Live for the Truth

Kickin' The Habit

2005-08-11T22:41:00.000-07:00

I started drinking coffee when I was about two years old. I can remember lying on the hard wood floor of our home, watching The Three Stooges, drinking coffee from a baby bottle, and rubbing the silky edge around my blanket between my fingers. Ah, the memories! My mother would bore the hole in the nipple with a knife and fill the bottle with coffee, cream, and sugar. What was she thinking? I remember my parents getting mad at me because I wouldn’t go to bed when they told me to. Hello!? Around my house we try to keep the kids away from any form of stimulant. They’re already bouncing off the walls; I can’t imagine what a ‘cup-o-jo’ would do to them.
I continued to drink coffee all the way through my school years, though not as much as when I was a toddler.
When I entered the real world coffee became a staple in my every day routine. If I don’t have at least one cup of coffee in the morning I’ll suffer headaches throughout the day.
When I’m working nights I’ll usually drink a pot in the first 3 hours of a 12-hour shift. If I don’t stop drinking before 11pm I won’t be able to sleep well the next day, due to caffeine and trips to the restroom.
There is one stretch each month where I work 4 consecutive 12-hour night shifts. (mon-thur) Last month, on Thursday evening, I realized that I hadn’t drank anything but coffee for the past three days. And during those three days I had slept a combined total of around 11 hours. I'm beginning to think there may be a connection.
Folks, this cannot be healthy. The only time I’ve ever been able to curb the ‘java jones’ was while I was running. I didn’t crave coffee at all. My body craved nothing but water, and lots of it. I slept better at nights, and during the daytime. I even had more energy during my waking hours.
That’s it! I’m going to start running again and stop drinking coffee. After all, it’s not right for me to let a steaming cup of bean juice run my life.
I’m finished! Done! I’m through with it!
He says as he hears the coffee maker come gurgling to a halt.
Hey, I do have to stay awake until morning!

Role Model?

2005-08-10T20:20:00.000-07:00

Lance Armstrong is a tremendous athlete and his accomplishments are remarkable. He is one of the best, if not THE best, conditioned athletes in the world. Lance has about 4% body fat, while Shaquille O’Neal has about 16%. He has a resting heart rate below 40 and the average man’s is around 70. Lance’s VO2 Max rating (the amount of oxygen the lungs consume during exercise) is 85. An average healthy male MIGHT rate a 40. Looking at those numbers I have to believe that Lance would be the ideal marathon runner. He beat testicular cancer, only to win one of the most difficult athletic events- a 2000+ mile bike race- 7 years in a row, despite being told by doctors that he only had a 20% chance of survival. He’s raised millions of dollars for cancer research.
Now, having said that, why don’t I think Lance Armstrong should be considered a role model for kids?
While the media was all ‘goo-goo’ over Lance and Sheryl, his rock star girlfriend, they never mentioned that Lance left his wife and mother of his children just a couple of years ago because, apparently, they had different priorities. Word is that Lance’s ex-wife had this crazy idea that Lance should spend more time at home with her and the kids, and less time riding his bike around the world. How crazy is that? How selfish can this woman possibly be to want to rob the world of this great athlete just so her kids can have their father around the house? I’ve also read Lance had a hard time understanding his wife’s devotion to her faith. That’s not hard to believe since Lance has been quoted as saying such things as “If there was a god, I’d still have both of my nuts” or “God gave me cancer, the doctors took it away”. If you google “Lance Armstrong God” you will see several atheist websites singing the praises of their hero, Lance Armstrong. I don’t really know if Lance is an atheist or not, but his statements would lead you to believe so.
We live in a world that wants the highest paid athletes, biggest movie stars and rock stars to be the model of perfection. After all, fame and fortune is what it’s all about, isn’t it? Don’t get me wrong, these type folks are definitely ‘role models’, just not ‘good role models’.
I do not dislike Lance Armstrong whatsoever. In fact, I think he is probably a great guy. It’s not his fault that he has had this title forced upon him.
BTW, I don’t think that Babe Ruth was a very good role model either. But in those days the MSM didn’t let the ‘little things’ get by them.

Best Left Unsaid (Part II)

2005-08-08T22:25:00.000-07:00

I love watching sports on TV. I’ve been married for more than 18 years. I’ve fathered three kids. I love to work on cars and get my hands dirty. I work in a steel mill for Pete’s sake! Now, having said that, I’ve got a confession to make… You see, I love watching Gilmore Girls. At first I thought I was the only man who struggled with this. But I’ve come to discover that at least a couple of other ‘guys’ I know also enjoy watching the show, one of which has loaned me the first season on DVD. I don’t know what it is about this program. I wish I could tell you that I had a crush on Lorelia or Rory, but it’s much worse than that. I do think the girls are VERY cute, but I actually find myself getting caught up in the show! As a Christian conservative (see: right-wing wacko), I have many problems with some of the shows message. But that can be said about 99.9% of today’s programming. I think Gilmore Girls is one of the most brilliantly written programs ever. The dialog between the characters is hilarious. The town, Stars Hollow, is the kind of place we all would love to live in. You find yourself really caring about the relationships between the characters. Sometimes it gives you that warm fuzzy feeling that can only be duplicated by watching video 1980 US men’s hockey team, a Sports Century episode on Lou Gehrig, a Nolan Ryan no-hitter, or highlights of one of the Dallas Cowboy’s Super Bowl victories.

Best Left Unsaid

2005-08-08T22:14:00.000-07:00

When I was in school I wrote a term paper titled ‘Satan in Rock Music’. You know, things like Stairway to Heaven backwards, KISS (Knights In Satans Service), Anton LeVay’s picture on the Hotel California album cover, and stuff like that. At the time I was probably a little more caught up in the subject than I should have been. While I became a Christian a few years earlier, I had gotten pretty deep into the heavy metal scene. I would frequent concerts by such bands as Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, KISS, Van Halen, and Ozzy Osborne. When I look back I realize that I was an extremely messed-up teenager. I don’t know why I chose the subject that I did, I guess because I found it fascinating. Fascination can be a very bad thing, especially when it draws you away from Christ. You’d be surprised how many books you can find on this subject. Remember, this is WAY before the days of the internet. One of the books that I checked out from the library talked about a ‘conversion’ The Eagles went through in the early ‘70s. I remember it describing it as ‘selling their souls’ to the devil. The book stated that their conversion to Satanism was documented in their song Hotel California. A few years later one of the band members – I can’t remember which one – struggled with his decision to serve Satan because he had given his heart to Christ as a child. As he struggled with all of this, strange things began to happen to him. There were equipment failures, illnesses, and other things that he experienced. While in bed suffering from exhaustion he would wake up every evening at precisely eleven thirty four. Finally, one night when he awoke the digital alarm clock next to his bed was turned upside down and it read HELL, which is 11:34. If I remember correctly, this is what helped lead to the band’s separation. I have no idea if any of this stuff was actually true. I just remember it made an impression on me at the time. It also made for good term paper material.
Now, on to the part that I should never tell anyone.
Over the years I haven't been able to look at a clock reading 11:34 without remembering that story. That seems pretty acceptable. In fact, I can’t even see the numbers 20 or 34 without remembering Earl Campbell. Here’s where it gets really strange. Over recent years I have begun to look at the clock at exactly 11:34. I don’t look at the clock any more frequently than the average person, I don’t believe. But I will go for days at a time without seeing 11:34 on the clock two times per day. If I’m asleep, I will wake up and roll over, knowing that the clock is going to read 11:34, and sure enough…it does. I really don’t know what to make of this. I had written if off a long time ago as merely coincidence. But after a while one has to start to wonder. Is it God trying to tell me something? Is it the devil? Is it my mind, along with my internal clock, playing games with me?
Okay, so now when I go ‘over the edge’ you’ll know one of the many contributing factors.

Extreme Makeover (Daddy Edition)

2005-07-25T12:56:00.000-07:00

I mentioned that I had painted the kid's rooms.

I worked nights this weekend and when I got home the girls were all sleeping in my bed with their mom. So I decided that I would sleep in my daughter's room, as not to disturb anyone. The only problem was that I could still see the colors of the room when I closed my eyes!!!

2005-07-25T12:54:00.000-07:00

McKenzie's Room

2005-07-25T12:53:00.000-07:00

Macie's Room

2005-07-25T12:51:00.000-07:00

Jordan's Room

Thoughts

2005-07-23T22:34:00.000-07:00

Who do we think we are?
I really like to watch the reality show ‘Airline’, based on everyday activities inside the terminals of Southwest Airlines around the country. It’s a pretty bold move for Southwest to allow full access to cameras, regardless of the situation. While the airline isn’t always in the ‘right’, although 99% of the time they are, they handle every situation much better than I would myself. Watching this show you realize just how self-centered and ignorant most people really are. I have no doubt that these people have no idea just how foolish they come across when they’re causing a scene in front of the cameras. If you’ve seen the program, then you know what I’m talking about.

The other morning I had to run to Wal-Mart to buy some supplies for painting my girl’s rooms. (Hot Pink & Lime Green!!!) On my way to checkout a man carrying an arm full of items was walking in front of me. It was about 8am in the morning, so the store wasn’t very busy at all. There was only one counter opened at the nearest end of registers, and it was the express lane. I noticed that none of the ‘self-check’ lanes were opened, so I got in line behind a gentleman who was about ready to pay, while the other guy proceeded to the ‘self-check’ counter. He attempted to scan an item before he finally realized that the thing wasn’t turned on. He looked over toward the express lane where I was second in line, and I stepped back as if to let him in front of me since that’s where he would have been. But instead of walking over and getting in line, he barks out for the cashier to “get a manager” over there immediately. The cashier asked if there was anything she could help him with, but he was bent on speaking to a manager. By the time a manager arrived I had already paid, but wanted to stick around an finish watching this fool make an arse of himself. The whole time I’m thinking, “If this guy is in such a hurry, then why didn’t he just choose to get in line like everyone else?” When the manager finally got there, he lit into him about how the ‘self-check’ lines are supposed to be there for the customer’s convenience, and since they’re not turned on it’s caused him more of an inconvenience than anything. Huh? He had to know that I was standing there watching him make a spectacle of himself. I was also waiting for him to lash out at the poor checkout girl again. I could tell that she was pretty intimidated by this fool. After the manager was able to kiss his butt enough to make him happy, he proceeded to pay like a regular person would have. I had already gotten into my truck when he came out of the store and hopped into his Lexus, which was parked in a HANDICAP SPACE. Is it just me, or do people like this really get under your skin too?

I realize that there are times when I don’t handle things in a very Christian manner. But I always try to maintain the WWJD attitude when a situation arises.

I’m excited.
I’ve been asked to teach the youth class next Wednesday night, since our youth minister is going to be out of town. It’s been a couple of years since I’ve taught Sunday School and I miss it a lot. I don’t really know what I’m going to talk about yet, since it is just a one-time deal. It’s also been a couple of years since I’ve been able to go to camp with the kids during the summer. I miss that even more.

My son is growing too fast.
Jordan will be going into the eighth grade this fall. He’s already taller than I am, by just tiny bit. He’s started growing hair in all those strange places and his voice has dropped a few octaves. The great thing is, he hasn’t traded Spongebob for music videos, at least as far as I know.
He’s in for a rude awakening when football practice starts. By the time I was 13 me and my friends would work out during the summer to stay in shape for two-a-days. But with the exception of fishing and swimming Jordan hasn’t had any physical activities this summer. I’ve been telling him all summer that he’s going to barf when he has to run in the heat, but he won’t listen. This will be one of those ‘father knows best’ lessons.

"When I was 14, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have him around. But when I got to be 21, I was astonished to find out how much the old man had learned in seven years." Mark Twain

Lord, help me.
In the past, I have expressed how displeased I am that my girls are into competitive cheerleading. I admit that I actually enjoyed watching them perform when I was forced to go to their competitions.
My oldest daughter isn’t really the cheerleading type. She is only on a squad because the instructor begged her to join because there weren’t enough girls. She’s more of the ‘athletic’ type and would much rather be playing softball or basketball.
My youngest daughter is REALLY into the whole ‘cheer’ thing. She’s very small and agile for her age. (9) She is what they call a ‘flyer’, which is the one they toss up in the air and hold over their heads. She can also tumble really well. She will actually be on two different squads this year. First, they had decided to move her up to an older squad this year. Instead of being on a squad with the elementary age girls, they moved her up to a squad with girls up to 13 years old. Then, they decided that they would move her and another girl up to the senior squad. They’re going to be performing with the high school age girls!
This whole ‘cheerleading’ thing is getting WAY out of hand.

Movie Review
I took the girls to see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory the other day. I thought the movie was decent. I think it would have probably been a better film if it weren’t a ‘Tim Burton’ movie. You come to expect a certain ‘weirdness’ associated with his movies, but Johnny Depp took it to the extreme in this film. While Gene Wilder’s character wasn’t exactly normal, he didn’t come across quite as disturbed with as many issues as Depp’s portrayal of Wonka. I was, however, very pleased with certain parts of the movie. I really liked the way the movie kept in line with the original in the way it portrayed Charlie’s family. Who doesn’t remember both sets of their grandparents lying around in bed together all day?

Hater
Recently, a co-worker left me notepad message on my computer. The message said that God didn’t want people to become religious robots that march into church each time the doors are open. God intended for the church to be an “organism”, not an organization. (I can’t argue with that one) It stated, “god wants your heart, not your attendance”.
I’m guessing that because I often have my Bible on my desk and attend church with my family, I’m a “religious robot”. I can honestly say that honored that some perceive me this way. However, I feel sorry for this person that seems to want to find an ‘out’ so they don’t have to go to church and change their life. I will pray for you, whoever you are.

Still Here

2005-07-11T23:51:00.000-07:00

Where have I been?
Why haven’t I written over the last couple of months? I can think of many reasons. I’ve been very busy. We’ve had kids running every which direction, with baseball, softball, cheer, and church camps. With it being summer, there is always someone at home. I just don’t feel right ‘blogging’ when I can’t seem to find time to study the Word, like I should. Not to mention that the computer is usually tied up with one of the kids on MSN Messenger. What a monster I created!!! A couple of months ago I showed them how to IM, and they’ve since created a ‘friends’ list with over 30 kids on it. But probably the main reason I hadn’t written is because I had lost my place of ‘solitude’. For the past 3 months I’ve been training someone else how to do my job. It’s strange going from being locked-up in a lab alone for 12 hours at a time, to having someone following you around, watching every move you make. It’s hard for me to write when I’ve got someone looking over my shoulder, literally. Luckily, this person was easy to get along with. Although a bit young and naïve, they were wise enough to realize it. But now I’ve returned, all alone in the lab again. I don’t know how long this is going to last though. I’ve heard that I’ll be training another person beginning next week. People have been dropping like flies around here, and I can’t figure out why. For some reason they all say they are ‘stressed’ doing this job. My mind cannot even conceive this “stress” that they speak of. I guess another reason that I haven’t written is that I just haven’t felt like it. I still read all the same blogs that I usually read, but I don’t even feel like leaving a response most of the time. Hopefully, this entry will be the beginning of a string of entries.

How are things going?
Things are going great! The Lord has blessed me with a beautiful wife, three great kids, a loving church family, many dear friends, a good paying job, and a nice home. I count my many blessings each and every day. While my study time has decreased significantly over the past couple of months, I find at least as much time as ever to meditate and pray. It seems like almost every day that tragedy strikes ‘too close to home’. When I look at all that I have, and am thankful for, “blessings” are the only explanation.
Recently, there was talk that I was being considered for a ‘day’ position here at work. Day jobs are hard to come by in this industry. Usually someone has to die before someone else gets promoted. Well, as I mentioned before, we had several people quit or transfer and I’m stuck working the same rotating shift that I’ve been working for the past 13 years. I had been praying for the past couple of years for a day job and I thought that prayer was going to be answered. For reasons that I don’t yet understand, I’m not supposed to be a 9 to 5 guy right now.
My wife has taken on the role of interim church secretary while our secretary recovers from a battle with cancer. I can’t tell you how great this is for her. Since I haven’t been able to take on a more active role in the church, I’d been praying that she would have the opportunity to do so. This Friday she will be going with the youth to Ft. Worth for Y.E.C. (Youth Evangelism Conference) I believe that God is really starting to do things in her life. That can’t be a bad thing, can it?

