12 of 12 September 2010

12 of 12 Basic Idea - 12 pictures from your life on the 12th of every month. This month, the 12th was on a Sunday.

#1 - 8:35am - Checking the Greeting Team schedule for this morning from the sound room computer.

#2 - 8:36am - Amanda Kay...my pretty girl.

#3 - 9:01am - Youth worship team on Youth Sunday.

#4 - 9:04am - Pastor Matt opening Youth Sunday in prayer.

#5 - 11:41am - Sunday afternoon lunch with Sonic.

#6 - 2:27pm - After several treatments the Africanized bees are still here and have opening up the hole to get inside the tree again.

#7 - 2:35pm - Had to take these security bars down so I could crawl back in this window when I was cleaning the gutters during the last big thunderstorm. I used a ladder to get on the roof, but it was not stable enough to climb back down so I had to go back in through this window.

#8 - 2:37pm - Amanda Kay coming out to help me put these security bars back up.

#9 - 2:37pm - TaDa! More help.

#10 - 2:50pm - Job is just about done.

#11 - 3:41pm - Amanda came into my office at home to show me her artwork. I called her my Smiling Warrior Princess.

#12 - 6:55pm - I have no idea what I am doing in this picture. Amanda took it. I'm not sure if she just thought it was funny that I had the remote control in my pocket or if she was supposed to take a picture of what I was doing but just zoomed in too much.

12 of 12 August 2010

12 of 12 Basic Idea - 12 pictures from your life on the 12th of every month. This month, the 12th was on a Thursday.

#1 8:02am - Security lights were not on at one of the buildings so I went to investigate. This is me fixing the electrical problem.

#2 08:19am - Airing up the water slide to clean it and put it away after being used the night before.

#3 8:48am - Late breakfast after getting some outside work done at church.

#4 10:10am - Caught this little guy sneaking a drink from the AC drain pipe.

#5 10:31am - Volunteers helping stuff backpacks in preparation for the Operation Backpack outreach coming up in a few days.

#6 11:01am - More help stuffing backpacks.

#7 12:01pm - Backpacks filled by Vine Fellowship members for Operation Backback 2010

#8 12:50pm - Amanda Kay fixing lunch.

#9 3:41pm - Not sure why there was a beach ball in the foyer, but Amanda and I found it and took a break to have some fun.

#10 03:22pm - Part of my Thursday routine...sending out Greeting Team reminders for the upcoming weekend.

#11 5:05pm - Preparing to go to Texas Combat Shooters.

#12 11:05pm - Late night family night! We stopped by Sonic and then headed out to the country away from the city lights looking for the comets that were supposed to be visible. Never saw any.

12 of 12 July 2010

12 of 12 Basic Idea - 12 pictures from your life on the 12th of every month. This month, the 12th was on a Monday.

#1 8:03am - On the road from Alabama (visited Brooke's family) to Liberty Fellowship summer conference in North Carolina.

#2 8:03am - It rained most of the way from Alabama to North Carolina.

#3 8:13am - Amanda Kay can saw some logs! She has no trouble sleeping in the car.

#4 8:53am - Coming into the Smokey Mountains.

#5 9:14am - Cloud covered mountains.

#6 10:53am - Amanda woke up and got a picture taken with Mommy. Is that a chip bag in the background?

#7 11:09am - Crossing the state line into North Carolina.

#8 11:37am - Took a picture of this for Pastor David and Mrs Debi.

#9 11:49am - More driving in the Smokey Mountains.

#10 5:20pm - Dinner at Lake Junaluska during the Liberty Fellowship summer family conference.

#11 6:21pm - Lynne DeShazo leading worship.

#12 8:08pm - Ministry time at the Liberty Fellowship summer family conference.

12 of 12 June 2010

12 of 12 Basic Idea - 12 pictures from your life on the 12th of every month. This month, the 12th was on a Saturday.

#1 8:58am - As soon as anybody starts moving in the bed each morning, Sully is quick to climb up to the head of the bed for some snuggle time.

#2 10:27am - Pastor Philip putting in the last chair putting chairs back up as part of a crew that came in to help reset chairs in the sanctuary after VBS.

#3 12:03pm - Went to pick up Amanda who spent the night at Nayua's house where she spent the night.

