Schools - 1957 vs. 2007

Scenario:
Jack goes quail hunting before school, pulls into school parking lot with shotgun in gun rack.
1957 - Vice Principal comes over, looks at Jack's shotgun, goes to his car and gets his shotgun to show Jack.
2007 - School goes into lock down, FBI called, Jack hauled off to jail and never sees his truck or gun again. Counselors called in for traumatized students and teachers.

Scenario:
Johnny and Mark get into a fist fight after school.
1957 - Crowd gathers. Mark wins. Johnny and Mark shake hands and end up buddies.
2007 - Police called, SWAT team arrives, arrests Johnny and Mark. Charge them with assault, both expelled even though Johnny started it.

Scenario:
Jeffrey won't be still in class, disrupts other students.
1957 - Jeffrey sent to office and given a good paddling by the Principal. Returns to class, sits still and does not disrupt class again.
2007 - Jeffrey given huge doses of Ritalin. Becomes a zombie. Tested for ADD. School gets extra money from state because Jeffrey has a disability.

Scenario:
Billy breaks a window in his neighbor's car and his Dad gives him a whipping with his belt.
1957 - Billy is more careful next time, grows up normal, goes to college, and becomes a successful businessman.
2007 - Billy's dad is arrested for child abuse. Billy removed to foster care and joins a gang. State psychologist tells Billy's sister that she remembers being abused herself and their dad goes to prison. Billy's mom has affair with psychologist.

Scenario:
Mark gets a headache and takes some aspirin to school.
1957 - Mark shares aspirin with Principal out on the smoking dock.
2007 - Police called, Mark expelled from school for drug violations. Car searched for drugs and weapons.

Scenario:
Pedro fails high school English.
1957 - Pedro goes to summer school, passes English, goes to college.
2007 - Pedro's cause is taken up by state. Newspaper articles appear nationally explaining that teaching English as a requirement for graduation is racist. ACLU files class action lawsuit against state school system and Pedro's English teacher. English banned from core curriculum. Pedro given diploma anyway but ends up mowing lawns for a living because he cannot speak English.

Scenario:
Johnny takes apart leftover firecrackers from 4th of July, puts them in a model airplane paint bottle, blows up a red ant bed.
1957 - Ants die.
2007- BATF, Homeland Security, FBI called. Johnny charged with domestic terrorism, FBI investigates parents, siblings removed from home, computers confiscated, Johnny's Dad goes on a terror watch list and is never allowed to fly again.

Scenario:
Johnny falls while running during recess and scrapes his knee. He is found crying by his teacher, Mary. Mary hugs him to comfort him.
1957 - In a short time, Johnny feels better and goes on playing.
2007 - Mary is accused of being a sexual predator and loses her job. She faces 3 years in State Prison. Johnny undergoes 5 years of therapy.

Thanks to Ken Randell for sending me this.

From My Quiet Time This Morning

This is what I read this morning.

Hebrews 10:10 (NLT) - For God's will was for us to be made holy by the sacrifice of the body of Jesus, Christ, once for all time.

Hebrews 10:14 (NLT) - For by that one offering he forever made perfect those who are being made holy.

Hebrews 10:18 (NLT) - And when sins have been forgiven,there is no need to offer any more sacrifices.

During my prayer time, I do what I call "two way journaling". I write down my prayers to God, and then I listen for a response. If a thought comes to mind, I begin writing. I don't wait until the thought is finished (because I get distracted and usually interrupt), but I write down exactly what comes to my mind as I "hear" it. Then I read what I've written and ask myself, "Does that sound like me, or does that sound like God?" If I' m not sure, or if I have been given some kind of direction, I can take what I've written to my pastor or a friend and ask, "Does this sound like God to you?" Ever since I started doing this, I have been amazed at how easy it is to hear God talking to me. (What was I waiting for before? An audible voice?).

This is what I journaled this morning after reading the first part of Hebrews 10. I put in italics the part where I felt God was speaking to me.

Dear God,

I guess this is an improvement over not meeting with you regularly, but here I am, up early, and now I am always running out of time wishing I had more time to spend with You. Thank You for loving me, for spending time with me and for speaking to me.

Rob, I do love you and I love spending time with you. You are not something broken that I would have to force myself to spend time with. I have redeemed your fallen nature and, just like back at the beginning of my creation, I long to take walks with you, talk to you, listen to you and share in the life I have given to you. As my child, I want you to love me and desire to spend time with me, but I have created this life for you to enjoy and it brings me joy to watch you enjoy it. Yes, the thing that separated us, sin, was/is huge, but my sacrifice was 100% totally enough to bridge the gap. Now the only thing that can stand between us is you not meeting me here like this.

