How I beat the winter blues

I used to get extremely tired in the winter. The winter blahs is you will. I did not like that. So a couple of years ago I figured out what works for me to beat the winter blues. Running! I guess it does not have to be running, any exercise outside will do. Sledding with my kids counts too. But obviously for me running is my favorite. So I am looking at some crazy winter races just to keep me motivated to train and run harder. Any one else have way to beat those winter blahs?

Long lasting ministry

Here is something that I am learning. When you invest your life in to people, you will not see results for 10 years. Most people are not willing to wait those 10 years. I think the last time I heard, the average length of a youth pastor is 6 months. The average length of a pastor is a year and a half.
I then look at Jesus, he took 3 years to disciple the disciples. Now I am thinking that it was a much more intense ministry experience then what we experience today. I also am thinking that Jesus was probably a little better then any of us will ever be.
So with that being said, invest yourself for the long term. It is then that you will see results. I am always amazed at my dad. He has been in the same place, investing himself into people lives for 33+ years. I get to see what he accomplished. But it is only because of the number of years he has invested.
Today we went out to eat for supper. Our server happened to be a kid in our kids klub about 8 years ago. Really cool catching up with him. He is doing good. Man that makes me happy. It makes me want to keep on doing what I am doing.

Christmas

Wow! Christmas, is amazing. So much fun with little kids. Just to see how excited they get. I was amazed at Isaiah. He was just so overwhelmed. Poor guy on Christmas night was crying about everything. He just was too tired.
Just like last year, Santa showed up at my house again. I still don't know how it is. However, I think I have some clues. I am going to figure it out. You just wait an see.
Now what I am seriously contemplating opening and assembling every toy before I wrap them. It is a huge pain to sit there and try to open the present while your son is hovering 2 inches away from you saying "daddy is it ready yet?" So in honor of fighting with toy packaging here is a hilarious song.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1t90Bg9wAw
Not my family or me -- but very similar!

Ode to my laptop

Dear Laptop,
I have missed you so much. These pass 2 weeks without your power supply have been tough. I could not use you. You sat there, just waiting for me to use you again. My first attempt to order a new power supply went wrong. It was wrong cause I ordered the wrong one. You would think that I knew you better then that. So when I ordered then 2nd time, I made sure you were the right one. To my amazement, when I got the mail today, the power supply was there. I quickly opened up the package, ran to the room, plug you in. It worked! I was so happy. To be able to use you again. I just felt right. Surviving these two weeks using Heather's was tough. (to Heather's credit, she shared really good). But it is great to have you back old friend!

Feeling Tired

I will admit that this last couple of weeks have been very long. I knew that they would be. It is Christmas time. Of course it is going to be crazy. But I know it was going to be crazy so I have been doing a couple of things to help.

• Try to get enough sleep. It is amazing what 8 hours can do for you.
• Eat healthy. Though I am not the expert, stuff like normal food at normal time and not a plethora of cookies (aka dieting made simple)
• Exercise -- clears the mind
• Dwell on the things of God. I like to take a thought and ponder it until my ponderer is sore.
• Take moments to remember why your are doing what you are doing.
• And look for those tiny glimpses of what we are working for -- and hold on to those.

Just a couple of things that are getting me through this craziness.

How to fix a problem

Today was dishwasher install day. I know, that doesn't sound too fun, but trust me it is. We just purchased a brand new commercial dishwasher at the Lighthouse, so we had to install it. Now of course we hook it up, do everything that we were supposed to do and of course it does not work. Argh. We look at it for a while. Could not figure it out. Then we walked away. At that point, there was a great "I got it" moment. We figure it out. So we run back to the dishwasher look at it, think through the theory, and sure enough, that is the solution. So then we execute the plan. Run back down the stairs, turn on the breaker, then turn it on. It works! It works! It works! Yippee!
Sometimes, it is better to walk away, think through a situation, then tackle it.

My 2 hour trip that normally is 7 minutes

This morning I get a call from a friend telling me that he was stuck at the local store. So I hurry up get a shower and head out the door. While walking down the stairs I am thinking "boy it is a little slippery out here." So I carefully start to drive up the road thinking "hey its a little slippery but not to bad. Then I get to the main road. Sheet of ice! I start heading up a hill and I see that there are two cars that were not moving. I start to go up the hill and quickly realize I am not going to make it. So I stop and wait. I am not that good at waiting. Mean time, I hear about a bunch of accidents, so I start thinking, yeah this is not too bad. Eventually a salt truck went by and salted the road. I was able to get up the hill, and get to my friend (2 hours later).
I don't understand why, but I enjoy the adventure! I am weird like that.

My poor laptop

Sorry that I have not blogged in a while. My laptops power cable broke. Yes, this is the 2nd power supply that broke. Oh well. The good news is the new power supply on its way. I will survive. Sorry no blogs.

Weather...and God

Today is one of those crazy days. You know, wind, rain, sun, clouds, warm, cold, hail, nice, burr, ect... all within 2 hours. Now you would think that something was going on. But it was all designed by the God of variety. He makes us all different and he makes the weather different. I know I would have never made that many different things. I just would not think of all those different things.
Now see here is also another aspect. In all this changing weather, I knew that God was in control. I know that God designed all of this. I know that He knew what he was doing. So instead of worrying about it, or complaining about, I decided to just enjoy it.

IRS...the ongoing saga

Today I added yet another chapter to my IRS story. I called them the other week to ask if they are ever going to respond to my letter I wrote them 3 months ago and they said they would get back to me in 45 days. So upon talking to them, I was getting nowhere fast. Eventually the lady told me to go to a IRS walk-in facility. I said ok where is one. They told me in Warrendale. They gave me the hours, 8:30-3:30. Finally today I had the opportunity to stop in the morning. I made it there at about 9:00. Open the door and no light is on. I stand there for about 2 minutes, finally find a phone. It had a couple of options, so I dialed one of them. "How can I help you?" "I am here for a review" "Ohh, you can only do that on Mondays" You got to be kidding me. Argh. However, you could go to the one in Butler, they are open everyday. So I drive up to Butler. I find the office. Go in. I am the only one there, and I start talking to the guy. He asked me a few questions, found my file online. Then he says "ohh it appears that there was an adjustment made yesterday" Turns out they finally go to reviewing my file. Guess what? I was right! They are fixing their error. I am getting a bigger return. Yes folks it is true. I fought the IRS and I won.
Next step...run for president?

A culture of affirmation

The other day I got an email with the subject "a culture of affirmation." I don't really remember what the email was about. But the subject line got me thinking.

A culture of affirmation, now that sounds nice. In fact if I was to ask for a show of hands how many people would like to be in a culture of affirmation, I would venture to guess that 99% of everyone would raise their hands. (what can I say, there is always one weirdo in the group. Wait that wasn't too affirming was it?) Of course all of us want to be in a culture of affirmation.

Now maybe about 5 years ago I would have said something like, lets all live in a culture of affirmation. But that is not good enough anymore. I want to take it to the next level.

It is not enough to say "I want to live in a culture of affirmation." You have to be that change that you want to see in others. So your task is this: create a culture of affirmation. Stop tearing people down. Start building them up. Be the culture of affirmation. Make it your goal starting now. People (yes I am included in this) need affirmation. Be the one to give it to them. Give it a shot. Let me know how it goes.

Getting to know people better

I think one of the best things in life is getting to know people better. Honestly, the more you know people, your perspective changes. The more you know people, the more you realize that no one actually has it all together. You realize that they are just as screwed up as the person who you actually are that you try to hide.
I get to see that at the Lighthouse all the time. The more that I know who we are serving and who is giving the more fun and rewarding ministry is. When you have people trying to help people who are in a situation that they have been in, man that is great to see.
When you are at church and you see people who you know all to well worshiping God. There is nothing more powerful than that. You know their short comings. You know their hurts, their pains, their struggles. Yet they are not letting what is wrong with them stop them from worshiping what is right with God.
It is late at night, I should be tired, but thinking about things like that, I get excited! :)

Turkey Trot

On Saturday I had the opportunity to run in the 10th annual Turkey Trot at Treesdale. I have to say it was wonderfully organized. They had plenty of volunteers helping out. They had every thing up and running. A really well run event.

The course was difficult. One of the hardest courses I have ever seen. Between mile one and two I think it was just one long hill. Not to mention the beginning that after 50 yards you were heading up a huge hill. I do like challenging courses. I am just a crazy like that.

It turned out that I finished 2nd in my age category. The guy that beat me, who happens to be on the Lighthouse Board, finished 2nd to last in our category. (did you get that?)

