A Smashing Day!

Day 1 -- Hospital Admission

2011-07-22T12:24:00.007-05:00

Well, we got Jeanne-Mari all checked in. And much easier than in years past, I must say. We were in her room in just over 30 minutes from arriving...and that's just crazy-fast.

Me, Jeanne-Mari, Carol (my mom), and Wayne (my pop)
at the Oasis in May.

She's in room 427 at Seton Downtown. Her room will probably change tomorrow, so keep up to date.

Patients with Cystic Fibrosis are usually in the hospital more often than once every three years (JM was here in 2005 and 2008...so we're right on our schedule), and so the check-in nurses on this floor thought we were new to the area. But everybody pretty much knows her now. :) These CF nurses really are the nicest ones around.

Background: JM hasn't been feeling too hot lately (to say the least). She's been run down, had fever, and not sleeping well. She had an x-ray and some other tests earlier this week and we found out she has a lung abcess--it's not a common CF development, but it's here. It's in the same location where she had a lung infiltrate earlier this year. Obviously, the medication didn't fully fix that problem back then. So now we're here.

As of now, the plan is that she'll be in here for two weeks...so hopefully we'll get out of here by August 4th or 5th.

Personally, I didn't think I was worked up too much...but I dropped some fruit and then spilled a bunch of coffee on a chair in the waiting area. Made a real mess. I guess this is affecting me more than I thought it was. :P

We've already had several phones calls, many offers of help, and tons of prayer. All are greatly appreciated.

Our spirits are good, Jeanne-Mari is smiley, Melissa is handling things well (as am I--sans coffee incidents), life is still good, and so is God.

Want to know more about Cystic Fibrosis? Visit this site: http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/disorders/whataregd/cf

"Get-To" vs. "Have-To" Attitude

2011-05-31T17:57:00.001-05:00

So many times we get stuck in life because we have a terrible attitude. For example, when I was in college, I had terrible grades. School felt like a chore. When I had to make a choice between doing something fun and studying, it was either "I have to study, but I'll just pull an all-nighter" or "Can't go because I have to study"....mostly the former.

My grades stayed the same until I realized that school is teaching me things I need and that I should want to learn. I eventually moved from a have-to to a get-to attitude. "I can't go tonight because I get to study about physics and learn about how the Universe works" or "I get to learn about the tensile strength of different types of steel before tomorrow--so, no, I can't go out with you."

I got better at just doing life after I made this switch. And life got a lot more interesting. Here are some more examples of "get-to" possibilities:

"I get to go to work today."
"I get to do something hard today."
"I get to go for a 5-mile run."
"I get to buy reading glasses because my eyes are getting old."
"I get to get old."
"I get to eat right today."
"I get to go to church."
"I get to honor God."
"I get to treat right the person who mis-treated me."
"I get to get up early."
"I get to mow the lawn."
"I get to have a sunburn."
"I get to face a fear."
"I get to pay bills."
"I get to have cancer."
"I get to show grace in a tough situation."
"I get to bungie jump."
"I get to learn through a really bad breakup."

You can go all day long. And some may seem extreme. But it changes everything. Personally, I appreciate every little part of life a lot more.

Customer Service is alive at Shari's Berries!

2011-05-16T22:20:00.000-05:00

Recently, I ordered 2 batches of chocolate-covered strawberries for my mother and my wife--both for Mother's Day. My mom's order was delivered and were amazing. My mom is still raving about them.

However, the order for my wife wasn't too hot. The strawberries were delivered not cold...and they were not good strawberries. We ended up throwing several of them away. Definitely not the results we had heard about or what my mom experienced.

So I sent an email giving positive feedback for my mom's order and negative feedback for Jeanne-Mari's order. And WITHIN AN HOUR I got a personal email back from SB giving an apology and offering several options of recompense--including resending another order at no charge.

We're definitely taking the re-send of the strawberries. Jeanne-Mari is just as excited as she was the first time. I'll make sure to let you know how it turns out...I'm expecting them to be great.

By the way, my email was sent after normal business hours. I wasn't expecting to get a reply until tomorrow at the earliest. This whole experience has been quite a nice surprise.

So are you looking for really awesome dipped strawberries?? Order from Shari's Berries (http://www.sharisberries.com/). And if there happens to be some kind of problem, you can still be confident that they'll stand behind their product and their service.

Do I sound like a commercial? I hope so. I've learned to really appreciate good customer service nowadays...since it seems to be disappearing from most places.

Payback vs. Justice

2011-05-02T20:15:00.000-05:00

Osama Bin Laden was killed yesterday. It was a weird feeling watching the pictures of people celebrating in front of the White House. Then more weirdness this morning as Facebook posts were all over the place...either "Yay, he's dead!" or "Why is everybody so euphoric over this event?"

However you feel, it's definitely a different world today. But the reason for this post is that I saw the BEST paragraph on revenge/justice when I was perusing ESPN. It's so poetic. And, yes, sports stuff. Can't you really metaphoricalize (is that a real word?) anything with sports?? :) Here's the section:

"'Payback' is easy.
Payback comes out of petty cash.
Payback is an elbow when the ref isn't looking;
payback is a pitch up and in;
payback twists your arm and steps on your hand after the whistle.
Payback is short-form accounting.

But 'justice?'
Justice reckons the infinite.
Justice counts the cost of the universal and settles all debts.
Justice doesn't truck with revenge.
Better than anyone, sports fans understand that justice, true justice, lies far beyond the reach of any one of us.
It is thus never ours to deliver."

The more I read over this, the more I like it. For the whole article, go here: http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/commentary/news/story?id=6464808

Just Thinking...

2011-04-18T19:40:00.001-05:00

-What makes a 15-year-old girl feel so much pain that she wants to end her life?
-And the bigger question...What in the world are we going to do to make sure this doesn't happen again?
-What needs to change in our attitudes, actions, and words?
-As Christians, we're called to step up and defend those who are "weaker."
-It's time we did.

HPY Student Worship Team Formation

2011-03-15T08:43:00.000-05:00

Starting a new worship team for HighPointYouth! I'm kind of excited about it, but what gets me really jazzed is seeing our students so excited about it. Not sure what it's going to look like, but I think it will involve several guitars and a choir. Should be awesome. And will be great for Senior Sunday on May 29th (though it will go live much before that at Reverb on Wednesday nights).

So far, we have Zack, Oliver, Zoe, and Vanessa (one of our leaders) on guitar. Mallory and/or Cameron on the keyboards. And we even have a sax player and a ukelele player (Jared plays both). Eclectic. These guys will do great, but I'm really spiked about the choir.

Tyler, CJ, Mark, Scott, Haylie, Olivia, Jessica, Michayla, Kari, Rachael-Anne, Jeremy, Lauren, and Katie. This will be a cool choir. They'll look good and sound good, obviously, but they'll also make a big impact. It's gonna be crazy.

Sex is Awesome. Especially when you Wait.