Father, as I've been reading The Shack, I've been thinking how wonderful it would be to have the opportunity to meet with You and get to talk with You for a weekend like in the book. While that would still be totally awesome, I have been feeling perhaps You were trying to tell me that is what You want our time together here to be. Today, I feel a little bit like that was the case. I feel like a child, in the presence of my Father, totally at peace, full of joy, resting in the knowledge that I am totally loved. I can picture myself running in a field laughing and just resting in your love...and You smiling as You watch me being silly. Each of us being exactly who we are supposed to be (which, of course, is not hard for You!).

Thank You for your love and your presence.

12 of 12 - November 2008

If you haven't heard of the "12 of 12" idea, here it is. And here are my November photos.

6:32 AM - Up for morning devotions and journaling.

7:15 AM - Waking up Amanda for school.

8:37 AM - Time for a new transfusing unit and imaging unit on the copier.

8:54 AM - This is how I see Tammy if I lean over the corner of my desk.

9:14 AM - Don't know what I'm working on that is so serious!

9:21 AM - Payroll is an IMPORTANT part of the Wednesday routine. Tammy is calling it in.

10:41 AM - I was outside putting Amdro on fire ant mounds when the dumpster truck came for our usual Wednesday pick up.

11:51 AM - In typical George fashion, arriving a few minutes early for lunch.

2:39 PM - Picking up Amanda from school.

2:59 PM - Of course I wore my orange shirt like his yesterday. That would make me the trend-setter, right?

6:17 PM - I drove the van to pick up a few students for youth group tonight. Go No Compromise Youth!

8:21 PM - Almost forgot to take a picture at Life Group tonight. Nobody show Brooke what time this was taken (we were supposed to be at the church picking up our kids at least 6 minutes BEFORE this picture was taken).

Calling Off the Air Strike

When I read through my Bible, I mark things that catch my attention. One of the things I have enjoyed finding over the years is Old Testament examples of God's mercy. It seems we too often think of the God of the New Testament as merciful and loving while the God of the Old Testament is mean and quick to judge (i.e. "to wipe out everybody"). Hebrews 13:8 tells us, "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.". Granted, we have Christ's sacrifice extended to us in the New Testament, but did God really go through a temperament change between the Old and New Testaments? I don' think so.

Tonight I was reading in Jeremiah and I came across this:

2 "Take a scroll and write on it all the words I have spoken to you concerning Israel, Judah and all the other nations from the time I began speaking to you in the reign of Josiah till now. 3 Perhaps when the people of Judah hear about every disaster I plan to inflict on them, each of them will turn from his wicked way; then I will forgive their wickedness and their sin." (New Living Translation)

During this time in Israel's history, God prophesied through Jeremiah the prophet that Babylon was coming to destroy Jerusalem. God told Israel he was punishing them using Babylon, but after a season, God would restore Israel and punish Babylon. When we read this story, often we focus on the "every disaster I plan to inflict on them" (God speaking) and see this is an illustration of an angry, punitive God.

But read to the end of verse 4...it says, "Perhaps...each of them will turn from his wicked way; then I will forgive their wickedness and their sin." This is a merciful God giving his people yet another chance to repent so that he could forgive them. He's not quick to judge...he's slow to judge and he tells the people once more all the bad stuff that will come down the pike if they do not repent. He wants them to be horrified at the judgment so they can repent and be forgiven.

When I read this, I got a mental image. I pictured some military commander being informed by a fighter on patrol that a group of people are headed toward allied territory. The people are not a threat where they are now, but if they cross the border into allied territory they are a major threat. The commander has no choice but to order the fighter to track the group of people headed toward allied territory. He gives the order to "go hot" and a missile is armed and ready to use on command to wipe out the the threat. But even as the order is given, the commander strains to see the satellite image on the screen before him. The group does not look hostile, but they cannot be allowed to cross into allied territory. As the fighter maneuvers into position and awaits the "fire" command, the commander moves to the edge off his seat and speaks to the monitor in front of him, "Turn around. Turn around now and you will not be hurt". The fighter is lining up for it's attack while the commander is looking for the smallest sign that the unknown group of people will deviate from their course and stop heading toward allied territory. The pilot checks in and let's the commander know he is ready to fire, but instead of hearing the "fire" command, he hears the commander scream, "They are turning away! They are turning away! Abort!! Abort!!!"

In this story with Israel (and I could image the same in my life), I see God as that commander pleading with his people to turn back so he can call off the air strike. As soon as he sees people turning from their evil ways, God declares "abort", the fighter is brought home and the people can return to safety.

Instead of painting a picture with God on the edge of his seat waiting to jump out and beat on the head those who have messed up, I believe this shows our loving God, on the edge of his seat, watching for the first sign of a repentant heart so that he can jump in and forgive.

Calling off the air strike would be called "Old Testament mercy".

