Can You Draft Around the Learning Curve?

Race car drivers know all about drafting. The idea is to get so close behind a car that the air travels over their car and then over your car without creating resistance in front of your car. I just found out this year that drafting also helps the car in front (click on the picture for a larger version and you can read the explanation).

So I thought about drafting as I was experiencing the "learning curve" at work these past two weeks. At the Vine, the administrative pastor is in charge of maintenance. That means when a toilet starts leaking, I can either pay big bucks to get it fixed (not a very popular option with the finance people), find somebody in the church to help me (after hours or on the weekend) or I can figure out how to do it myself. It would appear that taking out a toilet and putting in a new one is not that hard. I didn't have anybody to "draft" on this one, and it didn't go quickly, but it's in and it's working, we didn't have to pay somebody else to do it and I didn't have to go in after hours to get help. That works for me.

And then there was the "tile issue" in the foyer of the church. A number of years ago, we had a drinking fountain put in. We had a guy in the church who built his own homes come put it in for us. He ran the water lines, installed the fountain and tiled the floor and wall behind the fountain. For the past two years we've been having problems because the cooling capacity of the fountain was not enough for the number of people we have wanting cold water on a Texas-hot Sunday morning. And then the thing must have started leaking because the wood floor tiles started warping and busted the tile. I found a man in the church who has the ability to fix the problem, but he is only available on Saturdays. Well, this Wednesday, George and I got rained out on our outdoor project (another whole story), so I thought "Eh, I bet we can take up that tile, fix the wood below it and re-tile that little area before noon (George helps me 9am to noon on Wednesdays)." SOMEBODY PLEASE TELL ME WHAT I WAS THINKING! First of all, talk about a learning curve...I have never laid tile (I have never even taken up tile). George is a much handier man than I, so I thought I would "draft" him on this one. First "issue"...George had never laid tile before, either.

I still did not feel this was a big issue. I asked George to go to the hardware store and get what we would need. I figured he would ask somebody there about tiling and could figure it out (again, he's handier than I am). He was also going to price tile "just in case" since we somehow thought we could reuse the same tile. Once he was there, I called him and told him to purchase the tile since the old tiles (the ones that were still glued down and had not come up with the warped floor) broke when I pulled them up. And then I saw all the glue/cement on the back and figured out that you don't reuse tile anyway (it's the learning curve thing). That was "issue" two.

"Issue" three came up as I was removing the floor tile next to the tiled wall. I touched (that's right...I TOUCHED it, I did not HIT it) a tile on the back wall and three tiles came crashing down. Oops. Not only is that more tile, but that means learning how to put tile on a wall. In a rare move of handy man thinking, I realized we could put panel up where the tile was and not lose anything. It's not like the water fountain was squirting water onto the wall.

So George got back and we finished tearing up the tile. Of course, as with any handy man project of any size I begin, I had to go back to the hardware store now. We needed some more trim wood and the panel to put up where the tile was. George and I headed to Lowe's and then we met Stan for lunch. I forgot to mention that Stan, also tiling-illiterate, was helping us all this time.

After lunch, Pastor Shaun helped us lay out the tile and told us we were "good" across the area we needed to tile, but we were going to have to cut some half tiles to cover the length of the area. And since we were back from the hardware store already, we also found out they make some sort of little plastic spacers to help keep the tile straight? Oh well. We used an extra half piece of tile as a spacer. Short version...Shaun, who was the only tile-literate person in the bunch, had to leave. We got 3/5 of the tile laid and then saw we had a HUGE gap at the side. We had to re-space the tiles and we could not use a piece of tile to help us space it evenly...we had to eyeball it. This, "issues" 3 and 4, no guides for laying the tile and cheap tile which was not exactly the same size!

Anyway, George took charge of cutting and laying the tile while Stan helped. I sized and cut the trim and paneling. "Issue" 5...it was 4:30 PM (not noon) when we got done. If you think it has taken a long time to read all of this...you should have been living it! Anyway, on Thursday I learned how to grout tile. All in all, I don't think it looks to bad. The grout covered up a few "issues". Maybe one day George and I will redo the trim work since it doesn't look all that great. And one day soon, we'll have a new drinking fountain to put on my new tile. Fortunately we were able to throw the old one away since the leak could not be fixed. Although I now know how to tile, I'm not in a hurry to redo that area again anytime soon.

So, I'm continuing to learn how to be a handier man...as I ponder, 'Can you craft around the learning curve?'

- Rob

Too Big For My Britches or Too Good To Be True

Have I mentioned that it rained, A LOT, last weekend? Oh yes, I told you about the whole flooding thing. Well, with all that rain, it was bound to happen...my weeds grew and so I had to mow today. I do not like mowing. Fortunately it is not a skilled labor job (at least not at the level I do it), so I can do it without too much trouble, but I really do not enjoy it. If the weather is 'nice enough' to mow the yard, I figure it is nice enough to read a book on the back porch, take the dogs for a walk, take Amanda to the park, go geocahing or some other such enjoyable activity. But I digress.

So it was time to mow today. Since I push mow the back and ride the rest (I mow our yard and two pieces of church property in exchange for using the church's lawn mowing equipment), I always do the back yard first. The push mower has not been started all year, so when I pulled the rope over and over again in an attempt to get the motor to start, the most noticeable thing that happened was my arm got tired. Pastor David reminded us this week that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results, so I decided I needed to take something apart to fix the problem. Now mind you, I know nothing about mowers, it's just that it seemed like somebody who would know about mowers would take the thing apart at a time like this, so I thought I'd give it a try. I think I found where a spring was not working properly, so I moved what I think was the choke and pulled the rope again. Whatever I did, the mower started this time.

The good news is, I did not have to wrestle with pride after fixing the mower ever-so-expertly...I didn't wrestle one bit, I just blowed up like a big 'ol puffer fish being so proud of myself. Somethin' was wrong with the mower and I took it apart and fixed it. I mowed the back yard with no trouble at all.

After that, it was time to start on the front yard. Now the riding lawn mower had already been taken apart and tinkered with and been used a couple times this year, although no mowing had been done yet. I got the mower about half way from the shed to my front yard when it just up and quit...kaput. I tried restarting it and got it to backfire several times, but that was about it. Since I was still a little puffed up with pride at my earlier feats, I took a thing or two apart, put it back together and expected the mower to start for me (after all, it must have been a good karma day for lawn mower fixin', right?). Well, it's a good thing I don't believe in karma, 'cause I didn't have any. No matter what I did, I got nothing better than a backfire. Obviously the mower is going to need someone with more experience (and better mower karma).