2011-03-07T22:51:00.000-06:00

The conclusions made in this post are dependent on the assumption (and I think it's a vital one) that romantic relationships are always better (and way healthier) if they start as friendships first.

Let's step through it. Think of the positive character attributes that someone would wish for in a friendship.

Honesty
Respect
Forgiveness
Sense of Humor
Trust
Loyalty
Love
Good Communication
Common Interests
Common Values

Look at each one. If you have a friend and the relationship has a healthy dose of these attributes, then you have a real gift. Something to be cherished and valued highly.

Now, consider a dating relationship. It's vital (for a healthy dating relationship) to have each of these things. Therefore, the foundation for a really cool dating relationship is friendship.

Just like a good friendship, if you have a dating relationship that has a good positive dose of these ten things, then it's really special. It needs to be valued. And you don't want to mess it up.

However, if you add sex to the relationship (like our culture tempts us to do), then several things happen.

First, several of the attributes (and possibly all of them) are affected negatively. Trust, Respect, and others are affected in a negative way. Mainly because the commitment level is still at the 'dating' level.

Secondly, once sex is added to the equation, it's real easy for everything to move to the physical...and it starts to become the foundational part of the relationship. And it gets really messed up. Pretty soon, all the couple wants to do when they get together is hang out and find ways to have sex together. I know this is a big generalization, but it's a truth...especially for high school relationships.

I'm even going so far as to say that sex added to a non-marriage relationship will only do one of two things: (1) It will take a good relationship and mess it up. (2) It will take an unhealthy relationship and make it last longer...which causes more heartache and hurt for both people in the long run. Neither is good and your heart is worth the best.

So why is the commitment level such a big deal?
Let's say a couple in a healthy dating relationship doesn't add sex to it yet...and they continue to grow in friendship, and respect, and trust, and sharing common interests, and learning more and more about each other, etc. It's a great relationship and they decide to get married.

Think of the peeps at the wedding: Bride and Groom. Maid of Honor, bridesmaids, flower girl, ring bearer, bride's family, bride's friends...Best man, groomsmen, groom's family, groom's friends--all the people that are absolutely the closest to these two people. And in front of all these special people, the groom verbally states his love and makes a lifelong vow--basically giving himself totally away--to his bride. Then the bride verbally states her love and makes a life-long vow--basically giving herself totally away--to her groom. It's an amazing commitment--the biggest vow someone can make to another human.

Then when sex is added later that night, instead of negatively affecting those ten things, it actually makes everything stronger! Sex after marriage INCREASES respect, INCREASES trust...it just locks everything into place. It's the final piece that makes two people one. That is why sex is so awesome and why God created this amazing gift for us humans.

All this makes me realize that God really likes us. He doesn't say "save sex for marriage" because He doesn't like us or because he's trying to keep us down. He says it because that makes everything the best! God actually wants to best for our lives. Really cool thought. And something I need to focus on often.

Enough for now. All comments are welcome. -Mike

Last Day in Africa...

2011-02-20T10:52:00.000-06:00

Right now, it's Sunday evening in South Africa. We depart for home tomorrow in the early afternoon. If there are no delays, we should be home in the early afternoon on Tuesday. Can't believe how fast this 3 weeks has gone.

This is a beautiful country. The bugs are different, the candy bars are different, the milk is way different, everybody drives on the other side of the road, vocabularies are different...and we're going to miss it tons.

At the game reserve last week, we saw plenty of elephant, cape buffalo (scary), giraffe, kudu, zebra, hippo, monkeys, really weird birds, and more. What a great place. I will be posting plenty of pics after we return.

I'm praying hard because this next 24 hours will be the hardest for Jeanne-Mari. Saying good-bye to family is never easy. But it's always extra-hard when dealing with these differences. Seriously, I thank God now for Facebook and Skype. Both of these have made keeping up with family and friends over here much easier. Who said social media is all bad?

Moving right along in my "slow read." Currently, I'm on chapter 16 of Revelation. I've really learned a ton and am looking forward to continuing.

Have I mentioned that I'm ready to hang out with all our cool HPY students? Man, I have missed those guys/gals. I am SOOO looking forward to our Sunday meetings with student leaders. One of my favorite things.

God is good. Don't forget to invest in the life of a teen. There is nothing better.

-Mike

The Power of Vision

2011-02-11T03:37:00.000-06:00

Finished reading "The Power of Vision" by Barna. I give it a big thumbs up. Made me realize 2 things:

(1) In regards to our youth ministry (www.highpointyouth.org), I've been using our Mission...

"HPY exists to connect students to each other, believing adults, and to God--to provide an environment enabling them to grow faith and friendships--and to send them out to go live a life for Christ."

...as our Vision statement. But in reality, I need to create a vision that is much more specific, empowering, and people-oriented. For example, what age of student? What type of adult? What will be used to grow faith? How will we send them to go? What will they be doing?

Be praying as this process will not be that quick or easy. If you have any input on this (or have questions), feel free to leave a comment, call, text, email, or tweet.

(2) As a believer in Jesus, I need to come up with my own personal vision statement of how I will always live my life. Something separate from my role as the youth pastor at HighPoint Fellowship. I believe I've been living it (very imperfectly), but I need to clarify it so that it can better be used as an ongoing guide to everything I do as a guy, husband, father, pastor, friend, neighbor...everything.

Thought o' the day: I'm in Africa with Jeanne-Mari (wife) and Melissa (daughter). Since I'm on the topic of vision, it's amazing what I can "see" over here that the locals (of all colors) don't. Assumed stereotypes. Accepted actions and speech that is common but that makes me--as an outsider--look twice. Most of it is just "different" but sometimes it makes me cringe. It's called being in a different culture.

But the BIG thing it makes me wonder is...What am I not seeing when I'm at home?? What am I accepting that maybe I shouldn't?? I know there must be some significant stuff. I'm praying about this as we continue our trip.

South Africa Trip Update: We're still in Johannesburg...hanging out with family. Lots of sun, great food, and great company (got to spend several hours hanging out and walking around with Jeanne-Mari's 85-year-old dad yesterday...I'll be blogging about what I learned from that later). We leave for Krueger Park (Big game reserve) on Sunday or Monday and will be there about 5 days...totally out of touch. Looking forward to lions, elephants, antelopes, and plenty more. Not a good place to go jogging! :)

Africa Reading Material

2011-02-08T09:19:00.000-06:00

I was very ambitious in the amount of reading to tackle on this trip--but now that we're here, I'm glad I was. Not that we're sitting around being bored, but people here in South Africa seem to appreciate the art of sitting, reading, and talking much more than we do in the States. TV does not pervade the lifestyle nearly as much. And I must say, I'm really enjoying it. Nothing like a change of culture to make clear needed personal changes.

