Weird, Weird, Weird

Well it was our first Sunday back in the church that my wife and I Pastored for almost 12 years. We have been gone over two full months and it was so weird to just sit in a service. For the last 12 years when we went to church it was time to go to work. We had to make sure everything was in place, including all the people who were doing various things in the church, that the sound system was working, heat and ac were working, that it was not too cold or too hot, that it was not too loud or too soft, that the sermon notes were printed, the doors were unlocked, the coffee was brewing, and everything was ready. Now we had a lot of help doing those things but as it stands, the boss is the one in charge and I take the notion that if it is not done or done incorrectly even if someone else does it, it ultimately is the bosses responsibility. And to walk in and not have to correct or make sure of things was a weird feeling.
What was weirder was my want to take care of things. I wanted to make sure everything was ready even when I was no longer in charge. Is that weird or what? I am wondering how long it will take me to get over being in charge?
Everyone told me the hardest part of a change is letting go of the things of the past... even those things that are a pain are hard to let go of.

Things I have learned remodeling an old house...

1) Never assume.
Never assume anything is reusable, standard, square or fixable in an old house. During my upstairs remodel I thought I would be cost conscious and a green builder and reuse some of the lumber. What I found out is that the old 2x4s were not the same size as the new 2x4s which was not a shock to me, what shocked me is that the old 2x4s were not the same size as the other old 2x4s. I had some that were thicker, some that were thinner and some that were in between. That really messes up your walls when you try to put in door casings and get your sheetrock flat.
2) Always plan for the worse.
When I was redoing my plumbing, I planned that I would be dealing with cast iron drain pipes so I got all the pieces to be able to work with that material. Unknown to me someone had already done some plumbing so I had lots of PVC to work with. Bonus! That was what I thought until I get to the edge of the house and saw where the PVC and the cast piping came together, in the middle of the foundation. Planning for the worse, I was able to work around it but if I had not planned for it I would have been in a world of hurt.
3) Nothing is as easy as it seems.
We decided to tear all the lathe and plaster off the walls and replace with sheetrock, easy right? Tear down the old lathe and plaster, and put up sheetrock, simple. Except when the lathe pieces are actually what is holding up a wall that is not secured to the ceiling or the other walls, now it is replacing the wall itself. A half day job turned into a week long nightmare.
4) Don't underestimate how much trash you will generate.
Who would have thought my house held 3 TONS of lathe and plaster. If my house was on "The Biggest Loser" it would be lapping the field.
5) Refinishing wood floors is cheaper than carpet.
Well this one is probably true, unless you figure up how much your labor is worth. Me, I work for beans and cornbread so I am pretty cheap, but after 40 hours of sanding, sanding, finishing, and more sanding, I am thinking carpet looks pretty good.
6) You never know what you'll find.
I was really hoping to find a bag full of money while remodeling, or jewels, yeah jewels would have been nice. But nope, no jewlels, no money. I found about a thousand old razorblades, a mouse and a bird skeleton (not in the same place, they did not shack up together), an old medicine bottle with the top broke off, an old newspaper and lots of mud dobber nest. Still searching for that bag of money though.
7) If it can fall, it will.
Never trust something to stand on its own. If it has the ability to fall, it will. Trust me, my couch shows the evidence of it.
8) Have fund.
No that is not a typo. Have fund, lots of funds! It will probably run you 10 to 20% above what you have estimated. It is kind of like the extra nuts and bolts you end up with when you are assembling something from a box of parts. Except when you are remodeling you end up short.
9) Have fun.
If you don't have fun doing it, well, you won't, you know, do it.
10) Enjoy it when you get done. No one else is going to enjoy it as much as you are going to, it was your sweat and blood that put it all together in the first place.

