
Flintstones
Jetsons
Batman (the boys dig this one too)
Schoolhouse Rock (LOVED the theme song)
Speed Racer (yes, I'm going to see the movie)

What are some of your favorites?

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God/ Family / and Friends with every word and every action.

Idol Withdrawal

I'm suffering... Tuesday nights have been filled with "Date Night" and American Idol. Last night I got neither... What a bummer. Tonight I plan to OD on AI.

Last night was pretty cool though because I got to go to my girls' soccer game. Of course, that was after mowing about 5 lawns.... After the game I finished assembling the music packs for the band at LifePoint and jumped on the motorcycle to deliver them. The ride was refreshing, but too late (since I get up at 4:45 am now....) It's all good!

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God / Family / and Friends with every word and every action.

Brown Baggin'

Holy Cow.... I have not regularly taken my lunch to work ever in my life.... There has always been a day here and a day there, but never consistently. I started my new position at AT&T yesterday, and elected to only take 30 minutes for lunch. (The schedule is pretty sweet... 6 am - 2:30 pm) Yesterday I took a Bologna sandwich, and today it is Peanut Butter. I had to go to Wal-Mart last night and buy a new lunch box (they didn't have Batman... or Jimmie Johnson..... Bummer.) The soft lunch box I had was a bit difficult to bungee down to the back seat of my motorcycle. The new box works great. I'm now an official Brown Bagger. I hope 2 positives (besides being at work for 1/2 hour less) come from the 30 minute brown bag lunch... 1) Gonna save a few bucks... 2) Gonna lose a few pounds. We'll see.

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God / Family / and Friends with every word and every action.

Morning Person

Well.... I'm not much of a morning person. I actually do most of my thinking / reading / music stuff, etc from about 9 pm til midnight. That's not workin' for me anymore... The alarm is set for 4:45 AM - YUK! My new position at AT&T starts at 6 am in downtown St Louis. There is an upside though... I'm done most days by 2:30. This should equate to more family time - Rock on! So, it looks like I'm becoming a morning person - against my will! I'm sure it will all work out fine.

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God / Family / and Friends with every word and every action.

TGI.....

Thank God it's..... Friday? What about Sunday.... or Thursday? OK, I get it... Friday - the end of the work week.... But is that the only day we are thankful for? Last night (a Thursday night) I got to lay down with Dawson (my 5 yr old son) and just talk, laugh, pray, and simply enjoy some time together..... So, yesterday I was TGIT. Take today and be thankful.. Look for God's hand in what you do today.

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God / family / and friends with every word and every action.

Dat Boy Can PLAY

I'm amazed at the ability and gift that some musicians have been given. Once in a while I get to cruise YouTube and listen to some incredible players. For you guitar enthusiests, this short clip showcases one of the best and most innovative guitar players ever - Steve Vai.




So, if you have a gift, honor God by honing that skill. (That's good advice for me too....)

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God / Family / and Friends with every word and every action.

Date Night - A chapter ends

Well friends... tonight is a turning point for those of us who are part of Date Night (This is the cute little nickname our wives have given to the hangout time that Dan, Kyle, and I have every Tuesday night.) For several months (almost a year) we have been going to Applebee's in Edwardsville, IL for half price appetizers. (There is other legitimate Lifepoint business going on in E'ville first.... then it's snack time.) The biggest reason we have went to the same place every Tuesday night is Lauren. Lauren was the waitress that got stuck with us a few Tuesday nights in a row when we first started date night. Almost every Tuesday night since, we have hung out at Applebee's and hung out with her. We have all shared stories, dreams, bad decisions, talked about bowling alley fight strategies, and laughed a lot. We had a chance to hear her heart (breaking unfortunately) when her long term relationship with Chris crumbled. She has heard bits and pieces of Jesus stuff and Lifepoint stuff.... and heard us tell stories about our families.

This past Sunday, Bob and Kyle spoke about the importance and benefits of building relationships. One of the main ideas was that God became flesh through Jesus so He could "get" (understand) us. For people who follow Jesus, He lives in us.... Why? So people will have the chance to CONNECT with Jesus through a relationship with us.

Lauren, if you ever read this, understand one thing: God is crazy about you and He wants nothing more than to hold you and show you how to be HAPPY! (OK, I have to bring an extra dollar to date night tonight to put in the cry jar......)

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God / Family / and Friends (and the servers at Applebee's) with every word and every action.

Chicken Dance

Serving God is fun... for several reasons... If we get past the selfish "I want to star in my own story" syndrome, there is an incredible (somewhat unexplainable) joy that comes with doing life God's way. Anyway, Sunday at Lifepoint, we had a little fun while the kids were leaving the main room to go downstairs for Kidmo..... That's right... we jammed the Chicken Dance! Here is a little video clip of some other people "forced" to do the chicken dance....