All in all a great morning. The best thing? All proceeds go to the Lighthouse! Thank you to all who helped put everything together.

Hurt people hurt people, but what do healthy people do?

When people are hurting they have a tendency to hurt people. It is just what happens. Yes, I know it is a destructive thing to do. I know that you should not hurt anyone. All of that is true, but when you are talking about hurting people, they hurt people.
So what if a hurt person tries to hurt you? Get over it! They are hurting. We have the tendency to think that they should be kind to us because we are trying to help them. Or that they should be grateful for the help that we give them. They are hurting. It is not that they are being mean or rude on purpose they are hurting.
Our job is to help those who are hurting. It is not about how they treat us. It is not about how many times they thank us. It is about how we treat them.

Playing with my kids

If I am honest, I still like being a kid. So one of my jobs as a dad is to play with my kids. Boy that is the easy part. It is fun goofing off with the kids. The older that they get the more that we can play. Now I am willing to bet that during our playing something will end up broken. Hopefully it will not be a bone or anything like that. But it is a lot of fun playing with my boys.
the one thing that I learned, is that it doesn't matter what you do with them, as long as you are playing with them.
One of my underlying motives (ohh yes I have them) for blowing off all the leafs the other day was sled riding. I can't wait to go sledding with my boys. Now that there are no leaves there it will be even more fun!
So yes, maybe I am a big kid. But it is ok!

Number 500

Wow! Post number 500! Amazing! Here it is 500 posts later and I still think I am just at the beginning of something legendary! I think I am going to keep blogging.
With that being said I thought about the next 40 days or so. That would be the last 40 days of the year. I am going to try and spend about 95% of my thoughts on the sins of omission rather then the sins of commission. I am thinking that there is a lot of things that we don't do that we should do. But the problem is that we don't realize it because we are too busy worrying about what we shouldn't have done.
I don't know where this is going to take me. But it sounds like fun. Maybe this could be the beginning...the beginning of something legendary :)

Dealing With Headaches

I might have mentioned this before, but just to review. Since I was in about 3rd grade, I have gotten migraines. Now when I was younger, they would just kill a whole day. I would end up throwing up over and over. Since then I have learned to control these headaches a whole lot better.
Yes, I got one of those today. I ended up throwing up once. It was then I went home and took a 1/2 hour nap. Woke up, ate something, went back to doing what I was doing. About an hour later I started to feel better again.
It feels great to feel normal. I am glad I have figured out how to deal with the headaches. There are some other things that I do to prevent the headache and to deal with the headache before it gets extreme.
I know when I get to heaven, these will not be a problem. I also know that my headaches are nothing compared to what some people have to put up with.

Overcoming frustration

Today was a difficult day. I was trying to figure out how to balance the budget for next year. There are some difficult decisions that will have to be made. So I needed to clear my head and went for a long run. Boy did that feel good. A nice 5 to 6 miles. When I was running, I had a thought. I thought I made a mistake. So I got excited. Ran back to my office. Checked it, and unfortunately no mistake. So I was feeling kinda of frustrated, but it was time to go home. I had worship team practice tonight. When I was practicing, I must admit, I was enjoying being with God. My thoughts began to focus on God. Put everything back in to perceptive. Yes, I still have to figure out how to balance the budget. But, I know that God is in control.

Depending on Miracles

Today was one of those days when I woke up I had a bunch of thoughts like "There is no way everything is going to get done." I am the type of person who would like to know a head of time how things are going to work out. But sometimes that is just not possible. So I have to depend totally on miracles. I love being in those situations. Actually that is not totally true, those situations do make me nervous. Which makes me say something like "Lord, help". That is the good part.
Now let me be point out something here. While it is perfectly acceptable to depend on miracles, it is not acceptable to be lazy. We need to make sure we are doing the work that we have been called to do.
Today I had a couple of those miracles work out. Boy does it feel good!

Effectiveness

One of the biggest lessons that I learned in college (at the great Toccoa Falls College that is) was about forms, functions, and foundations. Allow me to review:

• Foundation -- that should be the foundation of Christ. Everything we do must be from that starting point
• Functions -- The things the Bible tells us to do. Stuff like the Great Commandment, the great commission go and make disciples, WHEN you pray (not if). Stuff like that.
• Forms -- How you do the functions. Whatever way is most effective, do it!

Now there is one stat that has stayed with me for a long time. It takes the church in America 100 people 1 year at a cost of $100,000 to reach one person for Christ. I never liked that one much. So I always trying to find ways to lower those numbers.

But when I juxtapose those two things, my brain gets excited. My soul gets excited! Then I want to figure out the best way to do everything! Then I start dreaming! Then dreaming leads to action!

Being Ready To Learn

This past weekend was a long weekend. We has the opportunity to visit family across the state. It was a blast do not get me wrong. I enjoyed it. But needless to say, by the time Sunday came around I was a little tired. It was hard to pay attention. I had to force myself to listen. Here is what I know about being ready to learn:

• You can not learn on an empty stomach. I know not so spiritual, but it is true
• You can not learn that well without proper rest. Again, not spiritual, just practical
• You learn better when are excited about something. Do you gear up for a football game? Why not Church?
• You learn better when you try to listen. Face it we all can tune things out, but why not be an active listener
• You learn better when you are comfortable. I am sorry if wearing a tie makes you fidget, do not wear one.
• You learn better you can hear. Proper sound does help a lot.

Just some thoughts about being ready to learn. You have any more ideas?

What I learned today

When I think about my day, I usually try to figure out one thing that I learned. The thought of the day if you will. Today was all about talking to people. I think of three conversations I had with people today. In all of those three conversations, I saw the person. In those three conversations, there were no cell phone interruptions, no text interruptions, no interruptions of any sort. That is really rare these days. I enjoyed it. I will have to remember that the next time I get a call or something when talking to someone. Maybe I will just ignore the potential int eruption.

Who really is in charge of YOUR life?

Election day. I really hope you all voted. If you did not, seriously, shame on you! But election day is always a little nerve racking. You want your candidate to win. So you watch the results, waiting for those key races to return. I hate to burst your bubble, but some of the people you wanted to win will win. And then tomorrow will come. Guess what, we will still have the same problems we had before your candidate was elected.
The point is this, if you relying on a politician to be in charge of your life, you have serious problems. God is the one who needs to be in charge. If God is in charge, you can go to bed, no matter who is in charge, and wake up and serve God. Pretty cool huh?
By the way if you did not vote, you are not allow to complain about anything involving politics or the government! You forfeit that right!

I have failed my kids

I have come to realized that I am failing my kids. For the most part, Heather and I make sure that our kids eat healthy. Honestly, we do not have that many good snacks around this house. (And yes, I am hungry right now) Due to this fact, my kids do not have a good knowledge of candy. When we were trick or treating, my kids were not taking the good candy. They would take a lollipop over a snickers bar. Really kids? Come on! I need my candy!
My poor kids :)

How connected are you?

I think we need to recognize overconnectivity. I have seen people that spend every second of the day talking/texting/emailing/surfing without stopping even in the bathroom. Crazy. Now I will admit to liking my laptop. I enjoy being connected.
But, people, there comes a point. People. just unplug.
I have learned that if you ever want to impress someone, don't text while talking to them. Stop all this overconnectivity stuff and just listen to them. This will blow people socks off, trust me.
If you are suffering from overconnectivity, please hear me out. Take 1 week off. Stay unconnected for 1 week. You will survive. You might enjoy it.
Sorry for the rant.

Will they remember you?

The best selling book of all time is The Bible. In the Bible there are some obscure people mentioned. These are people that 99% of all Bible scholars would not remember. Now however, the fact that they even were mentioned in the Bible makes them way more memorable then most people. That in an odd way excites me. I really don't care if anyone remembers me. After all it should not be about me, it should be about God.
Then, and only then, when you remove yourself from the spotlight, change can happen.
So I guess I am asking you how will they remember you?

My idea of good morning

I had one of those this morning, a good morning that is. My definition of a good morning is this:

1. Get up early -- I know it sounds crazy, but I do like the mornings
2. Get a shower -- a must for any good morning
3. Get in car and have it start -- Hey if it starts, it is a good day
4. Make it to work -- Yes I am happy if nothing bad happens on the way
5. Get coffee before I talk to anyone -- coffee is so necessary
6. Check email and voicemail before talking to anyone -- I know seems mean
7. Check in with my staff, see how they are doing -- not so much job related stuff, just to talk to them.

