A Dose of Valium

2011-11-08T10:04:00.001-06:00

How does the financial system work

2011-10-19T09:26:00.000-05:00

2011-10-17T20:16:00.001-05:00

2011-10-16T17:06:00.001-05:00

2011-10-16T16:58:00.002-05:00

So apparently, an effective way to show how noble one is in their superior views is to no longer pray for someone if you disagree with them. The church I attend is taking this very path and I, for one, appreciate the clarity. I mean, living in a military town, I could have made the mistake of thinking that even those who don't support military conflicts would endorse their humanitarian efforts since those actually consume the majority of their time and efforts. I was also dangerously close to thinking some might still feel supportive of the hard work put in by their friends and neighbors and their families. Boy, is my face red.But it's just because I didn't understand the culture and the dangerous implications of what was involved. For instance, when a Boy Scout troop was going to sell popcorn in our church building I was wondering if that would happen or not simply because some people are sensitive to such high-finance commerce taking place in a place of worship. However, when I learned the scouts were willing to send popcorn to service members stationed overseas on behalf of local purchasers it started to lift the veil of confusion.What ultimately drove the point home, though, was when I noticed the change in the prayer list in our weekly bulletin. It no longer includes church members and their families who are serving abroad in the military. Finally it dawned on me: withholding our righteous prayers is the best way to express our views and their authority. Of course, I still have to sort out the err of my ways from when I used to pray for my enemies, but rest assured I won't make that mistake again. I mean, I may be slow but I don't want to take the fast track to condemnation...mine or anyone else's.

2011-10-05T09:38:00.002-05:00

2011-09-12T16:54:00.001-05:00

2011-09-12T16:35:00.000-05:00

Sometimes you wanna go where everybody knows your name...

Other times, you wanna get stuff off your chest with which you hope your name is never associated...

Pregnancy Photo Ideas For Our Kids

2011-06-30T14:01:00.000-05:00

These are pregnancy photo ideas for our kids in which I am sure they would NOT engage. The very idea, however, sends me into fits of giggles.

2011-05-27T12:56:00.000-05:00

After going over the potential poses, I may suggest we forgo a pregnancy photo...

2011-05-07T16:09:00.001-05:00

For all you kids out there trying to make a card for your moms for Mother's Day, here are the Top Ten Things that rhyme with "Violets Are Blue."

10. "Here's a note that the principal gave me for you."

9. "I can't sit down 'cuz of my fresh tattoo."

8. "It looks like it doesn't have one line, but two."

7. "My boyfriend's employed on an inmate work crew."

6. "I got in your purse 'cuz my car payment's due."

5. "It's time to admit that your cooking is goo."

4. "Thanksgiving was great that year you had a few."

3. "Sorry for diapers overflowing with poo."

2. "You're great for pretending that Dad has a clue."

1. "May I borrow something not borrowed or blue?"

Yeah, I did rhyme "blue" with "blue." What of it? You're so judgemental! Why can't you just let me live my own life?! Things were different a hundred years ago when you were my age! You just don't understand!

Top 10 Quotes Regarding our Pregnancy News

2011-04-24T18:25:00.000-05:00

10. "I guess the warranty ran out on your procedure (vasectomy)?"
(I should have checked for an expiration date)

9. "Michael Phelps ain't got nuthin' on your little swimmers."
(In light of 4 pregnancies representing 4 methods of BC, I'd say they walk on water)

8. "So I wonder if they jarred something loose in one of those Mexican cavity searches."
(That's all I have to say about that)

7. "Just think, you won't lose sleep getting up to feed him because you'll be getting up that often to go to the bathroom."
(I'm making a list...)

6. "Your youngest will be starting college the same time this new one will start kindergarten."
(Why would you think we'll be able to afford to send any to college?)

5. "What do a government beaurocrat and a vasectomy have in common? Quite a bit actually."
(They both involve...well, you know, and neither seems to work)

4. "My condolences on your retirement."
(I think I just threw up in my mouth a little)

3. "We need to talk about a wheelchair ramp to the stage for the baby blessing."
(You're going on the list)

2. "You can shop for diapers for you and the baby at the same time."
(And the list continues to grow...)

1. "Hey! We're talking about this in sex ed!! -Addie
(To which her older brother and sister just said, "NO, Addie!")

2010-07-25T16:19:00.001-05:00

Today, in what was only the latest edition in a series of not-so-covertly political sermons delivered where I go to church, I heard the speaker praise the step our children's ministry took in sealing a main entrance into the children's wing while in the same message being critical of any form of immigration control. Living in a border state and actually knowing families who have been affected by the drug violence on the border, I wonder if I am the only one who finds that to be inconsistent.

Billy Crystal / Robert DeNiro Thanksgiving commerical (2001)

2009-11-25T07:32:00.001-06:00

Another Friday Questionnaire

2009-11-13T21:05:00.000-06:00

1. The last band I saw live was U2.
2. What I look forward to most on Thanksgiving is the meal. (if you don't celebrate thanksgiving, insert your favorite holiday)
3. My Christmas/holiday shopping is seldom successful.
4. Thoughts of CENSORED fill my head.
5. I wish I could wear that cool robotic exoskeleton like I saw in the previews for Alien.
6. Bagpipes will probably not get their own video game, but I'd probably buy it if they did.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to resting, tomorrow my plans include working and watching football and Sunday, I want to go to church and then combine the activities of Friday and Saturday!

THE ORIGINAL Scary 'Mary Poppins' Recut Trailer

2009-11-13T11:56:00.001-06:00

"Office Space" Recut

2009-11-13T11:52:00.001-06:00

These recuts totally crack me up.

2009-10-17T21:42:00.000-05:00

breakfast song

2009-10-10T15:24:00.001-05:00

To Do List:

1. Teach "Breakfast Song" to praise teams.
2. Stop taking requests.

James Bond is coming to dinner...

2009-10-09T06:37:00.001-05:00

50451 Silver Valley Rd, NEWBERRY SPRINGS, CA 92365 | MLS# 09-401249

Shared via AddThis

Piano stairs - Rolighetsteorin.se - The fun theory

2009-10-09T06:22:00.001-05:00

2009-07-03T16:44:00.000-05:00

1. She had a great knack for being right.

2. My arm is by my side, always.

3. I know this: water is quite wet.

4. Our electric meter is not even sorta still.

5. These words apply to me: flumoxed and cobbler.

6. I got a sunburn yesterday because the sun was shining.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to a game, tomorrow my plans include fireworks and Sunday, I want to sleep.

2009-06-20T08:31:00.000-05:00

1. All children alarm their parents, if only because you are forever expecting them to act like talking puppies.

2. Show me a good loser and I will show you a someone who is not named Al.

3. Sometimes a stomach bug is like eating an entire box of chocolate liqueurs at one time.

4. Too bad that all the people who know how to run the country are busy being told how crazy they are by the press and their children.

5. I have yet to hear a man ask for advice on how to combine earrings and shoes.

6. It is impossible to think of any good meal, no matter how plain or elegant, without chewing or swallowing in it.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to Up, tomorrow my plans include mowing and Sunday, I want to chill!

Lame Attempt at Blogging

2009-06-12T20:45:00.000-05:00

I stumbled across a blog this evening that satisfies my interest in blogging and my lack of interest, I mean ability, I mean time for actually having to think and/or tell people about it. Basically, this little blog offers a few statement-starters that people can finish to reveal random and useful things about themselves. They put these out every Friday. Maybe this will become a habit- maybe not.

And...here we go!

1. I grew up thinking but came to realize few people actually care what I'm thinking.

2. Yahoo.com was the last website I was at before coming here.

3. Why don't you reconsider "putting up?"

4. Sleeping helps me relax.

5. Thanks for the memories.

6. I find pretentious people very off-putting.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to _____, tomorrow my plans include _____ and Sunday, I want to _____!

Ripples

2009-03-30T10:03:00.000-05:00

People have been very kind in their expressions of concern since Dad passed away a few weeks ago. Our family has benefited from many meals, cards, flowers, memorials and the like and all are appreciated. Perhaps one of the more touching things we have received, though, is the letter below. It’s especially meaningful in light of how Dad thought his attempt at teaching high school was a pathetic failure. This letter, however, shows how even when we may think our efforts are miserable or unnoticed or influence may have more impact than we ever realize. Still waters may run deep, but maybe that lets those droplets of influence travel that much further.

Dear Family of Victor Durrington:

I am writing to express my sympathy to you for the recent death of your loved one.

I knew Mr. Durrington briefly during the 1954-55 academic year when he taught in the Republic, Missouri, High School. I was a freshman in high school at that time and enrolled in a general math course taught by him. Thanks to his effort, that turned out to be a very special course for me - one of the most significant courses I took in high school. Three of us in that class benefited from special pains he took on our behalf. He recognized that the three of us - two boys and one girl - were more talented and knowledgeable in math than the rest of the general math class in which we were enrolled. He offered us the opportunity to study trigonometry book, I assume from his personal library, and let us work through those books at our own pace. We sat in the general math class, but read and did homework problems from the trigonometry texts. It must have taken considerable courage on his part to risk his teaching reputation by allowing us as very immature high school freshmen to chart our own course that year. I marvel that he did this at a very young age – I calculate he was 21 or 22 at the time – and with very little experience at teaching. The Republic position must have been his first teaching position after graduating from college.

The seeds he planted in that course surely were significant in pushing us toward our eventual education and careers. The two boys in that group each went on to earn PhDs in physics: mine from the University of Missouri at Rolla and the other boy earned his PhD in physics at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. The girl in that group earned her degree from Indiana State University in Terre Haute (I think, although I am not certain) and went on to marry a gentleman who became president of a small college. I recently retired from a 39 year career teaching physics at what is now Missouri State University. The three of us acquired a strong interest in mathematics and a head start on our mathematics education thanks to Mr. Durrington’s insight and daring. I think the results of his teaching are pretty remarkable, considering we were members of a freshman class of less than 40 students in a small high school in a somewhat isolated farming community in Southwest Missouri during the mid-1950s, well before the population and technology explosions that have occurred in the Springfield area in the last 40 years.

It is somewhat ironic that last Wednesday (March 4), I think the day before Mr. Durrington passed away, I had visited the other boy in the group who studied trigonometry, and in the course of our discussion we reminisced about the trigonometry we learned in that freshman math class. I have not seen Mr. Durrington since that freshman year, and I regret that I never got to thank him in person for the contribution he made to my life.

Sincerely,
Bob Thurman
Emeritus Professor of Physics
Missouri State University

3/9/2009

2008-10-21T16:46:00.000-05:00

Fearless

2008-10-03T23:33:00.001-05:00

It's that time of year again. When the hint of fall lingers a bit longer in days that are getting shorter. When our calendar adds a digit as we enter October. When ghastly images of a pagan holiday fight for shelf space among the already-appearing images of holidays focused on giving thanks and accepting the birth of Jesus. And when on the first weekend of October Nashville hosts the Zoe conference. This year, the theme is:

FEARLESS

Tonight's speaker asked us to consider what we are afraid of. In this climate of world events the list could be pretty long- including the economy, terrorism, our own government, asparagus, parenting, clowns and much, much more. A video even included images from movies with scary characters. Honestly though, I have to admit that there might be one more thing that was more frightening than the images in the video. I cannot really describe it, so I'll just reveal it here. If you have small children, you might want to ask them to leave the room before you scroll down. Don't say you weren't warned.

Bailout

2008-09-24T00:11:00.001-05:00

Not that any of you asked, but I want to go on record as saying I think the bailout is probably a bad idea. I am not for doing nothing, but the sad reality is that there are more waves of trouble in the financial sector right behind this one centered in the mortgage crisis. Automotive and other big-ticket item financing and credit cards or other revolving credit are those gathering storms making your joints ache.

