You can now board…

After our exciting night in Galveston we got up and walked a mile or so down the beach. That was fun. It would’ve been much better if we could have seen the water. It was foggy. It reminded me of that Scooby Doo cartoon where Shaggy cut through the fog with a knife. We soon gathered everything up and headed for the cruise terminal. We finally found it… it wasn’t easy because like the night before there were closed streets all over the place. So we meandered our way through the line to get to the terminal. When we got there, we were told that the fog had prevented the ship from getting back from the cruise last week. We were supposed to get onboard at 1:30. It was going to be delayed until 5:30. To make matters worse, the parking lot was going to be closed until right before then. So there were hundreds of cars lined up down the street, through neighborhoods. We waited there 3 hours. Now it doesn’t seem as bad but you should try to sit in your car for three hours straight. During this time we were watching people walk back and forth up and down the streets searching for food and bathrooms. (We were all planning on eating lunch on board. We were able to see all of Big Mama’s children arriving at her house for Sunday lunch. It was funny because this one guy (weighing in about 400 bs.) was really concerned and confused as to why all of our cars were lined up and down the street. Apparently, Big Mama has some big children and lots of them. I thought it was neat how they were all spending the Sunday meal and afternoon together. I don’t think that really happens too much these days.

I think we were in a total of six lines (in the manner of Six Flags) that wound back and forth and back and forth again. But finally we were on the ship. And it pulled away at about 6:00pm – a full two hours earlier than they expected.

I will post some pictures tomorow of the ship and other things.

Same Auld Lang Syne

Here we are again at another New Year’s Eve. When I walked this morning I was thinking about the last year and ways that my life is better now than last year at this time. If you believe the media and the Democratic candidates we are so much worse off than last year. Consumer confidence is down and there were concerns about the “worst Christmas buying season in 5 years.” Rhonda and I don’t see it. But I digress…I have been thinking some about personal goals for next year. If you have been with me through the years you know that I am not one that makes New Years resolutions. I think they set yourself up to fail. So, even though I am really not much of a “goal setter”, this year I am going to call them “goals.” It isn’t really the same thing, is it? Regardless of what you want to call them, here is a list of my personal goals for next year:

1. Continue my weight loss (currently at 54 lbs.) and arrive at my goal weight by in time for youth camp next year. I have about 35-40 more pounds to lose. I started losing at camp last year when they walked and ran me to death.
2. Give blood as often as they will let me.
3. Find new ways to show my love for my wife. In the busyness of our lives, we sometimes forget that we need alone time together. Whether it be something as simple as monthly dates or a weekend away, or a cruise (just 24 more days for that one!) we need to make time for each other.
4. Alone time individually with my boys. A few years ago, I started what we called “dates” with my boys. It was just a chance to spend time alone with them. For a while, I would take one of them and Rhonda would take the other and we would just enjoy each others company. It was great. In fact, there is no one, other than Rhonda, that I would prefer to spend my time with. We stopped doing it at some point. I don’t know why. Every so often Noah asks when we are going to go on another date. I really want to start that again. It obviously meant a lot to them.

So there they are. Kind of short and simple, really. What do you have to work on?

Christmas Cardless

One of things I remember growing up was the little wooden tree that held the Christmas cards. As they would come in my mother would add them to that card holder. By the time it was ready to be put back in it’s box there were a lot of cards stuck in the small slits. It was as much of a tradition as Santa Claus. My mom would send out cards and we would receive cards. In fact, I follow the same system that my mom employed, albeit more high tech. “You should always put back enough cards to send to someone that you didn’t think to send to but you receive from,” she would say. Those words have served me well, I guess. I don’t know how necessary that is but I guess it is polite. So the tradition continues, sort of.

When I bought cards this year, I qualified to get a free card holder. This one isn’t a small wooden Christmas tree but a large ring with places to attach cards to it making it look like a wreath. It is okay. Better than just putting the cards in a basket or in a stack on the mantle. Problem is, with twelve days until Christmas, I don’t have very many cards. It seems with every year the cards received are fewer and fewer. Is this a tradition that has run its course? I sent out almost 70 cards this Christmas. Am I living in the past? Does anyone really care about that anymore?

I guess my tradition (and the high-tech part) is my annual Christmas letter. It is difficult to write it considering how boring our lives are. It may be even more difficult to read it. I guess it is kinda presumptuous to think that anyone would actually like to read those things. It is just that we don’t really talk to people throughout the year and it is a way for people to see the boys pictures and to find out what is going on with us. They seem to say the same things over and over. Will I still do it after the boys leave? I don’t know. I realize that some people probably roll their eyes and line the bird cage with it. That’s okay. The important thing is that they were remembered at this special time of the year. Everyone can be thankful for that. Have a great Christmas everyone. I am going to check the mail box.

