Under Construction

I've decided to make a few changes to the blog. Blogger has made a ton of changes and I guess they want me to too. So I added a couple of things like labeling my posts and added some links to some of my friends pages. I may change some more.

Deep thought

So I've been thinking some about the idea that we cannot come to knowledge objectively. It seems that there is some wrestling going on between postmodernism and modernism in the Christian world. Some see it as a bigger struggle than others. It seems to be popping up in a lot of my reading lately. For instance I'm reading a book today that was given to me a couple of months ago. It is "Christ Our Mediator" by C. J. Mahaney. Before getting into his true subject Mahaney has decided to weigh in on this subject some. As the first chapter moves along he says some things that frustrate me. See I tend to be more of the thought that we cannot know things objectively. That we do subjectively filter them through the lens that we see the world through. He starts of by telling us that feelings and emotions cannot be trusted. "It would be fine to follow our feelings if we could always be sure they're faithful to reality. But they aren't; their perspective on reality typically has huge blind spots." I have no problem with that statement. Our feelings do tend to blur our view of reality. So he goes on to say that we should read the Bible and find the objective truth. "The humble are those whose first response to objective truth from God's Word is not to ask, 'How do I feel?' but to say, 'I'm not going to let my faith be determined and directed by the subjective and the experiential. Instead I confess openly before God that I will believe the objective truth of His Word, regardless of how I feel.'" Here's my problem. I believe that absolute objective truth exists. I don't think I can know it objectively or fully. I believe that I filter everything through my lens (culture, experience, sin...). I'm a little wary of some of the things he's saying but I can see some of his points. We shouldn't base what we believe on what we feel. I know he's trying to tell me that postmodernism and it's subjectiveness isn't where the Christian should be, but I'm used to that type of thing. He ends every chapter with "suggested words of prayer for you". Well, the ending of the first chapter pretty much has me ticked and thinking about just putting the book away. "Thank You, Father, for directing my attention upward and outward to objective truth, and away from self-centeredness and enlavement to subjectivity. I turn away from self-focused arrogance and toward You - to receive forgiveness for that arrogance. I direct my faith toward You and Your Word, for You alone are worthy."

What is more arrogant? To think that I taint truth subjectively through my worldview or to think that I can separate myself from all of that and think that I can know truth objectively?

Merry Christmas

Hey we had a good time down at the Weaver Plantation. Hope you had a good time! I just want to thank God for Christ and Christmas!

Bowl season

The college football bowl season started yesterday with a blowout. I didn't watch though. I was watching Rocky III. Me and a friend decided to watch all 5 before we go watch the new one. Laugh all you want. But I'm getting well versed in Rocky trivia.

Neat article

I know some people that read my blog aren't fans of the Mannings. This is a neat Manning story. I'm a wimp and all and get teary eyed at lots of sports stories. This one got me too.

Meteors

This is a picture of me last night between 11 and 12. I look scared and fat. Maybe I look scared because the flash was quite blinding. I was cold, well just my face. I went out and laid in the yard and watched the meteor shower last night. It was one of the best I've seen. The clouds cleared off perfect for it. I almost forgot about it and then the jet flew over. I never hear jets up here. There just aren't that many that fly over. But there seems to be one that flies over very regularly at about 11:00 at night. Very weird. Anyways it reminded me to check the sky and so I did. The wife and girls were asleep but I grabbed my sleeping bag and headed out into the yard.

Paralyzed

Yesterday Stephanie reminded me of this song by Sixpence None the Richer. It was perfect. Here's the story.

Last week I visited a man from our church in the hospital. He'd had some mini-strokes and was in the late stages of Alzheimers or dementia. Anyways he could no longer swallow and really couldn't communicate real well. He recognized me and tried to talk. He laughed some, smiled some, said a few things I understood and a bunch I didn't. I don't know how much of that was because of his brain and how much was that his throat and tongue weren't working right. His mouth was so dry that his tongue was scaly. His family talked right in front of him like he couldn't understand. I'm pretty sure he could. They were talking about how they were going to remove the feeding mechanisms. I'm not sure where I stand on the whole situation and I'm not writing to discuss that. Please if I'm ever in this situation do not discuss it in front of me. He had written out ahead of time that he didn't want a feeding tube or any of that stuff. But as they removed the bag of food I found myself in this situation. "I breathed in, I breathed out, Soaked the ground up with my eyes. It's hard to say a healing word When your tongue is paralyzed".

Money

I've been thinking quite a bit lately about Christians and money. I'm not sure what started this thought pattern. I've been disturbed for a while about Christian radio and the amount of financial planning shows and advertising there. I'm willing to bet that there is an estate planning Sunday School class out there somewhere. I know there are enough seminars. I took a Jr. high boy that I don't spend much time with out for dinner the other week. He asked me why I was an assistant pastor. He said I was smart and could make a bunch of money in business or something. (Leaving the headaches and time schedule of being a pastor for more money and freedom somewhere else is a constant temptation for me.) I told him that money wasn't the biggest factor in my decisions. (I hope I mean that and it isn't just something I say) He was blown away that I was buying dinner for him at Culvers. Money and the problems that surround it are not new. Maybe how easy debt is now is new though. Steph and I are getting closer and closer to eliminating our college debt. But the temptation to take on new debt is always there as well. A newer less mileage car is something that I think about often. Do I need it? Do I want to get into needs vs. wants? And do I really want to change my views about money? I'm also wondering if it's really as wise as we think to store up our money for a time when we'll retire. I don't know. I don't do it as much as I'm told I should. I tell myself that I will save more when I get rid of my student loans. But will I or will I replace that debt with other debt? It would be cool to own a house...

This is good stuff

Oh man. That's good stuff. She should've just waited for someone to say something about the smell and then yelled "The smeller's the feller!"

The BCS

I've changed my mind. I've decided that the BCS is good. They follow figure skating and gymnastics lead by having votes determine champions. I've decided that this is great. Imagine how many Super Bowls the Colts would have been to by now. Bring the BCS to the NFL!

College football thoughts.

I've heard many theories on why Florida was voted higher than Michigan and given a shot at the National title. I haven't heard the truth yet. What is the truth you ask? You can only find it here. Here is the truth.

The voters had no choice. They could not give Michigan a shot at Ohio State. There is no other scenario that would cause more damage than Michigan beating Ohio State in a national title game. The Harris voters and even the coaches do not want to see the BCS blown up. If Michigan beat Ohio State in a national title game the BCS would have to change. Both teams would have one loss and their losses would be to each other. Confusion would reign. The public's confidence in the BCS would be even more shaky. That could not be allowed to happen.

You'll hear many other ideas on why Florida suddenly passed Michigan in the polls. Mark May will tell you the voters just realized that Florida was better than Michigan. Kirk Herbstreit will tell you that voters didn't want to see a rematch and that they forgot about Michigan in the two weeks. But you will only hear the truth on Weaveswrites. The voters couldn't vote for Michigan.

I personally would like to see Michigan and Florida play. The winner of that game could go on to play OSU if you really want to see that but I think, especially with the vote controversy, that Florida Michigan is a much more intriguing matchup. It will be fun to watch Michigan and USC in the Rose Bowl. And it would probably kill Michigan fans to lose to OSU twice in one year so it's probably best there isn't a chance of that happening. I'm worried about ND playing LSU in the Sugar Bowl. LSU seems to be fast and ND is definitely not.

It's obvious that Brian Kelly was using Central Michigan as a stepping stone. But why use them to step to Cincinnati? I would rather stay at Central another year with my phenom freshman QB than go to Cincy. Cincy will never out rectruit OSU in Ohio. They won't out recruit Louisville any time soon in Kentucky. Shoot they probably won't out rectruit Kentucky. Why go to Cincy where you have very little chance. I'd rather hold out and try for Rutgers even.

Bond

Ok Burrill you asked. I did not like the new Bond movie. I'm not sure why. Maybe it's because I was sick and fell asleep and that made it not make much sense. Maybe it was the lack of Bond gadgets. Maybe it's the fact that it was supposed to be before Bond was Bond and they talked about September 11th. Maybe it was the intro, the song was one of the worst and the crazy intro thingy was the worst one yet. Maybe it's because I was confused after he met the girl, the "money" who was "worth every penny". I was convinced that she was Miss Moneypenny. I'm not sure what it was but I was not impressed.

Snow

School cancelled. At times I can't see the trees on the other side of the parking lot. But who's at church? Not the secretary. Not the senior pastor, he says he's coming. Nope it's me. And I have a million calls about the ladies Christmas party tonight. Is it still happening? They are trying to not cancel it but I can't see how they can have it. We are supposed to get 8-12 inches. So I have to tell ladies that it isn't cancelled yet. I'd bet money it will be though.

