11:33 PM

Hey baby,

This is probably the last email because I don't think we can get in Managua. We will be leaving tomorrow for Managua. Did a lot of work today at the orphanage and had a pizza party tonight with the kids and gave them their boxes which they absolutely loved. I love you dearly and miss you and punkinso very much. Had a little spell today with back but am doing fine now. Can you call momma and daddy and tell them I am ok and wish momma a happy b-day for tomorrow. Thanks.

Well I love you. Give punkin major squeezes for me please. Tell the doggies I love them also.

I love you baby!

Bye,

Brooke

This has been the highlight of our weekend...Getting e-mails from Brooke. So now she's off to Managua so we probably won't hear from her again. Maybe once more if they find an Internet Cafe on their day off. Amanda and I talked today about how it's going to be a long week. And, yes, we did call MaMa Brenda and wished her Happy Birthday today (Amanda sang to her).

We've been trying to keep busy while Brooke is gone. Yesterday, after blogging, I got Amanda up and we drove to Cedar Hill to the vet for the dogs' annual shots and to buy heartrending medicine. Saturday is not a good day to go to or vet (a clinic where you don't get to make appointments...you just show up and wait your turn). It used to be just a matter of waiting our turn. Now it is a matter of waiting our turn and trying to keep Sully quiet. He is a BIG chicken dog! He growls/barks the entire time we are in the waiting room. Some people might think he wants to fight, but the truth is he's just scared. So Amanda waited inside for our turn to come while the dogs and I waited outside. Amanda was in hog heaven! She has been gifted with her mother's love for people...maybe even more than Brooke. And then she was at the vet on top of that. When I finally decided the heat was too much and came to sit down (while smacking Sully, pinching his nose and holding is mouth shut to try and keep him quiet), Amanda told me all the ailments of all the animals in the waiting room. I think she had gone around and talked to most everyone there inquiring what was wrong with their pet! So an hour and a half after we got there, we got into the examining room. Five minutes and $75 later it was over with and we were on our way home.

Dropped the dogs off, grabbed a bite for lunch and then headed to the store to get a few things before Mom and Dad came over for dinner. Back home, grabbed a quick 20 minute nap and then was getting ready to clean the kitchen when Mom and Dad arrived. They kept me company while I cleaned the kitchen and then cooked hamburgers for the second time this week. Hamburgers, corn on the cob and Kool Aid pie. Mm...Mm....Good! Sat around and talked until 9:30pm or so I guess. They left, Amanda went to bed, I worked on a few things and hit the hay as well.

Got up this morning and headed off to church. The youth group shared about their time at camp week before last. A number of them were touched by the Lord and gave their lives to Him. It was pretty cool seeing/hearing students share about the change in their lives...especially ones that were so closed and guarded before camp. As they were sharing, a guy behind me who had graduated from youth group when I was youth pastor asked me if I missed it. I told him no, but it was still exciting to hear what God had done their lives.

After church, we went out to eat at Taco Cabana with Mickey (before he headed back to NC) and Madison and her family (that's what happens when you have kids...You are no longer yourself, just somebody's parents).

We played for a little bit when we came home, then it was another 20 minute nap and time to pack up for the evening. We went to The Rig restaurant in Ft. Worth for a dinner with area geocachers. We hit one cache on the way there (which Amanda found). Amanda was hilarious at the event. There must have been 30 or so people there. Amanda spent her time taking her "log book" around asking everybody to sign it. She met a ton of people and had a blast. Again, it's her mother's personality coming out.

After that, we headed out to an area a couple of miles from there and did five more caches in a wooded area. Fortunately I thought to mark where we parked the car (on the GPS), 'cause we walked around so much I had no idea where it was when it was time to leave. It was starting to get dark and we had to choose between grabbing one more cache and heading straight back to the car. Of course we decided to do one more cache since it was just .15 miles from our current location. By the time we got there, it was getting pretty dark and we had to pull out the flashlight to look for the cache. Since the car was about half a mile away (and I hoped we could follow trails back rather than have to walk through the dense woods), I was not going to look to long. GeoPunkin came through at crunch time again (like she quite frequently does). I gave her the flashlight and I was reading the cache description on the PDA one more time when I heard those magic words..."FOUND IT". We logged it as quickly as we could and hiked back to the car. When we got there, we said a "thank you, Jesus" that the trails we found lead back to the car and we did not have to do any more bushwhacking. We discussed what a great time we had spending time together.

So it was home for a quick bath and then Amanda got into bed since she's got to get up at 7:00am and head to work with me tomorrow. I logged our finds (see our stats to the right), watched "Human Prey II" on the Discovery Channel (I LOVE Discovery Channel) and blogged this. Now it's time for bed since I have to get up at 7:00am and head for work tomorrow.

Still have lots to do this week. Promised Amanda I would take her swimming, we have to shop for a friend's birthday party, and then she gets to go to Six Flags all day on Tuesday (the friend's birthday party). We are hoping this will help pass the time until Mommy gets back.

Six days and counting.

- Rob

9:38 AM

So our morning is off to a good start this morning. I checked my e-mail, and look what I found!

Hey Babe, We have some internet here. We are in the Jinotega orphanage right now. We are FREEZING! It is so cold and rainy, but we are LOVING it. {personal stuff}. Everyone is doing well. Tell Pastor or forward this to him. Pass the word around that all is well and we are doing good. Don't know when I will check email again but you can send me something if you want to. Ok I love you and tell punkin hello and doggies. All my love and kisses, Brookie

Yesterday was a busy day, so I did not get to post after we first got back from the airport. I got up at 9:15am and had my quiet time before Amanda got up (turned out there was no rush, but I'm getting ahead of myself). Had my quiet time, did some study for my sermon in August, got a shower, cleaned the kitchen and talked to the lawn guy at church (Wayne Watkins at Bluebonnet lawn care...HIGHLY recommended).

At 11:45am (still yesterday) I woke up Amanda. We had some lunch and then Stan brought Sam and Mitzi over for a groom. Since I don't have the right kind of clippers, it took about an hour for me to butcher each dog. (On a side note, I think Mitzi looked better this time than last time, and Sam seemed more traumatized than last time. The whole time I was shaving Mitzi, Sam kept running around the house looking for a place to hide. And then there was a certain, unpleasant physical reaction on his part while I was shaving him...but anyway). It took a while, but we got it done and the dogs are no doubt much cooler today.

Then we went to the store to get a couple things for dinner and stopped by our favorite place (7-Eleven) for a Slurpee and a refill of Diet Coke in my giant mug.

Back home we wrestled a bit and then got ready for our company. Mickey and his daughter Leigha came over for hamburgers, fries and Kool Aide pie. (Side note: I HATE it when Brooke is not here, but it is nice to have hamburgers two nights in a row!!! Last night with Mickey and Leigha, tonight with my parents). After dinner, the four of us went out, sweated off a little bit of the pie and found 3 geocaches. A lot of work just to get 3, but it was nice spending time together.

We all came home, got something cold to drink, Mickey tried to wipe off any poison ivy (since he was silly enough to go geocaching in Texas in shorts!) and then Mickey & Leigha headed home. Amanda got a cold bath (insisting that she have a glass of ice water to enjoy in the cold bath), we watched a Discovery Channel special on Mt. Everest and then we both went to bed at 11:00pm.

So now it's Saturday morning. We woke up (well, Amanda will wake up here in a bit) to an e-mail from Brooke. That is a GREAT way to start the morning. I sent her a quick reply (some would not call it "quick", but it was short for me) and blogged this. Now it's time for my quiet time and then another busy day begins.

Boo, who always sits in Brooke's lap, is following me around everywhere and lays at my feet. She missed Mommy. Amanda said last night that she missed Mommy. I missed her last night as I crawled into bed, but the doggies tried to make sure I was as cramped and twisted as I am when she is home (dogs sleep in our bed and they BOTH sleep with me on my half of the bed...even when Brooke is not on the other side of the bed). Sully...we're still trying to explain the whole thing to him. He's a little slow sometimes.

