Fitz's Random Ramblings

Daddy, Watch This!

2011-07-31T16:21:00.000-05:00

If you are, or have been, a parent of young children you will be able to identify with this post. My two kids are firmly entrenched in the "Daddy, watch this!" Phase. It's the stage of life in which your kid wants you to watch every little thing they do. For us, this usually takes place in the next-door neighbor's pool (yes, we have permission to swim there):

"Daddy, watch this!" Colin jumps in the pool.

"Daddy, watch this!" Hanna does the same.

"Daddy, watch this!" Colin dunks himself under water.

"Daddy, watch this!" Hanna puts her face under water and blows bubbles.

"Daddy, watch this!" Colin does an underwater somersault.

"Daddy, watch this!" Hanna practices floating on her back.

If they weren't so cute and charming, it might get tiring.

One day as we were playing our little back-and-forth game, I began to reflect on my own relationship with my Father. There are times in my life when I desperately want Him to watch what I'm doing:

"Daddy, watch this!" I get up early to read my Bible.

"Daddy, watch this!" I travel across the globe to play with orphans.

"Daddy, watch this!" My wife and I decide to adopt one such orphan.

"Daddy, watch this!" I am attentive to my kids and do things that would make my wife happy.

Sadly, though, I think those events are fewer and more far between than I'd care to admit. Instead, I find myself more frequently in the "Daddy, don't watch!" camp:

"Daddy, don't watch!" I use my time in the morning to check Facebook and Twitter.

"Daddy, don't watch!" I'm short with my wife and ignore my kids.

"Daddy, don't watch!" I allow my mind or eyes to focus on things they shouldn't.

"Daddy, don't watch!" I get frustrated by fellow drivers and don't always hide it well.

"Daddy, don't watch!" I'm selfish with my money and stuff.

It's during those times that I wish my Father weren't so darn omniscient. Can't He turn a blind eye every once in a while? He can't. But the good news is, no matter how many of those "Daddy, don't watch!" moments He witnesses, He never gets tired of loving me. He never gets frustrated. He never wishes I weren't His. He is still nuts about me and would do - and has done - anything to be with me. That's grace.

Africa - It's HUGE!!!

2011-06-26T15:39:00.000-05:00

In about 2 1/2 weeks, I will be travelling to Swaziland with some students and adults from our church, our area, and other areas of the US to serve the orphans there. Then, later this year, I will be taking two trips to Ethiopia to make our adoption official and bring our beautiful little girl home. Having never been to Africa, it's a bit of a whirlwind, but an exciting one. I will be logging lots of frequent flyer miles and getting lots of books read on my new Kindle.

As I think about the time I will be in Africa, I can't help but remember this graphic. It shows exactly how big Africa really is. It's stupid big!

Click on the image for a bigger version.

When you consider that 33% of the people living in this enormous continent suffer from malnutrition... And only 50% of Africans have access to hospitals or doctors...And the average life expectancy of Africans is 41 years...And that one in six African children die before the age of five...When you take all of that into consideration, you can't help but come to the conclusion that the Church has a BIG job to do! How will we bring life and light and help and healing to this hurting continent?

What do you think?

Christians in the Media

2011-06-20T11:31:00.001-05:00

I just got done watching Easy A with Emma Stone. It's about a girl who lets a little white lie about her sexual activity slip, which ultimately unravels her life. I won't give it a thumbs-up or a thumbs-down because I thought it was decent movie, but had a lot of undesirable language and content in it.

So if this isn't a movie review, what it is? It's a commentary on the portrayal of Christians in movies. In this movie, there was a group of Christians led by Amanda Bynes' character. Their primary part in this movie was to be the judge, jury, and executioner of Stone's character because of her alleged promiscuity. As I watched the movie, I got angry about how the Christians were portrayed. My first thought was that we Christians need to do a better job representing who we are so that the world will see the love of Christ in us. For years I have defended the media thinking that if we did a better job as Christians, we would be portrayed in a more favorable light.

However, as I thought about it more, I do now blame the media. I think about the Christians who have been portrayed in the media: Fred Phelps (the God Hates Fags guy - sorry about the term, but that's what his website is called and what he is about), Harold Camping (the guy who predicted the end of the world in May - the world looks pretty good, having ended and all), preachers who fail, etc. And then I reflect on the scores of Christians who are doing good things in the world: TOM's Shoes, the A21 Campaign, IJM, and the teenagers I had the privilege of hanging out with for a week serving the poor of Chicago. Where is their press? Why no news stories about them? While I certainly don't think we as Christians are doing a perfect job of representing who we are, I do think we are doing a much better job than the media would like you to believe. For some reason, the media likes to give us a one-sided view of the way Christians behave. Is it because there is some big media god out there pulling the puppet strings? Or because people in the media have been hurt by Christians? Or something else altogether? I don't have the answers; I just know it bugs me to see such a biased view.

What do you think? Why are Christians portrayed in such a manner? Comment and let me know...

Book Review: Soul Print by Mark Batterson

2011-05-21T09:55:00.000-05:00

I was really excited to get this book after having read and loved Primal, Wild Goose Chase, and In a Pit With a Lion on a Snowy Day. However, I was underwhelmed. I don't think Soul Print is a bad book; it just didn't capture me like Mark Batterson's other books.

As usual, Mark does a really good job mixing solid, Biblical scholarship with scholarship from lots of areas: science, social science, history and the like. And in this particular work, he looks in depth at the life of David and how God created Him in a specific way to do specific tasks, and with that helps us discover how we were created in a unique way for specific tasks. It was a good work, but again, it didn't capture my heart or imagination. It may have been simply a feel thing, or the fact that I head really high expectations, but this wasn't my favorite work by Batterson.

God Knows What You Need

2011-02-14T09:25:00.000-06:00

After spending three services ripping out my heart and laying it on the altar for everyone to see, I was (understatement coming) a little emotionally spent. I came home and had lunch with my amazing family. It was after lunch that God showed up in the form I needed Him the most.

Marcy was in the bathroom with Hanna, who was going potty. I was sitting in one of our dining room chairs. My beautiful boy, Colin, came up to me and crawled up in my lap, wrapped his arms around me, and laid his head down on my shoulder. No pretense. No desire to play and be silly. He simply loved on his Daddy and held onto me as I held onto him. I could have sat there for hours, days even. It was one of the most loving experiences I have ever had, knowing what I had just gone through and how much I needed it.

Marcy called from the bathroom, "What are you doing?"

"Nothing."

"What do you mean, 'Nothing'?"

"We're just sitting here."

"Are you talking really quietly?"

"Nope. Just sitting here."

It was beautiful. It was love. And boy, did I need it! Thank you, God, for showing up in my boy!

Unexpected Beauty

2011-02-05T14:54:00.000-06:00

Improv Everywhere seems to be taking a turn toward the more serious, revealing beauty in unexpected places. I just watched this one with my son. At first he said, "This isn't funny." He didn't like that people were laughing at this poor guy. But it worked out well for the guy - and my son - in the end...

Hope for the Future: A Book Review

2011-01-17T14:09:00.000-06:00

As a "professional" Christian - I'm a youth pastor by trade - I read many articles with interest about the decline of American Christianity. I read how the numbers of people who claim to be Christians are in decline, how those who claim to be Christian are actually embracing theologies that are not in line with orthodox Christianity, and how the American church is largely viewed as irrelevant, or worse, condemning of the culture we find ourselves in. Needless to say, these statistics and articles are alarming. But, Gabe Lyons presents a convincing argument that there is a new wave of Christians who are working to restore our culture in his latest book, The Next Christians.

I received this book free through Waterbrook Multnomah's Blogging for Books program, and am really glad I chose it. I was encouraged to read about individuals and churches who are not separating themselves from culture (think Amish or the ghetto of 'Christian' music) nor immersing themselves in it (think people who try so hard to blend in to culture that the distinctiveness of the Gospel is nowhere to be found); instead, they are restoring the culture. They see the inherent beauty in God's creation that has been hidden and marred as a result of the Fall, and are working to reclaim that beauty instead of, as some would choose to do, sitting around and waiting until God fixes it all. These individuals take many shapes: a woman who starts a entrepreneur mentorship with hardened prisoners; a man who started an organization to free people from slavery and injustice after witnessing the horrific genocide in Rwanda; a man who started a website and organization to free people from slavery to pornography and the adult film industry; a man who had been a huge influencer in the New York nightlife scene, whose heart was broken on a humanitarian trip, who now finds himself influencing people to help provide clean water to the people in the world who don't have it; and many more.

The stories in this book were enlightening, uplifting, and challenging. I found myself questioning why I do certain things in ministry. Am I doing them to restore culture, or to make me or the ministry I lead look good? I also found challenging the characteristics Lyons lists as being the cornerstones of these Next Christians (provoked, creators, called, grounded, in community, and countercultural). I know that if these are what sets them apart, I have some work to do.

If you are a Christian wondering about the future of Christianity, read this book. I think it will encourage you. And if you are not a Christian and skeptical about what Christians are all about because of something you have experienced at the hands of Christians, read this book. I think your opinion of Christians may find itself on an upswing.

Book Review: Under the Overpass

2010-12-11T09:38:00.000-06:00

As I type this review, my kids are watching Diego on a flatscreen TV, I have a cup of coffee by my side, I am sitting in my recliner in my climate-controlled house, and my belly is quite full. The reality is that every day, thousands of people in every major city would give anything for these luxuries. Right now, they are outside, trying to find shelter from the cold rain that is pelting my windows. This is the plight of the homeless and the genesis for the writing of Under the Overpass by Mike Yankoski.

Mike was a student at a Christian college when a sermon at church challenged him to examine whether or not he was the Christian he said he was. As he mulled over what that meant for him, he wondered how he would react if he put his comfortable life aside to live "alongside of those who live with nothing every day." That spurred an idea in his spirit to become voluntarily homeless to experience what they experience every day, and hopefully increase his heart for the homeless. After discussing his plan with trusted people and loved ones, and after finding a traveling companion, he set off on his five-month journey.

The book follows his - for lack of a better word - adventure through six major American cities: Denver, Washington DC, Portland, San Francisco, Phoenix, and San Diego. In each of the cities, the reader is exposed to the real life struggles that every homeless individual experiences: Where will I eat? Where will I sleep? Am I safe here? How can I get warm? How can I get cooled off? Where will I go to the bathroom? and so on. I have been on numerous mission trips and have worked with lots of homeless individuals, but this book painted their struggles in a completely new light. I have a new appreciation for the hardships with which they daily have to deal. But perhaps the biggest struggle that stood out to me in this book was the relational one. You read first-hand how the homeless are prejudiced against, talked down to, yelled at, and treated like dirt, and this sometimes by 'Christian' people. In a Q&A with the author at the end of the book, Mike writes, "By far the hardest aspect was the lack of strong relationships." Comments like these will help me be more conscious of how I treat the homeless when I encounter them. They are, after all, people created in God's image, just like any other.

I really enjoyed this book, if you can enjoy reading about someone's struggles on the street. It opened my eyes even further to the struggles of the homeless, and I had a hard time putting it down each night. But perhaps the best review I can give it is that I am different as a result of its reading.

This book was originally written five years ago, and this is an updated an expanded edition, including an epilogue to the updated edition and a Q&A with the author. It was cool to read how the experience had changed the course to the author's life, as he is now living in community with others who are homeless and doing life with them. The publisher, Waterbrook Multnomah, now offers an Under the Overpass action plan for Christmas, which you can access here. If you would like to read the first chapter (which I would highly recommend!), you can do so here. Once you do so, chances are good that you will end up buying the book, so be prepared...

Flash Mob Beauty

2010-12-06T11:08:00.001-06:00

These are probably my two favorite flash mob videos. If you are unfamiliar with what a flash mob is, first of all, where have you been? These things have been quite popular over the last several years. Second, according to the Urban Dictionary, a flash mob is A group of people who are organised via various mass communications to come together at a specified place and time, perform some (typically whimsical) action, then disperse.

The reason why I love these two is because they amount to random acts of beauty. God is all about beauty. Look at the world He created. Look at a newborn baby. Look at a sunset. Look at images from the Hubble telescope. You can't do any of those and argue that God doesn't like beauty. And when I see things like this, I see God's creative work in the world to make it a more beautiful place, and that's never a bad thing. How cool would it have been to be in this food court / department store and randomly experience the beauty of one of the greatest works of art ever? I don't care how bad of a day you may have been having; it would have been better after this. That's what beauty does: it inspires, uplifts, and encourages.

The question for today i: What are you - and I - doing to bring beauty into the world and the lives of others?

LeBron's Return

2010-12-04T14:04:00.000-06:00

I proudly wore my Cleveland Cavaliers t-shirt on Thursday in preparation for LeBron James' return to Cleveland after making The Decision on July 8th, when he jetted Cleveland and took his talents to South Beach. I didn't think the Cavs would actually win the game, but was hopeful that they would have a good showing, which they didn't. When I saw the Cavs line-up and some of the players who came off of the bench, my thought was, "Who are these guys?" Many of them weren't even on the team last year. An it wasn't a matter of Cleveland picking up some high-price free agents; these were the only scrubs they could pick up after James made his decision so late in the game. It was not a lot of fun to watch.

I had at least one friend ask me, and a few others menton on Facebook, that they didn't understand what the big deal was. These people are clearly not sports fans, especially ones of Cleveland sports teams. When you become a sports fan - especially when you are raised as one, like I was - part of your civic pride, part of your identity is wrapped up in those teams. Those are not just sports teams; they are YOUR teams. So when someone pulls something like LeBron did, it's not simply a business decision, as he claims. It's personal.

And the bigger problem with LeBron's leaving is that he did it to Cleveland. I have been a Cleveland sports fan for 41 years now, and am still waiting for one of my team to win a championship. The last major sports team to win anything was the Browns in 1964 - that's pre-Super Bowl, for you uninitiated. So when LeBron came along, Cleveland felt like, "Finally! Someone is going to do it!" Especially since he said that his goal was to bring a championship to Cleveland, and wasn't going to leave until he did it. The way he did it was pretty unclassy, too, on national TV. If you're going to go, OK; don't rub it in our faces. And it was an even bigger deal after all we had gone through:

That's a lot of heartbreak for one city to have to deal with. Time and time again, our city had been beaten up in the sports world, and just when it looked like we were pulling ourselves up off of the canvas to fight again, we get blindsided. So was it just a guy choosing to go to another team as a free agent? Yes. But it is so much more to those of us who love Cleveland sports. It's one more chapter of frustration in the book of Cleveland sports. It will not be quickly forgotten, if ever. Art Modell can't really come back to Cleveland after having moved the Browns in the early 90's because he is not welcome; James will likely get the same kind of treatment for the rest of his career...

For a really good read about Cleveland and the effect The Decision has had, check out this article by Wright Thompson at ESPN.com...