Oh my, she makes me tingle…

I have to be the luckiest man on earth. Why did I deserve such fortune? I am not so deluded to think that I actually do deserve this. But God has continually drenched me with His grace for the last 20 years. Wow! 20 years!

Marriage really is a mysterious and wondrous thing. So many people get married and never really know what they are actually doing. For the act of marriage is more, much more, than a civil ceremony. Mike Mason speaks to this in his incredible book The Mystery of Marriage:

In marriage a man is given the opportunity of seeing one woman, one person, as he has never seen any other woman or person before. Marriage affords as deep a glimpse into the heart and soul of another being as we shall ever have. We long to stand in awe of one another, just as Adam and Eve must have done when they first locked gazes. We long for our whole body to tingle with the thrill of knowing that this one fascinating being, this being of a different gender, has been created especially for us and given to us unreservedly for our help, comfort and joy.

Did I mention God’s grace? I love my wife. Our love has grown stronger and deeper over the past 20 years. She still amazes me. What a woman of incredible grace she is. As I sat across from her last night, happily sharing a piece of chocolate cake I couldn’t help but consider that she does indeed have the same effect on me as that rich, luscious piece of cake. I told her that eating all of that chocolate made my face tingle. I don’t know why it does but it always has. Maybe it is the release of endorphins or something. But I get much the same “endorphic” (don’t think that is a word) effect by just looking at her and being with her. After 20 years, she still gets me going. I can’t wait to see what another 20 years will bring. My hope is that, at the end, people will look at us and consider ours to have been one of the greatest loves ever.

Do I deserve all of that? Probably not. But they say the journey is the thing and I couldn’t have ever imagined that my journey could be so complete. That is ultimately what counts.

A New Year Begins

So here we are going into September and that could only mean one thing. School has started back and Flag Football is going strong. What a busy past few weeks we had. I know that is not uncommon but the weeks before the new school year are always somewhat hectic with the haircuts, shopping for supplies and clothes, getting geared up for football, getting geared for church activities. I guess this is the busiest time of year for us.

It is hard to believe that Trey is in 11th grade. He is driving Dayna’s Trooper (thanks, Dayna!) until we can get the yellow VW running. Yes, we still have it. People are amazed by that. But it is a classic now, I guess. Let’s see…. about 34 years old. I was not too smart and let it sit without starting it for a few years so it definitely needs some work. But, we are confident that it will make Trey an awesome little car and relatively cheap to drive. I think Trey is really going to be challenged this year in school. He had straight A’s last year. This year places him in several AP classes which I think are really going to stretch him.

Noah is in 3rd grade and really likes his teacher. She is new to his school and seems really nice. He wants to walk home and we have determined a route that keeps him off of the main road (it doesn’t have a sidewalk). He is going to do well again this year.

Noah is playing Flag Football once again. And what a difference a year makes. The boys we have this year are great. I am much more comfortable with coaching and everything seems to be going really well. I guess we will see just how well when our games start in a week or so. I love doing this.

A flurry of emails…

E-mails are flying now. Several of my high school friends are trying to organize a 25 year reunion for homecoming this year. A big thanks to my friend, Ruby. I wouldn’t know about any of it if she didn’t keep me in the loop. I didn’t go to my 20th reunion because I didn’t have a job. It seems kind of silly now that my pride kept me from attending. My friends told me what I had missed and sent me some pictures. They even sent one of “our group” with a bald balloon that had my name on it. Okay… I am not pointing fingers or naming names but I am not the baldest person of that group. If anything, I have gotten better (looking?) with age. There is certainly more of me to love. (Although, I am trying to remedy that.) If I am to go this year several obstacles have to be hurdled. I am coaching Noah’s flag football team again this year and I am almost certain that will conflict on Saturday. Also, the question of where to stay… where to lay my “not as bald as someone else’s” head for that weekend. Any takers?

FBC Youth Camp – Vertical 2007

I just spent five days in the mountains of New Mexico with about 450 other people at the 2007 edition of youth camp. It was my “first” camp since I was a youth many years ago. Our church took about 200 people. There were three other churches that also brought about that many combined. Everyone stayed in 3-4 bedroom condos that slept about 10 people. The young men that I stayed with were great.

Although there were a few problems with schedules and food, camp was fantastic. The problems were addressed and soon things were running relatively smoothly. It was the first time that the four youth ministers had organized a camp as big as this and they were learning from their mistakes.