There simply is not enough money to bail out all of the problems on the horizon. Well, the fact that we're once again raising the debt ceiling pretty much proves that there isn't enough money now. Not only that, a flood of foreclosures that would almost have to result from government servicing or enforcement of substandard mortgages will create a disastrous real estate market with a glut of homes but very few who can qualify to buy them. It will be great for landlords like myself, but homebuilders and building material suppliers will be sucking wind and asking for their own bailout.

If the the government is spoiling to get into the fray, I would suggest they pass legislation wherein all loans in default are brought to current status. In this scenario, the amounts in arears along with any interest, penalties and fees would not be forgiven but would be added to the end of the note with interest. Doing this would allow many to regain their footing and enable them to continue to manage their mortgages. Some would still eventually default on their notes, but to a lesser degree than if all the notes were demanded and over a more spread out impact than all at once. The fact is, for most people living close to the margin, owing 6 months of payments is akin to having to pay off the entire balance- out of reach- so they give up. Having a clean slate from which to pick up (a'la the Year of Jubilee) would give them an opportunity to keep their homes. They would be more likely to meet this obligation given the new stricter underwriting standards already being implemented.

Lenders could still service the loans but all lenders would be responsible for the nonsensical underwriting procedures they used rather than passing that burden to the government and would hopefully apply improved procedures to future lending. Now the one area where the government might be somewhat heavily involved would be in the investigation of how loans pools have been assembled and distributed. Fraud is bound to have been rampant and sooner or later such opportunities must be blocked. The best part, the burden of default would still ultimately lie with those who caused the problem in the first place.

This is not to say that some problems will completely go away, but I think to try this and let capitalism (even if it is capitalism on training wheels) would still have a chance. At least until the next crisis comes along- and it will- in the form of automotive credit. And I have something to say about that, too. If I feel like it I may spew more of my ideas of ridiculous auto financing that not only encourages but creates a total lack of equity for the buyer, of flaws in the securities markets and of glaring issues in consumer credit. Regardless of whether the $700 billion buyout plan gets passed, it is going to be a very bumpy ride.

Again, so much of this would never have been reality if we had term-limits. Forcing those elected to govern rather than perpetually run for office would have meant that legislators would never have bowed to the pressure to allow such shenanigans to take place.

Okay, rant over...at least for now.

Life & Other Nonsense

2008-09-23T23:02:00.000-05:00

Wow! Forgive me reader for I have sinned. Almost two months have passed since my last post. Life has kind of been getting in the way. I'll try to offer a brief summary:

School has started again. The kids all seem to be enjoying it though they won't admit it. Connor is playing football with full pads for the first time. I'm not exactly sure what the learning curve is but I think he is behind it. The girls are enjoying their year so far as well with the promise of good days ahead. Actually, at least one boy has called the house this year so I think I'll retract my last statement.

Work has been absolutely wild. I am starting to get a new office set up. Long story short- I hate it. Well, maybe "hate" is a little strong. I guess it just leaves me horribly depressed and wishing I could find a job as an island hermit. Ooh.... Sorry. I drifted off to another world for a second there.

We have a new foster dog. He is hilarious. His name is Finn and he is part Great Dane and part Pit Bull. I used to tell people he had the size of the Dane and the attitude of the Pit but having gotten to know him we have realized he is a big softy. If he doesn't know you, however, he will probably use you either as a chew toy or a snack.

I am still really enjoying leading worship at Highland. It would be great to concentrate solely on worshipping- even with worship planning thrown in. But constant recruiting can be somewhat taxing. If anyone reads this and is interested in giving praise teams a try, let me know. Before you get involved in a regular commitment you are welcome to give it a try as an alternate for a while- in which case you can respond to a call for a replacement only when it suits you. If you are interested leave a comment.

Kendra and I reached a pretty cool milestone a few of you may be aware of. I can't really discuss it in such an open forum, but there are clues on my Facebook profile.

Finally, many have asked about how Dad is doing and sadly, the news is not good. Some complications resulted in a few trips to M. D. Anderson that Ike did his best to complicate. Ultimately, though, a new bone marrow biopsy showed that 90-95% of the cells in the biopsy were cancerous. Further, he was diagnosed with an additional type of cancer. Now he has been diagnosed with multiple myeloma in addition to the hybrid of leukemia and lymphoma with which he had already been diagnosed. We are not yet aware of a treatment plan or diagnosis but we are on a heightened level of concern and anxiety.

So there you go. While it may not have seemed like a brief synopsis, believe me it was. I won't guarantee that I will write with more regularity but I'll try to at least feel guilty if I don't.

2008-07-27T15:07:00.000-05:00

We had a guest preacher today. Wade Hodges did have power point for his extremely well-thought-out comments on the book I mentioned earlier, "unChristian," but this cartoon might also have been a good visual aid. The good folks at the Garnett Road Church of Christ are blessed if today was typical of what Wade has to offer.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ADDISON!

2008-07-22T11:26:00.000-05:00

Addie is now 9!

If you don't know this little girl, I just have to tell you, she is an absolute hoot! If you do know her, the chances are pretty good that you are listening to her tell some incredibly long account of some event you already witnesses or know about and you are rolling your eyes right about...now.

You also know exactly where you stand with her. She wears every emotion out on her sleeve for the world to see, which is refreshing. I can say that because much more often than not those emotions are sweet. Even when they're not sweet, they can be funny. Before she learned how to talk she had words she would repeat in situations consistent with how some might use expletives. If something or someone made her mad she would point at us and say "BOTZ!" and we would know we were being cussed out in baby language. She will quite possibly be the most emotionally healthy person I know since she holds nothing in. She drew a cartoon the other day that was an absolute scream (maybe I'll post it later) and she just explained matter of factly that it was just one of the ways she gets her anger out. Well, more power to her. (I tend to hold a grudge and I know that doesn't work.)

Anyway, Addie, I am so glad you were born. You make things fun and interesting everywhere you go. We love you, stinkpot. Happy Birthday.

Hmmm...

2008-07-22T11:12:00.001-05:00

Ev'rybody's gonna have religion in glory...

Remember that song? Maybe that is another one of those songs some people would refuse to sing if it was in the worship order. I'm pretty sure we don't need to worry about that.

I'm trying to read some secular non-fiction right now, but on my not-too-distant radar is the book "Un-Christian." I suspect it will be yet another account of how Christians are getting it wrong. Certainly we are, but sometimes it starts to feel like the ones who love pointing that out feel like perhaps they are the only ones getting it right and I know that ain't happenin' either. Nobody has a monopoly on forgiveness and understanding. Maybe we should quit telling people how to achieve salvation and let Jesus do it. I dunno.

Update

2008-07-22T09:05:00.000-05:00

Here's what this week has been like so far. At least it's almost over. Wait. Crap! It's just Tuesday morning...

The news on Ed is not that good. He's been in an induced coma for several days and breathing with a respirator. They were going to take him off the respirator last night and see how he progressed.

Our A/C is on the fritz again. At least it's only supposed to be 100 degrees today. Seriously, we are blessed to have A/C at all, let alone two units in our house so we at least have a cool retreat while we wait for the other one to be fixed. That's just the kind of glass-half-full guy I am.

Lots of changes at work. The future looks a little cloudy with a 60% chance of depressing situations.

Many of you have asked about Dad. He seems to be doing pretty well, but his vital counts are getting progressively worse. No specific word as to why, but perhaps we'll know more soon.

Carry on crazy people!

Prayer Request

2008-07-16T23:44:00.000-05:00

Somewhat pursuant to my last post, one of my favorite quotes contains the line, "God is God. I dethrone Him in my heart if I demand He act in ways that satisfy my ideas of justice."

I read The Shack a month or so ago. While the imagery was a little beyond where my mind usually dares to tread, the sentiment tracks right along with where I am. I do not pretend to comprehend the mind of God. I really think that if I did begin to think I understood why certain things happen I would (if not dethrone Him) take Him down a notch and elevate myself quite a few notches. I'm just not prepared to do that just yet. So, I'll just rely on the themes of God as revealed through scriptures, especially through those scriptures wherein He reveals Himself in earthly form. Those themes point to a God who is LOVE (I don't exactly get that, but I'm trying) and who wants His kingdom to be established through justice (again, trying) . This does not seem to be a God who revels in pulling the rug out from under us. It does, however, seem to be consistent with a God who wants to take on our struggles. But even in this case, it is not so much that he takes them away from us as He shares them with us and bears them with us.

On the other hand, if we start thinking that God takes things away from us in the sense of things we own, then we may have missed the point about who actually owns anything. If we have relenquished all we have to God (how noble of us since everything is His anyway), if we are living lives of sacrifice to God, how would we own anything He could take? And yet, things happen in our lives that make us feel like we are, in fact, facing struggles we wish He would take or losing things (people, status, belongings) we wish we could keep.

One of those things is going on in Kendra's family right now. Her step-dad, Ed, was recently diagnosed with lung cancer. Monday we went to Lubbock to hang out with the family while Ed had surgery. Sadly, while they were in surgery they found a great deal more cancer than they had originally expected. His pain coming out of surgery was also pretty severe. Pathology reports on the additional biopsies performed with the surgery are not in yet.

Kendra's mom, Marilyn, finally left the hospital to get some sleep the other night. During the night, however, someone broke into her car and took her portfolio holding all of their credit cards, social security cards, ID and several hundered dollars cash. Obviously she did not intend to leave such things in the car, but she was understandably distracted.

Anyway, it has clearly been a tough week and we fear tough days lie ahead as well. So if you have a minute, lift up Ed and the family. Depending on where you come down on the last post, you may be asking for God to take away Ed's infirminty or asking that God not take away Ed. But either way, I hope you also remember, "Blessed Be the Name of the Lord."

I Am Not A Worship Leader

2008-07-09T15:04:00.000-05:00

I am not a worship leader...

but I play one on stage where my family and I worship.

That's pretty much the truth. I love leading worship and I love worshipping, but truth is not lost on me and the truth is that I know some awesome worship leaders and I am not fit to carry their sandals. To be fair, I have never tried to pass myself off as some worship guru. I just met the opportunities that came along. With that as a backdrop, I would not say that I have had any formal preparation for worship leading beyond applied experience. Consequently, things occasionally come up that are a little more challenging than one might expect or hope. Oh, they may occasionally be musical in nature but that is to be expected. The ones that are more intriguing are the ones that involve differences in personality or opinions or things like that.

Sunday, we had one of those intriguing ones involving one of my favorite songs, "Blessed Be Your Name." I had two (maybe three) praise team members inform me they had theological issues with that song and would probably not sing for a portion of it. So, here you go. What do you think about the bridge of that song which contains the following phrase:

You give and take away.

Now this can be argued on many points. First, someone said it was not scriptural. Next someone said it was just wrong to say that God takes away. And finally, a few mentioned that the proper interpretation of that phrase has nothing to do with the first two points. I realize that failing to post regularly has rendered my blog almost readerless, (well, that and poor writing about a boring person) but I still wonder how others might react or think about this song.

How did the song go? Well, I noticed several team members glancing at each other while we sang it so I did not try to look around and see who was singing and who wasn't. Other than that, I concentrated on the parts of the song with which I was in total agreement and praised God. I won't say more than that because I don't want to influence this discussion. So, tell me what you think.

Requiem For A Day Off

2008-06-18T12:41:00.001-05:00

If you are a Ferris Bueller fan, this might make you smile. It made me laugh out loud ("lol" as the kids say). If you have not seen the movie, you probably should but this this will not seem funny at all. For those who have, this is classic.

Mad World - Gary Jules

2008-06-11T16:58:00.001-05:00

An interesting combination of mesmerizing and depressing.

Father's Day is going... and going...

2008-06-05T16:24:00.001-05:00

Still the best job in the world. I know it's early, but Happy Father's Day to all you dads.