We all miss Mommy and are counting the days...only 8 more.

- Rob

4:14 AM

It has started. Brooke and the Nicaragua team are off for their mission trip. Amanda and I just got back from dropping the team off at the airport with the church bus.

Brooke, Amanda and I watched Shanghi Knights together this evening as our late movie. Brooke went on to bed while Amadna and I finished the movie. Amanda and I crashed on the couch for an hour after the movie ended. I then woke up Brooke and while she finished getting ready, I made dessert for my company the next two nights.

At 2:00AM, we were at the church and headed out for the airport by 2:45AM. Now, Amanda and I are at home, the window unit (just put it back in this evening) is cranked down low and we will be sleeping in as late as possible in the morning (uh, this moring).

We miss Brooke already. Nine days and counting.

Priceless...Lizard Birthing

A friend sent me this e-mail today. I debated on whether or not to post it, but like the title says...it's priceless. Having grown up in a pet-loving home, and now having a daughter who now loves pets, I've just been too close to this story.

If you have raised kids (or been one), and gone through the pet syndrome including toilet flush burials for dead goldfish, the story below will have you laughing out LOUD!

Overview: I had to take my son's lizard to the vet. Here's what happened:

Just after dinner one night, my son came up to tell me there was "something wrong" with one of the two lizards he holds prisoner in his room.

"He's just lying there looking sick," he told me. "I'm serious dad, can you help?"

I put my best lizard-healer statement on my face and followed him into his bedroom. One of the little lizards was indeed lying on his back, looking stressed. I immediately knew what to do.

"Honey," I called, " come look at the lizard!"

"Oh my! gosh," my wife diagnosed after a minute. "She's having babies."

"What?" my son demanded. "But their names are Bert and Ernie, Mom!"

I was equally outraged.

"Hey, how can that be? I thought we said we didn't want them to reproduce," I accused my wife.

"Well, what do you want me to do, post a sign in their cage?" she inquired.(I actually think she said this sarcastically!)

"No, but you were supposed to get two boys!" I reminded her, (in my most loving, calm, sweet voice, while gritting my teeth together).

"Yeah, Bert and Ernie!" my son agreed.

"Well, it's just a little hard to tell on some guys, you know," she informed me. (again with the sarcasm, you think?)

By now the rest of the family had gathered to see what was going on. I shrugged, deciding to make the best of it.

"Kids, this is going to be a wondrous experience, I announced.

"We're about to witness the miracle of birth."

"Oh, gross!" they shrieked.

"Well, isn't THAT just great! What are we going to do with a litter of tiny little lizard babies?" my wife wanted to know. (I really do think she was being snotty here, too. Don't you?)

We peered at the patient. After much struggling, what looked like a tiny foot would appear briefly, vanishing a scant second later.

"We don't appear to be making much progress," I noted. "It's breech," my wife whispered, horrified.

"Do something, Dad!" my son urged.

"Okay, okay." Squeamishly , I reached in and grabbed the foot when it next appeared, giving it a gentle tug. It disappeared. I tried several more times with the same results.

"Should I call 911," my eldest daughter wanted to know. "Maybe they could talk us through the trauma." (You see a pattern here with the females in my house?)

"Let's get Ernie to the vet," I said grimly. We drove to the vet with my son holding the cage in his lap. "Breathe, Ernie, breathe," he urged.

"I don't think lizards do Lamaze," his mother noted to him. (Women can be so cruel to their own young. I mean what she does to me is one thing, but this boy is of her womb, for Pete's sake.)

The Vet took Ernie back to the examining room and peered at the little animal through a magnifying glass.

"What do you think, Doc, a C-section?" I suggested scientifically.

"Oh, very interesting," he murmured. "Mr. and Mrs. Cameron, may I speak to you privately for a moment?"

I gulped, nodding for my son to step outside.

"Is Ernie going to be okay?" my wife asked.

"Oh, perfectly," the Vet assured us. "This lizard is not in labour. In fact, that isn't EVER going to happen... Ernie is a boy. You see, Ernie is a young male. And occasionally, as they come into maturity, like most male species, they um.... um.... He blushed, glancing at my wife.

"Well, you know what I'm saying, Mr. Cameron."

We were silent, absorbing this.

"So Ernie's just... just... excited," my wife offered.

"Exactly," the vet replied, relieved that we understood.

More silence. Then my viscous, cruel wife started to giggle. And giggle. And then even laugh loudly.

"What's so funny?" I demanded, knowing, but not believing that the woman I married would commit the upcoming affront to my flawless manliness.

Tears were now running down her face. Laughing "It's just... that... I'm picturing you pulling on its... its... teeny little..." she gasped for more air to bellow in laughter once more.

"That's enough," I warned. We thanked the Vet and hurriedly bundled the lizards and our son back into the car. He was glad everything was going to beokay.

"I know Ernie's really thankful for what you've done, Dad," he told me.

"Oh, you have NO idea,"

Closed mouth, my wife agreed, collapsing with laughter.

1 - Lizards - $140...

2 - Cage - $50...

3 - Trip to the Vet - $30...

4 - Memory of your husband pulling on a lizard's winkie..... Priceless

Moral of the story - finish biology class - lizards lay eggs

You Know You Are In Texas In July When. . .

The birds have to use potholders to pull worms out of the ground.

The trees are whistling for the dogs.

The best parking place is determined by shade instead of distance.

Hot water now comes out of both taps.

You can make sun tea instantly.

You learn that a seat belt buckle makes a pretty good branding iron!

The temperature drops below 95 and you feel a little chilly.

You discover that in July it only takes 2 fingers to steer your car.

You discover that you can get sunburned through your car window.

You actually burn your hand opening the car door.

You break into a sweat the instant you step outside at 7:30 a.m.

You realize that asphalt has a liquid state.

The potatoes cook underground, so all you have to do is pull one out and add butter, salt and pepper.

Farmers are feeding their chickens crushed ice to keep them from laying boiled eggs.

Your biggest bicycle wreck fear is, "What if I get knocked out and end up lying on the pavement and cook to death?"

Ah, what a place to call home.

God Bless Our State of TEXAS !!

It's Not All About Money

I get a bit frustrated with some preachers today who equate Biblical prosperity strictly (or even mostly) with money. I believe that a blessed life is far more than money, and if money is so important to an individual that this all he/she can preach about (or the only sermons a person listens to)...that almost seems like making money an idol to me.

But what does that have to do with this picture of Sully chillin' in his favorite spot on the couch? The picture is an example of God's (non-monetary) blessing in my life.

The other night, I made a late evening run to 7-Eleven to fill my giant mug with Diet Coke. I took Boo and Sully with me because they like to be 'adventure dogs'. When I got there, Boo sat up on the seat over my left shoulder, so I was talking to her as I got out of the car. I went inside, filled up my mug and came back to the car. When I opened the door, there was Boo, but no Sully. At first I figured he was on the floor behind the seats, but a quick check showed that was not the case. As panic sat in, I went to the side of the store where there was a wooded area and hollered for him, but nothing happened. Trying to figure out if he somehow got out of the car or if somebody had taken him (why would they take just him and not Boo, too?), I opened the car door and looked inside again. By this time I was in emergency prayer mode and had to stop to try and figure out what might have happened and what I should do next.

At that moment, some people came out of the store and turned to the right (opposite the wooded side I had checked). As I watched them walk in front of the store, I saw Sully walking in the opposite direction, back toward the car. I immediately grabbed him, hugged him and took both dogs back home. On the way home, the knot in my stomach only grew as I thought about what could have happened.

I've got friends who would say I was lucky. But when I panicked, I cried out to the God of Heaven and not the god of fate, so they can thank they lucky stars but I'll think my Heavenly Father. I believe I have a Father in heaven who loves me, and I believe He loves me enough to watch over my dog when I was too careless and he was not smart enough to stay in the car. That night, my blessing was not about money...and it was WAY better.