Now when all of those things happen, it is a good morning. Today was a morning that followed those 7 steps. :)

When I am ready

Can you think about your life for a second for me? I want you to think of some major events in your life. Now, I want to ask you this question; were you ready?
I think back to becoming the pastor at Bakerstown CMA. Was I ready? NO! Now it is true that I had all the training that I technically needed. I was eligible. But as far as actually being ready, I don't think I was.
When we had Isaiah, was I ready to be a parent? I don't think so. I don't know think I really know what I am doing four years later. Heck I still don't know what I am doing with our second child. I am learning all the time.
The point is this: most of the big events in your life, you probably won't feel you are ready for that next chapter. And honestly, you probably aren't ready. But that is where faith comes in. Faith to trust in God to lead you, not just to the opportunity but through the opportunity.
When those moments come, trust God, not your preparation.

Fear

First of all let me apologize for not blogging that much lately. Honestly, have not had the time. I have had a lot of different things on my mind. But by the time I had an opportunity to blog, I was just too tired.
What I have been noticing lately is a lot of fear. Now I am not talking about fear of jumping out of a plane. That is good fear. (However, you could talk me in to it without much effort) But I am talking about fear to try something different. Fear to take a risk.
The more I talk to people, the more I realize there are a lot of people living in fear. I wish I could change that. I wish people would just go ahead and take the risk. But I can't do that for others.
So I can do what I can. Which is not to allow my life to be a life of fear.
What fear is blocking you?

1 year ago

I realized that today one year ago I started back at the Lighthouse. One year? One year already? Seems to have flown by. I have enjoyed my time working with a wonderful staff and wonderful volunteers.
I am still dreaming. I am still trying to figure out how to find ways to help more people. There are many challenges ahead for us.
But wow, a year? Pretty amazing.
Hmm....maybe...could it be...I think it might be...yes it must be...indeed it is...It is the beginning of something legendary.

Hurting people

It seems like the last couple of days I have seen a lot of people who have been hurting. Hurting in bad ways. It breaks my heart to hear some of their stories. These are not people who are lazy. These are not people who are just "abusing the system." These are not people who "should just get over it." These are people who are hurt. People who need help.
I wonder how God feels when his children are suffering. I am sure He is hurting a whole lot more then I am.
I wish I knew how to make every thing go away. I wish I could take their pain away. I wish I could help.
A lot of times I have no idea what to do. I have no idea what would help.
I know why the Lighthouse is in existence. I know we are to do the best we can to help these people. Seems like an impossible task. Fortunately God makes a living out of doing the impossible.

Preaching a series

One of the things that I learned at the great Toccoa Falls College was the importance of preaching in a series. The reason for this is it forces you to examine all the issues. It is really easy to pick up a couple of topics that you care about and switch the title every week. Then you can just preach on your soup box. A series helps you better deal with all the issues.
Honestly, I do like Old Testament books the most. Just fun to study those things and look at all the different issues and thoughts.
That is one of the things I miss about preaching every week. The discipline to study something different every week is a whole lot of fun.

The volume on TV commercials

Why is it that in order to hear whatever show you are watching you have to turn the volume up pretty high? That would not be a problem if you were just watching the show. But then there are the commercials. The volume of commercials is like 10 times louder. Now I know that they are doing this to try and get your attention, but come on. It is so annoying. I wish that the commercials would be the same volume.
Now with all this being said, I am blogging this on a Friday night at home watching TV. Maybe I am just old :)

The Big Picture

On Sunday it was World Wide Communion Day. I was invited to a community service. Now the interesting thing was we celebrated communion together. Every church, every denomination does communion just a little different. So it was fun to see every one try to understand each others' traditions. This was not the most smooth flowing communion service. But it was ok. Because we were taking communion together. So much is written about the difference we have with different denominations. But the bottom line is what unites us, Jesus's love and sacrfice for us, is by far greater than what divides us. It was really nice to come together and celebrate communion.

Things I am not

Sometimes I might leave the impression that I have everything figured out. That I always spend lot of time with my kids. That I am always kind to my wife.
I wish that was true all the time. But I do get upset. I do get tired. I don't always do the things that I know that I should be doing.
At times like this, I have to remember what matters in my life. I then choose to do the things that I should have been doing the whole time.
I am not perfect.

The way I learn

The other week I was in a setting that I realized doesn't work for me. It had chairs, table, papers, and pens. You know, it was that dreaded classic school like setting. Ahhh!!!!!!! Seriously, it was not working for me. I just could not concentrate that well. Honestly, I was never the best student in the world.
Now with that being said, I feel like I have learned a lot. But I learn by sitting on a couch and talking to people. I learn by reading books. I learn by running and pondering thoughts in my head. I learn by doing. I learn by failing.
I think this should be true in a church setting as well. One form of learning might not work for everybody. We need to make sure we try every possible way to aid in learning.

I had to run

When I left this morning it was raining like crazy. I admit I wasn't thinking much about running, but remembered my running clothes anyways. Somehow it cleared up. Next thing I know it is cloudy, windy, no humidity, and pleasant. See ya, I'm out of here. There is no way I could ever pass up a day like today to go running. Wow! Incredible. I just could not help myself. I decided since it was so nice outside, it was time for a 5 mile run. Boy did that feel good. I am sitting here now and I can feel it just enough to know that I ran today.
I don't know when is the last time I enjoyed running that much. I was just a great day. After running, I was ready to face all the issues.
Now I understand if running is not your cup of tea. I get that. But to be outside today and enjoy God's creation, you can just not beat it!

Way to go police

The G20 had most people in Pittsburgh worried about the protesters. With that being said, for the most part things were calm. On Friday we were eating at Primanti Brothers. Three police on motorcycles pulled up. When they did they all received an unexpected round of applause. I was proud of the people for thanking the officers. I was proud of the officers for keeping things under control during the G20. It was just a nice show of appreciation.

People's priorities

I find it funny how well I can manage other people's lives and have a hard time with my own. Seriously, I think we all do good at knowing what other people should do. Now granted, we could be very wrong. We could not have any idea what we are talking about.

Now I have people who would like to tell me what I should be doing all the time. Telling me what my priorities should be and how I should spend my time.

Here is the point. None of those people's opinions matter. None of my "advice" matters either. We need to listen to God. We need to ask Him what our priorities should be. Ask Him how we should spend our time.

If you are doing that now, you can tell all those people to bug off!

The ups and down of the past two days

I have had a tough couple of days. The good news is that we have our occupancy permit for Blanchard House. To get that was crazy. It was a series of ups and downs. I had the inspector coming at 8:30 a.m. When he left, I had no idea if we passed or not. He had found some stuff that he had never found before and mentioned in his report. So I waited til after lunch to pick up the report. Turns out that I still had to get the fire chief to sign off on the whole deal. Then I walk over to the fire department, find the chief and he tells me he will be there in 30 minutes. No problem. He shows up, inspects the house for 13 minutes and I am done! The good news is we got the occupancy permit, and people can start moving in.
Of course today I had to find two refrigerators. Did that. Lined it up to pick them up this morning. Did that. Now somehow I got the two biggest refrigerators in the whole world (slight hyperbole). The worst part was getting the two refrigerators up to the 2nd and 3rd floor. That was a lot of work.
Lots of struggles, but it is done! Can't wait to see the lives changed because of all of this work.

Different Strokes for Different Folks

The guy who is doing our audit has been working at the Lighthouse the past 2 weeks. It is quite fascinating to me. I, by far, am not a detail person. Watching the guy work the figures. Making sure everything down to the penny is correct. Making sure that every number add correctly to the other numbers. Fascinating. Now I do not ever want his job. But I do appreciate someone who does enjoy their job.
Thank God for making us all different. Could you imagine if we all had the same personality, the same interests, the same skills? Wow would that be boring.
Now this guy is going to make sure that we are following all the procedures that we are supposed to follow. This is just as important as every other task we do at the Lighthouse.
Doesn't matter what you do, just do it all for God's glory!

The most fun I ever had at a planning meeting

Tonight we were planning for an upcoming marriage seminar. We had 3 couples with a combined 171 years of marriage! Wow! So as we are planning this event, just listening to the stories were incredible. Honestly, most of the time if any meeting goes longer than one hour, I am not that happy. But tonight it was 2 hours of entertainment.
Seriously, I think this is going to be a blast. October 23 and 24th this marriage seminar is going to happen. I am sure that I will be blogging more about it in the near future. Really looking forward to it.