Since you have not had much to do with our church's riding lawn mower, you probably don't know that when it stops, for some reason, it stays in gear. This means there is no neutral, so it is near impossible to push. So here I was with the mower half way to the front yard and it would not budge. I don't know how much it weighs, but I'm guessing roughly triple what I could easily pick up and carry back to the shed. But what I lacked in muscles, I made up for in ingenuity. I brought the car around, tied the mower to it and drug the silly thing back to the shed. From there, I had to lift up the back end (yes, completely off the ground) and push it (front tires still on the ground) up the ramp into the shed.

By this time, my back was hurting and I was sweating like one of those overweight people (yes, it's a joke...I am one). I don't know if I just got too big for my britches today or if it was just too good to be true my fixin' the mowers and all, but now I have to figure out how to get the mower into the trailer and take it someplace to get serviced. I gotta tell ya, the story was a WHOLE lot more fun to tell that it was to live through today. But some things are just like that I guess. Anyway, I'll let you know how the rest turns out.

- Rob

It's Not "That" Picture

I have a friend, who shall remain nameless. He said, "Hey! It's been days! Come on! Post something... but not the picture of me asleep." So instead of posting that picture, I'll just post this picture of my friend Brad as he "listens to music with his eyes closed" in the office!

Life

Life is a succession of lessons
which must be lived to be understood.

- Ralph Waldo Emerson.

The Nap Part Was Good

Brooke is always good about unpacking right after we get back from being out of town. Me? It usually takes me a day or two. I knew after church today I was going to need to clean up my office because all of my trip stuff was spread out all over the place in my office, but it started to rain. If you read my A Few of My Favorite Things post, you know my favorite thing to do on a rainy day is take a nap, so the clean up had to wait.

While napping, I got a call saying that the Altar for tonight (prayer/praise service) was cancelled because more severe thunderstorms were moving in...and by the way, the sanctuary is flooding, too! Now, by flooding, I merely mean that the carpet is soaked (from the back door half was up to the platform on the one side of the sanctuary), not that stuff is beginning to float or anything like that. And this did not really come as a surprise because this happens when we get a lot of rain in a short period of time. Until we get some landscaping work done, this means the carpet has to be wet vac'd and the ditch outside has to be cleared out and dug a little deeper/wider (the ditch is a stop gap to reduce the flow of water into the sanctuary).

Since we were going to be getting more rain, I knew I had to get over there and get started. While I dug out our "overflow ditch", another guy started vacuuming up water in the sanctuary. I had dug out the ditch when it began to rain again, so I went inside to help with the vacuuming. It was raining hard, so I opened the back door to see how the overflow ditch was holding up. The ditch was holding up great, but water was gushing in the back door. The gutters were full of junk so the water was pouring off the roof onto the concrete right in front of the back door...and under the door into the sanctuary. I grabbed a ladder and ran out into the rain to clear the drain. A good friend came out with me (also getting soaked) to help. I got the drain cleared by the time the really hard rain stopped and the problem seemed to be fixed. We dug out and drained (as best we could) the ditch one more time in hopes of keeping the rest of the rain out for the night.

So tomorrow, I'll do some more wet vacuuming, maybe some more ditch digging and maybe call the carpet cleaning people. I haven't been that wet out in the rain in a while. Amanda probably would have thought it was fun. Anyway, thanks Steve and Brad for your help today. At least the nap part was good!

- Rob

Mild, But a Panic Nonetheless

While we've been in Alabama visiting Brooke's family, her Mom and Dad decided to upgrade to DSL Internet (YEA!). Not being particularly "computer inclined", they asked me to set it up while we're home, so I called the phone company on Saturday, got the order rolling and waited to receive the modem and setup disc. The stuff from the phone company came on Tuesday, so I've got them online, download virus and spyware protection for them and have updated Windows online. Oh, did I mention they are running Windows 98 with just 64 megs or RAM? So, I've downloaded a more efficient disk defragmenter, run msconfig and shut down any programs that do not need to run at startup and downloaded/updated/scanned everything I could to try and keep the computer from running so slow and locking up. Now that they have DSL, content is downloaded to their computer faster than the computer can process it!

So the panic came just a little bit ago. I've got some old computer memory laying around back home, so I thought I'd check what kind of memory this computer uses and maybe I could mail them some additional memory and let my sister-in-law's husband install it for them. I got the computer open, pulled out the RAM, checked it and put it back in the computer. Those of you who are a little quicker than the average person may already have guessed what happened when I rebooted the computer...NOTHING.

So here I am, having spent numerous hours installing DSL, getting the most out of their computer, etc and now it goes down...13 hours before we plan to leave. Of course I panicked! I shut the computer back down, unplugged it and opened it up. Fortunately I just had not snapped the memory into place properly. Once that was fixed we were back in business. I'm just glad it was that simple. It was mild, but a panic nonetheless.

- Rob

A Day in the Life ...On Vacation

Don't want to start the day too strenuously.
Amanda watched TV and Mommy read.

Amanda and Dady headed to Hartselle for park play and geocaching.
Hartselle is the town where Brooke grew up.

This is a park where we played and geocached.

Amanda Kay preparing for a treasure swap.

"Daddy, can we play?"

It's a little hard to tell from this perspective...this is one of those
plastic tunnels they have on playground equipment.
This is Amanda Kay from the outside.

Amanda Kay on the inside of the tunnel thing.

Yes, it's my "official" geocaching outfit.

22 caches found, 2 hidden

Geocaching in Alabama

The first day we went out, we took cousins David and Hannah with us.
Hannah was the first (in our group) to find one of the caches that day.

The family that geocaches together...gets stuck together if there are thorns.
Fortunately, woods in Alabama don't seem to have near as many thorns/briars as Texas.

This was Brooke's first geocaching adventure with us.

This time, David did everything from program the GPS, lead the way
through the woods and discover the cache.

Obedience

This came from my devotion time this morning in the Student's Life Application Bible. Made me think about how obedient I am to God.

Deuteronomy 8:1 tells us to obey Gods' commands. We do this by obeying God with:

• OUR HEART - By loving him more than any relationship, activity, achievement, or possession
• OUR WILL - By committing ourselves completely to him
• OUR MIND - By seeking to know him and his Word, so his principles and values form the foundation of all we think and do
• OUR BODY - By recognizing that our strengths,talents, and sexuality are given to us by God to be used for pleasure and fulfillment according to his rules, not ours
• OUR FINANCES - By deciding that all of the resources we have ultimately come from God, and that we are to be managers of them and not owners
• OUR FUTURE - By deciding to make service to God and people the main purpose of our life's work

"And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you? He requires you to fear him, to live according to his will, to love and worship him with all your heart and soul, and to obey the Lord's commands and laws that I am giving you today for your own good." (Deut. 10:12-13, NLT)

-Rob

From Trauma to Victory

Our "day" started at 7:00am on Friday. For the first time since she has started school, Amanda was up before the alarm clock went off. She knew her friend Rosanne was having a birthday party Friday night and then we would be heading to Alabama. Amanda went to the party, Brooke and I took the doggies to Duncanville (my parents are keeping them for us), we picked up Amanda and then I slept for an hour and a half while Brooke and Amanda watch a movie.