2008-05-22T01:01:00.000-05:00

I sat down tonight to write a post about a great event in our family. Before I did, however, I came across this news story and decided it was much more important to remember the family of this man who has touched so many as he has put into words and music thoughts we might otherwise have found no way to convey. Steven Curtis Chapman is quite possibly the most thought-full Christian artist I have ever encountered and right now his family is suffering. Please remember them in prayer in the wake of this story.

The Best Grief Counseling

2008-05-21T09:51:00.000-05:00

A four year old child had a next door neighbor- an elderly gentleman who had recently lost his wife. Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the old gentleman's yard, climbed onto his lap, and just sat there.

When his Mother asked what he had said to the neighbor, the little boy said,"Nothing, I just helped him cry."

2008-05-17T00:06:00.000-05:00

My odd sense of humor once again rears its ugly head...

Am I Blue?

2008-05-14T09:05:00.000-05:00

I was pretty late to join those reading Blue Like Jazz. Part of that was intentional because if something is all the rage I tend to resist it somewhat. Frankly, though, part of it was because I tend to take on bad reading habits when I am having to read for classes. A little of that funk is starting to wear off.

Anyway, I found it to be a pretty good read. Probably 75% of the book resonated with me. The other 25% (maybe less) just seemed to be contradictory. I guess it was the contrast between the 75% I liked reading and found to be enlightening and invigorating and the 25% I could have probably written since I, too, can be a contradiction. In other words, I'm as bad or worse but then again I'm just writing on a stupid blog, not writing books. Still, among many ideas in the book that jumped out at me was the following quote, which to me makes the whole book worthwhile.

At the end of the day, when I am lying in bed and I know the chances of any of our theology being exactly right are a million to one, I need to know that God has things figured out, that if my math is wrong we are still going to be okay. And wonder is that feeling we get when we let go of our silly answers, our mapped out rules that we want God to follow. I don't think there is any better worship than wonder.

-Donald Miller
Blue Like Jazz

Mother's Day

2008-05-11T14:39:00.001-05:00

This one is a classic worth seeing again.

Diamond Denominations

2008-05-04T15:46:00.000-05:00

Calvinists believe the game is fixed.

Lutherans believe they can't win, but trust the Scorekeeper.

Quakers won't swing.

Unitarians can catch anything.

Amish walk a lot.

Pagans sacrifice.

Jehovah's Witnesses are thrown out often.

Scientologists play injured.

Televangelists get caught stealing.

Episcopalians pass the plate.

Methodists want to rewrite the rules.

Evangelicals make effective pitches.

Fundamentalists balk.

Hindus refuse to kill the umpire, lest he's a relative.

Mormons are in left field.

Dunkers are down by three.

Adventists have a seventh-inning stretch.

Atheists refuse to have an Umpire.

Church of Christ members are the only umpires.

Baptists want to play hardball.

Premillenialists expect the game to be called soon on account of darkness.

The Pope claims never to have committed an error.

2008-05-03T10:07:00.000-05:00

Here's a nice alternative to my last post.

By Graham Hayes

ESPN.com

Western Oregon senior Sara Tucholsky had never hit a home run in her career. Central Washington senior Mallory Holtman was already her school's career leader in them. But when a twist of fate and a torn knee ligament brought them face to face with each other and face to face with the end of their playing days, they combined on a home run trot that celebrated the collective human spirit far more than individual athletic achievement.

Sara Tucholsky got a lift from the opposition in scoring her first homer.

Both schools compete as Division II softball programs in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference. Neither has ever reached the NCAA tournament at the Division II level. But when they arrived for Saturday's conference doubleheader at Central Washington's 300-seat stadium in Ellensburg, a small town 100 miles and a mountain range removed from Seattle, the hosts resided one game behind the visitors at the top of the conference standings. As was the case at dozens of other diamonds across the map, two largely anonymous groups prepared to play the most meaningful games of their seasons.

It was a typical Saturday of softball in April, right down to a few overzealous fans heckling an easy target, the diminutive Tucholsky, when she came to the plate in the top of the second inning of the second game with two runners on base and the game still scoreless after Western Oregon's 8-1 win in the first game of the afternoon.

"I just remember trying to block them out," Tucholsky said of the hecklers. "The first pitch I took, it was a strike. And then I really don't remember where the home run pitch was at all; [I] just remember hitting it, and I knew it was out."

A part-time starter in the outfield throughout her four years, Tucholsky had been caught in a numbers game this season on a deep roster that entered the weekend hitting better than .280 and having won nine games in a row. Prior to the pitch she sent over the center-field fence, she had just three hits in 34 at-bats this season. And in that respect, her hitting heroics would have made for a pleasing, if familiar, story line on their own: an unsung player steps up in one of her final games and lifts her team's postseason chances.

But it was what happened after an overly excited Tucholsky missed first base on her home run trot and reversed direction to tag the bag that proved unforgettable.

"Sara is small -- she's like 5-2, really tiny," Western Oregon coach Pam Knox said. "So you would never think that she would hit a home run. The score was 0-0, and Sara hit a shot over center field. And I'm coaching third and I'm high-fiving the other two runners that came by -- then all of a sudden, I look up, and I'm like, 'Where's Sara?' And I look over, and she's in a heap beyond first base."

While she was doubling back to tag first base, Tucholsky's right knee gave out. The two runners who had been on base already had crossed home plate, leaving her the only offensive player on the field of play, even as she lay crumpled in the dirt a few feet from first base and a long way from home plate. First-base coach Shannon Prochaska -- Tucholsky's teammate for three seasons and the only voice she later remembered hearing in the ensuing conversation -- checked to see whether she could crawl back to the base under her own power.

Rule clarification
As one of the umpires involved in the game between Central Washington and Western Oregon confirmed in an e-mail to ESPN.com, the rule in question was misinterpreted on the field after Tucholsky's injury and later clarified by the NCAA.
According to page 105, rule 8.5.3.2 of the NCAA softball rule book, "If an injury to a batter-runner or runner prevents her from proceeding to an awarded base, the ball is dead and the substitution can be made. The substitute must legally touch all awarded or missed bases not previously touched."
-- Graham Hays

As Knox explained, "It went through my mind, I thought, 'If I touch her, she's going to kill me.' It's her only home run in four years. I didn't want to take that from her, but at the same time, I was worried about her."

Umpires confirmed that the only option available under the rules was to replace Tucholsky at first base with a pinch runner and have the hit recorded as a two-run single instead of a three-run home run. Any assistance from coaches or trainers while she was an active runner would result in an out. So without any choice, Knox prepared to make the substitution, taking both the run and the memory from Tucholsky.

"And right then," Knox said, "I heard, 'Excuse me, would it be OK if we carried her around and she touched each bag?'"

The voice belonged to Holtman, a four-year starter who owns just about every major offensive record there is to claim in Central Washington's record book. She also is staring down a pair of knee surgeries as soon as the season ends. Her knees ache after every game, but having already used a redshirt season earlier in her career, and ready to move on to graduate school and coaching at Central, she put the operations on hold so as to avoid missing any of her final season. Now, with her own opportunity for a first postseason appearance very much hinging on the outcome of the game -- her final game at home -- she stepped up to help a player she knew only as an opponent for four years.

"Honestly, it's one of those things that I hope anyone would do it for me," Holtman said. "She hit the ball over her fence. She's a senior; it's her last year. … I don't know, it's just one of those things I guess that maybe because compared to everyone on the field at the time, I had been playing longer and knew we could touch her, it was my idea first. But I think anyone who knew that we could touch her would have offered to do it, just because it's the right thing to do. She was obviously in agony."

Holtman and shortstop Liz Wallace lifted Tucholsky off the ground and supported her weight between them as they began a slow trip around the bases, stopping at each one so Tucholsky's left foot could secure her passage onward. Even with Tucholsky feeling the pain of what trainers subsequently came to believe was a torn ACL (she was scheduled for tests to confirm the injury on Monday), the surreal quality of perhaps the longest and most crowded home run trot in the game's history hit all three players.

"We all started to laugh at one point, I think when we touched the first base," Holtman said. "I don't know what it looked like to observers, but it was kind of funny because Liz and I were carrying her on both sides and we'd get to a base and gently, barely tap her left foot, and we'd all of a sudden start to get the giggles a little bit."

Accompanied by a standing ovation from the fans, they finally reached home plate and passed the home run hitter into the arms of her own teammates.
Then Holtman and Wallace returned to their positions and tried to win the game.

Sara Tucholsky got a lift from Central Washington's Liz Wallace, left, and Mallory Holtman.
Hollywood would have a difficult time deciding how such a script should end, whether to leave Tucholsky's home run as the decisive blow or reward the selfless actions of her opponents. Reality has less room for such philosophical quandaries. Central Washington did rally for two runs in the bottom of the second -- runs that might have tied the game had Knox been forced to replace Tucholsky -- but Western Oregon held on for a 4-2 win.

But unlike a movie, the credits didn't roll after the final out, and the story that continues has little to do with those final scores.

"It kept everything in perspective and the fact that we're never bigger than the game," Knox said of the experience. "It was such a lesson that we learned -- that it's not all about winning. And we forget that, because as coaches, we're always trying to get to the top. We forget that. But I will never, ever forget this moment. It's changed me, and I'm sure it's changed my players."

For her part, Holtman seems not altogether sure what all the fuss is about. She seems to genuinely believe that any player in her position on any field on any day would have done the same thing. Which helps explains why it did happen on that day and on that field.

And she appreciates the knowledge that while the results of Saturday's game and her senior season soon will fade into the dust and depth of old media guides and Internet archives, the story of what happened in her final game at home will live on far longer.

"I think that happening on Senior Day, it showed the character of our team," Holtman said. "Because granted I thought of it, but everyone else would have done it. It's something people will talk about for Senior Day. They won't talk about who got hits and what happened and who won; they'll talk about that. And it's kind of a nice way to go out, because it shows what our program is about and the kind of people we have here."

Posted here at ESPN.com

Graham Hays is a regular contributor to ESPN.com. E-mail him at Graham.Hays@espn3.com.

Little League Season is Here

2008-04-09T05:57:00.001-05:00

It's baseball time again. First regular season game is tonight. After practice last night, my expectations are not great. Then again, I have a theory about luck...

When the Music Fades...Ten Years Later

2008-03-30T20:26:00.000-05:00

Last week I was talking to my good buddy, Nino. He said he had thought of me several times in recent days, so I asked him why. He said he had recently cleaned out his office and in doing so had found some communion thoughts I had prepared several years ago. The interesting thing is that the story I referred to in those thoughts happened ten years ago. In fact, I think that the days he came across that writing was exactly ten years after the fact. Coincidence? I don't know. You be the judge. But at least I feel compelled to honor this bittersweet anniversary by presenting these thoughts here. So please indulge me by reading the following. (Communion is optional.)

When the Music Fades

From her perspective, I suppose I was sitting at about 10 o’clock…watching. To this day, I don’t know how long I held that post. I remember the view fairly well, though. I was next to her on my knees watching a spot on her neck where I could see her pulse. Occasionally my head was bowed. Once in a while I looked around the room at the crowd of faces blurred by tears. I remember looking over at my dad, with his balding gray head bowed in constant prayer as he relived a scene from long ago. A few times my gaze would flash to her look of panic as she struggled for breath, sometimes heaving her body forward. But mostly, I was fixated on that spot waiting for the next beat to come.

Only a few days earlier I had spoken to Chris, my brother-in-law, and gotten a truer picture of how things were.

“She looks really bad, Val. I know you just saw her, but she has really declined over the last few days.”

My sister never really let on about how badly the cancer was progressing. When Michal Kate was ten days old we had borrowed a big motor home from a friend and driven to Missouri to see Vicki. She came to the family farm outside Buffalo, Missouri with her kids. She was thin, but doing fairly well. I remember the laughs we shared as two year-old Connor asked to see my Grandma Edie’s breasts and how he reacted with horror placing his hands over his backside when someone asked to see his “bottom teeth.” It was the final countdown of the smiles.