"YOUthwork" by Don Pearson

I finished this pretty quickly. Loved it. Pearson provides plenty of basic youth ministry information, but then goes to the next level pretty quickly--providing a ton of material that goes to the next level...extremely useful for those of us who've been doing this for awhile. He uses plenty of stories from his own personal ministry which helps a lot--especially right now as we're trying to nail down the HPY long-term vision (the "Connect-Grow-Go" mission has been in place for years). I mostly appreciated the material on time management, the ideas for ongoing youth leader training, and the things to keep in mind as we consider adding staff (beyond interns). And because of this book, I'm STRONGLY considering taking a bus for this summer's mission trip to Miami (instead of vans)! Holler at me (or leave a comment) if you want more reasoning behind that.

I'm going to offer this book to all our youth leaders (or force it upon them!).

"The Power of Vision" by George Barna

Heard great things about this book. Several of the key leaders in our church are busy reading it (or have already read it).

I'm excited to see what the cumulative effect will be.

As always, finding better and more efficient ways to effect positive change in our community is the goal.

"Revelation" --Holman Commentary

I recently finished my "slow read" of the bible. It was fun...took about 14 months. Now I'm on to my "really slow read" of the bible. Reading through it (not necessarily in order) as I also read through a good commentary--chapter by chapter. Should take at least 3 years. And I really like these Holman commentaries--even though I'm using a New Living Translation bible and these commentaries are New International Version. They're not too simplistic by any stretch, but not too deep either. Just right for a youth pastor who never went to Seminary! :)

I also brought another book to read--it's about youth culture and I can't remember the name right now. I'll blog about it later.

Saw this today--thought it was funny. -Mike

Back in Johannesburg for a few days...

2011-02-07T09:01:00.000-06:00

Just got back today. We've spent the last three days at a place called "Saddle and Hound" or something like that. It wasn't in Durban like I thought, but about 80 miles away from there in the Drakensberg Mountains (i.e. Dragon's Mountain). It's in the Kwazulu Natal area of South Africa. Ever seen 2012? I haven't, but I heard that Kwazulu Natal is the only area they can live after the end of the world. Not a bad place to restore humanity, I say. Amazingly beautiful place. I'll post pics later.

Sunburns. Melissa and I both have them. Mine is worst on the top of my head. Loving it. There's a lesson there.

While we were traveling with Paul and Jodi--Pierre and Diane were busy recording the Super Bowl for me. We're planning on watching it sometime on Thursday. I'm gonna do my best not to find out who won before then. Don't think it's gonna happen.

Will post more later. Time to get back to Ice Age 3.
-Mike

Fun in South Africa

2011-02-04T05:24:00.000-06:00

Jeanne-Mari, Melissa and I left for South Africa on Tuesday, Feb. 1, right as the cold weather was hitting the Central Texas area. Fortunately, there was no precipitation with the initial front, so we were able to fly out of Austin...and then Washington, DC, without any delays.

It was a pretty uneventful flight. However, the new (new to me, at least) in-flight entertainment systems were great. For each seat, you have your own screen and about 20 movies to choose from (only about 6 good ones, but still...) and some TV shows. Nothing great there unless you like "Bones"...then they had about 15 episodes. So you could watch whatever you wanted, whenever you wanted. I saw "Red" (loved it), "Secretariat" (I love redemption/feel good movies), "Social Network" (strangely, I really, really liked this movie), and "Coach Carter" (not the greatest movie ever, but an awesome message about how to connect with teens). That 8 hours--combined with about 6 hours of sleeping--really made the flight fly by (pun intended).

It was great to see JM's family. One of her brothers (Pierre and his wife, Diana) met us in Johannesburg. We got to spend a complete day with them and a niece (Samantha) and nephew (Ryan) just recovering and adjusting to this new time zone. Now we're with JM's other brother (Paul and his wife, Jodi) and her dad (Peter) and are about to head to Durban, a city on the eastern coast of South Africa.

The sun feels fantastic. It hasn't been hot, just warm. But the summer sun is so much brighter and nicer than in Wintertime. I'm fired up that we get to come back to almost-Spring when we return in a few weeks.

Obviously, not really saying a lot...just recapping...but this has been a nice time to spend together already. I really didn't realize how attached I was to my cell phone until yesterday. I'm not even using it for a clock. After we return, I think I'll have to have a somewhat-regular media-fast just so I can stay somewhat healthy with it!

Listening...and Staying True to the Mission

2011-01-22T13:01:00.001-06:00

Over the last year or so--and especially over these last several months--it has become terribly apparent that we are busting out of our church building. Two weeks ago, I had two teens come up to me at church with bibles open, one had tears in her eyes, and they said, "Mike, we need a place away from everybody to go talk and pray!" So the three of us started our tour of the church to find them a place (it was freezing outside, so that wasn't an option). Nothing. Even the little room with the big copier was occupado. I finally pushed them into the family bathroom and said, "Lock the d

oor, take your time, and do what you need to do." Good news: There was already a "chair" in there so we only had to find one more. :)

So something needs to be done. For several weeks now, there has been a team in place to look for a short-term solution. Without going into details (feel free to comment or just call me), it's quickly turning into a bigger team looking for a longer-term solution. The positive momentum is gaining and the time has finally come when it seems like we're being led to do this...and it just "feels" right. The Spirit is moving us and we should probably jump on board. :)

And, interestingly enough, I sit down today to do some bible-reading. For the past 14 months, I've been doing a slow & chronological read through the bible. It sounds weird, but I started with the New Testament and then moved to the OT. I'm very close to being done. The part I hit today was when God--through Cyrus, King of Persia--calls back all the exiled Israelites to Jerusalem. When they arrive, they start working on rebuilding the Temple and walls of the city. Some of their enemies don't like this and get official word from Artaxerxes (who is now king) to stop. So they forcefully stop the Israelites. (read Ezra 1-4). Then Haggai arrives on the scene (now go read the whole book of Haggai) and he passed on a message from God saying, "Give thought to your ways" several times.

And when the fearful God of the Universe (Hag.1:12b) says, "Give thought to your ways," you should probably start thinking about what the heck you're doing.

Then God reminds them, "I am with you" and this leads into one of the coolest motivational speeches ever given by God (and He has given several).
The short version--"Be strong! I am with you! Remember our deal! Work hard! I am with you! Don't be afraid! I am with you!"
Then the Israelites make a great decision and get back to work. And though the bible doesn't say it here, I'm guessing they "forcefully" started going back to work...overpowering those who were against them.

So personally, I'm encouraged/led/feel called more than ever that we--as a church--should move ahead. With this caveat--I believe God is blessing us with good people, good family, good blessings because we have been making it our vision and goal as a church to positively effect our community and those in need around us with the life-changing love of Christ.

If we are not helping people in practical, physical, spiritual, emotional, and even intellectual ways--then we've got no business expanding.

Living a missional life. It's an overused statement sometimes, but it needs to be the vision and goal of each of us as individuals. And I'm not just talking about Jesus-followers here. But that's another blog-post for another time.