Live loud, live intentionally, and love God / Family / and Friends with every word and every action.

Guys Forced To Shop

WARNING - Some of these just aren't right!

This is why women should not take men shopping against their will.
After Mr. and Mrs. Fenton retired, Mrs. Fenton insisted her husband accompany her on her trips to Wal-Mart.
Unfortunately, Mr. Fenton was like most men--he found shopping boring and preferred to get in and get out.
Equally unfortunately, Mrs. Fenton was like most women--she loved to browse. One day Mrs. Fenton received the following letter from her local Wal-Mart.


Dear Mrs. Fenton,

Over the past six months, your husband has been causing quite a commotion in our store. We cannot tolerate this behavior and may be forced to ban both of you from the store. Our complaints against Mr. Fenton are listed below and are documented by our video surveillance cameras.

1. June 15: Took 24 boxes of condoms and randomly put them in people's carts when they weren't looking.

2 July 2: Set all the alarm clocks in Housewares to go off at 5-minute intervals.

3. July 7: Made a trail of tomato juice on the floor leading to the women's restroom.

4. July 19: Walked up to an employee and told her in an official voice, 'Code 3 in Housewares. Get on it right away.'

5. August 4: Went to the Service Desk and tried to put a bag of M&M's on layaway.

6. September 14: Moved a 'CAUTION - WET FLOOR' sign to a carpeted area.

7. September 15: Set up a tent in the camping department and told other shoppers he'd invite them in if they would bring pillows and blankets from the bedding department.

8. September 23: When a clerk asked if they could help him he began crying and screamed, 'Why can't you people just leave me alone?'

9. October 4: Looked right into the security camera and used it as a mirror while he picked his nose.

10. November 10: While handling guns in the hunting department, he asked the clerk where the antidepressants were.

11. December 3: Darted around the store suspiciously while loudly humming the ' Mission Impossible' theme.

12. December 6: In the auto department, he practiced his 'Madonna look' by using different sizes of funnels.

13. December 18: Hid in a clothing rack and when people browsed through, yelled 'PICK ME! PICK ME!'

14. December 21: When an announcement came over the loud speaker, he assumed a fetal position and screamed 'OH NO! IT'S THOSE VOICES AGAIN!'

And last, but not least ...

15. December 23: Went into a fitting room, shut the door, waited awhile, then yelled very loudly, 'Hey! There's no toilet paper in here!'

Regards,
WalMart

I don't care who you are... that's just funny!

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God / Family / and Friends with every word and every action.

Excuses

School Excuses

These are actual excuse notes from parents (including spelling):



My son is under a doctor's care and should not take P.E. today. Please execute
him.



Please excuse Lisa for being absent. She was sick and I had her shot.



Dear School: Please ekscuse John being absent on Jan. 28, 29,30, 31, 32,
and also 33.



Please excuse Gloria from Jim today. She is administrating.



Please excuse Roland from P.E. for a few days. Yesterday he fell out of
a tree and misplaced his hip.



John has been absent because he had two teeth taken out of his face.



Carlos was absent yesterday because he was playing football. He was hurt
in the growing part.



Megan could not come to school today because she has been bothered by very
close veins.



Chris will not be in school cus he has an acre in his side.



Please excuse Ray Friday from school. He has very loose vowels.



Please excuse Pedro from being absent yesterday. He had---diahre--- ---dyrea---
---direathe--- the shits.



Please excuse Tommy for being absent yesterday. He had diarrhea and his
boots leak.



Irving was absent yesterday because he missed his bust.



Please excuse Jimmy for being. It was his father's fault.



I kept Billie home because she had to go Christmas shopping because I don't
know what size she wear.



Please excuse Jennifer for missing school yesterday. We forgotto get the
Sunday paper off the porch, and when we found itMonday, we thought it was
Sunday.



Sally won't be in school a week from Friday. We have to attend her funeral.



My daughter was absent yesterday because she was tired. She spent a weekend
with the Marines.



Please excuse Jason for being absent yesterday. He had a cold and could
not breed well.



Please excuse Mary for being absent yesterday. She was in bed with gramps.



Gloria was absent yesterday as she was having a gangover.



Please excuse Burma, she has been sick and under the doctor.



Maryann was absent December 11-16, because she had a fever, sore throat,
headache and upset stomach. Her sister was also sick, fever and sore throat,
her brother had a low grade fever and ached all over. I wasn't the best
either, sore throat and fever. There must be something going around, her
father even got hot last night.

