Decision Making

I have always thought I was pretty good at making decisions. One thing that is definitely good is when I make a decision, I stick with it most of the time. I also for the most part think through decisions. Now this is not true when it comes to ordering food at a resturaunt. I won't think about that at all, I will just pick something. When it comes to a major purchase or investment, I take a while to think through the decision. This, by the way, has saved me countless number of dollars because I will miss out on the deal, which is not always a bad thing. I drive Heather crazy doing this. Just thought I would let you into my twisted mind.

Naps

Guess what I got to do between 3:30 and 4:00 this afternoon. I got a nap. I do not get too many of those. I like naps. I am not a long napper. A half an hour nap is perfect for me. It was great today. I was sitting on my recliner, both of my boys were sleeping, Heather was out running errands, and I just fell asleep. When I woke up, I did not know where I was, who I was, or what I was doing there. When I figured everything out, I was happy. Just felt really really good. Don't know when it will happen again, but now that I blogged about it, maybe I will remember how good it felt and find time for another one. One more thought, the countries that have the afternoon siesta really are on to something.

Direct Mailing Company Phone Call?

I got a call today. It was a pre-recorded call (I find those to be highly ineffective advertising in the first place). So I listened for a little while. It turns out that it was a direct mailing company that wanted my business. It's the type of company that helps you design, print, and send a bulk mailing. They told me that they design really good looking stuff and handle the direct mailings efficiently and all that good stuff. But that left me with one question (boy do I wish I would have stayed on the line to ask them this question). If your mailings are as good as you say they are, why are you calling me? If they attract that much business, wouldn't you be better off sending me an advertisement or a sample? And if it is that effect and you can reach a lot of people that way, why are you wasting your money on all those phone calls?
Well that way just my marketing thought of the day.

What is on my mind

That would be Philippians 4:8. A fairly popular verse. You've probably heard it a bunch of times:
" And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise." (New Living Translation)

Here is the part that stuck out in my mind today during my nice two mile run. Most of the time when we hear that verse with think of the negative side of it. meaning that we should not focus on "bad" things. We should not focus on "sinful" things. Garbage in, Garbage out type of deal.

Now that is all true, and really that is an acceptable understanding. But stopping there is a mistake. If the negative side is there, so too should be the positive. Why not focus on the "positive" things that occurr? Why not let your mind be filled with the good things?

I am getting ready for our church's annual meeting on Sunday, and I did think of some positive things that happened this year. Then I wrote them down. I know I am going to forget some of them. It is tough for me to remember everything, but I came up with a couple of "good," a couple of "excellent," a couple "worthy of praise." Ok, maybe a little more than a couple. I came up with 100. This only took me maybe two hours (understand I had to reminisce and replay the "win" in my mind, which also led to having to tell God "thanks" a bunch of times). So if you want to see the list of 100 wins, or a 100 things that fit under the positive side of Phil 4:8, come to Bakerstown Alliance Church on Sunday. It will be, well....legendary!

Have You Ever Pushed a Bus On a Four Lane Highway?

I have. Allow me to explain. Story time with Dan...
Being that it is Tuesday night, that means Kid's Klub. So I leave the house (running maybe a little late) drive to the church. Start the big old bus with no problem. Head down the road, waiting for the thing to heat up. I pick up all the kids (they are all at one place) and I just have to drive up the road and turn around. Then the bus just dies one me. Kaput. Well a good friend happens to be around with jumper cables. The bus fires right up. But by this point I did not trust it, so I sent the kids home. I was driving right along and I looked down at the amp gauge...it was zero! That's not good. At this point I knew I was not going to make it that far. But I was hoping to make it to a church down the road and park it there. Well I get to a light and it was red. I didn't want to stop. So I looked, it was clear and sailed through a red light. Now this is a four lane road and in the other lane was a cop. So as you would guess...nah just getting you going. The cop actually just went right by me. But shortly after the red light, the bus died. Keep in mind I am in the middle of a four land highway. Fortunately I had some people following right behind me. Next thing you know, we are pushing a bus off the road. Now might I remind you that a bus is just a tad on the heavy side. We had 2 people pushing and one driving. We get it barely off the road and put it in park. Then we had to wait until one of my friends showed up with a set of jumper cables. It took forever to get enough charge to start the battery. Finally got the old bus fired up again. Quickly get in it, drive down the road without any lights, fan, wipers, or anything like that on. Get it to the one church and park it. I am thinking it was an alternator belt. You'll have that I guess.
So bad news: No kids klub tonight and a broken bus
Good news: I know can honestly say I pushed a bus on a four lane highway!