We had returned to Abilene from that trip feeling pretty good about how Vicki was doing. But in that phone conversation with Chris, an urgency had been planted within me that I could not shake. We decided to go back to Missouri for another visit. We arrived on a Saturday almost exactly 10 years ago. In spite of what I had learned from Chris, I was shocked when I saw her. While she had long had the slender physique of a runner, she was now so thin she resembled a skeleton lightly draped with gray fabric. She was in her home and Hospice caregivers had her on a respirator. Still, there was a light in her eyes that could only come from a devoted aunt. We have a picture of that moment with Vicki holding Michal Kate in her lap and gazing at her with wonder. (Chris called that picture “Hello and Goodbye.) Vicki kissed her repeatedly and even wept a little.

“Every day from now on,” she said, looking over at me, “the first ten kisses you give your kids will be from me.” In saying that, she began a tradition in our family wherein I try to kiss our kids 21 times a day. The logic there is that if she gets 10 I have to get at least 11 or she wins.

During that Saturday, we were host to a steady stream of well-wishers. As night fell, however, it became clear that things were getting worse. My brother Vance and I put in a call to our dad telling him he should come to St. Louis. We also called our brother, Vearl.

Wearing her blue pajamas with clouds on them and sitting in her blue leather chair in the reading nook of the master bedroom, Vicki struggled through the night as we prayed over her. As the day dawned we felt the time was getting close. I tried to call Dad again. Colleen, my step-mom answered because at the time my dad was driving over 100 miles per hour but they were still about 30 miles out. It was a 13 hour trip from Abilene after all. I heard dad pull up and saw him run to Vicki’s side. Though I will ever be the strong-willed child who at times butts heads with my dad, my heart was broken for him that day as I watched him face the situation. Here was a man who had lost a wife to this same disease at almost the same age as my sister and who was now losing this daughter in the same way.

So again, here I was kneeling next to her watching the uneven pulse flickering in the spot on her neck. I looked around at this little band of soldiers in prayer. Some were valiantly trying to hold off the hosts of Heaven, desperately wanting some miracle by which Vicki would hold on- engaged in a struggle between the body yearning for healing and the soul wanting the same; a shared struggle with very different outcomes. I, on the other hand, felt more like a different kind of soldier- one in an honor guard dispatched to play a role in some important ceremony or to welcome some visiting dignitary because as I came to understand, there was One in our midst and we were on holy ground.

Spontaneous prayer and praise were breaking out around that room that Sunday morning, occasionally interspersed with wailing. Chris sang to his bride broken tones of some of her favorites- “Great is Thy Faithfulness” or “I Praise You, Lord.” Her three children came in and sat in her lap to be with her and to help escort her spirit to its destiny. At some point, one of our number appeared with a tray of communion he had confiscated from some unsuspecting church in the area. As we communed one last time in her company, she again heaved herself forward into Chris’ arms in a last-ditch attempt for breath and comfort. As I watched this scene wherein he held her and stroked her and sang and cried and prayed and spoke to her, I prayed to God to let her rest.

She was just so tired.

A family friend and physician was standing behind me and must have been watching the same spot on which I had been fixated for what seemed like days. Because just as I watched it beat for the last time, he approached Vicki and checked her with his stethoscope. The breathless silence broke.

“She’s gone, Chris.”

That holy moment was pivotal in so many ways in my walk. I learned so much from my sister in the way she lived and in the way she died. She was a fun-loving follower of Christ who thumbed her nose at convention and chose instead to serve people in Jesus’ name. Mere days before she died she was interpreting for the deaf at her church with humor and smiles even though she was encumbered with a wheel chair and oxygen tank. And in the months and years when she fought the cancer that robbed her of her health but never her spirit, Vicki was a pillar of strength and faith teaching so many by her example. I was one such student. And as such, I ponder…

What might have been the scene when another confused and desperate group was trying to either hold at bay or host a band of angels. As they communed one last time, did they understand the impact of that meal? Did they worship in their final moments together? Did they watch with bated breath as the course of history was altered by the death of someone about whom they cared deeply? Did they understand how they themselves had been impacted? Was their faith simultaneously shaken and formed, tested and strengthened, taken and given? Was God too busy to hear those calling out to Him?

In both cases, the Lord was there.

And what happened in one case created the sustenance to get through the other.

In both, Satan lost.

While I do not pretend that the scene of which I was a part had any significant impact on history, it was that experience that gave me more perspective on the one that took place a couple thousand years ago. It gave me a close-to-home object lesson of the victory we have over the sting of death. It gave me a more first-hand impression of how when we come together for this meal-
We pray
We praise
We lament
We share struggles
We love each other
We invite the peace of Christ into the lives of all present.

And…

Where we at times lunge desperately into the Everlasting Arms desperate to cling to the Breath of Heaven.

As we come to the table to which we are invited by our Savior, guided by the Spirit and welcomed by God Himself, we find there One big enough to overcome this world while at the same time intimate enough to care about our corner of it. And as He whispers peace to us, we are reminded that even- or perhaps especially- when times seem especially dark, we are not alone. God has not abandoned us. Rather, once again we celebrate that He is calling us to Him. And come to Him we will as He sings over us:

How I love you. Child, I love you. How…I…Love…You…

What Would Jesus Drive?

2008-03-27T14:52:00.000-05:00

Remember all the fuss a few years ago when some environmetalist group asked that question we have surely all wondered: "What would Jesus drive?" Well, from here it looks like it could be a Subaru. While I am not all that surprised by the fact that it's a station wagon, the automotive equivalent to a donkey, I am a little intrigued by the surfboard on top. Then again, the wind and the waves shall obey His will...

2008-02-25T00:37:00.000-06:00

Update

2008-02-25T00:02:00.000-06:00

Well, I got a call tonight wherein I was reminded how lax I have become about blogging lately and apparently a few relatives and friends are curious about what is going on with Dad and our life in general. Pursuant to that, here is an update which I will quickly follow up with something more interesting in a effort to bury a post that runs the risk of being too boring or perhaps even too revealing.

Dad has been doing better since they changed his medicine. The new medicine does not make him feel as bad as the old did. It even seems to be having a better impact on his need for transfusions. He can now go about ten to twelve days before needing a transfusion of two units. Before he had gotten to the point where he needed two units every 7 or 8 days. One bad development, however, is that he has been fighting the flu for a while. This can be a little dangerous in his condition, but he seems to be getting a little better. For all who have asked, thanks.

The kids are doing great. We have one more basketball game for Connor tomorrow and then baseball season will follow shortly thereafter. We all usually enjoy baseball season. We're a little anxious about how the draft might go this year- okay, a LOT anxious- but hopeful that things will work out okay. The girls are taking tennis lessons now and seem to be enjoying it. Neither of them are very competitive but I hope they discover an interest in this sport since it is something they could potentially enjoy playing for many years.

So, those are some of the major points of recent weeks. Other, less-interesting include, but are not limited to:

Suicidal Terminator cow
Dyess AFB newcomer
No babysitters
Skunks, badgers and coyotes, Oh My!
Report cards
Movie night
Relegated to the couch
And so on...

Frozen Grand Central

2008-02-03T16:17:00.001-06:00

I don't exactly know why I think this is so cool, but I definitely do.

Things that make you go hmmm...

2008-01-17T09:23:00.000-06:00

Click on the image to enlarge and read the text more easily.

I'm TRYING!

2008-01-14T18:00:00.001-06:00

Another Correction

2008-01-13T15:16:00.000-06:00

I misreported to a few people today the number of x-rays my dad had on Friday. Though amazing, cell phone techonology can sometimes affect what one hears. Anyway, he only had 24 x-rays on Friday, not the forty-something I originally said. Either way, that's a lot of x-rays and not a really good sign. Something in the tests they ran made doctors at M D Anderson concerned that perhaps the cancer had matastacized and they ran all the x-rays to see if they could find out to where.

Not good.

From the KVAL news desk...

2008-01-03T14:05:00.000-06:00

Today’s report brought to you by…

Freshen that morning breath with the heavenly morning scent of Bacon Mints. Nothing says freshness like the breath of a breathless pig.

Coming soon, other breakfast favorites like:
Coffee Breath Breeze
Sausage Summers
Biscuit ‘n’ Gravy Gleam
Dry Toast

Catching up on events from recent weeks, here’s what’s happening in our world (at least our house).

NEWS
In crime news, our kids made out like bandits for Christmas. Officer Dad and Lieutenant Mom are investigating to see how this may have happened. Charges of spoiling may be pending although witnesses report seeing a heavy-set Caucasian with white facial hair wearing a red suit of some sort with a matching hat could have been involved. The kids dismissed the charges of spoiling pointing out that they have, in fact, been good. They further pointed out that new bicycles were merely replacements for those recently stolen rather than elements of excessive holiday consumerism. The investigation continues, though Officer Dad was overheard mumbling that all he had requested for Christmas was to survive the holidays with his sanity intact and got shafted.

In other crime news, the culprit responsible for the unfinished condition of our home has not returned to the scene of the crime. In a recent interview with him in the check out lane at a local Academy store he was encouraged not to try. The investigation in to this heinous crime is still ongoing, although with the bathroom unfinished, police have nothing to go on.

In education news, we’re three for three regarding the “A” honor roll at our house. Industry forecasts suggest that if this trend continues, the three children who make up this study should all be smarter than their father by some time during the mid-morning on Tuesday.

WEATHER
In local weather, it is quite cold. Seeking to offset the impact of the cold temperatures, this reporter attempted to created heat from the friction of rubbing two dimes together. These attempts proved unsuccessful since, in a story related to the two stories at the top of our broadcast, no such coins could be found. Pots and windows are also proving to be in short supply despite confusing demand.

MEDICAL
In medical news, there has been some expressed dissatisfaction with the lack of frequency with which we have been reporting on a certain patient’s progress. Said patient is at the hospital as we go to press receiving yet another transfusion (his eighth). There has been an increased rate of progression in the symptoms necessitating the transfusion. Pursuant to this, new approaches to addressing these symptoms are being evaluated. In the interim, it is likely the level of transfusions will increase in coming days. The family wishes to express gratitude for the concern.

SPORTS
In recent coverage of the ADT Golf Challenge, comprised of golf pros and celebrities, it was observed that famed pitcher Roger Clemens objected to the placement of another player’s ball on the tee box because it was too far forward.

“This is a gentlemen’s game,” Clemens stated. “But there are rules.”

People were treated at the scene for suffocation as the thickness of the irony in the air consumed most of the oxygen.

In NFL news, it appears that most odds-makers believe the most likely participants in the Super Bowl are the New England Patriots and the Dallas Cowboys. Going out on the proverbial limb, this reporter suggests that neither team will be involved in a role other than observers as the Colts take an NFC team to be named later to task in Arizona. Odds have not yet been determined, but they are not as strong as those suggesting Tom Brady will have yet another illegitimate child with yet another leggy supermodel some time in 2008.

Also in sports news, with all the coaching turnovers, one can only hope that Wade Phillips, as likeable as he certainly is, is merely keeping Jason Garret’s seat warm.

And finally, a quick Public Service Announcement from our friends at the blood bank.

CORRECTION: In an earlier story it was suggested that three children might soon surpass their father in intelligence. Upon further review it has been determined that this has already occurred and is, infact, old news. We apologize for the error.

Clean, Safe, Money

2007-12-21T23:58:00.000-06:00

We’ve all heard the story…

There was a little boy walking along the beach picking up starfish that have become stranded and hurling them back into the surf. After watching this for a while a man approached him and spoke.

“You’re wasting your time. There are loads of starfish that get beached every day and they die. You can’t save them all so what you’re doing just doesn’t matter.”