May we all keep praying and loving God and loving people. -Mike

Update on Jeanne-Mari

2010-11-16T18:10:00.000-06:00

Jeanne-Mari is my wonderful wife of (almost) 16 years. She's pretty cool. :)

For several days now, she's had a pretty serious pain in her lung. Usually, these go away within a few days, but this has held on and has gotten worse. So we finally called her doctor and he had us go in for x-rays. The trip there was brutal...she was in a lot of pain...but we finally got done, got home, and heard from the doc.

She's got a condition called a "lung infiltrate." It's kind of a localized pneumonia. There's a decent explanation of it here: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090723005930AAKZ9eL. She's on some heavy-duty antibiotics again (not unusual for her) and everything should be a LOT better in the next few days.

So please keep praying for her. We love you all and love that you care and pray. No matter what, God is always, always good.

-Mike

Background PS: Jeanne-Mari has Cystic Fibrosis; a genetic disease that presents mostly in the lungs. She has been incredibly healthy over the years, all things considered, and we have learned to cherish and enjoy every single day together. She rocks.

Reading Eeecleeesiasteees

2010-09-28T19:08:00.000-05:00

The book of Ecclesiastes. Hard to spell. Hard to say.
But when I read it, I always realize that I have forgotten just how cool it is. I'm seven chapters into it (there are 11 total) and I'm starting to think it's a lot like real life. Lot's of "meaningless" stuff stated over and over and over (ad nauseum), and then--right when you're about to go crazy--an amazingly beautiful piece of poetic scripture just pops right up and slaps you in the head.

Here are the head-slappers that connected with me:

(3:11) "He [God] has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end."

It's the "in its time" that really got me.

(4:9-13) "Two are better than one...If one falls, the other can pick him up..."

EXCELLENT section of scripture.

(5:1-7) "Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Go near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools...Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God....Much dreaming and many words are meaningless. Therefore, stand in awe of God."

These are just the highlights of this section of scripture, but it is SO wise to just shut up and listen. The older I get, the more I realize I need to talk less and less and listen more and more. Especially when I'm in prayer to God.

(5:19-20) "...when God gives any man wealth and possessions, and enables him to enjoy them, to accept his lot and be happy in his work--this is a gift of God. He seldom reflects on the days of his life, because God keeps him occupied with gladness of heart."

Let's face it. If we live in this country, God has blessed us ALL with "wealth and possessions." Am I content with what I have? Do I always want more? Can I say I have "accepted my lot?" The answers to those questions depend on the day you ask them. But I can say for sure that God has kept me "occupied with gladness of heart." And for that, I can always say, "Thanks SO much, Father God!"

There's more, but those are the biggies at the moment. You know, with many books of the bible--if you just take the time to read them carefully and think about what you know about the person writing--then it's not rocket-science to figure it out. However, I'm really getting all wrapped up in Ecclesiastes. It sounds like Solomon is all over the place...and I guess he is. I'm looking forward to getting a commentary and getting a little deeper.

Economic and Social Justice

2010-03-12T14:27:00.002-06:00

I was doing some reading online today and read these two definition options for the term "economic and social justice."

Option One: "For some Christians, practicing economic and social justice means that churches should practice charity: setting up soup kitchens, assisting victims of natural disasters, and helping people find jobs."

Option Two: "For other Christians, practicing economic and social justice also means trying to change the conditions that cause people to be poor or unemployed."

There is a difference. Which one do you subscribe to? Anything to add? I'll follow up in a few days on this issue.

Parents Appreciate Help!

2010-03-01T16:58:00.000-06:00

I don't know what it is about today.

First, I was reading about Apple, Inc. Over the past few days, they made the business decision to tighten it's restrictions on sexy or suggestive apps for the iPhone and iPod Touch.

Apple executive Phil Schiller explained, "It came to the point where we were getting customer complaints from women who found the content getting too degrading and objectionable, as well as parents who were upset with what their kids were able to see."

Personally, I'm pleasantly surprised an American company made this move. I LOVE the decision. It's a rare stand for doing something the right way.

But what bugs me is the response from several people that didn't agree with the decision. One of the best-articulated was this one from a guy named Scott:

"Appears parents are too busy to monitor their kids own activities so Apple must take care of it for them – perhaps they should also contact their local cable company and internet provider so they don't have to raise their own children or monitor what they are doing.....just reflects the status of our current society where many parents place the responsibility for raising their own children on schools/companies."

What bugs me is...why do parents always come off as the bad guys for standing up for their kids and others' kids?! Of course, parents should monitor activities...of course, parents need to be hands-on and involved...but that doesn't mean they don't appreciate (or demand) a little help from society and the companies where we shop. If our teenagers have access to everything out there--and it's totally on the parent to monitor and restrict--then all parents are always the bad guy to their teen (and they get that enough already).

Here are some other responses to the same news:

"Good move apple. Be pro-kid!" -Will

"I agree with Apple and glad they are taking a stand for our children." -Wayne

"Great job, Apple! I agree! It is objectionable, to more than a few, and it degrades people and our society as a whole! If you don't like what Apple is doing, create your own electronic line!" -Chris

"Way to go Apple – parents of teenagers around the world applaud this decision." -John

And there were plenty more along those lines.

Check out a similar story from "The Dr's" TV show. They were talking today about obesity in teenagers and all the long-term healthy problems that result from that. They even mentioned how school districts have lots of junk food and carbonated soda's that contribute heavily to this. One school even had a "Snack Cart" that they would wheel out every day at lunch and it was just loaded with junk food. Of course, the kids were all over it. One day, the principal was asked, "Don't you think the school should be a better example to the students about what being 'healthy' entails?" The principal replied, "We are not their parents. If a parent does not want their teenage student to eat this type of food, then they should not allow their student to buy it."

Good grief, I about had a fit! That same argument! Putting everything on parents and not providing any help whatsoever. It made me doubly-appreciative of Leander ISD...they started a healthy food initiative about 4 years ago and have only healthy snacks available around school now.

All this to say, parents should parent...which means keeping track of, monitoring, and guiding their kids. But parents also deserve help from society in raising their children. It also makes me appreciate HighPoint so much more...having my daughter surrounded and loved by healthy, believing adults...what a cool place to be.

Last note: I've got some serious changes to make in our youth ministry. Though our snacks have gotten healthier over the past year or so, we still have some changes to do. Please be praying about that!

Philippians 2 Attitude

2010-02-05T00:07:00.005-06:00

This week has been all about Philippians 2.

Don't ask me why, but every time I turn around...there it is.

In my personal reading, I read through it not too long ago...then it was part of our study on Wednesday with the high schoolers...and then Charlie Bertison used in earlier tonight (Thursday) with the college group.

It must be something I really need to hear.

Starting in verse 3, my NIV says, "(vs.3) Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humily consider others better than yourselves. (vs.4) Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. (vs.5) Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus."

When I've taught this, I've always stressed, "Don't think less of yourself...just think of yourself less."