Why I am thankful...

2010-11-25T10:22:00.000-06:00

In honor of Thanksgiving, here are 100 things I am thankful for. These are not the top 100, nor are they in order; just 100 things I appreciate. It sure has been fun thinking about the blessings in my life. I really should do that more often:

1. The life, death, and resurrection of Jesus

2. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit

3. The creativity, character, and love of the Father

4. My amazing wife, who also happens to be smokin' hot

5. My kids, who never stop being awesome

6. My job/ministry/calling

7. Cleveland, OH

8. My house

9. Attie

10. Satellite TV and DVR

11. Computers / the Internet

12. My overall health

13. Chocolate

14. My extended family (cousins, aunts, uncles, etc.)

15. My two parents who are both now sober

16. Books

17. The Apple Corporation and all of their products

18. The Cleveland Browns

19. The Ohio State Buckeyes

20. The Cleveland Indians

21. The Cleveland Cavaliers

22. The Kent State Golden Flashes

23. My '95 Honda Civic

24. La Croix UMC

25. Church of the Open Door

26. Pastors I enjoy listening to and being challenged by (Rob Bell, Andy Stanley, Perry Noble, Matt Chandler, Steven Furtick, etc.)

27. Podcasts I enjoy listening to (This American Life, Wait! Wait!, etc.)

28. Music I enjoy listening to (Phil Wickham, U2, David Crowder, Mute Math, Paper Route, Gungor, John Mark McMillan, Hillsong United, etc.)

29. The ability to hear

30. YouTube

31. Certain authors (Brennan Manning, Mark Batterson, Malcolm Gladwell, Douglas Adams, Bill Bryson, and Harper Lee to name a few)

32. Central heating and AC

33. Microwave technology

34. Soap

35. Toothpaste and toothbrushes

36. The Bible

37. The unique gift set and personality that God has given me

38. My brother and his family

39. Good friends

40. Good food (BBQ, steak and potatoes, Italian, etc.)

41. Donuts

42. The number 42

43. Ice cream

44. Teenagers who impress me with their faith and life

45. TV shows I have liked (Lost, Prison Break, Seinfeld, Sledgehammer, Captain Kangaroo, Sports Night, etc.)

46. Rock 'em Sock 'em Robots

47. Rain (as I type this, it is pouring outside)

48. Retreats and mission trips with youth

49. The privilege of being a part of what God is doing in the world

50. Cut and paste

51. Snow

52. The sun

53. Camping in the backyard with my kids

54. Date nights with my wife

55. Talking sports with my dad

56. Flying

57. Continuing ed trips

58. Holidays: Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter

59. Martin Luther King, Jr.

60. The people I work with

61. Memory foam

62. Playa del Carmen, Mexico

63. The sound of rain on my roof

64. The sound of my kids when I tickle them

65. The way my kids greet me when I come home

66. Movies (among my favorites: Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, Evil Dead 2, and To Kill a Mockingbird)

67. My small group

68. My early-morning senior high small group

69. Talking to my mom on the phone

70. My education: Waldo Elementary, River Valley JHS, Open Door Christian School, LCCC, BGSU, Kent State, and Asbury Seminary)

71. My wife's family

72. Deep-dish pizza

73. Sleep

74. Zombies and their movies

75. Big cities: Chicago, NYC, Washington DC, et al.

76. Small towns: Wilmore

77. Medical technology

78. Fire: fire pits, gas fireplaces, and bonfires

79. Bill Watteron and Berkeley Breathed

80. Funny and sweet things my kids say

81. Sports: football, basketball, baseball and soccer

82. Facebook

83. One sale a day websites (even though I rarely buy anything from them)

84. Parades

85. Fantasy football

86. PBJ sandwiches

87. Satellite TV

88. Eyeglasses

89. 'Duty'

90. Opposable thumbs

91. The X Games

92. The ability to read and comprehend

93. August 19th

94. Pain, because it helps me better appreciate non-pain

95. Washer and dryer

96. Coffee, Dr. Pepper, and Jones Cream Soda

97. Water

98. The moon and stars

99. Opportunities and the ability to preach

100. Encouraging words

Fantasy Football Draft 2010

2010-09-06T20:57:00.000-05:00

As promised, here is my fantasy football draft for 2010:

Steven Jackson - RB - St. Louis
Miles Austin - WR - Dallas
Cedric Benson - RB - Cincinnati
Greg Jennings - WR - Green Bay
Brent Celek - TE - Philadelphia
Ronnie Brown - RB - Miami
Jay Cutler - QB - Chicago
Dwayne Bowe - WR - KC
Ricky Williams - RB - Miami
Devin Aromashodu - WR - Chicago
San Francisco - D/ST
Ryan Longwell - K - Philadelphia
Steve Smith - WR - New York Giants (keeper from last season)

I'm pretty please with it. Your thoughts?

New Nike Ad with Tiger

2010-04-08T22:09:00.005-05:00

I saw this latest ad from Nike featuring Tiger Woods and the voice of his deceased father. Frankly, I was appalled. This is in horrible taste to sell a few golf clubs and shirts. Did I mention that his dad is dead, and they are using his voice in an ad? Shame on you, Nike! And Tiger, after all of the poor decisions you have made recently, was there no part of you that said, "Hmmm, maybe this one isn't a great idea."? Guess not.

Life / Leadership Lessons from Prison

2010-01-27T14:01:00.003-06:00

As I plow through the Bible in 2010, I hit Genesis 39-42 yesterday. This passage is about Joseph is prison after being falsely accused of hitting on Potiphar's wife, and his release from prison after Pharaoh finds out that he can interpret dreams. Some lessons that I think apply to leadership and life in general seemed to leap off the page at me. Rather than keeping them to myself, I thought I would share them in case one or two others of you can benefit:

Don't Let Circumstances Define You

Joseph was in prison. We are not told how long he was in there, but it's probably safe to assume it wasn't an overnight stay. He was put there after being a pretty important guy in Egypt. He could have let the experience sour him to life and embittered him toward God, but he didn't let that happen. He continued to follow after God and be faithful to him. We will experience hurts in life; while they will shape us, they don't have to define us.

Remember Who's Really In Charge

After Pharaoh heard about Joseph's ability to interpret dreams, he pulled him out of prison because he had been having some strange dreams. When he asked Joseph to interpret them, his reply was that he couldn't do it, but that God would. No matter how talented or gifted you are in your area of ministry, expertise, or leadership, stay humble and remember that the only reason you are that way is because God graced you to be.

Always Speak The Truth (Even If No One Wants To Hear It)

Joseph shared his time in prison with two other guys: a cupbearer and a baker. They each had weird dreams that they asked Joseph to interpret. The cupbearer's dream was a favorable dream, and Joseph told him so. The interpretation of the baker's dream was not so favorable: the interpretation meant death for him. Joseph did not try to sugarcoat the interpretation; he simply told him the truth. Sometimes its tempting to try to only make the people we work with, for, or over feel good and happy - because we don't want to offend or hurt anyone - when oftentimes, what they really need to hear is the truth, even if it hurts.

When God Opens a Door, Walk Right Through It

After Joseph gives the interpretation of Pharaoh's dream to him, which involved seven years of plenty followed by seven years of famine, he kept talking and told Pharaoh what he should do about it. Pharaoh didn't ask for his opinion, but he gave it anyway. As a result, Egypt - and more importantly, Joseph's family, which would ultimately produce Jesus - were saved. There are situations in life when people will not ask our opinion, even though we may be able to see things more clearly than others do. Don't be afraid to open your mouth and share your opinion. It may be just what we need to hear.

Those are my thoughts. What are yours?

'Primal' by Mark Batterson

2009-12-16T10:14:00.005-06:00

A while back I thought I might write a book (who am I kidding, right?). The theme for my imaginary book was, 'Getting Back to Basics,' with the idea being, when you boil down Christianity to its most basic of elements, what are you left with. Now, with Mark Batterson's latest book, Primal, I see I don't have to write it because he has completed my vision. And instead of having to go through the ordeal of actually writing it, I simply got to experience the joy of reading it.

In Primal, Batterson tackles the heart of the Gospel boiled down to one commandment: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. Only he defines each as compassion (heart), wonder (soul), curiosity (mind), and power (strength). In each section he discusses what each might look like if we truly love God with that particular aspect of our being. And let me just say, it is a very challenging and inspiring read. As I read each section, I was inspired to love God more than I do currently, but also challenged as it isn't always an easy task.

Batterson is one of those authors who clearly reads and studies quite a bit and draws from his studies to build his discussions. His scientific background shows through, but not in a way that is boring or over one's head (this coming from someone who doesn't really care for science all that much). The information he details is very enlightening, interesting, and effective in making his points more clear.

Primal is another in a growing list of great books from Mark Batterson (his others being In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day and Wild Goose Chase). I hope there are lots more to come. It just hit the shelves today. I would strongly encourage picking up a copy and making it the first book you read in 2010. You can pick up a copy from RandomHouse.com.

Fantasy Football 2009

2009-09-07T19:50:00.002-05:00

OK, so I haven't posted in...forever. It's time to correct that with my draft for the 2009 Fantasy Football season:

Andre Johnson - WR
Anquan Boldin - WR
Steve Slaton - RB
Pierre Thomas - RB
Minnesota - Def
Marshawn Lynch - RB
John Carlson - TE
Matt Hasselbeck - QB
Lavernues Coles - WR
Derrick Ward - RB
James Davis - RB (Sleeper)
Nate Kaeding - PK
Tom Brady - QB (Keeper)

Let me know your thoughts...

The Logo

2009-05-30T10:09:00.003-05:00

I heard on ESPN Radio this morning that Jerry West - a.k.a., "The Logo" - has come out and said that the NBA logo should be redone using the silhouette of Michael Jordan instead of himself. Pretty humble, if you ask me. This started a discussion on the radio, "Who should be the logo for the various major sports?" This is in a similar vein to the sports Mount Rushmore. Not that anyone cares, here would be my major sports logo suggestions:

NBA: Michael Jordan - He is arguably the best who has ever played the game and would be recognizable as a silhouette. The problem would be that his silhouette is already being used by his Air Jordan line.
MLB: Willie Mays - I never really saw him play, but many consider him to be the best who ever played. Babe Ruth would just be too fat for a logo.
NFL: Jim Brown - They were tossing around the name Roger Staubach on the radio. Really?! Jim Brown clearly was the best running back who has ever played, and arguable the best player period. If he had played longer - only nine seasons in his career - he would have put the rushing record so out of reach it would be laughable, even though they played fewer games per season than they do now.
NHL: Wayne Gretzky - Is there seriously anyone else in contention?

Your thoughts?

The Truth About You by Marcus Buckingham

2009-04-20T14:04:00.004-05:00

Wouldn't it be great if the majority of the time we spend at work was spent doing things that energize us, and not sap us, to the point of truly looking forward to going to work? In Marcus Buckingham's book, The Truth About You, he addresses this very question. In this interactive work (there is a DVD and a Strengths / Weaknesses journal), Buckingham addresses many of the same arguments that he has in his other works: it's a myth that you should try to develop your weaknesses, strengths are not what you are good at but what you draw energy from, and you employer did not hire you for who you are, but what you can do for them, to name a few. Also, he gives practical ways to help discover your strengths without taking the test, as well as practical tips to help design your job around your strengths.

This is a great book! I love everything I've read of his. What made this stand out was, 1) how interactive it is, 2) how quick/easy of a read it is, and 3) how practical it is. The thing I have missed from his other books is how to take your strengths and actually apply them in your present job. That is not missing from this one. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who has a job since, if what he writes is put into practice, your job will become a more fulfilling place.

Three Funny Colin Stories

2009-01-18T10:44:00.006-06:00

I'll have a venti Buckeye leaf, please...
During the football season, I successfully indoctrinated Colin to root for The Ohio State University Buckeyes. I trained him to say, "Go Bucks!" and "Go Buckeyes!" (which sometimes comes out Buxeyes) However, he is not really good at discriminating between teams, so if he sees any team playing football, he proclaims, "Go Bucks!" That's OK with me. Then the other day, we were at the mall checking out the kiosk that had the calendars on super-sale. We paused by the sports calendars, and he saw a football calendar and shouted, "Go Starbucks!" I cracked up, as did the kiosk employee. At least he confused it with something else I am very fond of. Now, when he wants to write something, he goes to the drawer to get his Starbucks (really, Buckeyes) pen.

Naked Boy
The other night, as I always do, I finished up getting ready for bed in the bathroom and ventured into the kids' room to cover them up and kiss them good-night. When I got to Colin's bed, I noticed something on the floor. Without my glasses on and with the lights off, it took me a moment to realize that it was Colin's pajamas and pull-up. I looked up and, although he was covered up, I could tell he was naked under the covers. I went into our bedroom, where Marcy was smiling since she had already witnessed this, and said, "Man, is he going to be cold!" Marcy insisted that we get him dressed, so she did. She came to bed and we talked for a while. She then got up to go check on him, came back to our room and informed me that he was naked again, under the covers, and smiling at her. I was told that I had to deal with this. I went into his room and, trying desperately not to smile or laugh, got him dressed and told him that if took off his jammies again, he would have to go to time-out. I came back to bed. A short while later, Marcy went to check on him again and again, he was naked. She got him up and took him to the cold, dark dining room to sit in time-out...naked. I'm sure if social services had walked in right then we would have some 'splainin to do. It continues to be a constant struggle, including bare-bottom spankings, but it also continues to be hilarious. On Friday, during his naptime, I met him at his bedroom door - when he was supposed to be sleeping - and told him that he was getting a spanking. He ran to his bed, curled up in a ball on his face, and grabbed his butt-cheeks with his hands. What a sight!

You're Not Allowed to Play with Slingshots, Colin...
The other day, we were at our wits end. All of our normal babysitters were unavailable to watch the kids for our leadership retreat on Saturday. At The Porch, Marcy asked one of our pastor's teenage sons if he could babysit (he volunteers in the nursery on the weekend, so it wasn't as out of left field as it might seem), and he said he could. So on Saturday morning, Marcy told Colin that he was going to the church to play with David. Colin's eyes got real big as he got excited and asked, "And Goliath, too?" I guess he's been listening when we've read to him out of his Bible storybook after all.

Hanna's Walking

2009-01-10T10:00:00.001-06:00

How fun is this?

Isn't It Ironic, Don't Ya' Think?