At Midnight, it was time to hit the road. Amanda and Brooke slept while I rotated listening to Nimitz Class (book on CD) by Patrick Robinson and loud music (on the Dell DJ) to keep me awake. I made it until 5:15am at which time I pulled over to a roadside park for a half hour nap. About 30 minutes later we were in Vicksburg, Mississippi which is the half way point of the trip. We gassed up, Brooke took over the driving and I got another hour or so of sleep.

We arrived in Decatur just in time for lunch. Brooke and Amanda went with Mom and cousin Hannah to see MaMa Gin (Brooke's grandmother) while Dad, my nephew David and I played some Texas Hold 'Em (Alabama style). David and I also did some prep work on the Internet for tomorrow when David, Hannah, Amanda and I will do some geocaching.

But the real "excitement" began after dinner...Amanda had a loose tooth. If you have followed this blog, you know that the last loose tooth was quite an "experience" and Amanda (aka "Drama Queen") wanted to make sure this one was no different. And it was no different. 40 minutes and several screams after the ordeal began, Brooke sat her down and yanked the tooth out! As soon as the tears were dry, Amanda was parading around showing everybody what a great thing "she" did...from trauma to victory in a matter of moments.

So Spring Break 2006 has began. Who knows what excitement tomorrow holds.

- Rob

This is Why I Blog

I was harrassing a blogging family I know because they have not had a new post in while (Brad, Dawn and Laura). So I get up this morning, and Dawn has posted to her blog:

(Titled "Because Rob Bullied Me" with a :-D next to it)
This is for my friend Rob who said I should include boring stuff about my life in my blog and not just wait around for something profound...so this is for you my friend...yep, it is one of things a friend passed on email. (you can read the whole thing here).

So, since I was called out by name, I had to come back with a response. I tried to be a little humorous, but I really just put into writing why I blog. When I got done, I thought, goodness, that sounded more like a blog posting than a comment. So here is what I said:

Since this is some of the same type "boring" stuff I put on my blog, I hope your other friends don't think this is boring either. Now I know stuff about you that I did not know before. To me, that's not boring, that's getting to know your friends better.

Different people blog for different reasons. My blog is just about my life...sometimes boring, sometimes sharing more about me, maybe even something profound every once-in-a-while (maybe?). I write for me ('cause I like to write) and for my friends/family who would care about the 'boring,' everyday stuff that happens in my life (or who would likely laugh at the same stuff I laugh at).

I've got pastor friends who write pastoral blogs or who are making an effort to change culture through what they write, friends who only write about out of the ordinary, 'interesting' things in their lives and friends who only write when they learn something from an experience they had. All of these are fine...I was merely observing that people like me who write 'boring' things about everyday life have more to blog about.

By golly, look at me. I should have put all of this on MY blog! :+)

Thank you for sharing 'boring' stuff that lets me get to know you better.

So for those of you who wonder, this is why I blog.

- Rob

Scam Warning

Like you, I hate it when people forward bogus warnings -- but this one is important. And you might want to forward this to those you care about.

If someone comes to your front door saying they are conducting a survey on deer ticks and asks you to take your clothes off and dance around with your arms up, DO NOT DO IT...IT IS A SCAM! They only want to see you naked.

I wish I'd gotten this yesterday. I feel so stupid now.

Cherokee Proverb

"When you were born,
you cried and the world rejoiced.
Live your life so that when you die,
the world cries and you rejoice."

- Cherokee Proverb

Daddy/Daughter Day

Amanda and I went geocaching today...a beautiful day.
By the way...we were three for three today, baby!
(we found 3 out of 3 caches we hunted)

This cache was Amanda's first find. I read the clue
and she went right to the correct tree. The cache is
hidden under the wood pile.

No, there is no turtle inside. Yes, I let my
daughter pick up a dead turtle.

A Few of My Favorite Things - Part I

• When I am by myself: READ WHILE LISTENING TO SMOOTH JAZZ
• When I am with a group of my guy friends: PLAY TEXAS HOLD 'EM INTO THE WEE HOURS OF THE MORNING
• Daddy/Daughter time: GEOCACHING and PLAY WRESTLING
• Hanging out with my Pastor: BEATING HIM AT RACQUETBALL (WHEN I CAN)
• When I am on a date with my wife: EAT AT CHILI'S THEN CATCH A MOVIE
• When I am with my family at home: GRILL HAMBURGERS ON THE ELECTRIC GRILL IN THE LIVING ROOM WHILE WATCHING A MOVIE
• On sunny spring day when I am by myself: SIT ON THE BACK PORCH READING A BOOK AND DRINKING SOME SORT OF CAFENE FREE, CALORIE FREE, ASPERTAME FREE BEVERAGE
• On a rainy day: LISTEN TO IT RAIN AND TAKE A NAP
• Late night when I am by myself: WATCH A VIOLENT WAR MOVIE
• Surfing the Internet: BLOG AND READ TECH NEWS
• Shopping (i.e. looking at stuff I would buy if money were not an issue): FRY'S ELECTRONICS
• Non-people part of my job: ADDING TO AND UPDATING THE CHURCH WEB SITE
• People part of my job: HELPING PEOPLE DISCOVER AND USE THEIR TALENTS, GIFTS AND ABILITIES TO SERVE OTHERS; SPEND TIME WITH OUR LIFE GROUP LEADERS
• With my parents: REMEMBERING THE GOOD TIMES GROWING UP AND PLAYING CARD GAMES
• When I need to feel loved: WALK IN MY FRONT DOOR, SIT ON THE COUCH AND LET MY DOGS GO SPAZ BECAUSE THEY ARE EXCITED TO SEE ME
• When my college roommate comes to visit: PLAY PING PONG; EAT KRISPY KREME DONUTS AND TALK ABOUT HOW FAT WE BOTH ARE
• Books of the Bible: PROVERBS, JAMES, 1 JOHN

Hide It And They Will Come

Amanda and I got out this week and hid our first cache for others to find: Treasure Island. Today was the first day it was listed on the www.geocaching.com web site and three people found it already. Hide it and they will come.

- Rob

Stats from www.geocaching.com today: There are 24,1074 active caches in 221 countries. In the last 7 days, there have been 148,500 new logs written by 24,892 account holders.