The trip back

I was sick most of vacation. Sunday was our last day and I woke up with bad stomach cramps. I took some medicine and went to church anyways. After church we went out to eat. I took my golf clubs just in case. There is a par 3 course behind the restaurant. I ended up feeling good enough to try and play. The longest hole on the 9 I played was 90 yards. So nothing impressive. We left that afternoon and I tried to listen to NFL on the radio. Not real easy. I decided that Beckley West Virginia might be a good stopping point so I had Steph call my parents and ask them to get online and see what was there hotel wise. While she was on the phone a tunnel came up that would've cut the reception so she got off. Dad would call with the info. We never got cell service again. Southern West Virginia had nothing for us and usually we get good service. Not even in Beckley. So we pulled into Beckley and I was wondering if my dad had made reservations somewhere. I was thinking I had to get a hold of him because if he did we'd have to go there so we didn't get stuck trying to cancel or get stuck with the room. I think it's pretty hard to cancel a reservation around midnight. I pulled into a gas station to use a pay phone. It's a Verizon phone. I follow the directions for making a coin call. They don't work. So I try a collect call. It doesn't work either. So I go to the next gas station. Verizon phone again. I tried anyways in case the other phone was broke. Nothing. Next gas station. Verizon phone. I try making a credit card call. Nothing. Next gas station. Verizon phone. I'm furious. Finally I get a credit card call through. Dad had not made reservations. So I just need to pick a hotel. I try the first one only I make a wrong turn somewhere and launch myself down a windy WVA road with no turn around spots. I get back and try the next hotel. It doesn't look that nice. So I try the third one. I go in and ask if there's a room. There is! It's expensive but at that point I don't care anymore (and I had help). Nice bed and a good night's sleep. Next morning on the road again. The brakes aren't working right. Almost not working at all. So we do the entire trip and stop at a parts store. I fixed the brakes after the long trip. They pad had come off of the backing. One of the pads had come apart and part had gotten stuck. But it's all fixed now. Great drive.

first day back

I feel good. I still have a cough but it isn't that big a deal. I feel so good I may even run.

I have some vacation stories to share but they'll wait until tomorrow. I spent today visiting in the hospital. And there weren't even any funny stories to share from that. Except from maybe when the sedated guy rolled over and showed us he was wearing a backless hospital gown. But that almost isn't even funny anymore.

still sick

It's Laura's birthday. I'm old. I have a 5 year old. She's out putt putting with her Aunt, Uncles, cousins, Grandparents, mother and sister and I'm sitting here in the living room with my pajamas on. I have a fever, did a little vomiting and just feel lousy. It's 63 degrees and beautiful outside. Supposed to get up to 67. I should be putt putting and then going real golfing. But I'm stuck watching college football alone. Maybe tomorrow. It'll be 66 tomorrow.

Steph got up at 4:20 this morning to go shopping. She's crazy. Her mom and brother went too. At least she was able to get gifts for all the cousins and get them at a good price. South Carolina has this neat thing going on this weekend. There is no sales tax today or tomorrow. It makes me want to go out and buy a car or huge t.v. or something. So it works. It's a good economy stimulator. Maybe it's a good thing I'm sick.

Bo Schembechler

I'm a huge sports fan. So something like Bo dying is a huge sports story. Bo said some bad things about Notre Dame. So I wasn't a huge fan. But he is a giant in NCAA football history so I thought I'd put some Bo quotes on the blog. Of course all of this is stolen from other places, I never met Bo.

Bo on discipline. "I screamed. I kicked players in the butt. When someone screwed up, he was sent off for laps. Around the field. And around again. Keep going until I stop you. One time, I sent a kid out there and flat-out forgot about him. I think he was running for two hours before someone said to me, 'Hey Bo, he's still out there.'"

Bo on Dan Dierdorf when Dierdorf played for him. "'Hello, Coach Schembechler', he said, very politely. 'I'm Dan Dierdorf.' I stared at him, went right past his hand to his waist, and grabbed a fistful. 'YOU ARE FAT!' I said. And I walked away."

Bo on Woody Hayes "I never met anyone like him. I never will. He was the greatest teacher I have ever see, the greatest motivator I have ever met, and quite possibly the best coach in the history of college football."

Bo on his death. "I will die one day from a bad heart. I've pretty much accepted that."

pneumonia

I'm sick. I cough constantly, so wash your hands when you get off the computer. I'm trying to get better before we head down to South Carolina. I'm tired of doing nothing. Bed has gotten boring. So I went to work today. Work got boring so I went to bed. Sick stinks.

New football movie

Hey there's a movie out in some theaters called Facing The Giants. It's about a football coach and team. It looks pretty interesting from the trailers. Here's another thing that makes it interesting. It cost $100,000 to make. I saw the directors on Headline News this morning. They are both pastors at a Baptist church in Georgia. All of the actors are volunteers and the movie is not only clean but full of the Bible and God. I've watched the trailers and it doesn't look like one of those cheap Christian movies. It looks good. Here's their website.

Facing The Giants

Notre Dame - part 3 the game

The game was just like I remember all Notre Dame games. A little chilly and a little drizzle. We had really good seats though.

Notre Dame won and we had a great time. Thanks again Mr. Strong!

Notre Dame - part 2

After we got our tickets it was off to do some of the pregame traditions. We went to the grotto. We didn't do any praying there but we did watch others light some candles.











Then we went and watched the players walk from mass to the stadium. Do you know who that is walking towards me giving fives? That's right I got a five from Brady Quinn.











I like this picture of players with the Golden Dome in the background.














This is the band warming up. The older guys in front of them are the band Chicago. They played 2 of Chicago's older songs.

Notre Dame - part 1

I went to two different top 10 NCAA football games in consecutive Saturdays. And I may go to the Central Michigan vs. Western Michigan rivalry game this Thursday. I love fall. So here is the story of the Notre Dame game.

My college roommate, the great Tobin Strong, has a younger brother named Justin. Mr. Strong, the way he referred to himself during our dealings (which was perfect given the spy theme), is a law student at Notre Dame. Because of this very distinguished position, he sometimes has an opportunity to buy tickets to home games. He very graciously agreed to do that for me. However he did not have the opportunity to get them until late in the week. And he was not going to be in South Bend on Saturday. He devised a very James Bondish way for me to get the tickets and I readily agreed. I took a kid from youth group and Saturday morning we headed south. Upon arriving on the campus, we headed for the law school. We went down the stairs and followed a hallway that was full of turns and was very mysterious. It opened up into a lockerroom and we found the correct locker. It has been years since I've opened a combo lock and I couldn't do it. Joe, being still in school, has more recent experience and on his second try opened it. There taped on the back of the locker in an envelope was the tickets. I taped the check to the back of the locker and we were off.

Halloween

We didn't do much trick or treating but the girls dressed up and did a little. Here are their costumes.





And here's my treat. Our local store has a $2.99 a pound New York Strip sale. I had mine cut really thick.

Sick and tired

Sorry I haven't posted much since I got sick after the Michigan Northwestern game. I'll try to catch you up a little on the last couple of weeks and I'll probably use a lot of pictures to do it.

College football rule changes

In the past I've been very critical of the NCAA clock changes. This last Saturday I was all for them. It was cold and raining and I wanted the game to end. I also renewed a disdain for the t.v. timeout guy.

So now it's Wednesday and I'm still sick from Saturday. I'm coughing up brown stuff and just feel sick. Big fun.

Race results

I did it. I participated in the 2006 Mackinac Island Great Turtle 5.7 mile trail run. I was able to run the entire way. I finished within my goal times. I finished in the top 10 from my age group. Here's my stat line from the website: 9 110 Paul Weaver Remus 53:03 9:19. The first number is my place in my age group. The second is my overall place. The third number is my time and the 4th is my pace. The race started at the Mission Point resort and started uphill. Really uphill. We went up a big steep hill and at the top the view was great. You could see some of the island and the resort and see the water. There were some really cool houses at the top of the hill. After that though, we disappeared into the woods. There was great views of trees and more trees. There were uphill parts and downhill parts and then there was a mile that was pretty much all downhill. After that mile we came out on the shoreline. The view there was cool for a couple of seconds and then I was too tired too enjoy it anymore. I slowed down for the last mile before finishing in a sprint trying to beat the guy in the second picture. I didn't beat him. He's also the guy in the first picture. He's the guy I ran with when I was training. We were pretty evenly matched. I wonder what my time would have been if I hadn't had the hamstring injury. We had a good time walking around the island, hanging out with family, playing in the indoor waterpark at the hotel, and just being away for a couple of days. These are before and at the end photos. I'm loving the guy in the hair and hat. I wonder if I could be him for Halloween.

The waterpark at the hotel in Mackinaw

I had some problems with the lens fogging over.

Man I love even a mini-vacation.

Running update

The race is just days away. I'm a little nervous. I'm pumped about the 3 day weekend though. I'm leaving Thursday and coming back Saturday. I ran the distance of the race last Friday and did ok. One of the toughest things about my hamstring injury is learning pacing again. I either go too fast and wear myself out or go too slow and have plenty of energy left at the end. I'm looking forward to having a milkshake after the race. Steph won't let me have one until afterwards.