Productive Day

I had one today! I was so happy. Yesterday I felt like I got nothing done. I got so little done that I was annoyed. Then there is days like today. I think I did most things that were on the mental "to do list." Days like today make days like yesterday tolerable.
Now the important part is to remember days like today and forget days like yesterday. I want to know what you remember the most. Your worst day or your best day?
I will encourage you to remember the best days. Isn't that what Philippians 4:8 tells us?

Remembering 26.2

It was this day one year ago I did something crazy. I ran a marathon. What was I thinking? They ran the Erie Marathon on Sunday. I wanted to go and cheer for that guy who was at the back of the pack (just like I was), but could not make it up there yesterday. So a year later how do I feel about the whole experience? Proud! I am still not sure I will ever do another one. I mean I want compete in a marathon again, but I am just not willing at this point to put in the work to get ready for another one. However, I will not ever forget the experience.
So today I thought I would do a little commemoration of the 26.2. I ran 2.62 miles! 2.62 is a whole lot easier then 26.2!

Having Fun

I still don't know what it means to be "mature." I have never quite understood that word. I think people use it incorrectly to mean boring. That is not part of maturity. With my kids, I get to play a lot. And guess what? I like to play. This evening we got to play on the new playground at North Park. I had a blast. Heather, who truly is mature, was having fun playing. Oh yeah, the kids liked it too.
What I am getting at is this. Enjoy life! You only have it once here on earth. Smile once in a while. Enjoy going down a slide or climbing up a wall. Honestly, I think when you are having fun and enjoying life here on earth, God is smiling up in Heaven.

Delays...

I will continue this post later....Just kidding.
Today was one of those days that I got slapped in the face with more delays. I do not like delays. I want everything now! But here I wait.
Now understand my heart here, the reason for the frustration is not to make me look good, or to add this program or that program. The frustration comes from knowing there are people out there who need help. And knowing that the things that are being delayed could help!
With all that being said, I choose to trust Christ. I choose to believe that He will do it in His time.
So I will go to bed tonight, wake up tomorrow morning, and resume the fight. No delay is going to stop the advance! CHARGE!

God Knows Grief

It is an odd concept to think of. But wrap your brain around it. God knows grief. He has been through grief. Many times. Think about it, Jesus, God's own son went through all that pain when He was on this earth. Not only that but, we are God's children. That is what the Bible tells us. So think about everything that God's children went through. That is everything you gone through times the number of people who have lived. Wow, that is a lot of grief
Now when my kids do something that I know they should not be doing, I feel bad. I grieve if you will. Now think about God, he has his kids doing stuff they should not be doing every day (or minute). Yeah that is a lot of grieving.
So when are thinking "I can't take all of this grief". It is at that moment you need to cry out to God and let Him comfort us.

Dan, where have you been?

I know, I have been a bad blogger lately. You all probably have been wondering what has happened. I will tell you. It is Blanchard House. We are at the final stages of being able to move back in. Which means that I have been pushing and pushing. I have been trying to do whatever it takes to get it done. I have to admit, I was sore and tired after last week. Lord willing, we will be moved in this week. I sure hope so. It has been going on for long enough, in my opinion. So sorry about not blogging last week. That is what I was doing.

Resting when you are tired

Yeah, that title seems pretty obvious huh? Let me explain where it is coming from.

Last night I go to mow the grass. I start the riding lawn mower and it actually fire right up. At this point I am pretty stoked. I then have to move the car and let the mower warm up. When I get to the bottom of the driveway with the car, I noticed that the mower stopped running. I am thinking no big deal. It just stalled. Start it up again and then it stalled right away. Tried to start it again, nothing!

Based on all my knowledge of such things, the motor seized up. Or for all my southern friends, it is all don tore up.

Now I need to back up even a little more. Saturday was a long day, Sunday I had the opportunity to preach at a Church. What I am getting at is by the time that I went to mow, I was spent. I was just plain tired.

When the mower broke, I wanted to die. OK, maybe I just wanted to quit. It was at that moment that I realized that I was tired. Once I realized that, I just had to let it go.

I got a good night sleep. Woke up ready to go this morning. Today was one of those super crazy days. But I was able to deal with it.

I know it seems simple. I know it seems elementary. But, rest assured, God tells us about rest many times. God tells us how important it is. So unless you are better then God, get some rest. Don't tell me that you are better then everyone else.

My Mom

Actually, today is my mom's birthday. My mom is an incredible person. It is funny, in most circles people don't get to know my mom, they all know my dad, but my mom hides from the spotlight. In fact, getting a picture of my mom is darn near impossible.
My mom taught me so many valuable lessons. Such as when all else fails, just get out of the house. My mom taught me the adventure of just going somewhere just to go somewhere. A theory that I practice today.
I do wonder what ever happened to my mom. She went soft. You should see the things that my kids get a way with that would have never happened when I was growing up. I don't know when she got so soft. I guess she is a grandma now.
I do love the fact that my kids get to enjoy their grandma. I do love the fact that they know when they go to grandma's house they can get a cookie.
So happy birthday mom!

The Colony

Somehow I became addicted to the Discovery Channel's new show The Colony. I have no idea why. I never had a worry about a disaster. But for some reason that I can not explain, I am fascinated by the whole thing. It is just really interesting. I love the "expert" insights that are offered in the middle of the shows. I also think some of volunteers idea is just amazing. The way they figure out how to do things gets my nerd on. So enough blogging for now, because the commercial is about over.

For myself

Yes, sometimes I blog to remember things. Sometimes it is to share some insight. Sometimes it is just to get a laugh. Sometimes, I have no idea.

Today it is to remind myself of something. Today, I need to be reminded to dwell on whatever is good. I caught myself for a couple of hours being in a bad mood over one thing. I came home and was talking to Heather. Told her I was having a bad day. Being the all loving supportive wife, she asked what happened. Sure enough I told her the one bad thing, and there was nothing else. In fact the rest of the day was good. The rest of the things were positive. Wow! I had to catch myself from dwelling on the negative.

So well I blog for myself tonight, I am sure you can use the reminder too.

Hanging with the Boys

Tonight, Heather had to go to an appointment. That meant guys night out! The boys and I went out to Buffalo Wild Wings. Now, my boys are not quite to the point that they love chicken wings. Soon, I will teach them the art of consuming mass amounts of chicken wings, and creating the bone yard.

I must admit, I had fun hanging out with the guys. As they get older, I am sure there will be more guy nights. Honestly, I love hanging out with my kids.


Disclaimer...In no way is this post meant to gross out any female. In no way is this post suggesting that gluttony is a good thing. In no way is this post meant to say I do not enjoy hanging out with my wife or all together as a family.

Fun Afternoon

This afternoon I stopped by our Safe Harbor facility to make sure everything with the Gas Company working on the building was going good. When I got there my friends from Catholic Charities were just about to go for a run. I remember driving up there thinking "wondering if will run today?" I happened to have my running stuff in my car. So I quickly change my clothes, and the next thing you know I am off and running. It was just a lot of fun. Just was a good time that was totally unexpected. Yes, it was hot, very hot! But still definitely a fun afternoon.

Thought of the day

Just a quick little thought for all of you out there to think about:

Love People. Use Things. Never confuse the two.

Think about it. Makes a whole lot of sense.

My Weekend

I think, at least in my mind, there are three types of weekends:

• There is the work weekend. This is the type of weekend were you end up working all weekend long. Now most of the time for me, it involves Lighthouse work. However there is the occasional work on the house all weekend long.
• There is the party hard weekend. The ones where you just go and go. You have fun doing this and that with the boys. Just one of those event driven weekends
• Then there is the relaxing weekend. Sure you might have to do a little work. Sure you will have a little fun. But for the most part, it is relaxing.

This past weekend for me, relaxing! Boy did if feel nice. I like those weekends. I got to watch a bunch of Nascar (that always makes me happy). Just all in all a good weekend. Makes me ready to go for the next week!

What makes this country great

Today we had a meeting with three different Giant Eagle stores. The point of this meeting was to come up with a plan where they give us their extra meat. This hopefully will amount to about 750 pounds per store per week.
Here is the cool part. They want to do this. They are glad to do this. We are not begging on our hands and knees (though I am not above that). They were excited about being able to help out in their community. That was the managers. The employees were even more excited about doing this.
Granted there had/has to be something worked out. Like making sure everything is safe and all the I's are dotted and the T's are crossed. But we have people willing and wanting to help their community in need.
It does make me proud of our country. It does make me thankful for the resources we have. It is and always has been the people that make this country great.