Silly Sully

I guess at the exact moment I snapped this picture Sully decided to lick his chops, but I took the picture to show how silly he is. It was not cold enough to have the heater turned on, but Amanda had it on anyway. And what does Sully do when the heater is on? He lays in front of it...even when it makes him pant like he was when I took this picture!
- Rob

I Had to Laugh Out Loud

OK, I'll admit I was curious. When I read the headline "No Flush: Let the Yellow Mellow" I had to click it and check it out. The article talks about how waterless urinals are going to save the planet. Well, maybe not save the planet, but the environmentalists think the idea is great. On the other hand, plumbers say it is a terrible idea. Well, you can read it and form your own opinion, but the reason I enjoyed reading the article so much was a comment left by one of the readers. The part of the comment you could read said, "We've had waterless urinals at my house for..." and then when you click on it read the rest of the quote, you find "We've had waterless urinals at my house for years. Only we call them "bushes". I had to laugh out loud.


- Rob

Be Like Jesus

Amanda loves hating the devil (that's OK, right?), so we just had to
get this shirt for her when we saw it.

Man's Best Friend

This was forwarded to me twice, so you've probably seen it, but it is cute enough to post here.

Perfect Ending to a Great Day

Today, our church had singer and song writer Jeff Ferguson minister. It was a good service this morning and again at our Altar (prayer/worship) serice this evening.

The past couple weekends, it has been mostly rainy and cold. We got a LOT of rain this week, but it was sunny and warm today so Amanda and I had to do squeeze a little geocaching in today. (By the way, I found this little six minute video on geocahing if you don't know much about it and are interested. OK, I just watched the video again. It is a little cheezy, but it does a good job of showing what is involved). Amanda likes playing UNO, so she was excited to find this in the cache. We found this cache and a virtual cache (a landmark like this footbridge). We were not able to find one cache and we found another place to hide a second cache of our own. (We have the first cache in place but need to make a few changes before listing it with www.geocaching.com for others to hunt).

So after our fun in the sun (and thorns), we got cleaned up and headed to the Altar. After church tonight it was time for bed. After Amanda and I prayed, she looked at me and said, "Daddy, I love you so much it almost makes me cry." Wow...a perfect ending to a great day.

- Rob

True Ministry

I like the bumper sticker that says, "Three best things about being a teacher…June, July, August" but it misses the point of teaching. Empty classrooms may be more manageable, but you can't teach in them. So too ministry, apart from people, is not true ministry.

- Taken from an encouraging article at ChristianityToday.com for pastors titled Stuck in the "Before" Picture

A Fun, Full Night

After work, I came home and Brooke had spaghetti cooking for dinner. We ate soon after and then Amanda and I did homework while Brooke finished up her Bible study for tonight. Amanda did a good job getting all of her homework done tonight, so we needed to go out and do something fun. While Brooke headed over to church for Bible study, Amanda and I grabbed the GPS, the flashlight and a couple bucks. We took the money and ran in Walgreens to grab a couple items to trade out in a cache and then headed out to a local park to do our first night time geocache. We found the first cache we tried and Amanda traded a stuffed unicorn for this little plastic suitcase full of hair scrunchies and stuff. We found the area where the second cache we were looking for had to be hidden, but we didn't find it. The cache was right near someone's back yard. When they came outside we wandered off rather than stay and shine our flashlight near the border of their property, so we'll have to try and find the second cache some other time. We came home, Amanda got a bath and went to bed. It was fun, full night.

- Rob

So I Brought It Home

I've got the geocaching bug now, so today I decided to start looking for a place to hide my own cache (for others to come find). I found a good potential spot, but I've got to explore a little more. The way I got in will not be navagatable in six weeks because of all the thorns, briars, etc, but I think I've got a great spot to work with. I've checked and there don't appear to be any other caches close. While I was out, I found this skull. I'm not sure if it is a fox, coyote or a dog, but it looked pretty cool so I brought it home.

- Rob

Mmmm Mmmm Good

Grilled shrimp...that's what we had for Valentine's Day. We ate at home because our big "Valentine's Date" will be at the end of March when I take Brooke to see Phantom of the Opera. But Brooke wanted Tuesday evening to be special, so she bought some shrimp, I seasoned it with some Caribbean Jerk seasoning and mmmm mmmmm good!

- Rob

Photo Blog: GeoCaching With My Friend Randy

For the uninitiated, here is the short version of how geocaching works. A person goes to www.geocaching.com, types in their zip code (or the zip code where they want to go geocaching) and find the GPS coordinates where a cache is hidden. Using the provided map, you drive to where the cache is, park your car and use your GPS unit to get to the coordinates. Once you reach the coordinates, you are close to where the cache is found (close because most GPS handheld units are accurate anywhere from 3 to 30 feet). A typical cache is some sort of container which contains a log book for people to sign who find the cache and maybe some trinkets. You bring a trinket and trade for one in the container if you want. The cache Randy and I hunted today was a multi-leg cache. On a multi-leg cache, you find the first cache, and all it contains is the coordinates to the second cache which has the log book, etc.

Randy ran through some bushes and came out
with these bugs all over him!
Actually, they were burrs, but they look like
some sort of bug, don't they!

Today's cache was a multi-leg. Here's the first cache I found

The first part of the cache was on one side of the river.
The second part was on the other side...
we had a choice.

The cache logs said something about a "dangerous part"

Guess we found out what "dangerous" meant

Whew! We made it across

Randy found the second part of the cache

Randy signing the log for both of us

Keeping it Fun

When Amanda and I do homework this week, we are supposed to spend a good deal of our time learning how to count change. Her teacher says it is one of the most difficult things first graders have to learn. Amanda and I would tend to agree with her teacher...learning how to count change is tough stuff!

I was trying to think of ways to help Amanda understand (since both of us were getting frustrated last night), so I came up with the idea for "Daddy's Candy Store". Amanda is a candy fiend, so I thought I'd run to the store, pick up some candy, put price tags on it, give Amanda some change and let her shop. When I ran to Walgreens tonight, I picked up a stuffed Nemo along with the candy, so Amanda thought it should be "Daddy's Fun Store" since we had more than just candy.

Well, the idea was a good one and Amanda enjoyed shopping, but I'm not sure how much it helped here learn to count change. Amanda purchased about three things and then we got stuck not being able to figure out how to make the correct change for the rest. I was getting frustrated, so we got one more item purchased for the correct price and shut the store down for the evening. To end on an "up" note (instead of ending with Daddy being frustrated), we said the reason for shutting down the store was to make sure there was more stuff to buy tomorrow.

So at this point, Nemo has a new home, Amanda has a new stuffed animal to sleep with and Daddy is going to have to work on a better way of explaining how to count money while making sure the store stays "fun"!

