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.