Targeting a Very Specific Audience

I did not crop this picture, so you can see that it was generated at churchsigngenerator.com, but Brooke and I did see a church marquee here in Arlington that said this very thing! I couldn't help but think three things:

1. They have certainly targeted a very specific audience.
2. How much longer will their target audience be alive?
3. I wonder what someone who is not a Christian would think if they read that sign?

This is Fourth Grade?

Here is a video of the Hurt family trying to memorize the first two stanza's of Amanda's poetry homework for the week.

Amanda's teacher likes poetry so a lot of Amanda's homework has been memorizing poems. Up until this week, they have seemed like poems appropriate for a fourth grader. Our pattern has been to read through the poem, define any words we don't know, put it in our own words so we understand it, and then memorize it. This poem...well, we looked up a number of words, but try as we may, we can't really put it in our own words. It's pretty sad when Mommy and Daddy can't even explain the poem to Amanda and she is expected to memorize it and recite it to her class in four days! So here's the poem. Maybe some of you poets out there can explain the parts in red to us (you can use the comment section).

October's Bright Blue Weather
by Helen Hunt Jackson

O SUNS and skies and clouds of June,
And flowers of June together,
ye cannot rival for one hour
October's bright blue weather;

When loud the bumble-bee makes haste,
Belated, thriftless vagrant,
And Golden-Rod is dying fast,
And lanes with grapes are fragrant;

When Gentians roll their fringes tight
To save them for the morning,
And chestnuts fall from satin burrs
Without a sound of warning;

When on the ground red apples lie
In piles like jewels shining,
And redder still on old stone walls
Are leaves of woodbine twining;

When all the lovely wayside things
Their white-winged seeds are sowing,
And in the fields, still green and fair,
Late aftermaths are growing;

When springs run low, and on the brooks,
In idle golden freighting,
Bright leaves sink noiseless in the hush
Of woods, for winter waiting;

When comrades seek sweet country haunts,
By twos and twos together,
And count like misers, hour by hour,
October's bright blue weather.

O suns and skies and flower of June,
Count all your boasts together,
Love loveth best of all the year
October's bright blue weather.

Hmmm...having written all of this out, I think I understand it better now, but I still have no clue how to explain it all to a fourth grader!

Politician at the Pearly Gates

While walking down the street one day a US senator is tragically hit by a truck and dies. His soul arrives in heaven and is met by St. Peter at the entrance.

'Welcome to heaven,' says St. Peter. 'Before you settle in, it seems there is a problem. We seldom see a high official around these parts, you see, so we're not sure what to do with you.'

'No problem, just let me in,' says the senator.

'Well, I'd like to, but I have orders from higher up. What we'll do is have you spend one day in hell and one in heaven. Then you can choose where to spend eternity.'

'Really, I've made up my mind. I want to be in heaven,' says the senator.

'I'm sorry, but we have our rules.'

And with that, St. Peter escorts him to the elevator and he goes down, down, down to hell. The doors open and he finds himself in the middle of a green golf course. In the distance is a clubhouse and standing in front of it are all his friends and other politicians who had worked with him. Everyone is very happy and in evening dress. They run to greet him, shake his hand, and reminisce about the good times they had while getting rich at the expense of the people.

They play a friendly game of golf and then dine on lobster, caviar and champagne. Also present is the devil, who really is a very friendly guy who has a good time dancing and telling jokes. They are having such a good time that before he realizes it, it is time to go. Everyone gives him a hearty farewell and waves while the elevator rises ..

The elevator goes up, up, up and the door reopens on heaven where St. Peter is waiting for him. 'Now it's time to visit heaven.'

So, 24 hours pass with the senator joining a group of contented souls moving from cloud to cloud, playing the harp and singing. They have a good time and, before he realizes it, the 24 hours have gone by and St. Peter returns.

'Well, then, you've spent a day in hell and another in heaven. Now choose your eternity.'

The senator reflects for a minute, then answers: 'Well,I would never have said it before, I mean heaven has been delightful, but I think I would be better off in hell.'

So St. Peter escorts him to the elevator and he goes down,down, down to hell. Now the doors of the elevator open and he's in the middle of a barren land covered with waste and garbage. He sees all his friends, dressed in rags, picking up the trash and putting it in black bags as more trash falls from above. The devil comes over to him and puts his arm around his shoulder.

'I don't understand,' stammers the senator. 'Yesterday I was here and there was a golf course and clubhouse, and we ate lobster and caviar, drank champagne, and danced and had a great time. Now there's just a wasteland full of garbage and my friends look miserable. What happened?'

The devil looks at him, smiles and says.......

'Yesterday we were campaigning. Today you voted.'

Thanks Ken for sending this story.

12 of 12 - October 2008

Just last night, I heard about a project called 12 of 12. The really simple version is, on the 12th of each month, you take "every day" pictures during the day and then select 12 of them to keep. At the end of the year, you have 12 pictures from 12 days during the year as a sort of photo diary. I did a bit of Googling tonight and found out that the idea came from a guy named Chad Darnell. Here is his blog that describes the project more fully. In any case, I started my 12 for 12 today.