Been a while

well I have taken an extended leave of abscence from blogging. Not sure why but I have.
A lot has changed in the last six months of my life. My wife and I resigned our pastorate, started a new business, sent two girls off to college and decided to remodel the upstairs of our home.
As I said, a lot is changing.
I am kind of feeling that in my soul more so now than ever before. The last eight weeks we have secluded ourselves from being attached to church. We just decided that the new pastor needed time to establish himself and we needed a break from the people. This break has really stretched me, in more ways than one.
First I have found it is really hard to remain neutral in a work you have been neck deep in for over a decade. Decisions that are being made that I am finding myself evaluating them as if they were my decisions. It has been really much harder than I realized to just let go, both physically and emotionally. I have to be really careful that I do not let my emotions get the best of me, as my first instinct is to step in and fix it for everybody, well that doesn't work so well when you are not in charge.
Secondly it has been really hard on my to admit that I can fall into that trap of not going to church very easily. My schedule has been heavy, I am tired from my normally work related duties and throw in a house remodel on top of it and I am very weary, what better way to ward off weariness than the sleep in on Sunday morning? I will say it is nice to get up, drink coffee with your wife and not have to worry if you have enough teachers for the morning service, if the nursury will be covered and if you got all your notes printed off correctly for the service. But there is a lull that comes over you when you miss those appointed days in the house of GOD. I am not dry by any means, and I have continued in some personal studies, but I miss the experience of worshipping with people of like faith. I miss the congregational organism which is the church when all of its parts are together and one in the service. I miss the body of Christ.
Well our sabbatical is almost over, we will go back next week to our first service in over two months. Will it be weird just setting in a pew and watching someone else fret over all the details of the service, yes. Will it be good to just get to set among the people of GOD? Yes it will.

Time does fly...

Time flies when you are having fun. That is the old adage. But I really do believe it. It has been fun to have all the kids home for the summer and it seems like summer has come and gone so fast. Last year we sent my oldest off to college and the house seemed somewhat empty with her not at home. Just three kids and a wife to cook for, we could take the smaller cars on trips instead of the mini van. It was weird.
Now this year I do not have just one going off to college but two! Gulp. Both the girls are heading to school and I am not sure how the house will respond when the testosterone level is three to one over the ladies. I am sure my wife will keep the house in balance if you know what I mean but it still going to be weird not having those gals in the house.
I am so proud of both of the girls for the way they live their lives, and the young ladies they are becoming. I am also somewhat scared to send them off into the big bad world but have to trust that the lessons they learned in our house will serve them for the rest of their lives.
So next week Trudy and I are one step closer to having an empty nest... or at least another bedroom we can put things in.

Wrench Monkey...

Remember when auto mechanics used to be called Wrench Monkeys? I do not know where that came from but I have one in my house!
In our family I think I am the only one who actually will work on a car. My father never worked on cars and my mother never did as well. I do not remember my brothers ever working on their cars either.
So my youngest daughter, the one who was the cheerleader, model, actress and all around girly girl gets a new car. Well it is not new but new to her and there has to be some work to be done on it. So she keeps asking, "daddy, when are we going to work on my car?" and I keep telling her soon. Well the day came where we went out to work on her car.
And guess what? She went to town! She was pulling bolts, getting grease on her hands and was an all around great help as we tore the top of her motor down. She actually had the intake manifold in her hands, that she took off!
And then we put it back together and it still worked! Even better!
So never judge a book by its cover, those french manicured nails might just be hiding some grease beneath them!

Camping

The family and I are looking at going camping for a few days. Now with a family of six this is not a small excursion by any means. We have two boys who would be fine in the woods for three weeks if they have enough to eat. No showers, no teeth brushing, no hair brushing, they would be fine and probably enjoy it. My number one daughter would be somewhat OK but I am not sure she would want to be without technology that long. My number two daughter wanted to know what the rooms looked like. I told her we would be camping in a tent and she said, well just you boys right? She thinks roughing it is sleeping in a Holiday Inn when the cable is out.
And then there is my wife. God bless her, we don't have the disposable funds right now to go and stay in a condo for week, or a hotel for a few days for that matter but camping is not really her thing. But she is all for it, even though there are going to be bugs, and it is going to be hot, and we really don't have all the gear to really camp out, but she is game to go.
Should be fun and I am looking forward to a little family bonding as we spend a few days out in the wilderness, well as close as we want to get to wilderness.

Fireworks...