- Rob

Not Much Blogging Going On (But Thanks for the Comments)

So here I am, sitting down for the evening ready to read my friends' blogs and blog myself. Let's see: Forward Motion: Changing Lives (my friend Steve)...no, his last post was Sunday. Ramblings of a Christian Insomniac Musician (my friend Brad)...no, his last post was January 27. Downloads From Heaven (Brad's Wife)...no, she last posted on Sunday. Let's check Laura's, Brad's daughter, blog ( Laura's World)...no, she last posted on Monday. Man, she had me going with this story she was writing, but now the story is done and she's left me hanging since Monday. Although I'm not holding my breath, I head over to check out my friend Jason's blog, Sincere Randomness. It appears he posted a day after Brad, but that was January 28th. Well, Pastor has just started blogging and he has been pretty regular, so I'll head over to Pastoral Ponderings...no, like Laura, he has not posted since Monday.

Although my friends have no new posts since Monday or earlier, quite a few have visited my blog and read my post from this past Monday. Monday was not a great day for me, but it was GREAT and a real comfort to have friends comment and encourage me. Some of you posted a comment and others just commented in person, but I really appreciate your encouragement. My friend Jason told me I would sweat less if I lost weight (I complained all summer about sweating "like a fat guy") and my friend Steve told me it might help, when I want something more or better to eat, to think about all the people in the world who would be ever so thankful to eat whatever "healthy alternative" I have in front of me. Thanks Jason, Steve, Brooke and others who took the time to encourage me, help me laugh and pray for me. It's pretty cool that God puts us in a family like he does so we are surrounded by people who love and care about us.

Well, the weekend is here (weekend is Friday, Saturday for me since I'm off on Friday). I was hoping Amanda and I could go geocaching this weekend, but true to Texas, the weather is doing a flip from all week and it is supposed to be cold here. [If my friend Craig (college roommate) went online enough to read my blog, I would admit to him that "cold" is a relative term. He lives on Lake Huron in Michigan and has over two feet of snow right now!] Anyway, since we won't be geocaching, I think I'll be heading to the store to buy some candy and gum tomorrow. Amanda is learning (trying to learn) about money and how to count out change. Her teacher says it is one of the hardest things they have to learn in 1st grade, and Amanda is struggling right now. But if Amanda can "buy" gum and candy and Mommy and Daddy's store by learning how to count out the correct change, I think she will go back to school on Monday with a MUCH better understanding of counting out money. We'll give it a try and let you know how it comes out.

Brooke is watching Dancing with the Stars which I recorded for her earlier, and I hope she will be awake enough to watch last night's LOST after that, but I'm not going to hold my breath. Guess I'll go check on how's she doing and sign off for now.

Not much blogging going on, but thanks again for your comments and encouragement this week!

- Rob

Today Was a Bit Discouraging

Today started out ok. I went in to work 15 minutes early so we could get done counting offering in time for me to get to my doctor's appointment. It was time for my annual heart checkup. The doctor said everything seems fine, but he is concerned about my weight gain. I knew I had gained weight over the holidays, but I weigh more now than I have at any time in my life. I know what I've got to do (lose the weight), but the thought is very depressing.

Only one time in my life have I been successful in losing weight. It was right after I went into the hospital with my blood pressure and pulse rate sky high. I thought I was having a heart attack. I realized then that I could very well end up dying early and leaving my family without a dad and husband, and that scared me enough to change my diet and lose the weight. That lasted for a while, but I eventually gained it back until I got to where I am today. I will lose the weight again, and I hope to be able to keep it off. But that is what is so discouraging...I know what it is going to take.

I think I saw it on an episode of Friends. Somebody saw a guy they hadn't seen since high school, and they hardly recognized him because he had lost so much weight since then. They asked the guy how he did it, and he joked, "I'm pretty much just miserable all the time." I can relate because that is how I feel when I'm dieting. I lose weight by following a low-fat diet. It seems to me a cruel irony that the better a food tastes, the worse it is for you, but I find this to be true. I do not like most vegetables (except corn and potatoes which are not the most healthy members of the veggie family), the only fish I don't mind is EXTREMELY expensive and the food I like is what I should not eat. Fast food is out. And why bother going out to eat if you have to order salad and a chicken breast every time? It's not that I mind salads (minus all the stuff that is good for you) or chicken breasts, it's just that these are not as good as what I really want to order from the menu. It's ok for about two weeks, but after that, it just seems I have to make myself "pretty much miserable all the time" in order to lose/keep off the weight. I will do what I have to do for my family's sake, but I feel like I'm sentencing myself to misery to do it.

And then I got back to the office and started in earnest on a project that is overwhelming me right now. I'm got too many projects going, and it is stressing me out. I plan out my week and say, "OK, from this time to this time I am going to do nothing but work on this project." And so what happens at that particular time? The copier has problems requiring my immediate attention, the office network goes down, a toilet gets plugged up or some other thing happens that requires I skip what I going to do and give attention to the immediate need. And then there are the projects that I would really like to start (some things that are in my heart to do), but where's the time to do it?

I love my job and love what I do at my job. The projects I need to complete are challenging and fulfilling, and even the pressing things that demand my immediate attention are not things I hate to do (except for the plugged up toilets). Everybody I work with has so much stuff to do they also wonder how it is going to get done, so I'm not a special case. And then I've got friends who are facing issues in their personal lives I could not imagine having to deal with. I know my "problems" are petty and these "difficulties" will soon pass. I am thankful for God's blessings, my family, my job and my health...I just guess today was a bit discouraging.

- Rob

A Very Proud Daddy Moment

Not only did my daughter desire to follow the Lord in water baptism, but I got to baptize her. How cool is that! Amanda decided it would be pretty intimidating to say something in front of the whole church from the baptistry, but if you ask her, she will tell you she wanted to be baptized because she wants everyone to know she has asked Jesus into her heart. Yup, Mommy and Daddy are pretty proud!

A New Hobby

It was a perfect day to start our new hobby - geocaching. If you're not familiar with geocaching, here's the basic idea. A person owns a GPS unit. They got to an area (in the woods, at a park, in a field, etc) and hide some sort of container. The container has log book inside and then whatever else they want to put (coins, deck of cards, McDonald's kids' toys, etc). This container is called a "cache". The cache owner uses the GPS to get a reading of where the cache is. He/she then goes to www.geocaching.com, registers themselves and records where the cache is hidden. Other people may then go to the web site, search by zip code and find caches hidden in the area they want to search. Each listing has a map to the general location, the GPS coordinates and usually some sort of description and possibly a few clues. (There are different kinds of caches and levels of difficulty, but I'll let you read about that at www.geocaching.com if you are interested). The searcher uses his/her GPS unit to get close to the coordinates, and then the challenge is finding the cache hiding in a tree, partially buried under a log, etc. Once the cache is found, the searcher signs the log book and then may swap something he/she brought for one of the "treasure pieces" (that is how Amanda sees it) in the cache.

So it was in the 70's today and a perfect day for Amanda and I to give it a try. We started with easy, beginner caches at a park right down the street from us (Cliff Nelson 1). It was a "micro" cache...it was a film container strapped to a tree (see picture). We signed the log and Amanda traded the plastic ring she had on her finger for the colored stone inside.