The lighter side of sports…
The Longhorns have won yet another NCAA Championship in baseball. While there is no doubt that football draws all the national attention and media coverage, we all know that it is baseball that really matters. After all, it is the “Great American Pastime”. I knew they had the talent to win it all this year, but questioned whether they were mentally prepared, especially since their pitching had little experience. Who knows? This could be the year for TEXAS to win it all in football too. For sure, Vince Young will make a run after the Heisman, especially if he has a good performance against Ohio State and Oklahoma early in the season.
The little Rangers are plugging along despite inconsistent (at best) pitching. We can only hope that the Angels fall flat on their faces during the second half of the season. Looking at the AL East, I don’t think a wildcard is in books this year. It’s either ‘win it all’, or nothing. If Kenny Rogers isn’t committed before the season’s end, Chan Ho continues to produce runs (?), and we patch together enough innings of quality relief, I think the Rangers have a chance.
Could someone please explain to me why Michelle Wie is trying to play on the men’s tour? Granted, she is probably the greatest 15 year-old golfer of all time, even greater than Tiger at that age. But she is just that… a 15 year-old golfer. She hasn’t proven that she can win on the amateur tour or the LPGA. Why must she try to compete with men? Is it her, or her parents, that feels the need to make this huge leap? There isn’t much of a difference in the 120th and 200th ranked male golfers in the world. Any one of them is capable of making the cut from week to week. If that is where Michelle wants to be, then more power to her. But if she wants to be playing on Sunday afternoon each week, she needs to be able to win about 20 LPGA events in a row. Who knows, maybe she will become a competitor on the PGA Tour. But it isn’t going to happen in the next couple of years, if at all. I once heard a tour player say that the average male club-pro could be competitive on the women’s tour. Does it make me a chauvinist if I think that true? On the same subject… Has anyone noticed how much larger Annika Sorenstam has gotten in recent years? Her arms are huge. Her shoulders are much squarer. And her facial features seem more, well, manly. I hope she doesn’t read this!!! The craziest things cross your mind at two in the morning.

Church Payola

2005-05-16T06:55:00.000-07:00

A couple of years ago I looked around at the people I was attending church with. There were doctors, lawyers (lots of lawyers), judges, CEOs, and politicians. I was sitting in Sunday School with our state representative, a wealthy business owner who made his fortune developing and manufacturing video games. He even fought against the current rating system that is supposed to prevent our children from getting their hands on the games that are filled with violence and filth. He called it censorship.
I feel certain that most of these people gave generously to the church. That became apparent when I spoke to the preacher about issues he seemed to skate around during his sermons. I started to notice that his sermons were very ‘user friendly’. It was obvious that he didn’t want to bite the hand that fed him.
I cannot judge what is in other people’s hearts when they reach into their pocketbook. But one has to wonder if people were giving generously to the church to ‘buy’ their religion. You have to wonder if they were just looking for someplace where they could attend church in comfort, without having to worry about hearing anything bad spoken of their lavish lifestyles. Hoping not to hear anything about giving it all away and following Jesus.
They gave, but you can bet that they didn’t give enough to effect the kind of car they drove or the size of home they lived in.
Am I bitter because I feel like the preacher ignored me because I didn’t give as much as other members of the congregation? Probably. I do need to let that go. But you see those people didn’t have to worry about their ‘smallish’ check they’d written to the church clearing the bank at the right time.
Shortly after we left this church the congregation ‘split’. The church is now about half the size it was before. Of course, you might guess which half remains.

So I don’t feel that the amount that you give is as important as what is behind your motivation to give.

Do you know me?

2005-04-06T12:37:00.000-07:00

I am told not to judge others, even when it’s so obvious that they are not good people.

I know that I should be able to forgive those who’ve done me wrong, yet I find myself getting angry at their very sight.

I am appalled by all the sex on television, in the movies, and the clothes that some women wear, but I catch myself lusting after them in my mind.

I’m told not to lie, but the lies roll off my lips as if they were the truth.

I’m a liar

I’m a hypocrite

I’m devious

I’m self-centered

I’M A CHRISTIAN!!!

God, help me to become the man that I claim to be.

R.I.P. Terri Schiavo

2005-04-01T08:55:00.002-08:00

Terri Schiavo past away yesterday morning. I pray that she is in the presence of the Lord, looking down with forgiveness. Forgiveness toward her husband, if she hadn’t actually told him that she didn’t wish to be kept alive under those circumstances, and forgiveness toward this country for allowing her to slowly die for 13 days without food or water. I hope that those on the ‘other’ side of this issue don’t consider Terri’s death to be a victory. I can’t help but feel somewhat responsible for Terri’s death. I can’t explain how, I just feel that we have let her down. Much in the same way I feel responsible for Jesus’ death on the cross. It’s our fault that this country has gotten to where it is today. Don’t get me wrong; this is still the greatest country on Earth in which to live, but we are definitely headed in the wrong direction morally.

My pastor asked me if he could put my ‘Henry’ story on the church website, without identifying me as the author. Initially, I told him that I didn’t mind if he attached my name to the story. But having thought about it, I felt that some people in the church might want to ‘judge’ me because of my past. Should I feel this way? If a story like that can change the way one Christian looks at another, doesn’t that mean that one of them has some issues with their own Christianity?

We’ve all had to deal with it. We’ve all heard that ‘screaming kid’ during the service. Once, the preacher had to stop in the middle of the service and tell the congregation, “It’s just a crying baby. Surely you’ve all heard a baby cry before.” We have a relatively small congregation. We average about 60 people for the Sunday service. Of course, there were a lot more this past Easter Sunday. Some Sundays there are 7 to 10 kids in the nursery. Other Sundays there aren’t any. There are a few people who refuse to leave their kids, or grandkids, in the nursery at all, even if they should be. This past Sunday everyone had their kids all dressed up in their Easter attire. I guess, since the nursery was empty, that they wanted to ‘show off’ their cute children. While our pastor delivered one of his best services, there were kids screaming and hollering all through the service. I would think that I had them tuned out, when the elderly lady in front of me would break her neck to turn around and cast a dirty look in the direction of the unruly child. Which, in turn, would cause me to lose focus.
What is the proper way to address this issue? On one hand, if you say something to the parents about leaving their kids in the nursery, you’re liable to run them off. On the other hand, if you don’t say something, you’re liable to run someone off who is there to actually listen to the Word being preached.
I don’t recall my children every causing a disruption during the service. Is it wrong for me to expect other people to control their children, as to not interfere with my time of worship? But some of these people whose children are acting up appear to be the one’s who need to hear the Word more than I do. But can they actually get anything out of the service if they’re tending to their children the whole time?

The past two days I have managed to run – I use that term loosely – the seven-mile loop, along the back-roads near my home. I’m averaging a pace approximately 2.5 minutes PER MILE slower than I was just last November. It is at this point that I tell myself, “At least I’m able to run 7 miles.” But for some reason that doesn’t make me feel much better. I believe most people, with any reasonable amount of determination, are capable of running much farther than they think they can. Besides, I’ve seen 90+ year-old men run a full 26.2-mile marathon. I think my downfall late last year was mainly due to me setting much too lofty goals for myself. While I could find all the running calculators that told me I was ‘on schedule’, and people who would tell me what I wanted to hear, I think I was pushing myself, physically, way too hard. This time I think I’m going to take things a bit more slowly. I’m going to restrict my weekly mileage to approximately 35 miles per week, with one day of speed training and one day of rest. I plan on keeping this schedule throughout the spring and summer. Then, if things are going smoothly, I could possibly begin a 20-week training program for ‘The Rock’ in December. I’m going to take it one day at a time.

4,550,002,005 A.B. (after bang)

2005-03-29T08:50:00.010-08:00

Many school textbooks are replacing BC (before Christ) with BCE (before common era) and AD (Anno Domini ‘year of our Lord’) with CE (common era) in an attempt to be PC (politically correct) and further the cause of secularism.
How are we going to get around the significance of this being the year 2005? Soon we’ll have to replace all of our calendars and order new checks.

He Died For Scum Like Me

2005-03-27T20:13:00.000-08:00

We didn’t have a sunrise service at church this morning, so I woke up with the resurrection on my mind. As the sun broke I wondered what it would have been like to actually be there that morning. I’ve heard a hundred different interpretations of the events of that morning. Fact is, we can’t know exactly how things went down on the most significant morning in history. We all have a vision in our minds of how everything must have looked. But our visions have been influenced by movies and other people’s interpretation of the scriptures. I would just like to see exactly what it was like that morning, when Jesus rose from the dead. I want to see the angels. I want to see Mary when she arrived at the tomb. I want to see how the burial cloth looked lying there empty. I want to see John outrun everyone one the way back to the tomb. I want to see Peter rush in first. (Who’d have thought Peter would be the first?) I want to see the guards waking up to realize that Jesus was gone. I want to see what Jesus looked like, and understand why Mary didn’t recognize him. Do you think we’ll ever get to see these things? Will it be revealed to us in Heaven? I wonder if there will be something like a movie theater where we’ll be able to sit down and watch the events of the morning that Christ rose from the dead? I wonder.

Recently a fellow blogger wrote about how cruel school children could be. Reading this reminded me of when I was a teenager in high school. At the time I didn’t realize just how much you could affect someone by your actions towards them. But I learned a lesson that I will always be able to use to teach my children the pain that you cause when you are cruel to other kids.

When I was a senior in high school I was chosen to be one of the guys who would help build our school’s bonfire and stand guard the night before the homecoming pep rally, guarding it from rival schools. The bonfire had to be guarded because it was the ‘in thing’ to ignite the other school’s bonfire in the middle of the night, so they would have to cancel the homecoming festivities. Anyway, there were about ten to twelve of us chosen that particular year. Everyone chosen was part of our ‘inner circle’ of friends, except one kid, Henry. I really don’t know why Henry was chosen, unless someone thought that we might actually do the ‘right thing’ and recognize that Henry was a kid in need of friendship, and accept him into our ‘gang’.
What could they have been thinking? Henry obviously came from a very poor family. He wore old ratty shirts with holes in them. All of his blue jeans came above his ankles. We used to ask him if he was expecting a flood.
We got out of school the whole day prior to the bonfire. Several semi-trucks came and dumped big piles of wooden pallets on the ground. Our job was to stack these pallets into a small mountain for the bonfire. (approx. 30ft high) During the day we began working hard, ignoring Henry except when we needed him to help us. Henry would jump right in, eager to be one of the guys. That afternoon, after school had let out, we sent one of our guys to go buy some beer, like everyone would have expected us to do. We began drinking and ‘partying’ in a friends van. Henry didn’t drink or ‘party’, not that we asked him to, so we made him continue to work on the bonfire. Every time he would stop working we would tell him that he was going to have to go home if he didn’t get back to work. That night after the sun went down, word got out about the party and things got pretty wild. Henry had never been to any of our parties, so he must have really been feeling out of place. So we tried to make him feel welcome. One of the guys, one who you would expect to do such a thing, started to pick on Henry in front of everyone. He kept on until even Henry felt the need to stand up for himself. When he did, the guy promptly put Henry in his place by punching him in the nose. Henry hit the ground, got up, and ran off crying. We don’t really know where Henry went, my guess is that he ran all the way home. The following night the bonfire went off perfect, thanks to our dedication and school spirit. The rest of the weekend came and went.
On Monday morning we received word that Henry had committed suicide over the weekend. He used his belt to hang himself from the ceiling fan in his room. Wouldn’t you think that we all would have fallen to our knees with feelings of guilt and shame? You would have, but that’s not how it happened. We had no idea that we had done anything wrong. Henry was a weird kid, he was probably having problems at home, and that’s what led him to do such a thing. I remember jokes about Henry being so skinny that a ceiling fan would hold him up.
The whole school attended Henry’s funeral a couple of days later. I remember standing in front of Henry’s casket, when one of my friends replied that his neck didn’t look any longer. Of course I found this inappropriate, but obviously not too much so since I remember laughing about it later.
It never really sunk in until a few years later. I’m not one to believe in ghosts. In fact, I still don’t to this day. But late one school night, while we were cruising around town ‘partying’, we passed a hitchhiker on the side of the road. When we passed the hitchhiker I thought to myself, “That looked just like Henry.” I wasn’t going to say anything, and didn’t have to. One of my friends yelled out “Holy shit, that dude looked like that guy that hung himself.” Then another guy in the car, along with myself, agreed with him. We did a 180 in the middle of the road to go back and take a second look. We were never able to find the hitchhiker again. We looped around a couple of times, looked in the ditch with the headlights, but no hitchhiker. We were pretty freaked out about the whole event. We told the rest of the guys about what we had seen, then went on about our ways. I can’t explain, unless it was someone who just happened to look like Henry, got scared when they saw us turn around, and ran and hid in the field next to the road. I’m going to guess that is what happened. But Henry has haunted me, in the true sense of the word, every since.
I pray that Henry will forgive me someday. Any one of us who was picking on Henry should have died, not Henry. How could we have been so cruel? We didn’t see ourselves as bad kids, but obviously we were.
I’ve used this story, without some of the details, to demonstrate to kids just how your actions can affect others.

Father, please forgive me.

Note: I just spoke to a friend who asked me if this story were true. He said it sounded like one of those snopes.com stories. You won't find this on snopes, because it isn't fiction. Sad, but true, everything I wrote actually happened.

2005-03-25T20:07:00.000-08:00

This was taken near my home, a couple of weeks ago. It was one of those moments when God reveals himself. I like to call them Psalm moments, much like David must have felt.

2005-03-25T19:39:00.000-08:00

My youngest loves to take pictures of herself.