It never ceases to amaze me how grown men can turn into children when they walk into a fireworks tent. Our church does an annual fund raiser where we man a fireworks tent. It takes a lot of work but it does a couple of things for our church besides raising money.
1) It gets outside the four walls. Too many times the church gets confined by the four walls of the structure that they never get outside of it. I spent the last weekend talking to guys who had too much to drink, gals who had not enough on, and people whose language would not be welcomed in most churches. You see when you explain to a guy that big hunk of fireworks is a 16,000 piece fire cracker, they usually use an expletive before they grin. It is good for our people to get out and interact with those we never see in our normal day to day lives. It lets us invest in their lives ever so slightly, who knows what might be sown.
2) It creates opportunities for team building, for conflict management and for problem solving. We needed all three when working with a rotating staff over an entire week where most were spending at least six hours a day in almost triple digit heat. Tempers did not have to go far to reach the boiling point when the tent was 120 degrees. And we also got to build team as the setup and tear down crew jumped in and did what needed to be done in record time. You should have seen them organize the battle plans when a huge thunderstorm headed our way. Everyone knew what they needed to do, how they needed to do it and when they needed to do it. I love it when a plan comes together!! And we had to solve problems. Like how do you tie down a loose tent flap, why with duct tape and a zip tie. How do you patch a hole in a tent? Well with the afore mentioned duct tape. How do you cool down hot tent workers? Well with an ice cold bottle of water or a diaper soaked in ice cold water. Hopefully that diaper was not the "used" kind.

It is finished...

Yes, those immortal word Jesus spoke while hanging on the cross. Well they were finally uttered from my mouth last weekend as we finally finished the bedroom.
Actually calling it a bedroom is not doing it justice, we now call it the master suite.
It all started ten years ago when we bought this old two story house. It wasn't the layout, the paint color or the landscaping that you see on these home shows today that made me want to "say yes to the Address", we bought it because it was cheap, and could sleep six.
It had its share of warts and bumps though. The weekend after we moved in we found that the main sewer line was somewhat collapsed when we our washing machine started letting water out on the floor instead of down the drain. Digging about sixty feet of sewer line and holding the section that was collapsed in your hands while one of your kids flushed the toilet is a memory I will never forget.
So we got that fixed, and then we found another problem that winter. All the water lines in the house were so corroded that at the first sign of a cold snap they would freeze up. There is nothing fun about six people getting up at the same time to get ready for the day and find that there is no water in the house. That has a tendency to ruin your whole day, not to mention that you look like a homeless person as you can't shower, shave or even brush your teeth. So we went to work on that and replaced all the old copper and iron pipe lines with this new plex line that will not freeze, or burst. Such a breakthrough in technology!
And then we decided to take on the bathroom. Our house was designed with an indoor running track. I am not sure if that was the intended design, but you could make the circuit from the living room, through the kitchen and into the bathroom, exiting to one bedroom and then end up where you started in the living room again. It was really convenient for those cold mornings when you did not want to go outside to run, but not so convenient on those using the bathroom as you ran through. Since the bathroom was almost as big as the bedrooms we decided that one large bathroom could be divided up into two regular size bathrooms so off to work we went again. We finished the main bathroom in a few months working around the plumbing but the master bathroom was a different story. It took all of almost four years to finally complete the master bath. Pretty much there were labor disputes from the start, I did not want to do it and no one could make me. But we eventually got there and finished the master bath just as our first child headed off to college. Bad timing on my part as it would have been better to have those high school years of sharing one bathroom not exist but life goes on.
So the next project was, the master bedroom. First off our bedroom was really two rooms, one we kept the bed in which had a really small closet, the other room we kept all the other junk in. It slowly became a man cave, as in it evolved over time. First an overstuffed chair ended up in there to hang clothes on, and then a actual chest of drawers to put clothes in that were stacked on the chair. And then someone brought an old color TV which went on top of the chest of drawers. A bookshelf, filing cabinet and eventually musical instruments and the man clothes filled the room. My wife started calling it my "sanctuary" as man cave was too rudimentary. Well we decided to remove the wall and open up the bedroom, expand the closet and really make it into something we could enjoy. So over five months we redid the closet for his and her sides in a walk in closet where we can throw all our clothes anywhere we want and then shut the door and no one knows. We redid all the wall finishes eliminating the old wood paneling and lathe and plaster and installed new Sheetrock and insulation in the walls so the neighbors could not hear us snoring at night. We put a new window in to replace the one that allowed the night air (both hot and cold) to come into our bedroom, new painted walls, new trim even a new beamed accent ceiling and lighting enhanced our master bedroom look. Throw in a new bed, new comforter, a fancy red chair, reading lamp and bedside tables along with the new plush carpet and we finally had our master suite which was sweet.
So last Saturday when we finally got everything moved back into the room after the carpet installation we kicked off our shoes, sat in our red chair and relaxed and said, "it is finished"...