The little boy picked up another and hurled it with the same determination as all the rest and before stooping to pick up another looked at the man and said, “It matters to that one.”

That story is standard fare for preachers and devotional speakers everywhere. It’s got all the elements one seeks in such settings: ¼ cup of “Hmmm”, ½ cup of guilt, a dash of poignant humor, spin together with the image of a child’s wisdom and pour liberally over an adult’s buzz-killing ignorance.

As cliché as the story is, I’m not sure we get it when it comes to people living a questionable lifestyle (although I admit I am not exactly sure what that means). If we consider the concept at all it is usually what prompts us to reach into our pocket and toss a homeless person a bit of “disposable income” (although I am again unsure what that means).

It is in this way that money becomes the “rubber glove” of our faith. Rubber gloves are not necessarily bad. They are work gloves after all. They accomplish tasks- often tasks that few are willing to do. But in another way, they are a barrier. They help keep the dirt off us. They keep us out of direct contact with the mess- like money. Throw a few dollars at a problem and you can avoid direct contact with the dirt and thereby leave your life basically unaffected and quite possibly never be bothered with details like whatever caused this person to have trouble, what they really needed to get out of it and whether or not they were ever successful in doing so. It’s entirely possible I am really missing the point on this one. On the other hand, what point was Jesus trying to make when a person with an obvious physical malady would approach Him for healing and he would still have the audacity to ask “What do you need?” Maybe our snap judgment of what people need falls short of what we might learn if we actually engaged in a relationship with people outside or comfort zone- where without a barrier things might get a little messy.

That’s probably a more valid point. Trying to really reach out to a person outside our comfort zone will probably just get us involved in a mess that in the grand scheme of things would never make a difference anyway.

Then again, I bet it would make a difference to that one.

And maybe this one.

2007-12-13T07:00:00.000-06:00

Charlie Brown Christmas

2007-12-07T16:33:00.001-06:00

2007-12-06T09:40:00.000-06:00

Get Rod Serling on the line

2007-12-03T21:49:00.000-06:00

Maybe no one else will find this as weird as I do, but let me paint the picture.

Today I needed to mail several items so I drove by the Southern Hills substation of the Post Office. The mailbox at which I stopped was full, but before I moved on to the next one something caught my eye. It was the envelope on top, pictured here:

Now Abilene is not a huge town, but I think the odds are still really slim for me to be the person to drive up at the time that an envelope addressed to me happened to be on the top. Being involved in such a rare occurance could make one feel they should either buy a lottery ticket or perhaps dodge falling meteors. Although I am amazed, I will probably not spend much time doing either.

Post-Thanksgiving Update

2007-11-26T13:22:00.000-06:00

Well, the weekend has come and gone. All things considered, it went pretty well. What things are to be considered?

House still not done. Contractor has walked off job. Does not answer phone nor his door.

Truck was not done. Still a few more weeks. Maybe. I rather doubt it.

Tough travel weather, but two beautiful Fall snowfalls within a few days of each other. I hope this is a trend that carries over and through Winter.

Pursuant to the Thanksgiving Day snow, my kids baptized a snowman in the baptistry at Jacob's Dream. Hey. He was a snowman in Abilene. Of course he was lost.

20 people at our house with lots of fun.

Great food.

More to be thankful for than anyone could ever articulate.

All things considered...

great.

2007-11-22T09:13:00.000-06:00

2007-11-20T12:41:00.000-06:00

2007-11-20T11:15:00.000-06:00

2007-11-17T23:17:00.000-06:00

Another transfusion (not from me) and he is feeling better.
House will not be ready for Thanksgiving company as promised.
Truck will not be ready for Thanksgiving as promised.
Faith in Jesus strong; faith in people in the crapper. Still enough to make Thanksgiving somewhat understated.

Dad Update Correction

2007-11-12T21:43:00.000-06:00

Now that he is actually back and I got to visit with him for a little longer, I realized I was misinformed in my last post. Dad has not actually begun treatment for the cancer but has instead begun medication for symptoms caused by the cancer. Since his red blood cell count dives so severely (hence the need for the transfusions) he is being treated for that. Depending on how that goes he may start chemo treatments in a few months. At least it's a start.

_____

The project I did not discuss in the last post is the truck I am trying to restore. This truck has been in the family for fifty years. That's 5-0. My dad's dad bought it as a demo and we've had it around ever since. Trouble is, it hasn't been road-worthy for as long as I can remember. In a matter of days, however, it will hopefully be running like a well-oiled machine. Actually it will be a well-oiled machine. Anyway, it will also be as shiny as a fresh coat of paint. Come to think of it, it will have a fresh coat of paint. So... if you see my dad driving around in a 1957 Chevy pickup (or me if I'm lucky) looking like the picture here (not the actual truck) you'll know I actually managed to finish one of the things I'm working on (or paying someone to work on).

Update(s)

2007-11-10T21:29:00.000-06:00

First, Dad got back from M D Anderson today. They actually started a treatment regimen. He will continue said regimen here in Abilene and only go to Houston periodically for check-ups. (Coincidentally, as a young tike that is how I pronounced ketchup, "checkup.") There is some relief to the fact that he has actually started some kind of treatment after 2 1/2 months of frustration. Now its "wait and see."
_____

The house remodeling that was supposed to be done over a month ago continues with family coming in about 9 days. Kendra and I have been sleeping on the floor for two weeks. Our clothes have been in the living room and garage. Everything in our home is covered in a fine- oh, who am I kidding- thick layer of sheetrock dust. Our dog has not had a fenced yard for 2 months. The work being performed is often at best sub-standard and I am under the gun regarding time and therefore cringe when I make them do something over because I know it just delays things further. If you are in the Abilene area and need work done, be sure to ask me about who not to use. Actually, he was a bit of a last resort. I called several people who would never call back and this guy came recommended and ready. Actually, parts of it have been better than I dreamed. The finish work, however... well, I'll stop before I say something inappropriate.
_____

I took a friend to the doctor yesterday in San Antonio. It was actually a nice trip for a day. He asked me to go back and visit with the doctor with him. It was kind of funny. The doctor came in with the X-rays and two young MDs. My friend's case was so unusual that the doctor could not hide his excitement over the value of the teaching moment. Still, he also showed an appropriate amount of concern. It was oddly humorous even though I felt he struck a good balance.
_____

Tenors at Highland are getting hard to come by. I now have two teams needing tenors. I am open to suggestions. Actually, tenors may not be my biggest problem tomorrow. My allergies have been so bad this week that I may not be able to sing. Maybe I should be more interested in finding a worship leader instead of a tenor. On the up side, my head is so congested that I cannot hear the mosquitos all the workers have let in while they work on our house.
_____

While the trip to San Antonio and back made for a rather long one-day trip, having a fantastic wife greet you at the door makes it easy to shake the road-weariness and remember why it is so good to be home.
_____

I have several friends who are in transition phases when it comes to their employment. I have been there and I think it is safe to say that I totally freak out when I am between jobs. That having been said, pray for people in that circumstance that peace will prevail until that next, better thing comes along. Or maybe just pray that that thing comes along very soon.

Who Cain't Be Topical?

2007-11-06T11:40:00.001-06:00

Dad Update

2007-11-03T08:57:00.000-05:00

Well, I'm not sure we know a lot, but one of the doctors from M.D. Anderson called and said that a consortium of at least 20 physicians met and decided Dad probably has a hybrid of lymphoma and leukemia. Given that hybrids are all the rage, this probably as close to being in style as Dad has ever been. At any rate, they think this will not move as agressively as lymphoma, but nor will it move as slowly as leukemia. The treatment, then, should be similar- not as agressive as for lymphoma but more agressive than would be typical for leukemia. When they start and for how long they will continue are still uncertain.

Now, on another and more tragic matter, a young lady named Monica lost a physical battle with cancer last night. She was a 5th grader where my kids go to school. I defy anyone to tell me how things like a child with cancer can in any way exist in the same realm as the popular interpretation of the Prayer of Jabez. Tragedy and luxury cannot co-exist. It is like a mathematical equation. A negative multiplied by a positive still yields a negative product. While we may think of luxury as a positive thing, when applied to the negative of a lack of sacrifice and concern for others, the product is still tragic.

Come quickly.

Potpourri

2007-11-01T11:22:00.000-05:00

Not much to report on Dad. Still no word from M.D. Anderson so it's a bit frustrating. My birthday was this week so we had dinner with Dad and Colleen and she pointed out that he is exactly twice as old as I am. I know all of this is obvious to everyone, but the striking part of that fact is that he was my age when I was born. For some reason, that is very strange to me. It kind of makes me feel older somehow. To make it even more bizarre, I am exactly half as mature as my age would suggest. (Help me somebody...)

I have gotten to witness how people react to families in crisis a few times, I suppose. That's kind of weird to say, because I frankly feel like my family has been incredibly blessed. Sure, some hard times have come our way but I think they have been flash fires rather than smoldering fires. Both leave scars, but we have been able to move on- never forgetting the landscape before the fire and maybe wondering if our charred surroundings will ever flourish again, but still being able to function in the wake of those memories rather than constantly fighting flames. Other families have had to deal with chronic difficulties like disabilities, abuse, poverty, family disfinction, war, etcetera. As dark as it may seem when cancer casts a shadow over a family, at least we have the opportunity to see hope in the situation. At least that's how I see it.

I also believe that our ability to see this glimmer of hope through the haze of smoke (or to use another favorite image from a hymn- to trace the rainbow through the rain) is not directly anchored in the belief that God will heal my Dad (of whatever it is he has). In fact, I don't think He will. Dad doesn't either. We both believe whole-heartedly that God can. It's just that after all we've seen, we don't think He works that way, necessarily. Who knows? God is God and we are not. He'll work that out and we'll just trust Him. That should work pretty well, I think.

Anyway, in seeing how people react to families in crisis, I can still be surprised. Here are some of the things I have heard from people who have learned of Dad's illness. As Dave Barry would say, I am not making this up.

"Wait- where will he be buried?"

"Oh, that's too bad. Who is this?"

"So, after your mom and your sister and now your dad, you're probably wondering when you'll be next, huh?"

"Well, at least you've been through this before."

Except for the "Who is this?" which was funny and happened when my aunt thought I was someone else, none of the others were things I had thought of on my own. The last two have actually been said to me more than once in the last few weeks. It's a crazy world. Yep. Someone should sell tickets...
_______

Back to the more mundane, I would just like to say that there are three kinds of people in thie world; those who can count and those who can't.
_______

Remember that remodeling being done on our house that was supposed to take 30 days and started on September 7? Yeah, well I am getting very anxious about having a lot of company at Thanksgiving while some walls and doors may be missing and floors have no covering.
_______

Our family has just been introduced to Guitar Hero (Guitar Hero 3, to be exact). Are all the addiction support groups already full?
_______

Cooper v. Abilene High tomorrow. Hoo boy! Isn't it enough to know we're all winners in our own way? No? AHS by 8.
_______

They sang to me at a restaurant the other night. Happy Birthday, dear Gert! Apparently when there's cheesecake involved, I'll answer to anything.
_______

Top Ten Rejected Horror Movie Titles

2007-10-31T23:19:00.000-05:00

10. Thursday the 16th
9. Nightmare on Sesame Street
8. Hairy Movie 4
7. I Am Not Completely Aware of What You Did Last Summer, But I Have Heard Things and I Suspect That You Are a Trouble Maker and We Need to Have a Talk When Your Father Gets Home
6. Thanksgiving
5. The Blair Sandwich Project
4. Poultrygeist
3. Rosie O’Donnell Home Movies
2. Dead Palm
1. Smell Raiser

2007-10-31T05:09:00.000-05:00

Columbo - Doughnut Scene

2007-10-30T11:26:00.001-05:00

It wouldn't be Halloween without something frightening from Jamie Lee Curtis.

