Pumpkin Carving Fun

Today, Kimmy, myself and the kids went and got our pumpkins. (Yes, we are slackers!) We went to Van's Valley in Romeo, MI, because I know the family from the church that I first served as youth pastor. So we came home and everyone picked out their own design and we carved them up. Kimmy did Caleb's for him and I cheated and found a design online. Kimmy's is the bat next to Caleb's Dracula Spongebob. Then you see Hannah's smiley face in the small pumpkin next to mine with the sinister smile.

Apple Picking

Not exactly the kind of apple I was hoping to get, but there are delicious McIntish's. And apple picking with the family is always a great time.

Trip Pictures

Bill and Shannon posted some pics on the Pacific Catalyst website. You can go directly to them here. We will be getting some up on our family website soon.

Still in Sidney....

Our adventure continues. We got to the airport in Sidney, B.C. and checked in our baggage about 7.5 hours early, because there was only one ferry from Friday Harbor, WA to Sidney, B.C. which was no big deal. So we went back into Sidney to hang out for a few hours. We got back to the airport about 3 hours before our flight and waited here at the airport. Then decided with 1.5 hours left that we would go through security and wait at the gate. I saw the flight before us boarding and was going to ask the lady at the counter if we could get bumped onto that flight and just as I walked up there they flashed on the screen that our 7:30p flight was cancelled. So we went back through the security gate to go back to the main Horizon desk and find out what to do. Of course that was last flight and only flight to Seattle, WA. So we would miss our connecting flight to Detroit, MI. After standing in line for 3 hours we got a free hotel, 3 meals and a new flight that would get us home 13 hours later than we had originally planned. So now we are back in the airport awaiting our Air Canada flight to Vancouver, B.C. which will then take us on United to Chicago, IL and then on United again to Detroit. But we will be home today! We love this part of the country, but home is where we want to be. Who knows maybe it was a sign we should have gone back to Friday Harbor, WA and stayed?

Feeling Great!

For the past two months Kimmy and I have been going to our local World Gym and I have been feeling great. I stop by 4 days a week on my way home from work for about an hour and a half (I play softball on Mondays or else it would be 5 days a week). I ride the stationary bike, lift weights and then sometimes hit the treadmill. My energy level has been great! I wake up almost immediately as soon as my alarm goes off at 4:30a for work. The other good side of this is that extra large shirts used to be kind of loose on me and now large shirts are loose on me. I used to wear size 38 jeans that were a bit snug, but comfortable, and now size 36 jeans are loose on me. And I am getting a bit more muscular. I am really looking forward to see how I look next summer after working out like this. It is so nice to be getting into shape and feeling healthier. The other thing I am feeling great about is that in 32 hours Kimmy and I will be on our way for our cruise aboard the Pacific Catalyst. I am really looking for a nice relaxing vacation with my wife and some friends. it may be a bit chilly and rainy, but I know I am going to enjoy it anyway. I will be posting pictures when we get back. I am so glad that we got that Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi camera.

FREE BURMA!!!

I, sadly, have not been following the news of what has been going on in Burma, but I am aware of what is going on and have been praying. What the government is doing there is horrible and we as citizens of this planet should be outraged and we who are citizens of the United States should demand that our government should be doing something about this. So join with me and many other bloggers and post a simple message on your blog. You can get graphics and more info at FreeBurma.org. My friend, Derek, has been posting some regular updates on his blog and you can it by clicking on his name.

Amish Grace

One year ago was the tragedy at the West Nickel Mines Amish School where a man entered into this peaceful community, and killed five children and traumatized the other five. He then killed himself. But even more amazing then all of that was the Amish communities response to this horrible tragedy. Did they demand justice or retribution? No. Instead they did something completely unfathomable. They decided to forgive this man and embrace his family. When money came in from around the world to support the families of these dead girls, the Amish community chose to give the family of the man who created this tragedy some of the money. And a man named Steve Nolt co-wrote a book entitled, Amish Grace: How Forgiveness Transcended Tragedy. The USA Today had an article about the book in todays newspaper that you can read here. It looks like a very good read. But it got me to thinking about something.... Maybe our country should have taken a page from the Amish on 11 September 2001 and instead of demanding revenge and retribution for that horrible tragedy and instead offered grace and forgiveness. What if we had done that and instead of sending troops around the world, we beefed up or security here at home to protect us from any further terrorist attack, but made a public declaration of forgiveness to the people who committed this crime against our nation and offered a hand of grace, by offering humanitarian aid? I don't know, it just got me to thinking that maybe our American way of life is getting in the way of our Christian way of life. Just something to think about. Feel free to comment with your own ideas and thoughts.