Running Update

Man, I am loving this whole running thing. It just feels so good. Now don't get me wrong, I am sore. I can feel it. And I am sure I have never been this old before. But with all that being said, it feels great. It helps me focus, concentrate, and generally just feel better. And well, there is a another huge benefit; It helps my pants fit better too, if you know what I mean.
With all that being said, I am still trying to nail down my training schedule. I still want the 5k, 10k, 1/2 marathon, full marathon deal. I also am willing to enlist other "The Beginning of Something Legendary" readers in my marathon quest.

Guess Who Called Me?

I got back to church from the funeral home the other day and saw that the answering machine light was blinking. Of course you wonder who it is. I hit play. The person tells me he his name. My mind begins to recall the name. Where did I hear that name? The message continues. Turns out he was the producer of the movie Me & You, Us, Forever. Wow! A producer checking out my blog.

I came out with two impressions from the message that he left. #1 there is not a whole lot of money left for advertisements. #2 this guy believes in this movie. You could tell how excited he was about it.

All of this has led me to this conclusion: GO SEE THE MOVIE! It comes out on Feb. 15th. If you go on the website you can find where it is playing. So go see it!

My Two Boys

This has been an incredible week for me. Both of my sons have hit a huge milestone.

Isaiah -- Has been going the bathroom by himself. He is potty trained!

Samuel -- Learned how to sleep 12 hours at night!

Wow, talking about an amazing week!

Sorry For Not Posting For A while

I know I have not posted since Wednesday and it is now Saturday night. Well, do not worry. I am ok. Nothing wrong with me or anything like that. When the week began I knew it was going to be a tough week. I had to get the annual report done, prepare for the board of ministries meeting, and all the other things as well. Then of course on weeks like that something always happens. Like adding a funeral. Thursday and Friday were long long busy days. I don't even know if I checked my blog, let alone stopping long enough to blog.
Anyways, for all who have prayed for me this week, thanks.

When the Phone Rings

I answered the phone today and it was the local funeral home. That is never good. A dear sweet lady in the church had passed away. Growing up as a PK (pastor's kid) you are exposed to a lot of deaths. I think for a while in my life I was pretty much immune to the pain of death. I don't know why but it is getting harder to deal with. It makes you appreciate life a little bit more. It makes you take a harder look at the big picture.

I have had some people in my life tell me that I have to keep the people in my church "at a distance" and to "guard my heart." Well, I will never be able to do that. I will never want to do that. I will put my whole heart into it. Will it cause pain sometimes? You better believe it. But is there an option?

So the rest of the week, only by the grace of God, I will try to provide comfort, support, and most importantly Christ to the friends and family. Meanwhile, I will miss this great lady.

Grilling in the Snow?

Yesterday we decided that we wanted to have kielbasa for supper. (Ok. 'Decided' might be a overstatement. It is what was in the freezer). Now you and I both know that any type of meat tastes better cooked on a grill. But Dan it is snowing outside! My response: So? Well I shoveled off the deck. Then I shoveled the snow of the grill. Got it mostly cleared off. Turned on the burners. Pushed the little ignite button. It started right up. Let it warm up a little bit. Put the kielbasa on it. A little bit later, I am sitting at my table eating a nicely grilled piece of meat in the middle of winter. Hey, all that it takes is a little insanity!