Top Fifteen Reasons Dogs Bite Their Owners

2007-10-28T20:26:00.000-05:00

Did you know that incidents of canine attacks upon their owners are dramatically higher in October? Scientists are at a loss as to why, but I have my own theories. Here are the top fifteen reasons why dog-on-owner attacks increase during the month of October.

#15.

#14.

#13.

#12.

#11.

#10.

#9.
#8.

#7.
#6.
#5.

#4.

#3.

#2.

#1.

8 Weeks & Counting

2007-10-27T00:40:00.000-05:00

Okay. Most of you know this already, but I guess my references to the topic on this blog have been somewhat cryptic. So, here are the major points of the story as I know them to be.

Kendra and I observed our 15th anniversary in August by going on a little trip. The kids spent part of that time with her brother Danny (truly one of the best guys in the world) and part of the time with my folks who took them to Sea World. Now let me preface this by pointing out that my Dad is in great shape. At 76 he can do more pushups and probably more sit-ups than I. He works as hard now as he ever has. If six months ago anyone had expected him to go on a 20 mile hike he could have delivered. At Sea World, however, he could barely get around he was so worn out. He went to the doctor and a few weeks later they called saying he was severely anemic and needed a transfusion immediately. Dad has always been a skeptic and did not want their blood-bank blood and instead wanted 200 proof Val Juice. I have not been a blood donor in the past (something that has changed) so I had to be typed and screened. In fact, I left ACU Welcome Week chapel early one day after getting to sing with Brandon and Stephen to go to the blood center for that purpose. That delay may have been a great thing, however, because during that time my step-brother had a chance to review the results of the initial tests revealing the “anemia” and was disturbed by what he saw. He did not think it was anemia and thought Dad should get to a hematologist immediately. This was a great catch that bought us very valuable time that would otherwise have been wasted chasing the first and most severe in what has become a long line of either incorrect or uncertain diagnoses.

The hematologist agreed that what he saw was not consistent with anemia and instead felt with a 90% degree of certainty that we were looking at leukemia. (As alarming as that was to hear, I have learned once again that things like are relative and we would later come to hope for leukemia.) Word came back a week or two later, however, saying that it was, in fact, Stage Four T-Cell Lymphoma. Dad decided to go to M.D. Anderson for possible treatment and advice. At this point, however, he was cleared to go ahead with the blood transfusion to help with his red-cell count, which was dramatically low.

The expertise of those at M.D. Anderson, easily thought to be one of the top five cancer research and treatment centers in the world provided a glimmer of hope. To be honest, it was a little bit touch-and-go as to whether or not Dad would even agree to go there. His last memory of the place was from about 35 years ago when my Mom was there as a cancer patient. The surroundings were void of warmth and pleasantry and any good memories; Mom’s body succumbed to the disease. Take that into account combined with the fact that Dad has lost my sister Vicki to cancer as well and going through the individual hells each of them went through did not exactly make him eager to follow suit. Thankfully, however, he eventually agreed to go that route.

Family plans for Thanksgiving quickly switched to Abilene but beyond that we seemed a little paralyzed by the news. Except for Colleen, my step-mom. She charged on, shaking her fist at this un-seen enemy, volunteering for a tour of duty on the front lines of this battle and any to come in this war. I truly wish I had a more public forum than this blog to tell anyone who would listen just how thankful I am for her. She is fiercely loyal, frighteningly intelligent, unbelievably patient, and down-right classy. She just retired this summer from ACU (sorta) and has really thrown herself into this new role with an even greater degree of determination. She has been my conduit of information during their trips to Houston. She and her iPhone have served to be my eyes and ears to what’s going on when I can’t be present. She is awesome.

The next trip to M.D. Anderson was one wherein I thought we would learn the roadmap of treatments ahead and perhaps even begin those treatments. However, rather than treat him the doctors told him they were pretty sure it was not lymphoma but was instead leukemia (again). This was actually good news, though. Leukemia has a much better life expectancy and quality. It was encouraging although they said the strain he had was so rare they didn’t know much about it and would both treat and study him. Dad was told to say goodbye to the lymphoma specialist and report back in a week or two to the leukemia doctors. Then last Friday a somewhat disturbing call came in suggesting he should return and visit both. This odd sense of security that comes along with assumptions of mutual exclusivity seemed suddenly at risk. Could it actually be both?

Today the answer came during yet another trip to Houston. It was not leukemia. Lymphoma or some variation thereof is again the diagnosis du jour. While Colleen made it sound as though they still did not seem exactly confident in that, they do seem sure it is not leukemia. Whatever it is, I just want them to start treating him. Because this is what we know by the numbers:

It’s been eight weeks since this started.

He’s had at least three transfusions.

His red cell count continues to nose-dive; today down to 7.

There’ve been three trips to Houston, M.D. Anderson.

There will be 13 of us together for Thanksgiving. It should be 17 or 18, but stupid things can occur even in the oddest of times.

We are either on our 5th diagnosis or have returned to our 3rd.

Zero treatments have been administered.

And that’s it for now. Now you may understand why I have seemed a little moody or bitter lately. Why I am struggling to stay positive but still think it is important to try. Why I am disappointed in some people and so impressed with others. And why I’ll give some more updates later.

2007-10-14T15:46:00.000-05:00

I had to run in to the office pretty late last night so as I drove home I got to enjoy the spirit of the season as I drove by all of the homes decorated for…

Halloween?!

When did it become such a popular idea to put up Halloween lights and temporary graveyards and errant witches who have unfortunately flown into trees all over town and gory depictions of who knows what?

(Grumpy old curmudgeon alert)

In my day all we did to decorate for Halloween was put out a Jack-O-Lantern. And we liked it! We LOVED it! We’d spend hours carving faces into these gourds using our neighbor little Jimmy Hornback for our model because through some freak of nature he actually had a nose and two eyes shaped like triangles and had a stem growing out of the top of his head. And little Jimmy would get all traumatized when just as soon as we had created this perfect likeness we would reach inside the top of the head and start scooping out the innards of the orange orb that so closely resembled our jaundiced and diminutive-yet large-headed neighbor. He’d run home crying and we would know that we had captured a piece of the spirit of the holiday by freaking out a small child. Then to top it off we would go around honing our extortion skills by begging for candy that would eventually rot our teeth until our smiles resembled that of the aforementioned Hornback spawn while promising harm to health and/or property should our demands go unheeded. We didn’t care that we were setting in motion for generations to come the idea that begging and entitlement bore no shame. That’s the way we liked it. We LOVED it!

Now where was I?

Oh yeah. Halloween decorations. So last night I’m driving across town and I am amazed at how many huge blow up decorations honoring Halloween adorn the lawns of the wealthy and the lower to middle class alike. These are people who have decided that yep, they gotta have these mammoth decorations even though their deflated condition during the daytime makes it appear that their front yard was the gathering spot for a bunch of streakers who have not yet returned for the brightly colored jogging suits they left scattered about the lawn.

I saw one house last night that went all out. They had the inflatables, the makeshift graveyard, the pumpkins, the spiderwebs, the ghosts hanging from trees, the witch who had run into the telephone pole and of course the skeleton festooned with Christmas lights riding a bicycle. I suppose that was a celebration of Halloween. The only other thing I could come up with was maybe Festivus unless there really is a holiday that simultaneously honors Halloween, Christmas and the Tour de France.

Anyway, while I do enjoy the part of Halloween that is essentially panhandling from your neighbors, I do not understand any celebration of gore or evil. It appears to me that the world is plenty evil already and any gore is too much. I will never for the life of me (or for the death of me if you prefer the macabre) understand the attraction of movies or stories that glorify such things. I think that is the essence of a twisted mentality.

That having been said, I think there are times when it is okay to get a little scared. A great source of healthy fright may be a roller coaster, the price figures on a gas pump or a ride in a Chicago taxi with a cab driver who is clearly foreign but probably not from Mars like he said.

In the interest of full disclosure, I must admit that I was involved in a couple of haunted houses in college. But the room I was involved in each time was easily the most scary without being gory or evil (a little mean, perhaps, but not evil). What we did was have a pitch black room for the people to walk through with the help of a guide dressed as a crash test dummy. Nino and I got to be dummies (no cracks about type-casting). Once they were in the middle of the room, the front end of an old Chrysler mounted on a shopping cart would be thrust at them just as high-intensity headlights and a very loud air horn would simultaneously glare and blare and bear down on unsuspecting saps who seemed somewhat shocked by the occurrence. I remember more than once having to shut down the haunted house to repair walls knocked down when people collapsed or tried to escape the ’72 Chrysler that somehow found its way into an old gymnasium. But again, that’s how we liked it. We LOVED it! And it was 99% free of gore and violence. (The 1% accounts for the time I got punched in the face by a lady who got a little carried away).

Ahh. Good times.

That's Enough

2007-10-12T20:30:00.001-05:00

Frankly, it would be a bit of a waste of time for me to pretend I haven’t been holding a lot of anger lately. Stress begins to do that to you. These forces around you keep pressing and pounding on you until before you realize it you’re just mad. Perhaps it is actually mutated frustration, but I got to a point where I just realized I always felt mad. It’s hard to let a good mad go. I’m so good at it. Give me a nice plant for my office and it will die before you get the thank you note (Just kidding. I don’t send thank you notes). But I can nurse a good mad or a grudge until it has grown healthy enough to be a vacation destination for guys named Jack.

I don’t think I’ve been mad at any one person. I mean sure, at times it has seemed like some of the people I was closest to distanced themselves from me just when I probably needed them most, but I honestly don’t think I was mad at them. It’s tough to have a friend going through a dark time so the easiest way to handle it is to back off. In almost every case, I’m cool with that. In fact, I probably prefer it if it means I would have to open up to someone otherwise. Who can adapt to that kind of weird and inconsistent logic?

I’m pretty sure I’m not mad at God either. I was discussing a lot of this with Him the other night and I think that I concluded that no matter what happens to me, other people have had it worse. The world is a rough place for so many people. Sure, I have lost family members to cancer, but there are people living in places on this planet at this very moment who have seen their entire families massacred or sadly, who may be about to. But getting mad at God about it only adds insult to the injury he feels as He grieves those situations as well. And in the final analysis, if all we have to thank Him for is the hope that overwhelms matters such as these- the hope that comes through the assurance of His salvation- I gotta say- that’s enough. It’s enough to get mad and still praise Him. It’s enough to know that even when we may feel the world has deserted us and even God seems conspicuously silent, He remains… and He remains faithful. It’s enough to know He hates the suffering on this earth enough to overcome it through suffering of His own.

That’s plenty, really.

That’s enough.

2007-10-10T05:23:00.000-05:00

2007-10-06T07:40:00.000-05:00

So, I've listened to a few speakers this weekend talking about a closer relationship with God- listening for Him to reveal to you some path or some emphasis for your life. I've heard people insist that they know He speaks to them. Sure, there have been times that I feel like an experience was probably enhanced by the Spirit (often during worship) and even times when I felt nudged away from my own desires and toward something more noble. But more often than not I feel more like the people in the AT&T mobile commercials wondering if the call has been dropped or perhaps God has gotten so offended by me that He has decided to clam up. I dunno... maybe I'm more like Calvin that these people- but I'm working on it.

Dove Onslaught

2007-10-02T09:50:00.001-05:00

I know this is a little shocking, and at its core just another marketing tool, but I have daughters and this scares me to death. Steven Curtis Chapman nailed it when he wrote this song:

I can see the tears filling your eyes
And I know where they're coming from.
They're coming from a heart that's broken in two
By what you don't see:
The person in the mirror doesn't look like a magazine,
Oh but when I look at you it's clear to me-
That I can see the fingerprints of God-
When I look at you.
And I can see the fingerprints of God-
And I know it's true:
You're a masterpiece that all creation quietly applauds
And you're covered with the fingerprints of God.