Earlier tonight, Charlie talked about how listening is such a gift to another person and helps us to look to their interests. It keeps us humble, builds trust in the relationship, and builds health in us.

((Side note: Bryant read tonight from the version he used (New Century Version) and I love verse 5..."In your lives you must think and act like Christ Jesus." I like how it goes much further than just "our attitude"...the truth is that Jesus--his attitude, his way, his compassion, his love, his teaching methods, his Father--should consume our whole life.))

If you have a Bible (and if you don't, I'll give you one), make sure these verses are marked! Underline, highlight, circle, and star...whatever it takes to draw your attention back to this amazing truth. Go ahead and include verses 3-11. They are all awesome. I know I'll be adding a few more underlines after this week!

Your Heart.

2010-01-19T15:57:00.000-06:00

The heart of a blue whale weighs 1000 pounds.

That's half a ton.

That's a lot.

If someone has ever called you "big-hearted," I don't think they were talking about this kind of big heart.

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Hearts are important to God. He is all about the condition of our hearts. At some point in your life-journey, you must decide if you are going to live your life for God or for you. You basically have to decide to say...

"I will set aside some time for God each day to examine my

life, read my Bible, and pray so that I have the power to live God's way."

It's one thing to say "Yes" to this...it's another to say "Yes" to the action-life it requires.

It is a crossroads and a conscious decision has to be made.

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Shocker of shockers, I know, but the condition of your heart really plays into this decision. Here's a little test you can do to test your "heart-condition."

1. Is your heart healthy or hurting?

It may be able to hide our hurts, but when our hearts are hurting, it's hard to love others. So does your heart feel strong and vigorous? Or are you feeling aches and stings?

2. Is your heart eager or exhausted?

Are you too tired to spend time with God? Are you not interested in showing love to others? If so, spend a few minutes alone with God asking him to change and renew your heart. During that time, ask him to reveal what might be causing this exhaustion. You might be surprised with what comes up.

3. Is your heart abundantly loving or angry?

Think back to everything you've said today...including your body language. What was the tone? What was your intent? What were the actual words? Are you easily angered when you see certain people?

What we say to others is a huge indicator to the condition of our hearts. Check out Matthew 12:35 for more on that.

4. Is your heart refreshed or resentful?

When you evaluate your heart, is there an event from your past that still bothers you? Is there something that keeps you from sleeping or growing in your relationship with God? That's a sign of resentment. For health to emerge, you need to be refreshed. Growing Christians get this from spending time in God's Word and with Him. Check out Philippians 4:6.

5. Is your heart tender or tense?

How do you feel about other people? Do you care what happens to them? Are you interested in telling them about ways God can help? Your response can tell you if your heart is tender or tense.

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Romans 12:3-17 gives us some good reasons on why it's important to take time to evaluate our hearts and lives. "Be honest in your estimate of yourselves...hate what is wrong...stand on the side of good...love each other...be patient in trouble...do things in such a way that people can see that you are honorable."

Reflecting on God's goodness and grace (see the previous post about grace) can be instant heart "tenderizer." And we all need that from time to time. It helps us decide (on a daily basis) who we will live for...ourselves, or God.

I hope and pray you choose to live for God every single day.

Grace.

2010-01-18T13:33:00.000-06:00

It can be a "churchy" word.

It is often misunderstood.

It is often unappreciated.

But it is awesome and it is powerful.

Dictionary.com states the grace is, "the freely given, unmerited favor and love of God."

This means that we can do absolutely nothing...n-o-t-h-i-n-g...to earn or deserve God's grace. He loved us in spite of us. He sent his Son to complete a transaction of redemption so that we might be reconciled to Himself. That's a fancy way of saying that He saved our tail-ends and made us right with Him so that we might avoid the Second Death (as Revelation puts it).

But we have to accept it. Accepting something means saying, "Yeah...ok, I'll take that from you."

We accept God's Grace to us by faith...by believing He is real and that Jesus is alive. And by putting God in charge of our lives.

It's an awesome deal: We give faith...we get Grace!

Story time: Last night, I was talking about grace to about 30 Middle School students. At a random point in our discussion, I pulled out a $5 bill and, without any lead-in, went up to Chandler (really cool 7th-grader) and said, "Hey Chandler, do you want this 5 bucks?" Well, of course he said, "Sure!" and I handed it over and just kept going with the discussion.

Well, middle schoolers aren't gonna let that go. They literally freaked out and I heard stuff like, "Are you really gonna let him keep it?!" and "Why did you give it to Chandler and not to me?!" and "Do we all get $5?" Even Chandler asked, "Do I really get to keep this?!"

First, I re-assured Chandler that it was his to keep. And then I asked, "Did Chandler do anything to earn the $5?"

They answered, "No."

Then I asked, "Is $5 a pretty good gift?"

They answered "Yes."

I asked, "Could Chandler have turned it down?"

I heard, "Yeah" and "I wish he would have so you could give it to me!"

I followed up by saying, "That's grace. It was my free gift to Chandler and he accepted it. And while I'm not going to give each of you $5, God offers a much greater gift to us all."

((Note: Chandler is such a good guy, he even offered me back the $5 at the end of the night, but I wouldn't take it back. Do we ever find ourselves inadvertently trying to give God's Grace back to him???))

After we accept God's grace, he wants us to go show grace to others...even those who have hurt or disappointed us (that's the faith-part). Do they deserve it? Nah. But we show grace anyway by forgiving and blessing them...because God forgave us and blesses us even though we don't deserve it.

The alternate 'Grace' definition is "the influence or spirit of God operating in humans to regenerate or strengthen them." The Spirit regenerates and strengthens us because it's hard to show grace!! We have to constantly be made new.

That's what God wants...that's what Jesus did...so that's probably what we should do. :)

"I am sure that God who began the good work within you will keep right on helping you grow in his grace until his task within you is finally finished on that day when Jesus Christ returns." Philippians 1:6

"May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father encourage you and strengthen you in every good thing you do and say. God loved us, and through his grace he gave us a good hope and encouragement that continues forever." 2 Thessalonians 2:16

HEART!!

2010-01-08T11:33:00.000-06:00

Man, I'm bummed Texas lost. But man, I'm so proud at how they played proud and almost won that stinkin' game!

At halftime, everything looked lost. Going in behind 17-6 was going to be bad, but then we had that crazy shuttle-pass interception returned for a touchdown and all the sudden 24-6 looked amazingly insurmountable.

I've seen other teams (Texas teams included) flop after something like this. They get down and come out even lower and slower and end up getting slaughtered. This team could have done that and gotten beat 55-6.

But that's not this team.

For two years now, I've seen a Texas team that will not quit and will not give up until the final gun.

Counting this loss, this team has lost twice in two years. Last year's loss to Tech was bad because we lost in the last few seconds...but most people don't remember how badly we started that game. Tech was killing us. But slowly we picked ourselves up and came back methodically and strong...and almost (should have) pulled it out.