"I'm going to Carolina in my mind"

This is what it's like here in Remus Michigan.

Next month we go to Myrtle Beach where the November average is 69 degrees.

NBA talk

I love the NBA. Preseason started yesterday. I watched some of one of the games. There are a couple of preseason issues I like and I couple I don't like.

First, the Pacers. Stinking Stephen Jackson. You want to be a leader and you've got 3 other players out to 3 in the morning at a strip club? There's marijuana in the car. And you get in a fight. Man I wish the Pacers would get rid of this guy. Hint to Larry, you waited too long to get rid of Ron, learn from your mistake. Oh and if you didn't hear, Jackson didn't fulfill his probation requirements so he has another year. Stand up guy right there.

Speaking of Artest, I'll give you a couple of recent Ron quotes. "When the Pacers gave me $6 mil a year, I was grateful for the money and I thank (GM) Donnie Walsh, but I wasn't getting what I deserved. I should've been getting $14-15 million, so I never wanted to give them that extra $9 mil. That extra nine is my mind and leadership. Sometimes I felt I was giving too much. I mean, I was an All-Star and Defensive Player of the Year, but I never wanted to give them an MVP-type season because they didn't treat me like one." Forget the rest of the quotes. I can't stomach anymore.

Here's what I like. Sorry Pistons fans, the NBA is cracking down on the whining. You can no longer curse, throw your hands up, or make other gestures that show disgust. Everyone knows that this is aimed at Rasheed. But it's good for the game. These outbursts, from any player, are just disgusting and wrong. I wonder if this includes Sheed's "Ball don't lie" shouts after a missed free throw? I hope they encourage Prince to leave his wings down after a foul call.

How long would you wait?

Let's say you crash your car in the middle of the night. You break your leg and lose consciousness. When you awake you are still in your car and you are 30 feet from the road in some bushes. You are diabetic. You can reach your insulin and some crackers. How long do you wait before you try to get back to the road?

This happened to a guy. He waited 4 days. No way am I waiting that long. I need my food and lemonade.

Some of the places I run past

I promised some running pictures and I'm finally delivering. Here's a few.

This is Anna Moore. She's the two mile mark.

This is Paul's place. He's the three mile mark.

This is an old place in Millbrook I've run past. I've been told it was the old train station. It made me laugh.

Here's the close up.

How can we compete with this?

This church is a half mile away form ours.


You get the sin and the scarlet letter all in one stop. And $200 OBO, come on at prices like that sheesh.

I'm bummed

Our church last year started a Young Adults group. This group really expects me to be a part of it. Their group goes from just out of high school and up to I don't know, we have people pretty close to being in their 40s in it. They had scheduled a scavenger hunt for this Saturday. I had an opportunity to go to the Notre Dame Stanford game. So I called on Tuesday to make sure they were doing it before I gave the tickets up. They reassured me that it would go on. So I gave the tickets up. Last night after 9 I got a call. The event has been postponed to November 4th.

Ugh.

Ronan Tynan

Ah the fall. I love football. I love the cooler weather. I actually enjoy watching playoff baseball. I watch the Yankees and the Astros. This year the Astros just missed. So it's just the Yankees. I'm the worst kind of Yankees fan. I only watch the postseason and if they are playing the Red Sox. I despise all Boston teams. So cheering for the Yankees is perfect.

Even if you aren't a baseball fan you need to check out the 7th inning stretch sometime to hear Ronan Tynan sing "God Bless America". He's good stuff, and he's Irish, and he has a great set of ears. Go Irish!

More John L. Smith

The man, the myth, the crazy weirdo. Another example of his coaching genius this last week. Did you see them lose to Illinois? After the game there was a fight at midfield because the MSU players were defending against a flag plant. They should know that the best way to defend against this is to win. In the postgame interview, John L. showed that he hasn't yet moved past the ND game. Check out this short little video. Right after he slapped himself he said "and I got slapped".

Yikes!

I may have nightmares about this tonight. Can you imagine how awful it would be. Ugh. How do you not notice anything before you buy that house?

Monday Night Football in New Orleans

I got sucked up into the hype and the emotion of the return of football to New Orleans. It happened as I was watching the pregame show waiting to see U2 play. U2 was not that great but the footage of the hurricane and the stories got me into the game. I almost came off the couch when the Saints blocked the punt and returned it for a TD. It was great to see the fans and listen to them cheer. This is one of the games I would've gone to if I was wealthy. I also think the Music Rising fund started by Edge of U2 is one of the neatest charities I've heard of. They are giving instruments back to musicians, schools, and churches that lost instruments in the hurricane. Imagine a church without music. It just doesn't seem right.

Saturday Night Football in Lansing

I still am not sure how Notre Dame won Saturday. I almost turned the game off and went to sleep. When they were down 16 points at the beginning of the 4th quarter it was bad. When the wind switched and the hurricane switched directions it was worse. How do you score 19 points in the 4th to win when the weather is that awful?

A story that helps you understand how John L. Smith, the MSU coach, just doesn't get it. Last year when MSU beat ND in overtime in South Bend, the Spartan players planted a MSU flag at midfield. That was an attempt at an incredible insult to Notre Dame. After Notre Dame won Saturday John L. sent 3 of his biggest players to midfield to protect against revenge. That says a couple of things to me. 1. John L. already had a plan in place to do when they lost. He was already prepared to lose. 2. He doesn't understand Charlie Weis. MSU's biggest 3 players are nothing for an Irish player to fear compared to what Coach Weis would've done to them. In a game where John L. Smith looked bad from a coaching point of view his actions afterwards just make him look dumb.

Hamstring update

Yesterday I went for a walk. I took the camera so I could take the pictures I promised you. At the first mile mark I pulled the camera out to take a picture and...the batteries were dead. So dead I couldn't even close the lens back up but had to continue walking with it open and out. I walked 5 miles. I was going to take pictures of my mile markers: the hay barn, Anna Moore, Paul's Place are some of them. I'll still do it. I tried to jog after I finished the 4th mile but I just couldn't do it. My flexibility is getting better but I'm just not there yet. Hopefully it will be soon. I would like to do well at the race.

Good quote

I'm a sucker for a good speach. I recently read the inaugural address of John Jenkins, the new Notre Dame President. I read it because I saw a quote on a Notre Dame commercial during a football game. The quote is "If we are afraid to be different from the world, how can we make a difference in the world?". I've used this quote some in youth group lately.


Here's another quote I like from the speech, "Our faith inspires our use of reason, and reason sharpens our understanding of faith. Together, they both serve our search for truth. " There are some quotes I don't like as well, but I don't need to bring those up.

Physical Therapy

I started physical therapy today. She started by seeing just how hurt I was. She stretched and pushed and all that stuff. Then she massaged the muscle. I love massage so I was looking forward to that. They lied. It wasn't a massage. It was a "push my fingers way deep into the spot where it hurts the most". After that she used some thing that shoots ultrasound and electricity into my leg. Then she put icy hot type stuff on it and sent me home with orders to stretch and come see her again the next morning at 7. I hurt.

Ouch

Saturday was a bad day. Notre Dame got killed (I hope you got to go to that game Burrill). I didn't get to see the game though. I was playing flag football. It was big fun until... We started the game up 9-2. Playing by ones to 12. I was having a blast. I threw for some tds, caught some tds, returned an INT for a td. I was having a great game until I lunged for a flag to make a defensive stop. I felt it pop. I pulled my hamstring. I injured myself a month before the race I've been training for since January. Ugh. I see the physical therapist Wednesday morning. The one good sign I've had was when I left the doctor she said "Good luck at the race".

Interesting verse

I came across Deuteronomy 12:4 today. It's only interesting when you think of trying to redeem other religious practices. It says, "You must not worship the Lord your God in their way". It isn't just that the gods were incorrect, some of the ways are wrong as well.

The reason I bring this up is because of the book "A New Kind of Christian", by Brian McLaren. In the book he talks of Christian Indians and their desire to dance the old dances but to God. I must have loaned the book out. I don't see it here anywhere.

In Deuteronomy here they weren't even to use the same places.

Sorry I've been lax

Wow the Colts have won. Notre Dame has won twice. Laura has started kindergarten. Some old friends have stopped by the blog. I didn't know jelly was still around and Burril I checked out the blog. I'm going to go out and take some pictures of some of the odd things I've seen while running. I'll post them soon. I promise.

The FIRST college football game of the year

This is hard for me to write about this today because I'm still very frustrated. Yesterday Dan, brother-in-law, and I went to the first college football game of the year. Kickoff was at 6 just so they could say that. Boston College at Central Michigan. I had a great time. At the same time it was incredibly frustrating. Did you know that the CMU box office doesn't take credit cards? Well actually one of the ticket windows does and they do that over the university web site. They don't have a single credit card swiper thingy. Burger King now takes credit cards but CMU doesn't? So I wait for 45 minutes in line, after the window opens 30 minutes late, only to be told to go wait in another line that is trying to figure out how to do the website thing.

