Took a Road Trip

I've been watching the weather report for a week, looking at maps and planning for today. Brooke was at a conference all day and Amanda went to spend the night at a friend's house straight from school, so I had time for a nice day-long road trip. I left out at 9am and returned home at 5:30pm covering about 340 miles. Here's a few highlights from my trip:

I was going to say I like "old" courthouses, but the Johnson County Courthouse in Cleburne is being restored, so I guess that makes it "not old". But I like old-looking courthouses, so I took a couple courthouse pictures today.


Everywhere I rode today, I saw signs that "Burning Ban", but this one farmer seemed to think today was an OK day to clear this field. I'm pretty sure it was not a wild fire...the farmer was watching it burn, there were no fire trucks and the outside perimeter had been plowed so the fire would stop when the grass was gone. I saw the smoke a long ways away and had to stop for a picture once I saw what was going on.


You know how you always see those signs that say "Historical Marker"? Well, when I stopped to take pictures of the field burning, I saw the "Historical Marker" sign pointing to this area, so I went to check it out. This is what's left of a school that was started in 1879.



I guess this would be the Bosque County Courthouse. It was in Meridian, TX (I think...I stopped so many times I'm confused now).



I know...a picture of sheep is not very exciting. I tried to help these guys get back in the field with the other sheep, but I ended up scaring them and just had to watch them run off down the shoulder of the highway. Fortunately, they seemed to know better than to get in the road.


This is where I ended up for lunch. I think part of the "road trip experience" is eating at local, home cooked restaurants. When I stopped in Hamilton for gas, I asked a guy filling up his truck where would be a good local place to eat lunch. He recommended a Mexican place, so I headed there. As I was parking my motorcycle, an older gentleman came up and started talking motorcycles with me. He happened to live in Ft. Worth and he told me about the club he rides with there (he actually invited me to come visit the club). He recommended this place for lunch, so I moved on down the street and gave it a try. I was happy to see hamburgers and pie on the menu, but when they just about blackened my hamburger, gave me a tiny piece of pie, charged me an extra dollar to use my debit card, overcharged for the food and had an unfriendly waitress bring it to the table...well, I sorta wish I had stuck with the Mexican joint. Oh well, it was still fun.


I didn't have a chance to see what was so "historic" about Lampasas. This was the furthest south I went today...about 150 miles from home. From here, I headed back home swinging along the western border of Ft. Hood military base.


As you may have guessed, I passed through Topsey, TX. I've never been there before, but when I saw this little barn/storefront/thing, I thought it would make a neat looking black and white picture. So here it is...complete with the black and white.


I think this courthouse was in Gatesville...I'm not sure which county it's in.


This is the clipboard I rigged so I could see my route for the day.


I did not see President Bush or even his ranch. All I got was a picture of this sign!


Last picture for the day. This was painted on the side of a building in Valley Mills (obviously).

Another Enjoyable Day

This is a quaint little house that Amanda and I saw on our motorcycle ride this afternoon. Amanda and I like to go for "country rides" and look at the animals while we are out. Here's a list of a few of the fun things we saw/did while we were out:

• Saw horses
• Saw goats
• Saw a burro
  
• Saw BIG bulls with BIG horns
• Saw cute little calves
  
• Saw a couple 'log cabin' homes
• Saw the house pictured here
• Saw a road runner cross the road
• Played chase on the playground at Lillian Elementary School
• Split a shake and orange drink at What-A-Burger
  

A Dream Day

Yes, this is a picture of my motorcycle, and yes, it is in the church sanctuary. This is a picture that was taken at the sock hop we had at the church on Valentine's Day.

But that's not the dream day I am talking about...it's just the only picture I have right now of Brooke and I on the motorcycle. When we bought the bike in November, I pictured a day just like today. Around 10am we headed out. We rode the back roads through Kennedale and Mansfield, then did some highway riding down 287 South and then exited onto another winding back road which took us to Venus. From there we wandered on into Maypearl and then over to Milford and finally into downtown Waxahachie.

My dream day with my wife riding the motorcycle included finding some "hole in the wall" restaurant, and we found a BBQ place near the town square in Waxahachie that fit the bill. We got our food and took it out on the porch to eat. Good BBQ on a warm day, just my sweet heart and me. After finishing up the home made banana pudding, we got back on the bike and headed into Duncanville to visit my Mom for a few minutes, and then we headed home. In all, we traveled about 135 miles and were gone about 4 hours. It was the day I dreamed about when I first got the motorcycle, and I can't wait for more!

Everybody FREEZE

It's Called "Sleeve Face"

Constants In Life

"There are three constants in life... change, choice and principles."

- Stephen Covey

Happy Valentine's Day...From Google Earth

Learning From Moses

I'm still reading through Exodus...trying to get through all of the measurements of the tabernacle, etc. I can't tell you how much I have grown spiritually after reading verses such as Exodus 36:25, "Then for the second side of the tabernacle, on the north side, he made twenty boards..." (did you sense the slight use of sarcasm, or are you re-reading the verse looking for some deep, spiritual insight?).

As I read a few more chapters tonight, I noticed one phrase or idea being repeated over and over:

• Exodus 35:10 - Let every skillful man among you come...
• Exodus 35:25 - All the skilled women...
• Exodus 35:36 - All the women whose heart stirred with a skill...
• Exodus 35:35 - He has filled them with skill...
• Exodus 36:1 - ...every skillful person in whom the Lord has put skill and understanding to know how to perform all the work...
• Exodus 36:2 - ...every skillful person in whom the Lord had put a skill, everyone whose heart stirred him...
• Exodus 36:4 - And all the skillful men...
• Exodus 36:8 - All the skillful men

There's a lot of mention here about a LOT of SKILLFUL people. When the temple was built, architects were needed, those who could engrave, those who worked with stone, those who worked with metal, those who could sew and make material, wood workers, etc. And these were not just people who could get the job done...these verses tell us they were SKILLED people who had specific, extra-ordinary skills given by God. Given this fact, I find the following verse very interesting:

Exodus 38:22 - Now Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, made all that the Lord had commanded Moses.

This made me ask, "If God had all of those skilled people to work with, and if Moses was not skilled in all of these areas, why did God give the super-detailed plan for the building of the tabernacle to Moses? Couldn't God have told the architect, "Build a temple" and told the sewing ladies, "Make a beautiful curtain for the Holy Place" and to the metal workers, "Build elaborate utensils for use in the tabernacle"?

Had God told 100 skilled workers to build for Him, they no doubt would have created beautiful work..their absolute best for God. But there would have been 100 different pictures of what the tabernacle would look like. God didn't have 100 pictures in mind for His tabernacle...He had ONE picture in mind. So he clearly communicated that picture to His leader Moses, and Moses communicated the (detailed) vision to the skilled craftsmen.