Strange Encouragement

There is a saying "The squeaky wheel gets the grease." I'll come back to that thought.... Vange and I are in the middle of building a great frienship with another family. They are REAL people who experience good times and bad times, fears, accomplishments, and mistakes. Recently, SHE was carrying their 4th child (they are just trying to keep up with Vange and I) when the doctor anticipated MAJOR health issues for the baby. We got to hang out with them and watch (through a process over time) God step up and heal their baby. The little one has a relatively minor issue that has to be dealt with...... OK, move forward a few months... Last night HE calls me and says their middle son has some UGLY physical stuff going on and that they would have to go to the hospital today for evaluation / prognosis / treatment. (Side note - keep this family in prayer.)

So here is the strange encouragement... I'm betting that Satan operates with the principle of "The squeaky wheel gets the grease." I think he targets people who are disrupting his plans.... (You could ask Bob about his too..... Satan is doing his best to take Bob out.... No such luck.... Bob has a role in God's story...) The encouraging part is that this family is ticking off the devil. (I said it was strange...) Keep this in mind... Satan roams about seeking whom he MAY devour...
Check this out from 1 Peter 5:

6 Be humble under God's powerful hand so he will lift you up when the right time comes. 7 Give all your worries to him, because he cares about you.
8 Control yourselves and be careful! The devil, your enemy, goes around like a roaring lion looking for someone to eat. 9 Refuse to give in to him, by standing strong in your faith. You know that your Christian family all over the world is having the same kinds of suffering.
10 And after you suffer for a short time, God, who gives all grace, will make everything right. He will make you strong and support you and keep you from falling. He called you to share in his glory in Christ, a glory that will continue forever. 11 All power is his forever and ever. Amen.

ALL power is his.... That's the God we serve and worship.... even in the scary times.

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God / Family / and Friends with every word and every action.

Inventions

Check this clip out... There is some really cool stuff on here. There is also some "what were they thinking" stuff on here.... Enjoy




Live loud, live intentionally, and love God / Family / and Friends with every word and every action.

Stupid Criminals

When a man attempted to siphon gasoline from a motor home parked on a Seattle street, he got much more than he bargained for. Police arrived at the scene to find an ill man curled up next to a motor home near spilled sewage. A police spokesman said that the man admitted to trying to steal gasoline and plugged his hose into the motor home's sewage tank by mistake. The owner of the vehicle declined to press charges, saying that it was the best laugh he'd ever had.

A woman was reporting her car as stolen, and mentioned that there was a car phone in it. The policeman taking the report called the phone and told the guy that answered that he had read the ad in the newspaper and wanted to buy the car. They arranged to meet, and the thief was arrested.

David Posman, 33, was arrested recently in Providence, R.I, after allegedly knocking out an armored car driver and stealing the closest four bags of money. It turned out they contained $800 in PENNIES, weighed 30 pounds each, and slowed him to a stagger during his getaway so that police officers easily jumped him from behind.

Drug-possession defendant Christopher Johns, on trial in March in Pontiac, Michigan, said he had been searched without a warrant. The prosecutor said the officer didn't need a warrant because a "bulge" in Christopher's jacket could have been a gun. Nonsense, said Christopher, who happened to be wearing the same jacket that day in court. He handed it over so the judge could see it. The judge discovered a packet of cocaine in the pocket and laughed so hard he required a five-minute recess to compose himself.

Clever drug traffickers used a propane tanker truck entering El Paso from Mexico. They rigged it so propane gas would be released from all of its valves while the truck concealed 6,240 pounds of marijuana. They were clever, but not bright. They misspelled the name of the gas company on the side of the truck.

Oklahoma City -Dennis Newton was on trial for the armed robbery of a convenience store in a district court this week when he fired his lawyer. Assistant district attorney Larry Jones said Newton, 47, was doing a fair job of defending himself until the store manager testified that Newton was the robber. Newton jumped up, accused the woman of lying and then said, "I should of blown your [expletive] head off." The defendant paused, then quickly added, "-if I'd been the one that was there." The jury took 20 minutes to convict Newton and recommend a 30-year sentence.

R.C. Gaitlin, 21, walked up to two patrol officers who were showing their squad car computer equipment to children in a Detroit neighborhood. When he asked how the system worked, the officers asked him for a piece of identification. Gaitlin gave them his driver's license, they entered it into the computer, and moments later they arrested Gaitlin because information on the screen showed that Gaitlin was wanted for a two-year-old armed robbery in St. Louis, Missouri.

Change is a Comin'

It looks like I will get the "opportunity" to be still and know that HE is God. I work for AT&T and was due to have a SWEET position starting in May. Well, reorganization sucks! I'm now going to be put in what appears to be a more stressful and tedious position. I have some HR system background that a certain team needs me for. So, here is the deal..... it is easy to stand up and shout praises when everything is going great. Today, as I'm faced with a potential ugly job change, I choose to look to Jesus and say "You continue to bless me. I'm looking forward to this role that I get to play in Your story. I'm confident that You are in control and I can't wait to see what You do through this change!" Alright - seat belt is fastened, I'm ready for the ride!