My Upbringin'

2005-03-24T22:28:00.000-08:00

Am I who I am because of my childhood, or despite of my childhood?
I think the main reason I want to provide my kids with a loving father is because I did not have one myself. I’m not saying that my father didn’t love me, he just never let it show. The main reason is because he was a miserable alcoholic for most of his life. When my mother and father married they were just kids. My mother was 15, and my father 17. Of course they didn’t marry out of love for one another. They married because my mother was pregnant with me.
I don’t think either of my parents ever got over the bitterness of having their lives ‘changed’ at such an early age. I believe the strongest love is love that is ‘made’. Meaning, two people that learn to love one another before they let lust and desire determine their feelings. My parents never had this luxury. They could have paved an easier road for themselves if they had set their goals to it. But the bitterness prevented them from ever having a common goal.
Needless to say, my parents divorced shortly after my youngest brother ‘dropped out’ of school. I’m not an advocate of divorce, except under biblical authority, but I could see this coming from the time I was a small child. I remember my parents having knock-down-drag-out fights when I was very little. I think it must have been because they didn’t think I was old enough to remember, because it seemed to settle down, for the most part, as I got older. As I remember, the mostly yelled at one another, with a few incidents of violence, for the rest of their marriage. But, to be honest, they never had a chance.
Ironically, my parents divorced a few months after my father stopped drinking. It was one specific event that led up to their imminent demise. My mother had just gotten out of the hospital from having kidney surgery, when my father got drunk and tried to rape her. I remember my mother telling me about this. She said that my father was filled with an anger that she had never seen. It must have been a horrific event to cause my father to stop drinking and my mother to decide to divorce him.
For the most part I remember my father being more of an embarrassing drunk, rather than a violent one. My father would come to my sporting events either already inebriated or with a flask in his pocket. Usually both. And, believe me, everyone in the bleachers was aware of it. Once, while I was playing football in jr. high, my father didn’t get home in time to ride with my mom to the game. My guess is that he was at a bar. Since we lived just a few blocks from the football field my father decided to ride my dirt bike (motorcycle) to the game. I remember we were lined up in the end zone, stretching before the game, when I saw my father coming down the road. When he attempted to turn onto the road that ran beside the football field he didn’t make the turn and ran into the 8ft chain link fence that surrounded the stadium. Everyone either saw it happen, or heard it. My coaches and teammates all ran to see if my father was all right. Of course, he wasn’t injured. He was just so drunk he could hardly speak. Another time, when I was a freshman playing football on the JV, I asked the coach to take me out of the game. I had already scored two touchdowns and rushed for nearly 100 yards. I had turned my ankle and I didn’t think I could ‘cut’ on it. My father started yelling for me to ‘suck it up’ and ‘get my ass back out there’. The high school coaches aren’t as tolerant as the peewee and jr. high coaches, because one of them turned around yelled at my dad to ‘shut up’ or he was going to have him removed from the stands. Ah, the joys of childhood!
While my father hid behind the bottle, my mother had her own way of drowning in her misery. She would just shut out the entire world and refuse to do anything. My mother never cleaned house. She had to be the worst housekeeper I have ever seen. I remember living in a filthy house from the time I was a small child. I actually used to get mocked because I kept my room clean. My mom has always been a very angry, hard to get along with, person. She could never keep a friend for very long because they would do something to make her mad. When I would do something bad, and get in trouble, my mom would be there to defend me. Even though I needed to be in trouble, she would take up for me. As a teen I thought that was pretty cool. But as I look back I realize that what I needed was discipline, not mercy. I realize that the discipline is usually the father’s job. But remember, my father wasn’t able to discipline because he was usually intoxicated.
Where are they now? My father has lived with his girlfriend for the past few years. He hasn’t had a drink since before my mother left him. He has his own life that includes shooting pool every night of the week and hanging out with his car club on the weekend. He actually seems happier than he’s ever been. But he doesn’t seem aware of the fact that he has three grandchildren that live within 50 miles of him. I usually talk to him about once per month. Nothing of substance, just “Hello. How you been?”. If we let him know far enough ahead of time, he may make it to one of the kid’s sporting events each year. As for my mother, she remarried nearly 6 years ago. She disappeared for a couple of years, then showed up on our doorstep one day. She said that she felt guilt because of her failed marriage. The man she is married to is a real strange guy. He’s one of the biggest habitual liars I have ever seen. At first I thought he was making up these lies to try and impress me, so that I would accept him. Just for kicks…He’s a black belt, and trained with Bruce Lee. He raced motocross, professionally. He used to be a body builder, and got so big that he broke a bone in his neck stretching out his arms. He is an excellent marksman, and could light a match at 200yds with a .22 rifle. He used to be a private investigator. He has his commercial pilots license. These are all things he has told me. Then, a couple of years ago his 13 year-old daughter from another marriage accused him of molesting her. Of course, he and my mother said that he was being falsely accused. But I told my mother that I already knew that he wasn’t a truthful person that I could trust. And since my children are my most prized possessions I couldn’t allow him to ever be around them when I wasn’t there. That meant that they could no longer spend the night at her house. Since then, I’ve spoken to her three times and seen her once. She had a decision to make, and she made it.
So you see my kids are broke in the ‘grandparent’ department. Which is sad since both my wife and I were very close to our grandparents.
So, if you’ll please forgive me. Now you see why I am the way I am.

Passion Week: Friday

Early in the morning, the Sanhedrin, Pilate, Herod Antipas, and Pilate tried Jesus again (Matt. 27:1-30; Mark 15:1-19; Luke 22:66—Luke 23:25; John 18:28—John 19:16). Jesus was then led to the cross and crucified at 9: 00 a.m. and died at 3: 00 p.m. and was buried later that day (Matt. 27:31-60; Mark 15:20-46; Luke 23:26-54; John 19:16-42). Christ the Paschal Lamb (1 Cor. 5:7) died at the time when the Israelites were sacrificing their Passover lambs.

My Heart

2005-03-24T00:44:00.000-08:00

My faith is, absolutely, the most important thing in my life. But my family is God’s gift to me, here on earth. It’s because of them that I strive to be the best I can possibly be. Since my childhood was lacking in so many ways, I want to provide them with everything that I never had as a child. I’m not talking about material things, but spiritual and moral guidance. I want them to see the Heavenly Father through the actions of their earthly father.

Leaving them at home tonight, while I came to work, hurt more than I can ever remember. If there were I a time in life that I could preserve, it would be right now. In a few years they will be grown and I know I’ll long to have them back home with their mother and me. We’ve told each of them that we would give them a piece of property next to our home so they could and build, and live there with their families. While it sounds like a wonderful idea, I know it will never happen.

A couple of years ago I sat down and wrote a letter to each of them. I remember I had pretty much the same feelings about them that I'm having now. I don't think you can tell your kids you love them too many times. I figured since I'm here at work thinking about them, I'd might as well write it down. While it may not make for interesting reading (as opposed to what normally write), there is nothing easier than writing about these wonderful gifts from God.

Jordan,
When you were born you changed our lives forever. You fit the part of a big brother perfectly. You’re sisters are lucky to have someone as caring as yourself for their brother. Two weeks ago we celebrated your 13th birthday. It’s hard to believe that you’re actually a teenager now. Honestly, I thought that we would have had some problems out of you by now. But you’ve been the perfect child to this point. You’ve always managed to bring home A’s on your report cards, despite never having homework. Not one time have you been in trouble at school. In fact, teachers tell us what a great kid you are, that there is something special about you. You have given me many proud moments in your young life. One is when Coach Barker told me that his daughter Allison said that everyone at school was mean to her except Jordan. Another time was when your baseball coach told you to lie to the umpire and you wouldn’t do it. You stood up and did what was right. Three years ago, at camp, you allowed me to pray with you when you accepted Jesus. If I were to guess what you might be when you grow up, I’d have to say a politician. You have a knack of making everyone love you, yet you never stop being yourself. You are truly my best friend. I can’t imagine a day when you’re not going to be living at home. I love you, son. You’re everything that I wish I could have been.

Macie,
You’ve become a beautiful young woman. I don’t know if I’m ready for the all boys that are going to be knocking on our front door. You’re the most tenderhearted child I’ve ever known, yet tough as nails. You strive so hard to please everyone. I would have to say that you are the perfect textbook child. I’ve heard that dogs were good judges of character. That must be true because Woody sure is partial to you. You’ve always had a great deal of adversity to deal with in your life. But you keep your emotions bottled up inside. I remember telling you when your friend Ashley had died in an automobile accident. You didn’t shed a tear through the whole ordeal. Yet you’ll break down crying when you’ve forgotten to bring a your homework home from school. I know that it’s just your way of letting out the emotions that you have stored up inside. Even though you run from your mother and I when we try to give you a kiss, we know that you love us. I wish you weren’t so hard to get close to, honey. I remember when you were the best player on your t-ball team. And you were the only girl! Then, you were picked up by a team to go to the playoffs, that didn’t have any girls either, and you were their best player too. When you play basketball you’re always the best player on the court. You say you want to be a schoolteacher when you grow up. I think you’ll be a great teacher. I think your athletic ability will carry you to college, where you can study to be anything you want to be. Don’t worry, you’re definitely not a ‘girly girl’. I love you, Mae Mae. I’ll always be waiting for you to give me a big hug.

McKenzie,
You are the stereotypical ‘baby’ of the family, and you know it. You’ve learned to use your cuteness and those big blue eyes to get anything that you want. And it works! You’ve got so much potential to be many different things. Your ability to be a ‘drama queen’, combined with your beauty, could take you far as an actress. At first I didn’t like the idea of you being a ‘cheerleader’. But having watched what you can do, I think you’re a great at it. You may not like playing softball or basketball, but I’ve never seen anybody who can tumble like you can. You may be a member of the 2012 olympic team. I love the fact that you’re able to talk to me about stuff. I know that you’ve been having questions about death, God, and salvation. I think it’s great that you’re starting to wonder about these things. You know that your daddy is always here for you to talk to when you’re ready. For some reason, I think you’ll be the one kid who builds their home right next to ours. Who knows, maybe you will never move out. You know that would be alright with your mommy and me. I love you, sweetheart.

Passion Week: Thursday

On this day, He had His disciples prepare the Passover lamb (Matt. 26:17-19; Mark 14:12-16; Luke 22:7-13), and Jesus and His disciples had their Passover meal in the Upper Room (Matt. 26:20-30; Mark 14:17-26; Luke 22:14-30; John 13:1—John 14:31). Leaving the Upper Room, Jesus had a discourse with His disciples and offered an intercessory prayer in behalf of them (Matt. 26:30-35; Mark 14:26-31; Luke 22:31-39; John 15:1—John 18:1). They arrived at the Garden of Gethsemane, and it is here where Jesus suffered in agony (Matt. 26:36-46; Mark 14:32-42; Luke 22:39-46; John 18:1). Later that night Jesus was betrayed and arrested (Matt. 26:47-56; Mark 14:43-52; Luke 22:47-53; John 18:2-12). During the rest of that night, Jesus was tried first by Anna’s and later by Caiaphas with the religious leaders (Matt. 26:57-75; Mark 14:53-72; Luke 22:54-65; John 18:13-27).

A Day in the Life

2005-03-22T23:48:00.000-08:00

What is it like being a Christian in the world today?

Each morning I wake up and thank the Good Lord for all the blessings in my life. I’m thankful for my wonderful wife and kids, my church family, my home, my friends, my job, that God sent His son Jesus to die for my sins, and that I’ve been given another day to serve Him. I usually try to pray before my feet hit the floor. If I don’t, it’s not too long after I’ve gotten up that I realize something’s missing (even worse than no coffee), and I find a moment for prayer.

In the car I usually listen to Christian programming, conservative talk radio, or Christian music. Much of the music of today doesn’t interest me because it deals with subjects that I cannot relate to. Not to mention the station’s DJs are usually crude and offensive. I do occasionally listen to oldies or classic rock, although I probably shouldn’t since it usually takes me back to a time when I was doing things I shouldn’t have been doing. Sometimes I’ll listen to the stuff my son calls music. I have to be very careful about what I let him listen to because much of the music today is laced with lyrics inappropriate for the airwaves, much less children.

While driving I have to deal with people who drive like they’re hell bent to get where they’re going, and have little regard for others on the road. And since I usually drive the speed limit I have to worry about people riding my bumper and getting angry. It’s amazing how having a ‘Christian’ bumper sticker on your back window will effect your actions while behind the wheel. It will make you give a second thought to acting out towards your fellow drivers, for sure.

At work people who use vulgar language as a major portion of their vocabulary surround me. I know of two other people that I’m around on a regular basis that attempts to live the Christian life. And it’s funny, but we’re all on the ‘Christian’ email list. If someone in the department gets an email with the words ‘God’ or ‘Jesus’ in it, they forward it to the three of us, then they continue to send their dirty emails to everyone else. Most people at work know that I’m a Christian. But I feel like they either could care less, or think I’m loony.

Your kids come home from school and tell you what they’ve learned about evolution or global warming. They sing the lyrics to songs you normally wouldn’t let them listen to because their teacher plays the CD in the classroom.

It’s difficult to watch the network news because there is an obvious bias against anything conservative or Christian. Today’s programming is filled with nothing but sex and violence. You can choose between Desperate Housewives or The O.C.

It’s hard to find a decent movie to take the whole family to see. If you take them to see a movie rated PG-13, you usually walk away thinking it should have been rated R.

When you take your family to a restaurant you’re reluctant to pray as a family because people would look at you like you’re from another planet, and you don’t want to subject your kids to that.

Then, at the end of the day, you look back and rejoice in every minute of it, AND MEAN IT! You get up the next morning and look forward to doing it all over again.
You see, if you’re a Christian this world is foreign to you. We’re not comfortable here because we long to be with our Father. We’re homesick.

Passion Week: Wednesday

On the way to Jerusalem on Wednesday, the disciples saw the withered fig tree (Matt. 21:20-22; Mark 11:20-26). At the temple in Jerusalem, Jesus had a day of controversy with the religious leaders (Matt. 21:23—Matt. 23:39; Mark 11:27—Mark 12:44; Luke 20:1—Luke 21:4). That afternoon Jesus went to the Mount of Olives and delivered the Olivet Discourse (Matt. 24:1—Matt. 25:46; Mark 13:1-37; Luke 21:5-36). Two additional things occurred on that day: (1) Jesus predicted that in two days He would be crucified at the time of the Passover (Matt. 26:1-5; Mark 14:1-2; Luke 22:1-2); and (2) Judas planned the betrayal of Christ with the religious leaders (Matt. 26:14-16; Mark 14:10-11; Luke 22:3-6).

My Schiavo Spill

2005-03-22T00:41:00.000-08:00

This story has been beaten to death by the press. I’m sure everyone is as sick as I am of hearing about it. But I can’t let it go without a rant.
Could someone please tell my why Terri Schiavo deserves to be starved to death? I’m surprised how many people think that she doesn’t deserve to live. I don’t see the difference between Terri Schiavo and any other person being kept alive by a feeding tube ONLY. Some would like to argue that Ms. Schiavo is brain dead, and stands no chance at living a ‘normal’ life. In the first place, who are we to say what a ‘normal’ life is? Do children born with Down syndrome or severe autism deserve to live? Is there a requirement that you have to make an intelligent contribution to society? If so, there are a few democrats who need to be held accountable. Perhaps we could take Ted Kennedy’s bottle away from him and see how long it takes him to dry out. Or we could take Bill Clinton’s girlie magazines away and see how long it takes him to run home to Hilary. As for Terri being brain dead, how can a “brain dead” person follow a balloon around with their eyes? I’ve heard the recording, made recently, of Ms. Schiavo responding to her father’s voice. She is clearly trying to communicate with him. Is this common for “brain dead” people? If so, that’s kind of spooky, don’t you think? I’ve heard some argue that the government shouldn’t get involved in the state’s business. As if the state has ruling over congress. The argument isn’t whether Terri’s feeding tube should be reinserted, it’s about who has custodial rights over Ms. Schiavo. Should it be the parents who have been by her side, fighting for her life all these years? Or should it be the ‘husband’ who already has another common-law wife, which he has two children by, and stands to gain financially from Terri’s death? Then there are the claims by the husband that Terri told him she never wanted to be kept alive by ‘extreme measures’. Let’s disregard the fact that a feeding tube isn’t an ‘extreme’ measure. Weren’t Terri and her husband in their mid-twenties when her heart mysteriously stopped beating, cutting off oxygen to her brain? How many young couples without children, in their mid-twenties, have really discussed these kind of issues? I know that when my wife and I were that age we didn’t talk about such things. Why should you when you think you’re invincible? This reminds me of the Walker / Peggy Railey case. Remember back in ’88 when Walker attempted to strangle his wife Peggy to death in their garage? But he failed and she slipped into a ‘semi-comatose’ state, similar to that of Ms. Schiavo. Shortly after, Mr. Railey ran off to California with his girlfriend Lucy Papillon. Somehow, Walker Railey was acquitted of the murder charges. He returned 10 years after the incident to divorce Peggy Railey so he could remarry. At least he had the decency to divorce her and not fight for her to be starved to death! Suppose Christopher Reeves’ fall had been a little more serious. I bet there would be a telethon, hosted by ‘big Hollywood’, to save their fallen brother from the cruelty of starvation. Heck, he should be kept alive at all cost, machines or not, in hope of there someday being a ‘cure’. After all, some lives are more valuable than others.