2008-12-07T10:05:00.003-06:00

Being the rabid Cleveland Browns fan that I am, this football season has been a major disappointment. I never bought into the preseason hype that the Browns were Super Bowl contenders after a 10-6 season last year, but I never thought they would be this bad. I picked them to hover around the .500 mark. Not likely now. Over at Cleveland.com, there are an interesting couple of articles that attempt to assess blame and come up with solutions. There are too many problems to narrow it down to just one thing. The incredible drop-off of Pro Bowl players from a year ago. The remarkable inability of the defense to tackle. The horrible clock-management and lack of creativity on the part of Romeo Crennel and staff (with the exception of the win against the Giants on Monday Night Football earlier this year). Derek Anderson going from stud to dud in the same amount of time he traveled the other direction. I agree with Terry Pluto that I don't think Savage is the problem. He writes: "Despite this dismal 4-8 season, the Browns do have better players than when Savage took over four years ago." But one thing is for sure: Braylon Edwards' inability to catch the ball - what wide receivers are paid to do - hasn't helped. He has, what, 17 drops on the season? Ridiculous! It made me remember this ad for fantasy football that aired a couple of years ago. Isn't it ironic?

Maybe he needs to play blindfolded...

What's Been Going On?

2008-12-05T09:35:00.004-06:00

That's a fine question. There has been a lot going on lately. Novembers are usually pretty full in my world. They usually include a youth fall retreat, the National Youth Workers Convention, and often a trip home to Ohio for Thanksgiving. Some of those things still happened this year, but my November looked much different than I expected.

A couple of weekends ago, we did have our youth fall retreat at Logan Valley Christian Retreat in Ellington, MO. It was a great weekend! We had over 60 students attend and they all seemed to have a good time and take something away from the weekend. The highlight for me was to observe as the students went through the prayer labyrinth that we set up. It seemed that each student connected with a different part of the labyrinth and God met them each in a different way. We could have just done the labyrinth and it would have been a great weekend. But we did a lot of other stuff, too. Overall, a really good weekend.

The following weekend I was supposed to attend the NYWC with some of my volunteers in the youth ministry. However, the night before we were supposed to leave (Thursday night), Hanna got sick and we had to take her to the ER. It took a couple of days for the test results to come back, but it turns out that she had a urinary tract infection. In the meantime, I woke up on Friday morning at 3:00am with a horrible headache. No medicine helped the pain to go away. I was hoping to feel better and meet my volunteers in Nashville for the convention, but it never went away. Because of the pain, I couldn't eat or sleep and started vomiting that evening. Finally, after 25 hours of misery, at 4:00am on Saturday morning, I took myself to the ER. They performed a CAT scan on me and did a spinal tap and admitted me to the hospital. They figured that I had meningitis of some sort, either bacterial (the bad one, which can result in brain damage or death) or viral (mostly just annoying and painful), but they needed me to stay until the tests came back. The finally came back and confirmed that I did have viral meningitis. I was discharged on Monday with a regimen of pain meds (yeah, I missed the whole convention), which I have been taking ever since. Most of Thanksgiving week was spent in pain or a drug-induced fog. Fortunately, Marcy's mom and stepdad came into town for Thanksgiving. hey provided a lot of help with the kids so I didn't have to worry about Marcy having to do too much with me being laid up. They were already planning on coming for the holiday, so it worked out pretty well in the long run. I started back to work some this week, so I think it is soon to be behind me. Viral meningitis is always one of those things you hear about, but you never know anyone that had had it. I guess I can't say that anymore.

So, November was a little different for me. And now, I just got a call from Marcy who told me that Hanna has to go to the hospital on Monday to get checked out after her urinary tract infection. That's great, because we haven't spent enough time there lately. Pray for her, please.

The Pope and Rolex

2008-11-09T08:38:00.004-06:00

I just read an interesting article linked to by an e-mail I get from Neue Ministry. It compared the effects that consumer branding - particularly the Mac brand - and religion has on a person's brain. The author raises a tough question: If brands have become religions (which it appears that they have, in some cases - watch the 2nd video in the article), have religions been reduced to brands? If they have, I wonder what brand my religion / church has become, or yours?

Perhaps the bigger question is: Is Steve Jobs deity? (note: that was totally tongue-in-cheek; don't send me hate comments)

Dirty Jobs: The Early Years

2008-11-07T09:04:00.004-06:00

If you enjoy Mike Rowe from Dirty Jobs, you will love this video from earlier in his career when he was on QVC. I ran across it on the YS Blog. Enjoy!

Trick-or-Treating vs. Community

2008-11-01T11:59:00.006-05:00

Yesterday marked my favorite holiday of the whole year: Halloween. I know, a good Christian's favorite holiday should either be Christmas or Easter, what with the significance of each. And I do agree that each of those are far more important, but as far as which holiday gets me the most excited based on the modern-day celebration of each, Halloween wins out. And now that I have kids, it is even more pronounced. I get totally jazzed about the idea of trick-or-treating with them and picking out costumes. This year I was determined that Colin would be Curious George, and on Sunday I was able to find a costume for only $10.00. Major score, and he was majorly cute! And last night to celebrate, we ventured to a local church that held a Tractor Treat, complete with games, prizes, free photos, hay rides, and of course plenty of candy. Colin had a blast, which meant that so did Daddy!

On my way home, I drove past what can be described as a well-to-do neighborhood. If I had to go visit a friend in that neighborhood last night, I would have been out of luck as the streets were completely lined with cars from visiting neighborhoods. I wondered, "What has happened to trick-or-treat?"

Trick-or-treat used to be an opportunity to get together with all your friends from your neighborhood, compare costumes, and ransack our neighbors for candy. Sure, the goal was always candy and to have the best costume, but there was also a community element to the whole event. We couldn't have verbalized it that way as kids, but there was something fun about going around to all of your neighbors that you see every day and have them make comments about your costume. There was even one old guy that wore a different mask every year. One year, he wore the mask of a young, hot lady and he talked in a high voice. I still remember that now, thirty years later. I was sad when I had heard that he had passed away some years ago because he was a part of the community. He was my neighbor.

Today, trick-or-treat is nothing more than hitting up perfect strangers for candy, oftentimes strangers who live on the complete opposite side of town. You stake out the various neighborhoods to try to determine which one is the nicest. Then once you have determined that, you have to decide if they will be the most generous, and if not, you choose the next most prosperous area, or the next. And if your bag is not so full that you can't carry it anymore, the night has not been successful. And it doesn't matter if you don't have a costume; you can still go. I have had kids come to my door in the past with no costume at all, simply dressed in their normal street clothes, with their bags out expecting candy. The bottom line is, the one with the most candy wins. It's basically begging on really nice streets.

What happened to the community aspect? It doesn't matter if you don't get together with your friends. Who cares if you don't see your neighbors or trick-or-treat in your own neighborhood? What matters is the candy. That's all. Some could argue that I did the exact same thing by taking my son to a local church instead of going around my own neighborhood. That's somewhat fair, but he's also only 2 1/2 years old, and I thought the community that a church might provide might be preferable to a child that age than the normal Halloween environment. Perhaps I violated my own argument, but that would just defend it - that the community element to Halloween is going, if not already, gone. That it doesn't matter if your neighbors ever see you that night, or if you see them. When that crazy old guy in the neighborhood passes away, who will care? Possibly no one in the neighborhood because the community has evaporated. And I would suggest that it is just a reflection in society as a whole. Just my two cents' worth....

Four Unrelated Stories

2008-10-29T13:37:00.004-05:00

Technically, two of the stories are closely related, as they involve Colin praying. And if you want to get even more technical, they are all related in that they are all things I have experienced. But on the surface of things, these are simply a few stories and musings from the past couple of weeks. I think I'll start with the two fairly related stories.

A little over a week ago, my dad was in town. Since there is not very much to do in The Cape (as my cousin-in-law likes to call it), we ventured to St. Louis to take the kids to the zoo. It was quite fun watching Colin get all excited about seeing the various animals, especially since he is now at an age where he can actually name many of them. While we walked through the African section, we saw many horned animals. Colin didn't recognize any of them, so he asked, "What's that?" quite frequently. My standard answer - because I didn't know much of the time - was, "It's a yak." I think I was the only one who was entertained by my response. Later that night, we were all pretty exhausted. As I was tucking Colin into bed, we prayed together as we do every night. I prayed and thanked God for all of the animals that He created that we saw that day, for the elephants, and the giraffes, and the tigers, and then Colin piped in with, "and the yaks!" That's right, Colin, and the yaks. Maybe I wasn't the only one paying attention to my responses.

This past Saturday, we took some of our students rock climbing at Giant City State Park in Makanda, IL. We had a gorgeous day, and 20 of our students participated in climbing any one of three different climbs and rappelling off of the 120 ft. cliff. After a while, some of the students started asking if I was going to climb. So I geared up knowing full well that this was not going to go well. I am in pretty miserable physical condition, and I know how weak I have allowed myself to get. The last time I rock climbed, it was on a man-made wall, and I made it about 2/3 of the way up the wall before I had to quit. This time would probably be worse. So I started up the medium climb. After a short time, one of our freshman girls blew past me on the difficult climb. Dang! But I kept going. From below, my belayer and Barry - one of our SIMYs who was also belaying - were shouting instructions up to me. All of the verbal encouragement in the world wouldn't have gotten me to the top, but the coaching was sure helping. Not too much later, another student caught up to me on the difficult climb. Dang! But he didn't pass me. I finally, after a really long time, made it to the top. WOO-HOO!!! I beat it! I seriously would have quit early on without the strong and informed coaching that I received from down below. I wondered later that day: How much better could I be doing in life in general if I had a 'coach'? A mentor who could walk me through the difficult times when I don't know where to turn next. Something to consider. (BTW, you can see pictures of our day at our Flickr site)

On Monday night, I was freezing at a soccer game at CHS. My phone rang around our normal dinnertime. Marcy was calling to tell me a story. Every night that I am home, we pray before eating dinner (or any meal, for that matter). Sometimes we let Colin pray, but usually have to help him. "God is great, God is good, let us thank Him for our food. Amen!" He does a pretty good job with this prayer. This night, I was not there to pray with them, so as Marcy prayed for the meal, Colin indicated that he wanted to pray for Daddy (that's me). So Marcy told him to go ahead and pray for Daddy. This is what he prayed: "God is great, for Daddy. Amen!" That's my boy!

I received an e-mail a couple of weeks ago from our Executive Director telling me - and a couple of the other pastors - that we needed to plan on attending the Staff-Parish meeting scheduled for Oct. 28th (last night). We needed to prepare a report detailing our job responsibilities. This seemed odd, since they are the group hat controls our jobs; I figured they knew what we did. Well, I knew Marcy would be out of town (in Seattle visiting her sister and her new baby), so I inquired how long to expect to be in the meeting so I could get a babysitter. I was told that I could go ahead and bring Colin to the meeting. Again, this seemed odd, to bring your child to a Staff-Parish meeting, but whatever. So after dinner at Culver's, Colin and I headed up to the church. One of our former students was there, so she volunteered to watch Colin while I had my meeting. I went in along with the other pastors. After a prayer, the head of the committee informed us that it was Pastor Appreciation Month, and that they had gifts for us. They brought in a duffel bag for each of us that represented our favorite teams: the Browns for me, the Pacers for another, the Sooners for another, the Seminoles for yet another, and the Cardinals for our senior pastor. It was explained to us that the small groups in the church had all gone together to shower us with appreciation. Inside my bag, I found a huge stack of cards from all sorts of people at the church, some of whom I know, some not so much. Also inside was some men's skin care products and a candle from Bed, Bath & Beyond, a t-shirt from Steve & Barry's, and numerous gift cards from Barnes & Noble, Outback, Panera, and Mollie's, just to name a few. WOW! I'm not sure that I have ever felt more appreciated in my life! Needless to say, I went to bed on cloud nine. Thanks, people of La Croix! It's good to serve with you..

Black Eye

2008-09-28T15:09:00.004-05:00

I never thought my first black eye would come at the hands - so to speak - of my 2 1/2 year-old...

On Friday night, Colin started playing a fun game with Hanna, who was sitting on my lap. Hanna would reach out and touch Colin's face. In response, Colin would let out a loud yell and fall down like he had just been hit. Over and over again he did this as Hanna and I just laughed. The next morning, Hanna joined Marcy and I in bed after she ate. A short while later, Colin woke up and climbed up with us, too. Colin, remembering the fun that was had the previous night, started playing the game again, with Hanna touching his face, and him flopping down into our pillows. Except that one fateful time, Colin decided to flop backwards. The back of his head crashed down onto my eyebrow, causing a significant amount of pain and the present bruising that you see above. It made for a good story at church this morning. I'm sure that this is just the first of many Daddy-hood scars that I will incur in my lifetime.

Is This Product Necessary?

2008-09-24T08:13:00.005-05:00

I was looking at the YS blog this morning and came across a link for this product. It is the GoateeSaver, a guide that helps you shave the perfect goatee. Seriously now, is this product necessary?! Maybe my goatee is a little asymmetrical, but I'm not about to shell out $19.99 for the opportunity to make it perfect, all the while looking really silly. The sad part is that there are people that will pay the money and whoever it is that invented this will make some good money from it. Maybe I should copme up with some random, unnecessary product so I can make a little extra spending cash.

Technical Problems

2008-09-20T09:29:00.002-05:00

The first couple of times I saw Obama and McCain speak I thought, "If we are voting on oratory skills, Obama will destroy McCain." And I've thought that until I saw this video. Obama's teleprompter goes down and here's what happens...

Breathalyzer = Classic!

Fantasy Football '08

2008-09-02T08:33:00.004-05:00

It's that time of year again, when I reveal who I drafted in our church fantasy football league. Going into the draft, I had a difficult decision to make. I had to decide who was going to be my keeper. I had it boiled down to either Earnest Graham (RB - Saints) or Brandon Marshall (WR - Broncos). Both of them were free agent pick-ups, which meant that I would only have to sacrifice my last-round draft pick from this year's draft to keep either. They were each rated at about the same place on the big draft boards I read online, so it was a crap shoot. After much deliberation - and some help from my friend Brian - I chose to keep Marshall. Also, I realized that I started the night with the #5 pick (out of ten teams), which is not a desirable location. One pick earlier and I could have gotten one of the true stud RBs, but instead I got a tier three guy. But Portis has been nice for me in the past, so we'll hold off on the judgment calls until then. Now, without any further ado, here is my draft, in order:

Clinton Portis - RB (pictured here)
Andre Johnson - WR
Brandon Jacobs - RB
Derek Anderson - QB (also, if he loses the job to Quinn, or gets injured, I still keep the Browns' QB)
Calvin Johnson - WR
Fred Taylor - RB
Heath Miller - TE
Seattle - Defense
Anthony Gonzalez - WR
Kevin Smith - RB
Chester Taylor - RB (this was a block so the guy who had Adrian Peterson couldn't handcuff his pick in case AD gets injured - hee-hee!)
Nate Kaeding - K
Brandon Marshall - WR

The first game is Thursday night - Are you ready for some football?!