Superhero or not?

Our church is doing our annual Kids Krusade this week and Pastor Lynda has picked a "Superheroes" theme this year. So of course everyone needs to come as a superhero, don't have a superhero outfit, have no fear, Pastor Lynda is here! She even made capes so if you don't have a supersuit, she will fix you up.
So here is where the delima is. We had a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle show up for KK. Donatello to be exact with this staff. Some thought it was the Pastor dressed up in all black with a mask on and black tights and TMNT boxers on over the tights but he would never do that. So we may never know who that man in black really was. But it caused a ruckus because some do not believe that a TMNT is really a superhero. So in that man in black's defense I will rest this case of superhero or not.
1) Have you ever seen a six foot tall turtle? No, me either so I think that is super.
2) Have you ever seen a talking turtle? No, me either so super again.
3) Have you ever seen a turtle possess ninja skills? Nope, me either so super again.
4) Remember they were exposed to some kind of hazardous waste as young turtles which caused them to mutate to aquire their powers. Kind of like the Flash, Spiderman, Fantastic Four, and a slew of super villans. So I say super again.
5) Do they fight crime? Yes, so super again.
The defense rest, with the evidence placed before you we can indeed say, Cowabunga dude, the TMNT are Super Heroes!

So the Mavs won?

Who would have thought it? The Mavericks win the NBA title over the Thrice Blessed, Star Studded Trinity of DWade, LeBron and CBosh.
It just goes to show you that "team" will always prevail over talent.
I have played on teams with great players. And I have played on great teams with average players. One star does not a great team make, and now I guess we can say that 3 stars does not a great team make.
Team building is one of my passions. I love to surround myself with like minded individuals who put their own egos and desires aside and strive for the best for the team. It is not always easy, many times people do not want to take a back seat or a subordinate role for the best of the team.
I remember a story I heard one time about a large company CEO who challenged another large company CEO to a team competition. They met and decided that they would do a mock war simulation in a forest environment with a ten person detail. The way it worked was this, they would take their ten best, camouflage them up, give them paint ball guns, paint ball grenades and paint ball land mines and whoever captured the other's base won the contest and the bragging rights. The ego minded CEO (whose team we will call the red team) put himself as team leader and picked his ten biggest, toughest and strongest people in his company to make up his team. The other CEO (whose team we will call the blue team) picked people from his organization not based on strength or skill but on the ability to work as a team. Each of them spent a week training with a former military commander who went over basic maneuvers and tactics with each team. When the time came for the battle, the Ego Centric CEO led his troops from the front, straight to the opponents base. The other CEO carefully arranged his troops to best defend his position and attack the other team from the flanks instead of head on. Two of the smallest people on the blue team were sent out as scouts and found a place and hid, allowing the opposing team who all traveled together to pass them without knowing they were there. As the red team approached the blue teams base the CEO of the red team who was leading tripped a land mine essentially eliminating himself and two of the people behind him. The red team was in turmoil as the remaining seven big tough individuals tried to figure out who would be in charge now that the CEO was eliminated. Unknown to them the blue team had taken up positions around the ambush site and all started to open fire at the same time on the arguing seven red team members. Four went down in the first volley of paint and the remaining three turned to retreat the way they had came only to encounter the two small members of the blue team that had hid in the woods. They opened fire and painted two of the three red teams members eliminating them from the competition while the third ran off by himself heading for the red base. The blue team leader them gathered his troops and forced a surrender of the only remaining red team member. The blue team had won the battle with no casualties and had decimated the red team.
When the military commander who witnessed the battle commented later on the competition, he said that he knew before the battle started who was going to win. The ego of the red team leader doomed his more talented, stronger and bigger people because he was not the best suited to lead his team in this battle. In their week of training a couple of the red teams middle managers showed better instincts and tactical skill than the CEO had but he still relegated himself as the leader. Where on the blue team the military commander noticed that the leader was better suited to lead and direct from the back lines and not the front lines. They worked with their strengths and won the battle.
So I said all of this to make this point. Sometimes it is not the superstars that make a great team. Sometimes it is a leader who knows when to lead from the back, let his people do what they do best and stay out of the way.

