Thanks!

I just had to take the opportunity to thank some people whom I greatly appreciate. Praise teams are players of an often thankless role. They show up faithfully for practice and then early on Sunday and stay for two services (usually) and do so without grumbling or complaining merely because they are serious about the task of worship and assisting in creating an atmosphere that honors God. How classy is that? I try to tell my team often how great I think they are, but to me it falls far short of my true feelings. So, I just wanted to take a minute to especially thank a great team for hanging in there for 30-40 songs last week (at least) and using your gifts so willingly and ably.

Thank you Amy, Brad, Bret, Dawne, Jake, Katie, Marti and Robert. I truly appreciate all your hard work and awesome attitudes.

Misc. Post

It is said that if you count the number of times a cricket chirps in 15 seconds and then add 40 that your total will be the current temperature. I usually try to step on them before the 15 seconds is up.

*****

Easter has come and gone. This was the 13th year for us to do "Arise My Love" at Highland. It really is great to be part of that tradition, but I could not resist the urge to do something a little different this year. And yet, I was sure I did not want it to be "flashy" different. I just wanted to add something that would add substance. I am sorry if it bugged anyone. I was just trying to bring in some of the story before the point where the song picks up. So we used other songs and readings and images to remind us of the love of Christ that took him to the cross. Then we looked at the love that held him there then "Arise" reminded us of the love that raised Him. It's not that I've gotten a lot of complaints (Except one sweet lady who told me tonight she had called her son several states away and held up her cell phone for him to hear and then hung up when she thought it was the wrong song.) Otherwise, that's it. I know it's dangerous to mess with something that is somewhat established, but I really am getting less and less interested in what people think about me as long as they are thinking about Him.

*****

Seriously- what is the deal with braile on drive-thru ATM machines?

*****

Some of you may have heard about Connor's foot. He got hit with a pitch the other night and we ended up sitting in the ER for a few hours. Between the ER doctor and his pediatrician, it looks like he probably had a hair-line fracture in a bone on top of his foot and they could not really do much about it but let him dictate what he could do. No biggie. Whew. We would not have bothered, but Connor never complains and he was still in a lot of pain an hour after it happened. Turns out the last time he was in the doctor was about three years ago for stitches so he rarely goes to the doctor. The time before that was early 2001. We are blessed with healthy kids

*****

NEWS BULLETIN!!!! Spring has gone missing in Abilene. Today's high of 98 suggests that perhaps a particularly bullying summer is responsible. In a related story, local crickets are suffering extreme exhaustion.

*****

Thanks for the Disney comments. I agree with the advice regarding staying on the grounds and getting Parkhopper passes. I am just trying to find out if there is some little-known secret way to do anything. For instance, we have a family of five, which means the budget price resorts are not an option. This at least doubles or even triples what we must spend on lodging. And flying? Yikes! But are there certain non-peak times of the year when both flying and other deals might be a better bargain?

*****

It's been a while on song topics. Anyone know any about furniture?

CLEARWIRE RANT

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I haven't blogged in a while. We're probably all better off so you can thank me later. Or you can thank Clearwire, our ISP. And for the record: CLEARWIRE STINKS!! It's sells itself as wireless broadband but that's a bunch of hooey. There have been days that I have literally tried for over 16 hours to download a single email. When I think about how the email was sent from here in town I could have actually walked to the sender and back about 30 times during the same time period. And frankly, their support has been less than helpful. And this is after I have paid for the premium service! If you're think about giving them a try, do not count me among some imaginary list of satisfied customers

Baseball is going again. Connor was drafted into the majors this year. I was a little concerned about how the older boys on his team would accept him since he is the only 4th grader. My worries were unfounded. He fits right in and is doing very well so far. But best of all, he is having so much fun. I love it. All are welcome to stop by the Dixie ball park and watch a game (he plays for the Rangers) while munching on a Dixie Burger.
_ _ _

We are talking about planning a trip to Disney. If anyone knows a cheap way to pull that off I would love to hear it.
_ _ _

A little buddy of mine had been asking when he might see a rattlesnake and it just happened that I crossed paths with a few yesterday. I threw them in the truck (by the way, stay out of the can in the back of my truck) and he stopped by today with his mom to see them. They were amazed at how they rattled very loudly but never struck. I pointed out that they did not want any trouble but would instead warn people to go away. Then I said if they got agitated they would strike to protect themselves. I picked one up with my stick at that point and he went crazy striking at everything he could reach. It had the desired effect and I think my little friend will remember that moment for a long time. He thought it was pretty cool.
_ _ _

Michal Kate finally lost a tooth last night that has been loose for months. The Tooth Fairy visited her, but discussed with me how she thought about a late-payment penalty since it took so long. Michal Kate is sweet, but a bit of a chicken. It weird, too, since her brother is a turkey.
_ _ _

Pray for Shane and Leah. They induce tomorrow.
_ _ _