The Thirties

2008-08-22T09:49:00.003-05:00

I just had my last birthday in my 30's the other day. It allowed me to reflect on the last decade of my life, and wonder what the next year might bring. In my 30's, I:

Went to seminary
Graduated from seminary
Met, fell in love with, and married my lovely wife
Started a career in full-time youth ministry
Moved west of the Mississippi River
Bought a house
Got a dog
Had the two most awesome children in the whole, entire world

It's been a great decade! The 40's will be hard-pressed to beat it...but I still have a whole year before I have to think about that.

Hanna Giggling

2008-05-04T14:15:00.005-05:00

Here is our beautiful daughter with her first giggles. Seriously cute!

Consult, stupid!

2008-04-15T13:08:00.003-05:00

As I was having my quiet time this morning - which has been increasingly not quiet with the addition of early-rising kids - I ran across this verse:

Joshua 9:14 - So the Israelites examined their food, but they did not consult the Lord. (NLT)

The context of the verse is a story of the Israelites being told by God to essentially rid the land of its inhabitants. But Joshua and the Israelites, instead of following that directive, made a treaty with a deceptive group of people who were playing themselves off as a hurting nation. In fact, the nation was not hurting, but instead were afraid of what Israel would do to them. When Joshua and the people found out that they had been lied to, they were true to their word and instead of destroying the people - like God told them to - they made them servants. They were basically deceived into not following God's explicit instructions.

It made me ask the question: How often do I not consult the Lord? Do I consult the Lord as much as I should with:

My marriage

My kids

My job

My career path

My finances

The use of my spare time

My temptations

My friendships

My lack of discipline is basically all areas?

Yeah, probably not (read: DEFINITELY NOT!). It smacked me across the face in the wee hours of the morning. My wife has desired for us to pray more as a couple, but even though she keeps asking, I don't consult the Lord. I work to plan out our youth calendar and I don't consult the Lord. Even this morning I thought, "Man, I really need to set aside the first few minutes of every day at work to consult the Lord." hen when I got to work, what did I do? Flipped on the computer and started checking e-mail. AAAAARRRRRGGGGGHHHHHH!!! Why is it so difficult?!? It shouldn't be. But maybe the depth of my relationship with the Lord is not where it needs to be so that my first thought is, "Consult the Lord." Actually, not maybe, but definitely. Lord, remind me that you are there for me to consult.

Elmo's Not So Bad After All

2008-04-05T17:06:00.003-05:00

My love and profound respect for Sesame Street has been renewed overnight. It had been tarnished quite a bit since it turned into the Cult of Elmo, but I find myself loving the Land of Muppets again. It all turned around for me during a short ride home from church last night. As we were riding home, Colin - who watches Sesame Street three times a week - was yammering away in the back seat. Marcy was apparently paying better attention than I was, because she looked at me and said, "I think he just counted up to twelve." I thought she was crazy, but I started him counting, and sure enough, he counted all the way up to twelve! I'm not sure if kids are supposed to do that on the eve of their second birthday, but as far as I'm concerned, it was pretty amazing. Thank goodness for a TV show doing the job of parenting that I'm supposed to be doing!

Wassup! Revisited

2008-03-20T11:32:00.002-05:00

A friend from my Asbury days let me know via Facebook that a radio station in the Lexington, KY area got a hold of this video that I produced while at the 'bury. Apparently, they have been playing it quite a bit on the radio, and according to my friend, it is "the talk of the town." I put the video together for a social function we had called The Night of Classic Game Shows as a commercial break. I figure this is a good excuse to resurrect it. This features some of the prominent Asbury professors, plus the seminary president at the time. Enjoy!

Where the Honk Have You Been?!?

2008-03-19T13:47:00.004-05:00

Sorry blog readers - all three of you - that I have been so out of pocket recently. Starting with the blog we were doing for our church, I kinda got overwhelmed with everything. But I'm back! I know, you're excited. You ain't gotta tell me. Here's a bunch of what's happening:

Fantasy Baseball

We had our fantasy baseball draft last night. I'm pretty sure I got suckered in to be the chump of the league. A buddy asked me to be in it, and I said yes before I realized that each of the other teams would have three three-year keepers, and I was taking over a team that had two players left on it, neither of which were worth keeping. Plus, I had a difficult time with the website, since I have never used it before. So, those are my disclaimers going into the season in case I suck really bad. Here's my team:

C - Benjie Molina
1B - Albert Pujols (guaranteed now to pop that ligament in his elbow)
2B - B.J. Upton
3B - Ryan Zimmerman
SS - Troy Tulowitzki
LF - Hideki Matsui
CF - Vernon Wells
RF - Magglio Ordonez
Util - Kevin Kouzmanoff (3B)
Bench - Ryan Theriot (2B, SS)
SP - Erik Bedard
SP - Rich Hill
SP - Dustin McGowan
SP - Zach Greinke
RP - Takashi Saito
Bench - Shaun Marcum (SP)
Bench - Brandon Lyon (RP)
Bench - B.J. Upton (RP - in the process of dropping for another bat - didn't mean to draft him)

So we'll see how it goes...

Six-Word Memoirs

I heard an interesting story on NPR the other day. A story was told about Ernest Hemingway. He was approached in a bar by someone that challenged him to write a story using only six words. He came up with, "For sale: baby shoes, never worn." Some authors got together and decided to compile six-word memoirs from people from all walks of life, writers and not, and put them in a book. It is called Not Quite What I Was Planning. The authors were on NPR discussing this book. And it got me thinking, "What would my six-word memoir be?" I had lots of time to think, driving back from Tulsa, but I have only come up with two so far:

Being a Daddy - better than imagined!
Living in Missouri, heart in Ohio.

It's not a lot, but it's a start. What would yours be?

Rain, Rain, Go Away!

What a weird weather year! We had two ice storms in February back-to-back, and yesterday a full foot of rain fell in Cape Girardeau. And it's still falling! This was the first time I have ever heard of a school being canceled because of rain. I am usually cursing the fact that we live on a hill because it's a pain to mow, but now I am thankful for that hill. Our basement would have been much worse if we lived in a valley.

And just because she's so dang cute and I haven't posted a picture of her in a while, here's Hanna:

Interesting Reading Options

2008-02-01T11:01:00.000-06:00

I just noticed the interesting choices of reading materials that are currently in our bathroom. There are two books on the back of our toilet: My Utmost for His Highest and The Zombie Survival Guide. One the one hand, you have a timeless classic, a helpful guide to living life in all its fullness, and on the other, you have My Utmost for His Highest. What more do you need?

The Problem with God

2008-01-28T16:08:00.001-06:00

Our church has started a blog to discuss some of the questions that are being raised in our current message series, The Problem with God, and I am one of the contributors. We asked our people before the series to invite their non-believing and maybe atheist/agnostic friends to come and dialogue with us. And at each service, we invite everyone to write down their questions about or problems with God and put them in a box as they leave, and we are doing our best to answer as many of them as we can. There have been, and continue to be, some fascinating and challenging discussions going on. Check it out and let me know what you think.

Fantasy Football Review

2008-01-24T13:32:00.000-06:00

I had cause to look back at past postings on this blog and came across my fantasy football draft from this past season. Here's how my draft played out:

Larry Johnson - RB
Ronnie Brown - RB
Donovan McNabb - QB
Lee Evans - WR
Plaxico Burress - WR
Deuce McAllister - RB
Vernon Davis - TE
Mark Clayton - WR
Alex Smith - QB
Shayne Graham - K
Vernand Morency - RB
Bernard Berrian - WR
Baltimore - D/ST

Now, here's my roster on the final day of the season:

Derek Anderson - QB
Earnest Graham - RB
Fred Jackson - RB
Chester Taylor - RB
Fred Taylor - RB
Bernard Berrian - WR
Plaxico Burress - WR
Anthony Gonzalez - WR
Brandon Marshall - WR
Vernon Davis - TE
Phil Dawson - K
San Diego - D/ST
Indianapolis - D/ST

So let's see, my first two draft picks went out with injuries (and Brown was a stud before he went down); the third pick was less than great (except for the one week that I sat him) before I dropped him; my fourth pick did not live up to expectations; pick five, stud; pick six, nothing special; pick seven, dropped him and picked him up again; picks eight through eleven, not much to talk about; pick twelve had good weeks, but was handicapped by below average quarterback play; and pick thirteen was my keeper and was not good.

My pick-ups did OK, for the most part. DA was great, most of the time (double bonus since I'm a huge Browns fan); my RB corps did alright, especially Fred Taylor; Marshall was a go-to R a good part of the year; and I had two good D/ST to choose from. Considering how pitiful of a draft it was, a sixth place finish, was not too bad. Here's hoping I draft better next year, though.

Touching Holiness

2008-01-23T11:37:00.000-06:00

As I was reading the Bible yesterday morning - somehow, Colin and Hanna gave me a few minutes to do so - I came across a couple of verses that have never stood out to me before. In Leviticus 6, in the discussion about the grain offering and the sin offering, God tells Moses that anyone that touches them will become holy (v. 18 & 27). I have always known in the Levitical code that anyone that touches something that is unclean will then be considered unclean, but now I come to the realization that the opposite is true, that he who touches the holy will become holy. How cool is that?! Lord, help me to touch the holy. Help me to touch You!

Another thought that comes with that is that we are called to be holy in the New Testament. I wonder if anyone that touches me or comes into contact with me experiences holiness. Shouldn't they? Shouldn't they come into contact with me, or any follower of Jesus, and experience holiness? That is what we are called to be: holy. Unfortunately, I fear that others experience something far different in me: impatience, frustration, selfishness, etc. Lord, help me to be holy so that I can be holiness to the world that so desperately needs it.

A New Arrival!

2008-01-18T11:30:00.001-06:00

This should have been posted several days ago, but things have been a little crazy around the Fitzpatrick household. You see, last Friday night, Marcy and I went to bed with Marcy feeling a little weird, not sure if she was having contractions or not. She didn't sleep well, and started timing contractions at 2:00am. They timed out at three minutes apart which, if you don't know about childbirth, means it's time to get to the hospital. However, the contractions were short in length, say 30 seconds or so. So she held out and woke me at 2:30am to confirm her times. She was right. She decided to take a shower and lay down. Now, the contractions were 1 1/2 minutes apart, which means it's about go time. But they were still short, so we called the doctor to find out what we should do. She told us to head to the hospital, which we did. I think we freaked out the security guards as Marcy kept having to stop and bend over from the contraction. We finally got upstairs and into a room at 4:23am. Marcy's contractions were very intense. She decided that she wanted to get up and sit on the birthing ball, but as soon as she sat up, a huge contraction hit and she had to lean on me. When it was done, she said, "I either peed the bed or my water just broke." The nurse confirmed that he water broke, which meant she had to lay back down. When the doctor showed up, she said two things: "I bet you feel pretty silly for calling me now, don't you?" and "Pay attention, Dad, because you might be delivering the next one at home." Not funny. Anyway, the contractions were quick and severe at this point. When Marcy rolled over onto her back, we could already see the baby's head. After a few pushes, out came the baby...at 5:09am! That's right, only 46 minutes after getting into the room, we had another baby. A baby girl! What a rush...with a lot of pain, of course. After a day or so, we finally settled on a name: Hanna (named after one of Marcy's grandmothers) Alice (name after my Grandma Alice). And she is a joy! She sleeps well, and so we feel fairly well-rested. And Colin has been absolutely sweet with her, giving her hugs and pressing his cheek against hers, all with a big smile on his face. So the Fitzpatrick clan grows by one more, and we are thrilled!

2008-01-08T15:02:00.000-06:00

More Millions Out The Window

Throughout the years, I have come up with ideas for inventions that would be so sweet that, if I could patent them, would set me up for life. I remember thinking once that if nothing sticks to Teflon, then why not coat cars in Teflon. That way, no dirt or bird poop would stick to them. I know, brilliant! Then I hear later that some car manufacturer decided to do this very thing by mixing Teflon in the paint. Dang! The problem with these great ideas is that I have no way to implement them. I guess I'm an idea guy; I need to meet an implementation guy/girl and we'll be all set. My latest "D'oh!" is this one. I once thought, "How difficult would it be to have a car that drives itself?" you could have sensors that track where the road is, as well as all the other cars and other obstacles. Now, GM is planning on making that a reality. If they can get it to fly - not literally fly - how sweet would that be? I've often thought that it would be most excellent to vacation in an RV, but I don't want to drive it. This way, I wouldn't have to! I could just set the computer, and Marcy and the kids and I could head to the back to play, sleep, watch movies, or whatever. Of course, this is assuming a lot on a youth pastor's salary...

2008-01-07T09:35:00.000-06:00

That's a Children's Book?!?

I was reading to Colin this morning. We were reading Richard Scarry's Best Little Word Book Ever! and testing him on various words and objects. At the end of the book, we were reviewing body parts, and as we did, I noticed a list of other Little Golden Books that are available. As I read through them, I discovered one that seemed a rather strange choice for a children's book. Oh, there were the normal kids' titles: Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, How the Leopard Got Its Spots, and The Poky Little Puppy. Then, out of nowhere, jumping off the page is Dr. Ruth Westheimer: Grandma on Wheels. That's Dr. Ruth, sex therapist, of the "If it feels good, do it" fame. Call me a prude, but she seems like an odd choice to be the subject of a children's book. I hear their newest release is Jerry Springer and the Tiny Frog.

2008-01-01T14:44:00.000-06:00

2007: Year in Review

Now that it is 2008 officially - I know that by the sheer number of college football games that are on TV right now - it's time to look back on 2007 for some standout events, happenings, and themes:

Colin - He's probably the highlight of the year. It has been so much fun to watch him change from a baby into a little boy and develop a personality. We have experienced him standing, walking, talking, getting baptized, sleeping in a big boy bed (when he wants to stay in it), and wrestling. I never knew that being a dad could be this much fun and rewarding. It will be interesting to see how he adjusts to Baby Fitz #2, which brings us to:
New baby - One day, as I was working in my office, I heard some footsteps coming down the hallway, followed by Marcy's voice whispering (to Colin), "Take this to Daddy. Go see Daddy." I turned around as Colin walked toward me holding something in each hand. I looked to see what he was holding, and in each hand was a pregnancy test, both with + signs. I didn't quite hyperventilate, but I did gasp a bit. It's exciting and scary to imagine doing this all over again, especially knowing we have the bundle of energy known as "Colin" already residing here. Per Marcy's desire, we did not find out what we are having, so come January 17th or so, we will know if Colin has a little brother or sister.
Vacation - We took our first family vacation that did not include visiting family in Ohio. The three of us drove down to Gulf Shores, Alabama for a few days. Marcy loves the beach, which decided our destination. It was glorious for her! She usually likes to sleep in, but since it was the beach with beautiful sunrises every morning, she was up very early. Colin got pink eye on the trip down, so we got some good exercise on vacation trying to put his eye drops in. I am not normally a seafood fan, but we had the most tasty shrimp ever at a place called the Steamer, one of the only places along the Gulf to get seafood that is not fried (I was told by a local that they would deep fry a steak if you asked them to down there). All in all, it was a fun a restful time.
Sports - All in all, it was a fun - and heartbreaking - year to be a Cleveland and Ohio State sports fan. The OSU Buckeyes got to and lost the national title game in both football and basketball, the Cavs got to and lost the NBA Finals, the Indians got to and lost the ALCS, and the Browns fell just short of missing the playoffs due to a tiebreaker. A good year, yes. A frustrating year, also yes. In addition, it was sheer ecstasy to see Michigan lose to Appalachian State (arguably the biggest upset EVER) and then lose yet again to Ohio State.
Ministry - We have seen unprecedented numbers at youth group meetings, on youth mission trips, and at out 30 Hour Famine (which also raised more money for starving kids than ever before at our church - $7,500.00). We are always wrestling with the question, "How does transformation happen in the life of a student?" and the struggle of never having enough SIMYs (adult leaders). I have also had more opportunities to preach then ever, which I love to do. It hasn't always been an easy year for me, but overall it has been good.