Fall From Grace...

So many it seems lately have fallen from grace in our eyes. From Bret Favre sending pictures of his nether regions, Arnold Schwarzenegger fathering a child with an employee, and now a Senator admitting to numerous Internet liaisons it seems that infidelity is sweeping the headlines.
I wanted to write a how to avoid article for all men but realized that it probably would not do much good. So I will write a encouragement instead.
Guys, your family is too valuable to mess up for a one night stand. Those moments of passion are not enough to trade for years of stability and trust you share with your spouse. Once that trust is broken it is double hard to get it back, if at all. Those one time arrangements are not worth enough to damage your role as a father forever. Your children are worth more than that and they deserve more from you.
Also fellas, your reputation is more valuable than that moment of fulfillment. That moment will be gone the next day as will your reputation. And that reputation can never be gotten back. Guard that with your life.
And buddy, someone somewhere is going to find out, don't lie to yourself to thinking that you can keep it a secret. In the days before cell phones I was the first one to find out that my dad was cheating on my mom. He was seeing another woman at a cheap hotel on the edge of town. Just so happened that a friend of mine saw my dad pulling into the hotel in his Camaro (not the most invisible of cars). When he went by a few minutes later the car was parked in front of a room. My buddy split the beans to me one afternoon by saying, "hey, don't know if you know this, but your dad is seeing another woman out at the motel." I was stunned. I was 20 years old, recently married and could not believe that my dad would be seeing another woman, cheating on my mom. I made a mental note to check that hotel every time I drove by and sure enough I spied my dad's car there one night. It broke my heart. My mom and dad split up after that and my dad married the other woman and stayed with her till his death last year. But that relationship which wasn't great in the first place never got better. I think he felt shame and guilt for what he did every time we were together. I am not saying that he was all to fault, my mom I am sure was hard to live with too, but for the four sons who lived in that house, things were never the same in their relationship with their father.
So gentlemen, before you go chasing that swishing skirt, I want you to think for a moment of all the things that are on the line that you might loose, a devoted wife, a son or daughter, a reputation, your personal peace. Is it really worth just a few moments of passion?
Think about it.

Wisdom Teeth?

Why are wisdom teeth called wisdom teeth? All I ever got from mine was a lot of pain.
It started last Tuesday day, a dull ache on the right side of my face, took some Ibuprofen and forgot about it. By Wednessday mid day it was no longer a dull ache but more like a jackhammer had opened up on the inside of my mouth. It was so bad that I went and bought some painkillers while I was traveling. Three days later it still was aching and I made the decision to call the one person I try to never call, the dentist.
You see I have extremly hard teeth. I have never (knock on wood) had a cavity. I have had hammers, wrenches and even a chunk of wood hit my teeth and other than one small chip they bounced off. Now my teeth are not perfect, they are not straight and I have an overbite that would make Bugs Bunny envious but they are hard like rocks.
So after almost of week of pain I finally called the executioner, er I mean the dentist. It was either that or play like Tom Hanks in Castaway but I did not have an ice skate. I was able to grab an appointment the next morning for which I was thankful. I got to the chair, met the dental assistant and it was as if I was a stock car at the Daytona 500 and the dentistry crew was the pit crew. They were buzzing around, put this in, take this out, bite down on this, and on and on and on till the Man arrived. He was a pleasent looking fellow for a person who inflicts pain on people for a living. So he leans me back in the chair and starts to probe around in my mouth. Words like "impacted" and "soft tissue" and "bone invasion" chilled me to the core. What those things mean I eventually found out is that my hard teeth were hitting my hard jaw bone and neither one wanted to give.
So after about 30 minutes of grunting, sweating, cutting, drilling, pulling and prying my tooth finally came out in about three pieces. Two stiches later the dentist says, "you do have strong teeth" and his assistant tells me "you will be very sore tomorrow" which left me with a sense of foreboding. I was really sore now, what about this later or even tomorrow.
Well I can tell you, I was really sore, had to take powerful painkillers and talked like a loon most of the day. Wisdom teeth, who knew wisdom could be so painful.
I am really hoping they don't call wisdom teeth that because it would be wise to take them all out at one time...