But the frustration is only starting. I hate Boston College. I will root against them anytime. I pretty much feel that way for all Boston teams. How great as a sports fan is it to cheer against an entire city? So I really wanted Central to win. I never imagined they would have a chance. But wait, what happens? They should have won. That's right, when Central had the ball at the end with a chance to tie, they should have been playing for the win. They dropped passes and while that was frustrating, it was nowhere close to the frustration that came from the coaching. I know the great job that Brian Kelly did at GVSU, so quit reminding me. Last night he was awful. The qb substitution thing drove me crazy. He insisted on putting Brooks in at QB when Lefevour was playing great. One instance had Lefevour bringing the team down the field to a first and goal situation and Kelly put Brooks in. CMU had to settle for a field goal. Another time that Brooks was in he fumbled. Coach Kelly also frustrated me by running a trick play at the end when CMU was moving the ball down the field with a chance to tie. The play took 5 players and froze them in 3 point stances for the entire play. Lefevour threw an INT. Why would you cut your team in half for a trick play when you really need to score? Here's Kelly's quote, "We thought we'd get a shot at them either calling a time-out or us cutting someone loose," CMU coach Brian Kelly said afterward. "Dan tried to make too much happen." Maybe coach you tried to make too much happen. Great idea by the way. Down by 7, moving the ball, maybe we can force the other team into calling a time-out. I could go on forever. But I'll leave you with this quote from the Detroit Free Press.

"After the game, Kelly lectured the Chippewas for close to 40 minutes. "It's no consolation to play Boston College close and not beat them," he said. "I didn't want anyone walking out of that locker room, saying, 'Boy, we played hard.' Playing hard is not good enough. If they gave you wins and losses by playing hard, then that'll be fine, but they don't."

Man, I'd love to lecture him right now. He's right but he deserves a good bit of the blame as well. Oh and CMU had a running back carry the ball 7 times the entire game. Zero when the had the ball at the one yard line. In fact, they didn't even have one in the backfield.

St. Ives

Yesterday I played St. Ives again. It really is a beautiful course. It normally costs $85 during the week and $99 on the weekend. I played for free.

Last Thursday

Last Thursday, Tobin, Kara, Zeke, and Ollie invited us to join them for part of their vacation. They were staying in a house that sits on the East Bay in Traverse City. It was very relaxing and came at the perfect time. Here are some pictures.

The gracious hosts.

The view from the hammock.

Any idea why this thing isn't riding in the water right?

Check this out

This is a blogspot page that goes with the sermon series I'm doing right now. Now be careful because the people there don't know about this page. This blog is for family and friends. That thing is for people from our church. There are links to my sermons on there as well.

This reminds me of the "Independent George" episode of Seinfeld. Make sure you don't kill independent Paul.

Happy Anniversary

Today Steph and I celebrate our 8th anniversary. Well we'll probably wait and celebrate it in a couple of weeks when things aren't so busy but today's the day anyways.

Last week

There might not be many posts these upcoming weeks. With pastor gone things here are busy. Here's what happened last week. I ran 7 miles. It wasn't awful until I stopped running and then my knees and legs hurt. It was weird that walking hurt more than running. Thursday, Laura and I met her uncles and some cousins for her first MLB game. We saw the Tigers beat the Rangers. Laura fell asleep in the 8th after the cotton candy wore off. Friday was messy night. I got Jr. and Sr. Highers absolutely filthy. They loved it.

Help with sermons

Here's another opportunity for you to help me with some sermons. Pastor is going to be gone for 3 weeks so that means I have 6 sermons to do. Here's what I'm thinking.

Many Christians feel unfulfilled in their lives. They aren't happy and aren't living the lives that they are sure that God intends for them. I've been thinking about this and have come up with 6 reasons that I believe hinder us having the lives that we should. I've titled the series "Get a Life". John 10:10 says that Jesus came so that we "may have life to the full".

1. Sin. This sermon will talk about how we can't have a life without having new life. Besides salvation I will talk about how we hold onto our old lives.

2. God's love. "...how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ...this love that surpasses knowledge" Ephesians 4:18-19 The more that we know that love the more our lives will be "filled to the measure of all the fullness of God". The more we know God's love the more full our lives will be. I will include worry and lack of faith in this sermon. I will talk about how a loving God has our best interest in mind. This will include people who feel their life isn't complete because they do not have a love interest. Trusting God and that He wants what is best for you life is key to having a life.

3. Lack of passion, lack of being involved in something bigger than yourself. In Braveheart William Wallace says "Every man dies, not every man really lives." Too many Christians never get involved in anything bigger than themselves and their own family. God made us and the church specifically for us to DO things in the church. We have more of a life when we become emotionally and physically involved in our church.

4. Bitterness, lack of forgiveness, grudges. These things freeze us and make it so that we cannot continue with our lives. We become mired in the past.

5. Materialism, not being content. We try to look for lives in the wrong places. If I only had... I'd be happy.

6. Lack of Sabbath. We do not take breaks like God intended. We need hobbies and days off.



Can you think of any that I'm leaving out? Most honest people would admit that their lives have been less than fulfilling at some point or another. Do these 6 reasons sum up your experience or am I leaving some out?

Another day another 6 miles

I walked 18 holes and ran 6 miles again yesterday. Next week it's 7. I'm a little nervous and excited at the same time. That's a long ways. I'm looking forward to the race and am trying to decide if I should have another one picked out. Do I need another goal in order to stay inspired?

Finally another book finished

I read "The Slumber of Christianity" by Ted Dekker. Ted's deal in this book is that Christianity has failed to teach Christians to focus on heaven. Since Christians aren't focusing on heaven they become disenchanted with life now and go into a slumber to protect themselves from the unsatisfying lives that they live. There are some interesting things to this book but I think he misses the boat on some stuff too. He doesn't mention sin until the last couple of chapters. One of the greatest things about heaven is the lack of sin. One of the biggest things that lead to dissatisfaction in life today is sin. He believes that life will become complete if we learn to look at the good things in life today as a foretaste of what is to come. If we focus on what is to come we will enjoy those things much more today.

My conclusion is that we do need to focus on the future. However, we also need to understand that the reason we are not satisfied today is because of sin and that sin leads to a lack of focus. It isn't Christianity's fault, it's our own.

The fair

Yesterday I went to the fair to watch a couple of youth group kids show rabbits. They did pretty good. It's hard for me at the fair. I didn't grow up on a farm and didn't spend much time around them. Animals look like animals to me. They all look the same. I did eat an elephant ear though.

I ran 5 miles yesterday with 3 quick half miles in the middle. I felt good at the end. I did it in just over 50 minutes. My warmup and cooldown times were pretty slow so I'm happy about that.

Dan here's a question, my times right now are under what my training schedule calls for. Is it bad to push my times right now?

Running

I walked 18 holes and ran 6 miles yesterday. When I finished I felt like I could do more. That's the most I've ever done. I'm not ready to run again today though.

My training schedule

Here's a link to my training schedule. I'm training for the Great Turtle 5.7 mile run on Mackinac Island. I plan on sticking very closely to it. You'll notice that it has me running 182 miles including the race between now and October 21st. That's a lot of miles. I've been thinking about looking for some sponsors to help me pay the registration and hotel. Do you think this is a good idea or not?

Kayaks

Dan and I have talked about how great it would be to have a kayak for a couple of years now. I took a couple of pictures in the U.P. and am posting them here for him.

There are actually 3 groups of kayaks in this picture. There is the obvious group. Then if you look between the two sailboats over by the shore you can see another group. And then on the left side of the picture up by the shore is a 3rd group. The picture below is of the kayaks that still haven't been launched into the water.

This summer's guilty pleasure

It seems that every summer I get wrapped up in a t.v. show that I'd rather not tell others about. A couple years ago I watched Big Brother. Last year it was Rockstar: INXS. I hadn't found one this year and was happy. Until last night. This one may actually be more embarrassing than the others. Ok here goes. Last night I watched, and I plan on continuing to watch, "Who wants to be a Superhero". This is a "reality show" where they compete to be the world's next superhero. The winner will be featured in a Stan Lee comic book and will have a movie on the Scifi channel based on their character. I even have a favorite that I'm cheering for. Major Victory. The show made me laugh out loud while Steph was trying to sleep next to me. Good stuff.

Anniversary

Well I've officially been doing this for a year now. I'm still not sure how many people actually read it but it's been fun anyways. I'll keep doing it for now and we'll see about the future.

Happy Anniversary everyone.

Things here are crazy

The past two weeks I've done youth trips in Ohio and the Upper Peninsula. This week is VBS. Things are crazy. So I'm giving you this link. This game is a ton of fun and actually made me laugh out loud. Enjoy!

Running

I'm still running but it isn't as often as it was before. Summer is a really busy time for me. Yesterday I ran 5.3 miles in 55 minutes. So I need to get faster but I'm pretty sure I can finish the race on the island.