I believe God was making a clear statement about leadership.

We can create something 'great for God' based on individual pictures we create in our own minds, or we can participate in something truly great by working with other skillful people to bring about the ONE picture God has revealed to His leader(s).

Great Day for a Ride

It was a beautiful day today...too nice not to go for a motorcycle ride. I headed out to Maypearl, over to Milford, through Waxahachie back to Arlington. About 130 miles of pure relaxation.

Leadership Thoughts From Exodus 28:3

I was reading in Exodus tonight and came to chapter 28 where God gave Moses VERY specific instructions about the garments the priests were to wear. He told Moses how their clothes should be made, who should make them, how the "accessories" were to be created and worn...the whole nine yards. As I glanced over chapter 28, I almost opted to skim over what seemed "boring and irrelevant" to my Christian life in 2008. But I took the time to read anyway, and God showed me something really cool from the first half of just one little verse.

"You shall speak to all the skillful persons whom I have endowed with the spirit of wisdom (i.e. "artistic skill"), that they make Aaron's garments to consecrate him, that he may minister as priest to me." (Exodus 28:3, NASB)

I believe God showed me a few leadership principles from this verse, and so I'll share the short version with you. You are welcome to comment.

1. God speaks, even to people with great God-given talent, through authority. God did not tell the garment makers how to make the priests' garments. God told Moses what He wanted, and then told Moses to whom he should delegate that task. If you read all the details, Moses may not have understood everything God was telling him about the making of the priests' garments. So when Moses passed this along to the people with great "artistic skill", they could run with it. They took the picture that God gave Moses, they ran with that using their God-given talent, and created something both beautiful and pleasing to God. Had Moses tried to do it himself, it would not have been God-pleasing. Had the garment makers brought their ideas to Moses first and said, "We think this is how the priests' garments should look", that would not have been pleasing to God, either.
2. As a leaders, we should listen for God's specific instruction not only on WHAT He wants done, but also on WHO He wants to do it.
3. As those under authority, we need to tread carefully offering "suggestions" in areas where we have not been delegated authority. God gives us ideas to go along with our skills and abilities, but He places those ideas, just like our skills and abilities, under godly authority.
   

Is This for Real?

A Lesson In Estate Planning

Dan was a single guy living at home with his father and working in the family business.

When he found out he was going to inherit a fortune when his sickly father died, he decided he needed a wife with which to share his fortune.

One evening at an investment meeting he spotted the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.

Her natural beauty took his breath away. "I may look like just an ordinary man," he said to her, "but in just a few years, my father will die, and I'll inherit 20 million dollars."

Impressed, the woman obtained his business card and three days later, she became his stepmother.

Women are so much better at estate planning than men.

Teaching the Younger Generation About a Classic

ATARI 2600

One Reason Why I Love Texas

One of the reasons I LOVE Texas is because of the weather. No, not the high humidity, at or above 100 degree summer days, but days like today. January and 66 degrees. We have a saying, "If you don't like the weather, stick around...it will change". I have been waiting (impatiently) for a change in the weather for two reasons: 1) it's been too cold these past few weeks and 2) I want to ride my motorcycle. So today, the weather was nice and I got to ride. Since we can't leave Amanda at home by herself, she got to go with me and Brooke stayed at home (can't wait for more warm weather and Friday motorcycle dates with Brooke while Amanda is in school!). There was stuff going on at the Ft. Worth Stockyards today, so we headed in that direction taking the back roads:


Once we got there, I was sorry I did not bring my camera. I did snap a couple pictures with my cell phone, but I would have taken more if I had a better camera with me. The first thing we did was stop and watch a street artist painting. It was fascinating watching him work. Amanda kept saying, "That's what I want to do". As we left the painter and walked on down the street, we saw a cowboy riding a Texas Longhorn. Where else can you see this?


We headed down the street to check out a couple shops and to get some ice cream. On the way back, Amanda spotted this jail and we had to stop for another picture. We have a very 'special' child!


After this, we headed back to the motorcycle. We passed the blue-eyed 'Indian chief' who was posing in full costume with his horse for pictures and we passed 50 or more other motorcycles on the way. We had a great time hanging out and saw some things we want to do another time.

On the way home, I found a park along the Trinity River I want to take Brooke to on our first Friday motorcycle date. We can go for a walk, hold hands and walk along the river. That will be a fun day, too.

Geocaching Comment

Hiding a good geocache requires a bit of thought. First you have to find a good place for the hide, and then it helps to hide a container full of stuff that people would like to find. My favorite geocache that I have hidden is a multi (4 parts - part 1 gives you the coordinates for part 2, part 2 has coordinates for part 3, etc) with a giant Sam's animal cracker barrel wrapped in cammo duct tape. I found a very pretty area to hide it in, but the area is being developed and parts number 2 & 3 probably won't be around much longer. But I put a lot of work in this cache, BINY In My Life -Amanda Kay. It was named after my daughter and holds a very special place in my heart.

So when you put a lot of effort into a cache, it's always nice to receive a positive comment. Here's a comment I received from someone logging this cache today: This was a rockin multi! I really hope this one stays around for awhile so everyone can experience the same enjoyment I did. What a beautiful day for a hike.

It's gonna be a nice day tomorrow. Should I go geocaching or ride my motorcycle...or geocache on my motorcycle?

Be Tough

Tough times don't stick around...
but tough people do.

Rethinking the Value of Ritual

Wikipedia (referencing the Oxford dictionary) defines ritual as "a set of actions, often thought to have symbolic value, the performance of which is usually prescribed by a religion or by the traditions of a community by religious or political laws because of the perceived efficacy of those actions"

I got to thinking about rituals tonight as I was reading where God established the ritual of Passover in Exodus 12.

Ex 12:14 - 'Now this day will be a memorial to you, and you shall celebrate it as a feast to the Lord; throughout your generations you are to celebrate it as a permanent ordinance. (NAS)

Ex 12:24-27 - And you shall observe this event as an ordinance for you and your children forever. 25 "When you enter the land which the Lord will give you, as He has promised, you shall observe this rite. 26 " And when your children say to you, ' What does this rite mean to you?' 27 you shall say, 'It is a Passover sacrifice to the Lord who passed over the houses of the sons of Israel in Egypt when He smote the Egyptians, but spared our homes.'" (NAS)

I noticed two (rather obvious) things here: It was important to God 1) that His people remember what He did for them and 2) that they pass this remembrance along to future generations. He chose a ritual to serve both of these purposes in this passage.