The theme of the camp was Vertical, emphasizing our vertical relationship with God. The first night the message was about how big God is. Our faith can only be as big as our perception of God. The next night, we learned that we can have freedom from the “iron chariots” that hold us down. That reference is from the story of Gideon when the tribe of Manasseh let the previous inhabitants back into the promised land with their iron chariots. A lot of kids talked with counselors about the struggles they were having in their lives. The third night was for those that had not yet made a decision for Christ. I think 7-10 kids made decisions that night. The last night, the kids were encouraged to take what they learned back with them. The camp speaker was great.

The worship was led by Forty Days, a great band from the Dallas area. They have led worship at a lot of FBC-Forney’s youth events. The music was loud, high energy, and awesome. These guys are now one of my favorites.

The kids were divided up into about 20 teams for recreation time each day. There were seven games to keep us entertained. We played volleyball and dodgeball with exercise balls and dodgeball with water soaked balls. We played Chicken Baseball and Ultimate Chicken which both required using a rubber chicken. I guess I provided some comic relief as I ran around throwing that floppy chicken. There were three other games, all of which were fun. I probably got more exercise last week than I have gotten in a year.

I had a great time at camp. I got to spend some quality time with Trey and his buddies. I think the thing that I came away with was how impressive some of these kids were. They really inspired me.

Our family is complete.

Noah was baptized this morning. He accepted Christ at VBS earlier in the summer. I was so proud of him. This will be a special day in our family. Trey was baptized on this day six years ago. I am not sure how it that worked out that way but it is kind of neat. Our family will be together for eternity. That is really awesome.

Now, I am off to youth camp. Please pray for me!

Have you ever been powerless?

Most people have at some time in their life? At that moment, you have no control. So, in order to feel better about it (and gain the illusion of control), you pick up the phone and make that call knowing that you will likely have to be satisfied with a automated voice. Oh, the voice sounds very concerned and sincere. But, as you listen, you realize just how powerless you really are.

The boys and I experienced this last Thursday. I was in the office working on quartet stuff when suddenly everything except the computer stopped working: the lights, the AC, the game consoles the boys were playing on… Thankfully, it was not dark outside. Noah would have freaked. He likes his electricity. So, I picked up the phone and made the call.

Instead of the automated voice, a real human answered the phone. I was momentarily stunned but eventually told her that we were sitting in darkness and after she got my initial information, she asked if I had checked the breakers. Well, no! MY ENTIRE HOUSE IS DOWN! I knew it wasn’t the breakers and I didn’t have to check them to find out. But she insisted, so I marched to the garage armed with my flashlight and held the phone close to the breaker box as I flipped them off and back on. Still no power. This seemed to satisfy her and she filed the report and told me it should be repaired in 90 minutes.

Well, to condense this story some, after about 7 hours with no light, no AC, and no patience and six phone calls with automated voices and various humans from various nationalities, our power finally came back on. It seems that a telephone pole down the block was over grown with poison ivy so badly that it had infested the line and transformer. In fact, upon personal examination (you didn’t think that I would just take their word for it, did ya?) we discovered that it looked more like a tree than a telephone pole. Very strange.

So the next time you feel powerless when you are powerless just know that you are not alone. Go outside, life your fist into the air, and shout POWER TO THE PEOPLE!! We will be standing right there with you.

Vacation Bible School 2007 – GameDay Central

One of the highlights of the year at our church is the week of Vacation Bible School. Last year Rhonda, Trey and I taught a Kindergarten class and had a great time. This year, Trey helped with the snacks and I helped in the 4-5 grade music. What a blessing it was!!

The theme this year was heroes. In our music class, we tried to help the kids understand that all of these sports stars that we consider heroes may not be heroes at all. A true hero is one who obeys even when it’s not easy, does his best in all situations, believes in Jesus and follows God’s plan, put others first, and tells others about Jesus.

As for VBS, we broke records again this year. We had over 1,000 people participate in VBS. Every year, the kids bring change to donate (this year the proceeds are going to help us rebuild a house in New Orleans on a future mission trip). Over the week, the kids brought in 1,203 pounds of change. The girls ended up winning the annual contest (they always do, it seems) but the total was a record almost doubling what was given last year. Simply amazing!

Even better than that was that 29 kids gave their hearts to Jesus during the week, including our Noah. We are so proud and grateful that he listened and heard Jesus calling him. He will be baptized in a few weeks. So what a great week we had. Now, in a couple of weeks, I am off with Trey to youth camp in Red River, NM. That should be interesting.