Kings Island

We were at Kings Island with the youth group on Friday. On Sunday 27 people went to the hospital after Son of Beast broke. It was shut down all morning Friday and we were among the first to ride it after it opened. I think the idea that I could've been hurt makes the ride even more exciting.

Here's the story

My pirate name

Steph and the girls went to McDonalds and got game pieces for the Pirate game. She wanted me to check online to see if they won anything so I had to go to playatmcd.com and register. They didn't win anything but the website game me a pirate name. It's fierce and scary. I'm catfish Paul.

How big a sports fan are you?

Sports Illustrated says that 3 soccer fans bought wheelchairs and handicapped tickets to the Argentina Holland World Cup match. They were ejected from the match when they were spotted jumping up and down. That's awful. Know what's worse? I've thought about doing it for football and basketball games. I mean most of the time those spots go unused. What's the harm?

Tonight I may be the only person I know that will watch the NBA draft or what is televised of it.

Did you know that the NBA will not use leather basketballs next year? They are going to use a synthetic ball next year.

Not sure what to say about this

Dog owners this is for you.

Make up time

I've been gone a lot lately, been sick and haven't done much writing on the blog. So I'm going to give you a true story that happened recently while we were reroofing the parsonage.

When the guys decided to reroof the parsonage they decided it would be best for my family if the girls and Steph went somewhere else for the time it took to do it. So they went down to Dan and Darcie's and I stayed to help with the project. The problems started when the guys brought their families with them to do the job. Well not all of them did but there were at least 6 kids running around Jr. High age and under. They drank most of our Gatorade. Ate our food. But anyways. When you have that many kids running around they need certain things. A bathroom is one of those things. So I have these kids dragging in all that dirt into my house to use my bathroom. Now maybe you need to really know me to understand this. But I really like the bathroom. I like to read my Backpacker magazines while I am in the bathroom. That weekend I was in the middle of two articles. I liked them and wanted to finish them. So in the midst of this weekend one little boy needs to go to the bathroom. His mother takes him in. She goes into the bathroom with him. The boy proceeds to drop his pants and pee into my magazine rack. With his mother in the bathroom! Was she checking her hair!?! Did she try to stop him or aim him?!? Why is this 3 year old boy at the construction site my kids were encouraged to leave? So, while mourning my two articles, I have to smile when told the story and act like it's no big deal. Now I will never finish those articles. Now I look at the magazine rack and contemplate throwing it out or burning it. Now my new Backpacker magazine sits on the counter. I'm afraid to store it in the rack. As I get older I like other people's kids less and less.

Here's a good article on Tony Dungy's faith

I love this guy as Colt's coach. Now if they'd only win a Super Bowl....

Is this necessary?

I guess I understand the need to prove that Al-Zarqawi is dead. But was it necessary to show him this way? I know they wanted to get the pictures out as quick as possible but pictures of him laying there in with what looks like his blood behind him? It just doesn't seem right to me.

X-men 3: The Last Stand

I didn't like the movie. Steph did but I had too many problems with it. I'll leave those problems in the comments section so I don't ruin the movie if you haven't seen it and want to.

Take that NHL

I'm not a hockey fan and never have pretended to be one. I've watched a little olympic hockey and a little NHL. I've never thought of the NHL as a major sport on the same lines as NFL, NBA or MLB. Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals was yesterday. More people watched game 1 of the women's NCAA softball championship last night. Is hockey a major sport?

Today

Today is one of the good days to have my job. Friday we are taking the youth group canoeing so today I have to go scout the river. I get to leave the office early and take my canoe out for the first time this year. So my afternoon will be spent on the Chippewa River. I'll pay for missing this afternoon later this week but I'll worry about that later.

I'm back

I learned a lot about the Upper Peninsula. They do truly know what internet is. In fact they may be more advanced than Remus is. I caught some fish and played some golf and didn't sleep as much as I wanted. It was an ok time. Now I'm looking forward to my golf trip the 15-17th. It's a tough job.

Reading schedule

Monday Deut. 19:16-25:6
Tuesday 25:7-29:5
Wednesday 29:6-33:6
Thursday 33:7-Joshua 5:14
Friday Joshua 5:15-10:15
Saturday 10:16-15:9

I'm in the UP fishing

Sorry I don't think they've heard of the internet up there.

Here's the reading schedule

Monday Numbers 29:24-33:2
Tuesday 33:3- Deuteronomy 1:2
Wednesday 1:3-4:22
Thursday 4:23-8:20
Friday 9:1-13:17
Saturday 13:18-19:15

More on the car saga

We took the car to another mechanic yesterday. This is the third. This time he acknowledged that something was wrong but he couldn't figure out what it was. His advice was to drive it until it ran hot consistently or sell it. He seemed to favor selling it. I can't bring myself to sell a broken car. That's not fair. I can't trade it in because I still owe money on it. So I guess I have to drive it until it breaks more. I hope that isn't this weekend when Steph drives it to Ann Arbor while I'm in the Upper Peninsula.

I read two books while on vacation.

I read two fiction books while we were down in South Carolina. I love reading on the beach. That's very relaxing. The first book was ok. "Thank you for smoking" was funny at times and I really did find myself rooting for the bad guy. The book is about a guy who is the public face of a group that encourages smoking. I think I found myself cheering for him because everyone else was against him and everything went wrong for him.

The second book was much better. "Velocity" by Dean Koontz. It was very suspenseful and almost scary. It was about a guy who got a note under his windshield wiper. The note basically said that if the guy didn't get the police involved a pretty young teacher would be killed; if the guy went to the police an elderly woman heavily involved in charity would be killed. The book went on with choices like that while the hero tried to find out who was behind it all.

Reading schedule

It's ten to 1 in the morning and I've just finished driving eight hours. But you're going to want the reading schedule. Well at least someone is.

Monday - Numbers 6:18-9:7
Tuesday- 9:8-13:29
Wednesday - 13:30-16:2
Thursday - 16:43-21:27
Friday - 21:28-26:10
Saturday - 26:11-29:23

Here's a picture

Played golf on a par 3 course today. Played better the back 9. 36. So a picture for you. Hopefully there will be more later.

Anybody know anything about cars?

Well we made it down here to Myrtle Beach. I haven't been outside yet but it looks beautiful. The sun is out and I'm sure it'll be in the 70's. The car developed a problem on the way down. It makes a very weird clunking noise like someone is under my hood trying to tell me to let him out. When the clunking starts the heat guage goes up. It doesn't overheat but runs hotter than it should. Then the clunking will stop and it will cool down. I knew hiring that guy to fan the motor was a bad idea. We took it to a dealer in West Virginia and they changed the thermostat. Which did nothing. So I'll probably take it to another one today. Hopefully I'll make it to the beach too.

Vacation starts today

We head south later this afternoon. If I have internet access down there I will try to update the blog and possibly post some pictures as well. Have a good week!

Reading schedule

Monday - Lev. 11:30-14:47
Tuesday - 14:48 - 19:9
Wednesday - 19:10 - 23:19
Thursday - 23:20 - 26:29
Friday - 26:30 - Numbers 3:17
Saturday - Numbers 3:18 - 6:17

Wow I knew there was a reason I hated those Geico commercials. Lev. 11:30

Cold and rainy

Yesterday's run stunk. I'm sure today's will too. It's 50 and raining. The good news? It's 77 and mostly sunny in Myrtle Beach.

Good day

I got work done today. It was great. I also got some reading done today. Hopefully this trend continues. Just a few more days and I'm heading south.

Ugh

I've got two songs going through my head again and again. "Vacation" by the Go gos and "Going to Carolina in my mind" by James Taylor. I don't leave until Monday night and I'm frozen in a strange world where I've already left and cannot get anything accomplished. So instead I sit in my office and sing those songs over and over.

Sleepless

This morning I had to mow a guys yard before I got to church. I borrowed Steph's mp3 player and listened to the songs that I've put on it. One was Sleepless by The Waiting. One of my favorites. It's one of those songs that builds up and builds up and then the singer just unleashes his agony. I love those ones. Here's the lyrics.

Sleepless

Another night and sleep escapes me

Cling to my pillow like a bride

I pass the time closing corners of my mind

I have something there to hide

Oh sin, Oh sin

It leaves me here without and hollowed out within

Oh sin, Oh sin

Like a fool to his folly

I keep coming back again

And His children are all sleepless

Inventing their excuses why

We play the game,

Dividing up the blame

Against our Father's own reply

Oh sin, Oh sin

It leaves you all without and hollowed out within

Oh sin, Oh sin

Like a fool to his folly

You keep coming back again

And it leaves you far from home

It's a bright and burning fire that leaves you cold as stone

It makes you everybody's friend and leaves you desperately alone

It's a price too high to pay

Turn off the news and try to sleep now

Because I'm losing track of shooting sprees

And I can't abide another symptom analyzed

When it's all the same disease

Oh sin, Oh sin

It leaves us here without and hollowed out within

Oh sin, Oh sin

Like a fool to his folly we keep coming back again

written by Brad Olsen and Chris Falson

Here is a link to a sample of the song.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00005UMSR/ref=ase_elyrics0f-20/102-5706009-0754500?s=music&v=glance&n=5174&tagActionCode=elyrics0f-20

It's not much but it's an idea I guess.