I got to thinking how we in the Protestant church in general and even more so as the Charismatic church have devalued ritual. (I'm not wagging a finger...I understand how/why this started. Rituals can all-too-easily lose their meaning and either become mindless or become the focus instead of a reminder of what the where the focus is supposed to be.) I remember one lady who came to our church for a while asked me if our church held Maundy Thursday services. I told her no, we did not, but I did not tell her I didn't even know what Maundy Thursday was. I knew Maundy Thursday was the Thursday of Holy Week, but I did not know much more than that until I researched it tonight.

Somewhere along the way, I thought about the double standard some of us in the Protestant, Charismatic church have about rituals. We avoid "Christian rituals" often times because they are "dead and meaningless". But if our children wanted to role-play a 'Satanic ritual' from a book, TV show or whatever, we would begin an all-night prayer vigil for their souls and immediately launch into a 30 minute sermon (unless it was an "innocent" cartoon or game that is indoctrinating our children...but I'll leave that for another time). Why is it that we assign "power" to a Satanic ritual and yet no power to a Godly ritual? The Apostle Paul taught us just the opposite (1 Corinthians 8:4-6) talking about food sacrificed to idols.

I will end this post the way I end my daily Bible study...with the question "How do I need to respond?" Here is what I wrote down tonight:

1. Figure out what are some of the rituals of my faith. Stop and think about them instead of repeat them mindlessly. Research them to appreciate the meaning more fully.
2. Perhaps read more about some of the rituals of the Church that I no little or nothing about.
3. Consider what I am passing on to Amanda as far as rituals of the Hurt family's faith.

If you are a Christian, what meaning do rituals hold in your life?

One Semester of Spanish - Spanish Love Song

I've had just enough Spanish to find this absolutely hilarious!

We Love Volunteers

At our church, Vine Fellowship, we LOVE our volunteers. Last year, we even did a video to show how lost we'd be without them. As I was looking at our video on YouTube, I found this volunteer appreciation video done at Saddleback Church. I loved it and thought I'd share it.

On the Verge of Something WILD

I read this blog post, "Everything Is An Experiment" by Mark Batterson, a blogger and pastor I have been reading the past few months. This blog posting pretty much summarizes the guy's life. He's a "grab the lion by the mane" kind of guy. Seems to be pretty much my opposite personality-wise, but God has been challenging me BIG TIME through some of the stuff this guy has been writing.

I get ideas, don't get me wrong. And some of them, I guess, could be labeled "creative". But I don't consider myself a particularly creative person. I get things done, but I don't know about being creative.

Something has caught my attention for the past three to four months...a drive to be a creative (and effective) communicator. God directed me to a couple books and several blogs that have stirred up this new-found passion. I felt God working something in my heart, and I didn't quite know how to put it into words. I asked Him about it, and the drive got stronger, but not any clearer. I began to wonder if the drive was to take me into areas of ministry where I never pictured myself (senior pastor). Some of the people I know, not knowing what I was experiencing, had encouraged me in that direction (said they could see me there one day). But that just seemed so opposite how God has made me (I believe I have an armor-bearer's calling on my life).

In December, I was sharing with another good friend whose opinion I respect very much. I was trying to communicate what has been on my heart. I told him I was confused because I didn't know where God was leading with this all-consuming passion. As we talked, he finally came right out and said, "I can't picture you being a senior pastor" and I just felt a flood of relief. I was looking for somebody to confirm what I felt in my heart. I didn't want to "hold out" on God, but I know how He has made me and stepping out of my armor-bearer calling just did not feel right.

And then at the first of the year, we had our annual staff retreat. One of my favorite parts of the retreat is where we spend a couple hours as a staff praying for one another. One person sits in a chair and others pray for him/her. During this time, we allow time for God to speak a word of direction, wisdom, encouragement or prophecy to us, through one another. When it was my turn to be prayed for (to be honest), I expected to hear some of the same things that have been prayed over me in the past (you are faithful, loyal, man of integrity, etc). I was blown away when God started speaking to me about increasing my teaching ministry this year and having to trust Him by stepping out in a bigger way. Everything that was said was one confirmation after another. I had been hearing God, He would be opening the doors, and what He was working was going to be much bigger than I would have envisioned myself. I was afraid to even share what God has been speaking in my heart, yet here God was saying it OUT LOUD through my pastor and my peers.

So I still don't know what ALL this means. I have been praying. God has made it clear that there will be a sacrifice of time required and that I will have to step out in faith. What He wants to do with me is bigger than me (doing something bigger than my talent wouldn't take much). I'm still praying and seeking.

Right now, I feel like God is still saying, "It's coming." I'm not sure what all "it" is. I'm both excited and nervous. I'm excited because I feel God has spoken that He is going to use me in a specific way. I can see where He has lead me to this point. I'm nervous because He has also made it clear that this will be Him in me and not me in my own strength. I know (better than anybody else), the limited talent I draw from. That part makes it easy to rely on Him...it also makes it hard because He has said this will take me out of my comfort zone.

I'm still asking God how it starts, when it starts, what does this all mean. I don't know when the time will be or even how I'll know it's time, but I sure get the feeling I'm on the verge of something WILD.

I was watching TV late Tuesday or Wednesday night and saw an advertisement for an Arenacross race at Reunion Arena. Brooke had been with my Dad and I once before and liked it, and I figured Amanda would be game for it at least once. I checked with Brooke and bought the tickets next day. We went to the race last night and had a good time. I'm ready to go back in March, but the girls suggest it might be a good "Guys Night Out". They both enjoyed it, but it was more of a "once-is-enough-for-me-right-now" deal for them.

Anybody wanna go to Supercross at Irving Stadium on Saturday, April 5th? With surcharges, tickets are $13 nosebleed seats or $35 for good seats (I'm up for either). Let me know.

500 Geocaches

My goal was 500 geocaches by my birthday this coming Thursday. Well, I made it! Brooke and Amanda went with me yesterday and we found caches #498, 499 and 500 (pictured here). Amanda has not cached in a while and 'caught the bug' again, so we went and did two more. Amanda has 321 and says she wants to get to 400, so that will be our next goal.

Dangerous Dave and Brutal Bob (Time Waster)

Click the picture to play the game.

To play the game, click your mouse once to get Dangerous Dave to appear on the screen. Click a second time to send Dangerous Dave toward the click and back swing Brutal Bob's bat. Click a third time as Dangerous Dave comes by so Brutal Bob can help launch him over the cliff. My record is 867.5 meters after getting help from several gophers.

Here's the Headlines I'm Following

Along the right side of my blog, there's a section with the header "Here's the Headlines I'm Following." This section shows the last 5 stories/blog posts I have shared with Google Reader. I put it there because it gives a little insight into things that interest me or catch my attention.

