Ok, I know that this is a little late (it is technically Saturday) but we will go ahead and count it for Friday. This is the day for the Top 10 list. I have thought about this all week and in the past couple of days in particular. Here is what I have decided. Since yesterday (the 23rd) was my birthday, I figured that I should do a list based on that. So here you go, this is my list of top 10 birthdays that I have had in the last 33.
10) 5 years old- Okay, so I don't know that there is anything about it that I just really recall as being super special, but it meant that I was now 5 and would be able to go to school the next year.
9) 13 years old- This was the first time that I had a group over to spend the night and for my birthday. This was also the first time that I actually stayed up for 24 solid hours and let my imagination run wild while outside in the dark.
8) 17 years old- For this birthday, I got to go to Cowboys game with Dad and Bryan and my uncle and cousins. Cowboys won and set a franchise record for total yards allowed in a game with 62.
7) 18 years old- This was above all else cool for no other reason than I turned 18 and was that much closer to graduating from high school.
6) 21 years old- This was my first birthday after I had finally moved off to Canyon. We tried to get mugshots done without actually getting arrested, but the Amarillo PD didn't go for it.
5) 24 years old- This one stands out for the fact that Roni went to a great deal of trouble to invite my group of friends to Abernathy for the weekend so I could celebrate with them. We had a skating party in Lubbock that year.
4) 30 years old- Again, Roni went to the trouble of contacting friends and family and having them send me cards and such. It was a good birthday.
3) 16 years old- You had to know that this was going to be close to number one. I mean after all, this is when you get to legally drive.
2) 23 years old- This was the year that I got married. Even though it wasn't on the day, it was just a couple of months later that Roni became my wife. I was engaged on this birthday.
1) The day I was born- Hey without this one, there wouldn't even be a list to consider.
So there it is. The top 10 birthdays that I can think of. Peace and Love y'all.
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Wow
How bad does this guy have to feel about knocking both the pastor AND the bride into the pool? I can say that I have never seen anything like that before, even on America's Funniest Videos, and they have all kinds of wedding stuff on there.
This was pretty dang funny though. I've been in plenty of weddings, been a groomsman, a best man, an usher and even the pastor, but I have never seen this kind of thing before. Of course I've never seen a poolside wedding like this before either. I'm thinking you have your ceremony on a platform with no railing over the edge of the pool, you're just asking for trouble. Peace and Love y'all.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Guitar Praise
So I wanted to share this image with y'all. I got this in an email the other day. I know what they are going for, but come on really? Why do we as Christians seem to think that we have to take everything that is our there and "Christianize" it? So there is now the "Christian" version of Guitar Hero. The question that I have about it is "Why?" Peace and Love y'all.
Heaven on earth
Monday night I was involved in a Bible study/discussion group some some friends of mine. We were talking about Ecclesiastes and this was a very good discussion about the first three chapters of the book. We were talking about all the things that The Teacher (believed to have been Solomon) had to say and how discouraged he was it seemed. He had one resounding theme to these first three chapters: Everything is pointless like chasing the wind.
This is a guy who was King over Israel. He was the wisest of all the kings. He was the richest of all. He had everything that he could have wanted, yet he couldn't find what the point of all of it was. That is what he says over and over again in these chapters. I have done everything that I could possible desire to do, and there is nothing in any of it that is worth anything. What a sad and frustrating out look really. He is frustrated by the fact that it doesn't matter what he does, if he works hard or not, if he is smart or not, the end result is still the same...we all die.
We however have the opportunity now though to be able to look at life and see what it is that the Teacher couldn't. We see life through the filter of Jesus. He is who gives our life the purpose that it has. Through him we see that there is more to life than just being born and dying. He gives us purpose. For too long though, it seems that we have portrayed that to be a sole purpose: to get to Heaven. That was it.
Here is what I want to say about that. Yes that is what we want, and it is the ultimate goal I would think. But the thing is, that shouldn't be the only purpose that we have for following Jesus. We should be trying to live as Jesus lived and when Jesus lived and walked this earth in flesh, he attempted to make life better for those around him. He healed people and prayed for people and fed people and ate with people. He didn't discriminate and his sole purpose didn't seem to be just to be sure that people would go to Heaven.
So if that wasn't the sole purpose of Jesus, then why do we at times act like that is our sole purpose with following Him? Instead of just trying to ensure our "spot" we need to be living as Jesus did: attempt to make life better for those around us. We should be praying for people and feeding people and eating with people. This is what our faith should look like I believe. Now, is that an easy thing to do all the time? As Paul would say, By no means!! And yet it is the goal that we should strive for. It should be our goal, not just to get to Heaven in the afterlife, but to bring a bit of Heaven here for others through our faith in Christ. Peace and Love y'all.
This is a guy who was King over Israel. He was the wisest of all the kings. He was the richest of all. He had everything that he could have wanted, yet he couldn't find what the point of all of it was. That is what he says over and over again in these chapters. I have done everything that I could possible desire to do, and there is nothing in any of it that is worth anything. What a sad and frustrating out look really. He is frustrated by the fact that it doesn't matter what he does, if he works hard or not, if he is smart or not, the end result is still the same...we all die.