Dance, Dance, Dance

Had the pleasure to watch a performance this weekend called "Firstborn of the Dead". No I did not go to some horror movie bonanza or something like that. "Firstborn of the Dead" is a ballet that depicts the life of Christ from his birth to death to resurection.
No spoken words, just dance. I cried.
Yeah lump me in with the Tim Tebows of the world. Hopefully there will not be a "I saw Pastor Pat Cry" facebook page spring up anytime soon.
It was emotionally moving seeing the grace and artistry of the dancers as they played their parts. Mary the Mother of Jesus (one of my church kids) emotionally charged as she held her newborn son and beamed at baby Jesus, and emotionally torn as her son was arrest, beaten and crucified.
The guy who played both Satan and God. Was kind of weirded out with that. He had this white robe, tan skin and a nice looking goatee, if I do say so myself, as he played God the Father. Then the same guy comes out with this mask on and it is Satan. I was a little conflicted there but it was all good. He actually played a better Satan than he did God.
And the guy who played Jesus. Well he really embodied the character. In his actions, in his way he interacted, you forgot you were watching a ballet.
Oh and no tights on the guys... I was happy for that.
Very nicely done and if you are in the KC area and get a chance to catch Dramatic Truth do it, you will be blessed.

End of the World?

Well we are all still here as far as I know. We did not miss it. I don't think it has happened.
Many were believing that the rapture of the church, the great catching away of the people of GOD before the time of tribulation was to happen this weekend. Well as far as I can tell it did not happen.
But, just because it did not happen, doesn't mean that it will not happen. The Bible says that we are to be ready at any moment. We are not guaranteed one moment of time on this earth but are apportioned a set amount of time and then we will face GOD and give an account of how we have used those moments. It could happen at the time of the rapture, or it could happen when we are old and grey, or it could happen in a moment like it did for the scores of people who lost their lives in the tornadoes that just ripped acrost the midwest. When your life is called into account, be ready.
Just because one man missed it, doesn't mean that you need to miss it to.

Remodeling...

So have I mentioned that I am in the middle of a remodeling project? I am sure I have but let me digress.
I am applying so many spiritual truths that are coming alive during my project.
Suff like,
To have a solid structure you have to have a "good" foundation.
My house moves all over the place on its foundation. The reason? Well it really does not have a solid foundation. It is what is considered a "mud sill" foundation which means the house is basically built up in the air on top of piers that sit on the ground. So when it rains, drys out or some other climate change occurs the house moves a little.
We can be like that in our spiritual lives if we don't "root" ourselves in following Christ.
When you "root" yourself in following Christ you dig down deeper than the surface. There you have holding power.
But when you are just a surface level Christian, you life will move all over the place. When the changes come to your life you will not be rock solid but you will drift and move according to those changes. You may not drift or move much but small compromises eventually lead to larger compromises and eventually lead to failures in life.

So build your house upon the rock! Get a firm foundation and don't be moved!!
Now where did I put that crowbar? Back to work.

The end of the world...

Well it appears that end of the world is to occur sometime this month. I have heard that it will be on Saturday the 21st while others are saying the 22nd. Every few years or decades it seems that there is always someone who through rigorous biblical study seems to think that they can predict the end of the world. If you ask me when the world is going to end, I will reply when GOD says it is time. The Word says that "no man knows the day or the hour" and I will take it at that. So with that said I think we should be living our lives as if the next moment is our last.
But if the world is going to end sometime soon can I make a few recommendations.
1) I would like the world to end on a Monday, not on the weekend. I look forward to my weekends, thinking of Friday is the only thing that gets me through the week. It would make much better sense for the world to end on a Monday. Of course that might create some confusion as most people think the world really does end every Monday.
2) If the world has to end, can we have it end before the 18th? You see that is when the house payment, car payments and all the other payments come out. I would love to use that money on something else. Who needs a house or a car if the world is no more.
3) It seems like the last three or four times there has been an end of the world date set it has fallen in May. I just hate that. May is a time for everyone to look forward to summer finally getting here, the grass is coming in green, the flowers are blooming, the birds are singing and Memorial Day weekend is just around the corner. If the world has to end can't it be like sometime in late October? Or mid January when it is so cold out no one would really care?
4) And if the world is going to end, can we have it happen at the same time all over the globe? I would just hate it if we hear that Eastern Asia was wiped out and destruction was slowly spreading east. It would be like watching the political election updates on MSNBC. Whoa, Japan just went down, ETA Hawaii six hours, LA in 12.
5) I have another pet peeve with declaring the world is going to end with out declaring how. Is it going to be an asteroid? An alien race? A pandemic? All the machines in the world coming to life and trying to kill us? Someone should make a movie about that. What I mean is if you know that the world is coming to an end, surely you have to know how, right? So share the info if you would so I can get busy building that space shuttle to blow up the asteroids, guerrilla ware fare to take out the aliens, a super serum to counteract the epidemic, or a sailboat with no electrics to escape the evil and blood thirsty machines that are out to get me.
Oh, and if the end of the world really is about to happen, make peace with GOD, and live life to the fullest. Because who knows, it could happen today and if not today, tomorrow.
Be Blessed.