Anyway, there is now link to an interview Rob Bell did with Relevant Magazine. I wanted to quote just one part of an answer he gave to the question, " By being innovative, you face critics. How do you deal with this?"

Thirdly, there are around a billion people in the world who don’t have drinking water, and 46 million Americans don’t have health care. That means if they get sick, they don’t have anywhere to go. Half of the world, 3 billion poeple live on less that two American dollars a day, so the world is an emergency. It’s on fire. It’s drowning. It’s an absolute crisis, and when followers of Jesus can think of nothing better to do with their time than to pick apart and shred to pieces the work of other followers of Jesus who are trying to do something about the world, that’s tragic, and I don’t owe those people anything.

The world is desperately in need of people who will break themselves open and pour themselves out for the reconciliation of all things. When a Christian can find nothing better to do with their time in the face of this much pain and heartbreak, you start realizing that some Christians need to be saved. How a person would have energy to take shots at other Christians is just mind-boggling. You have to be so totally disconnected from the pain of the world to think that blogging is somehow a redemptive use of your time.

I tried to link to the whole story, but the Relevant site was having a few difficulties when I posted this. You can go there and look around yourself if you wish. I just thought this was an insightful response.

From My Bible Reading Tonight

The water prevailed upon the earth one hundred and fifty days (AFTER raining for 40 days/40 nights). BUT GOD REMEMBERED Noah and all the beasts and all the cattle that were with him in th ark... (Genesis 7:24-81)

Just a good reminder for me when I wonder if God 'remembers' me in my "situations".

Logging a Geocache

For the uninitiated, Geocaching is a sort of treasure hunt. You can check out my Geocaching links along the right side of my page if you would like more information. But to appreciate this post, you have to understand "logging". A person uses a GPS to find the geocache, they sign the log (a little piece of paper located inside the geocache container) and then log onto www.geocaching.com and "log" the find there. You basically go to the cache listing, click on "found it" and then write some little note about your experience.

Some people find, say 25 caches in one day. They will log "found this cache today with GeoFred" and they copy/paste that for all 25 logs. BORING! People like to read stories about how you found the cache, funny things that happened, how you struggled to find it, etc.

So I found The Liar's Cache yesterday and went to log it today. This cache owner has very specific logging requirement to log your find. They said, "Your mission is to seek out and find this simple 1/1 cache, but to log it as if it were a difficult 5/5. And I expect detail! I want to hear, in just the on-line log, about broken limbs, four mile hikes uphill both ways, days of searching. I expect creativity! I expect ingenuity! And most of all, I expect substance!?"

In other words, you are supposed to make up (LIE) a story about your find. What a fun idea! My log is quoted below. (I know...it's LONG. If you can't handle long, just skip it).

You see, I had to go pick up a chain saw from the repair shop yesterday, and the shop was on the other side of town. Since it was a bit of a drive, and since there were a few caches between here and there (if you plan your route correctly), I figured I could grab a couple. I originally planned on 3 geocaches, but the going was so good yesterday, I ened up logging nearly 400 cahces in just two hours! Only problem was, I did not have CacheMate with me...all I had was the GPS. When I found this cache, I was not sure what was going to be asked of me as far as logging requirement, but I see you cleared that up for me. So here's almost the truth, part of the truth, and little of the truth, please forgive me, God.

As I approached the cache, my first mistake was overestimating my car's ability to cross what I thought to be at shallow creek (the murky water hid it's true depth). I totally ruined the new $275 tennis shoes my wife bought me at Payless for Christmas as I had to get out of the car to retrive the jack. Of course, water flooded into the car as soon as I opened the door. I retrieved the jack only to discover that I could not find a solid part of the car frame by feel, so I made a make-shift snorkel out of a McDonalds straw (something I learned from MacGyver) and went under water trying to find a solid spot for the jack. Once again, the murky water was not helpful...today it looks like I have a piece of cottage cheese in the corner of my eye and my wife fears it is some sort of infection!

Fortunately for me, I thought to take off all of my clothes before attempting this work under water (something I learned from Bear on Man vs. Wild), because it took me 30 minutes to find enough large rocks to prop up under the jack to enable me get the car out of the creek. I was nearly hypothermic by the time I got dressed, but I was more determined than ever to grab the cache at this point.

Obviously the engine flooded sitting in the creek that long, but thanks to my subscription to AAA (Alabama Automotive Advice), I knew I could coast down a hill, pop the clutch and get the car running again. Well, you know that "little hill" near the cache? I figured I could use that to get the car started. I put the car in neutral, stepped out to get behind it to start pushing and the danged car rolled down the hill without me! I found it impossible to put the car in gear and pop the clutch while running behind the car down the hill. Did you know that creek you cross first coming in off the main road (the one where my car got stuck originally) feeds into the river at the bottom of that hill? Is that strange coincidence or what?

This time, I knew there was no using the jack to get the car out...I'd just have to call the wife and have her bring the sled dogs later. But I could see the cache from where I was standing and knew I had to take care of business first.

Seeing how high up the tree the cache was, I knew I was going to need my climbing gear. This was rather disappointing since I was still cold from my last swim and I realized my climbing gear was in the trunk of the car. But I figured I was already committed by this time, so once again, I disrobed and started swimming toward the car. Half way there, I realized my keys were still in my pants pocket. I was going to swim back to get them, but about this time, three waitresses from the diner next door were getting off work and walking by. I took a deep breath, dove down to the car and waited in there, breathing from an air pocked trapped near the roof, until I figured they were gone. While doing this, I saw the chain saw sitting in the back seat, and that gave me an idea. I took a deep breath, grabbed the chain saw and headed toward the surface. Fortunately, the waitresses were gone...unfortunately, they took my clothes with them!

But hey, you don't get to 1,000,000+ caches like I have by giving up easily. I swam to shore, walked up to that big 'ol tree, fired up the chain saw (it just came out of the shop, so it fired up the first time despite having been under water...who'd have thunk it?) and cut that gosh danged tree to the ground. Since the cache owner was not kind enough to leave a pen in the cache, I fired up the chain saw one more time, took off just a thin layer of the pointer finger on my left hand and signed the log in blood. OK, it was my left hand, so PLEASE EXCUSE ME if it's a little hard to read.

But that's when my luck turned bad. Suddenly, that wafer-thin layer I had taken off my finger started to GUSH blood...I mean it was everywhere. I saw my shoes lying there (don't know why the waitresses didn't take them) and I was trying to fashion a tourniquet from a shoestring when I must have passed out.