The great health care debate of 2003

Back in 2003 I experienced the most intense debate I have seen at District Conference. District Conference is our annual meeting of the Western PA District of the Christian and Missionary Alliance. So you want to know the debate?

It all started with the definition of "group" for health insurance cost. We had a plan in the District were we could enter, but did not have to enter. The insurance company then wanted 100 percent participation. That was where things started to erupt. The hard part about the whole deal was that they could not give us a price. They also refused to give us a list of benefits, co-pays, or limitations.

Obviously, that did not sit well with a lot of people. The best explanation was you want us to buy a car that we have no idea what it is, how it looks, or how much it costs. Hopefully, when you make a important decision, you know what you are buying.

Now you might be wondering why I am thinking about all of this six years later. Well, I see the same thing happening on a national level. We will leave it at that.

Thoughts on being a single parent

This past weekend Heather was at a wedding. I was glad she could go. Honestly, I was. That left me with the boys. Now this was an awful weekend for me. I had something Thursday, Friday, and Saturday night. That meant that I had to rely on my parents. So thankful that they were able to help me out. But it was weird not having Heather to help me out.

Now in no way do I think that my 100 hours without Heather is remotely in the same ball park as being a single parent. I also know that having my parents right there to help me was a huge benefit. But with that being said, being a single parent is tough. Figuring out how to get everything done with only one parent is tough.

I guess what I will take away from this experience is a little more compassion for single parents. It is a tough job.

A Women's Purse -- aka how to end up in the doghouse

Now I am not sure where the purse originated from. I am not sure why women outgrew pockets. In no way do I understand why a lot of women's clothing does not have pockets. I mean I don't think I have ever owned a pair of pants without pockets.

Due to the lack of adequate pockets, I can only assume that is where the purse began. Now that we are in the 21st century, I believe purses have reached a pandemic level. Now I want to make sure that I offend all women out there. You think I am just talking about the type of purse where you could fit a two year old child. While those are totally uncalled for, I am also talking about the tiny little purses. The only difference between the two is the little ones are stuffed to the max that when you open it, it could be considered an explosive; while the big ones end up being like a game where you reach in and pull out a prize.

Now honestly, do you need all those things in your purse? I remember watching "Let's Make A Deal" game show and the host would ask people if they had something and give them $100 or something. Now that would be the one time a overly stuffed purse would be acceptable. But as far as I know that show has long since been canceled.

Getting back to those tiny little purses; I ask "why?" Why bother. What is the point. You end up making the guy carry half the stuff that would normally go in the purse just so you can get away with a little purse. So why even go through that work.

Now another thing that I can't figure out (and another thing to make my trip to the doghouse permanent) is the number of purses required. I just don't get it. You know evening purses, day purses, summer purses, winter purses, black, red, green, brown, stripes, plaid, etc... Come on, seriously? You need all of those purses?

Now a purse is supposed to be about the Old Testament equivalent of the Holy of Holies. Guys know that we are just not welcomed there. And frankly most guys if they have ever dared (or should I say forced) to go into a women purse do not want to go back in. They are scared. They are damaged for life. Probably any guy who ever has dared enter a women's purse is in serious need of counseling.

I think I had better stop here. A night or two in the doghouse is bearable. Permanent residency is not.

God waiting on us

Now you all have probably heard a whole bunch about waiting on the Lord. Waiting on His timing. Waiting for God to show you the way. Now, I am not saying anything against all of that or anything like that.
I just want to think about the other side of the story. I wonder if God ever gets impatient with us? I wonder if He ever wonders "when is Dan ever going to get this?" We always talk about us waiting on God, but what about God waiting on us?

Was it worth it?

I must admit, it was a lot of work. If you are wondering what it was, click here. We worked on the room pretty much all last week. I will be honest, when I say we, I mean mostly Heather and her mom. Now somehow, this ended up being sort of a masculine feeling. But both Heather and I really like it a lot.
Now just to make that spiritual connection. We were working on transforming a room. A room that does not have a will. A room that does not make choices. A room that does not resist change. When we are working on people, it is even more work then a room. A persons has a will. A person makes choices. A person does resist change.
So I am sitting here saying how much work it was to do our room, think about how much more work we have when disciplining a person.

The makings of a legendary day

I woke up and it was raining. Did the normal get ready routines. Walked outside in the rain and that is when it hit me. I left my windows down. Gulp! This is not good. I start slowly walking toward the car thinking "this is not going to be good." I open the door, start feeling around, and guess what? It was dry! It was dry! I was so amazed. At this point, nothing could stand in my way. So to celebrated I went to Starbucks and got some coffee! Legendary!

What I want to be like when I grow up

Today I had an amazing opportunity. I got to talk to a Godly man. This gentlemen was in his early 70's. A very successful business man. But as we were talking, which was easy, you could just see how much fear and love he had for God. The guy was legit. He was totally transparent and totally devoted to Christ. He cared about me and my family. He is not into charts and graphs. He is into people. He cared more about people then he did about vision statement. He is one of those people who you know has their priorities straight.
Well I am not wanting to grow up or anything crazy like that, I want to be like that when I am older. I want someone blogging in 40 years the same things that I am blogging tonight (assuming that blogging will still be there in 40 years, which is a bad assumption). But you don't get there by wishing you get there by doing. Long battle a head of me!

What a great day

Today was one of those days that I dream of. First I got to preach. Always a good way to start that day. I had a fun time at Old Union Pres. Then I went to my parents for lunch. Yum, and double yum. When we were getting read to leave Isaiah asks if he could stay at my parents. Everyone agreed and home we went. Soon as we got home we put Sam to bed. Then it was off to the couch and watching Nascar. Sam slept for like 3 1/2 hours. We finally woke him up at like 5:30. So we ate supper, went to Home Depot. While at Home Depot Isaiah called me and asked if he could spend the night. Wow! Sam went to bed at 8:00 and now it is just more chill time!

Making new friends

I have always thought that you should only do business with friends. Honestly, for the most part that is true in my life. Now because of the philosophy I find it very important to be friends with everyone I know.

When I walk into my local Starbucks, they get me my drink without me having to say what I want. I like that. Now don't get me wrong, I know they are trained to do that. But hey, it makes me feel like they are my friends.

A couple of weeks ago, I drove by a local pizza shop. On there sign it said that they were now open at 7 am serving coffee and breakfast sandwiches. Sounds good to me. So one morning I stopped, turns out the guy slept in and didn't have the coffee ready. So I stopped by another day. The guy apologized for the other day. Hey no problem. The coffee was great and the sandwich was big and good. So I went back another time. This time I just wanted a pastry and coffee. I got my stuff, went to my car, went to take a bite, ohh no! The pastry was molded. So I went back in, explain the problem, got another one, it was good!

Today I went back yet again, this time there was a cooler for the pastries. The guy explained to me how he cut the counter and mounted the cooler. Thus keeping the pastries fresher for longer. He also gave me a free pastry today! (Free food might just be my love language)

So yes I will continue to stop there. The guy is trying. Hope they do well.

Why I run

I have not been feeling good lately. I think I blog enough about that. Because I haven't felt that great, I have not ran that much. Today, I think I am turning a corner. I think I am getting much better. so I was able to run today. Wow! Did that feel good. Now what might be interesting to you is this: It did not feel good physically. I am a little sore 5 hours later. But it did feel wonderful clearing my head. And that is why I run!
Exercise just helps you clear you head. I don't care if you like running, or if you are a basketball person, boxer, whatever. Just do something! Get your head cleared!

Motivated by Passion

There is something that I have grown to love in my life. That is people who fight for an area that they are passionate about. I love that. I love how they refuse to accept a "no". They will do what ever it takes to make it happen. I think we miss that way too much in this country. I love to see people willing to fight for what they believe in.
I got to see this during the picnic at the Lighthouse. I'll be honest, I did not do much to organize this. In fact I think the biggest thing I did was borrowed some chairs and brought them to the Lighthouse. But in order to pull off an event like this there needed to be a lot of people doing a lot of work. There was that. The thing I loved about it was the main guy who organized it all was operating in his passion. He wants to see people come to Christ. Therefore, he made sure that Christ was at the center of everything. I saw at least 10 people raise their hands to receive Jesus as their Savior! Love to see people coming to Christ. Love to see people serving God with all their passion!
Whatever you God given passion is, use it! Go all out! Go big, or go home! Trust me, someone serving God in their area of passion is a beautiful thing!

Was it worth it? Yes it was!