Come in Dick Tracey...

for those of you who are my age or older, that familiar line was a staple in the Sunday paper. You know how the Sunday paper went. Dad got the front page section and the sports, Mom got the local and the celebrity section and the kids got to share the funny pages.
Well Dick Tracey was always a favorite of mine. The vivid colors, the hero of course and the villians. But the coolest thing about Dick Tracey was all of his gadgets. He had all of these neato gadgets that every kids wanted.
Well as I was thinking the other day, most of the gadgets that Dick Tracey had we all have now. Bundled in one little phone package we have the most ingenious scientific gadget ever made. Have you ever really thought about what a "smart" phone can do?
Email? Check.
Day Planner? Check.
Clock? Check.
Adress Book? Check.
Calculator? Check.
Navigation System? Check.
GPS? Check.
Web Browser? Check.
Music Player? Check.
Video Player? Check.
Camera? Check.
Video Camera? Check.
Gaming System? Check.
Facebook? Check.
Pager? Check.
Memo Pad? Check.
And a Phone all wrapped into one little tiny box we can wear on our hip, put in our pocket or slip into a purse.
Calling Dick Tracey! Come in Dick Tracey! I have better gadgets than you do!

What is in your hand?

Got to thinking about that passage of scripture where GOD asked Moses what is in his hand? Moses showed GOD his shepherds staff and GOD told Moses to throw it down and it became a snake, and then he told Moses to take it back up and he grabbed it by the tail and it became a staff again.
There are two keys parts of that story that I have been dealing with in my own life.

The first part is what was in Moses hand. I am sure Moses had that staff for a long while, it had traveled with him, herded sheep and was probably used for most everything while in Moses' possession. But Moses really did not understand what he held in the palm of his hand. I know that I am a lot like Moses sometimes, really not understanding the value that is right under my own nose and in the palm of my hand. To Moses that staff was just like any other shepherds staff, full of knots and blemishes, weathered, stained and really not that pretty to look at. But in GOD'S eyes that staff was a mighty miracle, used of GOD to help set a nation free. Why can't we see our own value when we are in the hands of GOD. Self doubt, feelings of inadequacies and our fears of our shortcomings being revealed cause us to see our own selves like Moses saw that staff, as ordinary. But did you know that just like Moses staff we are a miracle waiting to happen in GOD'S hands. Who knows what he might use you for, what miracles might be awaiting you if you will allow GOD to use you.

Secondly, Moses had to let go for that staff to become a snake. GOD told him to cast it down and when he let go of it miraculously it became a snake. And it must have been a pretty impressive snake as the word says that Moses ran from it. Sometimes when we have to let things go it can get pretty scary. As long as Moses held that staff in his hand, he was in charge. But once he let go of that staff and put it into GOD'S hand, well GOD was in charge and that can be a scary thing. Sometimes we need to let go of the preconceived notions, the shortcomings, the fear of failure and all those other things that make us hold on to the familiar and let go so that GOD can do something extraordinary with us. I love that GOD told Moses to pick up the snake right after Moses ran from it. He was assuring Moses that even though it might be frightening, that HE was in control. I can imagine Moses reaching out his hand ready for the snake to spin around and bite him as he reached for its tail. Imagine the wonder that must have fallen when he grabbed that tail and it transformed back into a gnarly, rugged and knotted staff that had been Moses' companion for so many years.