Next thing I knew, my wife was laying next to me, I tasted terrible morning breath and the clock on the nightstand said 7:02am. My wife looked at me and asked, "Were you dreaming? You were thrashing about mumbling something about your shoes being ruined and never eating there again."

Amanda's 9th Birthday Party

Jill's First Motorcycle Ride

Amanda and Aunt Jill

Christmas With the Hurts

Big Texas Toy Run 2007

I had to wait a week to blog about our ride in the Big Texas Toy Run because I was waiting to get pictures and video from friends who were there. Here's a video I put together. You can also see all our pictures on Flickr here. What an awesome experience!

We met at Ed's house at 8:00am. The Weather Channel said it was 30 degrees. The original plan was to head to downtown Ft. Worth, get our bikes in line, eat breakfast and then hang out until it was time for the ride to start. When it got so cold, the plans changed and were going to eat here in Arlington in hopes that it would warm up before we had to ride to Ft. Worth. However, since Amanda was wearing her heavy winter overalls and I was wearing 2 sweatshirts under my jacket and three layers of pants, I voted to go ahead and ride downtown rather than have to stop and take off all the extra clothes we just put on. So, at 30 degrees we rode to Ft. Worth. Amanda said her toes felt like they were going to fall off, and that's how each of the motorcycle drivers felt about our fingers, too! More than one of us thought back to the Discovery Channel series about climbing Mt. Everest and the guys who got frost bite on their fingers!

We arrived in downtown Ft. Worth cold but with fingers and toes still intact. We ate at LaMadeline's (only place open for breakfast) and then walked around looking at bikes (bikes, bikes and more bikes!), enjoying the variety of people there (everyone from Christian biker clubs to outlaw bikers, crotch rockets to Gold Wing touring bikes) and seeing the sites including Santa Claus and an "elf" (see the pictures).

We got back to our bikes around 12:20pm. Thirty minutes later, a ROAR was heard as thousands of bikes started. Promptly at 1:00pm the line headed out. Although we could see the front of the line from where we were, it took a while for us to get moving as bikes flowed in from side streets in front of us.

We took a couple turns downtown and then got onto Interstate 30. Bikers rode two-to-a-lane in staggered formation in the lane shut down just for us. Well-wishers lined the side of the highway as well as the over passes...they were everywhere.

As we came to I-30 and Eastchase, we pulled off and said hello to our family who was there to cheer on the bikers and greet us. We stayed there for a few minutes and then got back into traffic for the ride to the Convention Center.

At the Convention Center we parked and went inside. A mountain of toys covered one wall. (You had to pay $10/person or bring a toy to ride...it was a fund raiser for handicapped kids.) They had an opening prayer, the singing of the national anthem and then Santa Claus rode in and up onto the stage. Kids were on the stage who had written to Santa with what they wanted for Christmas. The letters were read and the wishes were fulfilled. I don't know how many kids were there that day, but I know there were not enough kids for all of the toys. I am sure MANY kids from MANY organizations got some great toys for Christmas.

The only problem we have is what to do next year. Amanda wants to go again and now Brooke wants to go to.

Taking a "Sip" From a Fire Hydrant

One of my passions is helping people discover how God has shaped them for ministry, to discover how to use the things that come "naturally" to them to serve others and love God.

One of the things I've discovered while observing and reading about different personality types, motivational gifts, etc is that every personality type strength has a negative corollary. Right now, I am PAINFULLY aware of this truth in my own life. Here's why:

I am looking for a church-wide campaign to present at our staff meeting next month...something like the 40 Days of Purpose our church did several years ago. The subject matter (What's my purpose in life?) drew a lot of unsaved people, the structure helped us disciple them and church-wide nature of it (kids, youth, Life Groups, personal reading and Sunday's message) helped bring unity to the church. So I found this book entitled In a Pit With a Lion on a Snowy Day. Pastor and author of the book, Mark Batterson, created a series to go along with the book and has made materials available so that other churches can use it. 70% of their congregation (National Community Church) is made up of people who either have not attended church ever or have been away for a long time. That's the target audience the Lord has laid on my heart, so I thought this book/series might be worth looking into. The seven main sections of the series are: Defying odds, Facing fears, Overcoming adversity, Embracing uncertainty, Taking risks, Seizing opportunities and Looking foolish. I thought this series had a lot of potential, so I download the free preview first chapter of the book and read Mark's blog overview of each of his seven messages.

Having done all of that, I feel the series has potential for what the Lord has laid on my heart. But here's the interesting thing...I've been given no "green light" to pursue or plan this...I was just researching so I could present the idea. I don't know where the campaign idea will go, but it seems God wanted to challenge me personally through this book/series. The whole idea is to be a "lion chaser"...pretty much the exact opposite of me. As a matter of fact, part of the bio I put on our church staff page was "I have a low need for adventure." It's part of my personality...part of who I am.

I changed that part of my bio a few months ago because I did not like the context in which I used it. But point being, it is part of who I am. Here's the positive/negative aspect. On the positive side, I am a very faithful person. If I tell you I will do something for you, you can count on me. And I will not be someplace else next week...I will still be here, doing what I said. On the negative side, if God wants me to do something, He has to make me very uncomfortable to get me to move. In light of the book/series I've been researching, I'm the exact OPPOSITE of a lion chaser!

So I'm pretty uncomfortable right now. I don't know in what areas yet, but God is definitely trying to say something to me about being a lion chaser...something along the lines of Defying odds, Facing fears, Overcoming adversity, Embracing uncertainty, Taking risks, Seizing opportunities or Looking foolish. And because that is so much opposite of who I am, God is not using that "still small voice" they taught us about in Bible college. He is speaking through this book, written by a guy who is definitely a lion chaser. It's like trying to take a "sip" from a fire hydrant...it can't really be done.

So you can pray for me that I won't retreat into my comfort zone and that I won't be so overwhelmed that I do nothing. I know God is doing this for my own good, but I sometimes think He laughs when He does stuff like this to/for me!

It's a Family Tradition

It's a little after 11pm, I'm sleepy and wanting to go to bed. But I can't because I have to wait for our "Hot Stuff" to finish cooking. Hot Stuff is the name the Hurt family gave our recipe for Chex mix. We made it every Christmas when I was growing up, and it's a tradition that is carried on in our home now. We've added to the tradition...every year we make our Hot Stuff while watching Sound of Music. Yes, all three hours every year.

So if you want to know why we call it "Hot Stuff", here's our Chex mix recipe:

• 1 box Cheerios
• 1 box Wheat Chex
• 1 box Corn Chex
• 1 box Rice Checks
• 1 Can Spanish Peanuts
• 1 Can Mixed Nuts
• 1 pkg. pretzels
• 1/4 lb. butter
• 1/4 c. Wishteshire sauce
• 1 T. celery salt
• 1 T. onion salt
• 1 T. cayenne pepper

Melt butter. Add remaining ingredients. Mix over cereal. Bake 1 hr. at 250 stirring every 20 minutes.