Passion Week: Tuesday

On Tuesday on the way from Bethany to Jerusalem, Jesus cursed the fig tree (Matt. 21:18-19; Mark 11:12-14), and then He went to Jerusalem to cleanse the temple (Matt. 21:12-13; Mark 11:15-17; Luke 19:45-46). The religious leaders began to seek how they might destroy Him that evening, and that evening Jesus left Jerusalem, presumably returning to Bethany (Mark 11:18-19; Luke 19:47-48).
If you still have the childhood view of “gentle Jesus meek and mild” I would highly recommend sometime today read Matthew chapter 23. Jesus boldly before the crowds that have assembled for Passover accuses the religious leaders of being hypocrites who 1. Loved to sit in places of honor, 2. Loved to be greeted with lofty names, 3. Shut heaven up from the people, 4. Were blind leading the blind, 5. Faithful with tithe and lacking in the essentials of mercy and justice, 6. Clean on the outside and filthy inside, 7. Murders of God’s prophets and finally He calls them snakes, a brood of vipers.

2005-03-21T10:36:00.000-08:00

I painted my son's room for his birthday.

Time Flew

2005-03-21T09:53:00.000-08:00

I can’t believe it’s been over a month since I’ve written. I’ve discovered that I don’t have time to update when I am at home. Who would think that having three kids could be so time consuming? My companies IS department has tightened their restrictions on allowable websites. Can you believe I can’t blog from work? I’m able to access about 50% or the blogs that I normally read and I cannot post on my own blog or leave messages on others. Coincidence, that this happened shortly after my letter to the HR dept. pertaining to flag etiquette?
To defend myself, I have an incredible amount of free time on my hands at work. It’s not like I’m neglecting my duties to spend time on the computer. I work in a lab, where I have to maintain the equipment and run test-samples whenever I receive them. Sometimes I’m so busy that I have to eat while I’m working. But most of the time I have to find something to pass the time.
Since the demise of the internet I have been passing my time reading. I had heard of C.S. Lewis, but I had never read any of writings. One day, while talking apologetics with my pastor, he recommended that I read ‘Mere Christianity’ by C.S. Lewis. He told me that it was the most influential book he had ever read. I find it very hard to believe that I had never heard of the book before. Later that same day I was having lunch with a friend, who happens to be youth minister at a Presbyterian church, and he recommended that I read ‘Mere Christianity’. I figured hearing of this book for the 1st and 2nd time in the same day had to be some kind of a sign, so I ran out and purchased a copy. I agree, it is the most influential book I have ever read. It not only opened my eyes and my ‘mind’ to things that I have never considered, but it lead me to read books by other apologist. I have discovered a new world, which allows my mind to explore things that I have never considered. At first I felt guilty, like this ‘reading’ was taking time away from time that I normally spent studying the Bible. But I’ve discovered that it has changed the way I read the Word. Things that I would spend a lot of time trying to grasp now come to me more quickly.
Being an ‘active’ Christian is relatively new to me. (see testimony, Jan. 2005) The past few years I’ve been studying the Word and using various sources of literature for references. There is nothing wrong with studying the Bible and coming to your own conclusions. In fact, that is encouraged. But keep in mind that who you are and where you came from influences ‘how’ you read the Bible. What I’m saying is, if you’re raised a Catholic in NY, then you’ll read the Bible like a Catholic from NY, if you’re raised Southern Baptist, then you’ll read the Bible like a Southern Baptist, and so on. I was raised in a fundamental Baptist church thinking that there was only one interpretation of the scriptures. If anyone should read the Bible differently, then they are sadly mistaken. God help them! But I had never learned to look at the ‘big’ picture. Which is, we are who we are because of the circumstances that have lead us to be where we are at that given time, which is just one tiny spot on this planet in infinite time. Conclusion; Who am I to think I have it all figured out? I am not saying that there isn’t a true right and wrong. Of course there is. Only I am not the one to determine what right and wrong is on every issue. I am also not saying that I don’t have serious questions as to how the Catholic church has gotten to where it is today. Which is, in my opinion, a far cry from where they should be, according to the scriptures. But I have an understanding that there is common ground in Jesus Christ. Who am I to say if a person is a Christian or not? At the very most I can say whether someone is a ‘good’ or a ‘bad’ Christian in the true sense of the word.
To sum it up, the past month has brought me understanding and compassion. We will all remember Passion week together. Hosanna!

Today was Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem (Matt. 21:1-9; Mark 11:1-10; Luke 19:28-40; John 12:12-19), His visit to the temple (Matt. 21:10-11; Mark 11:11), and then His return to Bethany.

God Bless!

The Day After, The Day After Tomorrow

2005-02-17T11:02:00.000-08:00

When I read back over what I've written, I realize just how awful my grammar and punctuation are. I must defend myself, I've never claimed to be an English whiz. Which reminds me of an episode of King of the Hill where Bobby tells Hank that he's failing English, to which Hank replied, "You're failing English? Bobby, you SPEAK English." If only it were that easy Hank. I know what I'm trying to say, it's just putting it in writing that gives me difficulty.

I had to take my wife’s SUV (Yes, I contribute to the destruction of the planet) to have new tires put on it yesterday. As much as I hate to take anything to Wal-Mart for automotive service, because the service is so slow, sometimes it cannot be avoided due to my desire to ‘save a buck’. So, I took along a book to read. I do my best reading when I have absolutely nothing to do but wait. I was told that it would take approx. one hour before they could begin to mount my tires. No problem, I’ll read. When I went into the waiting room there were already 3 people waiting. For what it matters, they were all elderly women. I sat and tried to read for about 10 minutes before I had to get up and walk out of the room because I was tired of listening to the conspiracy theories. I felt so sorry for the people working there because all of these women kept hounding them, suggesting that they were putting people in front of them that had arrived after them. I walked around and came back about 15 minutes later. There were still 3 women in the room, only one had been replaced by another elderly woman. And believe it or not, the whining had intensified. So, after about 10 minutes of listening to them, I asked if the attendant if they would unlock my vehicle. I decided that I would read in the car while I waited. (best idea I had all day) When the employee came to move my car into the bay I had no choice but to move to the waiting room. I had been in there about 5 minutes when the elderly woman, who had arrived after me, asked if that was my “van” they were putting tires on. After I confirmed that it was, indeed, my SUV in the bay, she went out and confronted the attendant about them letting me ‘cut’ in line. They were very polite to the woman, but I felt a need to defend them, especially since they’d been getting bombarded by these women all morning. So, I politely mentioned to the woman that I had been in the store shopping when she first came into the waiting room, that my car was actually there before her car. I told her that they were doing the best that they could do, and not trying to ‘wrong’ anyone in the process. I don’t think this rode well with the woman. I believe she said something like, “I don’t care what you say, I was here before you.” It’s sad that we ‘as a people’ are so hurried and impatient. I wish all people were of the mindset that we should be thankful for the day. While no one likes waiting for their car to be repaired, it’s a fact of life.

My daughter, who’s in the 5th grade, came home from school and told me that they had watched The Day After Tomorrow. The teacher had gotten permission from the principal to show them the film to teach them about global warming. BTW, the teacher happens to be the school superintendent’s wife. So that kinda puts the principle in a quandary. I can’t begin to tell you how many problems I have with this movie. Keep in mind, I haven’t seen the movie myself. All of my comments are based on reviews of the movie from Christian websites. First of all, the movie is rated PG-13 and my daughter is 11 years old. I don’t recall signing any waver saying that it was okay for her to watch a PG-13 movie. Secondly, the movie deals with global warming as if it were something caused by our love of driving fossil fuel burning automobiles. It’s debatable that global warming even exists. And even if it does, it cannot be connected to the use of fossil fuels. I, for one, do not believe that man can destroy this planet, which God has made, by driving an SUV around town. I think He had a better blueprint for our world. Thirdly, The film’s characters automatically assume a time for the last Ice Age (8000 BC) that’s inconsistent with the Biblical record of the total age of the earth, but is consistent with Uniformitarianism. That system of Geology (the only one taught in most schools) usually claims that there have been four or five Ice Ages, but the data are open to interpretation. The main hobbyhorse of the Uniformitarian theory of Ice Ages is the Continental Glaciers, as a way of explaining (1) certain striations in rocks and (2) why loose rock debris with marine fossils is found on mountaintops. According to some geologists and physicists, a Continental Glacier is a physical impossibility, and the fossil phenomena can be explained just as well by water action as by ice action. Very few characters in the film call on God. Even the Bush-like President has to be reminded by someone else that this would be a good time for prayer. When some people are trapped in the New York Public Library and are burning books to keep warm, one man tries to save a Gutenberg Bible. A woman sarcastically asks if God will save them. The man replies that he doesn’t believe in God, but he wants to preserve that Bible because it was the first printed book, and is therefore a record of MAN’S achievements. Finally, this movie was made in an attempt to paint our current administration as bumbling idiots prior to last year’s elections. Characters in the movie try to warn the Administration of the dangers, so a disaster plan can be implemented in time. But the President can’t be reached; he’s indecisive, he’s heavily-insulated from unwanted input, and he seems to have abdicated most of the decision-making to his older, bespectacled, slightly overweight and balding Vice President, who is having none of this “alarmist” talk since the only important thing is to burn more fossil fuels and keep the economy running. There’s little doubt whom these characters are meant to represent.
I wouldn't be surprised if the movie became part of curriculum for teaching about global warming.

I'm Still Romantic

2005-02-16T13:04:00.000-08:00

Despite the failure of my ‘Valentine’s Surprise’ we had a wonderful time Monday night. Leading into the evening I didn’t know what I anticipated most, the Brazilian Gaucho’s carving meat onto my plate until I said, “stop”, or spending the evening alone in a hotel with my wife. By the end of the meal my choice had become apparent. I’m not a very ‘big’ guy, but I’ve always been able to consume mass quantities of food due to my metabolism. After consuming what amounts to a small calf, a little voice in my head told me “do not eat another bite”. So, I paused for a few minutes before splitting the chocolate cheesecake with my wife. I felt like my stomach was, literally, going to explode. I could hardly make it to the parking lot, much less fasten my seatbelt on the ride home. By the time I made it to the hotel room, I was forced to lie flat on my back to allow myself to breathe. I don’t know where I went wrong. I fasted all day long. For breakfast and lunch I only drank Slimfast because I wanted to be in top form for dinner. Many years ago I spent a summer working in Amarillo, home of the Big Texan steakhouse. (as seen on King of the Hill) It’s one of those places where you get your dinner free if you can eat their 72oz steak. My boss starved himself all day long, only to fail miserably. And I remember a co-worker telling him that you shouldn’t starve yourself, because it makes your stomach contract, leaving less room for food. I’m thinking maybe there is something to this theory. Regardless of my exhibition of gluttony, a great time was had by all. It didn’t take long after we got home to the kids before we realized that we needed to do it again, soon.

This weekend, we’re off to the Super Bowl of cheerleading (actually, it's the National Championships) at the Alamodome in San Antonio. Boy, I can’t tell you how much I’m looking forward to that! Seriously, I do enjoy watching the girls do their routines. It’s amazing that they are able to remember where they are supposed to be, and what to do next. They truly are excellent at what they do. I’m just not real crazy, as some may have read, about my little girls being cheerleaders. The problems won’t start until they begin to look like women. It’s also a little ridiculous how serious some of these ‘cheer moms’ are about this stuff. They sent home a preparation list with all the girls after practice last night. Here is an example as to how serious they are:
“If your child gets ill Friday or Saturday: We will still expect her to perform. Pain / Fever medications should be given 1 hour before performing. Emetrol is a good medication to control vomiting and can be given often.”
I told you it was the ‘Super Bowl’.

"Cowboy" Church

2005-02-11T11:50:00.000-08:00

Over recent years, here in Texas, I’ve seen a large number of churches pop-up that call themselves “Cowboy Church” or “Frontier Church”. Almost all of these churches have roping arenas next to the sanctuary, so they obviously are targeting a certain genre of parishioner. Giving it much thought, I’m not sure I like the concept of these ‘specialty’ churches. I don’t like the fact that Sunday morning is already the most segregated day of the week. Shouldn’t we all worship together, regardless of race? I don’t think we should be further divided based upon how we dress and what kind of music we listen to. It would be one thing if these churches were in the middle of an area where a being a cowboy is a way of earning a living, but these churches are located near big cities. Most of these people put on their starched Wranglers, Stetson, and American Flag shirt once a week, to go to church. I’ve lived in the country my whole life and I wouldn’t be comfortable going to one of these churches. We had a preacher from one of these churches preach at our church one Sunday evening. He preached the sermon wearing his cowboy hat. How am I supposed to tell my son he can’t wear his ball cap in church if the preacher’s wearing a cowboy hat? I’m wondering, do they have Native American churches in Phoenix, where city folk don their moccasins and put on war paint for Sunday service? Or they have Patriot churches in the northeast, where they carry their long-rifles to church? Are these people going to church for the Word, or the bread and fishes? How can we come together as a Church when we keep dividing? And would I feel welcome if I showed up to one of these churches wearing a Troy Aikman jersey?

Woody the Dog

2005-02-11T10:55:00.000-08:00

I’m used to getting the cold shoulder from my oldest daughter. I know she loves me, it’s just her personality. The only way to her heart is though Woody our Chihuahua. If you show Woody some attention, you’re A-OK with her. My youngest daughter is the one who will usually shower you with affection. Of course more often than not it’s a method of manipulation. But last night she was giving me the cold shoulder. She was very upset that I had told the other two kids about my Valentine’s surprise, and not her. She doesn’t understand that it would have been a dead give away had I told her. If someone would have mentioned Valentine’s Day around her mother she would have exploded, or at least looked like it.

I recently got into a philosophical debate (Actually, it was a one-sided, heated exchange.) with an atheist while visiting, of all things, an automotive message board. I believe the topic of the thread was ‘synthetic motor oil’. Don’t ask me how you get from automotive lubricants to questioning the existence of The Creator. Maybe it had something to do with dinosaurs. I don’t know since I joined the thread late. The discussion consisted of one, supposedly devout atheist, against a few who couldn’t state any reasonable case for God other than ‘I believe’. I’m usually very careful about jumping into the middle of debates of this kind. Especially since I’m most often reading debates between people who are far more educated than myself, usually theology professors. It’s not that I don’t feel that I have a legitimate case for God. It’s because they’d probably have as hard a time understanding me as I do them. I spend a lot of time studying the Bible and preparing for times when I can defend my beliefs. C’mon, this was a website where people talk about cars, surely I would prevail there. It became obvious that this person had put very little thought into why they didn’t believe in God. They were bitter. I told them the best thing they could do is vigorously pursue their atheism with an open mind so they were able make a better case for the non-existence of God. Because the more one considers all the possibilities, the more logical it would seem to believe in a Creator. Many start their journeys to disprove God, only to yield to the logical conclusion that we are the product of creation. (google ‘converted atheist’) This person’s path to atheism was through a Christian upbringing. They had been brought up in church, even professed to be Christian at one point. Until something happened that caused them to ask “How could God let this happen?” At which point they came to the conclusion that there must not be a God. I could relate to this since I had been through pretty much the same thing. The debate went along in an affable manner until I pointed this out. I think what set them off was the phrase “I’ve been where you are”. At that point they exhibited their atheist behavior. What was it that set this person off? Was it that they didn’t want to admit that they didn’t have all the answers? (pride) Where they opposed to the possibility that someone else could possibly relate to their feelings? (self pity) I think the first step to becoming a Christian is to realize that you DON’T have all the answers. You CAN’T get through this world on your own. There are MANY who are much wiser than me. I try to keep an open mind, willing to listen.