This weeks reading schedule

Monday - Exodus 26:2-29:32
Tuesday - Exodus 29:33-34:3
Wednesday - Exodus 34:4-37:27
Thursday - Exodus 37:28-Leviticus 2:1
Friday - Leviticus 2:2-7:15
Saturday - Leviticus 7:16-11:29

Are you guys still doing this?

Race Results

I finally found the results from that first race. I finished faster than I thought. 29:10. 65th place.

Some pictures from the first 5k

Can you tell which one was taken after the first mile and which one came after the finish? Maybe the smile gives it away.

New e-mail address

I decided not to put this out there for everyone to see. If you want my e-mail address leave a comment and I'll send it to you.

This means I have a faster internet. Hopefully that means I'll post more.

Draft weekend

This weekend we took the youth group to Sleeper State Park. It was pretty nice. They have some cabins that are off seperate from anything else and we had those to ourselves. The weather was pretty good. The only problem is that I missed the first few rounds of the draft. When I got home and got caught up I guess I'm satisfied with the Colts picks. It's hard when your picks come as late as theirs did. Hopefully Addai will be a great rb in their system.

Reading schedule

Monday May 1 Gen47:27-Ex. 2:23
Tuesday Ex. 2:24-7:24
Wednesday Ex. 7:25-12:25
Thursday Ex. 12:26-16:26
Friday Ex. 16:27-21:27
Saturday Ex. 21:18-26:1

This weeks reading schedule

Ok today is Wednesday. So with today the rest of the week is this.

Wednesday - Genesis 31:47-36:11

Thursday - Genesis 36:12-40:10

Friday - Genesis 40:11-43:24

Saturday - Genesis 43:25-47:26

Read through the Bible

Steph and I decided the other day to read through the Bible in the next 9 months. I have a program on my computer that will figure out how much we need to read each day when you give it the days you want to read and stuff. We aren't going to do it on Sundays but will the rest of the week. If anyone is interested in joining us I could post the schedule each week. Leave a comment if you are interested because I'm not going to take the time to post the schedule if nobody is interested. We started a week ago but you aren't that far behind if you want in.

The first 5k

Saturday morning was beautiful. Dan, James, and I got there early and registered. We got a free t-shirt and free putt putt passes. We walked some of the course and just enjoyed our time together. The wives and kids were going to meet us about race time since we got there to register at 8:00 and the race started at 9:30. They got there just as the race started. The start was weird. I felt like I was part of a huge stampede. I got stuck behind some older women at the start but that was fine because I wanted to be sure that I didn't start too fast. The course was really neat wrapping around ponds and through little bits of woods. It crossed roads and railroad tracks. It was paved some and trail some. My first mile was 10 minutes and 5 seconds. I finished the second mile at 19:52. I still had good energy left and was feeling good so I really picked up the pace for about the last half mile. I don't remember my time at the finish but Dan is pretty sure it was 29:15. We know for sure that it was under my 30 minute goal. And I ran the entire time so that was another goal met. I won a door prize that was a free dinner at Fazoli's. So it was a great first 5k. I really enjoyed it and look forward to doing it again.

Dan finished 7th overall. I finished 65th and James finished 66th.

Later that afternoon Steph's brother Paul's family and her parents came up. We had 8 adults and 8 kids for the afternoon and evening at the Weaver house. It was fun.

I'm better

I feel much better. I even went golfing yesterday. Now I'm going to run a short little run today and hopefully be ready to run tomorrow. Oh and I love food again too.

Still sick

I'm still very sick. It's looking really bad for the race Saturday. I want to do it and will do it if I can. We'll see. I've only eaten twice since Sunday and both times it was grilled cheese.

In case you were wondering...

Here's a link to an update on the destroyed $1,000,000 Ferrari.

Bad news

This weekend is my first organized run. I'm planning on running a 5k in Mt. Pleasant. Unfortunately, things aren't looking good. I planned on running 3 miles yesterday to get ready. Yesterday I couldn't get more than 30 yards away from a toilet. Today the same problem is haunting me. So I not only cannot run to get ready, I also can't eat and am probably just getting weaker and weaker.

A week in the life of an assistant pastor

Ok so I thought I'd let you in on a typical week for me. First off, there is no such thing as a typical week. Things are always changing. Here's this week as it happened and as it is planned.

Sunday. Sunday School opening starts at 9:45. I was at church somewhere around 9:30. I didn't teach Sunday School this week so that was a little break. During church I do announcements and pray for the offering. This week I also opened the service because pastor was getting ready to do some baptisms. After the morning service our choir practiced for their cantata. That took all afternoon. I don't do anything for the evening service but after it I do youth group. That ended and I finished cleaning up about 9. So that was a long day.

Monday. Monday started around 9. I came over to church and spent most of the morning working on our church's projector. I was looking for replacement bulbs and things like that. I got it all fixed just in time for lunch. After lunch on Mondays I go calling. I called on an older couple in our church. The man is trying to get veterans benefits but he's had a stroke and cannot remember any of the info they want. So now I'm trying to help them with that. I made another visit and then got home close to 3. I then went running around 4 and hung around talking about future plans with the youth group. I got home at 5:40, ate supper, showered and was back at the church at 6:10 for calling. I was 10 minutes late. We saw 2 people and got home about 8:30.

Tuesday. Tuesday morning I started at church working on a future youth event. Later that morning I worked on the brakes of an older ladies car. I took a break in the afternoon to be in the office and then ran. I finished the car just before 9 and then watched the History Channel.

Wednesday. Today I've posted this. I will work on Jr. High youth today. I also will work on the lights in the sanctuary. I will work on the veterans thing. I will put together a cd of music to play before the cantata.

Thursday. My day off. I'm planning on golfing. I've never had this many people want to golf with me the same week. Maybe it's because it's the first week for some of them.

Friday. I'll work on Sr. High youth. I'll work on a powerpoint that I've been putting together for our future baptism classes. My parents will come up in the afternoon and I will grill supper and then be back at church at 6 to prepare for the cantata. I will probably be home around 9.

Saturday. I have no plans as of now for Saturday.

Sunday. We have a semi-sunrise breakfast at 8 and it starts all over again.

Documentaries

Do you like documentaries? Last night I got hooked. The History Channel is doing a week long special on "Ten Days that Unexpectedly Changed America". Last night I watched the one on Antietam. It was excellent. It probably guaranteed I watch the rest of the week. That battle truly was incredible and insane. Unfortunately I fell asleep during the second documentary on "The Massacre at Myst". I'm looking forward to tonight. It's "Einstein's Letter" about the beginning of the atomic bomb.

So here's the question.

Do you like documentaries?

I'm not a huge fan but these seem pretty good. I even included the link above that tells about each of the documentaries.

Book report

I've been dropping the blog ball. I've finished 3 books that I haven't told you about. I finished "God: As He Longs for You to See Him" by Ingram. It was a good book that gave some fresh views about the attributes of God. I also reread "She Calls Me Daddy" by Wolgemuth. It's an easy book to read. It is about being a father to daughters. I have two of those so I'll probably end up rereading this book a few times. I also read a fiction book. "Last of the Breed" is a Louis L'Amour book. It was my first L'Amour book. It was ok to read but I wasn't a big fan of the ending and wasn't nearly as cowboy and Indian like as I thought a L'Amour book would be.

Update on the wish list

I got a nice backpack and the adapter. I've still got lot's of time left on the Office trial. I think powerpoint is something I'm going to need though.

Laptop wish list

My true wishlist is getting more refined the longer I have the laptop.

Now I plan on buying the Student/Teacher version of Microsoft Office. It costs about $80.

I want to buy a laptop backpack. The nice ones cost about $75.

I want this adapter and software so I can burn my home videos to dvd. It costs $49 or $79 depending on the version.

I haven't decided what order I'm going to get these yet. I have a 60 day trial of Office so I'll probably get the backpack and adapter first.

Free Golf

Nothing better than free golf. I golfed free twice this week and even got sunburnt once. Unfortunately, the golf course opens the first of April so no more free golf for me.

Dodgeball

He should plead insanity. Dodgeball and glasses will give anyone temporary insanity.

I'm a little afraid at night

You've probably heard about the pastor's wife who killed him.

Did you know she's 5'3 and weighs 120?
She's 32?
She's a pastor's wife that only has daughters?
She was married to a man that drove her crazy?

Steph is 5'1 and weighs around there.
Steph is 30.
Steph's a pastor's wife that only has daughters.
Steph is married to a man that drives her crazy.