I Guess I Just Don't Get It

I first heard about an I-35 "Highway of Holiness" movement a few months ago, but I've been seeing more about it on the Internet recently. Here is the second video news story I have seen on the issue.

I certainly don't have a problem using I-35 as a strategic place to pray for our country, but are there people who really think God had US Interstate Highway 35 in mind when he led Isaiah to write Isaiah 35?

I tried to find out more about this "movement" and visited Generals International. I then visited the official "Light the Highway" web page, but it appears to be a wiki-type page, and it seems to have been 'hacked' with "666 Satan Rules" on many of it's pages. But on the main page on the right side toward the bottom is a section for "I-35 Prophecies". I know God does not communicate to us only in my left-brained, want-it-logical manner, but I don't get it when I read some of these prophecies. I hope somebody is going to hold them accountable for what they have proclaimed in the name of the Lord. Maybe it's me...I just didn't realize that the US, and Dallas specifically played such a major role in prophecy and the end times.

The Lord took me on a journey and He reminded me that several years ago Ruth Ward Heflin wrote a book called “The Glory”, and she said in that book – I marked it and read it half dozen times – that the greatest out pouring of the Holy Ghost – the last day move of God that the epicenter of that revival would be in Dallas, Texas. And then a year or two later I was watching Marcus Lamb’s Sky Angel program and just a few months before she died and when to heaven and she repeated the whole story. She told the story and said she saw in Dallas, Texas – it was a vision and I saw in the vision and a huge stage and on that stage were people being healed, miracles and signs and wonders like it was in the 48 revival in Dallas, Texas – and all of a sudden I looked up and standing on the stage was Mommy Lindsay standing there. Sister Freda Lindsay was standing on the platform and she said that was my vision. And God says – I am saying tonight could that be the fulfillment of this vision."

"He said there was 40 days of fasting & prayer there and Cindy came along and another 40 days. Remember Moses went for 40 days of prayer and fasting – came down and went back up. 80 days – that’s a double, double anointing that’s going to come on this revival. So there has been 80 days of prayer and fasting in Dallas, Texas for this move." (So, if another movement is started and 3 groups fast for 40 days each, will God give it a triple blessing?)

"He said speak to the Trinity of Dallas the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. And I wish I had the Trinity pastor here – He said tell the pastor at Trinity at Cedar Hill – I am going to give you a ride and a great big thrill because I am going by the Holy Ghost and Trinity will explode with the power of God in 2006." (Did this happen?)

"Evangelist Mahesh Chavda prophesies to Texas on October 29, 2005 at Ten Nights of Miracles, an event hosted by Generals International. He declares that Texas is an instrument the Lord is going to use to spread the Gospel across the Earth."

Dallas, Texas! I.E. "The Metro" will see the [new wind] of My Spirit from September to December. Yes, four months of stirring, shifting and sifting! Re-ordering of things to prepare for the downpour of My Spirit! YOU will be called to go all over the Metro! South- Red Oak, Cedar Hill and Oak Cliff. Even Waxahachie! She is on I-35 too! North Dallas to Denton! My Glory will be seen in Glory of Zion! Steve Hill's house will be filled, yes, flooded! Brownsville will be jealous! West-Hurst, Grand Prairie, Irving. Fort Worth and Bob Nichols! Ha! Yes, this will be like the time when Rodney Howard Brown saw unusual moving of My Spirit. Laughter, many slain in My Spirit for many days. Drunk on the new wine as was seen in South Africa in Durban and other cities. Unexplainable appearances of Angels. A true Pentecostal revival, but much, much more this time! Supernatural manifestations of healings, deliverances, callings in the five-fold ministries. (The four months spoken of here is September-December. Has this happened?)

The LAST thing I want to do is mock a true Word of God, but something just troubles my spirit every time I hear about this movement. If you get it, maybe you can explain it to me.

Bill Cosby Quote

"A word to the wise ain't necessary -

it's the stupid ones that need the advice."

Santa Claus:An Engineers Perspective

I. There are approximately two billion children (persons under 18) in the world. However, since Santa does not visit children of Muslim, Hindu, Jewish or Buddhist religions, this reduces the workload for Christmas night to 15% of the total, or 378 million (according to the Population Reference Bureau).

At an average (census) rate of 3.5 children per house hold, that comes to 108 million homes, presuming that there is at least one good child in each.

II. Santa has about 31 hours of Christmas to work with, thanks to the different time zones and the rotation of the earth, assuming he travels east to west (which seems logical). This works out to 967.7 visits per second. This is to say that for each Christian household with a good child, Santa has around 1/1000th of a second to park the sleigh, hop out, jump down the chimney, fill the stockings, distribute the remaining presents under the tree, eat whatever snacks have been left for him, get back up the chimney, jump into the sleigh and get on to the next house.

Assuming that each of these 108 million stops is evenly distributed around the earth (which, of course, we know to be false, but will accept for the purposes of our calculations), we are now talking about 0.78 miles per household; a total trip of 75.5 million miles, not counting bathroom stops or breaks. This means Santa's sleigh is moving at 650 miles per second --- 3,000 times the speed of sound. For purposes of comparison, the fastest man-made vehicle, the Ulysses space probe, moves at a poky 27.4 miles per second, and a conventional reindeer can run (at best) 15 miles per hour.

III. The payload of the sleigh adds another interesting element. Assuming that each child gets nothing more than a medium sized Lego set (two pounds), the sleigh is carrying over 500 thousand tons, not counting Santa himself. On land, a conventional reindeer can pull no more than 300 pounds. Even granting that the "flying" reindeer could pull ten times the normal amount, the job can't be done with eight or even nine of them--- Santa would need 360,000 of them. This increases the payload, not counting the weight of the sleigh, another 54,000 tons, or roughly seven times the weight of the Queen Elizabeth (the ship, not the monarch).

IV. 600,000 tons traveling at 650 miles per second creates enormous air resistance --- this would heat up the reindeer in the same fashion as a spacecraft re-entering the earth's atmosphere. The lead pair of reindeer would absorb 14.3 quintillion joules of energy per second each. In short, they would burst into flames almost instantaneously, exposing the reindeer behind them and creating deafening sonic booms in their wake.

The entire reindeer team would be vaporized within 4.26 thousandths of a second, or right about the time Santa reached the fifth house on his trip.

