The Joyful Sound of Water

We woke up yesterday to find our well tank empty and trouble building pressure. There's nothing much worse than getting up, turning on a faucet and nothing comes out. Add to that the double whammy of it occurring on a Sunday of Memorial Day weekend and it's just not a good thing. Fortunately, we found one well guy who was on vacation in Branson but willing to return our phone call and walk my wife through the process of getting the well up and going. Whew.

We too often take for granted the things we should be thankful for. Running water is one of those items on my list. As we finish the holiday weekend, I hope I will take the time to remember those who have sacrificed for me. Today, our attention turns to the men and women in the armed forces who are serving, who have served and who have gave their lives for the freedoms our country enjoys. Let's all say a prayer for them today.

As a Christian, I'm more thankful for Jesus who sacrificed His live that I can know true freedom. Sadly, I do take this for granted at times, focused on worldly issues instead of what needs to be central in my life, in my thoughts and in my actions. I want to make today and every day a memorial day for my Savior by living for Him.

The Essence of Life...Food and Sports

I had lunch at Sweetie Pie's Ribeyes yesterday. Eating at a place named Sweetie Pie's doesn't elicit a good picture in my mind but once I saw Sweetie Pie mounted to the wall, I figured it would be tasty. Chicken-fried steak and home cut potatoes with a salad topped with hot-bacon dressing and unsweet tea.

The renovations are great and the place looks really neat. There are a bunch of tables and they are all close together similar to Babe's in Roanoke. It was a soft opening so I didn't expect great service and didn't receive it. The salad with hot-bacon dressing was awesome. I've got a new favorite dressing now. They were out of sweet tea for those who had ordered it but when they came to fill up our glasses, we all got sweet tea even if we ordered unsweet. The meal took about 35 minutes from when we ordered to get to the table. The chicken-fried steak was a bit tougher than I would like but the potatoes were great. A friend had the ribeye and said it was good.

All in all, it was pretty good food and everyone at the table gave it a thumbs up. The kitchen and wait staff need a bit more polishing but I'm confident that will happen and this will be a good place to eat.
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I went to the Decatur HS baseball game last night after church. It's the regional semifinals and this was the first game in a best 2 out of 3 series with Snyder. Snyder had a good pitcher and two of their guys hit dingers with the wind blowing in. In the bottom of the 7th with Decatur down 2-0, one of the Staley boys made it to second after a throwing error by the Snyder pitcher and a sophmore came up to bat hitting a home run to tie the game. Two more hits and a walk later, the Decatur pitcher who had surrendered the two homers to Snyder was up to bat and hit a screaming grounder up the middle of the field into center scoring the winning run. What a great finish. Now I wish I had a quick way to get to Snyder for the next game on Saturday.
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Poor Mavs. I have several suggestions that they could have used last night. I'll wait for Avery's call!

Unbelievable

The Mavs won in overtime. I don't know how but they did. The refs rode them hard in the second half but I was exasperated that the Mavs didn't fight back. For most of the second half, they refused to drive hard to the lane and get fouled. Stackhouse drives me crazy with his desire to stay outside the 3 point line. Terry would drive and then pull up 7 feet away. Van Horn has only heard what it's like to shoot a layup. Dirk was the only one to push it and even he backed off some during the 3rd and early 4th quarter.

The oddest part of it all was watching my son yell at the TV screen. He yelled out fouls that the refs missed. He yelled at players for taking a bad shot or playing lousy defense. As if they could hear him, he kept yelling. I wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry. The reason is, I yell at the TV during sporting events. I remember early on when dating my wife, she invited me to her parents house during a NCAA championship game (UNLV and someone) and I told her I couldn't go because I wanted to watch the game and yelled at the TV. She finally convinced me to go (the power of a pretty woman) and I controlled my yelling for the most part. So, when I see my son doing the same thing, I can't help but laugh. He's just trying to help. :)

NASCAR at church

I read a column over the weekend of how a church in Florida paid $3,000 to have one of Dale Earnhart Sr.'s cars at it's Easter church service. Each person attending got a ticket to have their picture made with the car and then they could come back to service the next week to pick up the photo. (This one is for you Rick.)

I was near a church yesterday that has so many people attending they need traffic control on the road and in the parking lot to get everyone in and out. It was a church that gave out t-shirts to people who attended Easter services instead of a race car.

I don't have any issues with people using some marketing effort to get people in their buildings. It's a way to try and touch people, to spread the seed and hope that lands on good soil. Our church does the same thing at times. Just last Wednesday, we had a special service to celebrate the students of our Mother's Day Out program that brought their parents to our building to hear a brief message from our preacher, to hear some of our singing and to meet our members. Over the years, we have had a few people who met us through that outreach attend our church. It can work.

My thought on all of this is that there are many, many ways to get people to come to church but how many leave with only the photo, the t-shirt or the Me Book? How many leave without Jesus? How many leave without the life-altering experience that only comes from knowing the Son who died for us and who redeems us?

My hope is that everyone who comes in contact with me takes Jesus with them. My hope is that they see the change in my life that only comes through my relationship with a loving and merciful Savior. While I feel certain that not all do, I hope. I hope with the knowledge that the blood of the Lamb and the mercy of God is waiting for them to claim. I will hope.

The End

Sit down and stop cheering. It's not the end of my blogging.