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God / Family / and Friends with every word and every action.

Day Game

It's a beautiful day in St Louis. The sun is peeking through the clouds, it will be about 78 degrees, and the Cardinals play a day game. The cool thing about the game is that a group of people I work with at AT&T are going to the game as part of a work outing. Sweet! We get paid to go to the ballgame..... I like it. It is a team building event.




















It's time for some nachos and a huge Coke! (Are any of you bankers? I'm sure I'll need a loan to buy stuff at the ballpark....)


Live loud, live intentionally, and love God / Family / and Friends with every word and every action.

Where are YOUR friends

WARNING: I am probably going to put myself in a position of being in danger of some people hunting me down and kicking my hiney for the content of this post (If you live in Columbia, stay there / If you live in Pontoon, forget where I live :-)

When I listen to the radio, there is one artist that will make me immediately change the station - Garth Brooks. His song, Friends in Low Places, makes me want to crush my radio. That song makes me think about the importance of WHO I hang out with, and WHERE I'm hanging out. (Hey, I really DO like the hot wings .....)

I choose to have friends in high places.... the highest place. Jesus is a friend who gave EVERYTHING for me - check this out from John 15:

11 I have told you these things so that you can have the same joy I have and so that your joy will be the fullest possible joy. 12 "This is my command: Love each other as I have loved you. 13 The greatest love a person can show is to die for his friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command you. 15 I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know what his master is doing. But I call you friends, because I have made known to you everything I heard from my Father.

Here are a few nuggets from the Bible about friends:

Prov 17:17 Friends love through all kinds of weather, and families stick together in all kinds of trouble.

Prov 12:26 A righteous man is cautious in friendship, but the way of the wicked leads them astray.

Prov 18:24 Friends come and friends go, but a true friend sticks by you like family.

Prov 25:12 And a wise friend's timely reprimand is like a gold ring slipped on your finger.

Ecclesiastes 4:12 By yourself you're unprotected. With a friend you can face the worst. Can you round up a third? A three-stranded rope isn't easily snapped.

This is one of the Bible verses that Bob will think is funny:

Prov 27:14 If you wake your friend in the early morning by shouting "Rise and shine!" It will sound to him more like a curse than a blessing.


Are you seeing the picture? Choose your friends wisely. Every Tuesday night I have the privilege of hanging out with some guys that are true friends. We sharpen each other. We speak TRUTH to each other, we disagree sometimes and we talk about why. We penetrate through the surface stuff. These are guys I can count on to help me stay on track in life... and I will do the same for them.

Don't choose friends in low places, or build weak relationships and think they are FRIENDS you can count on.

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God / Family / and Friends with every word and every action.

Gentlemen, Start Your Mowers

I think it's finally here..... SPRING! Grass is growing, and that means warmer, more comfy days! I love it. OK - I gotta go mow some grass now!

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God / Family / and Friends with every word and every action.

Please Pay First

OK - This is a public service blog.



If you go to a gas station and there is a sign on the pump that reads PLEASE PAY FIRST, you do not have to actually go inside and pay. You can simply insert your debit/credit card and start pumping. When you are done, it will charge your card and spit out your receipt.



Love ya JK!



Live loud, live intentionally, and love God / Family / and Friends with every word and every action.

Kids say some STUFF

A little girl was talking to her teacher about whales..The teacher said it was physically impossible for a whale to swallow a human because even though it was a very large mammal its throat was very small. The little girl stated that Jonah was swallowed by a whale. Irritated, the teacher reiterated that a whale could not swallow a human; it was physically impossible.
The little girl said, "When I get to heaven I will ask Jonah".The teacher asked, "What if Jonah went to hell?"The little girl replied, "Then you ask him".


A Sunday school teacher was discussing the Ten Commandments with her five and six year olds. After explaining the commandment to "honor" thy Father and thy Mother, she asked, "Is there a commandment that teaches us how to treat our brothers and sisters?" Without missing a beat one little boy (the oldest of a family) answered, "Thou shall not kill."


The children were lined up in the cafeteria of a Catholic elementary school for lunch. At the head of the table was a large pile of apples. The nun made a note, and posted on the apple tray: "Take only ONE. God is watching."Moving further along the lunch line, at the other end of the table was a large pile of chocolate chip cookies. A child had written a note, "Take all you want. God is watching the apples!"


A Kindergarten teacher was observing her classroom of children while they were drawing. She would occasionally walk around to see each child's work. As she got to one little girl who was working diligently, she asked what the drawing was.The girl replied, "I'm drawing God."The teacher paused and said, "But no one knows what God looks like."Without missing a beat, or looking up from her drawing, the girl replied, "They will in a minute."

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God / family / and friends with every word and every action.