The second cache (Cliff Nelson 2) was a little more challenging for us, but we found it. Here Amanda traded a rubber ball for a pink hair scrunchy.

Next, we were off looking for the Unwanted Toys cache which was report to be a large one. Amanda was particularly excited about this one. I didn't know where to park, so it ended up being a long way away from the cache. We followed the signal down a long street only to find out we hit a dead end at a fence and could not get any closer without going through somebody's property. So we turned around, followed a different road and finally got there. Amanda's trade this time was a pink ball for a green "Mike" toy (from Monster's Inc.).

The last cache we searched for was called Tyler's Ear Plugs. I did not notice this a "micro" cache until we got home, so we were looking for the wrong thing. Besides that, the place was FULL of briars and thorns. Being newbies, we gave up and came home. 3 out of 4 for our first day made us happy.

So Amanda and I have a new hobby together and we are looking forward to next weekend so we can try it again.

- Rob

All In Day

It has been a busy day. Things started out great when we checked our bank account balance and saw that our tax return had been deposited...thank you Jesus! We've been waiting for this money. Today we bought new tires for the car, got some repair work done on the car, got the car inspected and refilled our prescriptions fulfilling our deductible for the year. We've still got a few more bills to pay and I still need to purchase those Phantom of the Opera tickets for Brooke's Valentines' Day, but we certainly got a lot of necessary things taken care of today.

On the "not-so-necessary-but-still-very-nice" side of things, I was also able to get my Magellan Explorist 200 GPS out of lay-away today. I'm hoping that Amanda and I can go geocaching tomorrow (or treasure hunting as Amanda sees it).

Tonight was guys Friday night poker at my house. Games have not gone well for me when we play here. Tonight, I was second one out on the first game, first one out on the second game...and then my luck changed and I won the last game. Luck certainly was on my side as I won a few hands on the river, but I also a little proud of myself. When there were just three of us left, all I had left in chips was $1, 040 (just enough to cover the big blind) and from there I went on to win. Fold, All In...Fold, All In...all the way to the end!

So now it's late (or actually very early in the morning) and I'm finding a couple things to do to let my mind wind down so I can go to sleep. It's been a good "All In" day.

- Rob

Password, Please

We entered an elevator with another couple from our hotel. Our 5-year-old son, Eric, asked the couple for the password to get off. They guessed, "Watermellon?"

Eric replied, "No, it's Jesus. That's the password for heaven, too."

- Submitted by Laura Mullins of Mequon, WI to Focus on the Family Magazine

If We Would Just Listen

Pretty gross picture, huh? This is a picture of Daren Davis, described as "an innocent bystander" who was hit in the lip by a Dallas police pepper ball gun (story on wfaa.com here, you have to sign in to read the article, but it's free).

According to Mr. Davis, he and a friend were walking out of a bar where police were trying to break up a fight and he was hit in the lip by a pepper ball fired by the police. The police claim that Davis' lip was split when another suspect fell into him and hit Davis' lip with his head.

I was talking to a police officer friend about this incident. I told him I did not buy the "somebody hit you in the mouth with his head story." My friend said that could be the case, but he also gave me something else to think about. If there was a big fight going on outside the bar, why didn't the guy move away from the fight instead of going over to where it was when police were already struggling to break up the fight? Maybe he was an innocent bystander, but maybe he would not have been hit {innocently} if he had stayed out of the way and let the police handle what was already a difficult situation.

Who's right, I don't know. I can't find a follow up article, but I thought about Darren Davis this morning when I read "Do not join a crowd that intends to do evil..." from Exodus 23:2. I know a lot of people who take no heed to this simple warning. We wouldn't think of joining in a group who was planning to assassinate the President of the United States, but how many Christian teens have "joined in a crowd" who have vandalized property (even if they themselves did nothing) or as an adult, joined in a crowd who was causing a disturbance.

I wasn't there when Darren Davis got shot, so I can't pass judgment on his actions, but he did walk toward the fight "to see what was going on". Even from his account, had he walked the other way, it seems he may have avoided this incident. Was he to blame? Perhaps not, but the whole incident just reminded how practical God's Word is everyday...if we would just listen.

- Rob

That's the Way I Like It

Had a great night tonight. Well, it was not as perfect as it could have been because Brooke was out of town for a children's ministry conference, but we tried to make do while she was gone. Amanda and I invited George over for dinner tonight. We had grilled chicken, baked potatoes, green beans and lemon icebox pie (mmmm, mmmm, mmmm). We then spent a little time on the computer trying to figure out some of George's e-mail problems. After that, the three of us played pigs and chickens (a dice game) which George won.

George went home around 8:30pm, so since it was still "early in the evening", I called the guys who I play Friday night poker with (Texas Hold 'Em) and asked somebody to come pick us up. I played poker and Amanda played with a friend at the same house. The guys played three games for the night and I got in on the last two. I don't know if you're dying to know how I did, but I'm dying to tell you...I won both of the games I played (we play just for chips, no money involved). I think I played solidly, but my gut feeling did well for me tonight and the cards were definitely helping me out. I won the last game on the river...got two nines to go with the one in my hand. At the flop, the guy I was playing was beating me Jacks over nines and kept his lead until the river. Wow...two for two tonight. That's the way I like it!

- Rob

Been There, Done That

My friend's husband is always telling her that housekeeping would be a snap if only she would organize her time better. Recently he had a chance to put his theory into practice while his wife was away.

When I popped in one evening to see how he was managing, he crowed, "I made a cake, frosted it, washed the kitchen windows, cleaned all the cupboards, scrubbed the kitchen floor, walls and ceiling and even had a bath."

I was about to concede that perhaps he was a better manager than his wife, when he added sheepishly, "When I was making the chocolate frosting, I forgot to turn off the mixer before taking the beaters out of the bowl, so I had to do all the rest."

Love may be blind
but marriage is a real eye-opener!

-- Anonymous

Beyond the Crisis

Another article I read in Focus on the Family Magazine. It is a story about a married woman who walked through a crisis in her life. Beyond the Crisis is a story about a woman who became pregnant as the result of rape and how she and her husband made it through.

- Rob

Two Good To Be True

I found this funny article "a humorous look at the consequences of cloning" in the January 2006 issue of Focus on the Family Magaizne. The artcile is entitled Two Good to be True. If you've got three minutes to read, it's a good laugh (especially if you're married).