A couple of weeks ago I was sick. I blogged about it. Man it was no fun. Then I got better for about 2 days. After that I have been sick again. And well, I have no choice but to continue on. Now here is the thing, I know what made me sick. I am thinking it was Edinboro. Hanging out in the rain all that time did it to me. With that being said, don't feel bad for me. I do not regret that one bit. It was worth it.
Go ahead make your self sick. Go ahead go all out. Go ahead and do something today that you know you will feel tomorrow. If it is because you are serving God, it will be worth it!

My Fun Weekend

Somehow this weekend just is working out great. I am getting to do a lot of things that are fun. Let me tell you about them:

• On Friday, I left work early to go to Ohio with my wife. Yes we left the kids with my parents! We made it to our destination at 3:00 p.m. Went swimming. Walk around. Took a nap. Went to a dinner theater. Went swimming again. Went to bed. Got up when we felt like it. Ate a big breakfast. Finally went home. What a great time with Heather! It was nice to get away for like 24 hours
• Today we had a picnic at the Lighthouse. That was fun. There was tons of food and it was good. I had the opportunity to do something I like to do. I got to tell people about salvation that is found only in Christ. Love doing that!
• Tomorrow I get to preach at Bakerstown Alliance. Yeah, that is always fun. I like preaching anywhere, don't get me wrong. But there is just something special about Bakerstown Alliance for me.

Great weekend!

Proof I am a nice guy

The other day my dad stopped by at his house and my kids were there. He then told Isaiah that he has to go to work. Why?, Isaiah said. Because I have a mean boss was my dads answers. Oh I am sorry, said Isaiah. Where do you work? The Lighthouse. Well who is your boss? Daddy? What? Daddy can't be your boss, he is nice!

When not to blog

I have found out something about myself. I should not and do not blog after certain events. Events such as a board meeting. Now both at Bakerstown Alliance and now at the Lighthouse I had/have a real good board. I board that cares about the success of the organization. A board that supports me and my family. And both boards were not afraid to tell me when I made a mistake. With that being said, afterwards I am usually wound up. Therefore, I do not blog then. I just worry about what might come out of my fingers. But other then that, I will be honest, most of the time it is just off the top my head.

Restoration

What is the goal of discipline?

I ask that question because I do not think we stop and answer that question. We just see someone who does something wrong and we have to discipline them. We have to punish them. We want to make sure that they pay for what they did.

Well the point of discipline is not to punish, the point of discipline should be restoration. Now in no way am I suggesting there are not consequences for our actions. There are and there should be.

However, what are the steps to that are to be taken for restoration?

Now, I also think that every situation is unique and you can not just say if you do this then the restoration process is this. Every situation is unique and different. Every person is unique and different.

Now, honestly I think the Western PA District of the Christian and Missionary Alliance does a really good job at the restoration process. Being an official worker, I receive a letter in the mail occasionally that is marked "confidential." I don't like opening those letters. Most of the time they are about colleagues who have experienced a moral failure. That hurts. Now when this happens, the discipline committee sets up a plan for restoration. Upon completion of the plan, we get another "confidential" letter. This time however it tells us that they have been restored! I love those letters.

Now the question then becomes what do you do with the person who is restored?

So many people are cynical these days. They always want to say, "I wonder when he will screw up again?" That is just wrong on so many levels.

• First of all, it is not respecting those who are in authority. If they came up with the restoration plan, it was followed, the person was restored, to reject the restoration is to reject those who were in authority.
• Second if you can't accept the restoration, then can you be forgiven? (read Matthew 6:14-15)
• Third are you supporting your brother like you would hope he would do if and when roles were reversed? (yes you too are capable of messing up)

The goal of discipline is restoration. When one completes the restoration you celebrate! You throw a party. You pray for that person! Yes, pray for them. It is amazing what happens to your feelings about someone when you start praying for them on a consistent basis.

So when you are in that situation of having to discipline or be disciplined, make sure there is a plan of restoration. Get it in writing if you have to. Remember the goal is not punishment. The goal is restoration.

DayQuil

Today I remembered just how good DayQuil is. All day long I had a fever, aches, and was just annoyed. When I got home today after enduring a 6 hour training, I took some DayQuil. Within an hour, I felt so much better. Wow, it was amazing. However, sometimes it does give me the disconnected medicine head. But honestly, I like that feeling.

blah

That is the way I feel right now. Blah! I am not feeling good. My back is sore. My nose is running. My fever is up. Just feel miserable! That stinks. I am in bed and it is 8:00. That is like super early. Now don't ask why I am blogging and not sleeping. I guess I just think it is to early to go to bed. I doubt I will make it to 9. The worse part is that I had a really good insightful deep blog in my head all day long. Hopefully I won't forget it before I have a chance to write it. Good night!

Edinboro 24 Hours Later

I made it back. I survived the week. I should say more then survive, I had a blast. Let me try to give you a couple of highlights

• It Rained. Followed by rain, which was closely followed by more rain, and then after that more rain, it has just about stopped when it really started raining. Seriously, tons of rain.
• With that being said you should have seen those kids trudging through all that rain and not caring. Not letting the rain ruin anything. They just kept playing! Love that spirit!
• I did the 12 and 13 years old this week. The last several years I have been with the 14-15 years old. So it was a little adjustment. I am not saying it was bad. I am not saying it was good. It was different
• However, I am saying that I don't want to do any younger then that
• I had a great staff this week. Seriously maybe my favorite ever
• Our speaker (and my good friend) had a tough week. His dad has cancer and in his final stages. Please pray for the family
• My family was with me most of the week. That was nice. I love being with them
• I ate too much. Food taste better when you don't have to cook it or clean it up
• Celebrated our 8 year anniversary at Edinboro. Nice having 56 Jr. High kids wishing you a happy anniversary.
• I had the opportunity to speak on Thursday and Friday. That was sure fun. Wish I had more time to prepare
• I am tired. In fact I have stopped a couple of times writing this and caught myself falling asleep
• I loved seeing 56 Jr Highs willing to go wherever God leads them. Very impressive!
• Edinboro continues to be a place to go to deepen your relationship with Christ and meet some life long friends. I love that place!

For more information go to edinborocamp.org

Edinboro Time

Tomorrow I make my annual voyage to Edinboro Camp. This year it is the 12 and 13 year olds. Yes, I still look forward to it. Yes, I still enjoy it. I have to admit I enjoy the fact that all meals are cooked for me, and that I don't have to clean it up. I do like that. But I am mainly hoping for changed lives. I see it every year, yet I am still amazed at how God moves. But then again I don't ever want that to get old. It will be, well, legendary.

Me and my friend the IRS

Tonight I decided to forgo the normal activity of talking to my beautiful wife. Instead I decided to spend a lovely 1 hour 26 minutes and 9 seconds with the IRS. It seems that we had a misunderstanding of my return. After reviewing it, and then being put on hold, and reviewing it some more, and being put on hold (repeat about another 10 times), I believe I fought the law and I won! It appears that my figures were correct. So they are sending me a letter with a bunch of forms to fill out (don't you just love IRS forms?) to prove to them that I am right and they are wrong. In a sick sort of way, I kind of enjoy this.

Staring at the computer screen

I had some very intelligent thoughts I wanted to blog about tonight. Honestly, I have a couple of really inspiring blog ideas in my head. However, today I was staring at the computer screen all day. Just one of those days were I was working on a couple of different things and did not blink. My eyes have that "I just want to shut" feeling. Am I the only person that does this, or is everyone else as dumb as I am?

I'm Back...Darn

I had a wonderful time on vacation. I loved hanging out with my family. I loved having no TV. I loved not checking my email, facebook, blogs, or anything else that I do on the Internet. I loved having very limited cell phone reception. Boy was it nice. Now the one thing that I need to teach my kids is how to sleep in on vacation. It is vacation people you are supposed to sleep in on vacation. Not get up at 6:45 in the morning! All in all I had a blast. Got to read a couple of good books, that will probably end up leading to a bunch of blogs in the coming weeks. Thanks for all of you who were praying for us!

Blog out

Blog out! We are leaving Monday morning and will be gone all week! I will be hanging with the family all week long. I am so excited. See you all in a week!

What a City!

Steelers...by far the greatest football team ever! They go out and win the Super Bowl. That was great to see. Loved it!

Then tonight, you have the Pittsburgh Penguins winning the Stanly Cup! Wow! What a great game 7 tonight!

Can you believe it? 2 world champions in the city of Pittsburgh! Of course though, what else would you expect from the city of champions!

So tonight, I will go to bed proud of my city! Good job Pens!