7:31 AM

Up at 7:30am. Of course I don't look awake...I just woke up one minute ago!

7:32 AM
Mom and Dad's dogs spent the weekend with us. Left to right: Sully (our dog), Harley, Buster, Boo (our dog), Ralph

8:07 AM
Brooke cooked the cinnamon rolls, but when I wanted to take her picture putting the icing on them, she made me do it while she took the picture.

8:11 AM
Amanda had a friend spend the night. Here is Brooke praying with them before breakfast.

9:01 AM
Pastor David had to make himself a portable office this week. Here he is in the portable office this morning.

9:09 AM
Church picnic today. Here is James, one of our deacons, helping get stuff set up.

9:21 AM
I am helping some of the deacons set up for today's church picnic.

10:34 AM
It was my week to run the worship projector.

10:36 AM
Sunday morning worship service at Vine Fellowship. (http://www.theVineFellowship.com)

5:02 PM
Working on the bike to see what all will be involved in changing out my grips.

7:34 PM

Went on a motorcycle ride with Ed and Daniel tonight. We stopped at Dairy Queen in Cleburne, TX.

9:58 PM

Sitting down to watch "The Unit" which we DVR'd earlier. The puppies all wanted in the photo.

Only 11 More Til' 600

Brooke took Amanda and a friend to a football game today and I was left to myself with beautiful weather. What to do? Shall I go for a motorcycle ride or geocache? Why not do both? I did and found 10 out of 13 geocaches I hunted today. Only 11 more to 600!

Too Busy to Blog?

I have noticed, as well as heard from a few of my friends, that I have not been blogging regularly. It seems I keep telling myself, "When I get past this, I'll have more time". And then, as always happens, one more "this" comes up. I enjoy blogging, so I'm trying to make more time to relax and blog. So, right now, I'm relaxing, listening to Rush Limbaugh (Rush 24/7), making computer backups and blogging.

I have spent most all of my day off at Amanda's school today. Today's "journey" started when Brooke and I met with the school's administrator to volunteer at the school. One of the things I was asked to do was work on the character development curriculum with the principal. The short version: I was asked to use a certain curriculum which was designed for K-5th grade and then adapt it for 6-8th grade as well. I suggested using 7-8th graders to present the curriculum to the school complete with a plan for doing so. Next, I was asked to implement that plan. So I was at school doing that today and then substitute teachers were needed for PE. I worked with a teacher and did 5th-8th grade PE and that was fine, but I could not handle 1st-2nd grade PE. All I had to do was watch them on the playground, but it was too much for me. I could not get them still long enough to get a count to make sure I was keeping track of all of them, then there was the crying, the tattling, the climbing on the outside of the playground equipment....argh! Fortunately Brooke was also volunteering, so she took my place and sat at the front desk for her for the rest of 1st-2nd grade PE time. After I got home, it was time to start on the weekly school email announcements which I take care of and then several other emails and projects to go along with the work I had done with the 7-8th graders today. It has been a busy yet fulfilling day.

I have also spent time this week updating the church web page (as I do every week). We have been having issues with our sermon player because they are moving servers. For the first time this week, the sermon player can be seen on our sermon page, but the majority of our archived messages are not yet showing up. Since that amounts to more than a year's worth of sermons, I sure hope they have good back ups! If anybody is interested, I was just able to upload my sermon "Gaining Heaven's Perspective" from last Sunday.

My eyes are getting heavy and I will not be awake much longer. Before I go, I wanted to share a few pictures from some of our family activities these past two weeks.

Amanda was out of school Monday and Tuesday. We had originally planned to go to the Texas State Fair, but since the forecast was 80-90% chance of rain ALL day, we made a trip to Magic Time Machine for dinner instead. Amanda said it was a good substitute (and she added "we will go to the Fair next year).

As soon as Amanda saw "Captain Jack Sparrow" at Magic Time Machine, she wanted her picture taken with him.

This "interesting" picture was taken at the Frontiers of Flight museum in Dallas. A friend told us about Free Museum Day and this was the museum Amanda chose. Brooke took our picture sitting in the airline seats, but Amanda wanted a silly picture, too. She always wants a silly picture, too. Anyway, the "regular" picture was boring.

Here is Brooke and Amanda's "regular" picture in a different set of airline seats.

And here is my favorite picture of the day...Amanda sitting in the ejection seat of a jet fighter.

Dominoes Anyone?

As the pastor who oversees life groups at our church, I try to visit the various life groups a couple times each trimester, but it is hard to "leave" my group to travel. I attend the group led by Michael and Crystal Brown, and one of the really cool things they came up with for our group is a monthly outreach. Right now, the plan is to visit a nursing home the first Wednesday night of the month.