Spooky

Last weekend

This last weekend Steph and I dropped the girls off at my parents and used a gift certificate for a hotel that my sister gave Steph for Christmas. It was a good time. We ate at Applebees and then went shopping. We had thought about going to a movie but while we were at Best Buy we looked at laptops. I've been wanting a laptop for some time. We looked and looked and then I turned over one of their price things and saw a deal for a laptop that wasn't on display. All the info on it was hidden by another price tag for a laptop that was on display. Being convinced that if they had to hide the info and price that it must be a good deal, I made the impulse buy. We now own a Sony Vaio FS-810/w. We skipped the movie saving money now that we had none. We went back to our suite, watched basketball, and played on the new computer. We also went out to Steak and Shake at about 10:00 for shakes. I've been looking for fun toys for the laptop and I've come up with a GPS, but I've never really been lost so that would be a waste of money. I looked at a car diagnostics kit, but that cost almost what a car costs. I'll probably just end up saving up and buying Microsoft Office.

By the way, everywhere I find it on the internet it cost more than $100 more.

Sports Gambling

My mother was just after me again for my sports betting. Now understand I haven't bet on sports since I was in high school. But that's what moms are for.

George Mason opened the tourney at 400-1 odds at PinnacleSports.com. They had one guy make a $20 bet. If George Mason wins, that $20 bet will pay him $8,000. Go George Mason.

Oh and don't bet on sports.

Praying for strength and courage

I'm praying for strength and courage for Abdur Rahman. He may be executed for being a Christian.

Running update

I'm still running just about every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. I've been getting a little faster but still have a ways to go. I can't wait for the cold weather to break so the running isn't quite as bad. At least we didn't get that bad snow storm that they got down in Indiana.

I'm a big football fan but this is a little crazy

This guy turned his half year prison sentence into a 5 year sentence. He says he'd do it again and his brother says he would have done it.

Would you go to prison for 5 years for the chance to go to the Super Bowl and see your brother play?

Colts sign Vinatieri

Say goodbye to the idiot kicker. This makes me happy for a couple of reasons. Nothing better than signing a key player away from the enemy.

What's up with Indy and kickers whose names are hard to spell and start with Vs?

Sixpence sings about my weekend

It has gotten to my head
Permeates the path I tread
But I tread, I'm moving on
In a new and happy song
I can sing about the night
How my tunnel without light
Led me to the other side
Where the sky is blue

It's all I can do to not let them ruin me
I will not let them ruin me
I will not let them ruin me again

There is fire inside the tree
Flames of knowing kissing me
I have waited long to see a sign from you

It's all I can do to not let them ruin me
I will not let them ruin me
I will not let them ruin me again

Moving On - Sixpence None the Richer

I'd tell you more but I'm already close to the moved on stage and don't want to look back. The sky is blue on this side of the tunnel. I'm hoping I stay here and I'm hoping everything else stays on the other side of the tunnel.

A snowplow?

This is a sad story and all but why in the world did a train in Texas have a snowplow on it?

March Madness Blues

The tourney is finally here and I loved it yesterday. Now the second day is here and I'm at work. Here's the weird part. I'm the only one here. Pastor left early. The secretary left early.

Why am I still here?!?!

What I'm listening to

I've gone old school with a little Hokus Pick "Brothers from Different Mothers".

Goodbye

It's time to say goodbye to two sports figures.

John Chaney was the long time coach of Temple Basketball. The guy was a jerk at times but was a great coach. He even looked like an owl. Some guys just belong at some schools.

Edgerrin James was the long time running back for the Indianapolis Colts. I liked Edge. I was pretty upset when the Colts drafted him instead of Ricky Williams though. And I wasn't very happy when they traded Marshall away either. Edge over time wasn't as excited about being a Colt so I won't cry as he goes. He was late to training camps, hated playing preseason, and said some dumb things towards the end. He will be hard to replace though.

My family's Star Wars names

Yesterday Steph watched a little boy for a lady from our church. It was a last minute thing. The mother had someone lined up to watch him but that person never showed up. Steph was telling me about it and Laura said, "We're her only hope." That instantly took me to Star Wars and I came up with names for our family. Laura is Obi-Laura-Kenobi. Colleen is R2Leen2. Steph is Princess Stephanie. And I, of course, am Anakin Weaver.

The weather

Yesterday it was in the 40's. Today it's in the 40's. And unfortunately, it still looks like this outside.

Ok here's some pictures

These are from many years ago so laugh it up. The hair is good stuff.Tobin and the Brooklyn Bridge

The Times Square Double Tree Guest Suites


and the hair.

NCAA brackets

I love the NCAA tournament. I love watching the games. I love filling out the brackets. Here's your chance to join me. Join and fill out your bracket and see if you can beat me, it shouldn't be that hard. Oh and it's free.

Go to http://tournament.fantasysports.yahoo.com/. Click on join group. Enter this info.

Group ID# 19084
Group Password letpaulwin

I'm a jerk but...

This video made me laugh out loud yesterday when I saw it. I feel like a jerk for laughing at a girl with a broken kneck but man is this funny.

Here's the video and story.

Mastercard's priceless commercials

Mastercard is doing a promotion where you write the next "priceless" commercial. I thought that would be cool and I would submit the story of getting engaged to Steph. It would go something like this...

Engagement ring - $1700
Two night stay in Times Square - $700
Parking in the hotel parking garage $70
Giving her an engagement story she'll never forget - priceless

Unfortunately they've already shot the commercial. You just write the lines or something. So I didn't do it.

You know, Tobin was a big part of that weekend. Thanks Tobin for all the help there and for taking a great picture. I just had that picture blown up to an 8x11. Maybe I'll post a copy here later for everyone to see.

www.burrillstrong.com

Burrill is the younger brother of my college roommate, Tobin, and a friend of mine. Budah, one of the names we lovingly call Burrill, and I have had some fun times including tailgating before Michigan games and once we had a bet that I couldn't work his name into the announcements at church. Of course I won that bet. Nothing like mentioning Budah during the announcements at a Baptist church. Anyways here's a link to his website. I think he's ok with me posting it here. His page is much cooler than my little blog. Check it out.

I'm a little confused on why they would do this

A clothing company, "Second Coming Clothing Company", is selling t-shirts. This is one of their designs.

“The Original 10 Commandments, BrokeBack on the Mountain.” An angry Moses is looking over the Israelites and their calf. Then it says, “In his anger, Moses broke the two tablets of stone that the Ten Commandments were written on while walking back down the mountain.” The italics have been added.

Update on the ferrari

1 million dollars of wreckage.

Wonderlic

Ok I've had some good fun laughing at Vince Young. If you don't know, he supposedly scored a 6 on his wonderlic test. It's a test that all potential NFL players take at the combine. It's 50 questions and you have a limited amount of time to finish. Well I took a sample test. I'll give the link to the test and tell you my results later. I don't want to help you out at all.

http://espn.go.com/page2/s/closer/020228test.html

Two news stories for you today

Here's the story of a mother who wrestles a polar bear to save her kids.

Here's a million dollar car crash.

Both prompt questions.

Would you wrestle a polar bear to save someone else's kid? I know she saved her own kids but everyone will at least say the would fight a bear for their kid. Would you do it for someone else's kid? Laura has a few friends I might let a bear get... Did I type that?

Would you let an acquaintance, that you don't even know his last name, drive your million dollar car?

Sick

I'll be back soon. I'm sick and I had a Jr. High Retreat this last weekend. That makes me sick and tired.

Weather update

It didn't snow as much last night as they said it would. Today has been interesting though. We are having a thunderstorm right now, yes I know I shouldn't be on the computer. Instead of rain though it's ice coming down. It sounds like hail. It's kindof cool. I went outside and it hurts. It's just little ice balls coming down. Weird.

Pitchers and catchers report

Maybe spring will come after all.

It won't be today though. Here's the NOAA forecast.

http://www.crh.noaa.gov/ifps/MapClick.php?CityName=Remus&state=MI&site=GRR

"Thursday: Occasional snow, mixing with freezing rain after noon. Steady temperature around 27. Blustery, with a east wind between 16 and 20 mph, with gusts as high as 36 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New snow accumulation of 1 to 3 inches possible.

Thursday Night: Occasional snow, freezing rain and sleet, becoming all snow after midnight. Areas of blowing snow after midnight. Low near 16. Blustery, with a east wind 14 to 22 mph becoming north. Winds could gust as high as 39 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%."

Their Hazardous weather Winter Storm Watch says 2 to 4 inches tonight and 6 or more tomorrow.

3 miles

We ran 3 miles yesterday. I was dying at the end and it took just under a half an hour to do it but we finished. I've got a long ways to go before I do my first 5k though.

Does it get any more romantic than this?

"Mood lighting. Candles. Flowers. Romantic music. A sackful of Slyders.

White Castle wants couples who love little burgers as much as each other to share Valentine's Day romance over a bag of belly bombs. They're even taking reservations."

Nothing says I love you like a gut bomb, slider, belly bomber, rectal rocket. Here's hoping that Steph reads this.

This was my 6th cheeseburger that night. Oh I love the castle.

Super Bowl sermon mp3

Ok I think I've made it possible for you to hear me. Let's give this a try.