Never has there been and never again will there be another you,
Fashioned by God's hand and perfectly planned to be just who you are.
And what He's been creating since the first beat of your heart,
Is a living, breathing priceless work of art.
And I can see the fingerprints of God
When I look at you
And I can see the fingerprints of God
And I know it's true:
You're a masterpiece that all creation quietly applauds
And your covered with the fingerprints of God.

Just look at you...
You're a wonder in the making.
Oh, and God's not through.
In fact, He's just getting started!
And I can see the fingerprints of God
When I look at you
And I can see the fingerprints of God
And I know it's true.
You're a masterpiece that all creation quietly applauds.
And you're covered with the fingerprints of God.

Caption

2007-09-26T21:46:00.000-05:00

The World Stress You and Creep You

2007-09-24T12:02:00.000-05:00

Several years ago I was in a class at ACU wherein we were given a test to help determine the level of stress we were under. As I remember it, there was a long list of thing that might be going on in someone’s life or that might have happened in the previous twelve months. Each of these items was given a point value and when you added up your score you could check it on a scale to see if you were under any stress and to what degree. I don’t remember my exact score, but I remember being through the roof. Things that happened in that twelve-month period were things like the death of an immediate family member, the birth of a daughter, a move, and a job change- not to mention every-day stuff like Abilene traffic jams. Officially I think I blew right through the “Extreme Stress” level and then something minor like a paper cut took me over the edge from “Holy crap, call an ambulance!” to the “Talk him down from that clock tower and put him in a rubber room” level.

Lately, I have been feeling the creeping effects of Too Much once again. Too Much is an old family member that so many of us share. Often we only hear from Too Much on special occasions when we get a quick call or maybe a card but lately Too Much keeps begging for an invitation to stay for an extended visit. Frankly, my somewhat Ecclesiastical view of late suggests that so little of what may be supposed to be stressful matters anyway. Maybe that will take some of the edge off. Still, here is the kind of stuff going on right now.

An immediate family member is battling cancer. Many of you may know who it is, but they wish for their battle to be personal and largely private, so let’s try to honor that. Eventually I may talk more about it, but not yet.

We are remodeling our house. I really like our contractor and all, but face it- he’s a contractor and we’re remodeling our house. I mean, come on! Seriously, he’s ahead of schedule, so that’s good. But right now we have no TV and no phone. Not bad for a vacation or if your name happens to be Gilligan, but a bit of a stressor around the house.

I basically have three jobs. I may just have to say “No” to job number four- that gig as an underwear model. No sense giving everyone else stress, too.

I am working on a project outside one of my jobs but which has a quick deadline.

I seem to have forgotten how to sleep at night which means I am operating on precious little of it during the day.

Several other items which I cannot really reveal.

Honestly, it doesn’t approach “Talk-him-down-from-the-tower” Level, but I feel as though I am signaling for that exit. Or, since I like mixed metaphors, if I’m not climbing the tower it may be because I am circling the drain.

Things I Learned From MAS*H, Pt 4

2007-09-23T21:41:00.000-05:00

Other Lessons From M*A*S*H

There were so many characters in the M*A*S*H series who were each worth watching the show for. Notwithstanding those already mentioned, consider:

Maxwell Klinger, the young man so desperate to go home that he tried for years to achieve that Section 8 by dressing as a woman. Interestingly, however, the dog tags he wore were the genuine article which Jamie Farr attained from time he spent in Korea as a real soldier. Klinger never hesitated to help anyone whenever he could, often putting his life on the line in spite of his self-imposed status as a coward. And yet, after all of his protestations and supposed disdain for all things to do with the Korean war, he ended up marrying a Korean local and staying to help her find family members displaced by the war.

Father John Patrick Francis Mulcahy, the camp chaplain was another one who was easy to admire, due in no small measure to his humanity. So often people of faith are portrayed on screens large and small to be proud humorless buffoons. Mulcahy showed himself to be both self-deprecating and wise with quotes like, “I expect you to listen to me! This isn’t one of my sermons!” He knew when to offer counseling and when to seek it- making himself vulnerable in revealing his weaknesses and downplaying his strengths. The qualities are ideal for people seeking to live out their faith.

Colonel Sherman T. Potter got to play the father figure in the later years of the M*A*S*H series and he was good at it. His ideal blend of concern and stern made him someone who could tug at your heart with just a look for a certain tone. His leadership skills were formed out of true concern for people and purpose and if you observed him at all you saw his purpose was people- not war.

Maj. Margaret “Hotlips” Houlihan developed a great deal as a character. She began as a by-the-book Army purist and eventually came to understand that legalism could get in the way of reaching those who really needed help. In no scene was this more evident than in one wherein a young soldier is brought in to the hospital on Christmas Day while the 4077 is having a party for the local orphanage. B.J., Hawkeye and Margaret soon become aware that they have no chance of saving the young soldier, but they try valiantly to postpone his death so his family will not remember Christmas as the day their Daddy died. Ultimately, they lose their battle with roughly a half-hour to go so they decide to move the clock forward and declare the time and date of death to be just after midnight on the 26th. Margaret comments on how falsifying records is a first for her but she almost seems to do so wistfully as though she regrets not having done it sooner. It is a watershed moment for her.

There are obviously other examples- not to mention that there was at least one character with Abilene ties (McLean Stevenson (Henry Blake) spoke at ACU). Any time people can thrive in a time of war it is a compelling circumstance, which brings me to one of the few things I ever liked about Hawkeye. There was a scene in an episode wherein someone offers the famous quote, “War is Hell.” Upon hearing this, Hawkeye responds with one of my all-time favorite M*A*S*H quotes (paraphrased).

“No! War is war and Hell is Hell, but they are not the same. There are no innocent victims in Hell.”

Things I Learned From MAS*H, Pt 3

2007-09-22T09:26:00.000-05:00

Pt 3

Cpl. Walter Eugene “Radar” O’Reilly

It is really hard to discuss Radar without “breaking through the fourth wall” and discussing him as Gary Burghoff, the actor who played him. Perhaps it is because he seemed to grow with the series in a way that was inseparable from actor and character. Or perhaps its because there were things about Burghoff in real life that were impossible to leave out of Radar, but which seemed consistent with the character all the same.

For instance, and this may forever change the way you watch the show, Burghoff has a deformed left hand. You may never have noticed it because in most scenes Radar is holding something in that hand or it is hidden inside a long sleeve or behind some prop. To me, it seems just like Radar to “soldier” on through difficulty, working hard in the face of adversity.

Radar is probably a favorite for most M*A*S*H viewers. It is hard not to be drawn to his child-like manner and the innocence that stood in such stark contrast to his surroundings. And yet we got to see this diminutive teddy bear-toting adolescent grow before our eyes but not without hanging on to vestiges of that small-town innocence. For instance, the same young man who was so protective of his menagerie of pets disregarded his own safety to race into a mine field and rescue a young local girl who was injured by a mine as she checked the field to see if it was safe for the family ox.

In yet another example of the blurry line between Burghoff and O’Reilly, there was an episode wherein Radar had to tell the rest of the characters that their beloved CO, Lt Col. Henry Blake had been killed on his way home, having completed his tour of duty. The catch here was that only Burghoff was given that last page of the script just before he entered the set to film the scene. Everyone else’s reactions were filmed cold and unrehearsed and their emotions, including Burghoff’s, were unrehearsed and genuine.

What lessons can one learn from Radar?

Hmmm.
A broken young man, longing for home, working through his brokenness in selfless ways to be true to his heart for others. It is evident over and over in the character of Walter Eugene “Radar” O’ Reilly.

Things I Learned From MAS*H, Pt 2

2007-09-20T20:51:00.000-05:00

Part Two

Charles Emerson Winchester III

Winchester was often the butt of the joke on M*A*S*H. because it was easy to do. He replaced Major Frank Burns as the anti-Hawkeye, but he and Frank were very different. Whereas Frank was a simple-minded, self-involved inferior surgeon, Charles was an excellent surgeon with a pompous demeanor. Not only that, he often proved himself to be a worthy foe for Hawkeye and B.J. in terms of wit or practical joking. His pomposity, however, may not have run as deep as one might have originally thought and little glimpses into his life chipped away at that mask.

Indeed, his placement at the 4077 began as a reaction to his arrogant bearing. His dominance and subsequent bragging over a simple game of cards with a general took him from a job in the luxurious confines of Tokyo to meatball surgery near the front. The shock of this experience would have been a great deal for anyone to endure, let alone a blue-blood Bostonian. And though he seemed to have clung to that blue blood nature as long as he could, ultimately he showed there was much more to his character.

A few glimpses of his old life showed a humanity that would have belied the image he tried to project:

He still grieved over a brother, Timmy, who died as a child. He was fiercely faithful in corresponding with his sister Honoria (does not rhyme with gonorrhea). However, one episode dealt with the tapes they sent one another and ended with Charles, listening with tears in his eyes as his sister struggled through a major speech impediment to tell him how much their correspondence meant to her.

In other episodes he could be seen reaching out to people in an effort to help them- helping an abandoned baby, trying to help a prostitute turn her life around, becoming personally connected with patients under his care often while outwardly he still projected this boorish exterior.

Nowhere was this more obvious than in an episode wherein Cpl. Klinger found out the identity of someone who had been secretly leaving gifts at a Korean orphanage under cover of night. The benefactor was none other than Charles Emerson Winchester. As Charles pleadingly explained his tradition of helping someone secretly during the Christmas season, any notion of inequality between the kid from the tough streets of Toledo and one of Boston’s elite disappeared. It’s a scene that always leaves a lump in my throat.

The lessons here are probably many- but I always loved that deep down, Charles quietly lived out concern for others without wearing this virtue on his sleeve.

“Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” Matthew 6

Things I Learned From MAS*H

2007-09-20T09:22:00.001-05:00

Part One

B.J. Honeycutt

I am a fan of the TV show, M*A*S*H. I always thought the show was well-written and full of interesting characters even though I have to admit that Alan Alda often drove me crazy. Still, as I said, so many of the characters had a depth not often seen in a sit-com.

Consider B.J. Honeycutt- the surgeon who so desperately resented that the war had taken him from his newborn daughter. His strong emotions boiling just beneath the surface nearly found an outlet when a woman sought a sexual relationship with him in the middle of the Korean war zone, stating her case with the notion that they needed to pursue their relationship immediately because, for them, there may be no tomorrow. B.J. declined, however, saying that he had to live for tomorrow because, for him, there is no now.

Could it be that this wise-cracking practical joker, who threw himself into saving and serving even though he hated the environment in which he did so, was onto something?

Let’s see:
Live honorably, bearing in mind that something better could break in, but in the mean-time do all you can to help others where you are.

Hmmm. Sounds like a good place to start.

2007-09-17T11:15:00.000-05:00

If anyone tells you they have all the answers, you have the instant advantage of knowing you are dealing with either a fool or a liar.

2007-09-16T23:31:00.000-05:00

You know pain has little mercy and suffering’s no respecter of age, of race or position.
-Wayne Watson

It’s not that I expect it to be otherwise. After all, God only made a few promises- one of which was “in this world you will have trouble.” My apologies to Jabez disciples and makers of inspirational needlepoints and feel-good posters everywhere, but God keeps His promises. It’s not that He likes it that way, but He understands what happens in a fallen world. And I truly believe He spends more time grieving over the crap than doling out worldly trinkets.

Still…

This world sucks. In fact, it can suck the life right out of you in little sips or in giant slurps. Either way, it sucks. If you want proof, how about watching a person live their entire life in the service of others, following a healthy lifestyle (a la Daniel), losing a wife and daughter to cancer and now looking down the barrel of a similarly loaded canon with a fuse of unknown length. I guess in light of this, I wonder if I really buy the words to the song above. Sure, death is no respecter of age, race or position, but suffering seems to take up a more permanent residence with some than with others. If I knew what to pray for right now, it would probably just be that suffering would go straight to hell where it came from- or at least that it would leave him alone . But then, I don’t know what to pray. So I go back to song lyrics.