Dan the Running Man

It has officially begun. I am starting to run again. So it has only been 2 days. I tell you what. I have already realized a couple of things:

1. I totally forgot how good it feels to run. Just to have every muscle aching and you can't breathe -- boy what a feeling
2. I also forgot about how running has always helped clear me up. It is really good at getting rid of colds for me. Which is good right about now.
3. I'm starting to think that the cold that I have been dealing with for about a month might be something like bronchitis. Man I sound a little "wheezy" when I am running
4. I am out of shape! Once upon a time there was a guy named Dan who would call a 3 mile run a walk in the park. Now that same guy thinks a 30 feet run is pushing it (ok not quite that bad)

Right now I probably could do a 5k. If I were to totally try and kill myself I think I could finish a 10k and be totally wiped out. You may recall my little running guy in the background of this blog that was supposed to announce my training for a marathon. My original plan was to begin training in the fall and run a marathon in the spring.
Well, I knew Samuel was going to be born in a week or two and it just wasn't realistic at the time. So now I am going to try and run about 4 times a week, get in shape, and go from there.
Obviously my BHAG (big hairy audacious goal) is to run a marathon. I have wanted to do that since I was in 6th grade, and I still want to. Now I am tyring to set for myself some in between goals. Basically work up to a marathon. Something like a 5K then a 10K then a 1/2 Marathon then the big daddy. So what I have to do now is to create a schedule where I can reach those goals.
If you have any suggestions let me know.

Me &You, Us, Forever

I get the mail this morning and I have this advertisement for a movie that is coming out called Me & You, Us, Forever. It was addressed to the church so I looked at it. Went on the website, checked it out. Looked really good. Unfortunately it is only coming to a "select few" theaters. But what is interesting to me is that it is about a guy who fell in love in High School, but ended up breaking up with his girlfriend and marrying someone else and that marriage ended. He reflects on his life and his first love.
So that got me thinking. And you know what? I don't want to sound cheesy in any way. I was thinking about Heather. From the moment I met her to this day, there is something about her that makes me attracted to her. Now to get her to finally agree to marry me was, well, a lion chase to say the least. But I can't help but think about that movie and how sad it would have been to have given up on the chase. To let things just as they say "run the course." Now please don't misunderstand me here. I am not some sort of prince charming. I know I am not the greatest husband to ever walk the earth. I know I can be a pain. And also there are times when I get upset with my wife too. But there is something there that if I knew what I know now, I would be willing to chase the lion faster further and longer then I did.
I am not trying to sound cheesy (even though if I was reading this I would think it sounded cheesy) but I just totally thought about Heather when I was looking at this movie. Boy am I glad to have my wife to share this life with.

I Like Experiments

One thing about me is I like to try new things. This is true with food. When I was younger, not so much. But now, bring it on! Whatever it is, I am willing to try it. I like it when it comes to fixing something in my house that I have never done before. Give me some time, and I will figure it out.
But I also like try new things when it comes to my faith. I am not comfortable doing the same thing over and over. I want to try something new. Now let me say, a lot to times, it ends up being something like "well, I am not going to do that again." That's cool. It doesn't bother me at all. The most important thing is that I get to know Christ more. How that is done? Well I will try anything and everything.

I have a confession

This morning I slept in! Not totally slept in. I was out the door at 8:00. But honestly I meant to be out the door at 7:00. I guess I forgot to set my alarm. I feel guilty about it. But here is the weird thing. I don't have anyone making sure that I am there on time. I can work any time that I want. If I wanted to work from say 3-12 that would be OK too. But I like starting at 7 so I feel I have to be in by 7. And today I wasn't. With all that being said, man did it feel nice to sleep that extra hour. When I left this morning this big yellow round thing was in the sky. That was nice. I was able to accomplish most (never able to do all) of everything that I wanted to accomplish today. But rest assured, I am going to bed in a couple of minutes and I will triple check my alarm tonight.

This is amazing stuff

I am getting ready for Sunday, and we are going to be looking at the Passover. OK. Anyone who thinks that the events of Christ and his life and everything are just some sort of major coincidence is crazy. I'm having a blast just taking the time thinking about how all of this comes together at one specific time in history. Wow! So if you are at Bakerstown Alliance on Sunday (or listen to the podcast later) you will be left with one word: WOW!

What did I do on Monday?