Tonight was the first night our group was supposed to visit but "somehow" over half of the group could not make it. That left Michael, Crystal and me to go visiting! We had been told we could not go visiting room-to-room but could only talk with people sitting in the dining room or common areas. I thought it might be a good idea to take a game so we could find something the people there might enjoy doing and something that might strike up a conversation. I didn't think Jenga would be a good game (the wooden blocks that are stacked where you have to have a steady hand to try and remove the blocks one at a time without tipping over the stack), so I suggested dominoes. Michael and Crystal thought that would be a good idea so we took them.

We met some people in the front lobby as we walked in, so we asked them if they would be interested in a game of dominoes. They said "no thank you" but seemed up for a visit, so we hung around and talked. It was a pleasant conversation and at the end, we offered to pray with them and they took us up on the offer. That was pretty exciting.

But that seems to be where the "that went well" ended. While Michael and I were talking to these people, Crystal went looking for some ladies to talk to. The first lady she talked to asked her to go away, so she came back and hung out with us. After that, we split up again to see if there was anybody else who walked to talk. I saw one lady sitting in a wheelchair watching TV in the lobby. I was hoping she might want to talk, and since she kept turning around in her wheelchair to watch me, I walked up to say hi.

"What are you doing here?" she demanded in a less-than-friendly tone.

"I'm just here hanging out and meeting people this evening" I said. She stared at me.

"My name is Rob". Again, she stared.

About this time, Michael walked up. I said to the lady, "I brought my dominoes to see if anybody wanted to play, but nobody seems all that interested. So I'm just walking around meeting people."

"Well, you should take those someplace else" she informed me. "And take him with you" she added, nodding toward Michael.

We wished her a good evening and walked off. As I headed toward the water fountain, I heard her carrying on, but figuring it was not all that friendly, I ignored her, walked on around the corner and got my drink. While doing so, I heard Michal say, "OK, thank you" two or three times. As I came back around the corner, Michael told me she was saying, "Not that way, over there" as she pointed to the door! I guess she was ready for us to leave.

So it was an interesting night. Most everybody was heading to bed by that time, so we went by Braums and then headed back to the church to pick up our kids. It's kinda funny to talk about now, but a bit awkward earlier this evening. Guess we'll see what happens next month.

911. What's Your Emergency?

911 Operator: "911. What's your emergency?"

Caller: "Uh yeah. My wife got attacked by a warthog real bad and I need someone to come with an ambulance and pick her up."

911 Operator: "Ok, sir. Can you give me your address?"

Caller: "Uh yeah. We're at 1825 Eucalyptus Drive."

911 Operator: "Ok, can you spell that for me, sir?"

Caller: (long pause) "Uh...I'm...I'm gonna drag her on over to Oak Street and you can pick her up there."

Thanks to Dawn Irons for sending me this.

What Else Could I Ask For?

This picture was taken in December of 2000...almost 8 years ago. That's pretty much how things looked tonight as I put Amanda to bed (except that she is bigger now and I have more hair on my face and less on my head!).

One of my favorite times of the day is when Amanda goes to bed. We have a routine. Amanda gets ready for bed (usually "forgetting" as many things as possible so that she can "remember" them just before she is supposed to get into bed), kisses her Mommy good night and then tells me she is ready for bed. I give her a head start and then crawl into bed beside her. I pray with her and then we spend a few minutes talking. The few minutes could stretch into hours if I let them because Amanda hardly ever thinks she is sleepy, but we usually spend 10-20 minutes talking before I make her close her eyes and go to sleep. And then I lay there and sometimes fall asleep myself. Either I wake myself up, kiss her forehead and leave her for the night, or I start snoring, she elbows me, I wake up, kiss her forehead and leave her for the night.

It is those 10-20 minutes that remind me how awesome it is to be a Daddy. At least for now, one of Amanda's favorite things to do during this time is to ask me to tell stories about when I was growing up. "Tell me an animal story, Daddy" (we had LOTS of pets growing up) or "Tell me what was your favorite..." If we have just discussed lying (as in why Amanda shall never ever do that again if she wants to live to be 10 years old!), she asks me to tell as story about when I got caught lying as a kid. Sometimes I just have to tell her I can't remember any more stories. After doing this over the years, it is hard to remember a story I haven't told!

Amanda is growing up (without my permission!), and she is developing a life of her own with her friends, etc. As we lay in bed tonight talking about how excited we are that Mommy is coming home tomorrow night, I wondered how long we would have our special time before bed each night. As a teenager in too-few-years, will she want to make room for Daddy to squeeze into bed, pray with her and talk about anything and everything that is on her mind? I am sure some things will change, but I'm planning on something similar happening when my baby is in high school.