Super Bowl Sermon

Joe Montana story

Friday while in Detroit we got to see part of the Dan Patrick show. I have posted a picture of Dan and Joe Montana. I tried to start a "Fire Millen" chant but Dan missed it and then started his own a few minutes later. However, a cool moment came during his interview with Montana. He asked Joe to call the Taylor TD play in the huddle. So Joe called the play and then Dan asked him to act like he was at the line and to do the call there. Joe hesitated so I yelled out "BLUE 32!" Joe laughed and said "Ya, blue 32". Then he said no and changed it to red something or another but he did mention what I yelled out. That was pretty cool. If you heard the show Friday leave me a comment and let me know if you could hear me yell or just Joe mention it.

Ok here's how it went in Detroit

As I told you I went to Detroit last Friday for some of the Super Bowl festivities. My brother-in-law Dan provided the tickets and transportation for a birthday gift I won't soon forget. We started off the morning by going to the Renaissance Center, which was media central. When we got there it was incredibly exciting right from the start. The place was bustling and we got there as Cold Pizza was ending. We saw Woody and Skip and the rest of the crew. Dana was interviewing Clinton Portis. The crowd was full of energy and it was neat to be there. After that interview we walked around some. We saw Joe Theismann, Matt Leinart, Bonnie Bernstein, Tom Jackson, Chris Carter, Shannon Sharpe, the Bud Light daredevil, The NFL Network crew of Eisen, Mooch, and Terrell Davis. One interesting story from there was walking down the hall and seeing Sal Paolantonio walking the other way. As we approached him I gave him a head nod. He got a kindof confused look on his face as he returned the nod. When we saw him on tv last night Steph commented, "He's still probably trying to figure out where he knows you from". Just in case you ever read this Sal, you don't know me. I was just giving a friendly nod.

After that we went to Ford Field to see what was up there. It was pretty dead. I did my usual attempt to try and find an unlocked door so that I can wander into stadiums when I shouldn't. This time I found an unlocked door and two security guards standing on the other side. They weren't in flexible moods and I sensed that if I pushed my luck they may attempt to test my flexibility. Luckily for them, I backed off and went on towards the gift shop. In the gift shop I bought my dad a Super Bowl XL edition of the terrible towel. He says he plans to use it as a golf towel. I like my clubs too much to do that to them. We then went and checked out the Winter Blast. The Winter Blast is a city festival that Detroit does every year. They had sled dogs but no snow. They had a wave pool and surfers but there was a pretty decent line to check that out. So we just walked on down through and looked here and there but did little else.

We ended up at the NFL Experience. Dan and Darcie had provided me a ticket and we waited in line for about a half an hour while about 300 people cut in front of us. The organization at the door wasn't the best. Once in we went downstairs right away to check out the autograph session. There was a young guy at the gate of the cattle herding system they had set up to hold people in line. He couldn't tell us who was signing that night. He also couldn't less us enter the line even though there were rows and rows of the cattle things with no people in them. He said we could wait in the line that was waiting to get into the official line and then we could get autographs from mystery players to appear later. Fearing that we would be waiting in line for Jeff Garcia and Vanderjagt we decided to skip that part of the NFL experience. We wandered around the world's largest football card show which seemed to include everything but football cards. We did get some free cards from some of the big name card makers. We also played a plinko like game where I won a pack of cards and Dan won a mini autograph ball. By chance I did get Garcia and Vanderjagt cards. We then went upstairs to check out the rest of the show. Upstairs we got our pictures taken with Marcus Allen. When I finally got through the line and up to Marcus I asked him if he got tired of this type of thing. He said, "No, I've got stamina". I'm not sure if he meant it to be a joke or not but I laughed out loud. We walked around the 3,000 cheerleaders who were incredibly loud. We saw all of the things where you could run or kick or catch or whatever. We didn't do any. I wimped out. We saw a place where you could get free pizza but the line for that was longer than the one for Ronnie Lott's autograph. So we got in line for Ronnie Lott's autograph. He was a half hour late but signed Dan's football and a pennant for me. I posted that picture. Diet Pepsi machine was there but I'm still very anti-Patriots so I avoided him. We did find out that signing autographs downstairs was Larry Johnson, Chris Chambers, Scottie Vines, and Jason Hanson. I like Larry Johnson but not enough to wait in that line. After that we left, hit White Castle, and then came home exhausted. It was a fun day.

Pictures from Detroit

Ok here's a game for you. Name the football players.

I'll tell you more of the stories early next week.

Weaves at the Super Bowl

I'm going to the Super Bowl festivities on Friday. We have tickets for the NFL experience and we plan on seeing some of the other things going on. Here's a question for you. If we get into a crowd around something like sportscenter, what do we do to stand out in that crowd? Here's some ideas I had. Tell me which you like or give me your ideas.

Start doing the YMCA dance.

Start a "Fire Millen" chant. Actually that would probably help us blend in.

Do the escalator/elevator/canoe thing where you gradually disappear behind something.

Wear a yellow t-shirt.

Take off my shirt.

More on the goodness of God

I have to preach this Sunday evening. That's right our church is having Sunday evening service and saying "What Super Bowl?". They even asked the biggest football fan in the church to preach that night. So I'm on. And I'm trying to make it as different a service as I can. I'm not sure how that will work yet. But I'm going to preach on the goodness of God. This is my thoughts so far, feel free to chime in.

As I sat back and watched the Colts lose in the playoffs again I was sick. As I type this I thought back and can remember where I sat and my reactions to the last few times the Colts have lost in the playoffs. Once at Rob's in Brownsburg, once I bounced a full sippy cup off of a youth group kid's head... Anyways I sat there and realized that now I want them to win more for them than for me. This group of guys needs to win a Super Bowl. I decided that I was going to do everything in my power to see them succeed. Than I thought again. I'm 5'10 and weigh 195, Oh yeah I'm 31 too. I can't become a player and help them. So maybe I could be a coach, well I'm probably overestimating my knowledge about football and even if I was a football genius by the time I made the pro level even as an assistant these players would probably be retired. So, without committing major felonies, I really cannot help this team succeed. I don't have the knowledge or power to do it.

I'm a huge fan of the Colts. But God is even a bigger fan of ours. Romans 8:31 says that He is for us. God wants you to succeed. He is a fan our yours. How do we know that? Well he came and died for your sins. And example that Chip Ingram gives in God As He Longs For You To See Him is of an uncle that pays a ten million dollar ransom for you when you were kidnapped. Are you worried the next day how that uncle feels about you? No. You know he cares about you. God payed a bigger ransom for you. Know that He cares about you. So if God is a bigger fan of yours than I am of the Colts than what differences are there between my fandom and His.

The first difference is that He has the power to do something. God is all powerful. He is sovereign. He can bring the things into your life that will help you succeed. When we doubt God's goodness sometimes we are doubting His power.

The second difference is that He knows what needs to be done. God knows everything. He knows what you need in your life to help you succeed. When we doubt God's goodness many times we are saying we know more about what we need than God knows.

The perfect example of all this is Joseph. Remember Joseph? Joseph's life kindof starts of by being thrown into a pit. That would be bad. But it gets worse. Joseph is sold into slavery. That would be bad. But it gets worse. Joseph is thrown into prison for something he didn't do. But because of all that Joseph ends up second in command over Egypt. Egypt is the world power at that time. So Joseph is second in command over the world. Except that being second in command really meant being in command because pharoah didn't really do anything. Do you think that when Joseph sat down with his guidance counselor he said, "I want to be thrown into a pit, sold into slavery, and then go to prison."? Joseph trusted God's knowledge and power even when God was bringing things that Joseph knew were bad into his life.

It reminds me of two a days when I played high school football. I swore my coach hated me and just wanted to punish me. He made us run gassers and do monkey rolls. I hated both. They were bad things he was bringing into my life. But they prepared me for football in late October. If I had not done those bad things in August I wouldn't have been prepared to play football in October. Now if only coach had let me leave the bench and put some of that to use...

God knows what's best for us. He has the power to bring it into our lives. He only wants goodness for us. We need to trust that goodness of God through every circumstance in our lives.

whoa long post

Happy Birthday

That's right I'm now 31. I actually feel older this time. I was complaining about my knees aching while I was running and was trying to find the cause for that and someone said to me, "Well you are getting older". They are right. I am. And running makes me feel it more. I said something about being old to Steph and she told me, "You're not old, you're middle aged." You're not helping here Steph.

Gareth is sending me to jail

Ok here's the announcement you have been waiting for. Well some of you. I've done it. As far as I know this is a first time ever thing. Tree Climbers Guild on cd. That's right I've transfered the Tree Climbers, in all their glory, to cd. If you want a copy post a comment here and I'll make sure I get one out to you. I do not have a cover for it yet. Any ideas? I could try and do the original I guess, but I'm guessing it won't scan very well.

What's next you ask? Well I've already started on SporkChild's, aka Mattman, Somewhere in a Box cd.