Alabama is a WAY better team and program than Tech...but again, this Texas team had no quit...and no "It's over" until, of course, it was over.

So hat's off to our 2009 Texas Longhorns!

For a FANTASTIC story on Colt McCoy's post-game remarks, check this out:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/andy_staples/01/08/mccoy-texas/index.html?eref=sihp

Faith! I'm proud to be a Texas fan!

New Beginnings...

2010-01-01T22:15:00.000-06:00

Last night, Jeanne-Mari, Melissa and I went to a New Year's Eve party at the house of some of our former neighbors. Awesome family and the party was fun. One lady brought some of these little shepherd pie pie's...they were awesome. Did that not make sense? Each shepherd pie was about the size of a big cupcake.

And if you don't know what Shepherd's Pie is, check it out here: http://elise.com/recipes/archives/000216easy_shepherds_pie.php

So anyway, we're driving home about 11:15. We're on 1431 going towards 183 from Round Rock...we just pass Parmer and there's this GoodYear Tire and Service Center on the left. I almost missed it, but as we went by I just happened to notice one of their letters was not working. Then I read what it said and was kinda blown away.

On a normal night, it would be no big deal, but in about 45 minutes from when we saw this sign it would be a new year...and a new decade...and (as with every single day, really) a new beginning. And there's no better way to begin something anew than by making God the center of it all.

So I'm going to do my best to make 2010 my "GodYear!" I'm going to trust Him in ways I never have before...I'm going to spend time praying and listening to what He is telling me...and I'm going to talk about God more to everybody; giving Him credit for everything.

I pray that 2010 is a great year for us all. And that no matter what happens to us physically, mentally, or intellectually; that we'll all grow and experience things spiritually that will blow our minds.

God made "Today." Go read Hebrews. Let's enjoy it and give Him credit for it.

Spirit & Body & Flame & Water

2009-12-29T13:01:00.000-06:00

I read 1st & 2nd Timothy today...excellent stuff. Does anybody else have the problem of reading a book of the bible and you think, "Man, that is my favorite book!" Then you read another one a few days or weeks later and think, "Wait! This is now my favorite book!" That's me. I read Hebrews yesterday and thought the same thing. Romans last week--same thing. Crazy. I'm starting to think it's all good.

By the way, don't think that I read the bible like this consistently...though I am getting better. Usually it's a handful of chapters a day...but I've found it's really cool to read a whole book at one sitting. You really get the whole picture of what the author is trying to communicate to the people to whom he is writing (and what God is trying to communicate to me). Hebrews is a short 13 chapters, but took a couple of hours...there is no way to read that one with any speed. You have to parse each sentence and word because it's so power-packed. Titus is fast and good. Isaiah...incredible book, but you better set aside an afternoon.

The older I get, the more I realize that the Bible is "God's Pure Amazing Grace in Easy-to-Read Book-Form." What a gift!

I Timothy 4:7b says, "Train yourself to be godly." So I make sure to have a bottle of water close by during my bible-reading...need to keep hydrated during the workouts.

The next verse (that would be verse 8) is a commonly-quoted one and says, "For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come."

Personally--from this and about 100 other verses--I think the physical self and spiritual self are so intertwined that it's our big responsibility as believers to take care of our whole selves...growing healthier both in spirit and body.

However, age has a say on the physical side. I'm not as strong as I used to be (though I can still take any middle-schooler!) but I'm not about to roll over and quit training my physical body. I'm so impressed and inspired by people like Ron & Janet Reynolds and Bill & Julie Cormack...two couples who have really changed their physical selves in big and healthy ways over the last few years (while also continuously growing spiritually and in faith). Not that they were terribly out of shape in the first place.

Age is also has a big effect on the spiritual. While there are limits to how "in shape" you can be physically (especially as we get older), I don't think there are those limits on the spiritual side (especially as we get older). At least not to the same degree.

Is this why as we grow in Christ (more and more...and through the years) that we feel less of this world? I think so.

Rambling a lot today...but must end with something I found in 2 Timothy 1:6. In the middle of this verse it says, "Fan into flame the gift of God." This is a GREAT verse for a cold day like today (freezing temps and sleet)...but also a great reminder that we must use our whole selves to grow...spiritual, physical, and more. Start fanning!

Then Paul reminds us in verse 7 (one of my favorite verses...but keep in mind my little 'problem'), "For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love, and of self-discipline." May we all take advantage of that POWER and LOVE and DISCIPLINE to grow in body and spirit.

(Message to self: No more fudge!!)

Fifteen Years!

2009-12-17T09:02:00.000-06:00

On this day--15 years ago--Jeanne-Mari De Reuck said "I Do" and became Jeanne-Mari Horton and, in so doing, made this big lug a really happy dude. It was a crazy time in our lives; I had just turned 28...she was 24...we'd only known each other for 6 months and 9 days...we'd just been reunited in South Africa a few days before the ceremony after being apart for a month...and we knew we only had a few weeks together in SA until I had to return to Texas for work while we waited for her Immigration papers to go through (evidently, some people get married just to move to America and NOT out of love...so there's this whole interview process...bleh!).

Turns out it was only 3 1/2 weeks that we were apart until she returned home (you'll have to ask her about her interview story...it's pretty good) and I had a job where I worked 60-70 hours a week (I just thought that's what everybody did) for a small salary (I know now). We only had one car (a blue jeep that a random cat would pee in whenever I left the top off overnite) and a very small apartment, and neither of us knew anyone in this new town (we were both brand new to Austin)...so...JM was either stuck at home all day or--if she had the car--she could drive around a bit to get out, but that was REALLY scary as she was used to driving on the left-hand side of the road and made for adventurous adventures. :)

So many stories are popping into my head...way too many to share right here and now...and all from the first few weeks of our marriage...and whether good or bad, they've added up over the years to a fantastic marriage.

I am so blessed to have Jeanne-Mari as my wife...she's made me a WAY better man than I would have ever been otherwise. I don't even like to think about the "otherwise." Thanks be to God to Whom I give all credit for everything. And thanks be to Jeanne-Mari for saying "yes" in that church parking lot (yet another story) all those years ago! :)

Busted.

2009-12-14T11:43:00.000-06:00

Ok...for those who don't know, I'm a Kelly Clarkson fan...especially her "early" stuff (Has she been around long enough to have early stuff??). She's got a great voice, good music, and is not afraid to talk about her faith.

Also for those who don't know, I regularly am in the process of breaking down/setting up chairs in the Worship Center at church. Fortunately (or unfortunately, as the case may be) our church is one of those cool places where the worship area is just a big room with many chairs so it can easily be re-configured for parties, wedding receptions, etc. Well, every week we change it around at least a little bit to better host our youth gatherings (fewer chairs=more room to run). And once a month, it's a huge change for our monthly REVERB night. Many times I have help setting and resetting chairs...but a few days ago I was putting the chairs back up by myself so they would be back to normal for Sunday morning...this is where our story begins...