- Rob

Something With a Steering Wheel, Please

In this picture, let the Indy car represent the new computers that have 2 gigs of memory. Let Snoopy represent my parents' (in-laws') Windows 98 computer with 64 megs of RAM. Last time we were home, I helped them upgrade to DSL, but when I came home this time they complained they were not getting their money's worth on the Internet upgrade. Mom would open a web page, go iron a blouse, come back to the computer and wait some more for a page to load. Sounds more like dial up than DSL, doesn't it? I told them it was not the DSL's fault (I'm using it on my laptop and am in surfer's heaven), rather it was the SEVERE memory problem in their computer. They were getting the information from the Internet quickly enough, but the computer could not process it. I checked, and they had about 55 megs of RAM to work with! So, after upgrading them to 512 megs of RAM today, I certainly have not put them in an Indy car, but at least they are in something with a steering wheel now that will go 0 to 60 in about 12 seconds.

- Rob

Day WIth the Kidos

Yesterday and today, Amanda got to spend time with her cousins. Here's just a few pics from what we did today.

This was taken at Delano Park. It would appear, from this picture, that Amanda, David and Hannah were engaging in some sort of strange ritual/competion to see who could stare into the spout of water the longest without blinking! The jury is still out on who won.

As you can see, this was a very thoughtful, purposeful and serious group today.

That's right...the day would not be complete with geocaching! This one was disguised as a sprinkler head.

More From Max Lucado

"Colorado aspens provide a living picture of the church. Have you noticed how they grow in groups, often on the otherwise bald sides of mountains? They are sunseekers and root sharers. unlike firs or pines, which prefer shade, aspens worship warmth. Unlike oaks, whose roots go deep, aspen roots go wide. They intertwine with other roots and share the same nutrients.

Light lovers. Root sharers. Sounds like a healthy church.

Oddly, some people enjoy the shade of the church while refusing to set down any roots. God, yes. Church, no. They like the benefits, but resist commitment. The music, the message, the clean conscience - they accept church perks. So they date her, visit her. Enjoy an occasional rendezvous. They use the church. But commit to the church? Can't do that. Got to keep options open. Don't wait to miss out on any opportunities.

I propose they already are. Miss the church and miss God's sanctioned tool for God promotion. For church is a key place to do what you do best to the glory of God."

- Max Lucado in A Cure for the Common Life

An Offering

Take your everyday, ordinary life - your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking around life - and place it before God as an offering.

Romans 12:1, the Message Bible

Thoughts From the Road

Now this is COOL. We are traveling down Hwy. 72 having just crossed the state line into Alabama. Brooke is driving and I have my laptop up and running. I am blogging, we are all listening to music (the group Alabama no less) on the laptop and I am currently tracking our position with my GPS which is hooked up to my map program on the laptop. (We need to turn right in 57.5 miles!). Now if I just had a wireless card so I could be on the Internet, too! Now my wife just called me a major nerd.
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We arrived in Alabama a little after noon today, tired but safe. We unpacked, grabbed a bite of lunch and talked with Dad and then I took a short nap...from 1-6pm. I felt a bit better after that.

We are thankful that Brooke's back is beginning to feel better. She missed a step coming down the steps while decorating for VBS last week and had BAD back pains all week. She finally went to the doctor this past Monday and two prescriptions and many prayers later seems to be on the mend. She was sore after being in the car for so long, but she is definitely doing better.

Brooke and Amanda are in bed, Mom is in bed also (she always goes to bed early) and Dad is asleep in front of the TV (which is also the norm). Since Mom and Dad have high speed Internet now (yea!), I'm going to finish up some camp registration stuff, update the info online and do some surfing.
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Thank you to those of you taking care of our house, turtles and dogs while we are gone so that we can have a vacation! We're off to a good start.

How Else Do I Say It?

To say I was frustrated would be an under- statement when I read that the needed Senate vote fell one short today to pass a Constitutional ammendment to ban flag desecration. You can read about it here. I thank God that we have the First Ammendment protection of free speech, but when that ammendment is used to attack the government that guarantees this freedom...how does that make sense?

Somehow people have come to believe that we have to be so open-minded that we accept anything. We cannot judge something as wrong anymore because, after all, who am I to tell you that something you are doing is wrong? And now our country is so "open minded" in areas like immigration policy, gay 'rights' and free speech that we are allowing things that are harmful to our country.

It's like doing drugs: just because you can do it doesn't make it a good idea. We need to ask ourselves, "should America fight for the right of the individual to her collective hurt?" How else do I say it? We are becomming so "open-minded" that our brains are falling out!

- Rob

Praying for a Friend's Luck to Change

Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him!
How I’ve proved Him o’er and o’er
Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus!
O for grace to trust Him more!

We sang the refrain from this song in service this morning. It was the same service where we heard about one of our members, Don, who is in the hospital after having a liver transplant this week. He had the transplant and things seemed to be going well. Then yesterday things started going not so well...at all. I don't understand all of the medical jargon, but two of our pastors when to visit Don and pray with him. In the middle of their prayers, Don started singing "Look what the Lord has done. Look what the Lord has done. He healed my body, He touched my mind, He saved me just in time". The doctors had just told him he was having serious problems, and this was his response.

When we heard the doctor's report, the chruch prayer chain started praying. In our service this morning, we were also able to report that, after the bad report Saturday morning and after the church began praying, the doctors came back and said things were looking up. They felt they could treat the symptoms he was having. (Side note: last I heard, Don made such a miraculious improvement today that the doctors wanted to send him home this evening).

But back to "Tis So Sweet To Trust in Jesus". We sang this song in church today, and we heard the story about Don's trust in Jesus. I couldn't help but think about the Humanists that I debate with from time to time online. One guy in particular, a big wig in the American Humanist Association, has e-mailed back and forth we me a number of times. He's cordial enough, but he definitely holds to his beliefs (holds to his unbeliefs?) as strongly as I hold to mine. It's hard to debate with and/or witeness to him because he has it all figured out. He has certainly thought through his belief system (I keep calling that, but again, I guess could be better described as a 'lack of belief' system). Sometimes it seems like he has everything on the planet neatly compartmentalized. He sees no need for God. So as we sang this song today, and heard Don's testimony, I thought of the Scripture in Ephesians 2:8 that says, "For it is by grace you have been saved-through faith-and not of yourselves, it is the gift of God."

Looking at this dichotomy (Don who trusted Jesus even when everything he could see was not good vs. my Humanist friend who 'has it all figured out' on his own), I had a fresh understanding of the idea of faith being a GIFT from God. I guess my Humanist friend would just say that Don was 'lucky'. I would much rather trust Jesus than rely on luck.

The longer I am a Christian and study God's Word, the more reasonable my faith becomes to me. But my e-mail address came from a Scripture God reminded me of when it comes to faith and reason. "Those who come to God must believe that He exists and that He is a rewarder of those who dilligently SEEK HIM." (Hebrews 11:6). It has to start with a step of faith.

So I'll share Don's story with my Humanist friend and pray that he, too, can receive God's gift. Without trust in Jesus, he is doomed to figuring it all out for himself and living with the unfortunate consequeces of that effort on the day he stands before God in judgement. That would be pretty 'unlucky' for him.

- Rob

It's Been a While...

...since I've posted a geocaching story, so I'm gonna share one. It all started this past Friday when we were cleaning up from Vacation Bible School on the church playground. As we walked out the gate of the chain link fence that surrounds the playground, Amanda pulled the cap off of one of the metal gate posts. "Look Daddy, this would be a good place to hide a cache." I agreed that it would.

So fast forward to Saturday. Amanda has a friend spend the night and tells her friend about geocaching. Since her friend also likes being outside, they asked me to take them geocaching. (Now just STOP right there. Yes, THEY asked ME to go geocaching...it was not the other way around). Of course, being a good father, I could not deny this this 'educational opportunity' and so we headed out to do a couple tame caches.