The Final Countdown....

It is only 9 days away until Kimmy and I leave for our cruise aboard the Pacific Catalyst! I am really excited. The captain of the ship is a fellow forumite over at YMX and ever since the days on the Youth Specialties forums, I have dreamed of going on a cruise aboard Bill's boat. And that day is only a little over a week away. There has been a few hurdles we had to jump to get everything in place, but it is all set. I have my passport, so we can fly into Canada, which will make it a little bit easier to get to Friday Harbor, which is where we will catch the Pacific Catalyst. The other countdown is for 17 February 2009. Without looking it up, does anyone know what is so significant about that date?

Softball Fun Update

Last week I posted about my softball accident where I had taken a softball off of the knee while pitching. Well, I wanted to give an update. The picture I had originally posted was taken about an hour after I had gotten hit. Here is the one from the next day.... As you can see it looked much nastier a day later. My mom told me to start taking arnica, which is supposed to help with the bruising and as you can tell from the picture I took today that it is working pretty darn good. I did not pitch this past Monday, because I did not want to take the chance of getting it hit again. And I am glad that I made that choice because this team was hitting several up the middle. And my brother, who pitched in my place got a bruised thumb and bicep, along with catching one ball right in front of his face. And that was on two successive plays. YIKES! I doubt that I will be pitching anytime soon, but when I do I have a knee pad that I will be wearing to protect that area. And because of the injury I also have not been doing much more leg-wise than riding the bike when I go to the gym. No weight lifting with my legs, but I have been doing upper body with the weights. But this week I decided to up the intensity on my bike riding and my legs are sore! But the good kind of sore.

9/11 Tribute

I made this video for the church that I was a youth pastor at back on the one year anniversary of 9/11 and finally got around to uploading it to YouTube. I hope you enjoy it as you reflect on and remember what happened a little over 6 years ago on that tragic day.

Extremely Random Thoughts

So many thoughts in my head today.... First one, of course, is whether or not Michigan an win a football game today after starting this season 0-2. Fortunately, we are playing a team that is having a worst time than we are. Notre Dame has not scored an offensive touchdown yet and has scored a total of 13 points this season, whereas Michigan has at least scored 39. So hopefully that will bode well for the team in maize and blue today. Starting the season 0-3 would not be good. I do not believe that Lloyd Carr's job is in jeopardy at all, nor do I believe that it should be. If you look at his history as a head coach he has one of the top winning percentages of active head coaches, he has a higher winning percentage than the Wolverines have overall, and in all his year's as a head coach he has never had a scandal or problem. Lloyd has kept up the Michigan tradition of making Michigan Men. He deserves the respect of the university and the fans to choose to retire, if that is what he wants to do and I think he will at the end of this season, which I think he has planned all along. Some of my other thoughts are in regards to politics and religion.... The USA Today has had a couple of articles talking about it and it has got me thinking a couple of things that I commonly hear from Christians. The first thought I had was is it possible for a "real" Christian to vote for a democrat? Seriously, I have heard twice recently from people about this, because of this post I had someone ask my wife if we were going to vote for a democrat now. The funny thing is that if you look at the comments on that post you will see two different people that have said they felt that my list was leaning more like a democrat and another that said it was leaning more like a republican. Then I had another friend, who saw me taking some recyclables out to my car from work, ask me why I was putting trash in my car and I told him that it was not trash, but recyclables. I then kiddingly said that I was just doing my part to leave more space in our Michigan landfills for all of that Canadian trash we are importing. (For those of you who do not know, there is a big controversy because we are importing Canadian trash into our state.) And then I added seriously that I was just doing my part as a Christ-follower to make sure that we took care of our environment, which I believe every Christ-follower should do. He then said to me, "the next thing your going to tell me is that you are going to now be a democrat". (insert a note of disdain in his voice) Seriously, why do Christians think that Jesus would only ever vote for a democrat? I used to think this way, but I have seriously begun to wonder about this. The other thought that I have had that is tied to this, is can a person who calls themselves a Christian vote for someone who does not have a pro-life stance politically? What if they had a list that they went into the voting booth and they voted for the person who best met that list. Wouldn't that make sense? But it seems like most churches and Christians believe that that list should only consist of one or possibly two things. Do not get me wrong, I believe that abortion is wrong and horrible. But I do not believe that that is the only issue, nor do I believe that gay marriage should be the only thing either, especially when you see so much injustice in the world and many other issues that I believe are just as close to God's heart. So feel free to comment and leave me your thoughts.