Not that it matters, however, since Santa, as a result of accellerating from a dead stop to 650 m.p.s. in .001 seconds, would be subjected to centrifugal forces of 17,500 g's. A 250 pound Santa (which seems ludicrously slim) would be pinned to the back of the sleigh by 4,315,015 pounds of force, instantly crushing his bones and organs and reducing him to a quivering blob of pink goo.

Therefore, if Santa did exist, he's dead now.

My Chumby

Here's a neat gizmo that my wife will be glad I did not discover until after were were done Christmas shopping for each other. This is a Chumby. It's something of a small (coffee cup size) wireless-network computer that plays different widgets and works like an alarm clock. My virtual one here is playing a Christmas countdown, weather update, Flickr digital picture frame and a clock. It's like an alarm clock on steroids! Watch my Chumby for about 2 minutes to see it cycle through the channels I have selected right now.

The thing costs $180 (can we say 'saving birthday money'?). One potential "issue" I see...the Chumby Network that provides the necessary widgets is free right now, but their TOS says they can start charging at any point. So if I traded my virtual Chumby here for a real one after my birthday (purely hypothetical), the Network could be free for a month and then I'd have to pay $6.95/month to use my new toy. Although it might be worth this price, who knows what they would actually charge...and that is a bit under handed.

Geocaching with a Friend

Mike (half of the "MillerMates" geocaching team) and I geocached at the Cedar Hill Preserve today. We hiked about 4.5 miles up and down the 'hills' and found 10 caches all before it started raining, making for an enjoyable day. I haven't been geocaching in a while and it was great to be at it again. I'm up to 467 finds...will I make 500 by my birthday?

Our Special Daughter

This is Amanda "relaxing with a good book" for the evening. Special.

From the Video Archives

I was looking through some of the church videos I have posted on YouTube and came across this one. It was too fun!

Perfect Riding Weather Today

It was perfect weather for a motorcycle ride today...about 81 degrees. No need for a jacket, no sweating and no wind. The license plate came in for my bike today, so I rode the back roads (about a 30 minute trip each way) to the motorcycle shop and back. Awesome way to relax. After I got back, there was still time before I was supposed to pick up Amanda from school (on the motorcycle at her request), so I gave it a quick wash and wax. Had to take a picture after all that work.

Grand Prairie Lights

Push the Play button if the slide show is not running.

We rode to Grand Prairie to see the lights on the Monday after Thanksgiving. It was a great time to go because there were no crowds and we had a great time. Christmas lights, hot chocolate, 2 carnival rides for Amanda and funnel cake!

My Christmas Wallpaper

It has nothing to do with the real meaning of Christmas and it looks a little pixelated when I stretch it out on my desktop, but it's fun so I'm using it for now.

Pastor Joke #1

Three preachers were driving down the road when they missed a turn and went into the ditch. As they pulled themselves together, a drunk pulled up and asked if they were all right.

"Oh, yes, Jesus is with us," one replied.

The drunk thought that over for a minute. "Well, you'd better let him get in with me, you're going to kill him!"

I Love Texas!

Where else can you go out and look at Christmas lights...on your motorcycle?

Amanda is spending the night with a friend, so Brooke and I went out to eat. We took the car because it looked like rain. When it didn't rain, we came home, got the bike and went out looking at Christmas lights.

I love Texas! (did I mention I love my wife, too?!)

To Alabama and Back

Things have been busy, so I haven't blogged a lot recently. We went to Alabama for Thanksgiving and the 6 days we were there flew by. We came back and have been busy all week. I have spent a number of hours working on fund raising calendars for the team from the church that is going to Nicaragua this year. I did a lot before going to Alabama, worked several hours on them there and then finished printing them this week. Between that, sending out follow up postcards from our Thanksgiving in a Bag outreach and preparing to preach this Sunday, it's been a busy week. The week before I preach is always crazy, but I sure get excited about the opportunity to teach. This Sunday we will be talking about "What Does Your Passion Do For You?".

Brooke's birthday was Friday (while we were in Alabama). Amanda stayed with her Aunt Jill and cousins while Brooke's parents and I took Brooke out to dinner for her birthday. I also picked up a few Christmas CDs for Brooke's birthday, including Michael Buble's Let It Snow. Then tonight, my parents came over and we celebrated again.

So that's what's been going on this past week. Here are some pictures from our trip to Alabama (complete with still unedited red eye!)

Left to right: Amanda, Aunt Jill, MaMa Gin, cousin Hannah

Aunt Judy, Dad, cousins David and Hannah dishing up Thanksgiving dinner

Don't ask me why Jill is holding a hot dog in front of her face...because I simply do not know!

Wow, now there's a first (NOT!). Amanda is staring at the TV and missed what's going on. And no, her eyes are not that creepy color red because she has been mesmerized by the TV, I just haven't had a chance to remove the red eye yet.

A Day in the Sun

This picture was taken on one of the last days I saw the turtles out. We've had a few cold nights (upper 30's) and the turtles are digging in to hibernate. This time of the year always makes me a little nervous for them turtles. They pretty much stop eating in preparation for hibernation (so as not to have food in their stomachs that will rot while they are hibernating according to what I have read). They dig down and bury themselves, but when we get a warm day right after they have dug in, they come back out and walk around a bit. I never know if they are looking for food or are just out because it's warm. I don't know if I should offer them food or not (do they need the food to stay strong through their hibernation, or would the food in their stomach be bad for them during hibernation?). The last time I tried to feed them I didn't have any takers, so I guess they know what they need. They made it through last year, so I image they will be fine again this year.

Are We "Right"?

As the "religious right" (I'm including myself in each of these):

We fight gay marriage to protect the sanctity of marriage, yet our divorce rates are nearly the same as those who claim no religious affiliation.

We fight abortion yet we do not support Right to Life (and those they help) with our time or pocket book.

We fight to get prayer back in school, yet fail to maintain a persistent and passionate personal prayer life.

We fight to get the 10 Commandments put back on the wall of a courthouse, but fail to put them into practice in our own life.

We fight to get Creation taught in school but do nothing when there is a coat drive at school for students who have no winter coat.

We fight to keep "one nation under God" in the pledge, but fail to live our personal life "under God".

We fight to protect the right of Christians to speak their minds, yet we don't speak up for God around our non-Christian friends.

We fight to clean up the trash that movie and music producers are pumping out, yet we listen to and watch things that we would never dream of sitting through if Jesus were physically sitting next to us.

I am starting to ask myself, "What if we quit fighting everybody in the name of Christianity and just started living the Christian life instead?"