Like Minds Think Alike

2005-02-10T07:58:00.000-08:00

I’ve been so very proud of myself. My wife and I have never made a big deal of Valentine’s Day. Sure, we exchange cards and a peck on the cheek. But we’ve never done anything really special, just the two of us. A couple of weeks ago I was reading a men’s devotional. It suggested that a husband should surprise his wife by getting a babysitter, booking a hotel room, making dinner reservations, picking her up at lunchtime, and whizzing her off for an evening of romance. Since Valentine’s Day was just around the corner, I decided that I could pull this off. So I reserved a room at the Wyndham in Dallas, made reservations at our favorite restaurant (Fogo De Chao) where we were to meet friends, and made arrangements for the kids. Since she doesn’t work that day, and the kids are out of school, I was just going to tell her after coffee that morning that she needed to pack her suitcase because I had made plans. I had only told two of the kids since our youngest is terrible at keeping secrets. Maybe that’s a good thing! This morning I received a phone call from my son. He told me that I needed to talk to mom because she had made Valentine plans for us as well. Indeed, she had made plans. She had made plans for us to stay at a hotel in the same area of Dallas and meet friends at Fogo De Chao for dinner. Keep in mind that we don’t often get away from the kids and we haven’t eaten at that restaurant but once in the last 5 years. When I told a friend about this ‘coincidence’ he said that I should be thankful that we are both on the same wavelength. Well, let’s just hope we’re on the same wavelength. (insert gay winking symbol here)

Flag Etiquette

2005-02-09T14:24:00.000-08:00

I’ve become somewhat of an activist. I don’t know how or when it happened, but I can’t just turn my head when I truly feel there is an injustice. Even though I know it would be best, at least EASIER, to keep my mouth shut sometimes, I long for that feeling of regret. It makes me feel better to call it conviction.
I do not have a flagpole at my home because I’m afraid that I wouldn’t be able to fly the American Flag with the respect that it deserves. I don’t think you should just buy a pole, run Old Glory up the pole until it rots, then take it down and replace it with a new Flag. There are strict guidelines, which one must follow to fly the Flag that so many of our countrymen have died for. My company flies the American Flag, along with the state flag, our company logo flag, and whatever country has customers visiting that day, in front of our main offices. I’ve noticed in recent years that the company will lower the American Flag to half-staff whenever it sees fit. If an employee’s pet Chihuahua dies, lower the flag! The mother of the vice-president’s gardener dies, lower the flag! I’ve always just let it go in the past. When I came into work this morning I noticed that the Flag had been lowered to half-staff. So I called around to find out why we had lowered the Flag. Come to find out, an employee had committed suicide earlier this week. If that wasn’t bad enough, he had called his wife home from work and killed her before turning the gun on himself. A couple of years earlier this same guy had parked his car under a bridge and held a gun to his head, threatening to kill himself. The interstate was shut down for hours. Finally, his daughter was able to talk him out of killing himself. I’m guessing the family would have been better off had he taken his life at that point. I have no idea why this guy was still an employee. And we have lowered The American Flag because of this person’s death? After a little of persuasion from a fellow employee, actually it was a ‘double-dog’ dare, I decided I would email the company president to let him know that I felt we were desecrating the Flag. Here is a copy of the email:

I’m writing you regarding my concern that we, as a company, do not follow the proper standards of respect when displaying the American Flag.

www.usflag.org/flag.etiquette.html

While my thoughts and prayers go out for the families who have lost love ones, there are only certain occasions in which the American Flag is to be lowered to half-staff.
I’m proud of what (our company) stands for and I wouldn't want us, as a company, to desecrate the Flag in any manner.

Thanks,

Seems harmless enough, huh? We’ll see.

I have a feeling that I’ve just put myself in the spotlight. I guess I’d better start watching the amount of time I spend on the internet.

Baseball's Big Problem

2005-02-07T16:55:00.000-08:00

Over recent years baseball's popularity has made a comeback. It's always been popular with the purists, but it has become more popular with the mainstream sports fan. In other words, it has become popular with the "cocaine/boob-job" crowd. And why not, we've seen a home run battle in which two men broke Roger Maris' long standing record in the same season. Fifty home run seasons have become the norm rather than the exception. I think most of us knew what was going on all along. We watched players like Sosa, McGwire, Bonds, Conseco, and Giambi put on massive amounts of muscle in a very short period of time. Oh, and Sosa not only put on muscle, he started using 'corked' bats. Coincidentally, their rapid addition of body mass coincides with the sudden increase of the 'long ball'. In Jose Conseco's upcoming book he is going to blow the whistle on pretty much everyone he ever played with. MLB is now beginning a 'more strict' steroid policy. But my question is... What is going to be done about all the records that have fallen over the past decade? How can we allow Bonds to take away Hank's all-time home run record? Should Roger Maris be given back the single season home run record? I say we ban these 'cheaters' from the game. Their statistics should not have an * by them, they shouldn't even be in the record books. I know I'm probably coming down on the 'harsh' side of this issue, but I'd like to know how other baseball fans feel about this issue.

Over The Hill

2005-02-05T22:09:00.000-08:00

I’ve been feeling really ‘old’ and ‘out of shape’ lately. Next Sunday was to be a great day of accomplishment for me. I had been training to run the Motorola / Freescale Marathon, in Austin, February 13th. I wasn’t going to just ‘run’ the marathon. I was going to do it in a fast enough time to qualify for the Boston Marathon. When I first started training for the marathon I just wanted to run it in a respectable time. But the more I ran, the faster I got. My stamina was building up with each long run I made. I was running in excess of 50 miles per week, with a long run of 14 miles. According the training calculator I was using, I was right on schedule to achieve my goal. When I turned 39, in October, I can honestly say that I was in the best shape of my life. Until mid-November when I suffered a leg injury, tried to come back too soon, re-injured my leg, rehabbed 10 days, and then came down with a weeklong illness. Yep, that’ll do it. When I was able to begin running again I was so far behind schedule that I just stopped running all together. Since then I’ve put on 8-10 lbs. I’m only able to make myself run 2-3 days a week because, well, because…what’s the point? I know that I feel much better when I force myself to get up at 3:45am and run before I go to work, but I just can’t do it.

This weekend was the second basketball tournament of the season. Our poor team is now 0-4. I cannot help but feel somewhat responsible for our record. I mean, we’ve got a stronger team than we had last year, talent wise. I think the coaching is the reason for their slow start. Since I gave to team over to another dad, I haven’t been able to work with them as much as last year. He schedules the practices and lays out the practice plan, as well as makes all the personnel decisions. And since my self-righteous rampage about winning not being important, I’m reluctant to jump in and take charge. I’m truly grateful that this other parent was able to help me out. But if I’d have known that he had absolutely no coaching skills whatsoever, I may not have asked him to take over. The girls will just stand there waiting for him to tell them what to do. But he doesn’t know what to tell them. When the game starts our girls don’t even know who’s starting the game, or what position they’re playing. It’s not a pretty sight. My daughter, Macie, is by far the best player on the team. Last weekend, out of two games, she scored all but two of our teams points. Did I fail to mention that they had a total of 12 points? And that is more than they had in both games this weekend.

Earlier this week we were faced with the reality that our little boy has reached adolescence. He stayed home from school on Wednesday because he wasn’t feeling well. My wife had to work, so he had the house to himself all day. I have to admit, the thought crossed my mind that he may have had some ulterior motives for staying home. But I wanted to believe that since he was brought up in a Christian home that he might be able to resist some of his primal urges. I should have known better. Especially since I remember what I did when I played hookey from school and had the house to myself. What he did was, he got on the computer and Googled a few of the things a 12 year-old would like to see, like ‘Shana naked’ (his ex-girlfriend), hairy (punage), and something called Hentai. Hentai ended up being hardcore cartoons. When I was a kid the worse you could see was on the pages of a girlie magazine. Compared to the things that are on the internet today, those magazines were relatively clean. My wife went to all the pages that he visited. Luckily, he didn’t see anything too bad. At least not what he could have seen if he’d of clicked on all the links. We sat down and had a long talk. We’ve had many talks about ‘these’ things to come. I let him know that there was nothing wrong with him, it’s normal to want to see the female body naked. I told him that if he let’s pornography into his life, that he’ll become addicted. It will give him a skewed view of what sex really is.
I don’t know if I’m ready for all of this. And to think, I’m going to have two teenage daughters in a few years.

National Signing Day

2005-02-02T15:13:00.000-08:00

National Signing Day has turned into a circus. Recruiting may not have changed that much over recent years, but the whole ‘signing day’ hoopla is something new. I remember watching Jesse Armstead make his announcement while sitting in a hot tub, not realizing that it was just the beginning. With the invention of the internet and message boards these high school athletes are being propelled into stardom long before they ever take the field for any college team. This has given the high school athlete the ability to play games with whatever teams may be seeking their services. While there may have always been players who would change horses shortly before they cross the finish line, I don’t think I’ve ever seen the media and recruiters get played like they have this year. (Perrilloux) I don’t think kids this young should have that kind of power. But as long as we, the college sports fan, continue to cling to the edge of our seats in anticipation it will only get worse as they continue to feed their pro-sized egos. Or, will we begin to realize that it is just an off-the-field game for them? I guess the days of a humble boy from Tyler moving to the big city to go to college, where his momma told him to, are over.

DANG.....I'M A FLIPPIN IDIOT!!!!

2005-01-31T11:56:00.000-08:00

Have you ever done anything only to wish that you hadn’t? I seem to have a knack for this. I wrote the following letter, which appeared in yesterday’s local paper.

Youth sports taxing
To the Editor: Last season I coached my daughter's youth basketball team. One of my greatest passions is guiding and ministering to youth. Yet I had always been reluctant to coach my son's teams because I didn't want any part of the cutthroat world of small town sports. But when your daughter says that she won't play unless you coach her team, it puts things into a different perspective. We ended up having a great season. Friendships were made, and the girls learned the basics of the game. And we had a pretty decent season, regardless of my limited knowledge of the game. I was looking forward to coaching again this season until I was accused of trying to 'stack' my team. I was in need of help due to my work schedule. And my daughter had suggested that I ask her friend's father to help with the team. I thought this was a great idea, especially since the girl's father knows a great deal more about coaching basketball than myself. It didn't matter that this girl played on a different team last season since the other coach wasn't returning, or so I had been told. Accusations were made, feelings were hurt, and people got angry. I decided it wasn't worth it, and asked someone else to coach the team and I would just help them. As an assistant I would still get to coach the girls, yet couldn't be accused playing dirty. Last week at my son's basketball game I heard two people talking about me, one involved in the league. I don't know if they didn't see me sitting behind them, or just didn't care. But I heard one of them say that I didn't coach because didn't get the girls I wanted. I wonder how many people who actually enjoy children don't get involved in youth sports to avoid dealing with situations like this?

Everything in the letter is true. But I failed to realize the consequences of writing it. I did the same thing here at work a couple of years ago when I marched into my bosses office and let him know the way “I” thought things should be. I’m still living that one down. When I wrote the letter I felt angry that I was being talked about, knowing that I had done nothing wrong. I was already at work this morning when my wife received a phone call from the town representative for the youth basketball league. Yes, she is one of the two people who I overheard talking about me. But when she called my wife this morning she was hysterical, crying, and yelling at my wife. My wife told her that she would have ME call her back. When I called her she started out “Well, don’t you feel good about yourself today?” I was able to calm her down, and we had a civil conversation. She never actually asked why I had written that about her. Probably because she knew that I had written the truth. We both agreed that we held no grudge against the other, and that we’d let it go. When I talked to my wife she made me feel lower than dirt. She pointed out that deep down I knew that I wanted to hurt her, and everyone else involved, when I wrote the letter. That I should have gone to her and talked to her about what I had heard, rather than writing the letter. Man, she was so right. That’s not me. I don’t do underhanded things to get back at people. And I never would have written it if I had known that it would cause someone, a woman, to cry. For nearly two hours I tried put it behind me, but couldn’t. So I finally decided I had to call her back for closure. I apologized to her and told her that I never intended to hurt her the way I did. By the time we ended the phone call we both agreed that it should never have happened in the first place. Case closed. I’m a moron.

Did you know that America is no safer today than it was prior to invading Iraq? It’s true. John Kerry said so on Meet the Press yesterday morning. I’m not the only moron in this country.

Clinton's Legacy

2005-01-26T22:15:00.000-08:00

Thanks, Bill Clinton!

I watched the ‘Teens and Sex’ special, hosted by Katie Couric this evening. Isn’t Katie just the cutest little thing? (Gag) Most of the show was focused on oral sex. Apparently, teens today don’t see oral sex as ‘real’ sex. I wonder where they would get that idea? The consensus was that the girls only give oral sex to the guys because they are trying to gain their approval, and to avoid having ‘real’ sex with them. Wow, what a blow to Clinton’s ego! He’s the most powerful man in the world, yet cannot get an overweight intern to sleep with him. Or maybe he was just morally opposed to adultery. As if.

I heard Christie Todd Whitman (Liberal Republican, EPA Administrator, and former Gov. of New Jersey) on Hannity today. I’m not sure why Christie calls herself a Republican. She is a pro-choice, gay-rights liberal. In her new book she claims that the Republican Party is separating itself from mainstream America because of its strong conservative stance. HUH? What is she talking about? If anything the Democratic Party is separating itself from mainstream America due to its liberal views. I guess it all depends on what you call “mainstream America”. To me, the average Joe is who makes up mainstream America. And Joe doesn’t support abortion, gay rights, gun control, and mauling The Constitution. Joe doesn’t live in a loft near Broadway with his boyfriend. Joe goes to his kid’s ballgames on Saturday and takes his family to church on Sunday.

Abortion:
Abortion is murder. Even John Kerry says, “Life begins at conception”. But he doesn’t have a problem with other people ‘choosing’ to end someone else’s life. If you can be convicted of murder for killing a baby in a woman’s womb, how can a woman ‘choose’ to end that life herself? After the fetus has established a heartbeat and its own DNA, it is a living being. What kind of argument could be used otherwise? If it’s because it isn’t thinking, functioning being, then why not make it legal to ‘choose’ to end the life of grown mongoloid? Abortions are like tattoos; if you get one you’ll probably live to regret it someday. Don’t you find it ironic that the same people who support abortions are the ones who are trying to save the spotted owl?

Gay marriage:
I have no problem with two people of the same sex choosing to live together. Actually, I do have a problem with it; I just don’t think I should be able to tell them they can’t do it. But why should two homosexuals be able to be ‘married’? There has to be something left to celebrate the natural relationship between a man and woman. After all, it isn’t natural for two people of the same sex to be together. Suppose that you don’t believe that God created man. We just squirmed up out of a slimy pond one day. Well, two creatures had to squirm out together, at the same time. One had to have been male, and the other female. What if two males had emerged together? I’m not going to play the part of an apologist and point out the minute possibility of this occurring in the first place. I can’t think of a faster way for a race to falter than killing the unborn and not reproducing.

Christianity:
The Christian life is a broad road of happiness, joy, peace, blessing, success, significance, and contentment, which is ironically gained by choosing the narrow road of surrender, obedience, self-denial, self-sacrifice, truth, worship, and service.

Condi - Frist '08

2005-01-26T02:18:00.000-08:00

I watched a bit of Condi’s senate confirmation hearing yesterday on C-Span. It was humorous watching Barbie Boxer with all her props trying to show that Dr. Rice is nothing more than a big fat liar. She spent 35 minutes (yawn) trying to defend her character attacks, saying they were in the best interest of the country. Why is it that the democrats have such a hard time determining the difference between a lie and representing bad information? Sitting on the stand and saying, “I did not have sexual relations with that woman.” Now that’s a lie. But using the best intelligence in the world to base your decisions upon, whether it be true or not, is not a lie. If my wife tells me that she mailed the electric payment, and I pass that along to the person who calls to collect the payment, then find the stamped envelope beside the front door. That is not telling a lie. But if they call to solicit a payment and I tell them it has been mailed, knowing that it hasn’t. That’s a lie.
Was anyone else uncomfortable watching Sen. (KKK) Byrd attack Condi? It must really scare him to death to think that she is going to be Secretary of State. On the other hand I can’t imagine Dr. Rice having to listen to this man question her ability. I’m all about forgiveness. But in ’54 when Dr. Rice was born, this man was a sheet wearing grand pubah in the klan. Does anyone remember a few years ago when he was throwing around the ‘N’ word on FOX News? Let’s turn this around for a minute. Suppose that Condi were a democrat and Byrd a Republican. How long to you think he’d remain seated in the Senate? Trent Lott was sent to the wolves for much less.