The first cache we did was at a part, and it was a multi-leg cache. We followed the original coordinates to a sign and used the numbers from the sign to solve a simple puzzle to get the coordinates for the second leg. The second leg was a mico (i.e. small) cahce hidden in a tree. We found it right next to the wasps flying in and out of a hole in the tree! We opened up the cache container and the girls read me the coordinates the third and final leg of the cache. I loaded them into the GPS and off we headed. We travelled about 700 feet and the GPS unit said we were supposed to be at the location of the cache. I saw the horse shoe pits but saw no place where a cache could be hidden. I was about to decide that there must have been some sort of miscommunication between the girls and myself entering the coordinates into the GPS when Amanda walked straight up to the chain link fence around the horse shoe pits, pulled the top off of a metal post and said "Found it!". I could not help but laugh...somebody had the same idea for hiding a cache that Amanda had come up with on her own the day before. I tell ya, the kid's a natural. Makes a father's heart proud!

The fence-post cache

Teamwork!

Amanda's friend, on her first geocaching outing, was the first to
spot this cache (it was hidden before we took it out for a picture)

All That With a Toothpick

When I get up early in the morning to play racquetball, I try to be quiet when I leave. Our front door has made this challenging because the little plate that goes around the sliding mechanism of the doorknob is loose. When I try to close the door, that plate sticks out enough that the sliding mechanism does not want to slide in when it touches the door frame, so the door BANGS open instead of closing. I have tried to tighten screws that hold the plate to the door, but the wood has 'stretched' too much and the screws do not tighten anymore. I mentioned the problem to my friend George, and he suggested something I had never heard before...toothpicks. He suggested sticking a toothpick or two into the hole and then screwing the screw into it allowing the toothpick to fill in the gap. I tried it, and it worked like a charm. Cool!

So what does that have to do with the picture here? I went looking for a picture of a toothpick to go with this fascinating story and I found this link to some guy that made Ripley's Believe It Or Not for all his toothpick creations. You can click on the link above or to see all the crazy stuff he has carved or you can click on the picture and see the 9 car train he carved into that toothpick. Just thought I'd throw that in for free.

- Rob

You are You-nique!

"Every single baby is a brand-new idea from the mind of God."

"You were born prepacked. God looked at your entire life, determined your assignment, and gave you the tools to do the job."

"You cannot be anything you want to be.
But you can be everything God wants you to be."

"God never called you to be anyone other than you. But he does call on you to be the best you you can be. The big question is, at your best, who are you?"

- Max Lucado in Cure for the Common Life

Just Chillin' With the Ladies

It seems there is always something going on. This week is VBS at the church, so our days are pretty full. Last night, Amanda and I did a few geocaches while Brooke laid down with a migraine and sore back (doesn't that sound like fun). Tonight we stayed home. After dinner, I took the dogs out to play in field behind our house. We have not had them out much without their leashes so I was not sure how it would go, but they stayed close, came when I called them and had a great time running around. When we came in, Amanda wanted to go outside and play, so we took the dogs back out, played 'Monkey in the Middle' (Amanda, Sully and me), ran around with the dogs and then came back to the back yard to let the turtles out for a stroll. After that, we came in, Amanda got a bath before bed and I sat down with Brooke to watch the Mavericks lose the NBA playoffs. I'm not a big basketball fan (I'm not a sports fan period), but tonight was just a good night to chill out with the ladies in my life.

- Rob

Study Your Skills to Reveal Your Assignment

"When I was six years old, my father build us a house. Architectural Digest didn't notice, but my mom sure did. Dad constructed it, board by board, every day after work. My youth didn't deter him from giving me a job. He tied an empty nail apron around my waist, placed a magnet in my hands, and sent me on daily patrols around the building site, carrying my magnet only inches off the ground.

One look at my tools and you could guess my job. Stray-nail collector.

One look at yours and the same can be said. Brick by brick, life by life, God is creating a kingdom, a "spiritual house" (1 Peter 2:5 CEV). He entrusted you with a key task in the project. Examine your tools and discover it. Your ability unveils your destiny. "If anyone ministers, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ." (1 Pet. 4:11). When God give an assignment, he also gives the skill. Study your sills, then, to reveal your assignment.

Look at you. Your uncanny ease with numbers. Your quenchless curiosity about chemistry. Others stare at blueprints and yawn; you read them and drool. "I was made to do this," you say.

Heed that inner music. No one else hears it the way you do."

- Taken from Cure for the Common Life by Max Lucado

We Need God in America Again

That's the title to a song by Carman, but that's not exactly what I was referring to. When I read news stories about terrorists in Iraq, Afghanistan or wherever in the Middle East, America is referred to as an infidel, etc. The terrorists claim they are in a holy war and their god (Allah) wants to punish us. I sure think it would be awesome if America would turn back to God and would say (as a whole nation, with pride) ONE NATIONS UNDER GOD. Why? Well, there is the obvious benefit of God's blessings and protection. But I'm being a little less heavenly-minded I guess. I would like to see America united as one nation under God so we could say to these terrorists, "Your god wanna pick a fight with our God? OK, let's rumble!"

Of course we would have to make a LOT of changes as a nation in order for this to happen, and my "cool scenario" could not be our motivation for doing so....but it would be cool, wouldn't it? I'm not talking about destroying another nation being cool, but I am talking about being able to live like Israel did (at times) in the Old Testament where they could sit back and watch God fight for them because they were God's people. How cool would it be to have America say, "We choose (to live for, obey and run our country like) the God of the Bible"? Hmmm...I guess this would be easier to accomplish if the Church would do it first, huh.

II Chronicles 20:17 (NET Bible)
"You need not fight in this battle; station yourselves, stand and see the salvation of the Lord on your behalf, O Judah and Jerusalem. Do not fear or be dismayed; tomorrow go out to face them, for the Lord is with you."

But what made me think about this, again, today was reading Isaiah 46. It is a little more accurate picture of where America is with God today. Sure would be some good advice to follow as a nation.

Isaiah 46 (NLT)
The idols of Babylon, Bel and Nebo, are being hauled away on ox carts. But look! The beasts are staggering under the weight! Both the idols and the ones carrying them are bowed down. The gods cannot protect the people, and the people cannot protect the gods. They go off into captivity together.

"Listen to me, all you who are left in Israel. I created you and have cared for you since before you were born. I will be your God throughout your lifetime--until your hair is white with age. I made you, and I will care for you. I will carry you along and save you.

"To whom will you compare me? Who is my equal? Some people pour out their silver and gold and hire a craftsman to make a god from it. Then they bow down and worship it! They carry it around on their shoulders, and when they set it down, it stays there. It cannot even move! And when someone prays to it, there is no answer. It has no power to get anyone out of trouble.

"Do not forget this, you guilty ones. And do not forget the things I have done throughout history. For I am God--I alone! I am God, and there is no one else like me. Only I can tell you what is going to happen even before it happens. Everything I plan will come to pass, for I do whatever I wish. I will call a swift bird of prey from the east--a leader from a distant land who will come and do my bidding. I have said I would do it, and I will. Listen to me, you stubborn, evil people! For I am ready to set things right, not in the distant future, but right now! I am ready to save Jerusalem and give my glory to Israel.

- Rob

You Can Watch It, But You Can't Like It...

I had to laugh when I read this (origianl story here, full story copied below):

PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - Phnom Penh patriarch Non Nget has told Cambodia's 40,000 Buddhist monks to remain passive while watching World Cup soccer games or be defrocked.

Non Nget said Monday monks should not watch the games in public, cheer or bet on matches as such actions were against Buddhism.

"It is very difficult to ban them because new technology means the games can be aired live and seen everywhere," he said. "They may watch, but must be calm."

"But if they make noise or cheer as they watch, they will lose their monkhoods," Non Nget told Reuters.