I need to go reflect some more, I guess. I know more happened this year, but it's not coming to me. It must be the college football coma I'm in.

2007-12-03T17:17:00.000-06:00

Empathy

The past couple of weeks have been hard on my family. To protect everyone involved, I will keep it that vague. But something happened recently that just blew me away. I came home after a particularly rough day and had a good cry in my bedroom. Then I came back out to eat dinner with my wife and son. I looked at Marcy and said, "You need to pray." The three of us held hands as she started to pray. Then, I lost it. I started crying uncontrollably over my dinner. In response to this and her own emotions, Marcy started crying, too. So here we are, in the quietness of the evening, holding hands and crying. Then, out of nowhere, Colin started crying. Not just crying, but wailing! He saw his mommy and daddy crying, and he completely lost it! Never have I seen such empathy before. Marcy and I had to compose ourself quickly to go and comfort him. It was about the sweetest thing I have ever experienced!

Romans 12:15: Be happy with those who are happy, and weep with those who weep.

2007-11-13T10:11:00.000-06:00

NOOMA Shirts

I just received an e-mail from NOOMA.com. NOOMA is the company that produces the short videos based on sermons by Rob Bell from Mars Hill Bible Church in Michigan. The e-mail advertised an auction that is being held to sell the t-shirts that were used in the latest video, 018/Name. The t-shirts are single-color with one word printed on the back. I was interested to find out how much the t-shirts were going for, so I clicked on the link, which took me to the Ebay site with the merchandise. I was intrigued to discover which items were fetching the high-dollar bids, and which weren't:

Committed - $115.50 - We all want to be seen as Committed...
Kind - $102.50 - And Kind.
Artist - $255.00 - I thought artists were starving!
Stylish - $255.00 - Well, of course.
Compulsive - $46.00 - I figured this would be more.
Double-Degree - $61.00 - Yeah, that's prestigious.
Insecure - $63.00 - That seems pretty secure to pay that much for a shirt that says that you're insecure.
And the bottom four are:

Self-Loathing - $17.50
HIV+ - $17.50
GED - $15.50
Anorexic - $15.00

It just breaks my heart that our society - and the Church, in many ways - has so shunned people that they feel like they have to stay in the shadows. Let us be Jesus to the world and embrace people so that they can come out of the shadows to strive to be all that He wants them to be.

Here's a preview of the video, by the way...

2007-11-12T20:57:00.001-06:00

When Do We Lose It?

Colin is at a stage in his life where everything is exciting. Not just exciting things. EVERYthing! Colin sees a ball - one that he has seen hundreds of times - and he shrieks out, "BAW!" Or we'll be in his bedroom and he sees his bed and he hollers, "BAW!" Or he hears the horn of a train going by and he squeals, "BAW!" (Pretty much everything is 'baw') This persistent excitement about everything prompted me to ask Marcy yesterday, "When do we lose it? When do we stop getting so excited over the smallest things?" When does life get so mundane and boring that we lose the zest we once had when everything was new? I hope Colin doesn't lose it for a very long time...but I do hope he starts calling things by their real names, and not simply 'baw.'

The above image has nothing to do with this post. It was just too cute to keep to myself. We took it last night as we went to bed.

2007-11-07T11:17:00.001-06:00

A Bunch of Colin

Here's a little something I recently put together while goofing around at Photobucket.com. Enjoy!

2007-10-31T16:30:00.000-05:00

2nd Ain't So Bad After All

I think I have finally become comfortable finishing in 2nd place. It had been so frustrating this year for all of my teams to finish in 2nd place, instead of just one of them breaking through to win it all. It started with the Buckeyes football team getting thumped in early January. Then, the basketball team did the same thing in March, although they didn't get beat quite as badly. Then, the Cavaliers found out what a team - as opposed to a one-man-show - looks like when they ran into the Spurs in the Finals. And most lately, the Indians finished in 2nd place. I know what you're thinking: "No they didn't. The Rockies did." Really? Did the Rockies put up a fight against the Red Sox? No. The Indians were the only ones in the postseason that gave them any trouble whatsoever, so as I see it, the Tribe was the 2nd best team in baseball this year. That's not too bad. That's better than 28 of 29 other teams. And the Cavaliers were better than 28 of 29 other teams, too. And the Buckeyes' teams were each better than over 100 other teams. So 2nd? Not so bad after all.

Now here's what happens when two guys have way too much time and money on their hands. Enjoy!

2007-10-26T13:14:00.000-05:00

Transition Time

Colin has now reached the age at which we are attempting to make a few transitions...or at least starting to attempt. One such transition is trying to get him used to using a potty, the first step in the arduous potty-training routine. No real newsworthy stories here, but it is a good excuse to show a picture that will haunt him later in life:

The other transition is from his crib to a Big Boy Bed. Some might call it a toddler bed, but not us. For us, it's a Big Boy Bed. Last night was his first attempt in the bed, and as near as we can tell, it went quite well. This afternoon, his nap attempt is not going as well. So far, he has come out of his room smiling at us twice. After a firm rebuking each time, it was back to bed. Now, it seems that he is staying put.

But the memorable moment for me in this first day of bed transition happened in the middle of the night. I went into his room to check on him, and found him laying in the fetal position sideways on his bed. Judging from the temperature in the room and the tightness of the curl in his body, I was guessing he was cold, so I quietly opened one of his drawers to get a blanket to cover him with, since he was laying on top of the covers on his bed. He apparently heard me enough to rouse him, so he started moving, which forced me to make a quick exit. But after I left his room, I kept the door open enough so I could watch him. As I did, I noticed his head was hanging off of the bed, and his body was slowly sliding in the direction that gravity was pulling his large cranium. I wasn't worried because the bed is not very high off of the floor. I watched as he slid head-first ever-so-slowly toward the floor. His head touched the floor, and then his body followed slowly behind. It was like watching a movie scene in slow motion to make sure you didn't miss something. When the rest of his body fell on the floor, he stood up and scampered to climb back in the bed. It was hilarious! I was glad that Marcy was awake so I could share the experience with her. I was also glad that he liked his new bed so much that he wanted to get right back in after falling out, instead of looking for Mommy and Daddy. Let's hope that continues...

2007-10-09T11:16:00.000-05:00

Not Sure How I Feel

(I was asked to post on our church's blog during our 40 Days of Community campaign. Here is what I wrote.)

As my wife and I were reading the 40 Days devotional a few nights ago, a thought popped into my head. I wondered if this whole idea about small groups is a little biased. You see, I'm an extrovert, which means that I like having a whole lot of "friends," but to only get involved at what could best be called a shallow level with them. This extrovert-ness is a part of who I am, it's how I roll. So now, I'm supposed to cast aside that part of me that is integral to who I am so that I can invest and be invested in at a deep level. I struggle with that, to be honest. Could there not be a way for the extroverts among to be built up spiritually and to invest in each other that doesn't look like small groups and deep conversations? That is what I have been thinking.

But maybe, what is really at the core of the matter is that I really don't want people messing in my stuff. I know who I am, and there are times that I don't like that person. Why in the world would I want to get involved in doing life with someone else so that they can also know what a cruddy guy I can be? It's risky. It's scary. Maybe they'll find out who the man is behind the curtain and reject me or, worse yet, throw the curtain wide open for others to see. It's a gamble. But the fact of the matter is that God never promised that living in community would be easy or painless. Proverbs 27:17 tells us, "Iron sharpens iron, So one man sharpens another." Iron is sharpened without the influence of anything else. Rather, it is sharpened when it comes into violent contact with another piece of iron. If iron could feel pain, it would probably reject the proposal of being sharpened in much the same way that I reject the idea of deep community in my life. But regardless of my rejections, if I want to be and stay sharp, it's what I need.

I remember being in a small group while at seminary. I joined it when I was going through a difficult time from a failed relationship. That small group was life to me! I had no idea that I would get to the level of intimacy that I did and share the things I shared. It was scary, and risky, and a gamble. But when I took the risk, the rewards of growth and relationship far outweighed it. The risk is worth it. Now, I just need to keep telling myself that...

Fitz, Youth Pastor

2007-09-13T14:12:00.000-05:00

Jones Soda Bottle

I recently have developed a fondness for Jones Soda Cream Soda. It is quite yummy! Marcy had me choose a yummy drink to take on our vacation to Gulf Shores, Alabama, and that was my choice. I thought, "How cool would it be to get Colin's picture on one of their bottles!?" So I submitted one of his birthday pics. You can go here to vote on it and hopefully, they'll choose it...I mean, look at the kid. How could they not?!?

2007-09-06T05:41:00.000-05:00

A Great Voice Silenced

I just read that Luciano Pavarotti (1935-2007) died late last night after a battle with pancreatic cancer. What a sad day. He was able to do something for me that I would have previously predicted that no one would be able to do: develop an appreciation in me for opera music. His rendition of Nessum Dorma - his signature song - is one of the greatest musical performances ever:

Luciano, you will be missed...

A couple of trivia items regarding Pavarotti - Did you know:

That he would always perform with a bent nail in his pocket that he had found somewhere on the stage?
That he holds the world record for the longest standing ovation? Ninety minutes!!! Wow!

2007-08-27T12:55:00.000-05:00

I am an Entertainer and a Creator

Or so says my personality profile. Inspired by my blogging buddy, DG, I retook my Myers-Briggs personality profile. I came back as an ESFP (which has changed, since I used to be an ENFP). The letters stand for:

Extraverted: a preference to focus on the world outside the self.
Sensing: Sensing people focus on the present, they are "here and now" people, who are factual and process information through the five senses.
Feeling: They are ruled by their heart instead of their head.
Perceiving: Perceiving people are flexible, like to keep their options open and think randomly.

Here is the description of that personality from the MyPersonality.info webpage:

ESFP - The "Entertainer"

ESFPs are cooperative, "here and now" people-persons that enjoy excitement and love new adventures. Because of their highly social nature, they are especially lively when they are the center of attention and hate being alone. ESFPs have a practical side that allows them to finish work efficiently and are often good problem solvers.

What do you think? Does this describe me? Let me know...

BTW, here is the badge created for me, which includes my results from that test and another one I took that dealt with multiple intelligences.

2007-08-26T20:39:00.000-05:00

Fantasy Football Draft Day

Tonight was Draft Night in the same fantasy football league I have been a part of for the past three years. Once again, I don't expect at all to do well, but I'm in it for the fun of it. I try to do well, but I am in no way self-deceived to think that I have a chance to win. If I do, bonus! Only time will tell. Here is the team I came up with, including their draft order and bye week. Let me know what you think:

Larry Johnson - RB - 8
Ronnie Brown - RB - 9
Donovan McNabb - QB - 5
Lee Evans - WR - 6
Plaxico Burress - WR - 9
Deuce McAllister - RB - 4
Vernon Davis - TE - 6
Mark Clayton - WR - 8
Alex Smith - QB - 6
Shayne Graham - K - 5
Vernand Morency - RB - 7
Bernard Berrian - WR - 9
Baltimore - D/ST - 8

I'm a bit RB- and WR-heavy, but that way I have some players that are expendable when I need to pick up a TE, K, or D/ST during a bye week. We'll see if the plan works...I'm not holding my breath. :-)

2007-08-22T13:37:00.000-05:00

Colin's Tricks

The Boy just keeps amazing and entertaining us. Enjoy!

2007-08-20T11:24:00.000-05:00

WWTCD?

I just read a story of 11 people getting injured on a Tom Cruise movie photo shoot when they fell out of a moving truck during shooting. The article says that "One of them was seriously hurt and had to remain in hospital." This caused me to wonder if Tom Cruise, the staunch Scientologist that he is, would have allowed himself to be taken to the hospital if he had been one of the injured. Scientology, as a "church", has "a long history of opposition to drugs and medical attention of any kind but their own." And it's founder, L. Ron Hubbard, a science fiction writer of all things, once wrote that Scientologists that were taking courses were forbidden to seek medical treatment without permission from the "church," except in extreme cases. Now don't get me wrong, I believe that God - not L. Ron Hubbard, and not my own mind - has the ability to heal. But I also believe that He doesn't always do it in a miraculous way, as we would define miraculous. I believe that he works through doctors and medicine to heal His people and that it makes sense to seek treatment when necessary. For Tom Cruise and his fellow Scientologists to recommend otherwise is only harming themselves and their followers. He, as a main spokesperson, is only leading people astray.

2007-08-20T10:54:00.000-05:00

Irony

I re-ran across this photo from our youth mission trip to Birmingham, and I still chuckle over it. It was taken in one of the churches we served while there. To me, it screams, "Irony!"

2007-08-14T21:09:00.001-05:00

Procrastination, Procrastination is Making Me Wait...

The life of a procrastinator is not a fun one. It is now getting to the point that I sincerely wish that I had a different personality, one that has everything planned out weeks in advance so that when something big comes up, all I have to do is wrap up a few minor details. But alas, it's hard for a cat to change its stripes (is that how the saying goes?). So now, I find myself in a whirlwind of activity trying to get ready for the fall semester of ministry. We just had a busy weekend that featured a kick-off dinner for our SIMYs (our adult leaders) and our annual youth outreach Mud Olympics. Over 150 students showed up to play in the mud, and it was great fun, but it was scramble time right before, even though we started planning two months ago. Tomorrow, we have a preview night for our new 7th graders, Sunday is our Sunday school kick-off, and next Wednesday is our first Porch youth group meeting. AAAAAUUUUUGGGGGGHHHH!!! Crazy times! It will all get done, and done well, but it is insanity in the meantime. But as I always say, "Why put off until tomorrow what you can put off until day after tomorrow?"...It's sayings like that that get me into trouble...