- Rob

The Gift of Faith

I've heard people talk about the "gift of faith", and it's usually along the lines of being able to believe that God wants to make you rich. That's an over-simplified explanation of the teaching, but when the same thing is taught week after week, it pretty much boils down to that. I guess because I've heard too much prosperity teaching around this phrase "gift of faith", and because I believe it is so often taught out of balance, I have not really studies what it really means. I was reading in Matthew this week, and I came across Matthew 13:12-17 and it gave me a new perspective:

To those who are open to my teaching, more understanding will be given, and they will have an abundance of knowledge. But to those who are not listening, even what they have will be taken away from them. 13 That is why I tell these stories, because people see what I do, but they don't really see. They hear what I say, but they don't really hear, and they don't understand. 14This fulfills the prophecy of Isaiah, which says:

`You will hear my words,
but you will not understand;
you will see what I do,
but you will not perceive its meaning.

15
For the hearts of these people are hardened,
and their ears cannot hear,
and they have closed their eyes--
so their eyes cannot see,
and their ears cannot hear,
and their hearts cannot understand,
and they cannot turn to me
and let me heal them.'

16"But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear. 17I assure you, many prophets and godly people have longed to see and hear what you have seen and heard, but they could not. (NLT)

This whole passage starts out "To those who are open to my teaching...". How did I become open to the teachings of Christ? Is it because I was smarter than the average person? No. Is it because I was better or more holy than the average person? No. Was it because I was in the right place at the right time? No. It was because I was given the GIFT of faith. God gave me faith to believe. And once I took that initial step of faith, a lot of my questions could be answered. But I have encountered many people along the road of life who cannot accept the claims of Christ because they expect all their questions to be answered first...they fear taking even one step in faith.

Over the years, I have talked to and debated with people from all different religions and non-religions. They ask questions of the Bible and of Christianity, and I've tried to answer them. And the most frustrating thing I found was, no matter how many questions I answered or arguments I rebutted, it was never enough. I got the point where I wanted to say, "If I answer this question or prove your argument wrong, will you turn your life over to Christ?" But they never would...there was always one more question or one more, "Okay, but what about...".

Hebrews 11:6 says, So, you see, it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that there is a God and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him. (NLT) These are the Scriptures that give rise to the predestination arguments, and I'm not wanting to go there now. But the gift of faith certainly encompasses more than the prosperity message. The gift of faith is what makes our relationship with Christ possible,and I am thankful for it in my life.

- Rob

It Just Didn't Do It For Me

Brooke and I went out for my birthday Friday night. We used a Christmas present we had received from friends...a gift card to Saltgrass Steak House and a movie card. Brooke let me pick the movie since it was for my birthday, and I (unfortunately) chose Munich.

I'm not a movie critic, and actually, who cares what a movie critic has to say anyway? I like the kind of movies I like and you like the kind of movies you like and critics like the kinds of movies they like, I guess. But having said all of that, I really did NOT enjoy the movie, and neither did Brooke for that matter. I guess the main problem was the movie was just too long for me. Thus, the story moved along too slowly and there was not enough action (although "action stuff" happened, it was too far in between). I don't know...it just didn't do it for me.

- Rob

USDTV

If you live in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area, you may have seen an advertisement for USDTV. They advertise as "TV for People". Their advertised price of $19.95/month for digital TV got my attention, so I checked them out. Digital TV is a signal that is received through an antenna, run into a set top box to convert it into a digital signal and then sent to your TV. Since the signal is digital, the picture is as clear as cable or satellite. For $19.95/month I get 40 channels (all local channels, local high definition channels, a couple radar channels and ESPN 1 & 2, Fox News Channel, Disney, Disney Toons, Discovery Channel {my favorite}, The Learning Channel, Home and Garden TV, Food Channel and two other cable channels I don't remember right now).

The company is headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah and has expanded into markets in Las Vegas, Albuquerque, and Dallas/Ft. Worth. In other markets they also offer high speed internet and internet phone (VoIP). I'm hoping these will soon expand to the DFW market.

The company is new and seems to be taking off like a rocket in DFW which has caused a few problems. It took a visit from two third-party installers and finally an "official" USDTV quality assurance supervisor to get my system installed and working properly, but every time I contacted the office in Salt Lake City, they were prompt in responding to me, asking what they could do to make up for my inconvenience and throwing in a few perks here and there for the hassle. They need to work on getting more people up to speed with the installation/technical support end of it, but they know it, are working on it and did a great job of taking care of me once I told them of the problems I was having. They claim that customer service is important to them, and they put action to their words in my case.

If you live in the DFW area and would like something similar to "cable lite", you might want to check out USDTV. I'm happy with them. If you decide to try it, contact me first. I'll help you get in touch with the local USDTV people instead of a third party installer. And to be totally honest, I could get a free month of programming for referring you and that would be nice, too.

- Rob

Jack is Back...

...and all is as it should be in the world. Actually, no. Russian terrorists have taken hostages at the airport and are trying to stop a peace agreement between our President and the Russian president, former President Palmer has been assassinated, Michelle Dessler is dead and Tony Almedia is in surgery. The world is not as it should be and we need Jack...and Jack is back!

http://www.fox.com/24/

Compromise has a way of destroying convictions.
Without convictions, there is no direction.
And lack of direction will destroy life.

- Student Life Application Bible

Very Good Penmanship

We just finished doing homework for the night and now it's time to go read before bedtime, but Amanda worked so hard on her sentences that I told her we needed to take a picture and put it on the blog. Bless her heart, her hand hurts every time she writes because she grips her pencil so firmly. I suggested she not hold it so tight, but she told me that is what helps her write neatly.
(Clicking on the picture enlarges it)

-Rob

Our Nightly Routine

This is the first part of our nightly routine...I read to Amanda.
Right now we are reading The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.

This seems to have become the second part of our nightly routine...we all fall asleep!

Cats

When my nephew and his family lived on a farm, one of his favorite farm cats was involved in an accident and was killed while he was away at school.

Naturally, my sister was very concerned over how her son was going to receive the bad news. When he arrived home from school, she explained the tragedy to him and tried to console him by saying, "Don't worry son, the cat is in heaven with God now."

My nephew replied, "What's God gonna do with a dead cat?"

January - God's Fresh Start Month

HOW TO MAKE A FRESH START
1. Stop making excuses

• Quit blaming others and making yourself the victim. Others may hurt and/or scar you, but YOU are the only person who can ruin your life.
• Learn to say "It's my fault."
• People who are good at making excuses are rarely good at anything else.
  
• Proverbs.28:13 - A man who refuses to admit his mistakes can never be successful. But if he confesses and forsakes them he gets another chance.