Pros and Cons of Turtle Ownership

My friend Stephen posted a comment under the posting of Little George O'Mally's picture. Stephen said: Okay so give me the pro's and con's of having a turtle. We are thinking of letting the kids get one but I have heard they are fairly dirty and hard to own. Truth to that?

So here's all I know/have experienced about Box Turtle care.

• I read online that Box Turtles are hard to keep, but it hasn't been too hard for me. I'll tell you what I do to take care of them below.
• As far as dirty. I also read that they can carry salmonella, so we always was our hands thoroughly after handling them.
• From what I read, it is much easier keeping them outside. If you keep them inside, you need a LARGE container and an aquarium will not do. If inside, you also have to purchase a special kind of light because they need sunlight (and you have to provide something artificial inside). Also, you would need to cover the bottom of your pen with dirt, leaves, etc because artificial surfaces can cause their legs to be deformed, their 'beaks' to get too long and their toenails to get too long.
• So I keep my turtles outside. We have two turtles now and they are in pen that is 15 foot by 9 foot.
• A chain link fence will not work for a turtle pen because they will drive themselves crazy trying to get through it. What I read said you needed 16-18 inches of wall to keep them from climbing out, but cinder blocks would work for our turtles. But then again, I don't know how big they will get 5 years from now (they can easily live to be 50 years old).
• Box Turtle care: I did not know this, but Box Turtles need humidity/moisture. If they do not get it, they develop eye and ear problems. You can soak your turtle (throwing them in the pool for a 'swim' would not work due to the chemicals) or you can do what I do and water the pen area 1-2 times a day making sure to soak the turtle as well.
• Food: with a big enough pen area, turtles can find quite a few bugs to supplement their diet. Little George always comes out after I water the pen because it seems easier for him to find bugs. I usually feed them every-other day rotating Romain lettuce and superworms from the pet store (about $6 for 50 worms). They supposedly eat other apples, strawberries and an occasional banana, but I've not had much luck with that. The lettuce has to be the dark green stuff like leaf lettuce, Romain or some kind of greens. Spinach is not good for them (don't know why) and Iceberg lettuce is not either because it has no nutrients. I usually feed the little turtle 3-4 worms and the bigger one 4-5. Pet stores sell turtle food in pellet form. My turtles don't seem to like it, but the dog does!
  
• Water source: As you can see from the pictures below, I dug a hole in the turtle pen and placed a plastic trash can lid upside down to provide water. I guess they drink out of this, but they also drink out of temporary puddles on the ground when I water their pen. They can also swim in this, but ours rarely do this. Water should be dumped and refilled daily to reduce likelihood of salmonella. I have heard that they make tablets you can put in the water to kill the salmonella, but I don't do that.
  
• Winter time: In the winter, you have one of 2 choices 1) Let the turtle go in the wild so it can hibernate, but since you are getting it for the kidos, you will be 'evil' if you choose this option. 2) Figure out how to hibernate them yourself. I have read online about how some people almost 'pack up their turtles for the winter' and go through all of this elaborate packing them in with bags of leaves,etc. What I found that makes the most sense to me is till up the ground in their pen and let them dig themselves in for the winter. It seems they only need to go a few inches down to make it through Texas winters. I am going to till up a section of their pen real well and with the dirt that loose and moist, they will be able to dig down several inches (turtles are good diggers so I'm only tilling the middle of their pen so they can't dig under the pen wall and fence).
• I guess that looks like a lot, but I enjoy the turtles and don't think of it as a pain. There was the initial time investment of building the pen (gave give you instructions on how to build a SIMPLE pen like this if interested). Feeding them every other day is not too time consuming and I usually do it with Amanda to spend time with her. Watering the pen doesn't take much time and I have the hose readily available, so it's no big deal. I don't know about the hibernating thing yet. I just know you are supposed to make sure they have plenty to eat before they go into hibernation so they can make it through the winter. The superworms are kinda nasty, but it's not bad.

So I guess I did not label any of that 'pro' or 'con'. You can apply your own labels. I read Box Turtles are hard to care for, but our seems to be doing ok and I don't think they are too much trouble. They seem to be doing ok. I think having the outside helps. That's all I know. Here are some pictures.

Grumpy O'Mally (left) is a Three-Toe box turtle
Little George O'Mally is a Texas Ornate box turtle
(Little George is small because he is younger)

Outside of the turtle pen. 16 inch walls along the side to keep them in. The cinder blocks are a little for support, but mostly to cover up low spots where they might get out.

Inside turtle pen. Upside down platic trash can lid for water, round stone for sunning and putting dinner on, log pile for Grumpy (his favorite spot to hang out) and cinder blocks to cover low spots and a place where Little George likes to hang out to get out of the sun.

- Rob

This is AMERICA: WHEN ORDERING 'SPEAK ENGLISH'

..."They don't know how lucky they are. All we're asking them to do is learn the English language," said Geno's owner Joseph Vento, 66. "We're out to help these people, but they've got to help themselves, too."

Vento, whose grandparents struggled to learn English after immigrating from Sicily in the 1920s, said he posted the sign about six months ago amid concerns over immigration reform and the increasing number of customers who could not order in English when they wanted Philly's gooey, greasy specialty — fried steak, sliced or chopped, in a long roll, with cheese and fried onions....

Read the rest of the article here.

- Rob

Just Out For a Walk

Little George O'Mally going for an after-dinner walk today

It Went Off WITH a Hitch

Generally speaking, having something go off WITHOUT a hitch is a good thing unless you are perform a wedding in which case the hitch (getting hitched) is pretty important.

So tonight, there was a hitch and the hitch had a name...Bobby and Rachel Rodriguez. Bobby and Rachel grew up in the youth group when I was youth pastor. Both were active in the youth group and have stayed active in various ministries in the church since they graduated from high school. When they approached me several months ago and asked me if I would perform their wedding ceremony, I was honored. We have spent the past 5 weeks in pre-marital counseling, the rehearsal was last night and the big event was at 6:30pm tonight.

The wedding tonight was extra special for me. Not only was it cool seeing two of my youth group kids getting married, but I got to do the service and it was my first wedding. There were lots of things that made me sad when I transitioned from being youth pastor to administrative pastor a little over a year ago (like 'leaving' kids I loved and spent my life for), but I had only one regret...I was leaving the youth pastorate and I never got to do a wedding for any of my youth group kids. I was honored that Bobby and Rachel asked me to participate in this part of their lives.

The pre-marital counseling went well from my perspective. What you learn about marriage comes from experience and not from listening to somebody talk about it, but I hope I gave them some things to watch out for and perhaps some 'preventative medicine'. The rehearsal got started late last night, but we were done in time to get to the dinner, and the rehearsal ran smoothly. The wedding tonight was great. Rachel looked lovely and I got to hold hands with Bobby! Actually, I just shook his hand in the wedding pictures, but we had to hold the pose and we both laughed about it.

Speaking of laughing, there was one funny part in the service, but I'm not sure if anybody who was not on stage caught it. Bobby and Rachel chose big bands for wedding rings. When I took the rings out of the box to give to the best man and maid of honor before the service, I thought how VERY similar they looked. During the service, I took the rings back from the best man and maid of honor. I held them in my open palm and told Bobby to take Rachel's ring and put it on her finger. He took a ring and as I was about to start reading the vows for him to repeat, I heard Rachel say, "It's the wrong one!" The rings looked so much alike, Bobby grabbed the wrong one. We made a quick switch and I'm not sure how many people caught it, but it was kinda funny.

So tonight was a good night. Family and friends got to witness two 'kids' pledge their lives to each other, place Christ in the center of their marriage and ask God to bless them. Marriage was God's idea, and it was fun celebrating this 'great idea' tonight. It went well, and it went off WITH a hitch.

- Rob

A Day Without Volunteers

Not long ago some people attempted to make a statement by staging a "Day Without Immigrants". As I was sitting in church this past Sunday, I thought about what a "Day Without Volunteers" would look like at the Vine Fellowship. Our volunteers at the Vine would never organize something like this, but I did think about what the service would have looked like on a Day Without Volunteers.