"Democratic Sen. Robert "Sheets" Byrd, past recruitment officer for the KKK and former advocate of racial segregation, has announced that he will obstruct the confirmation of the first African-American woman to be nominated to be Secretary of State. And if you don't think that's exactly how CBS and the rest of the MSM would have played the story if Byrd were a Republican and Rice a Democratic nominee, I have some genuine Bush National Guard documents to sell you." -Michelle Malkin-

I think Michelle Malkin said it best in ’01…
“EX-KLANSMAN Robert Byrd, the senior senator from West Virginia, casually used the phrase "white nigger" twice on national TV this weekend. Enraged civil rights groups organized a protest campaign against Sen. Byrd and demanded that he undergo sensitivity training ... not. The ex-Klansman, you see, is a Democrat. Democrats can join hate groups and utter the ugliest racial slurs and get away with it because they are Democrats. They belong to the party of racial tolerance and understanding. They're paragons of virtue, and the rest of us are bigoted rubes.”

How can anyone not see the double standard to which the Republicans are held?

Hilary Clinton officially threw her hat into the ring for the ’08 election on Monday. She took a more moderate position on abortion, or so she would like everyone to believe. Regardless of what she says, she still supports 3rd term and partial birth abortions. She has 4 years to sway 2 states in her direction. The scary thing is, it could happen. I think the only way the Republicans are going to be able to defeat Hilaryzilla is with Condoleezzilla.

Vick / McNabb, both black! Story developing....

2005-01-24T07:10:00.000-08:00

I think the media has taken a brain hike for so long that they have become comfortable with it. Now why in the world would the media go out of its way to make a point --in fact, write a whole article about it -- that McNabb and Vick are both black? Why mention it at all? Why indeed? That irks me. The sly dogs! Out of one side of their mouths they talk the politically correct talk but with their actions reveal their true attitudes: Blacks are not us. They are aliens. They are different. If blacks were considered no different from "us" then no mention would be made of it. Who mentions the meeting of two blue eyed quarterbacks? No one does because the difference is not significant. White America still thinks the difference is significant. It is hard to rip out of "our" hearts that which has been nurtured in "us" from babyhood. How do we explain how four and five year old spanish children who took a statewide test in Arizona in 1977 unanimously pointed to white children in pictures as being the good guys and brown and black children as being the bad guys? Somehow children are nurtured with these very attitudes as if it were by osmosis. These attitudes don't go away just because we grow older and have achieved a sophistication to "say" the correct things.

It's About The Kids

2005-01-11T13:24:00.000-08:00

I’ve resigned as head coach for my daughter’s basketball team. Some people in this town take their ‘little dribblers’ way too seriously. The daughter of the other 5th grade girl’s team has been telling my daughter that her father wasn’t coaching this year. Which would be good for the girls since he has no moral compass. This guy has been coaching my son’s baseball team the past few seasons. Two years ago he told my son to lie to the umpire about wearing a ‘cup’. My son came over and asked me what to do and I told him to do what is ‘right’. So, when the umpire asked my son if he was wearing a cup, my son said, “No, sir.” It all worked out because he was able to borrow one and play catcher that game anyway. But after that the coach didn’t start him behind the plate for the final four games of the season. He started a lesser player just to make a point. Anyway, I phoned a father of one of the girls that was on his team last season to ask if he could possibly help me coach, since I need someone to fill in when I’m not able to make it due to my work schedule. It just so happens that this girl’s father is one of the high school basketball coaches. So thought it would be great to have someone who actually knew a little about b-ball as an assistant. Well, he thought that I was being underhanded and trying to steal away one of his best players. Nothing could be further from the truth. I didn’t think he was coaching. And I needed a little help with my team. I could care less if we win a single game this season. I just want the girls to learn basic basketball skills along with sportsmanship and integrity. I realize he has a hard time understanding this. But I actually enjoy coaching the girls who don’t get picked to play at school. You can really tell that just being a part of a team, along with the ‘good’ players, makes them feel special. I really have a soft spot in my heart for kids. So I have asked one of the other fathers if he would be head coach of the team. And he said he would as long as I would continue to play a major role with the team. He said that I made the season very enjoyable for his daughter last season. I’m probably more comfortable being the ‘moral’ support for the team, leading the prayer, and giving pep talks. We meet with the other coach tonight to draft our team. I pray that everything goes smoothly.

Mount St. Helens
Tsunami
Earthquakes
Rain
Mudslides
Sinkholes in Florida
Snow in Vegas
White Christmas in Corpus Christi
Strange….?

I WON...I WON...I SHOT THE BB-GUN!!!!

2005-01-10T13:53:00.000-08:00

I just got home from my court date for the speeding ticket. When the DA read the officer's charges against me he had written the wrong date on his report. I immediately motioned for dismissal. The judge granted the dismissal and I walked out door high-fiving my son. I felt like George Costanza, "Thank you. Thank you. I'm outta here!" All that preparation and I didn't even get to present my case. I had spoke to the DA outside the city hall about my case. I think he knew that he didn't stand a chance. At least I'm going to tell myself that. It was so funny, when we got arrived at the city hall there was a 'jury' trial in progress. It was another speeding case. The defendant was Mexican and couldn't speak English. He had to use an interpreter to talk to the jury. His defense seemed to be that the officer was lying, he wasn't speeding. When the jury went to deliberate they had to duck behind a curtain in the back of the room. Everyone else, except the bailiff, had to wait outside. I told my son, "This is probably what trials were like 100 years ago.". The only bad thing about all of this, is that I'm now on the officer's 'hit list'. I'm going to have to watch my butt when driving through town.

Justice has prevailed!

Testimony

2005-01-10T01:45:00.000-08:00

I’ve always wanted to give my testimony. I’ve looked for opportunities, but they have never developed. It may not seem like much of a testimony, but without it I’d be lost.

I was brought up in a non-Christian home. Before jr. high I can only remember going to church on Sunday twice in my life, with my grandmother. And I remember going to Vacation Bible School a couple of times during the summer as well. But my mother and father didn’t subscribe to any religious beliefs. In fact I remember them being kinda bitter towards anyone who professed themselves to be Christians. I remember my dad talking about the ‘crooked’ preacher who talked my grandmother into selling some of their land to the church for a parking lot. Knowing my grandmother she would have given the land to the church. She was the only one in my family who had a Christian background. My grandmother grew up in a Baptist orphanage during the depression. Her father died when she was a baby and her mother couldn’t afford to raise 4 children. So she sent my grandmother along with her younger brother and sister to the home. She kept her older brother home so that he could work and earn an income. When each of them turned 18 they would return home to get a job and help take care of their mother. That’ll give you something to think about next time you think you’ve fallen on hard times. Obviously they learned a little bit about ‘forgiveness’ while they were in the ‘home’. But other than my grandmother I had no Christian influence in my life.

When I was in the 7th grade one of my best friends invited me to go to church with him. I had become friends with James when he moved to our school in the 6th grade. It wasn’t until the 7th grade that our parents met at a school function. I remember my dad asking James’ dad what he did for a living. When he told my dad that he was a ‘preacher’ of a church in a neighboring town I remember my dad kinda smirking, like he knew he was a crook. It wasn’t uncommon for my father to embarrass me. James told me that he was afraid to let any of his new friends know that his father was a preacher. He was afraid that we wouldn’t want to be friends with him any longer. A few months later they were picking up all of James’ friends on Sunday morning and taking them to church with them. I remember several of our friends getting ‘saved’ during that time. I had been listening to the words the preacher was saying, and realized that I was indeed lost. We were at church camp during the summer of 1979 when I spoke to a camp counselor in private. We prayed together and I gave my life to the Lord. He told me that I should go forward during the service that evening, professing my faith. The only problem was, I had met a real cute girl that I was sitting with during the evening service. So I refused to go forward. After all, I was way too cool to bow to anyone. We returned home from camp without me telling anyone about my experience. The next few weeks at church were a battle between me and the Lord. I knew that I wanted to go forward, but I didn’t want to be like everyone else. Needless to say, the Lord ended up winning that battle. I wish I could say that was the end of the story. From that moment on I lived my life serving the Lord. But of course that’s not the case at all.

Story about James: James and I have remained friends throughout the years. In fact, James is the one person that I can talk to about anything and know that he wouldn’t think any less of me no matter what. James was diagnosed with a brain tumor last year. The doctors found a tumor attached to his pituitary gland. The tumor didn’t secrete any hormones, which meant that it couldn’t be treated with medicine or radiation, it would have to be removed. The surgeon gave him a best and worse case scenario. Best-case scenario; they go in and remove the whole tumor and it’s benign. Worse case scenario; they aren’t able to remove the whole tumor and it’s malignant. Needless to say, James’ church (he’s an associate pastor) and everyone who knew him were praying for him. When they went in to remove the tumor they discovered that it wasn’t a tumor at all, but a cyst. They drained the fluid from the cyst and removed it. Case closed.

During my high school years I didn’t live anything like a Christian. But no matter what ‘bad’ thing I was doing, I felt that I was disappointing God in some way. I met my wife while I was a senior and she a freshman. We somehow stayed together throughout her high school years and married one week after she graduated high school.
We lived like most young married couples for the first few years of our marriage. We hung out with friends, partied, traveled, and just had a good time. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but we never had any thoughts of there being a ‘bigger picture’, not until our son was born in ’92. Shortly after he was born we decided that we should start going to church. After all, it seemed like the ‘right thing to do’. We went to church for a few years just to say we were ‘there’, and hang out with friends. Things were going great for us. My wife gave birth to our two daughters. We built our dream house (well, almost a dream house) in the country. We made lots of new friends. We were accepted into the ‘in’ crowd at our new church. But apparently God doesn’t his children to mock him by living like the world (or worse) while claiming to be Christians. We got involved in some terrible things and our whole world came to a screeching halt. One minute I thought I was on top of the world. The next I felt like I had the weight of the world on my shoulders. I was about to lose my wife, my children, and my home. I didn’t know what I could have done to deserve such a thing. I was a bitter, angry man. Then one day while I was mowing our land I had a long conversation with God. I asked him why He had chosen for these terrible things to happen to me. I pleaded with him to give me another chance. If He would let me keep my family and home, I would start living the way He would have me to live. There I was, a common man, sitting on my tractor trying to bargain with God. I had gotten to this terrible place in my life because of my own actions and I expected God to bail me out. It became crystal clear to me at that moment. There was no burning bush. I didn’t hear a loud voice from the heavens. But God told me that He didn’t need me, I needed him. If I continued to live a worldly life I would suffer worldly consequences. If I lived my life according to the Bible I would be blessed without a burden to bear. This was THAT moment, the moment that changed my life forever. I’ve since ridded myself of the MANY bad habits in my life at the time. It’s not that I don’t sin just like every other man, but I don’t let sin control my life. God has revealed Himself many different ways in my life. I only wish that everyone could experience God’s Love.

Right now I am struggling with calling ‘working nights’ a blessing. But I’m sure Moses felt the same way while he was in the desert.

write, then think.

2005-01-08T22:58:00.000-08:00

I watched a couple of shows about tsunamis today on The Discovery Channel. It makes you realize just how vulnerable we really are. Apparently the tsunamis caused by earthquakes are relatively small when compared to those caused by landslides. The earthquake that caused the mass destruction and death in southern Asia was the most severe possible for that type of tsunami, with waves approx. 30 ft high. While in 1958 in Pituya Bay, Alaska, there was a tsunami caused by a landslide that created a surge approx. 450 high on the opposite side of the bay. While this may be in a remote area where there weren’t many casualties or destruction of property, according to scientist there is a scenario that could cause just such a ‘mega-tsunami’ to crash into the eastern coastline of the U.S. On the island of La Palma, in the Canaries, there is an active volcano that has already caused a ‘fault-line’, which separates a western portion of the island from the rest of the island. The theory is that an eruption could cause this landmass to slide into the water, sending a wall of water 500 ft. high that would reach the United States in less than 8 hours, and span from Massachusetts to South Florida. As you could imagine, the death toll would dwarf that of the most recent tsunami. Kinda makes you think, doesn’t it? The death of 150K people is a devastating loss. But in the whole scheme of things it’s just a tiny piece of the puzzle. Do I understand why it happened? No. While I may question why God allows such terrible things to happen, I trust that He is in control and His will shall be done.

Speaking of God… I am working nights this weekend and I’m struggling with the decision to attend church this morning. Yesterday morning when I got home I had been awake for 25 hours before I went to bed. I only slept for about 5 ½ hours before I got up yesterday afternoon. If I do go to church this morning I won’t get much sleep before I have to come back in tonight. I know the Lord wants me in church, but he doesn’t want me to kill myself in the process. I’ve been working shifts way too long.

I will be coaching my daughter’s 5th grade basketball team again this year. We had a great season last year. We had only lost one game all season, going into the final tournament. But most of all I think the girls all had a great time. It’s sad that there are so many kids who have no father figure in their lives. Sure, most kids have a father. But many fathers play no role at all in their children’s lives. You can always tell the ones who are needy.

One of my favorite shows is Overhaulin on TDS. It’s a show where they take someone’s car for a week, without them knowing, and give it a ‘makeover. My dad has a ’74 454-Vette just sitting in his garage rotting, gathering dust. I’m sending in an application for the program. It would be so cool if they would pick his car. My dad will never have enough money to fix it up the way he’d like to. Besides, I’m hoping the car belongs to my son and I someday and I don’t want to have to put a bunch of money into it either. One of the cars the did on the show belonged to Lance Armstrong. I would think that Lance could afford to do whatever he wanted with his car.

01/08/2005

2005-01-08T02:36:00.000-08:00

Well, my court date is coming up on Monday. This thing has been bothering me since I first received the ticket. I’m about as prepared as one representing themselves could be. Our town is very small, less than one thousand people, and all the trials are held in the city hall. Which is a BIG disadvantage to me since the judge and the officer who issued me the citation are probably fishin’ buddies. That is, if they aren’t related! I think both of their last names are Coaltrain. While we’re on the subject, have you seen that they’re making a Dukes of Hazard movie? Hollywood just can’t leave anything sacred alone. And to top it off, they’ve cast Jessica Simpson as Daisy Duke! Not only was Daisy Duke better looking than Jessica Simpson, she was the smartest one on the show, next to Uncle Jesse. BTW, Denver Pyle, who played Uncle Jesse, lived nearby. So for Jessica Simpson to play Daisy Duke is going to be a REAL stretch. She may win an Oscar for the role.

The kids brought home report cards this past week. My 7th grader son brought home a 78 in science. He’s so concerned with being funny that he doesn’t concentrate on his grades. Every since he watched that movie Napoleon Dynamite he’s been walking around talking like an idiot. “Grab my arm…I’ll break your wrist.” It’s like he thinks it’s cool to be dumb. I spoke to his teacher today and she said that he made a 44 on a recent test. I’ve given him 3 weeks to bring the grade up to a ‘B’. I’m not going to start having kids bring home poor grades. I’m not!