Ties

No I am not talking about ties in sporting events (however coming to think about it maybe I am). But I was actually thinking like ties that you wear around your neck. Who came up with this idea? If you ask me I think it is silly. But with that being said you can get far with a good neck tie. Honestly I am not a tie guy. I don't know what it is. It feels like is going to choke me. Maybe that is just me. Now even with my dislike of ties, there has to be a point in life where it is worth wearing it. Actually come to think about, my first job, bag boy at a grocery store, I had to wear a tie. So I survived then. In college to eat lunch in the dining hall on Sundays (which was the best meal of the week) we had to wear a tie. Needless to say I would, hey for good food why not right? So what is the point where wearing a tie is worth it? And can anyone really tell me what the point of a tie is? And who came up with the whole tie tying process, and what was he thinking?

Question for all of you out there

There is something that I have been thinking about lately. The question is "What is needed for you to experience a personal revival." We all need them. We all need those times of refueling, refreshing, or re-energizing times. My question is what is your best suggestion today on how to make that happen. I say today because I think it can change. So just would like your input. Don't worry nothing will be held against you or anything like that. Just wondering.

The best $3.99 I have ever spent

Today at the store with the bulls eye for a logo, Heather picked up 3 squirt guns for $1.00 and a bubble blowing machine for $2.99. After supper tonight, it was time to play with our new toys. So the four of us went outside and had fun. Isaiah and I were involved in a squirt gun war. The hardest part was filling the guns up, took a while. Heather and Sam were blowing bubbles with the bubble blowing machine. Which must be one of the greatest inventions in the history of all mankind. You can sit there press the button and blow tons of bubbles! No physical excursion whatsoever is needed. The cool things about this is we only used about 1/2 gallon of water. All and all just a fun night. I love the opportunities when we get to all hang out as a family!

Snarf

it is a new word that I heard tonight. I am not quite sure what it means. I guess I could take a couple guesses at it

1. Snarf -- A smurf who was vomiting?
2. Snarf -- A snapping turtle barking?
3. Snarf -- A new type of surfing?
4. Snarf -- The search engine that will take over google?
5. Snarf -- The act of being annoying?

All right let me google it, be right back. Ok, I looked, and it actually has a wikipedia entry:

Snarf or SNARF can refer to:

• A character in the cartoon ThunderCats who constantly says the word "Snarf" at the end of a phrase.
• Snarf, a character from the animated television series Trollz.
• The main character from SnarfQuest, a comic that ran in Dragon magazine.
• An underground comic published in the early 1970s by Denis Kitchen.
• SNARF-1 - a fluorescent dye that changes colour with pH
• Social Network and Relationship Finder developed by Microsoft Research, published December 16, 2005
• snarfing, a strategy for maintaining cache coherency in a computer system.

Wow. Pretty neat. Now I have to figure out how to use it in a sentence.

• snarf is listed in the Jargon File with meanings mostly similar to "grab"

Getting ready for vaction

In a couple of weeks we will be going on vacation! I love vacation. I realize that is probably the most obvious statement ever made in the history of this world. But anyhow, tonight is a very important vacation preparation night. It is the all famous "what books do I want to buy before vacation night." So I will be spending some quality time on amazon.com. Fun night for me! OK, so I guess I just admitted that I am a big nerd. Oh well. Enough blogging, book finding time!

Try try try again

I have learned something about myself. May not be a bad thing. But I am a learner by failure. Meaning the only way for me to learn something is to try. Then try again. Then try one more time. I wish I could learn by listening to instructions. That would make my life a lot easier. Just doesn't work that way.
The good news, is failure isn't scary anymore. Failure is just one more try closer to success. So in that regards it is a good thing.

My friends the IRS

I received my refund the other day from the IRS. Well let's just say it was not the figure that I calculated. It was considerably less. Today in the mail I received the explanation of why it was less. I read it, looked at their figures, and do not agree with them. So now it is time to start the appeal process. I do believe in paying what I should pay. The Bible tells us give to Caesar what is Caesar's. I plan to do that. But not more! Let the games begin!

Getting to see other churches

One of the things that I get to do as the Director of the Lighthouse is speak at different churches. I enjoy this a lot. First of all, I feel that every church who supports us deserves an update. They are giving us their support, and we need to give them an update. I feel honored to do that.
The 2nd cool part, is that I always leave energized. Seems like someone is always telling me a good story about the Lighthouse. Or just people come up to me and saying "you guys keep up the good work." I leave recharged and ready to go at it.
The 3rd cool part for me is I get to see how other churches do what they do. Listen, there is no one way to do church. A church is made up of people, people are different. Different people do different things. It is a lot of fun to see this in action.

You know it is time to get your car fixed when...

I can admit, I hate to spend money on cars. I want to see how long I can go without paying anything for my cars. Yes, this is why I only fill up with gas when it is completely below empty. The other week my exhaust broke. It was one of those thumps what was that? Before you know what happened you push the gas and it is loud as can be. So I know I should get it fixed, but just haven't got around to it yet.
Then yesterday it was thundering around the time I normally get home. Samuel stops what he was doing and says "Da da?" OK , when you kid starts thinking that thunder sounds like your car...yeah it is time to fix it!

Spending time with my wife

This past weekend, Heather and I had to go to an out of town wedding. Wow! It was incredible! It was about 4 hours away. I can honestly say that we never turned on the radio on the way out there. We were able to talk for 4 hours without any interruptions. Obviously, we left the kids at home. Heather was playing in the wedding, so we went to the rehearsal, and then after the rehearsal we had one of those things, I think they call it a date. We were driving back to our Bed and Breakfast, and we saw a miniature golf course. Why not? So we did. Then we were hungry, so late night desert run! Saturday was the wedding. It was nice. Both the bride and the groom said "I do." (Don't you love my details?) Then we had a little bit of time in between the wedding and reception, so Heather and I just walked around and had a good time. On the way home, I did not turn on the radio until there was about an hour left. At that point, Heather was falling asleep. (I talked to much). We got home, went to bed.
Now all told this was only like a 36 hour excursion. But, boy was it fun to spend that time with my wife.

Memoiral day done right

Yesterday, was a great day. I know I already mentioned the Nascar race stopping to honor Memorial Day. But also in the morning, we celebrated Memorial Day with 500 of our friends. Every year the local American Legion puts on a celebration in the park. Wow! It is so simplistically complicated and raw. They don't bring in some big name speaker or anything like that. They have ordinary people talking about this great country. I know it is done in other places, but one of the things that always moves me is when they have the family members of those who have passed away in the past year put a flower on a wreath. I love the honor for the family. I have never liked the 21 gun salute. But I am now glad that I don't like the gun salute. I understand that I am not supposed to like it. I also don't really enjoy taps being played. Again I understand, I get it, and I don't have to like it. I am glad it makes me uncomfortable.
Being at that great park, with great people, celebrating this great country...that's Memorial Day!

Memorial Day

I have come to appreciate Memorial Day a lot more then I used to. Maybe it's because I understand what it's all about. Maybe I am just getting old and sappy. Now, there is a lot more stuff that I would like to blog about. I think in my head I have about 20 different blogs that I am working on. But the problem is I have a headache tonight and have been dealing with an awful sore throat for the past 3 or 4 days. Now with all that being said, I want to mention one thing that I thought was really neat.
Of course it has to do with Nascar. Because the race was rained out yesterday, they were racing today. When it was 3:00 p.m. They stopped the race. They had all the cars park on the front stretch, and all the crews line up on pit lane, and, as the president declared, had a moment of silence at 3:00 p.m. At first I thought this was ridiculous. How could you stop a race right in the middle. But then I realized, this is a sport, this is a game, this is not life. The winner of the race is not nearly as significant as those who gave their life for the freedom we have to watch this sport. Very classy move! Good job Nascar!