Softball Fun!

I am playing in a fall league for softball. I love playing softball it is so much fun! The only problem is that I am a pitcher and often times the pitcher can get some serious line drives hit back at him. Especially since I am the closest to the batter. Well, today I took a shot off of the thigh in the first inning from the third batter, so needless to say it made for an interesting rest of the game. I could feel it tightening up and swelling throughout the game. The guy who hit me did come up and apologize and he also got out because I threw the ball to third to try and get that guy out (he was safe) and then the guy whop hit me tried for second and he got out. So there was some vindication. But now I have the nice bruise that you see below.

Chilling Words From 1994

In 1994 Dick Cheney had the following to say on C-SPAN about going into Baghdad and overthrowing Saddam Hussein.... Where those prophetic words or what? I personally believe that Saddam Hussein needed to be taken out of power and punished for his crimes and I support the President's decision in going into Iraq to do that. But I have a problem with the fact that it seems that we have gone into this war without some plan on how we can get out. I really do not have any ideas on a solution for this problem that we are facing over there, but I honestly have to say that I am seriously beginning to wonder like Vice-President Dick Cheney said back then is the cost of American lives worth all of this? I am beginning to think that it is not worth it. I do not know how we can leave and I depending on which Presidential candidate that you talk with, you will get varying opinions on that as well. But I think that we need to find a way out and do it soon, because I am tiring of hearing about more and more casualties of these young, brave men who have sworn to defend our nation. And for that I salute and support them, but you need to begin to ask yourself if the cost has succeeded the reward. Okay, comment away....

From Childhood Memories To Adulthood Memories

Kimmy and I decided on the camera that we wanted to get from the sale of my childhood memories. We purchased from eBay a Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi. We are really looking forward to getting it and getting some really cool pictures of Caleb's soccer games, Hannah's dance stuff, our trip on the Pacific Catalyst in October and wherever else life leads us. I know that Kimmy will be really happy capturing all of our families memories and I will be happy knowing she is happy. I will post our first picture here when we get the new camera, so stay tuned.

How Much Are Your Childhood Memories Worth?

Mine were worth $552! I sold three of my Transformers today on eBay: Devastator, Omega Supreme and Jetfire. They were in mint condition and, yes, I did play with them. I just took extremely good care of them. We did not have a lot of money growing up so my parents always told us to take very good care of our stuff. So I would play with them and then put them back into their styrofoam cases and then into their boxes. Yes, I know that means that I am a little crazy, but I am also the one laughing now because I was able to sell them! So Kimmy and I decided that we would buy a Digital SLR camera with the money. Especially since we will be going to Washington state in October for a cruise on the Pacific Catalyst, we wanted a really good camera to capture those memories with. Now I need to decide between a Nikon or a Canon. (Feel free to give me your personal opinion.) I posted pics below of my old Transformers.

R.I.P. Tammy Faye Bakker Messner

In a recent blog post about Jay Bakker's book, Son of a Preacher Man, I had mentioned that we need to be praying for Tammy Faye. Sadly, she lost her battle with cancer the next day. I did not find out until Sunday morning and I must say that I was very sad. Her was a woman who was albeit a bit on the wild side, at least when it came to make-up, but you could not question her love for God. And her desire for others to find that same love in their own lives. So please pray for her husband and kids as they mourn the loss of Tammy Faye. I pray that her life will be remember more for her love for God than the infamous PTL scandal.