My wife saved a guy’s blog for me to read the other day. She thought I’d be interested because he was throwing a bunch of scripture around, in a poor manner. What the guy was trying to do is, equate ‘non-acceptance’ of homosexuals with a bunch of Old Testament laws. This guy, a 25 year-old Atheist, professes to be much wiser than any fool who would read that ‘storybook’ called the Bible. I can only hope that when that ‘life changing experience’ happens, and it will, that he would chose to lean on a friend who knows Christ. I never considered myself an Atheist. But there were times when I would say that I was agnostic at best. Even today I can have moments of ‘wondering’. But then I am reminded of the tangible evidence in my life. I remember times when my prayers were answered, with no other explanation other than the work of God. Only those who have experienced God’s grace could possibly understand. BTW, it’s not that I don’t accept homosexuals. I just pity them if they don’t have a repentant heart and know that they are sinning.

I just called home and informed my wife that I had just heard that Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston were not together any longer. She is grief stricken. For some reason she sees these cute Hollywood couples and thinks that they actually have a ‘shot’. Of course there are exceptions. But for the most part it’s just another form of entertainment watching to see how long they’ll actually last. Sad really, it seams like just yesterday that the happy couple were poking fun at the Jenna Bush for her college troubles.

One of the disadvantages of living in the country...

2005-01-03T16:08:00.000-08:00

On my way to work this morning I had to backtrack five miles and drive a longer route to work. It took an additional 20 minutes for me to get to work because the creek was over the bridge. I checked the TxDot website to see when the bridge would be re-open and it’s going to be down for 2-5 months. I called and spoke to someone at the county office and he said they’re going to have to replace the bridge because all the recent floods we’ve had have weakened the structure. If they can find a temporary bridge to use, then the road will be re-open in about 2 months. If not, then it will be closer to 5 months. But he said there was only one temporary bridge as long as needed in the state, and it may already be in use in south Texas. This IS a big deal when you already drive 1 hour to work.

The kids start back to school tomorrow. What a sad, yet long awaited day.

Okay, so I was wrong about TEXAS winning the game easily. And I was wrong about Cedric Benson proving the he was Heisman worthy, even if he was. But I sure was right about Vince Young’s coming out party. I can’t remember the last time I was so exhausted after a football game. My wife was making fun of me because I would be screaming for joy one minute and just plain screaming the next. When Michigan lined up to kick their final field goal my son said, “miss it”. I told my son that I wanted them to make the field goal so I could watch Vince Young lead the team down the field for a winning score. He didn’t disappoint! I hope the rest of the country got to see what a class act Mack Brown is after the game. He really got a bum wrap for pleading for AP votes. That’s kinda funny because a couple of years ago Bob Stoops admitted that he was guilty of running up the score (70 – 0 over A&M…. That’s okay I forgive you Bob) on weaker teams to impress the BCS. Isn’t that a little worse than asking for votes because you tell the truth about your team being better than a team that is ranked higher than them? I can’t wait until next year. Although, I’m not looking forward to hooking up with Ohio State early next season. At least they don’t ‘hate’ us like most teams we play in the Big XII.

The kids start back to school tomorrow. What a sad, yet long awaited day.

I mentioned the large amount of anti-Bush and anti-War blogs that I’ve surfed across. Well, I do occasionally stop and read some of the narrow mindedness, and I think most of the bloggers have something in common besides their hatred for the war / Bush. They seem to hate us red-staters from Jesusland just as much. If you show any inclination to want to live your life according to the morals defined in the Bible, then you’re somehow less intelligent than they. The foul language on the some of the sites, I find offensive. And the last one, which prompted me to make these comments, flat out assaulted the English language. (Obviously didn’t use spell-check) and they were the ‘self-proclaimed’ 2,500th most popular blog page on the internet. Don’t get me wrong, if it weren’t for spell-check my page would read like a 5th grade writing assignment. Yes, I know, I tend to use commas in places where commas shouldn’t be. It makes me very comma conscious.
What to do about them? ……. “And the Lord spake, saying, 'First shalt thou take out the Holy Pin. Then, shalt thou count to three. No more. No less. Three shalt be the number thou shalt count, and the number of the counting shall be three. Four shalt thou not count, nor either count thou two, excepting that thou then proceed to three. Five is right out. Once the number three, being the third number, be reached, then, lobbest thou thy Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch towards thy foe, who, being naughty in My sight, shall snuff it.'

Hook Em' sayeth the Lord

2005-01-01T06:43:00.000-08:00

I had one of the most exciting new years of all time. I think I was asleep by 11:30pm last night. And to top it off I was the only one at home. Whoooohoooo, party! Sad thing is, this isn’t the first year I’ve been asleep well before the new year arrives. Home in bed is probably the safest place to be on New Year’s Eve.
Last night my wife and daughters spent the night at a friend’s house. My wife works at a mother’s day out three days a week. For the second year in a row they offered the parent’s over night babysitting for a small fee. ($75 per child) I think they had a total of 9 kids last night. That’s pretty good money for one nights work, huh? The kids are supposed to be picked up by 8am this morning. So I figure she and the girls will be home around 10am this morning.
I just returned home from picking my son up at the church. Our youth minister hosted a ‘lock-in’ last night. I left there about 10:30 last night. We had just finished a ‘digital camera’ scavenger hunt. There were a total of 12 students, so they were divided into 3 teams of 4. I had to drive a team around and try to get as many pictures of the things on the list as possible in 1-1/2 hours. We had to take pictures of such things as someone (a stranger) blowing a bubble, a church deacon at home in the bath tub, the whole team in a bath tub, a team member eating baby food, a team member doing a hand stand in front of the post office, the whole team pushing a tractor, the whole team with a brown and white horse, one of the team member’s wearing an HEB (local grocery chain) apron, and several other wacky photos. We actually had security called on us when we were in Wal-Mart. We were running around the toy department taking pictures of the group with toys (since the list didn’t specify that it had to be a real horse, the team picking up a real car, or pushing a real tractor, we took advantage of that loop-hole) when we heard someone come over the intercom saying “Security to the toy department……Security to toys, please.” so the kids freaked out and started running. I would have to say that I had as much fun as the kids on the scavenger hunt.
On my way to the church this morning I had to dodge the beer bottles littering the road, along with the empty beer cases. So it’s not enough to drive around drinking, you have to litter too! I know that when I was younger, and stupider, I used to do the same thing. It’s funny how your perspective changes when you get older and wiser. (not that I claim to be a wise man)
This morning I have to root for the Texas Aggies to beat the Tennessee Volunteers in the Cotton bowl. That’s going to be tough since I’d like to see the Aggies lose every other game throughout the season. But it’s best for the Big XII if all our teams win their bowl games. Texas Tech, a middle pack team in the Big XII, put a whoopin’ on Cal the other night. I think that’s funny since Cal thought they deserved to be in a BCS bowl game. Then, this afternoon I get to watch my TEXAS LONGHORNS play the Michigan Wolverines in the ‘Granddaddy of Them All’ the Rose Bowl. TEXAS should win this game easily. While Michigan has had some great teams in the past, this isn’t one of them. Cedric Benson will make the Heisman voters realize how stupid they were for not even sending him an invite to New York. And Vince Young will emerge as the Heisman frontrunner for next season. That is the way I hope things are going to go down anyway.
I pray that this next year will be a great one. I pray that our little church continues to grow and many lives are changed because of it. I pray that our troops are able to begin pulling out of Iraq and Afghanistan, only after democracy takes hold and the terrorist are defeated. I know that there will always be terrorist, but they will become the ‘exception’ rather than the ‘rule’. I pray that somehow there will be some good to come out of the tsunami tragedy. Since most of the areas affected by the disaster are largely ‘non-Christian’ areas the good done by Christian aid workers could translate into opportunities to show the love of Christ. I pray that we as Americans can come together as a country, not divided but working together for the ‘good’ of our country and peoples around the world. I pray that my family will continue to move closer to God. I want people to look at us and know that there is something that makes us different and they want to find out more about our Faith.
Happy New Year & God Bless
Maury

See What I Mean?

2004-12-31T05:59:00.000-08:00

I told you that my girls got all painted up like show ponies for their cheerleading competitions. They look like they should be going to work at a casino. (if they were taller)
Those of you who are fathers can see why this is somewhat disturbing to me.

2004-12-31T05:56:00.000-08:00

These are my daughters

True Story

2004-12-30T21:57:00.000-08:00

I heard this guy tell his story the other day on Sean Hannity. Whether you're a baseball fan or not, this will make you say..."WOW"!

Roger Maris and Me

I grew up in the shadow of Yankee Stadium and just fell in love with baseball.
When Roger Maris came to the New York Yankees from the Kansas City Athletics in 1960, I was eleven. I had been burned in a fire in August, so I was laid up for a while and followed baseball even more closely. I remember a headline that said Roger Maris "rejuvenates" the Yankees. I had never heard the word before, but it made me think this Roger Maris was someone special.
For me, there was something about the way he swung the bat, the way he played right field and the way he looked. I had an idol. In 1961 the entire country was wrapped up in the home-run race between Maris and Mickey Mantle and Babe Ruth's ghost. I cut out every single article on Roger and told myself that when I got older and could afford it, I would have my scrapbooks professionally bound. (Eight years ago I had all of them bound into eleven volumes.)
I usually sat in Section 31, Row 162-A, Seat 1 in Yankee Stadium. Right field. I would buy a general admission ticket, but I knew the policeman, so I would switch over to the reserved seats, and that one was frequently empty.
I'd get to the stadium about two hours before it opened. I would see Roger park his car, and I would say hello and tell him what a big fan I was. After a while, he started to notice me. One day he threw me a baseball during batting practice, and I was so stunned I couldn't lift my arms. Somebody else got the ball. So Roger spoke to Phil Linz, a utility infielder, and Linz came over, took a ball out of his pocket and said, "Put out your hand. This is from Roger Maris."
After that, my friends kept pushing me: "Why don't you ask him for one of his home-run bats?" Finally, when Roger was standing by the fence, I made the request. He said, "Sure. Next time I break one."
This was in 1965. The Yankees had a West Coast trip, and I was listening to their game against the Los Angeles Angels on the radio late one night, in bed, with the lights out. And Roger cracked a bat. Next morning my high school friend called me, "Did you hear Roger cracked his bat? That's your bat."
I said, "We'll see."
When the club came back to town, my friend and I went to the stadium, and during batting practice Rog walked straight over to me and said, "I've got that bat for you."
I said, "Oh, my God, I can't thank you enough."
Before the game, I went to the dugout. I stepped up to the great big policeman stationed there and poured my heart out: "You have to understand, please understand, Roger Maris told me to come here, I was supposed to pick up a bat, it's the most important thing, I wouldn't fool you, I'm not trying to pull the wool over your eyes, you gotta let me...."
" No problem. Stand over here." He knew I was telling the truth. I waited in the box-seat area to the left of the dugout, pacing and fidgeting. Then, just before game time, I couldn't stand it anymore. I hung over the rail and looked down the dimly lit ramp to the locker room, waiting for Rog to appear. When I saw him walking up the runway with a bat in his hand, I was so excited I almost fell. I don't know what he thought, seeing a kid hanging upside down, but when he handed me the bat, it was one of the most incredible moments in my young life.
I brought the bat home, and my friends said, "Now why don't you ask him for one of his home-run baseballs?"
So I asked Roger, and he said, "You're gonna have to catch one, 'cause I don't have any."
Maris was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals on December 8, 1966-a dark day for me. That year, I went off to college at the University of Akron, in Ohio. My roommate had a picture of Raquel Welch on his wall, and I had a picture of Roger Maris.
Everyone knew I was a big Maris fan. My friends said, "You say you know Roger Maris. Let's just go see." So six of us drove two and one-half hours to Pittsburgh to see the Cardinals play the Pirates. It was May 9, 1967. We got to Forbes Field two hours before the game, and there was No. 9. It was the first time I had ever seen Roger Maris outside of Yankee Stadium, and I figured he wouldn't know me in this setting. I was very nervous. Extremely nervous, because I had five guys with me. I went down to the fence, and my voice quavered: "Ah,... Roger."
He turned and said, "Andy Strasberg, what the hell are you doing in Pittsburgh?"
That was the first time I knew he knew my name. "Well, Rog, these guys from my college wanted to meet you, and I just wanted to say hello." The five of them paraded by and shook hands, and they couldn't believe it. I wished Rog good luck and he said, "Wait a minute. I want to give you an autograph on a National League ball." And he went into the dugout and got a ball and signed it. I put it in my pocket and felt like a million dollars.
In 1968, I flew to St. Louis to see Roger's last regular-season game. I got very emotional watching the proceedings at the end of the game. I was sitting behind the dugout, and Rog must have seen me because he later popped his head out and winked. It touched my heart. I was interviewed by the Sporting News, who found out I had made that trip from New York City expressly to see Roger retire. The reporter later asked Maris about me, and Roger said, "Andy Strasberg was probably my most faithful fan."
We started exchanging Christmas cards, and the relationship grew. I graduated from college and traveled the country looking for a job in baseball. When the San Diego Padres hired me, Roger wrote me a nice note of congratulations.
I got married in 1976 at home plate at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego. Rog and his wife, Pat, sent us a wedding gift, and we talked on the phone once or twice a year. In 1980, Roger and Pat were in Los Angeles for the All-Star Game, and that night we went out for dinner-my wife Patti, me, my dad, Roger and Pat.
When Roger died of lymphatic cancer in December 1985, I attended the funeral in Fargo, North Dakota. After the ceremony, I went to Pat and told her how sorry I felt. She hugged me, and then turned to her six children. "I want to introduce someone really special. Kids, this is Andy Strasberg." And Roger Maris Jr. said, "You're Dad's number-one fan."
There is a special relationship between fans-especially kids-and their heroes that can be almost mystical. Like that time my five college buddies and I traveled to Pittsburgh to see Roger. It's so real to me even today, yet back then it seemed like a dream.
I'm superstitious when it comes to baseball. That day I sat in Row 9, Seat 9, out in right field. In the sixth inning Roger came up to the plate and, moments later, connected solidly.
We all-my friends and I-reacted instantly to the crack of the bat. You could tell it was a homer from the solid, clean sound, and then we saw the ball flying in a rising arc like a shot fired from a cannon. Suddenly everyone realized it was heading in our direction. We all leaped to our feet, screaming, jostling for position. But I saw everything as if in slow motion; the ball came towards me like a bird about to light on a branch. I reached for it and it landed right in my hands.
It's the most amazing thing that will ever happen in my life. This was Roger's first National League home run, and I caught the ball. Tears rolled down my face. Roger came running out at the end of the inning and said, "I can't believe it." I said, "You can't? I can't!"
The chances of No. 9 hitting a home-run ball to Row 9, Seat 9 in right field on May 9, the only day I ever visited the ballpark, are almost infinitely remote. I can only explain it by saying it's magic-something that happens every so often between a fan and his hero. Something wonderful.
[AUTHOR'S NOTE: On August 3, 1990, I received a phone call from Roger's son Randy and his wife Fran. They were calling from a hospital in Gainesville, Florida. Fran had just given birth to their first son. Fran and Randy wanted me to know that they named their son Andrew and asked i f I would be his godfather. To this day I still can't believe that the grandson o f my childhood hero Roger Maris is my namesake and my godson.]
Andy Strasberg

You Drive Like A Hypocrite!