What my kids teach me about God

This is a true story. Yesterday I stopped by my parents house for a second. I was doing something and was not watching Samuel for about 2 minutes. When I turned around he was soaked head to toe. Ahh!!!!! Somehow he managed to dump a whole can of coke on himself. So we loaded up and went home and straight to the bath. While I was getting the water ready, I turned my head for a second (You think I would have learned huh?) and I then felt this warm spot on my leg. It was all over me. Yes folks, he peed on me! I know that is gross. But it was at that moment that I could not be mad at him, I had to get over it. I could not stay upset. I had to be a dad.
This morning, Isaiah woke up early. I was hoping to sleep in a little bit. But as soon as he got up I asked him if he could go down stairs and watch a video. He at first said no, and told me what he was going to do. I told him "go down stairs." He was down stairs for a while came up. I told him go back down stairs. He headed right towards Samuel's room, while Sam was still sleeping. I quickly grab him and put him in time out. After that it was time for breakfast. When we were eating, I realized that I needed to get over his bad attitude. I realized it was time to forgive and forget. So we ate breakfast together and just had a lot of fun.
Now what I have come to realize is my short comings. My faults of getting upset real easy. I have had to learn how to forgive and forget, quickly! Now, our heavenly Father has to deal with this on a much larger level. My kid pees on me and I get upset. How much more have I done myself to God our Father?
So as I am learning about being a father, it is adding to my understanding of God my Father. Wow! The stuff we put him through, the fact that He forgives, that just blows my mind!

Being regular

I must admit, I am generally a guy who is very regular. I like things to function normally. By default, I think I am a morning person. But you have to understand, I like morning routines and don't like when those routines are interfered with.
Things like get up, take a shower, get dressed, get the coffee going, check my email, ect... I just like those routines.
Now what I have noticed over the past year is my friend Blake. Blake will check my blog some where between 8:45 and 9:15. I can tell how much sleep he got the night before based on the time he checks it. I love people who stick with their morning routine!

Upset stomachs can be good

My cousin got married this weekend. Good for him. It is nice to see two people who love God and love each other get married. I have a lot of hope for those two. I think they will do well.
Before the wedding ceremony I asked Jon how he is feeling. He told me his stomach was a little upset. Now that I have thought about it for a while, good! I am glad he was a little nervous before his wedding. No, I don't think he was doubting his decision or anything like that. He just understood the magnitude of marriages. Now if that magnitude causes an upset stomach, good!

Getting my preaching groove going

Many people ask me how I like my new job. They also ask my dad how he is enjoying his new job. Now knowing that we basically switched jobs, our answers are about the same. I tell people I miss preaching every week. My dad's answer is he likes preaching every week. Funny how that works.
Now for the first three weeks or a month, I enjoyed the break from preaching don't get me wrong. I little rest is never a bad thing. But now, boy am I missing it.
With that being said guess what I get to do this Sunday? I have been asked to speak at North Butler Presbyterian. I am really excited about it. The process of writing a sermon to me is really fun right now.
I never realized how much I would enjoy preaching. I guess I shouldn't be talking about it right now, I should be working on it. Just was too excited not to blog!

I remember when...

Yesterday we had 3 people at the Lighthouse taking their written exam for ordination. Ahh the memories. I got to admit if felt really good being on the other side this time. All I had to do was pray before they started. I remember taking that test. I should, I took it twice after all.
I gotta to admit I was praying for those three. Really hoping that they did a good job. I know how important it was to me.
The one thing I did get to do was encourage them to that no matter what, they keep trying. I had to take my written exam two times, and my oral exam 3 times. I condensed a 2 year process into 6 years. It was a struggle to say the least. I thought about quitting many many times. But that is not what God wanted. So I kept at it and finally pass.
Loved seeing them there taking the test. To me it was God reminding me of how He got me through that trial. I also got to tell them if things go bad and they don't pass, give me a call. I will encourage them keep going.

Me and moderation

Me and moderation do not understand each other. I never understood moderation. I will get a whole bag of Doritos and eat it all. I will go to an all you can eat buffet and think that I have to get my money's worth. When I get a new video game, I have to play it and play it until I complete it. Then I start running and a 5k is not good enough for me. I have to run the whole marathon. I will start reading a book and I will have to finish it. Sometimes you can use this for good. Other times it will hurt your (like when you eat to much). But at least I know I have moderation issues and I try to use it to my advantage. But please don't get me a big bag of Doritos!

The best advice I have recieved in a long time

I was talking to a good friend the other day. It was a long conversation to say the least. Was a long week. He asked me how my boys and wife are doing. I answered "great." Then he gave me the best advice I have received in a long time. He told me to go home and hug my wife and my kids. It was one of those things that I needed to hear right at that moment. I took his advice to heart. I went home and hugged my wife and kids. Boy did that feel good.

God's Timing

I hate that phrase sometimes. Seems like one of the over spiritualized excuses for not doing something. Maybe that is just me.
We have been working hard at getting everything in place for Kaufman Drive Phase 2. It seemed like we were going to be able to get going this week. Then we have a major setback based on a DEP report. Argh.
Now we are trying to figure out if we can still make this happen. Yes I know it is in God's hand. I know that He is in control. I know that His timing is the best.
However, the part that we often fail to do, is to do the stuff that we can do. I believe in checking all doors to see if there are locked. If they are fine. But if they aren't go for it.

My Son the American

Tonight we were getting ready for bed and reading some books. I was about to read the all time classic "Daddy Hugs" (A great book that gives me an excuse to hug Isaiah). So I open it up and before I start to read it, Isaiah holds his book on top of it and says "This book is brought to you by Bob the Builder." I can not believe it, even reading your kid a book at night has to have a sponsor. What a country!

Fulfilling dreams

Today was the Pittsburgh Marathon. I am a little sad that I did not participate. Running a marathon was definitely a dream, and I did it, and I just wasn't ready to do it again. But congratulations to all who finished and especially the ones who will be toward the back of the pack. Good job for finishing.
I also have got to see a lady who wrote a musical, directing it, and seeing it be performed. I could see her fulfilling a dream. Boy, that is really cool to see.
So once again I am going to ask you, what is your dream? What is that dream that you have been dreaming for years? And the most important part, what are you doing to fulfill that dream?

Isaiah and Seussical

Tonight we got to see the world premiere of Eden Christian Academy's version of Seussical the Musical. Now I will admit the acting and singing were fantastic. The costumes were great. Everything was well done.
Now with all of that being said, that is not my most enjoyable part. I got to sit next to my son, Isaiah. It was fascinating to watch him. His face was just amazing. He sat there in awe. We were told we were not allowed to take pictures so sorry no pictures.

A God idea

I will easily admit I have had tons of bad ideas over the years. Some of my ideas are just plain awful. Then there are the good ideas. These are the ones that leave me saying "that was good" or "that was nice." The good ideas aren't bad but they are not great.

Then there are the God ideas. These are the ones that didn't come from me. God ideas are better then any of my good ideas could ever be.

The other week Mark Batterson was asking about modern day altar calls and wondering what works. So being prompted by the Holy Spirit I wrote:

"Call me crazy, I know I might get myself in trouble here. We know that everyone has a phone in their pocket or purse. Use it! Why not have people TXT a message to a number. Then you have a commitment and contact info to follow up."

Didn't think much of it. Thought it was just one of those things that I was throwing out there. Then I check my email today and someone left a comment on my blog:

"I had the rare opportunity to preach on Sunday morning this past week (I'm a college pastor), and I spoke to about 650 people about experiencing God. I tried your idea, put my number on the screen, and received 48 texts in response! Some people wanted to experience God for the first time, some had not had an experience with Him in a long time and wanted to pursue it again, and some just wanted to encourage me as a guest speaker. I have the whole church staff helping with the follow up! Brilliant idea! Now, our church is talking about buying a designated cell phone to facilitate similar response times in the future."

Wow who would have thought it. With that being said, why not? Why not use whatever you have to advance the Kingdom of God? From what I have heard, people are now breaking up with their boyfriend/girlfriend via texting (good to be married). So instead of breaking up a relationship why not use a text to restore a relationship, a relationship with the creator of the world?

My kids are smart

Tonight we had a dinner with the Salvation Army to honor my dad and Wes Gerrard. Isaiah and Samuel were there too. I have to admit those kids were angels. They were better then angels. They ate there food and did not complain. Isaiah was telling everyone that he was 3 years old and his brother was Samuel. He even said to the waitress "this food is really good." Priceless! I was so proud of those two. Now if they can continue this putting on a good show stuff, they will go far. Trust me, from personal experience, it works!

Getting ready to mow

It is that time again. Time to mow the grass. For all of my faithful readers, you know my mower adventures are, well, legendary. I have not mowed yet this year. Mainly because I have not had a working tractor (though I have 2 at my house). Today my dad came over and fixed the one. Turns out the bolts that we put in last year were missing this year. Not sure how that happens, but it is all fixed now. I sat down on the seat and the seat well got my seat very wet. Not to pleasant. I went to start it, and amazingly it started. I put it in reverse and was going just fine. Then it stalled. I thought I could get it going real easy, no such luck. Argh. Oh well, tomorrow is another day. Another day in legendary mowing adventures that is!