So I look at 8:30-9:00 PM as a high light of my day, and an investment in the future. When we found out that Brooke was pregnant, my heart was drawn to being a Daddy to a little girl. I don't know why it was that way, but God answered the desire of my heart. (Hmmm...now I wonder. Did God give me a girl because I wanted to be a Daddy to a little girl, or did he give me a heart to be a little girl's Daddy because that is what I was getting? Oh well, it worked out PERFECT either way!)

So my 20 minutes tonight got me to thinking how truly blessed I am. Being a husband to my wife and a Daddy to my little girl...what else could I ask for?

Laws of Ultimate Reality

Law of Mechanical Repair
After your hands become coated with grease, your nose will begin to itch and you'll have to pee.

Law of Gravity
Any tool, when dropped, will roll to the least accessible corner.

Law of Probability
The probability of being watched is directly proportional to the stupidity of your act.

Law of Random Numbers
If you dial a wrong number, you never get a busy signal and someone always answers.

Law of the Alibi
If you tell the boss you were late for work because you had a flat tire, the very next morning you will have a flat tire.

Variation Law
If you change lines (or traffic lanes), the one you were in will always move faster than the one you are in now.

Law of the Bath
When the body is fully immersed in water, the telephone rings. &Law of Certainty (a bit more of the bath) If waiting for someone to call, take a shower or use the toilet, it will ring as soon as you are unavailable.

Law of Close Encounters
The probability of meeting someone you know increases dramatically when you are with someone you don't want to be seen with.

Law of the Result
When you try to prove to someone that a machine won't work, it will.

Law of Biomechanics
The severity of the itch is inversely proportional to the reach.

Law of the Theater
At any event, the people whose seats are furthest from the aisle arrive last.

The Starbucks Law
As soon as you sit down to a cup of hot coffee, your boss will ask you to do something which will last until the coffee is cold.

Murphy's Law of Lockers
If there are only two people in a locker room, they will have adjacent lockers.

Law of Physical Surfaces
The chances of an open-faced jelly sandwich landing face down on a floor covering are directly correlated to the newness and cost of the carpet/rug.

Law of the Symptoms
Once you finally get the Doctor or Dentist appointment, it won't hurt anymore.

Law of Logical Argument
Anything is possible if you don't know what you are talking about.

Brown's Law of Physical Appearance
If the shoe fits, it's ugly.

Wilson's Law of Commercial Marketing Strategy
As soon as you find a product that you really like, they will stop making it

Thanks to my friend Ken for sending these. If YOU have any Laws of Ultimate Reality of your own, feel free to add them in the comments section.

Stay Away From the Walls

I just learned something that might help those of you who have younger children...the closer they sleep to the wall, the more likely they are to have nightmares. Thus, if they almost hang off the bed, they are relatively safe.

This is what my daughter told me on the way back from QT. It all started with an episode of Star Trek that got a little too intense for her during dinner. We were going to watch Ice Road Truckers, but she wanted to watch Star Trek, so we did...right up to the point that it got too scary. We were done with dinner, so she left and went to her room. I heard her starting to cry, so I turned off the TV and had her help me clean up after dinner.

I prayed with her and put her to bed at 8:30pm. Five minutes later, she came into my office telling me she was afraid and could not get Star Trek out of her mind. I told her to pray, listen to her worship music and go back to bed.

At 9:30pm, she was back up crying and terrified because she had a nightmare. We took a break and rode to QT so she could calm down. On the way home, I told her she had to go to sleep because she was going to be a grump in the morning if she did not get her beauty sleep. She wanted to sleep in my bed tonight and explained to me it was better than her bed because there was no wall on either side of the bed and the wall side is where the nightmares happen.

So next time your kid has nightmares, just tell them to stay away from the walls!

So Undeserved and So Huge

I just finished reading The Supernatural Power of a Transformed Mind by Bill Johnson. Here is what I wrote about it in my Visual Bookshelf review:

To simply say "a thought-provoking book" would be a disservice to Bill Johnson. This was a spiritually challenging book. There are some areas I surrounded by question marks because I am still weighing if I agree, but there are many more areas I underlined that challenged my thinking about how God wants to move in my life. I have definitely settled for the "normal" Christian life and Bill Johnson's challenge in the book is to redefine "normal" Christianity. The book has challenged me to let God transform my mind.

Chapter 7 of the book is entitled "Remembering". Here is a brief quote from the book that may have forever changed the way I think about how God sees me.

I'd be interested to know what is written in heaven's book of remembrance, but I think the record of Scripture gives us a good idea. Take the example of Sarah, Abraham's wife. In Genesis 18, she,

Laughed within herself, saying, "After I have grown old, shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?" And the Lord said to Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh, saying, 'Shall I surely bear a child, since I am old?' Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son." But Sarah denied it, saying, "I did not laugh," for she was afraid. And He said, "No, but you did laugh!" (Genesis 18:12-15)

She didn't just give an embarrassed giggle. The Hebrew word for laugh tells us she was mocking what God had said. Not only that, she lied about it when God confronted her. But Hebrews 11:11 says of this same woman,

By faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised.