#4 1:13pm - Brooke and Amanda in the car...shopping!

#5 2:02pm - Brooke got her toes done.

#6 2:05pm - Amanda showing the bargains she and Mommy found while shopping.

#7 5:42pm - Amanda finishing up some weekend homework.

#8 6:11pm - Rob grilling hamburgers...a Saturday night tradition at the Hurt household.

#9 8:08pm - Nightly Bible reading

#10 8:09pm - Brooke paying with the puppies.

#11 8:57pm - Rob laying down to talk and pray with Amanda before bed.

#12 11:53pm - Uploading VBS pictures from the week.

Fable of the Porcupine

It was the coldest winter ever - many animals died because of the cold. The porcupines, understanding the situation, decided to group together. They covered and protected themselves; but the quills of each one wounded their closest companions even though they gave off heat to each other. They began to distance themselves from each other and began to die, alone and frozen. So they had to make a choice: either accept the quills of their companions or disappear from the Earth.

They decided to go back to being together.

This way they learned to live with the little wounds that were caused by the close relationship with their companions, and appreciate the warmth. This way they were able to survive.

Moral of the story:

The best relationship is not the one that brings together perfect people, but the best is when each individual learns to live with the imperfections of others and can admire the other person's good qualities.

One Of My Geocaches

I'm a geocacher. Short version...geocaching is a game where you hide a container (the geocache), mark it's coordinates with a GPS, post the coordinates online at geocaching.com and other people get the coordinates, use their GPS and find the geocache. Once they find it, they sign the little log inside the geocache and then log their find online. It's like a high tech treasure hunt.

When logging the cache online, it is proper etiquette to tell something about your hunt for the geocache. This is a log from a geocache I have hidden in the little park behind the shopping center where Hobby Lobby.

This one almost got me arrested. As I was walking back to my car, I hear "Mam,, Hault,,, Police" I froze as they were all running towards me and cars were coming at me. They wanted to know what was in my hand and I handed them my gps, wanted to know where I was pointed to my car, what was I doing there, told thm geocaching, and got the ususal What? Told them I would show them the cache, they surrounded me while we walked back to the cache. The minute I showed them they took it from me and I explained that you were supposed to sign the log but I forgot my pen so I made a green smudge on th paper to prove that I was there. He explained that they were in the middle of an investigation and I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. I apologized and he had the cache in his hand and said he would take care of it. Kind of doubt that he put it back, sorry.

Texas Combat Shooters 10-07-10

I went shooting tonight. A friend of mine, along with his brother and cousin, started a group called Texas Combat Shooters. We meet at Elm Fork range in Dallas. The thing I LOVE about shooting with these guys is that we get to practice practical, tactical skills. At most shooting ranges, you stand and shoot while standing still at stationary paper targets. You cannot rapid fire in most places and you can never draw from your holster. At Texas Combat Shooters, we practice one handed shooting, off handed shooting, shooting while moving, shooting from behind cover, rapid (accurate) fire, shooting prone, reloading and other practical skills. We usually shoot four stages with a shot count of 18-21 rounds.

At our first stage tonight we were "hand cuffed" around the large post shown here. Our gun and magazines were laid on the table in front of us. At the buzzer we had to load our gun and fire one head shot and one center mass shot at each of 9 targets. I think the targets were about 15 yards out. I did TERRIBLE on this stage! You are timed on each stage and then given a penalty for every shot outside the zero ring on the target. Missing center mass is not a big deal...usually just a one point deduction unless you miss by a lot. The head shot is much more difficult. You either make the head shot or lose 5 points. I lost something like 43 points on this stage. HORRIBLE!

The second stage I shot tonight was on the "reactionary steel" where you hit the steel target and it falls. The first time I shot steel I did not knock over even one target. I have improved on this stage every week. For this stage tonight we loaded 20 rounds (that's 3 magazines for me with my low capacity, single stack 1911). We had 10 shots to hit each of the six bowling pins and then while they were swinging, we had 10 shots to hit the six steel targets behind them. I certainly was not the fastest shot, but I left no targets standing. With 12 targets and 20 shots you are allowed a few misses. I missed one bowling pin and (hit it with my second shot) and none of steel targets. So I hit 12 targets in 13 shots. Very happy with that.