The first thing that would have happened to our guests on a Day Without Volunteers is...nothing! There would be no usher to open the door for them, no greeter to greet them, nobody to hand them a bulletin and nobody to offer them coffee. We serve Starbucks coffee at our church, but it is made each week by volunteers. Sorry, no coffee this week. And how many people would want a bulletin that wasn't folded and had two inserts per page because nobody had cut them? No volunteer to do this.

And if we had guests, it would be easier if they had no children and arrived early because there would be no greeters to tell them where to take their children, and even if they figured it out on their own, there would be nobody in the nursery or helping in the children's department. And if they arrived late, they would probably just turn around in the parking lot and go home because there were no ushers put out cones and a sign showing them where to park after the parking lot filled up.

But supposing they came early, they had no kids and they didn't really care for coffee. I hope they don't mind finding their own seat in a sanctuary full of strangers because there would be no usher to help seat them. Of course, once they found their seat and service started, it would probably be much different than anything else they have ever experienced. Hopefully they know the words to all the worship songs because there are no volunteers to run the worship software and project the words onto the screen. And hopefully they like one-man-bands because Brad is the entire worship team on a Day Without Volunteers. Maybe people can make requests for their favorite instrument: Brad can play guitar this week, drums next and the piano every third Sunday.

Then there would be the offering. I'm not sure if offering would be up or down. After all, there would be no ushers, so Pastor would have to have each row come down front one by one while he held out the offering basket. Would a guest give just because they have to face the pastor and not put money in, or would they withhold what they were going to put in the offering because they were too intimidated to go up front their first Sunday?

I guess communion would have to be served in a similar fashion to how the offering was taken up...everybody come down front to Pastor. Actually, it would be more like "Here, pinch off a piece of this pita bread and take a swig out of this half gallon grape juice jar" because there were no volunteers to prepare the elements for communion.

At least announcements would be short. There would be no Retro, Young Marrieds, Silver Edition, youth or children's ministry announcements because there would be no functioning ministry on a Day Without Volunteers. Actually, people would have a lot more time on their hands...no ministry activities or outreaches and no Life Groups without volunteers.

But maybe the extra time in the service would be good so that there was time at the end of the service for people to wait in line to be prayed for. If only 15 people wanted prayer and Pastor had to pray for each one himself, that might take a while.

I guess the paid staff could have done some of this...they do serve each week. Let's see, Stan is a coffee drinker and a people person. He could have made the coffee and greeted all of the guests. Rob is an organizer, so he could have run ALL the sign up tables (except they would not be needed if there were no volunteers to run the events/outreaches). Tammy could have taken the bulletins home after work during the week and cut, folded and stuffed them. Maybe Brad really could play a different instrument each week. If Eva served communion to everybody, at least she'd make sure no crumbs got dropped on the floor since she's the one to clean it up. Maybe Brooke could have been in 4 classrooms at one time and overseen all the children's ministry, and certainly Shaun can handle 70+ students at one time by himself with the youth ministry. If Jason came to church before the sun came up, he would have time to set up cones in the parking lot before getting all the sound stuff ready for Brad's one-man-band and worship. And I'm sure Pastor could take up the offering, preach, serve communion to everybody AND pray for everybody who needs individual prayer. Sunday is his only work day anyway, right? Oops...who's going to help take up all of the chairs after service? Ah, if the female staff members help, it won't take more than half an hour!

So I have to admit, at various times during the service on Sunday I was distracted. Every time I saw a volunteer doing something, I thought about how the church could not function on a Day Without Volunteers.

- Rob

GeoWoodstock 4

Amanda and I started geocaching in February, and just a short time later, we began hearing about something called "GeoWoodstock 4" (AK G4). GeoWoodstock is basically the biggest gathering of geocachers from around the world, and this was the fourth year the event was held. As we got more into geocaching and found out what a big deal G4 was, we couldn't pass up the opportunity to be there since it was being held here this year (Cedar Hill State Park).

Since we live so close and since we had other stuff going on this weekend (End of the School Year bash on Friday night, church on Sunday), we didn't camp but just drove back and forth. On Saturday, we left around and noon and showed up at the state park. We registered, met some people, bought a souvenir t-shirt and water bottle and then headed out to Treasure Island. Treasure Island was the activity center for kids. Amanda had a blast doing crafts, playing games and meeting other geocaching kids. Of course, Amanda wanted to swim, so I baked in the blazing hot sun for two hours before we went back to Treasure Island for some Bingo (played on CACHE cards instead, of course). Amanda won a game and picked up a few treasures as well as a gift certificate from geocaching4kids.com. By this time, we were starving and enjoyed the free BBQ dinner from Dickey's and also enjoyed getting to meet some fellow geocachers. After dinner, we drove around the park a bit and then went to the park's nature show/talk, Reptiles, Our Scaley Friends. We heard about turtles, lizards and (of course) snakes. Amanda got to touch a couple of the snakes they brought and then we drove home for the evening. We were well-sunned, tired and chigger-bitten.

During G4, a number of "cache runs" were scheduled. This is where somebody plans a route and groups of people go out geocaching together. There was an event scheduled in Ft. Worth at 3pm on Sunday, so we drove out for that. We did not know quite what to expect, and things were quite 'interesting' at first. We wanted to ride with some other people rather than be in our car by ourselves, so we ended up in a truck with some folks from Oregon and their black lab puppy, Cache (honestly that's his name...and some of you think I am consumed by geocaching?). I think we did 6-7 caches with this group which consisted of about 8 cars...and it was not real enjoyable. It was difficult getting in and out of the vehicle with the dog, and I don't know if it was because of the group size or what, but every stop was a MAD dash out of the truck, to the cache and back. The lady who was driving never wanted to be last so we always had to hurry. Somewhere in the midst of the bedlam, I logged my 100th cache. (Everybody in the group logs the cache once it is found).

After this, the group headed back to find a cache at the Wal-Mart where our car was parked (why didn't we just start with this one?). After logging this one, Amanda and I decided to ride in our own car, so we ran back to the car thinking we would join the 8 car caravan. Fortunately for us, we met a much smaller group who also found the large group thing unenjoyable, so we were able to spend the rest of the day with them. This caravan was only 2 cars and consisted of a mom and dad (whom Amanda and I rode with), their daughter and son-in-law and a friend of the mom and dad. We found several caches, stopped at Steak And Shake for dinner, hit a few more caches then got dropped off at our car (around 10:00pm) and came home. Just before we left our new-found friends, we calculated that Amanda had also reached her 100th cache, so she was very excited on the way home...until she fell asleep in the car. We found 20 caches on Sunday.

I doubt GeoWoodstock will be in this area again and so I doubt we will be able to attend another one, but we really enjoyed this one. Amanda and I enjoyed our time together, she had fun playing all day Saturday, we enjoyed getting to know and spend some time with fellow geocachers and we both made it past the 100 mark. It was a very nice weekend.

For those of you who are wondering, we did take the day of from geocaching today and spent some time with Brooke! She was also exausted from a busy weekend doing kids ministry stuff and working a wedding reception to earn money for her Nicaragua trip so we all hung around the house and did not much of anything. A good way to end a busy weekend.

Here's a few G4 pictures.

You know those games where you have a list of tasks to complete like "Find somebody to sing Row Row Row Your Boat with you and then sign here"? This was one of those games and somebody asked GeoPunkin to thumb wrestle with them. Amanda had never done this before, so she thought it was great.

GeoPunkin making GIANT bubbles at Treasure Island

They did face painting at Treasure Island, so Amanda had "GeoPunkin" tattooed on her arm

Kids playing Bingo with CACHE cards

The last thing Amanda did before leaving the state park on Saturday night!

Logging my 100th find (with a guy from our group)

I LOVE pictures like this! The hunting and the treasures of geocaching are fun...but this is best part!