My faith is old. My heart is hard. My prayers are cold.

Still, ultimately…

Blessed be your name.

Awfully Funny

2007-09-10T13:02:00.001-05:00

I'm sorry. I really am. I know this is inappropriate, but I thought this was hilarious. Again, I apologize through gasps of laughter. Besides, I really need to laugh today.

2007-09-06T20:52:00.000-05:00

Which shows greater faith? Actually, to even ask the question may be so unfair as to show a lack of judgment if not a lack of faith. But as I consider things going on in and around my life it’s one I find myself asking myself when I should be sleeping or working or thinking about other things.

So…

Is it a greater display of faith to truly believe with all your heart that God wants us to be financially blessed… or to be on the outside looking in at people who appear to have won life’s lottery but still say “Blessed Be the Name of the Lord?”

Is it a stronger faith that builds a home on a foundation of Christian virtue and teaching, keeping all other influences at bay… or to be immersed in the world around us exposing our families to people who may even shock or disgust us while we try to love them and still say “Blessed Be the Name of the Lord?”

Are we showing a faith of more substance when we share our testimony with whoever will listen, or sit on the front row at church or write books or articles about our incredible story or hang crosses in every room of our homes… or when we quietly doubt- even painfully- and still say “Blessed Be the Name of the Lord?”

Is it a greater example of faith to pray for the healing of someone who is terminally ill with full confidence that God will heal them… or to believe that God will not intervene and still say “Blessed Be the Name of the Lord?”

In the interest of full disclosure, I suppose when I wrote those questions I was probably doing so thinking I knew the answers. To be honest, I don’t really think I do. I don’t know much about much any more.

Still…

Blessed be the name of the Lord.

2007-08-28T19:36:00.000-05:00

What happens when you take five straight-laced ACU guys on a ski trip in 1991 and have them pose in front of some remote New Mexico greasy spoon (complete with gas pumps) while pretending to chew or dip tobacco?

Long term answer: 2 1/2 become worship leaders, one becomes a college professor and one becomes a physical therapist.

Short term answer: 2 stick their tongues in their cheeks hoping it will give the impression of a "chaw," two try to spit simultaneously and one gets the giggles.

Recognize anyone?

Credit Card Offers

2007-08-27T13:35:00.000-05:00

Legally speaking, is there any problem with taking the postage-paid envelopes that come with credit card applications and merely sending them back empty? I mean, they’re requesting some kind of response to their solicitation and that is one way of responding. I am letting them know that I did not want to apply. And since I shred credit card applications sending it back empty may actually be more a more gracious gesture than sending it back full of confetti. Maybe I should make the message even more clear by writing on the back of the envelope, “STOP SENDING ME THESE!” That would just be a friendly message to help them save a little time, right? Of course I would regret that sending back the six envelopes that came in this weekend’s mail would cost them a little money each time I did it and that if enough people did the same thing they might eventually change their direct-mail marketing practices and save a few dang trees and keep some mail carriers from back surgery and cut way back on the amount of trash going into landfills and probably also greatly reduce the amount of identity theft going on and lower the amount of clutter in my mailbox.

Yep. I would regret that a whole bunch. If you’re curious about how much I would regret it, send me a postage paid envelope and I’ll let you know.

5,478

2007-08-22T02:01:00.000-05:00

So 23 years ago we met. But 15 years ago today she walked down the splendorous center aisle of the Muleshoe Church of Christ as I sang “I Will Be Here” (a capella, of course) with what little breath I was able to muster up. She was simply taking it away. It helped a little to have my sister, Vicki, making faces at me from the back of the sanctuary.

Many of the faces in attendance that day are a bit of a blur to me now. I know many people traveled hundreds of miles to this little garden spot with one foot in West Texas and the other in the Panhandle and I appreciate their effort to attend. I suppose, however, the faces that stand out even more are the ones we no longer see and in a strange way those faces that were mere suggestions that day because they say more about what Kendra and I have experienced together as a married couple.

We have lost Vicki, but a strong memory is still that of her smirking at me during the wedding. We have lost Kendra’s Dad, but a strong memory is still that of him tackling me as the photographer took pictures of me removing the garter from Kendra’s leg at the reception. We have lost my Grandma Edie, but a strong memory is still that of the ushers forgetting to escort her out at the end of the ceremony as she sat there looking alone and somewhat confused. We have lost Kendra’s Grandma Clydetta and Grandpa George and MeeMaw but we still she them as we look through the wedding album. And then I see the faces of our kids as they look at pictures from that day and wonder what kind of lessons they are learning or seeing modeled in our home.

The jury is still out on that one and I suppose they will spend more time overcoming examples from their dad rather than implementing them. But one message I really hope gets through is that I love their mom. And even though I was all awestruck and soupy-eyed (not sure what that means, but I was) on the day of our wedding, I can honestly say that 5,477 days later (including leap years) I love her even more.

So, what began as a chance meeting at camp 23 years ago…

And became a marriage of 15 years or 5,478 days (and counting)…

Is being celebrated today, by no one more than me.

The traditional gift for 15 years is crystal and I tried to give Kendra a trip to see the crystal blue waters of Maui. The modern gift is a watch and she has given me the gift of some wonderful times. That may sound cheesy, but I couldn’t ask for anything more.

So bring on 5,000 or 10,000 or 15,000 more days and I’ll do my best to see each one as a gift. I am not so naïve as to suggest that I considered each of the past 5,477 to be so at the time, looking back I know they were. And so, I am looking forward to those to come.

Happy Anniversary, Kendra. I love you.

5,473

2007-08-17T16:21:00.000-05:00

That’s the current total. But 5,478 was looming. It’s a big number, to be sure. But how best might it be commemorated?

We had some friends who had just traveled to a tropical locale. We looked into that, but in case you haven’t heard it is a bit of a circus over at the passport office. I knew, having come to the idea a little late, that there was no way our passports would be ready in time. Then I had an idea- and before it died of loneliness I put it into action.

I had a ton of miles from using my credit card for work purposes for the past few years but they were soon to expire. I cashed those in on two plane tickets for my bride and me to Hawaii. Hence the pictures.

There seemed to be forces at work conspiring to put a damper on the trip. There was a lost camera, a disappearing rental car, a broken rental car, a mysteriously cancelled activity, a missed connection in Phoenix, getting home with only one out of four bags. But all of that was cancelled out by one thing- actually I still came out way ahead.

I got to spend five days in one of the most beautiful places in the world with the most beautiful woman in the world.

In light of that, the only real downside was that we had to come back. So even though we were only in the 5,460 range or so, it was awesome. So awesome, that if any of you have miles you want to give up, I’ll go ahead and agree right now to sing for free at any event of your choosing (in Hawaii).

HI!

2007-08-14T14:39:00.000-05:00

So what in the world, you may be asking yourself, is so special about the number 23? I mean, sure, it is apparently the number of flavors that combine to create Dr. Pepper and for some of you that may be of critical importance. But why should it matter that I met my wife 23 years ago?

And I have an answer for you.

Later.

For now I want to briefly share for some of you who have expressed an interest, a little of what we did last week. First, there was a great deal of travel involved. Here is one method we used with the help of our pilot, Richie.

This is what our hotel lobby looked like...

And this was the view from our room.

Of course, you didn't have to stay in the room. You could get off the elevator and go a few steps left to the golf course or a few steps right and get my favorite view...

Golf is great and all, but get real. I brought paradise with me to paradise so I chose the paradise overdose, thank you very much.

2007-07-30T16:03:00.001-05:00

The connection was correctly guessed by Laura.

The first picture was of Elliott, the dragon from Pete's Dragon.

The second image is the logo for Camp Blue Haven.

It was 23 years ago this summer when Kendra and I had our first date on Movie Night at camp to see Pete's Dragon. Below are pictures of how we looked back then. It is very freaky to see how much Kendra looks the same. It is also very hard to see how I scammed her into spending any time with me- let alone marrying me.

I mean look at me! In one picture it appears that I am trying to wring her neck. In the other I have my pants on inside out! Sure, it was for some special occasion where we had to dress up- I think Fifties Day- but did people actually wear their pants inside out in the fifties?! Of course, it makes my current dorkiness pale in comparison (if you disagree I really don't want to hear about it). Still, she does have her arm around me in that shot, so maybe I was on to something. Yeah, I doubt it, too.

So why bring this up now? How could this possibly relate to any current discussion? Well, keep watching this space to find out more...

Puzzle Piece #2

2007-07-29T18:14:00.000-05:00

O.K., this picture, the other one and the number 23.

Anyone?

Riddle me this

2007-07-26T11:24:00.000-05:00

What is the connection between this picture and the number 23?

Casey Kasem Eat Your Heart Out

2007-07-21T22:52:00.000-05:00

It occurs to me that it is rather arrogant of me to believe that something I am thinking is worthy of blogging about let alone worthy for you to read. This time, however, I am putting out a call to hear what you might be thinking. Next Sunday will be a Come-to-the-Front-for-Communion Sunday. I love when we do that- both for the sense of community inherent in the process and for the effect it has on the music. We sing the entire time and occasionally get to throw in songs that have fallen off the radar. To that end, I am inviting people who read this to make requests. I know there are some Highland lurkers out there who do not leave comments but will talk to me in person about things they've read here. If you see me at church or call me or leave a comments I will try to get it into the mix. We're probably only talking about five or six songs so it will be first come- first served and I will do my best to work songs in if I receive them by tomorrow night. This is just an trial this time. We'll see how it goes.

2007-06-29T14:24:00.001-05:00

Clever...

A Dose of Valium

How does the financial system work

Pregnancy Photo Ideas For Our Kids

Top 10 Quotes Regarding our Pregnancy News

Billy Crystal / Robert DeNiro Thanksgiving commerical (2001)

Another Friday Questionnaire

THE ORIGINAL Scary 'Mary Poppins' Recut Trailer

"Office Space" Recut

breakfast song

James Bond is coming to dinner...

Piano stairs - Rolighetsteorin.se - The fun theory

Lame Attempt at Blogging

Ripples

Fearless

Bailout

Life & Other Nonsense

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ADDISON!

Hmmm...

Update

Prayer Request

I Am Not A Worship Leader

Requiem For A Day Off

Mad World - Gary Jules

Father's Day is going... and going...

The Best Grief Counseling

Am I Blue?

Mother's Day

Diamond Denominations

Little League Season is Here

When the Music Fades...Ten Years Later

What Would Jesus Drive?

Update

Frozen Grand Central

Things that make you go hmmm...

I'm TRYING!

Another Correction

From the KVAL news desk...

Clean, Safe, Money

Charlie Brown Christmas

Get Rod Serling on the line

Post-Thanksgiving Update

Dad Update Correction

Update(s)

Who Cain't Be Topical?

Dad Update

Potpourri

Top Ten Rejected Horror Movie Titles

Columbo - Doughnut Scene

Top Fifteen Reasons Dogs Bite Their Owners

8 Weeks & Counting

That's Enough

Dove Onslaught

Caption

The World Stress You and Creep You

Things I Learned From M*A*S*H, Pt 4

Things I Learned From M*A*S*H, Pt 3

Things I Learned From M*A*S*H, Pt 2

Things I Learned From M*A*S*H

Awfully Funny

Credit Card Offers

5,478

5,473

HI!

Puzzle Piece #2

Riddle me this

Casey Kasem Eat Your Heart Out

Things I Learned From MAS*H, Pt 4

Things I Learned From MAS*H, Pt 3

Things I Learned From MAS*H, Pt 2

Things I Learned From MAS*H