The end of school is near. The kids are excited and the parents are wondering what they are going to do with them all summer. Planning for camps, vacation, Six Flags, the water park and a million other things makes the long hot days of summer seem pretty short.

The end of ballet is near. Recital is quickly approaching and the end of the year is near. With the extra practices and stress of being ready, it may also be the end of ballet for my daughter. It is something she has done for 7 years and done well. I want her to make the decision of what she wants to do but I, for one, will miss seeing her perform. Yet, I'm thankful for what it has taught her. As I watch her gliding through the house, I know it has been beneficial in ways that will endure.

The end of baseball is near. We are on the go many nights a week and weekends with baseball and it does get to be a grind at times yet I enjoy it so much. Last night, we had 22 minutes left and were losing but it seemed as if only a few minutes had passed since we started. I enjoy the evening and night games and I enjoy watching my son perform - even more so when he has a good game like he did last night.

The end of Boston Legal. It's a quirky show that seems to be one that people really like or don't care for at all. Not much in between. I'm one who enjoys the show and it's one of the two I want to watch each week. The other is West Wing that ended last Sunday for good. I still haven't seen the final episode but have enjoyed the frenetic pace that was exemplified in the show. I think I would enjoy working in the White House with the exception of the hours that seem to be called for.

The end of the end. While all of these things are ending, they will either start anew soon or something new will take their place. It's one thing I truly love about each day. Whatever went wrong yesterday, today can be fresh and new and totally different. I hope your new day is a beautiful day for you.

Mother's Day

Thanks mom. Thank you for loving me when I said I would never come back to Tyler. Thanks for loving me by giving me all of those attitude talks. Thank you for traveling to all the sporting events and usually bringing cookies or treats for me and the guys who didn't have parents to follow them around. While I know I made it easy most of the time (hahahahaha), thanks for loving me when I wasn't so loveable. Thanks for giving much, much more than you ever wanted in return. Your heart, your spirit and your love will always endure. I thank God for you and your devotion to Him.

Thanks to my mother-in-law. You have raised a special family and a precious daughter. I couldn't have expected a mother-in-law who would treat me so well and always make me comfortable as a part of your family. Finding a Christian wife was a dream of my parents for me. Having a Christian wife is a constant blessing to me. I thank God for you and your devotion to Him.

To my wife, I thank God for you every day. While we may disagree on issues, I know we are both walking together on a path to our final home. I know our most important goals are aligned with our focus on God. You are a good and loving mother and your children adore you. You provide, you sacrifice and, most importantly, you love unconditionally. You are a gift, a blessing to your children and to me. Thank you for being the person you are and to constantly becoming the person God wants you to be. I thank God for you and your devotion to Him.

I have been blessed to have incredible women in my life.

Halfway There

It's Wednesday and the work week is half-over. For some, it's a moment of terror as they realize how much must be accomplished in a short amount of time. For others, it's the relief of the weekend to come. I'm not sure where I fall in the mix. I look forward to the weekend but realize that I have much to do and I'll be right back at Wednesday in no time. It's been a hectic week. I did find a new employee to handle the computer issues at work which is great so I have spent most of each day with him. I have reports do in the next few days that I still need to gather a great deal of information on. Push and pull.

In the midst of all of this, we have school issues and extracurricular activities. I can't seem to juggle all the balls as well as I need to but I keep juggling all the same. I look at my wife and see her juggling also while the kids simply march through life bouncing easily from one thing to another. I miss the days of being a child. If they only knew what we know, huh?

I suppose I have made it all sound dreary but there is another view of all of this. We are healthy enough to be doing a lot of things, there are sources of income that allow us to do what we do and there is a desire, if not a passion, for much of what we do. We love each other, we hug and kiss at night and in the morning, we share good times with each other, we laugh together (and at each other), we have an incredible extended family. On top of all of this, we have a Father who is so, so good, we have a Savior who has done infinitely more than we can imagine and we have a church family that is an anchor and support for us.

Someone used to tell me that my life would be what my attitude allowed it to be. I find myself repeating the same message often. I can allow my life to be governed by the attitude that would get caught up in the troubles of the first two paragraphs of this blog or I can choose an attitude that focuses on the good things in life. I think I'll choose the latter and be on my way smiling.

How Close Is Close Enough?

As I listened to people talk last night in our class, a recurring theme continually resonated in my head. When will I ever be close enough to God?

As we talk about church growth and the methodologies to make it happen, I often realize my own experience has been "in doing church" instead of really knowing God. For too much of my life, I've ventured into an intellectual relationship with God knowing what I should do but not having the emotional and spiritual relationship that makes me want to do His will. I've grown in knowledge but not spiritually. I've been regular in attendance but not an emulator of Christ in all that I do. I look around and I'm afraid I see people like me, people comfortable going to church but uncomfortable living Christ-like. I find people unloveable when I should be loving all people, I see people as high-maintenance when I should be full of compassion, I see people who can fend for themselves when I should be driven to serve them.

Why do I worry about what church uses an instrument or what church uses women in different ways or what church does this or that when I'm not worried that the people I come in contact with everyday don't see Jesus living in me? I don't have a problem debating some of the things we do or see in churches today but is Christ better served in my debate or in my desire to show the lost of the majesty and glory of being a child of God?

I pray that my focus forevermore will remain on Christ, that I will strive to know His will and be His servant.