When I'm by myself at the church, I put on some music and I have it fairly loud (nice sound system). One of the music tracks I have for our youth stuff just happens to include "Since You Been Gone" by Kelly Clarkson. I like math so let's make an equation:

(Me Alone) + (Good music) x (Me inevitably singing & dancing) = Bad JuJu

It was about the time the 2nd chorus hit when I turned around and saw our church cleaning crew (man & wife) just standing in the worship center entryway and looking at me and smiling and whispering to each other (actually, I'm sure they were yelling as the music was...as mentioned earlier...loud).

((FYI-Not an actual picture of our cleaning crew.))

I stopped dancing/singing, they waved, and I ran out the back door. Well, not really, but I wanted to. Quite embarrassing, but not so embarrassing that I'm not willing to share it with the world (at least 2 or 3 people) on this blog. :)

So take heart, all embarrassed ones! You are not alone.

New Phone...What a Nightmare...

2009-12-11T14:08:00.000-06:00

Ever get a new phone during a really busy week?? That's me this week. I'm sure I will like the new one (BBerry Curve), but I still have all my vital info on the other one (Centro).

Of course, I am making this blog update via the new phone, so I got that going for me.

Hope everybody's doing great! Its Friday...why wouldn't you be?! :)

Order-leee-ness!

2009-12-04T13:31:00.000-06:00

On Thursday nights, Jeanne-Mari and I host the HighPoint College Group..."EZ10:4" (based on Ezra 10:4...the theme verse for the group...go look it up @ www.biblegateway.com). It was Bible Study night ((as opposed to our other "night types"...Social, Service, and Worship)) and Karen Vigen led the lesson and did awesome. It was about the Lord's Prayer ((Matthew 6...again, go look it up)) and we had plenty of discussion and even some baring of some souls. It's way cool when the Spirit moves like that. Thanks, Karen! :)

Anyway, we talked a bit about bible reading and I mentioned that a good way to read through the bible other than the cover-to-cover method is to read it chronologically ((for those of you who are challenged in the literary sense...of which I'm a frequent member...I'm talking about reading the bible in the order things actually happened...not just in the order they are placed in the bible)). Several people were interested in getting this "new order." :) So here it is for the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John). Just holler if you want it for the rest of the Bible...or you can google it. But holler...it's more fun when we talk. :)

Luke 1-2:38
John 1:1-14
Matthew 2
Luke 2:39-52
Matthew 3
Mark 1
Luke 3
Matthew 4
Luke 4-5
John 1:15-51; 2-4
Matthew 8-9
Mark 2
John 5
Matthew 12:1-21
Mark 3
Luke 6
Matthew 5-8:1-13
Luke 7
Matthew 11
Matthew 12:22-50
Luke 11
Matthew 13
Luke 8
Matthew 8:14-34
Mark 4-5
Matthew 9-10
Matthew 14
Mark 6
Luke 9:1-17
John 6
Matthew 15
Mark 7
Matthew 16
Mark 8
Luke 9:18-27
Matthew 17
Mark 9
John 7-8
Luke 9:28-62
Matthew 18
John 9:1-10:21
Luke 10-11
John 10:22-42
Luke 12-17:1-10
John 11
Luke 17:11-18:14
Matthew 19
Mark 10
Matthew 20-21
Luke 18:15-19:48
Mark 11
John 12
Matthew 22
Mark 12
Matthew 23
Luke 20-21
Mark 13
Matthew 24-26
Mark 14
Luke 22
John 13-17
Matthew 27
Mark 15
Luke 23
John 18-19
Matthew 28
Mark 16
Luke 24
John 20-21

Eyes to See??

2009-12-03T16:35:00.000-06:00

Last night at REVERB (High School gathering), we talked about our different senses...specifically our eyesight. Some of the questions we discussed were,
"What kinds of things do you do every day because other people can see?" ((some of the answers were "straighten my hair" and "put on makeup" and "brush my teeth")) and
"If everyone on the planet was blind, what would affect 'attractiveness?'" ((answers to this included, "voice," "convictions," "character," and even "smell"...)) One last question was,
"If you had one month to 'see,' what would you see and where would you go?" ((most answers involved seeing "big" things...mountains, beaches, etc...and one answer was "I would go to the Jane Austen Museum in England!"))

After all these discussions, we watched a video about Jake Olson. It's the story of a young boy who has cancer and found out recently that he was going to lose his eyesight completely and what he did during his last month of "seeing." Amazing story of courage and a great example of positive attitude through hardship. You should put aside the 7 minutes and check it out here: http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=4695418&categoryid=2564308

Great modern day parable. There are about a thousand personal applications you can get from this video and I'm not about to list them...but pray and see what God's saying to you.

His quotes are amazing...especially the one about the "big hits." What a great attitude and a great kid. Again, this just recently happened, so make sure to be praying for him and his family.

Daddy/Daughter Date Day!

2009-12-01T12:08:00.000-06:00

Melissa and I regularly plan Daddy-Daughter date nights. Most involve going out to eat together and maybe some ice cream or a Frosty for dessert and additional hanging-out. But every now and then we go all out and plan a "Daddy-Daughter Date DAY." And that's what we did on Saturday, Nov. 21st. Two museums, lunch, a library, coffee-shop, supper, and a UT football game were all included.

Here's the play-by-play:

10:30am We leave the house. I was hoping to leave earlier because I was paranoid that all the parking would already be gone. ((FYI--The Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum is a great place to park on game-days. It costs $8 for the whole day and if you do something at the museum (as we did), you get $2 refunded. Everywhere else I know about costs $10 for parking...and it's way further away.)) But Jeanne-Mari had to pack us snacks and extra clothes (layers for the night game...and, yes, Jeanne-Mari does my packing) and we just dawdled a little too much...but finally on the road.

11:00am Arrive at the museum to find parking a-plenty! Great start!

11:15am Buying tickets for everything at the museum. We had plenty of time, so I had planned to do everything...the exhibits, the Spirit Theatre, and an IMAX movie. But as we're standing in line, Melissa says, "I don't feel like doing any movies, let's just walk around and look at the stuff." Works for me...cheaper and way more "talkie." ((Let me know if you need a definition of "talkie"))

11:30am Spent the next 2 hours on a journey through Texas History. Personally, I love Texas history (and any type of history for that matter) and so does Melissa. ((Some of my best memories from 7th-grade are learning Texas history...though still not sure why I had to memorize every single county name. FYI-one of my worst 7th-grade memories is one of the biggest 8th-graders wanting to fight me b/c he thought I was flirting with his girlfriend. In truth, I had been flirting (and she had flirted back...hence the anger), but I didn't admit that to him at the time)). Looking at the really old Spanish stuff and explaining it to her was the most fun. ((Melissa loves to learn...it's one of my favorite things about her.)) Of course, there was plenty of stuff she had learned in school that I didn't know...so she had to explain that to me. I get the feeling she'll be doing that more and more over the coming years.