GeoPunkin's favorite trade item for the day

ATMA and GeoPunkin finding a cache. GeoPunkin actually spotted this one first. This is Tim, and it was he and his wife Rhonda that we spent the afternoon with. They are a very nice couple from Houston.

-Rob

Are You Religious...or Real?

As our church has started Da Vinci Code discussion groups, I have read and heard different opinions about Christians seeing this movie/reading the book. Christians basically fall into one of three categories here:

1. They went to see the movie because they like movies and are not really discerning about what they will or will not watch
2. They did not see the movie because the claims of the movie are insulting to Christianity
3. They went to see the movie (or read the book) because they wanted to use conversations about the movie/book to share Christ with unsaved friends

I am in group three. When I first started thinking about a response to the Da Vinci Code, I shared a few things in common with group number two. The main thing I shared was not wanting to give my money to the Da Vinci Code...I did not want to support it. However, as our discussion groups move along, I am getting more frustrated from some in group two who loudly proclaim their belief that preparing a response to the movie/book is a waste of time or drawing us away from time we should be spending with the Lord. If it is their moral belief that it would be wrong for them to see the movie, I will respect that. But for others, I wonder, "Do they even have lost friends they could discuss this movie/book with?"

When Jesus talked to the lost, which did he spend more time doing...quoting Scripture or telling stories and using illustrations from everyday life that people understood? On the one hand, this study is showing me that Christians MUST know the Bible and Christian doctrine if they are going discuss this book/movie with their lost friends and hope to share the Truth with them. And on the other hand, is it such a far stretch from telling parables to using illustions from movies to share the Truth?

This morning, I was reading quotes I have written down in the back of my Bible. I found a quote from a speaker we had at church, Jim Britnell, on January 25, 1995. I think what he said pretty much sums up my opinion as to why our church should be preparing a response to the Da Vinci Code:

"Religioius Christianity simply insulates us from the world.
Real Christianity impacts the world."

So my question for Christians is, "Are we being religious...or real?"

- Rob

Militant Women's Groups Supporting Gang Initiation

Anti-life groups have been trying to tell us from the beginning that we should allow abortion because it protects the life of the mother, there are women who get raped and all of these other "necessary" reasons. Pro-life groups have warned, from the beginning, of the slippery slope of abortion...that it will lead to aborting babies just because they are "less-than-perfect". Here's a story showing how this exact thing is happening, and in typical anti-life fashion, commentors at the end of the article avoid the real issue and try to trump "women's rights".

I guess women-to-be (unborn baby girls) don't have rights? I guess the "intelligent" women of the "women's rights movements" don't realize that approximately half the time they are killing their own ranks through abortion? Reminds me of a gang initiation...you know, the one where they beat the crud out of a person who wants to join the gang, and if they live through it, they have "earned the right" to be part of the gang. Women's Rights Gang Initiation: (a.k.a. Abortion).

- Rob

We're A Two Turtle Home

Pictured right to left:
Grumpy O'Mally - the original "Hurt turtle" adopted while geocaching
Amanda - name giver to the O'Mally line of turtles
Little George O'Mally - a turtle Mrs. Debi rescued from their pool

The fact that Grumpy O'Mally ended up at the Hurt household was a lack of forethought on my part. You can read all about it here. And now it seems he is here to stay for a while. Just when I think I have Amanda talked into letting him go before winter instead of having to hibernate him, she goes all female on me. This past weekend, for instance. I asked her if she wanted to take Grumpy (this was before Little George's arrival) to the state park where we were meeting my parents for the weekend. I told her we could let him find a turtle family and go free. She did not go for it, so I reminded her that we would need to let him go before winter because, although people do hibernate their turtles for the winter, I have no experience at this. Things were OK until bed time. Amanda went to sleep, but as Brooke and I were talking in my office, Amanda came out of her room crying. When we asked her what was wrong (thinking she was having leg cramps), she said she had a bad dream. This has happened before, so I didn't think much of it until she further explained, "I had a dream it was almost winter and we let Grumpy go." Am I the only one who sees this is not going to go well?

I am not sure why Amanda is so attached to Grumpy. I mean she looks at him, takes him out of the pen for a 'walk' sometimes and everything, but I am the one who takes care of feeding him, keeping his 'turtle ranch' damp and humid, etc. OK, I have to admit, I like having the turtle around now, but I planned on letting him go before I'd have to hibernate him.

And then this week I got a call from Mrs. Debi telling me she had rescued a little turtle from her pool. George and I went to look at him and help figure out what to do with him. Debi offered to let him live in the yard, but he'd probably fall in the pool again (chlorine water is not good for turtles!) or, as she pointed out, he may meet with the mower (even worse for turtles that chlorinated pool water). George (my friend, not related to the turtle nor the turtle's namesake) had the best idea, "Let's let him go now". But did I heed this bit of wisdom? No! I took the turtle home and put him in the pen with Grumpy to show Amanda. If you were a seven year old little girl who liked turtles, how would you respond if you saw a smaller, cuter version? No, I was not fortunate enough to trade Little George O'Mally for Grumpy O'Mally's freedom...we are now a two turtle home. And we will have to turtles until one or two things happen this winter: 1) I make my little girl cry for who knows how many days or 2) I learn how to hibernate box turtles.

Please excuse me while I head over to Google..."hibernate box turtles".

- Rob

Doctrine is Important

Our church Life Groups are discussing the Da Vinci Code. Our reason for the discussion groups could best be summed up the an article entitled "Dan Brown's Gift to the Church". I'm still processing a lot after reading the book and seeing the movie:

• Is anybody really going to base their theology on this far-out, obviously fictional book?
  
• How can I use this to share with my unsaved friends?
• Oh my goodness...do Christians I know really not know the answers to the questions they have asked me after reading the book?
• Is this book changing the way our society thinks about Christianity, is it merely amplifying some of what our culture believes or just a good conspiracy theory?

Our Life Groups are using small group curriculum by Lee Strobel, and we spent some time talking about the question "Does it matter if Dan Brown flat out lies about the Bible, Christianity and history if he is writing a fictional novel. Some people feel is a HUGE deal, others don't feel it matters much.

I don't know if this really answers any of the questions I asked above, but the one thing that stuck with me from this first session was something a history professor said on the DVD. He said {not a verbatim quote} "If Dan Brown were writing a history of WWII, Hitler would be the victor, Churchill would be on trial in London and Roosevelt in Washington."

I guess that does summarize my feeling about the book to a point. Yes, it's a novel, but historically it just NEVER HAPPENED THAT WAY. And the subject Dan Brown lies about is one that I have based my life around. If someone wrote a novel that said Hitler won WWII, I would want to make sure that person knew it just wasn't true. The same is true about the incredible story Dan Brown has made up about Christ. I want to make sure my unsaved friends know fact from fiction in the hope that they can come to know Christ. I want to make sure my Christian friends know the difference because I hope they are also talking to their unsaved friends about the claims of this book/movie. And this is why I'm glad my church is hosting these discussion groups...if we were to announce an apologetics class, I don't think many people would sign up. But talk about a movie and people will get into the discussion. And doctrine, what we believe about God, is important.

- Rob

Remembering to Remember

Like everybody else, I'm a busy person. Of the time management books I've read, I liked Stephen Covey's First Things First the best. The basic premise...don't be ruled by the clock, rule your life by the compass. Figure out what is most important and do that first.

I guess the logic behind this has always made sense to me. I remember being in college (before I read this book) and walking down the hall late one night my senior year studying for a test. I was walking the hall with a textbook in my hand because that was the only way I could stay awake! At the end of the hall was a HUGE window looking out over the campus. Each time I came to that window (before turning and walking to the other end of the hall) I thought about how miserable and absolutely happy I was at the same time. I was miserable because I wanted sleep so badly, but I was happy because I was having the time of my life. At the age of what...21?...I made my first decision to REMEMBER TO REMEMBER.