2007-08-01T12:56:00.000-05:00

Simpsons and Religion

On the heels of The Simpsons Movie - which was great, by the way - Beliefnet.com came up with a list of the Top Ten (Plus One) Religious Episodes on The Simpsons. It is fun reading! My favorite has to be Missionary: Impossible ("Save me, Jebus!"). Which is yours?

2007-07-30T09:07:00.000-05:00

Back to Blogging

I just received a request from our Executive Director to set up a blog for our 40 Days of Community website, which I am more than happy to do. But it also reminded me how lax I have been keeping this one up to date. And now, since I am mentioned in an official way on our church's website, I guess I'd better be more diligent in posting. Heck, there's been plenty to talk about - sports stuff, family vacations, a preaching gig - but I just haven't had the energy or time to post. Must drink more coffee and find more time to post!!!

2007-06-25T11:04:00.001-05:00

I'm in Birmingham!

I'm in B'Ham this week with 36 of our students and eight other adults on a YouthWorks mission trip. For updates, check out our youth blog at: http://theporchlacroix.blogspot.com/. You can also see the first batch of pictures at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mcfitzie/. Talk at ya' soon...

2007-06-22T16:49:00.000-05:00

Man, I needed that!

After having an interesting week, I was exposed to these two videos from Britain's Got Talent. Boy, did they come at just the right time. Good luck not crying during them, especially during Connie's...

2007-05-27T18:46:00.000-05:00

Wow!

Now if we can just get a win in game three, then I'd be really impressed.

2007-05-23T13:10:00.000-05:00

A Sad Day

I just learned from my weekly e-mail from Youth Specialties that Lee Eshleman, of Ted & Lee fame, died last week. Apparently, he has been suffering for a long time from depression. On May 17th, he succumbed to the pressure and took his own life. He will be missed by many in the field of youth ministry as he was part of a team that created great skits with excellent Biblical points that students enjoyed. We used their Insider's View of Jesus curriculum a couple of summers ago, which looked at the life of Jesus through the eyes of Andrew and Peter. Hilarious, and thought-provoking. I also greatly enjoyed seeing them at the YS National Youth Workers Convention each year. I will miss his contribution to the kingdom of God. Here is a bit from Ted and his partner in skit-crime, Lee.

2007-05-13T16:12:00.000-05:00

Happy Mother's Day

For all of you mom's out there - because I know so many of you read this blog - this classic video is for you. Enjoy:

2007-05-09T10:35:00.000-05:00

I Am Convinced!

I am convinced that diaper rash is the worst plague known to man. Colin has a severe case of it right now and is completely miserable. He woke up this morning screaming and crying like I have never heard him before. And changing his diaper when he has The Plague is an adventure, and not a fun one. I guess I'll be heading to the drugstore later to find a better treatment for it.
I am convinced that being a dad is the best thing in the world!
I am convinced that Roger Clemens is the worst teammate in Major League Baseball. He is no more than a mercenary. When he announced his return to the Yankees, he spoke of how glad he was to be back in NY. Well, sure he was. They threw more money at him than did Boston or Houston. If one of those teams had given him more money, he would have been thrilled to be there, too. But what kind of teammate demands to be able to go home whenever he wants? It's one thing to want to spend time with your family, but for $28 million, I think you could maybe buy them a nice home in NY so you could be with them. And he doesn't just use that privilege to spend time with his family. He also uses it to play golf, according to his former manager Phil Garner. I would rather have a teammate that is committed to the team than one who is no more than a hired gun who can show up late and leave whenever.
I am convinced that MLB teams are doing the right thing by banning alcohol from their clubhouses, in light of the death of Cardinals pitcher Josh Hancock. I know, he didn't get drunk at the stadium, but why even have alcohol there? What other employer offers beer to their employers at their place of employment after a long day? None! Some - Colin Cowherd and Mike Greenberg on ESPN Radio - say that this is the wrong approach, that we need to stress personal responsibility instead. That's fine, but why put the temptation there for anyone that may be struggling with it? We might as well offer betting slips in the clubhouse but make sure we stress responsibility. Give me a break! I know that alcohol is legal, but also very damaging to many people. Get it out of the clubhouse.
Speaking of ESPN, I am convinced that they are coming close to losing me as a fan of their establishment (I know, it would crush them to know this). It ticks me off that more and more of the articles that they posy online are only available to Insiders, which means paying X amount of dollars for the inside scoop. I know they are in the business of making money, but they won't make my money this way. I'll look at a different website instead.
I am convinced that the local media in Cape Girardeau is too self-important. A couple of examples to prove my point. One, every time there is any kind of severe weather, the local TV station breaks into regular programming every few minutes for special updates, instead of breaking in once and then having the little map on the screen showing affected areas or the ticker at the bottom of the screen. For some reason, they feel it is vital to show off their triple doppler whatever and let Mom and Pop in Podunkville know that it will be raining in their neighborhood in seven minutes. And two, are there that many people in this area that care about SEMO baseball? While listening to the NFL Draft a couple of weeks ago, they were early in the broadcast of the first round when the local sports station cut away for a SEMO baseball game. OK fine, you have a contract with SEMO, but have the foresight to know when the second biggest day of the football season is so you don't have to cut away. Geez! And finally, when the shooting tragedy happened at Va Tech, and all of the national news programs were having special one-hour broadcasts instead of their normal half-hour programs, the local station cut away from the coverage to do their local news program. I know, local news is important, but I think that event takes precedence.
I am convinced that British TV is better than American TV. OK, so maybe just the few programs I have watched have been better - thanks, Oral - but they sure seem better. My current favorite is Life on Mars. Other favorites have been , The Office (British version), Cracker and Dr. Who.

Enough ranting for now. I'm sure Colin will be waking up soon. Must be ready...

2007-05-04T17:17:00.000-05:00

A Fun Thought...

Colin is at the stage in his life where he is all over the place. He walks really well now, and is on the verge of flat-out running. But while he is so good at getting around, he still falls down quite a bit. Not falling down and getting hurt, although he is getting good at that, too. I mean the kind of falling where he will be standing there one second, and the next he is on his butt. The other night, he must have fallen down five or six times in a row, which led to much laughter from his parents (we weren't laughing at him, we were laughing near him). Marcy thought that the dog toy he was holding was throwing him off-balance. I don't know that those few ounces made that much of a difference, but that's really not the point. The point is, he falls on his butt quite frequently.

I thought recently, as I observed Colin's sometimes inability to stand up, what if adults were like that? What if, randomly throughout our days, we would simply fall on our butt? And there would be no reaction at all; we would simply stand back up like nothing ever happened. Imagine the scenarios:

You are looking at buying a brand-new car, and the salesman simply falls down on his butt.
As you walk through the mall, people are dropping left and right, falling on their butts.
While everyone is singing in church, people are sporadically falling on their butts throughout the sanctuary.
You're getting ready to kiss that girl for the first time, and she falls on her butt.

You get the picture, and if you do, it's a pretty funny picture. I think it has great potential as a skit on SNL or Mad TV. What do you think?

2007-05-01T09:34:00.000-05:00

What's Wrong with This Picture?

The Cavs just swept a playoff series.
The Indians are in first place.
The Browns just had a great draft.

All signs that the Armageddon is upon us...

2007-04-27T08:45:00.000-05:00

With the Third Pick of the NFL Draft, the Cleveland Browns Select...

I don't remember a time when I have been this worked up about the NFL - or any - professional sports draft. Let's face it, the Browns stink and probably will for a very long time. And whoever they draft will either have a career-ending injury or will be a bust (repeat with me: Tim Couch - see above). But for whatever reason, there still is a glimmer of optimism in my spirit. Call it denial, if you like, but there's a hope deep within by being that says, "Maybe this draft will turn things around for my boys." Only time will tell, I guess. Here's my take on the top potential players that the Browns could pick #3 in the draft:

Adrian Peterson: He could be the franchise back the Browns need. Or - if he doesn't change his running style - he could be the next Courtney Brown, always sidelined with injuries. I was ready to be OK with the Browns drafting him until I heard that he re-broke his collarbone in the Fiesta Bowl against Boise State and could require surgery. Now I'm a little more hesitant.
Brady Quinn: He is a good quarterback, but I will shoot myself (not really, silly) if the Browns select him. He's good as long as it is not a big game; then he folds like a cheap card table. On the other hand, since the Browns are never in a big game, it might be a match made in Heaven.
Joe Thomas: I would love to have him! It would give Frye/Anderson time to throw and continue to solidify the OL that Savage has worked hard to rebuild. But, they would still need to find a RB at some point because I don't think that Jamal Lewis is the long-term solution.
JaMarcus Russell: If he slips to three and the Browns don't select him, I may have to start rooting for another team. "Go Texans!" Nah, I could never pull that off. But if they do get him, watch him be the next Ryan Leaf or Akili Smith.
Calvin Johnson: If he slips to three and the Browns don't trade him to someone that is just drooling over him so that they can get him in front of the Bucs, well, see the above threat. We don't need him as bad as we need more picks. Trade, baby, trade!

Only 26+ hours to wait to see what they will do. I'm not sure if I'll make it. I should go mow the lawn or something...

P.S. I have already apologized to Colin for the fact that he will be raised a Cleveland sports fan. He doesn't have a choice in the matter - I will not let him pick the team he wants to root for - and it is a life of heartbreak. But, as Calvin's dad always used to say, "It will build character."

2007-04-06T15:59:00.000-05:00

A Busy Couple of Weeks

Before I get into what has been going on in the wonderful world of Mike Fitzpatrick, allow me to apologize for the faulty music video that I posted earlier. I didn't know that it would only show the first 35 seconds of the video. Drag! But you can check it out here. Heck with hearitfirst.com...

We had a great birthday and baptism celebration for Colin. We wanted to get him baptized, so we planned to have it done as close to his birthday as possible so if family came to The Cape, we could kill two birds with one frying pan, if you know what I mean. What a great weekend! We had Marcy's sister and bro-in-law and her mom and stepdad stay with us, while my mom and aunt stayed at a hotel. It was a little crazy having all of those people here, especially since we had had company two of the previous three weekends. We were wiped out by the end, but it was worth it. It was such a fun weekend! We celebrated the Boy's birthday on Saturday, complete with his own cake and #1 candles (he wasn't so good at blowing them out). As you can tell from this picture, he enjoyed the cake quite a bit!

I forgot to mention that he also got his first haircut that weekend by Auntie Ruthie. He had developed quite the mullet, so thank God for scissors and that my mom snuck them through airport security. :-) He got quite the motherload for a kid that's not even going to remember this day. I'm not sure what he liked more, the Radio Flyer All-Terrain Wagon or the envelopes that all of the cards came in. It's a toss-up.

On Sunday, we had Colin baptized. What a blessing! I told Marcy just before we went up for the ceremony that I was more nervous for this than I am when I preach. I'm not sure why, but it was the case. Colin couldn't have been more precious or well-behaved, as you can tell from this picture.

He just soaked it all up, and when he was held up for the congregation to see him at the end, and everyone clapped, he shook his arms and legs with joy. He really is the best boy ever!

Fast-forward a few days to that next Thursday (which was March 29th). The fam had all gone home. That night was our big Silent Auction & Dinner fundraiser for our student mission trip. This summer, we are taking around 35 students to serve in Birmingham in the name of Jesus, so we had to raise a lot of money. The theme was The 70's, and we had great funk music provided by Groove Conspiracy. The turnout was good and although the bidding wasn't as fierce as last year, we were still able to clear $6,500.00! It was a great night! I had to look the part, so:

Yes, that is a fun manchu on my face. That was the first time that Marcy had ever seen my chin. Colin wasn't really sure what to make of me that night. He just kept looking at my hair with a very concerned look on his face.

Then this past Saturday, I went with a group of our SIMYs to St. Louis for a training done by Youth Specialties on Helping Hurting Kids. What a tough day! It's just so hard to hear all of the crap that today's teens are dealing with. But it feels good to be used by God with these people. And I am SO thankful that I work alongside such great people that love the students as much as I do, if not more so.

That pretty much catches you up on my life. Except for the fact that I hate the state of Florida. And the fact that next weekend is our 30 Hour Famine with the youth. The senior high guys have challenged me that if they raise $5,000.00, I have to shave my head. To be continued...Before I go, can I ask you to do me a favor? Could you leave me a comment to let me know that you are reading this, even if you simply say, "I read this."? That would help me know if I am wasting my time keeping this blog up. Thanks...

2007-04-04T12:53:00.000-05:00

Crowder vs. The Squirrels

So much has been going on that I haven't had much time to write. Sorry. Still no time today, but this new Crowder video is worth posting:

2007-03-16T10:58:00.000-05:00

Competing Urges

One of Colin's favorite things to do is to look out the window that is right behind our couch. Ever since he was very small, he has enjoyed seeing the sights, staring at all of the various colors, and especially watching the cars go by. When he was younger, and was particularly fussy, I could take him out to the front porch and he would completely chill out while the cars whizzed by. He still loves that!

One of his daddy's favorite things to do is to cuddle him on the aforementioned couch. When he starts to get tired and whiny, and it's close to nap time, I like to take him over to the couch and let him cuddle against my chest. He doesn't always cuddle as good as he use to. He's more active and mobile now, so he tends to move around a bit. But, since he is so tired, he will stop moving, plop his head down onto my chest, and suck his thumb. It's one of the best feelings ever!

It is during these times that Colin faces a competition of urges. He is so tired, and he knows that he wants to - that he needs to - go to sleep, or at the very least, rest on Daddy's chest. But, the allure of the window is strong. He doesn't want to miss anything that happens out there, so he strains his neck and body to peer out the window, sometimes even crawling over me and standing on me to get a better view. But then the fatigue takes over and he drops back down to my chest to take a break. Then, back to the window. "What's going on out there? I think I heard something. Look! It's a car!" Then, back to the thumb and my chest. And the cycle continues until I finally take him to his room, sing him his song, and put him down in his crib to sleep. No more choices. No more tough decisions. Just rest.

I am so much like my son, it's scary. I deal with the same competition of urges. Only my choices have nothing to do with the window and the couch. My choices look more like, do I take time to read my Bible or check on my March Madness bracket? Do I set aside time at work to pray for my job or do I just jump in with both feet and get to work? Do I sit up later than I should to do essentially nothing online or do I get the sleep I so badly need? There's nothing intrinsically wrong with March Madness, or work, or checking out my web favorites. Just like there's nothing wrong with looking out the window. But there is a better choice. I feel like Paul, who said that he wants to do one thing, but ends up doing something else. It's not like I'm choosing between praying and robbing a bank, or reading my Bible and getting sloppy drunk, but there is still a competition for my time. And no matter how seemingly harmless many of the things are in our lives, there are frequently better choices to be made. I just know that I don't always - and sometimes, seldom - choose the better thing. But those times that I do, I can rest.

Jesus, help me to choose the better thing, and give me rest.