2004-12-30T21:20:00.000-08:00

We live about 5 miles south of the small town where our children attend school. There is a ‘farm to market’ road that leads into town. The posted speed limit on the road is 55 mph. If you want to tick some people off, drive the posted speed limit. People drive like maniacs on this road, especially in the morning before school and in the afternoon when school lets out. It’s not unusual for a teenager to pull over into the opposite-bound lane to attempt to pass a string of cars, only to have to squeeze back in line because of oncoming traffic. Or to have a soccer mom, talking on a cell phone, holding a cup of coffee, driving her SUV ride your bumper until she can see enough daylight to speed around you. In recent months there have been several wrecks on this road. Three of the wrecks were on the same curve, the most recent involved a fatality. So I wrote a ‘letter to the editor’ of the local newspaper pleading for people to slow down and drive responsibly on this particular road. I felt I was as qualified as anyone to write this letter, especially since I haven’t received a speeding ticket in years. The best I can figure, is been at least 17 years since I received a traffic citation. Well, as luck would have it, two days after the letter was published I was ticketed for speeding on this very same road. When you follow the road into town it goes right through the center of town. The speed limit drops from 55mph to 45mph, then 30mph through town, or so I thought. I had just dropped the kids off at school and was headed back home. I noticed the police car parked on the opposite side of the road facing towards me. I glanced down at my speedometer and saw that I was traveling around 31mph. Cool, right? After I passed the police car I saw him turn on his lights, make a u-turn in the middle of the road, and come after me. The officer asked me if I knew what the speed limit was and I said, “yea, 30mph”. He informed me that I was in a school zone and the speed limit was 20mph during school hours. I have been driving through this town for ten years and I have never seen a 20mph sign posted anywhere. So I asked the officer if there was a 20mph sign, and he said there was. I asked him how long the speed limit had been 20mph and he told me that it had been posted 20mph since he started working there last February. I knew that was not the case, but what could I say? I’ve since found out that the sign / signs didn’t appear until a two weeks before. Oh, and one of the wrecks that I mentioned was this police officer’s 15 year-old daughter. She was driving her 2002 Eclipse without a driver’s license. But I didn’t say a word, I just accepted my ticket like a good law-breaker. But then I drove out of town looking back to see if there were any 20mph signs, I didn’t see any. I saw the yellow sign with the flashing light, which wasn’t flashing, and a silhouette of a kid playing on it, but no 20mph sign. So I drove back into town to see if there was a 20mph sign coming from the direction I was driving when I got the ticket. Sure enough, there it was, a 20mph sign mounted about 2ft off the ground underneath the yellow sign with the flashing light, which WASN’T flashing, and the silhouette of a kid playing on it that read 20mph 7:30am-4pm SCHOOL DAYS. I saw the officer parked on a side road so I pulled up beside him and pointed out that there was NO 20mph sign posted on the road that I drove into town on, and the yellow light was not flashing on the sign above the 20mph sign. The officer told me that someone must have “knocked down” the 20mph sign, and that they’ve been trying to “get the flashing light fixed”. I asked him how he could give me a ticket if the speed limit isn’t ‘clearly’ marked. He told me to “take that up with the judge”. When I went to pick the kids up from school that afternoon I noticed that there was a 20mph sign, without any specific times, posted underneath the yellow sign with the flashing light, which still wasn’t flashing, and a silhouette of a kid playing on it. So I stopped at the City Hall and went in to talk to the clerk about the sign that had miraculously appeared the same day I pointed out that there wasn’t a sign. I thought that they might try to claim that the sign had been there all along. But she acknowledged that the sign had just been put up that same day because someone had either knocked down the old sign or stolen it. So I pointed out that the new sign was mounted beneath a flashing yellow light, which would indicate that the speed limit was 20mph when the light was flashing, but the light wasn’t flashing. And the other sign, which was mounted below a flashing yellow light that wasn’t flashing also, gave specific hours. She didn’t understand what I was trying to say. So I explained to her… If you have sign mounted below a flashing light, then that means that you have to obey that speed limit when the sign was flashing. Even though the other sign gives a specific time, the yellow light above it wasn’t flashing. So if one has to obey the sign regardless of whether or not the light is flashing, then the speed limit is 20mph all the time going in one direction and 20mph only during school hours coming in the other. Not to mention the fact that the speed limit was 30mph in the opposite direction when I received my ticket. (because there was no sign) I know all this is VERY confusing, but the bottom line is……. I’M INNOCENT. I received a subpoena for The ‘Home State of Sandy the Squirrel’ vs. Maury, for Jan 10th 2005.
I hope you know, if I’m found guilty of speeding it makes me the hypocrite of all hypocrites.

Maury

Pictures

2004-12-30T17:11:00.000-08:00

None of the photos I posted are very recent. For some reason the Hello program didn't locate any of the pictures we have downloaded from our new camera. I'll have to figure that out later. Since those pictures were taken Jordan has grown about foot. He's as tall as I am now. Of course, my wife and I still look the same.

2004-12-30T14:35:00.000-08:00

Jordan

2004-12-30T14:34:00.000-08:00

Macie & McKenzie

2004-12-30T14:19:00.000-08:00

Sister-in-law's wedding (vegas)

My wife and me

2004-12-30T14:12:00.000-08:00

Me and my wife

Observations of a Newbie

2004-12-29T23:59:00.000-08:00

I’ve been checking out all the different blogger’s sites, and I’d like to make a few observations:

1) I cannot read Chinese, Russian, French, Spanish, and several other languages that I could not determine.
2) Most bloggers seem to be a bit more ‘traveled’ than myself. I’ve been as far west as Vegas, as far north & east as Ohio, and as far south as Grand Cayman. It seems like most bloggers have backpacked across Europe and climbed Everest.
3) There are a lot of people who enjoy writing hateful things about our President.
4) I don’t know enough about computers. I’ve been trying to figure out how to post a photo on my blog for the past 2 hours. Other people have their pages have all this bling-bling and are pimped to the max. Anybody know what HTML is?
5) Kidz 2day dnt no how 2 spell! I mean pleez peeps, do not you have spl chk?
6) There are a lot of advertisement blogs.

Just a few of the things that jumped out at me.

Let's Get One Thing Straight

2004-12-29T20:24:00.000-08:00

Religion has been the dividing factor for countries, races, and even families for thousands of years. Millions of people have died for what they believe. Ever wonder why? It’s because if someone truly believes what their ‘religion’ teaches them, then anyone who believes differently is mistaken at the cost of their soul. Them there are fightin’ words! People don’t like to be told that they are destined for eternal damnation because their ‘god’ isn’t the real ‘God’.
I’m a Christian who believes that Jesus Christ was born to a virgin mother, walked the Earth amongst us, lived a sinless life, died on the cross for my sins, and was raised from the dead on the third day, just like the Old Testament prophets said it would happen. I believe that the only way to the Father (God) is through Jesus the son. (Jesus = God) I believe that Faith is the key to Christianity. What is Faith? Faith is giving everything to something without expecting anything in return. I’m saved by the Grace of God, not because I’m a good person. Quite the contrary, I’m a sinner, no different than every other man. It’s because of God’s forgiveness of sin, through a repentant heart, that I am saved. Unfortunately, I believe that if someone is trying to reach the ‘holy’ place by any other means that through Christ, then they are a lost soul. If I had written these words a century ago, or longer, I would have been just another ‘Believer’. But because we live in an ‘all-inclusive’ world today I’m seen as an elitist. Do I sometimes struggle with my faith? Of course, I do. I often rely upon my flesh to logically explain things. Let’s face it, it isn’t logical to believe that there is a ‘Creator’ of the universe. It doesn’t make sense to believe that a child could be born of a virgin, or a man raised from the dead. Or does it? Recently, British philosophy professor and atheist Antony Flew acknowledged that there probably was a ‘Creator’, based on scientific evidence. While he still calls himself a deist, and says that there is no controlling God, he says it’s more logical to believe that the universe was created, rather than ‘just happened’. Well, he’s getting closer. You see, the smarter we think we are the harder it is for us to acknowledge that some things just can’t be explained. You must first accept that Man is not the Supreme Being.
I know that I’ve rambled off some serious stuff, but now you know where I stand. I promise I’m not going to cram my beliefs down anyone’s throat to try to change them. I’ll do that by relaying just how great God has been to me.

Maury

The Cheerleaders Ate Your Babies (aussie accent)

2004-12-29T18:38:00.000-08:00

I used to have two alert, easy to communicate with little girls for daughters. But that has all changed since they began competitive cheerleading. Several months ago they started taking tumbling & cheer lessons at CTA (Corsicana Tumbling Academy). They were asked to join the competitive cheer squads for their individual age group. Well, that was the beginning of what I call the ‘brainwashing’. I like to call the place STA (Stepford Tumbling Academy) instead of CTA. They’ve managed to turn my little girls into cheerbots. They cannot walk across the living room like normal girls, they have to do a cartwheel, round off, flip-flop to get across the room. They spend a large amount of their time either upside-down or creating their own cheer routines. And if that’s not enough, they have to dress the part to do the routines, even at home. It’s not uncommon for them to cake on the make-up and glitter just to practice their cheers. (That’s another issue, which I will address shortly.) Everything is done in cadence, 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8…….. Get the picture? On the positive side, they are very good at what they do. It’s amazing to watch what these young kids can do. They have been in two competitions so far this season (would that be cheer season?) and my youngest daughter’s team has won both, while my oldest daughter’s team finished a respectable 2nd and 4th. Their instructors are members of the Navarro College cheerleading squad, who has won the small college National Championship the past two years. (that’s cheer championship, not football) Being a member of the CTA squads pretty much guarantees them a spot on the high school cheerleading squad. That leads me to the problems I have with them being ‘cheerleaders’. Right now it’s cute to watch them get out there and perform, doing what you normally only see older kids doing. But when they get older I don’t want them to dance around half naked in front of bleachers filled with dirty minded men. My wife doesn’t understand this, but even the most righteous of men will be tempted when an attractive young girl, who is fully developed, dances around showing their stuff. Not only do I not want men lusting after my daughters, but also I don’t want my daughters being responsible for causing men to be tempted. What is sad, is that the world we live in today sees absolutely nothing wrong with showing a ‘little’ flesh. But I feel that I should be able to watch a football game (Super Bowl) or turn on the TV without being sexually tempted. When my girls put on their ‘war paint’ I don’t even recognize them. They look like Vegas showgirls. (will be posting pics in the near future) In CTA’s defense, they are the most conservative squads that I have seen so far. They don’t show any mid-section and they wear long-sleeves with turtlenecks with their official uniforms. I’ve seen squads with 8-10 year old girls wearing next to nothing. And when they perform, they do moves reserved for the likes of the Laker Girls. You can use cheerleading to get yourself a college degree, which is nice, but isn’t that the ultimate goal of a cheerleader? To become a professional cheerleader like the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders, Laker Girls, etc…. Have you seen the way these girls dress? They aren’t famous for their “cheers” if you know what I mean. I guess what I’m saying is, as long as they continue to dress appropriately, and don’t parade around in front of drunken football fans, then it’s okay for them to be cheerleaders. But isn’t that what a cheerleader is supposed to do? If you’re not cheering for a football game, then what’s the point of cheering? What a messed up world we live in.
This is the tortured world of a conservative Christian father.

Just A Start

2004-12-29T01:18:00.000-08:00

About ME:

Personal Stuff: I’m a 39 year-old father of three. My wife and I have been married for 17ish years. We started dating when I was a senior in high school, and my wife a freshman. We were married the week after my wife graduated from high school. We’re happily married and have been blessed with three wonderful, healthy children. Having said that, I’m strongly suggesting that my children wait until they’re a bit older before getting married, it would make things so much easier for them.

Important Stuff: My life has been a journey that has lead me to where I am today. (of course, anyone can say that) I’ve spent a lot of my life trying to find what makes me happy, as do most people. I’ve partied, drank, chased the almighty dollar, and ran around on my wife. So when I say that I am “blessed” to have such a wonderful wife, I actually mean that I am “blessed” to STILL have such a wonderful wife. No matter how hard I looked there was still something missing, something that I couldn’t find. I spent all that time looking, when it was something that had been with me all along. Since I’ve decided to start living my life the way the Bible instructs me to live I’ve found all the answers. Every need that I have tried to meet has been met. My relationship with Jesus Christ is the most important thing in my life. I’ve found that the more I give to Him, the more He gives in return. I don’t understand why, but He continues to shower my family and I with his love. Life is too short to not appreciate all that you have been given. You’ll be hearing more about my Faith in the future, I promise.

My Job: I work for a major steel manufacturer in Texas where I am a chemistry analyst. I’ve been with the same company for almost 12 years now. I love my job, at least I love what it is I do. I’m not too crazy about my schedule. Because steel is melted around the clock, I am required to work a rotating shift. I only work 14 12-hour shifts per month, and I get a full 8 days in a row off each month. That’s the good part. The bad part is that I can’t stand working nights and weekends. My job tends to interfere with my kid’s ballgames and church activities. But at least I’m in a clean environment with lots of free time and internet access! My previous job was in the aircraft industry. I build parts for the B-2 Stealth bomber. But that job came to a halt in ’92 when Clinton took office and cut defense spending. Or, you could blame it on Reagan for ending the Cold War.

Hobbies: I don’t really have time for a lot of hobbies, between my job and 3 kids. But I do like to run. I’ve been running on and off my whole life. While I was a sprinter when I was younger, I’ve adapted to running distance. I had been training for the Freescale / Motorola Marathon in Austin next Feb. until injury / illness put an end to my dreams. I had been training to run the 26.2 fast enough to qualify for the Boston Marathon. My injuries are gone now, but I’ve lost too much precious training time. I was up to 45-50 miles per week, with a long run of 14 miles, before my injury / illness. I say ‘injury / illness’ because I was injured for a week, re-injured for a week, then sick for a week. You try recovering from that!!!

Politics: I’m just a little bit to the right of Pat Buchanan. You’ll be hearing a lot about my political views, this will be my platform. Unfortunately for my friends and family, politics & religion are my two favorite subjects. I guess you could throw college football in there too. I was a talk radio junkie when talk radio wasn’t cool.

My Kids: My son Jordan (12) is my best friend. Seriously, when I gave up drinking and started going to church (for real) I lost most of my old friends. But I was lucky because my son has been there for me. He is a very special kid. We’ve heard several stories about how kind he is to his fellow students. He runs around with the ‘popular’ crowd, yet shows compassion to all his classmates. He’s smart (A’s), good looking (like his father), Athletic (like his father), and a Christian. Thank you, Lord!
My daughter Macie (11) is the perfect kid. She’s the one who cleans her room when you tell her to the FIRST time. She has a very tender soul. You have to be careful what you say to her because even the little things tend to hurt her feelings. (did I mention she’s reaching puberty?) She is very hard to hold, literally. You have to chase her down just to get a hug out of her. When I tuck her in, it’s a high-five. She’s had terrible luck when it comes to losing things she loves. When she was in second grade her best friend was killed in a car wreck. Every animal (except Woody – more on him later) she has owned has died. She’s beautiful (like her mother), smart (A’s), athletic, and a Christian. Thank you, Lord!
My daughter McKenzie (8) is a piece of work. She is the stereotypical “baby” of the family. She is the most strong willed child I have ever seen. With her blonde hair and big blue eyes, she knows that she can get whatever she wants, especially from her mother. She is always willing to hop up in my lap and give me all the sugars daddy wants. Trouble is, you don’t know if she’s there because she wants you to do something or not. We had it made…… We had a boy, then a girl, then we had Kenzi. God bless her, she’s a wonderful child, and cute as a button. I have to admit, I’m a little worried about when she becomes a teenager.
Woody is our Chihuahua. He’s not your average ‘shaky’ Chihuahua. Woody is very calm and the perfect ‘lap’ dog. Pleas Lord, don’t let anything happen to Woody when I’m the only one at home! I’m always afraid that I’m going to let him out to go to the restroom (we live in the country) and he’s not going to come back. Woody and Macie are inseparable. He’ll settle for anyone, but he’ll always pick Macie to cuddle with.

You’ll be hearing more from me later.

Maury

Oh, boy! Here I go.......

2004-12-28T22:26:00.000-08:00

I've had a passion for expressing myself on the internet before, several years ago when online diaries were just beginning. Although I haven't done it in a while, I still find myself thinking 'I'd like to write about that'. Well, now I will. You'll find I'm WAY too conservative for most. But I'm also way too sarcastic to make up for it.

later,
Maury