So in closing, what is in your hand today that GOD wants to use?
Be Blessed!

Its the little things in life...

that make all the difference in the world.
So many times we allow the little things in life to bring us down, but we also need to realize its the little things also that will lift us up.
My top ten little things...
1) The kiss. My wife of almost 23 years still insist that I kiss her when I leave the house and when I get home. It is one of those things you take for granted but should cherish each day.
2) My kids saying "love you Dad" as they head off to bed. Puts the day into prospective.
3) Having my basic needs met. I don't live in a mansion, drive an expensive car or have great material possesions, but I have a house that the roof does not leak (it used to), a car that starts each time I turn the key and gets me where I am going (I used to have one you said a little prayer before turning on the ignition) and enough toys to keep me happy.
4) Good Friends. I mean those kind of friends whom will actually show up and help you move something heavy in their truck and not let you put gas in their truck when you are done. Those kind of friends.
5) Health. I am overweight, work too much, don't exercise enough but still healthy enough to do most anything I set my mind to.
6) Peace. I sleep really well at night knowing my family loves me and I love them.
7) Trust. I live in a town where you can leave the doors unlocked and the keys in your cars. If your car happens to disappear, it will show back up again, washed, vacumned and full of gas with a thank you note from the neighbor for its use.
8) Good Food. There is just nothing in life like preparing a great meal and enjoying it with friends.
9) Indoor plumbing. I remember having to "go" outside, in the winter, in the snow. Thank GOD for indoor plumbing.
10) Air Conditioning. Yep, it is the little things that will keep everything working together.

A little "traveling" music maestro...

I have been going like the enegizer bunny here lately. I kind of feel like Phileaus Fogg I have been traveling so much.
So in the last month I have been as far east as Florida and as far west as Las Vegas, as far North as Chicago and as far South as Dallas, TX. I have literally criss crossed the nation on flights the last few weeks. And in my travels I have noticed a few things...
1) Weather - the weather has been really weird here lately. From major storms to earthquakes to tornadoes the US has seen its fare share of wild weather. There is nothing like flying above a storm brewing below you and watching the billows of clouds and the streaks of lighting race across the sky. It is all nice and fun until the captain mentions a final descent and you realize you are going to have to go through that mess to get to the ground.
2) Of all the airlines - Southwest gets you there the fastest. Or at least it seems that way. I fly commercially all the time but each time I get on a Southwest flight it seems like the people who work there are wanting to "get away" more than I do. My all time favorite lines is this, "at Southwest, it is open seating, so grab the first seat you come to and take a load off so we can get out of here", my second favorite was, "come on people we are not shopping for furniture for the living room, all the seats look the same, just set down in one".
3) I love the National rental car Emerald Aisle - it is where you get to pick your own car out without going to the counter. You breeze right past everyone standing in line, pick the car from the aisle and drive away. It is always a fun day to pick out color, style and wether to go business casual or sporty.
4) Bellagio Rooms in Las Vegas - those rooms are pretty nice, but for my money they can't compare in price to the newest Holiday Inns where they are set up in suites. I was in on a few weeks ago that felt like a studio apartment in Manhattan's upper East side. It was actually bigger than the first apartment my wife and I looked at to live in.
5) IHOP - is there a better restaurant? You can get breakfast at ten o'clock at night. Who doesn't like that?
6) Best Airport - well the fastest airport to get through security is Tulsa International, those TSA people there have it going on. Worst, well Denver International wins this cake. Most frustrating? Dallas Fort Worth, because everyone in Texas who has never flew before flys out of there and they all try to bring their gallon sized shampoo on board with them.
7) Nicest City - well some my disagree but I like Pensacola, Florida. The people there seem genuine and nice, of course living on a beach will do that for you.
8) Toughest City - Chicago, have you ever flown into Midway and had to drive to I55? Enough said.
9) Best Airport Food - Cousin's BBQ in DFW Airport. Just make sure to eat AFTER the meeting, because you will probably get BBQ sauce on your shirt.
10) Craziest Aiport - Well that has to be Sioux City Regional Airport in Iowa. They have T shirts that have the call sign of the airport and the word "flying" under it. Their call sign? SUX.