R.I.P. "N" Word

Yesterday in Detroit the NAACP held their 98th annual meeting. And they decided to symbolically bury the "N" word. And not because they believe that white people or people of other races should not be able to use that word. They did this because they believe that no one should use that word. The sad reality is that the word is probably used more often in rap songs then it is anywhere else. I applaud the NAACP for taking this bold step and calling out rappers and other black artists and telling them to stop using the word. I think that this is a bold move and I hope the message is heard and followed. There are some other words that I believe need to be buried as well. One of them is the word "retard". It sickens me every time I hear people use this word so flippantly. Do they realize how they are not just calling someone a name, but they are degrading mentally handicapped people and their families? I seriously cringe every time I hear it used and for the most part have had people that I normally interact with stop using the word, but this past week while I was camping I heard my cousin use the word and then turn around and talk about how we should not use the next word on my list of words to be buried. I think we also need to bury the word "fag". I believe that this word is on the same level as the "N" word and I even hesitated using it here, but I wanted to use it just to name the word exactly. Not only do I cringe when I hear it, but it literally sickens me when I hear christians use that word. And what is even more sad is that there is a church in Topeka, Kansas that uses that word in the name of the their churches website. The church is Westboro Baptist Church and the pastor there is a man named Fred Phelps. Sadly, you can see a picture of him on the right. This man and his church sickens me. The message of Jesus is one of love and grace, not hatred. I look at that picture and I honestly wonder what Bible he is reading. How can he honestly believe that God would laugh when a human being dies and possibly goes to hell? That is not the God of the Bible that I know and serve. That was never Jesus' message and I would dare sya that I believe Jesus would have some very harsh words for this man and his church. Okay, back to the burial of the "F" word.... I think that the "F" word is just has evil and hateful as the "N" word. And the "R" word as well. I believe that Christ-followers every where needs to stop using these words and eliminate them from our speech. They are not loving words and I do not believe that Jesus wants us to use such hateful language. But not only should the church not use the word, but I believe all humans need to stop using them. Okay, I will get off of my soapbox now....

Manistee Update (07/07/07)

Yesterday, we went to the Sleeping Bear Dunes, which I have not been to since I was a kid. It was a lot of fun. We went on a 1.5 mile nature walk through the dunes. And then went to Lake Michigan and swam. It was frickin' cold! But we went all the way out to a sand bar. Despite the cold, it was fun. Then on the way home, since we were in the cherry captial, we stopped by the Cherry Hut Restaurant and got my parents a cherry pie and some cherry jelly. And we even got the dog some cherry treats. All in all it was a great vacation and I am not looking forward to having to come home tomorrow and get back to the real world. But I am looking forward to getting home.

Manistee Update (3 July 2007)

Today, was really great. It started off a little overcast and rainy, but then the sun came out and it was beautiful. A little chilly (mid 70's or so) and then we had my whole family (about 30 or so, spanning 4 generations) all together for lunch and then a family picture. I will have to post the pic later. But sadly, the big fireworks show was cancelled due to wind and rain. I am sitting here in my tent staying mostly dry. But the rest of the week should be nice. Rain ends tomorrow (hopefully, the parade won't be cancelled) and it should be almost 80! And then Thursday we are going to Michigan Adventure!

My Wife Is Amazing!

Our church had a leadership conference recently were our pastor used the analogy of a french press coffee maker and how the process of brewing coffee in that is often like how God does things in our lives. There is the process of being ground, and then brewing, which takes about 4 minutes and can seem like forever (especially for coffee addicts). And if you end that brewing process too early then the coffee is weak and if you wait too long then it turns bitter. Then there is the process as you press down on the plunger and squeeze the coffee grounds down and get the pure coffee brew. Well, as a result of that and with all of the stuff that Kimmy and I have been going through, inspired her to write a song. The song you can hear by pressing play on the player below is that song and I posted the lyrics as well. It is titled, "Satisfy You". And major kudos goes to Colin Harfield our Music Pastor who took the music from Kim's lips to create a beautiful guitar piece as back-up. Thanks, Colin! Read More Here