LOVE - The Only Criteria

"How might our churches be different if we took Paul's teaching seriously {his teaching on love being the most important thing, from I Corinthians 13}? What would happen if the ultimate criteria we used to access how "successful" or "unsuccessful" our churches were was the question, are we loving as Jesus loved? The truth of the matter is that we are only carrying out God's will and expanding the kingdom of God to the extent that we answer that question affirmatively. No other question, criteria, or agenda can have any meaning for kingdom-of-God devotees except insofar as it helps us respond to that question."

-Gregory A. Boyd
from The Myth of a Christian Nation: How the Quest for Political Power is Destroying the Church

Thanksgiving In A Bag

My pastor already blogged about our Thanksgiving in a Bag outreach, and you can see a great picture collage on his blog, but I am way too excited about what happened this past Saturday not to share it, too.

Brooke reads Steve Bowen's blog Kindness to Go and saw the idea for Thanksgiving in a Bag there. We have recently started a number of these outreaches where we try to meet needs in a real, practical way showing God's love and meeting people where they are (rather than expecting them to come to the church to receive). The idea behind Thanksgiving in a Bag was simple (as adapted by Vine Fellowship)...the church bought 100 turkeys to give away and challenged each family in the church to fill one bag with groceries (we had a list of things to get...all the stuff for Thanksgiving "fixin's"). We have about 100 families in the church, so this was a big challenge.

I started getting excited when I saw the bags coming in. It looked like we were going to be just a few bags short of our 100, so the church filled a few. And then on the day of the outreach, people brought more, so we had 100 turkeys and around 110 bags of "fixin's".

My excitement continued to build on Saturday. Volunteers were asked to be at the church at 10:00am to help load up tables, tents, chairs, face painting stuff and 100 bags of groceries to head to the park. By 10:10am, over 25 volunteers had shown up and we were packed and ready to head to the park down the street where we were setting up for the outreach. (We had previously handed out door hangers in our "target neighborhood" telling them about the free meal and where we'd be).

We arrived at Deaver Park, unloaded and were ready to go by 10:40am. We had 2 jump houses set up, a registration table, 3 tables loaded with groceries (and more ready to fill the gaps when those were gone), 2 tables loaded with kids socks and underwear that had been donated by church people and a pickup full of ice and 100 turkeys which we got a discount thanks to Kroger grocery stores.

Then the people started coming and things got really exciting! In our last outreach at the park, we did not have a very solid plan for taking time to talk with people and pray with them. We did get to pray for some, and it was good, but we wanted to do better. We have cards that we ask people to fill out when they come. This card has room for a person's name and address, a place to check if they would like to know about upcoming events (our outreaches) and a place to write prayer requests. This time, when people filled out their card, if they marked a prayer request, we had church volunteers offer to pray with them right there. If people put "no thank you" or didn't put anything on their card, we showed them to the groceries, told them we were glad they were there and hung out with them as long as they wanted. But when they marked a prayer request, we prayed with them. We figured we got to pray with almost 90% of the people who came to the park. Several people were still wiping tears from their eyes and they got to the end of the line and got their free turkey...touched that somebody cared enough to feed them and pray with them about their needs.

It was an awesome day! We had great participation from the congregation bringing food, an incredible turnout of volunteers and tremendous opportunities to show God's love in a practical way.

You can view a slide show of the outreach here.

Riding, Riding, Riding

OK, usually I like it cold (for those of you up north, let me clarify by saying "Texas cold") when it gets close to Thanksgiving. But since I got the motorcycle, I am LOVING every single warm day we get!

Brooke's helmet came in Saturday, so we finally got to go for a short ride. Amanda and I threw on a light jacket and went for about an hour and a half ride Sunday (pictured here). It was wonderful! I drove out into Kennedale, out Dick Price Rd. I knew we could go far enough to get "lost" and we did. We were out in the country and saw horses, cows, llamas and goats. We wandered around until we looped back to someplace that looked familiar and headed home.

So right now I'm lovin' the warm weather and hoping we will have more of it on December 16 for the Big Texas Toy Run.

Suzuki Boulveard c50 (800cc)

So here is a picture of my bike. I got to pick it up yesterday, but I have not had time to blog or take real pictures. Hopefully I can do that Thursday or Friday, but in the meantime...here it is. I still can't believe it's mine!

Another Daddy/Daughter Date Night

It started Friday morning when I wrote on the napkin that I put in her lunch box:

Mommy is at the Ladies' Retreat this weekend. How about you and me have a Daddy/Daughter date night tonight? Love you, Daddy (her teacher emailed me and told me Amanda carried the napkin around all afternoon!)

I started this idea a while back after considering how important the role of a father is in teaching girls how they should expect men to treat them. I've told Amanda that I am showing her how a guy should treat her on a date MANY, MANY, MANY, MANY, MANY, MANY years down the road.

So last night we went to Movie Tavern for Amanda's first time. We watched the Bee Movie (definitely a "B" movie!), I had a hamburger, Amanda had chicken tenders (I know, both are totally predictable) and then we went to Cold Stone Creamery for dessert. We both had a lot of fun.

Just in case you are wondering, the picture here is NOT what Amanda wore on our date! It's just a new picture I have of her being goofy...and I wanted to make you wonder!

Investing in People's Lives

When I was a youth pastor, I used to tell my interns, "Don't expect a lot of "thank yous" from teenagers...it just ain't gonna happen. And don't base your effectiveness totally on what you see from the kids you pastor...cause they are teenagers and are gonna do goofy teenager stuff. The reward, I would tell them, will come years later down the road when you see the kind of Christian they have become. And every great once-in-a-while, one of them might say "thank you for what you did way back then." Every great once-in-a-while.

Well, this week, I got to experience one of those rare moments...and it made my entire day! I was sitting at my desk this week, and the following IM popped up:

Hey PR, I just wanted to tell you that you were the bestest Youth Pastor ever. Even though sometimes I wanted to smack you, but I guess that’s normal when you are a teenager. I learned a lot from you and all your lessons. I always enjoyed coming to youth and being a part. Even when you made us talk to strangers and give them water and I was scared, I’m still glad I did it. I wouldn’t be the person I am today without the help of your ladder sermons. Even though they were embarrassing and I didn’t know what some of the things on it meant and was too scared to ask, I still kept those lessons to heart growing up. I know that they helped me to become the woman I am today and I appreciate it even more now that I am a married woman. Your teaching was second in my life only to my own parents teach.

It has been encouraging (and funny at times!) to watch Vivienne (she said I could use her name) grow up from children's church, come through youth group when I was youth pastor, and then on into married adulthood staying faithful to the Lord through the whole time. It's why I invest in people's lives. Vivienne is a fine young lady, and I'm thankful to have had a part in encouraging her to be the Christian she is today.