2. Act in faith

• From Matt. 9 - According to your faith it will be done to you
• A pity party is the antithesis of faith
• God never promised that life would be fair
• The more time we spend regretting the past, the more of our future is wasted

3. Refocus

• Primarily our thoughts/the way we think
• Proverbs 4:23 - Carefully guard your thoughts because they are the source of true life (CEV)
• God is more interested in my future than in my past
• The way you think determines the way you feel. And the way you feel determines the way you act.
• Romans 12:2 - Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will know what God wants you to do, and you will know how good and pleasing and perfect his will really is. (NLT)
• The longer I dwell on the past, the longer the past will hurt me
• Focus on God's Word

4. Trust

• Trust God to help you and don't depend on yourself
• Trust God to help you do it differently
• Definition of "insanity" - doing the same thing, the same way and expecting to get different results

WHY PEOPLE FAIL (REASONS FOR FAILURE) 1. We don't prepare ourselves for the problems we are going to face in life

• Proverbs 27:12 - A prudent person foresees the danger ahead and takes precautions. The simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences. (NLT)

2. We don't listen to others

• Proverbs 15:? - Plans fail without good advice
• EGO - Edging God Out
• The person who gets too big for their britches will exposed in the end!

3. We give up too soon

• Proverbs 24:10 - If you give up when troubles come, it just show that you are weak.
• Every time something goes wrong in your life, it is an "education". Thomas Edison had many such "educations" before he came to the right material for his light bulb filament.
  

From "January - God's Fresh Start Month" by Pastor David. Vine Fellowship, January 8, 2006

A Good Investment

We got away for a staff retreat this weekend, and this is the first time in I can't remember how many years that ALL of our staff got to go. We've got a number of part-time staff members who have other jobs, but we purposely did a weekend retreat (Friday-Saturday) so that everybody could go. It was a great time together.

We left around 3:30pm on Friday and got to the retreat center around 5pm. We unpacked, rested and then had an overview of the weekend and talked about writing/rewriting our job descriptions. Next was dinner, and after that there was time for worship and then a time of teaching.

Next it was time for my favorite time of our retreats...we take turns praying for and encouraging one another. We pick a person and start praying for them allowing for words from the Holy Spirit as well. This prayer time really helps build team unity. The Lord had a word for me about where he was taking my ministry this year and it was a great encouragement as what was shared just served to confirm what the Lord had already laid on my heart. We laughed together, cried together and generally grew closer as a team.

After that, it was time for my second favorite time at our staff retreats...late night games! This year we played Texas Hold 'Em...and Pastor David won!! Of course, we played just for chips and not for money, but we had a great time.

On Saturday we had a wonderful breakfast of eggs, bacon, sausage and gravy. For those, unlike me, who preferred something healthy, they also offered cereal, grapefruit and yogurt. After breakfast we had a meeting and talked about what it means to work together as a team. Our last task for the weekend was our "year in review" in which we looked at what we did well in 2005 and what we didn't do so well in an effort to do better in 2006. We looked at what it was time to let go of and what it was time to start.

I've come back from the retreat with renewed vision for my ministry and job, and I feel a closer bond to the team I work/minister with. This weekend was a good time investment in our church and in each other.

Not In My Ability

God desires dependence, trust, and faith in him...not in my ability to please him.

- Notes on Abraham's life in Students Life Application Bible

Lots of Variety

It's been an interesting week this week. I still haven't written out my job description (after 9 months in my new position), but here's a little of the variety I've had the past few days:

• Count offering
• Rake 40 bags of leaves with George (this picture shows just some of the bags)
• Visit a different Life Group (I oversee small groups)
  
• Meet our church insurance agent for lunch at Khaki's to go over our policies for this year
  
• Write the pastor's corner for the bulletin this week
• Update the church web page several times
• Drive the church bus to pick up and drop off students for youth group (this is a weekly Daddy/Amanda routine)
  

- Rob

Transport Blimp/Plane Hybrid

Cool blimp hybrid idea. Check out the story here.

Bitterness Ate My Lunch Today

My Pastor preached a sermon MANY years ago entitled Bitterness Will Eat Your Lunch. I don't remember every point from the sermon, but I do remember him talking about how being bitter/mad/upset with somebody will eat your lunch because you are so upset about what they have done even though they are no longer there doing it. I've seen bitterness eat other people's lunch, and today it ate mine. One person I know is being a jerk about something that affects both me and other people, but it seems I am the only one willing to call them on it. There's only so much one can say without also becoming a jerk, so I have to keep my mouth shut now. I knew I should just let it go, but for some reason I stewed over it most of the afternoon...and let bitterness eat my lunch. And of course, this happened today right after I made one of my goals for the year to be more of a people person, to value relationship and try to love (genuinely) those who do things differently than I do! So whether it is God testing me, the devil tempting me or my flesh just acting out, I lost the battle today. But tonight, I am choosing to forgive and not loose the war. Why do we get upset over such stupid things?

But on a more positive note, I had an enjoyable racquetball game this morning. I got to play cut throat (three people) with two guys who are better than me. Of course I did not win, but it really helps me play better when I get to play guys better than me.

And then there is the weather. Typical of Texas, after having some of the coldest weather on record that one week in December, we got up to 83 degrees today. Now that Christmas is over, that is fine with me...especially after we got our MONSTER gas bill last week. "They" predicted that heating fuel prices would go up 60%, and that's what happened! So, any day I don't have to run my heater is a good day in my book.

So overall, today is a good day. I'm getting ready to eat dinner with my family, somebody just called and wants to take my wife shopping tonight (spend their money on her!), Amanda will read to me then we'll read some from The Magician's Nephew (first book in Chronicles of Narnia series) and I'll get to chill out to some smooth jazz and read a bit myself before bed. Silly bitterness...it got my lunch today, but that's all it's gonna get!

- Rob

Responding the Right Way

"Why are you so angry?" the Lord asked him. "Why do you look so dejected" You will be accepted if you respond in the right way. But if you refuse to respond correctly, then watch out! Sin is waiting to attack and destroy you, and you must subdue it." (Genesis 4:6-7, NLT)

This is what God said to Cain when Cain was upset that his offering was not accepted by God while the offering of his brother Abel was accpeted. We're not told exactly why Cain's offering was not acceptable, but here are a few things I learned from these two verses:

I can be accepted by God even if my initial action is unacceptable...if I respond the right way. In other words, even if I blow it, God allows me a second chance. I just have to respond the right way.

It is this responding the right way that is a problem for many people. They don't want to hear "your way is not the right way", and they are not willing to change and do things God's way. In our culture today, we would say, "Abel gave one offering and Cain gave another. Each gave what he felt he should give, therefore they are both equally acceptable offerings." For whatever reason, God said Cain's offering was not acceptable...and there was the rub. I am trying to make wiser decisions than Cain did. If God says my actions are unacceptable, but I can still be acceptable to Him if I respond correctly, I choose to repent and change my actions. The consequences of not responding this way are too great..."But if you refuse to respond correctly, then watch out! Sin is waiting to attack and destroy you, and you must subdue it."

- Rob

Walkin' With Jesus One Year

Amanda Kay,

Mommy & Daddy are very proud of your decision to give your heart to Jesus. Happy one year birthday with Jesus!

January 1, 2006