Some of you wonder what I do on Mondays (my day off) so I thought I would share with you all what I did yesterday.
It actually started Sunday night at about 6:00. I cleared out our bedroom and threw the carpet out the window (literally). Then on Monday starting at 9 am, I removed the carpet tack board and then swept the floors. Followed closely behind by installing new laminate flooring.
One of my good/bad personality traits is when I start something I keep at it until I am done. And I did. At midnight, there was a pretty new floor, everything was swept and cleaned up, and even a bed all made up ready to sleep in. Maybe I should have done it over a couple of days, but I get so focused I am not going to stop until I am done. I am so sore this morning. I can feel just about every muscle in my body. But boy does it feel good to have it all done.

Kicking off the New Year

At church on Sunday we began our new series on the Seven Levitical feasts. Now when you say "Seven Levitical Feasts," you begin to lose people's attention right on the get go. On the surface it seems to be one of the most boring topics to study. However, I promise, that once you start looking at them and how they relate to Christ, wow! This is going to be some good stuff. I am excited about all of it. I am looking forward to taking these ancient feasts, looking at them through the eyes of Christ, and applying them to our lives. It is a proven fact that you learn more when you have to teach. I am excited about learning more about them myself. So I invite you to come to Bakerstown Alliance Sundays at 10:00. Or (and I know I have been bad at this lately) you can check out the pod cast.

Stock Car Racing in the Snow?

On Saturday, I got to experience something totally, well, legendary. At Mercer Speedway in Mercer, PA they had a 150 lap endro race. That was crazy! I got to go with my dad. It consisted of 115 cars trying to go around a 3/8 mile track. Just nuts! Of course there were mechanical failures and stuff, so the cars slowly but surely began to disappear. What was funny is they all started the race being different colors. At the end of the race, every car was brown from all the mud. It is just weird to be watching dirt track racing in the middle of winter. Now rest assured, my dad and I like it so much, we are hoping to do it again next year.

I am going to throw myself a party everyday this year

I think we don't stop and party enough. If God gives us everything (and he does), then we need to thank God for whatever we have. And I think the best way to do that is to throw a party. So with that in mind I hope you all join me and party everyday. Party on party people.

Spicy Food

I like spicy food. I think, as far as I remember, I have always enjoyed spicy food. Right now I am totally addicted to Max and Erma's Tortilla Soup. Man is that stuff great. When I eat it, I start to sweat. For me that is not to hard. In the summer I can move five feet away from an air conditioner and sweat. But the soup is just at that perfect spicy level that makes it so good. When things get too spicy, forget it. I want to taste the food, not the spiciness. Now before you think I am some sort of wimp or something, I still have a bumper sticker from Quaker Steak and Lube that says "Atomic Wing Survivor." Yeah, I ate it. I'm proud of it. But did it taste good? Not really. I couldn't taste much of it. But anyways head on down to Max and Erma's order yourself some tortilla soup and then you will thank me. Shoot! Now I am hungry!

Coach or Commentator?

Being that it is the end of the regular season in the NFL, there is a lot of talk about retirement. Who is going to call it quits, who is going to come back for one more year? Stuff like that. And then when someone does decide to retire, the question is always asked; What next?
Now it seems to me that 99% of the retiring NFL players have one of two possibilities. They either say "I want to coach" or "I am looking to become a commentator." Now, when I hear that, I always hope people will choose to be a coach. And I asked myself recently, why? Why do I want them to be a coach more then a commentator?
So I thought about it some more, and I finally understand why I think that.
A commentator's job is to commentate. They are to report what you did well or more often what you did bad. A coach job is to make you the best that you can be. A coach sees what you did good and what you did bad, then works with you to try to improve anything and everything that you can.
Now check this out. As a person whose deepest concern is to bring people closer to Christ, I can tell you what you are doing good or bad; or I could work with you to help improve anything and everything that you can improve.
Now that sounds much closer to what Jesus had in his mind when he said "Go and Make Disciples."
As a little encouragement, I know that there are many different styles of coaches in the NFL. Good! There are also different styles when it comes to making disciples. Good!
Rather than point out the problem, be part of the solution. Criticize by creating.