Wow! The record sounds different than the reality! This tells us something precious: the book of remembrance doesn't have a record of our mistakes. Genesis 18 was recorded for human benefit, so you and I could identify with those who followed God in the past. But Hebrews 11 is how it's recorded in the book of remembrance. Once the blood has been applied, there is no record of sin anymore. God brags all over heaven about Sarah, and He does the same about you and me.

Nobody, besides God, is more aware of my shortcomings and failures than I am. But when I read this "remembrance of heaven" account, it was like the Lord was whispering in my ear, "That's how I remember you, too, Rob."

His grace is so undeserved and so huge!

This is what "above my pay grade" means?

(if you are following this blog's RSS feed, you may have to view the original blog to see these two videos)

Well Said

Change is not a destination just as hope is not a strategy.

- Rudy Giuliani, RNC 2008

The Book of My Life

You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. 17 How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered! (Psalm 139:16-17)

I have read this passage before, and I have heard a few interesting teachings from this passage that have raised theological questions in my mind about how "determined" my life is and how much God lets me choose how the book of my life will be written. But as I was reading this passage tonight, a different picture came to me. I did not study this passage, I am not trying to settle theological questions, and I am not teaching this as an interpretation to the passage...it is simply a picture that came to my mind.

It seems to me that it would be more accurate to describe God as the author of the book of my life rather than the reader, but tonight, I pictured God as reading the book of my life. I pictured it being a book that He did not want to put down...one of those books that draws you in and makes you feel like you are right there with the main character. It's not that my life is so great or interesting, but it was like God was reading and living the adventure with me.

And that got me to thinking about my life. Way too many days I get caught up in living life (i.e. paying bills, working, buying stuff and doing whatever else that keeps me busy, busy, busy) that I don't think about my life being an adventure that God wants to experience with me. He never intended for me to be caught up in the mundane; He wants to bring people into my life to make it richer, He has people He wants to minister to through me, He has situations that look totally impossible in this life that He wants to tackle with me (OK, He'd have to push me into those, but then He'd help me tackle them).

God, forgive me for making my "book" boring so often and not letting You experience with me the adventure You intended for my life. Help me to FILL my book with relationships, experiences, joys and risks taken for You. Let the book of my life be one that brings a smile to your face!

You Kids Today Have It Easy

You kids today have it easy. When I was a kid everything was HUGE. My dad was nearly four times bigger than me. You couldn't even see the tops of counters ... Then gradually everything became smaller until it was the manageable size it is today.

- Bizarro comic strip

Get Out The Vote!

Legos...32 Years Later

For some (good) reason, my Mom saved just a few of the toys I had as a kid. One of the things she saved was my box of Legos which I began accumulating at age six (circa 1976). Amanda saw the box in the garage a week or so ago and wanted to get them out, so we did tonight. She has now made plans for the next six weeks...how we can play Legos each and every day. She has decided she wants the Indiana Jones Lego set ("with real ambushes"). I guess today's Legos will still work with ones from three decades ago? I think Mom saved them so that something like this could happen. Good thinking, Mom. Thanks!

Celebrating 15 Years

Well, it was 2 months after the fact, but Brooke and I were finally able to celebrate our 15th wedding anniversary last night. Every year is special, but since this year marked 15, I wanted to do something out of the ordinary.

Our afternoon/evening started on the club floor at Marriott's Renaissance Worthington Hotel in the heart of downtown Ft. Worth.

This is a view of downtown Ft. Worth from our window.

I have always remembered the one time Brooke and I got to eat at Texas de Brazil during the brief time they had a restaurant in Arlington. If you've never eaten there, the experience is hard to imagine. The food is great and the whole dining experience is just plain fun. They have a huge salad bar with a lot of exotic foods on it (I'm personally not that crazy about this part), but then the good stuff begins. Servers begin coming by each table with giant skewers of different kinds of meats: steak, fish, sausage, pork and chicken all cooked differently with PERFECT seasoning. The first time or two you wonder how the little bit they leave you is going to be enough to eat, but then the servers keep coming. The first course is usually the best...until the second one comes and then it is the best. Until the third one comes...well, you get the idea.

So a couple of months ago, I was talking to a friend telling him I wanted to take Brooke to the Ft. Worth Texas de Brazil for our anniversary. My friend takes friends to Texas de Brazil frequently and always purchases their VIP cards that gives you a half-price meal. He gave me a card with two punches on it and I was thrilled to be able to take Brooke.

When we got there, we found out the food was as good (if not better) than we remembered. The room where we ate had four tables in it. Two tables finished and it was just Brooke and I at one table and three "guys who looked like they were Texas oil/gas men" (Brooke's description) at the other table. There was a flat screen TV in our dining room and so they discussed the Olympics with us. They were very friendly and so we conversed on and off during the meal. They asked where we were from and we told them we were from Arlington and were there celebrating our anniversary. We carried on with them and as they left, they said, "You kids have a good evening. Happy anniversary."