2007-03-15T15:23:00.000-05:00

Heaven - I'm in Heaven...

This is the life! I am home for the afternoon since I have a work commitment tonight. And what better afternoon to be at home than the opening round of March Madness? I can't think of a better day. So far, I'm 4-0 in my picks. That won't last long, though. I just noticed that Butler pulled ahead of Old Dominion. Bummer! Either way, it's the best weekend in sports as far as I'm concerned. This is when all of the upsets happen and teams come out of nowhere to shock the world. I'm all about rooting for the underdog, even if I didn't pick them to win. That carries over to life, too, but that's for a different post. All I know is, I'm glad it's March...

I'm also in Heaven because my son is still alive. Before anyone goes and freaks out, there's nothing wrong with him. But, I have had him to myself since Tuesday morning when Marcy left for a conference at Willow Creek. She gets back tomorrow night. Four days, just me and Colin. That's a recipe for disaster! But it has gone well. We miss Mommy very much, but it's good to know that I can take care of my Boy if I have to. And I don't think it's a problem at all that he has eaten buffalo wings and watched Evil Dead 2 every night. It's good for him...

2007-03-11T16:44:00.000-05:00

It's a Nice Day!

I am sitting here, in my beloved recliner, thinking about how good of a weekend it had been. I am feeling significantly better than I did at this time last weekend, when I was just starting to come down with the plague. I am not at 100% yet, but I'm going in the right direction. The weather has been great! It is finally flip-flop weather. I know, I've done a lot of complaining about how we haven't had much of a winter to speak of, but that was February, and this is March, and I love not wearing shoes. The sun has been shining, it has been warm, and I've been loving it! We had two great friends come and visit for a too-brief weekend. And today, my Buckeyes sealed up a #1 seed in the NCAA Men's B-Ball Tourney. Now granted, I was jazzed about them playing in the national championship of college football, and that didn't go so well. Here's hoping this one goes much better. Either way, the ride sure is fun!

Today we had a SIMY meeting. SIMY is an acronym for Servants In Ministry to Youth. It's what we call our adult leaders in our youth group. We invited some of our students to discuss how things are going with the youth group. I think things are going well, but some of our students have had concerns, so I wanted them to be able to voice them. They did that today, and while I didn't like or agree with everything they had to say, I sure appreciate their guts to say what they did and their desire for our youth group to be all it can be for their spiritual transformation. As Emily's quote wall on Facebook says, "My kids are better than your kids!" Apparently, I said that somewhere along the way. It's true.

Thank you, Jesus, for the good life you have given me. Help me to not take it for granted...

2007-03-07T17:13:00.000-06:00

I Ain't So Stupid

2007-03-01T21:46:00.000-06:00

Strange Injury

And I thought I was out of shape. It turns out that John Daly had to withdraw from the golf tournament he was in when he hurt himself trying to stop his backswing when a fan took his picture. Hee-hee...

2007-02-24T15:05:00.000-06:00

A Good Dad?

This weekend, our church is hosting author and speaker Tim Smith for a couple of parenting seminars. This morning's seminar was based on information from his book The Seven Cries of Today's Teens. The information in the book is pulled from research he did while a fellow at the Gallup Organization. He discussed the seven cries of teens: the cry to be trusted, to be loved, to be heard, for security, for purpose, and two others that I don't remember because I left my handbook at the church. We presented this seminar as a way to minister to our teens by ministering to their parents. It was money well-spent as it was excellent! I wish I could attend the seminar tomorrow also (based on his book Connecting With Your Kids), but I will be watching the OSU basketball game with Colin.

As I sat through the seminar, I kept fast-forwarding in my mind to when Colin is a teenager. I think I'm a pretty OK dad so far, but it's only been 10 1/2 months. I take time to hang out with him, I play with him, I kiss him and give him zerberts, I tell him I love him all the time, and try to make him a priority. But I wonder if I will still consider myself to be a good dad when he is 17 years old. Will I keep it up? Will I know and respond to his love keys so that he feels love how he needs to feel it? Will he feel trusted, and loved, and heard, and secure, and have purpose, and two other things that I don't remember because I left my handbook at the church? Will I be the spiritual leader that he needs me to be? It's an overwhelming thought, and it was this morning, as I found myself holding back tears a couple of times. Only time will tell the answer to these questions. Lord, help me to be a good dad and to point Colin to you...

2007-02-17T21:32:00.000-06:00

She's Losing It

I know I already posted today, but I had to get this out there. Guess who that is in the above picture. Go ahead, guess. It's none other than Britney Spears. Apparently, she shaved her head and got a couple of tattoos. What won't she do for attention? Keep an eye on her. I predict some really bad stuff is in her future as she continues this need to be noticed.

2007-02-16T07:26:00.000-06:00

What's Going On?

Maybe you've been asking yourself that since I haven't blogged in forever. And maybe not. I'll answer the question anyway. Here are some random things that have popped into my life and into my mind...hmmm, were have I heard that before?:

HIGHLIGHT
The highlight of the last couple of weeks concerns Colin. Surprise, surprise! Lately, he has been getting quite brave. He has, for several months now, been pulling himself up on furniture or on us and standing while hanging on. Only for the past few weeks has he been getting brave enough to let go. He will stand there, for 5, 10, 15 seconds or so, before plummeting to the earth, or to Mommy or Daddy. There have been a few times that he has swung his arms back and forth, enjoying the turning of his torso. But last night was the coup de grace. As I was playing with him on the floor, and as Marcy observed from the couch, he pulled himself up while holding onto my fingers. I encouraged him to let go, which he did. Then, IT happened. He took two steps toward me before falling into my arms. His first steps! It was so exciting, I started crying. Yes, crying! One of the hazards of having an extreme feeling-type personality. But I don't care because my boy just walked! WOO-HOO!

GRAMMYS
I was jazzed about watching the Grammys this year (no pun intended) as I heard that The Police were reuniting after being apart for 20 years. So Colin and I tuned in last Sunday while Marcy was at small group. They opened the show by exclaiming, "We are The Police, and we're back!" They then broke into a three-minute version of Roxanne, and that was it. As exciting as it was, it was also a little disappointing, as I was hoping for more. I guess it was just a precursor to their upcoming reunion tour. But seriously, how do you give The Police that small amount of face time, while giving Justin Timberlake two huge sets, including one of the most narcissistic performances I have ever seen (that mini-camera thing was just plain creepy)?! Screwed up priorities, I'd say.

THE INDIANS
I was pleased to watch as the Cleveland Indians made improving their bullpen a significant priority. I was, however, a little concerned because it seemed that many of the pitchers they were signing were older and had injury concerns/histories. It turns out that my fears were well-founded as Keith Foulke, the guy that was slated to be the closer, retired after experiencing pain in his throwing elbow. Yet another sign that the Curse of Rocky Colavito is real and alive, and that Cleveland is the most tortured sports city in America.

SNOW
Yet again, the weathercasters in our area got my hopes up. They were calling for a snow advisory and a blowing snow advisory for our area. Now in Ohio, when snow was coming, there was no advisory - it was just going to snow, that's all. You don't need a weather advisory. Especially for the amount that we get here. It was a dusting when I woke up. Since then, we have gotten some more to make it bearable, but it''s supposed to be 50 degrees tomorrow, so it will all be gone, dang it! But we did make sure to take Colin outside to experience the snow, because who knows when he will get the chance again. He either was not crazy about it, or not thrilled with his snowsuit. I think it was the snowsuit, since he started whining as I put him in it.

YOUTUBE
This is one of my latest favorite YouTube videos. It's what I wish Marcy and I had done for our first dance.

I guess that's it for now. Time to go start on the chores...

2007-01-20T11:51:00.000-06:00

Six Degrees

Several years back, I heard about a great game called The Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon. In it, you had to be able to link any actor or actress to Kevin Bacon through working associations in movies or TV shows in six steps or less. It turns out that you can do this with anyone, even the dolphin Flipper. It also turned out that I was pretty good at this game. Today I discovered that Kevin Bacon is using this once-annoying-to-him game for good, as he has set up an organization that allows visitors to the website - www.sixdegrees.org - to donate to the charities of various celebrities. Or, someone can choose to be the 'celebrity face' for their organization and invite friends and family members to donate to their cause. I thought about setting one up, but it would be so hard to decide which cause I would want to put forward. Any ideas?

2007-01-08T14:10:00.000-06:00

The Fitz Update

I am in Ohio, The Heart of It All, right now. I flew in last night with the single-minded purpose of watching the college football national championship tonight between The Ohio State University and some school from Florida. I'm very nervous about the game, but I think that's something that comes from being a sports fan in Cleveland - you can't imagine anything ever going well for your team. It will be a lot of fun to watch the game with my dad, cousins, and uncle. This was a plan by my brother who decided we should all come in for the game, and then backed out. What a goob! My best friend Joe said that it should be a Man Law that you can't plan something and then not show up. I agree.

My cousin Jason did something funny last night. I had reminded him of a time that we were up at 3:00am eating garlic bread and Breyer's chocolate ice cream. When I showed up, he had garlic bread in the oven and Breyer's chocolate ice cream in the freezer. Good times! It brought back fun memories and a not-so-good feeling in my stomach.

Christmas was good. We had fun hanging out with Marcy's family in Marietta, Ohio. I walked away from the holiday with an iPod charger/transmitter for the car and an Xbox, probably my two best gifts. We found out this Christmas that Colin enjoys all flavors of wrapping paper. He is so funny! He got all kinds of cool gifts for Christmas, but his favorite things at home are still the things he can't have: the dog's toys, the dog's food, the dog. Hilarious!

One last thing: Go Bucks!

2006-12-19T10:16:00.000-06:00

A Whole Bunch of Randomness

SABBATH: Marcy and I have been trying to be more intentional about observing the Sabbath. Since we are church-workers, it's really hard to do it on a Sunday because work calls. So, we have been starting on Thursday night at dinner - followed by date night - and continuing until dinner on Friday. We try to not watch TV, do worky kind of stuff, and instead we just hang out with each other and Colin and God, and rest. It's hard. Especially for Marcy. It's tough to sit around and do relatively nothing. Humans are so wrapped up in accomplishing and doing to create worth, that it's hard to shut down and not accomplish anything. It made me wonder: Did God get bored on His Sabbath? Heck, He just created everything that exists, and then He took a day to do nothing but rest. I wonder if He thought, "I need to get something else done today. I'll go over here and create another universe." Probably not...
I AM THE MAN!: Time magazine recently came out with its annual Person of The Year issue. There were many worthy candidates, but they declared that I am 2006's Person of The Year. In their statement, they said, "The answer is, you do. And for seizing the reins of the global media, for founding and framing the new digital democracy, for working for nothing and beating the pros at their own game, TIME's Person of the Year for 2006 is you." OK, so they didn't mean solely me, but anyone that utilizes the world wide web for publishing and communcating (like blogs, MySpace, Facebook, YouTube, etc.). You can read the article here...
BRAWL: Which was more wussy, Carmelo Anthony sucker-punching a Knicks player and then running away like a little girl (no offense to little girls, because most little girls are more manly than him), or TO spitting in the face of D'Angelo Williams? Both actions were incredibly unmanly...
BRAWL II: Another Brawl at Madison Square Garden thought: Is it any surprise that the coach of the Knicks, the team that flagrantly fouled the Nuggets player, is Isaiah Thomas? He was a part of a team that was the biggest collection of thugs ever, the Bad Boys. Alongside him on that Pistons team were Bill Laimbeer, Dennis Rodman, and Rick Mahorn, just to name a few. You can take the man out of the fight, but you can't take the thuggery out of the man...
COLIN: It's amazing how having a child allows you a little more insight into what God might be feeling and thinking. The latest realization of this was the other day when Colin was inconsolable, we think because he is teething. Man, was that difficult! I wanted to say, "Colin, I am so sorry for your pain. Here, let me take it away for you. I'll even take it on me so you don't have to deal with it." That's pretty much what God did in sending His only Son to take away our pain of separation from Him...
COLIN II: Colin is crawling now, as you can see here. This is exciting, but also adds a whole new set of challenges: baby-proofing, making sure the basement door is shut, etc. But it also adds what could be hours of entertainment: Watching Colin chase Attie all over the house. She's still not too sure what to make of him..
If I don't post again before Christmas, I hope you have a very Merry and Christ-centered Christmas...

2006-12-08T11:44:00.000-06:00

Apparently, they don't watch college football in Salem, Oregon...

The Heisman Trophy award ceremony is tomorrow night, recognizing the most outstanding college football player of the year. Most pundits say that Troy Smith, Ohio State's quarterback (67% completions, 2,507 yards, 30 touchdowns, five interceptions), will not only win the award, but some predict that he may win with the highest percentage of first-place votes (Reggie Bush is the current record-holder at 84.9%), and could come close to the highest margin of victory ever (O.J. Simpson currently holds that distinction). The other finalists invited to the ceremony this weekend were Notre Dame QB Brady Quinn, and Arkansas RB Darren McFadden. But, according to one less-than brilliant fellow from the great northwest, none of these players even deserved a mention on his ballot. I guess he knows more about college football than the rest of the country combined. Or maybe he is simply trying to make some sort of silly statement or trying to arouse a controversy. Or maybe, he wants to be known as the guy that didn't vote for Troy Smith. Whatever his motivation, his Heisman voting privileges should be revoked.

2006-12-07T15:18:00.000-06:00

Friends, real friends, are hard to come by.

Friendship doesn't happen overnight nor does it come easy. Usually it takes time and it takes sacrifice.

It takes treks in the woods, time spent fishing, time enjoying a cup of coffee, time spent at some volunteer project, time spent praying, time spent around the table eating simple foods, etc. It takes time like sitting in front of a TV watching the A-Team with popcorn. Or maybe it will take times like sharing a baloney, onion, cheese and tomato sandwich.

I guess for me it was the time spent together, and not what we were doing.

Friendship is one of the most valuable commodities in the world today.

Your friend,
Rennie

This was written by the Maintenance Guru at La Croix. I thought it worthy of publishing...

2006-12-05T18:47:00.000-06:00

Are You a Racist?

Ran across a series of tests that are part of Project Implicit at Harvard while reading Malcolm Gladwell's blog. Try one of them out to see if you have any subconscious preferences based on race or other factors. Go here and click on Demonstration and choose a test to take. Interesting stuff...

2006-12-04T11:44:00.000-06:00

Ugliness, Ugliness, It's What I Long For...

Fox Sports has posted a list of the Top Ten Worst Sports Uniforms. I can't disagree with any of their choices, but how can the old Houston Astros uniforms be exempt? Seriously. Not to mention the fact that The Astrodome's colors reflected the uniform colors also. Ick!

2006-12-01T10:30:00.000-06:00

I'm back...