I had a wonderful college experience: a great school, staff and friends, wonderful church, best friend roommate, experiencing "life on my own" while Mom and Dad were still paying for school and most of my living expenses. I had heard people talking about college being some of the best years of their life, and I figured I was having a pretty good time. So I made mental notes that night and decided to remember that night (and my whole college experience) not so I could live in the past sometime later, but so I could appreciate how good I had it at the time. I remember the green carpet on the floor (laid on cement without padding), the too many coats of 'white' paint on the walls, the vaulted ceilings, the HUGE picture window at the ends of the hall, the steam heaters that creaked ever-so-loudly when turned on at the base of the windows, the stars I could see looking out the window and the jogging shorts I was wearing at the time (side note: when I see pictures of me in those shorts now I realize I NEVER should have worn them out in public...what was I thinking!?).

What made me think about all this is an experience I had last week that made me think about the second time I made an effort to remember to remember. Two of the students I had in youth ministry are getting married soon and I was walking through the wedding ceremony with them in the sanctuary. As we talked about the unity candle, I thought back to when Brooke and I lit our unity candle. We lit the candle and Scott Wesley Brown's song "This is the Day" was playing. I was looking at Brooke in her wedding dress, glowing, her hair done up extra special, smiling...the sanctuary, our friends and family there. Brooke kept talking to me and I finally said "Shhhh". She didn't get it at the time, but I was remembering to remember. I was taking a mental picture that I will remember forever of the day I pledged my life to my wife. I don't want to return to the past, but I'll never forget that moment of that day...it was beautiful.

I remember the day Amanda was born, but my 'remember to remember' moment with her as a baby was one night sitting in the rocker in her room. I sat in the recliner/rocker having just fed and burped her, laying her on my chest getting her to go to sleep. That one night, I sat there with tears streaming down my face while I thanked God for the precious, precious gift laying on my chest. I thought about the days coming too soon when she would have her 'own life' and there would not be enough time for Dad (not as much time as I would like). I knew I would never have those precious moments again and I decided to remember to remember.

The fourth, and most recent, remembering moment happened this school year. Each day, Brooke and/or I walk Amanda Kay to school (weather permitting). Just a couple months ago Amanda and I were running late. I was walking her to school and had a ton of things I needed to do at work. I walked her to the crossing guard and then let her walk up the hill, across the parking lot and to the school door by herself. On the way home, I remembered to remember. I thought, "How many more days is Amanda going to want her Daddy to walk her to school holding her hand?" In that moment, all of things I had to do didn't seem nearly so important. Amanda had seen a friend that day and certainly didn't mind walking the rest of the way to school with her friend, but I caught myself. Walking hand-in-hand with your little girl to school (when she wants to) will not last forever. I decided to remember the walks to school. Yes, it makes me a little later getting to work and yes, Amanda talks non-stop about the least important things sometimes...but we're spending quality Daddy/Amanda time so who cares!?

Heavenly Father, help me remember to remember these special moments in life and not waste them! Thank you for them.

- Rob

See How Much Our Heavenly Father Loves Us

See how very much our heavenly Father loves us, for he allows us to be called his children, and we really are!

- 1 John 3:1, NLT

Everyone Needs a Motorcycle

As I shared earlier, some friends from church let us borrow their motorcycle for the weekend and then said "keep it"...for an extra couple days. By the way, their motorcycle is the big Harley shown in previous posts...not this one. This is just a picture I found on the Internet, but it's a bike with a look similar to what I would like to have.

Yes, I would like to have a motorcycle. I used to have one, but when it was time for Amanda to be born, it was also time for a number of motorcycle repairs, so the bike had to go. I've kept my license current believing that I will have one again someday.

But I believe everyone should should have a motorcycle. Why? Because when you have a motorcyle, it makes you relax. I thought about this while riding home from the Maverick Club (where I play racquetball) today. I took a side street that had a nice winding road with trees lining both sides. It was not as fast nor as direct as taking the highway home, but I went that way just because of the scenery. On Sunday night, Amanda and I took the long way around and went to visit my parents just because we wanted to go ride. We rarely drive to Duncanville 'just for a visit', and we would never take the back roads because they are slower. But Sunday night, because we had a motorcycle, we took time to enjoy the scenery, find a road we did not know existed and went to visit my parents for a few minutes 'just because'. Before we took the bike back today, Brooke and I took a short ride just to be together. Having a motorcycle helps you relax and do something just for the enjoyment of it instead of being a slave to time and schedules.

OK, maybe "everyone" doesn't need a motorcycle. Maybe the second person "you" in the previous paragraph should have read "I" as in "Rob". Yes, I need a motorcycle. Maybe one day.

- Rob

Funny Wedding Vows

I am getting ready to perform my first wedding in a little over a week. I have been going over the ceremony with the bride and groom to be and I came across this.... wedding vows inspired by Dr. Suess written by Marty Blase.

Pastor: Will you answer me right now
These questions, as your wedding vow?

Groom: Yes, I will answer right now
Your questions as my wedding vow.
Pastor: Will you take her as your wife?
Will you love her all your life?

Groom: Yes, I take her as my wife,
Yes, I'll love her all my life.

Pastor: Will you have, and also hold
Just as you have at this time told?

Groom: Yes, I will have, and I will hold,
Just as I have at this time told,
Yes, I will love her all my life
As I now take her as my wife.

Pastor: Will you love through good and bad?
Whether you're happy or sad?

Groom: Yes, I'll love through good and bad,
Whether we're happy or sad,
Yes, I will have and I will hold
Just as I have already told,
Yes, I will love her all my life,
Yes, I will take her as my wife!

Pastor: Will you love her if you're rich?
Or if you're poor, and in a ditch?

Groom: Yes, I'll love her if we're rich,
And I will love her in a ditch,
I'll love her through good times and bad,
Whether we are happy or sad,
Yes, I will have, and I will hold
(I could have sworn this has been told!)
I promise to love all my life
This woman, as my lawful wife!

Pastor: Will you love her when you're fit,
And also when you're feeling sick?

Groom: Yes, I'll love her when we're fit,
And when we're hurt, and when we're sick,
And I will love her when we're rich
And I will love her in a ditch
And I will love through good and bad,
And I will love when glad or sad,
And I will have, and I will hold
Ten years from now a thousandfold,
Yes, I will love for my whole life
This lovely woman as my wife!

Pastor: Will you love with all your heart?
Will you love till death you part?

Groom: Yes, I'll love with all my heart
From now until death do us part,
And I will love her when we're rich,
And when we're broke and in a ditch,
And when we're fit, and when we're sick,
(Oh, CAN'T we get this finished quick?)
And I will love through good and bad,
And I will love when glad or sad,
And I will have, and I will hold,
And if I might now be so bold,
I'll love her my entire life,
Yes, I WILL take her as my wife!

Pastor: Then if you'll take her as your wife,
And if you'll love her all your life,
And if you'll have, and if you'll hold,
From now until the stars grow cold,
And if you'll love through good and bad,
And whether you're happy or sad,
And love in sickness, and in health,
And when you're poor, and when in wealth,
And if you'll love with all your heart,
From now until death do you part,
Yes, if you'll love her through and through,
Please answer with these words:

Pastor and Groom: I DO!

Pastor: You're married now! So kiss the bride,
But please, do keep it dignified.

So There Is a Word for That?

I got an e-mail from Reader's Digest this morning and I came across this section on foreign words. There were a couple of funny ones, but I thought this one was hilarious...guess 'cause it happens enough that there ought to be a word for it? (Go ahead and leave the 'nice' comments...it's still funny!)

Some people live by the credo "Why use one word to describe something when I can use 47?" But in some cultures, that's frowned upon. For example:

Foreign word: bakku-shan (Japanese)
English translation: "A girl who appears pretty from behind but not from the front"

- From The Meaning of Tingo, by Adam Jacot de Boinod (Penguin)

What Kind of Car do YOU Drive?

"I used to drive an Eclipse. I think it was a nice car, but I couldn't look directly at it."