We had dessert after they left and then the waitress brought us the check. As I looked at the ticket, I saw the charge for Brooke's cup of coffee that we had ordered with our free (anniversary) dessert, but nothing else. While I was puzzling over where the rest of the ticket was, our waitress came back and told us what was up...the three guys at the table next to us had picked up our tab! We were totally blown away and only wished they guys were still there so we could thank them.


Next, it was time for the "surprise" part of our evening. Brooke already knew we were going to stay at the Worthington and knew we were going to eat at Texas de Brazil, but I wanted to plan something she did not know about. We have seen horse-drawn carriage rides in downtown Ft. Worth, so I contacted Brazos Carriage to see what they offered. They have their carriages downtown every Friday and Saturday night and you can rent the carriage for a 15 minute ride. I was bummed because we were going on a Thursday night, but as I dug a little further into their web site, I found you could do a private, 30 minute rental most any time. I talked to Tracy, the owner, and set up the Sweetheart Package (30 minute ride with flowers and chocolates in the carriage when it arrives) to pick us up outside Texas de Brazil.

As our meal ended, I called Tracy and asked where she was. She said she was out front, so we left. As we walked out, Brooke saw the carriage but started on down the sidewalk. I said, "Hey, you want to ride this? I think they are expecting us." It was awesome...the weather was not too hot, the ride was great, Brooke was surprised and it made for a very romantic evening.

This is just a picture we took back in the hotel room after the carriage ride.

After we dropped the flowers and chocolates off in the room, we went for a walk downtown. We stopped and took this picture in the lobby of our hotel.

I love to take pictures of old-looking court houses. The courthouse in downtown Ft. Worth is very picturesque and I snapped this while we were out walking.


Fifteen years of marriage has flown by. I am so thankful for Brooke and I love her with all that I am. The night did not last long enough for me, but I'm glad we could take the time to create memories and celebrate our 15 years together. Brookie, you are still the love of my life!!!

New Office Policy

Dress Code:

1. You are advised to come to work dressed according to your salary.
2. If we see you wearing Prada shoes and carrying a Gucci bag, we will assume you are doing well financially and therefore do not need a raise.
3. If you dress poorly, you need to learn to manage your money better, so that you may buy nicer clothes, and therefore you do not need a raise.
4. If you dress just right, you are right where you need to be and therefore you do not need a raise.
   

Sick Days:
We will no longer accept a doctor's statement as proof of sickness. If you are able to go to the doctor, you are able to come to work.

Personal Days:
Each employee will receive 104 personal days a year. They are called Saturdays & Sundays.

Bereavement Leave:
This is no excuse for missing work. There is nothing you can do for dead friends, relatives or co-workers. Every effort should be made to have non-employees attend the funeral arrangements in your place. In rare cases where employee involvement is necessary, the funeral should be scheduled in the late afternoon. We will be glad to allow you to work through your lunch hour and subsequently leave one hour early.

Bathroom Breaks:
Entirely too much time is being spent in the toilet. There is now a strict three-minute time limit in the stalls. At the end of three minutes, an alarm will sound, the toilet paper roll will retract, the stall door will open, and a picture will be taken. After your second offense, your picture will be posted on the company bulletin board under the 'Chronic Offenders' category. Anyone caught smiling in the picture will be sectioned under the company's mental health policy.

Lunch Break:

• Skinny people get 30 minutes for lunch, as they need to eat more, so that they can look healthy.
• Normal size people get 15 minutes for lunch to get a balanced meal to maintain their average figure.
• Chubby people get 5 minutes for lunch, because that's all the time needed to drink a Slim-Fast.
  

Thank you for your loyalty to our company. We are here to provide a positive employment experience. Therefore, all questions, comments, concerns, complaints, frustrations, irritations, aggravations, insinuations, allegations, accusations, contemplations, consternation and input should be directed elsewhere.

The Management

Walking with God

"The Spirit-controlled life, the Christ-centered life, the God-focused life is daily coming nearer heaven even when it is still on earth. It is a life which is such a steady progress to God that the final transition of death is only a natural and inevitable stage on the way. It is like Enoch who walked with God and God took him. As the child said: Enoch was a man who went on walks with God--and one day he didn't come back."

-William Barclay commentary on Romans 8:5-11

McCain Quote at Sturgis

“We’re not going to pay $4 dollars a gallon for gas (when I am president) because we are going to drill offshore and we are going to drill now. We are doing to drill here and we are going to drill now,” he said. “My opponent doesn’t want to drill, he doesn’t want nuclear power. He wants to inflate your tires.”

Fox News, McCain Rallies Bikers at Sturgis

Motorcycles Don't Do This!