OK, again it has been a long time since I have updated. I know there are those of you out there that pay attention to this blog - all two of you - that have been concerned. Sorry about the lack of communication. Life has just been really busy. I will try to be back and better than ever (to steal a line from Mike and Mike in the Morning).

This morning, I woke up a little cranky. The weather "professionals" were calling for 1-3 inches of snow for Cape Girardeau overnight. But, as should be expected by now, there is no snow. Just grey and cold outside. I like the cold, but I like it better when there is snow on the ground. I didn't particularly care for snow when I lived where we got a lot of it, but now that we never get it, I sure miss it.

Our trip to Ohio for Thanksgiving was very good. We visited my family in the Cleveland area. It was a great visit and much fun to see how much all of the kids have grown. My nephew Matthew is very scary because he is so big. I made sure that I was nice to him and didn't pick on him. And Kaylee and Mikey are getting so big and mature as well. We got to see cousins and their kids as well (except for my cousin in Arizona). It was insane at times, so it was good to get home to relative quiet and normalcy. And we discovered that Colin travels like a champ. He took three good naps, and only got really fussy once. But when Marcy climbed in the back seat with him, he calmed right down. Ten hours, fifteen minutes total, and that includes getting lost once.

Before our trip to Cleveland, I was at the other end of Ohio - Cincinnati - for the National Youth Workers Convention, put on by Youth Specialties. As always, this was a great time of refreshing, rejuvenation, and reeducating for my job as a youth pastor. The main stage speakers this year were especially good. Donald Miller, Brenda Salter McNeil, and Mike Pilavachi all hit home runs, as far as I'm concerned. The worship leaders were excellent: David Crowder Band (of course) and Starfield. It was great to catch up with some good friends, Trey and Jonesy in particular. But the highlight of the weekend had to be Ohio State laying the smackdown to Michigan for a trip to the national championship game in January. It was a great weekend, and I am already longing for my next conference. Marcy called me a conference junkie. She's probably right, but I'm not ashamed. Only ten months 'til Catalyst!

OK, I think I'm caught up now. Have a great day, and thanks for reading...

2006-11-05T17:07:00.000-06:00

Funny Stuff

Last week at The Porch we had our usual "Dress Up Because It's Halloween" night. There were several creative costumes, but my highlight of the night came from Logan. He had a Grim Reaper hood and a scythe, and yet he was wearing his usual Hawaiian shirt and shorts. I told him I liked his outfit, to which he replied, "I'm on vacation." I laughed so hard I had to sit down! I can just imagine the Grim Reaper sitting under a beach umbrella sipping a pina colada. Now that's one funny kid!

2006-11-02T10:22:00.000-06:00

Repentance

New York Mets pitcher Guillermo Mota has been suspended for 50 games by Major League Baseball for testing positive for a performance-enhancing substance. In response, he made this statement:

"I have no one to blame but myself," Mota said in a statement that did not explain how he ran afoul of baseball's drug rules. "I take full responsibility for my actions and accept MLB's suspension. I used extremely poor judgment and deserve to be held accountable."

"To my teammates and the entire Mets organization, I am sorry. I truly regret what I did and hope that you can forgive me. To baseball fans everywhere, I understand that you are disappointed in me, and I don't blame you. I feel terrible and I promise this is the first and last time that this will happen. I am determined to prove to you that this was one mistake."

How refreshing! An athlete that comes out and says, "I did it, and I'm sorry. Forgive me." Compare this to some other recent athletes when faced with the same issues :

Rafael Palmeiro, in front of Congress: "I have never used steroids. Period." - He tested positive five months later, and claimed that he took the steroids unwittingly.
Mark McGwire, in front of Congress: "I'm not here to talk about the past." - Maybe he never used stuff, but that lack of a statement sure is condemning.
Barry Bonds: Claims he unknowingly used steroids that he thought was flaxseed oil. Seriously.

Granted, Mota made his admission after he had been caught, but it was still nice to hear an athlete own up to their failings, instead of trying to make all sorts of excuses.

Shouldn't we follow that example in life? Instead of making excuses for the way that we are and the ways that we screw up in our relationship with God and others, shouldn't we just say, "I screwed up. I'm sorry. It will be the last time"? Isn't that what repentance is all about?

2006-10-03T16:34:00.000-05:00

Time to Vote...or Not

You can tell when it's election season. The leaves are starting to change colors, there's a chill in the air, and mud is getting slung all over the television. As a result, I hate election season. No, I like the colorful leaves and the chilliness in the morning, but the negative political ads make me a little puky. It's a shame that no one running for office has stances on any issues anymore; they only know every thing that their opponent has done wrong in their lives...or at least it seems that way to me. "Vote for me because that other guy/lady is a moron with no ethics whatsoever. Here's exactly how bad of a person he/she is." And so on. One particular set of ads have been running for months and months for someone named Judy Baar Topinka, and the tagline, "What's she thinking?" Not, "Vote for me and here's why," but, "You can't vote for her because she's that stupid. (paraphrased)" And I still don't know who she is or what she is running for. These types of ads - and the ones for prescription drugs - almost make me want to stop watching TV...but Prison Break keeps bringing me back.

We did a teaching last week at The Porch. We are in the midst of a series we titled GodSpace: A Space for God (modeled after the popular MySpace website). The idea is, what does it look like when you give God space in your life. The focus last week was on the Comments section, specifically, when you give God control of your life, how is your tongue/speech/comments affected? We found ourselves in James 3, where the tongue is compared to a bit that controls a large horse, a rudder that controls a large ship, and a spark that can start a huge fire. It can do a lot of damage, and it can do a lot of good. If you can control our tongue, it makes controlling the rest of you that much easier.

As I thought about this teaching, I thought back to my repulsion for political ads. I had this thought: What if we chose to not vote for anyone that ran attack ads on their opponent? By voting for the individuals that "approved this message," are we not saying, "I condone your methods of advertising"? I would have a hard time looking the attacked opponent in the eye and saying, "I agree with all of the awful things that [my candidate] said about you." If we made that kind of a stance, with massive support behind it, we might actually have some ads aired that were helpful and informative, instead of nasty and dirty. Granted, that kind of movement is more than this lowly blog could ever generate. So the more applicable question is, if we each made that stance, to not vote for anyone that ran negative, attacking policital ads, would we have anyone to vote for? Or have they all gone over to the dark side?

2006-09-27T09:59:00.000-05:00

Catalyst Conference

This isn't so much an update as it is a question. I am heading to Atlanta next week for the Catalyst Conference. Anybody else going that would want to hook up for a cup of coffee? If so, let me know. I will also try to blog when there...

2006-09-11T10:07:00.000-05:00

The Weekend in Sports

OK, so the Browns are still really stinky. And my fantasy team showed that I don't have a clue about drafting a good team (congrats on the big win, Oral). But it was still a good sports weekend, as far as I am concerned, as my Ohio State Buckeyes laid the smackdown to #2 Texas on Saturday night. Go Bucks!

2006-09-03T21:10:00.000-05:00

Fantasy Football

Our fantasy football league had our draft tonight. Here's how my team played out:

Lamont Jordan - RB
Clinton Portis - RB
Reggie Wayne - WR
Donovan McNabb - QB
Reuben Droughns - RB
Anquan Boldin - WR (keeper from last season)
Javon Walker - WR
Jason Witten - TE
Jake Plummer - QB
Tampa Bay - Def
Wali Lundy - RB
T.J. Duckett - RB (handcuff pick for Portis)
David Akers - K

I think I did OK, especially since my good friend Brian Jones isn't in this league, so I might have a chance. But knowing how things go for me in fantasy sports, Portis' arm will fall off completely, and Boldin will come down with a rare virus for which there is no cure. But I'm not a pessimist. Your thoughts on my team?

2006-09-02T11:21:00.000-05:00

Urgency

A couple of weeks ago, we introduced cereal into Colin's diet. For those of you that aren't yet parents, allow me to educate you for just a moment. When I say "cereal" I don't mean Fruity Pebbles or Honey Bunches of Oats (or Cheerio's, which seems to be a popular little kid cereal choice). When a child is Colin's age - closing in on five months - cereal means a tasteless, pasty white mixture. It reminds me of the paper mache mix we used in elementary school to make maracas out of light bulbs...tastes pretty similar, too...don't ask how I know. Colin is at the point of his development where he gets two 1/3 servings of this each day. And daddy - me - is often called upon to make the delivery. What an adventure that is! Colin treats each bite as though it were the most amazing stuff on earth, and as if he's afraid each bite will be the last. Even before he has swallowed the previous bite, he is already grunting and whining for the next one. He has an unbridled sense of urgency that I have never before witnessed. "Daddy, I know I haven't swallowed yet, but if you don't get that next bite near my mouth for me to eat, I don't know what I'll do. I might just blow a gasket, even though I have no idea what a gasket is yet. So let's go Dad, step it up and get me that pasty white food stuff!" It's really a site to behold. And last night was an even greater adventure, as he was so excited, that both arms and both legs were flailing while his head swiveled from side to side. It was like target practice, and quite frankly, I'm not good at target practice. Thank God for bath time.

As I fed him last night, I started to think about my life. I have the tendency to live life with this same sense of urgency. I do a lot of sitting around, until push comes to shove, and then I shift life into urgent mode. I have often said that I work really well behind the 8-ball. The problem is that it doesn't work so well for those that have to deal with me. And it's not a great way to live. So many important things get pushed aside for the urgent things. Sometimes the urgent is the most important, but oftentimes it just seems that way due to its, well, urgency. The challenge for me, and for any of you like me, is to fill and focus our lives on the important so that stuff doesn't get pushed to the side in favor of the urgent. How to do that? I'm not sure, but one day, when I absolutely have to do it, when it is urgent, I hope to figure it out...

2006-08-29T16:09:00.000-05:00

New Video

Check out the new video I just posted on YouTube. You can see it on the sidebar to the right. Enjoy! And remember, Old Guys Rule...

2006-08-28T10:16:00.000-05:00

Trees and Tag, You're It!

The big Bradford Pear tree that adorned our front yard is officially gone. What was left after the storm was cut down and removed over the weekend. Now there is a great big hole in our view where once was a nice-looking tree. We will especially miss it in the spring when it was known for it's beautiful white blossoms. It's departure made me reflect on the brevity of life. If I was counting the rings correctly, it was in the neighborhood of 16 years old. Granted, this is not old when you think about Oak trees and the like, but a 16 year old Bradford Pear tree means it is a pretty big tree. And the majority of it was gone in a matter of a half hour. All that time and effort on the part of the tree and Mother Nature reduced to a pile of sawdust and leaves in minutes. What a bummer! Our life is no different. We work hard and long at whatever for however long God gives us on Earth, and then one day, we are reduced to a pile of sawdust and leaves. But hopefully, we have done something in our lives to leave a hole when we are gone, to know that we will be missed. What have you done that will be missed when you are gone?

On to the tagging. A buddy of mine from seminary, D.G. Hollums has tagged me, meaning I have to - actually, I chose to, because it's fun and interesting - answer a series of questions. This particular tagging focuses on books, so here we go:

1. One book that changed your life: (We'll assume the Bible is asssumed) The Ragamufin Gospel by Brennan Manning - If you still have a hard time grasping grace, read this...

2. One book that you have read more than once:
Put Me In The Zoo by Robert Lopshire - Colin loves this one!

3. One book you would want on a desert island:
The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide by Douglas Adams - Makes me laugh out loud every time, which brings me to...

4. One book that made you laugh:
Anything by Bill Bryson - Hilarious and educational

5. One book that made you cry:
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

6. One book you wish had been written:
The Answer Book for Being the Best Husband and Dad Ever

7. One book you wish had never been written:
The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown - Could there be any more hype for a below-average book? I think not

8. One book youÂ’re currently reading:
Pour Your Heart Into It: How Starbucks Built a Company One Cup at a Time by Howard Schultz and Dori Jones Yang

9. One book you’ve been meaning to read:
The Challenge of Jesus by N.T. Wright - I'm actually in the middle of it...for the third time

10. Tag 5 others:
Brian Jones
Guy Williams
Jennifer Schenkelberg
Jason and Jeni Russ
Scott Russ

2006-08-21T14:26:00.000-05:00

A Lot to be Thankful For

So, Saturday night during a bad storm, a tree fell on our house. And in the past week and a half, our ministry has lost five SIMYs (that's the acronym for our adult leaders). So why the title, "A Lot to be Thankful For"? Well, with regards to the tree, everyone is OK, and the damage could have been a whole lot worse. It just clipped the corner of the front porch. And with regards to our ministry, we still have many good, solid, committed leaders in our youth ministry, so I have that to be thankful for. And, I talked with my aunt the other day, and she told me of the problems they have had with bitter youth leaders that have gone so far as to leave their church (they are the junior high youth leaders) because they don't agree with the direction that the new youth pastor is taking the ministry. As near as I can tell, and from what those that have left our ministry have told me, we are not experiencing that sort of bitterness at all. It is simply a matter of people trying to scale back their lives or God taking them in a different direction in their own ministries. So praise God for that!

On a different note, I am looking for some good quotes. We are nearing the end of the renovation of our youth space at La Croix. There is a company that sells lettered wall decals. I would love to get some good, meaningful quotes that would appeal to youth to add to the walls in there. So if you have any, please pass them along. And, part of the renovation is a prayer room. If you have any quotes that specifically pertain to prayer, please pass those along as well. Thanks in advance...

2006-08-12T10:11:00.000-05:00

I'm Back!

It's good to know that two of you have noticed my blogging absence and have been concerned about it. That's more than I figured it would be. To return, I thought I would present my On Notice list of things / people that are dead to me:

Turn signal non-users: Nothing drives me battier than someone who is driving in front of me and they slow down for no apparent reason...and then they turn! That's what the little stick on the left of the drive shaft is for!
Prescription drug commercials: When did they start advertising for prescrip drugs? Sure, they have always advertised for Bayer and such, but a drug for Restless Leg Syndrome? Come on!
On-air talent shows: OK, so I watch American Idol, but do we need America's Got Talent? If you judge it by that show - which I admittedly have not watched, but have seen a few clips - no, we don't have talent. And are David Haselhoff and Brandy the ones that should be determining it?
Chuck Norris: Why is he popular? Are people trying to make him the next Kevin Bacon? It will never work.
Fox Sports football coverage: Just show me the dang game, don't make it sound and look like a blasted video game.
Sweetest Day: Just a holiday invented by Hallmark to sell cards. Love you, Marcy!
Neckties: The only time I have worn one in the past several years was to preach at my sis-in-law's wedding. Can't stand 'em.
Mike Shane: He is the local news anchor in Cape. Marcy and I laugh at him most of the time, because he is ridiculous. His time of usefulness as an anchor is long gone. Yesterday he was commenting on the ears of the Humane Society dog of the day saying that, wouldn't it be great if humans had ears like that? Huh?!?

It's good to be back...