At our next stage we had to run from cover and kneel beside a barrel. We shot at 3 targets 15 yards away, two torso shots and one head shot. Then we moved to a closer barrel and shot another 3 targets, two torso and one head shot. Lastly, we moved closer and shot through a hole in a wall, 3 targets again, two torso and one head shot. I lost 34 points on this stage. I was probably in the lower third of shooters in this stage.

The last stage we shot was the most creative. We had to shove over a BOB dummy, shoot two torso and one head shot at three close targets. We then ran to the next phase where we shot one small steel target which activated a waving "innocent" target. We then shot a second steel target and had to wait for the swinging "innocent" target to swing out of the way so we could hit the third steel target. From there we ran to the last phase where we ran out from behind cover and shot a target two torso and one head shot while charging the target and shooting at point blank range, past that target to another target, two torso and one head shot again at point blank range while charging it. The last two torso, one head shot was taken at another target from behind cover. Again, I was not the fastest one through this stage, but I lost only one point on this whole stage!

Book Burning

You Might Be a Redneck If...

You might be a redneck if: It never occurred to you to be offended by the phrase, 'One nation, under God.'

You might be a redneck if: You've never protested about seeing the 10 Commandments posted in public places.

You might be a redneck if: You still say ' Christmas' instead of 'Winter Festival.'

You might be a redneck if: You bow your head when someone prays.

You might be a redneck if: You stand and place your hand over your heart when they play the National Anthem.

You might be a redneck if: You treat our armed forces veterans with great respect, and always have.

You might be a redneck if: You've never burned an American flag, nor intend to.

You might be a redneck if: You know what you believe and you aren't afraid to say so, no matter who is listening.

You might be a redneck if: You respect your elders and raised your kids to do the same.

You might be a redneck if: You'd give your last dollar to a friend.

Rob's new Toy

Twitter Update From Wilbur

Made Me Laugh

God said, "Adam, I want you to do something for Me."

Adam said, "Gladly ,Lord, what do You want me to do?"

God said, "Go down into that valley."

Adam said, "What's a valley?"

God explained it to him. Then God said, "Cross the river."

Adam said, "What's a river?"

God explained that to him, and then said, "Go over to the hill...."

Adam said, "What is a hill?"

So, God explained to Adam what a hill was. He told Adam, "On the other side of the hill you will find a cave."

Adam said, 'What's a cave?'

After God explained, He said, "In the cave you will find a woman."

Adam said, "What's a woman?'

So God explained that to him, too. Then, God said, 'I want you to reproduce."

Adam said, "How do I do that?"

God first said (under His breath), "Really?" And then, just like everything else, God explained that to Adam, as well.

So, Adam goes down into the valley, across the river, and over the hill, into the cave, and finds the woman.

Then, in about five minutes, he was back.

God, His patience wearing thin, said angrily, "What is it now?"

And Adam said....

"What's a headache?"

US Capitol Tour With David Barton

Pick Up, Amanda!

I was at work today and Amanda called me on Skype (we live in the church parsonage so she was literally next door, we have no home phone, Amanda's cell phone is pre-paid and so Skype is cheaper).

"Dad, did you just call me on your old cell phone?"

"No, sweetheart. I did not call. The phone is turned off and nobody can call it."

"But Dad, it rang twice. There was a message that said, 'Pick up, Amanda'. I thought you were trying to call me."

"Amanda, the phone was turned off when I got my new cell phone. Nobody can call."

"Dad! There were two messages that said, 'Pick up, Amanda.' One was from yesterday and one was from today."

"Amanda, I use the checkbook on that phone and it automatically updates my calendar. Maybe you were seeing some kind of calendar reminder."

"No, Dad! It was a message that said, 'Pick up, Amanda'" (Amanda was pretty freaked out by the personal nature of the message to her, and the more I told her it was not me, the more worried she became).

Finally, the light dawned on me. "Oh, Amanda. Sweetheart, I put "Pick Up Amanda" on my calendar for yesterday and today because Mommy was out of town and I was picking you up from school. Those were calendar reminders that I had set up for the "Pick Up Amanda" events on my calendar!"