1:30pm We had skipped lunch b/c neither one of us was hungry...but now we were. But not terribly so. So we walked back to the Jeep and feasted on the snacks Jeanne-Mari had packed for us (M's idea)! We each had gummi bears, a fiber-one bar (like those), pretzels, and some water. Maybe not the most nutritious, but got us going again.

2:00pm Rebecca Lee had told me once about the UT Library...about how "huge" and "awesome" it was. Melissa loves to read, loves books, and loves libraries...so we go. This place is massive (need directions? call me). We spend time on the 4th and 6th floors with Melissa going "Ooooh" and "Aaaahh" the whole time. It really is a massive place. My favorite part was reading a book from the 70's about secret codes and about how computers really help with that sort of thing ((speaking of old computer technology, I recently saw the movie, "Wargames" again. It's amazing how far computer tech has come!)).

3:00pm We stop at a coffee shop on the way out of the library...can't remember the name of the place, but it was good and they were nice. I got a mocha and Melissa got a hot chocolate...we just sat there talking while we drank our drinks...awesome. ((I hope that scene gets repeated a thousand times or so over the next 50 years))

3:15pm We are planning on meeting the team bus when it arrives at the football stadium at 4:30, so we have some time...so we decide to hit the Texas Museum of Natural History (or something like that). I've heard it's free and pretty cool. Well, it is. Melissa is way big into rocks and they had plenty of them. After looking at many displays of rocks and skeletons and spending too much time in the gift shop, we notice it's 4:00. Not good. We pay for our stuff and get outta there.

4:00pm We have 30 minutes to get back to the Jeep, unload the stuff we have with us, add extra layers of clothing for the game, and get back to the stadium to meet the team. I'm thinking we have plenty of time. We don't.

4:05pm I notice it's taking longer to get back than I thought it would, so I mention to Melissa that we need to hurry up. I also mention that everything will be ok if we don't see the team (just preparing her in case we didn't make it back). She doesn't respond well and I know I'm in trouble. ((I consider returning to the stadium at this time then getting changed after team arrival, but don't. Probably should have.))

4:24pm We've been back to the Jeep for the drop-off and quick-change and have just started back. There is no way.

4:32pm We're still 5 or 6 blocks from where the team enters. We're still walking fast but have accepted the fact that we won't see the team. We're both bummed but ok.

4:34pm Still 3 or 4 blocks away and see 2 big buses zoom by with motorcycle cops. I say to Melissa, "There's the team!" She says, "Let's go!" We run.

4:35pm We get to the stadium but then have to run up the street to the North entrance. People are everywhere and don't seem to realize the hurry we're in!

4:35.5pm I've picked up Melissa and we're running faster. I'm big so I just knock people over (not really, but seriously consider it).

4:36pm We get around by the North entrance and there's a big glob of people and they're cheering. Could it be that we might make it??

4:36.5pm Get to the edge of the pack and throw Melissa on my shoulders so she can see. Everyone's still cheering and starting to do the "Texas...Fight" thing. I ask Melissa if she sees the players. She says, "Nope."

4:37pm We realize the players have already entered and people are just fired up. Bummer. But we almost made it and had a blast making the attempt. We laugh and realize we're hungry. The plan has been to eat supper before the game in the Red McCombs Red Zone Eating Area underneath the North End Zone Stands. ((Unless you're really pressed for time or don't care about money, NEVER eat at the Red McCombs Red Zone Eating Area))

4:45pm I love Subway. But not this Subway. We get two short sandwiches, two small bags of chips, and two drinks. White bread, turkey (not much) and cheese (also not much). Mine also had a little lettuce (no tomatoes or any other veggies). I'm holding a 20-dollar bill as she says, "Twenty-seven dollars please." ((Time stopped)) I'm not a "make-a-scene" type of guy...and I didn't make a scene here...but I was seriously tempted. Good grief!! $27!! I could have gotten 5 foot-long meatball sandwiches at a regular Subway for less than that!! And loaded with veggies!!

4:46pm I'm over it. Kinda.

5:00pm We walk around for awhile and then eventually head up to our level (section 115...way high). But we're early enough that we make a stop at Club Level (fancy) and check out the field. Melissa is suitably impressed and says, "This is a lot different than on TV!" Yes, sweetie, it is.

5:15pm Finally make it to our seats and find that they are awesome. It's the 9th row, but there is no one sitting in front of us...just a wall (a good wall). I say a prayer right there thanking God...because as a tall person, there is nothing worse than being surrounding on all sides by many people....and as a (not for long) short person, Melissa may have had some issues seeing over people. Think I'm weird for giving God credit for a good seat?? Get over it.

7:00pm Almost kickoff time and everyone has arrived. I was worried that since it was a late game that some people would be really drunk and stupid after tailgating/drinking all day...but we had a great section. Cool guys next to us, normal people (for the most part) behind us...and nobody in front of us!

7:15pm Kickoff! Fantastic game. It's Senior Day, Colt plays well, and UT wins.

End-of-3rd-Quarter Melissa is getting really goofy...which means she's hitting the wall! While this makes her fun to watch, she's really just worn out from our long day, so I say, "Melissa, the Longhorns have it wrapped up...do you want to head home?" ((this is a big no-no taboo thing for me b/c I don't like to leave any game until the bitter end...but willing to sacrifice if she needs to leave, of course)) She replies, "Dad! The game's not over! We paid for these seats and we're not leaving till it's finished!" ((I almost tear up when she says this))

10:45pm Game is over...it's crowded walking out...I make a wrong turn that adds about 10 minutes to the ride home...but it's pretty normal getting outta downtown.

11:45pm She is asleep as we pull up and it's been an incredible day. Thanks, Melissa, for a great date! :)

Pumpkin Cake...Mmmmm...

2009-11-19T13:49:00.000-06:00

Hey...first post!
Today was "Thanksgiving Lunch" day at Melissa's school. Last year on Thanksgiving lunch day, Jeanne-Mari and I were "invited" (cajoled, arm-twisted, whatever) to help with serving all the kids and parents who come to eat.

((By the way, why don't more parent's go eat with their high school students?? If you have a high schooler, you really should go have lunch with them.))

Serving food is not easy work, but Jeanne-Mari and I enjoyed it so much that we volunteered to do it again this year. So we spent an hour serving food to K, 1st, 2nd, & 3rd graders...then finally got to quit & eat when Melissa came through with her 4th grade class.

((Ever spend so much time around food that it doesn't even look good anymore??))

There was turkey, stuffing, potatoes...all the normal stuff you'd expect from a Thanksgiving lunch...even some pumpkin cake for dessert (FYI-Thanksgiving lunch is the only time the school serves pumpkin cake...you need to know this for the story below).

Jeanne-Mari noticed one of the 4th-grade boys was really enjoying his cake.
When he noticed her, she asked, "Good cake?"
He excitedly replied, "Yeah! Pumpkin cake is awesome! It's the only reason I even come to this school!"

She, of course, just about lost it.