We however have the opportunity now though to be able to look at life and see what it is that the Teacher couldn't. We see life through the filter of Jesus. He is who gives our life the purpose that it has. Through him we see that there is more to life than just being born and dying. He gives us purpose. For too long though, it seems that we have portrayed that to be a sole purpose: to get to Heaven. That was it.
Here is what I want to say about that. Yes that is what we want, and it is the ultimate goal I would think. But the thing is, that shouldn't be the only purpose that we have for following Jesus. We should be trying to live as Jesus lived and when Jesus lived and walked this earth in flesh, he attempted to make life better for those around him. He healed people and prayed for people and fed people and ate with people. He didn't discriminate and his sole purpose didn't seem to be just to be sure that people would go to Heaven.
So if that wasn't the sole purpose of Jesus, then why do we at times act like that is our sole purpose with following Him? Instead of just trying to ensure our "spot" we need to be living as Jesus did: attempt to make life better for those around us. We should be praying for people and feeding people and eating with people. This is what our faith should look like I believe. Now, is that an easy thing to do all the time? As Paul would say, By no means!! And yet it is the goal that we should strive for. It should be our goal, not just to get to Heaven in the afterlife, but to bring a bit of Heaven here for others through our faith in Christ. Peace and Love y'all.
Juiced
So this is a little bit of a combination of days here...it's a blog hybrid if you will. Taking a touch of sports and a touch of pop culture and see what we end up with.
So they are reporting on ESPN that Jose Canseco feels that his book "Juiced" was the biggest mistake that he has made. The main reason is that he didn't realize that it was going to blow up the way it did and hurt so many people.
I think Jose may have juiced his brain a bit. Really, what did you think was going to happen when you wrote a book about steroid use in baseball....and named names in it!!! You didn't see the blow up coming? Wow...I thought it was just a guys junk that steroids were supposed to shrink. I didn't realize it was the brain that shrunk as well.
When you write a book exposing what guys are doing, especially something that they would prefer not be public knowledge, there are going to be repercussions. He brought to light a practice that is cheating as well as illegal. How did he think these guys were going to react to it? Tell him that it's okay? Did you think that Major League Baseball would just pretend that it hadn't happened?
I'm sorry but I can't feel bad for Jose. He made his bed and now he has to lie in it. When you tattle on people you leave yourself open for the aftermath...you should know that from the very beginning. Peace and Love y'all.
So they are reporting on ESPN that Jose Canseco feels that his book "Juiced" was the biggest mistake that he has made. The main reason is that he didn't realize that it was going to blow up the way it did and hurt so many people.
I think Jose may have juiced his brain a bit. Really, what did you think was going to happen when you wrote a book about steroid use in baseball....and named names in it!!! You didn't see the blow up coming? Wow...I thought it was just a guys junk that steroids were supposed to shrink. I didn't realize it was the brain that shrunk as well.
When you write a book exposing what guys are doing, especially something that they would prefer not be public knowledge, there are going to be repercussions. He brought to light a practice that is cheating as well as illegal. How did he think these guys were going to react to it? Tell him that it's okay? Did you think that Major League Baseball would just pretend that it hadn't happened?
I'm sorry but I can't feel bad for Jose. He made his bed and now he has to lie in it. When you tattle on people you leave yourself open for the aftermath...you should know that from the very beginning. Peace and Love y'all.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
The Hulk
So The Incredible Hulk comes out today on DVD and Blu-Ray. It has a special 3 disc set that you can purchase along with the regular single disc. I went and saw this movie in the theater and I have to say that I liked it. I thought that they did a great job with it. Then again I liked the version that Ang Lee did a few years ago with Eric Bana as the Hulk. The way he shot it I thought was interesting and different.
Anyway, if you are unfamiliar with the story of the Hulk it goes like this: Bruce Banner is a brilliant scientist (they always are) who helps to develop a gamma bomb. While testing the bomb, a teenager wanders onto the test site and Banner ends up saving him by using his own body as a shield against the gamma rays. Rather than killing him however, it unleashes a gamma powered, green skinned, super powerful beast. Now everytime Bruce gets angry, the Hulk takes over. He is pursued by the government and others and no one knows for sure what to make of him.
So there is the basis of the story in a nutshell. Like I said, I thought that they did a really good job of capturing the essence of this in the movie. If you're looking for something to watch this evening that won't require a great deal of brain power to be used, pick it up and give it a try.
What I really want to mention with this however is what it has always symbolized to me, what I thought the first movie did a good job of portraying. That is the mental aspect of things. For me the Hulk represents powerful emotion. Not just anger or rage, but the over all power of emotions. Think about it for a second. Our emotions can cause us to do a lot of things. They can transform us in ways. The Hulk represents that trying to keep those emotions in check.
Bruce is often afraid of what will happen if he allows the Hulk to run free. He therefore makes every effort to keep himself from reaching certain points, afraid of what it may trigger in him. This is the way that we react too at times with our emotions. So often we want to hold them in and keep them bottled up. We try to find ways to keep control over everything. That is what Bruce does. What we finally learn though is that no matter what we do, how much effort we put into this at some point those emotions are going to come erupting out. There comes a time when we have to release those feelings that we have bottled up.
There are of course times in our lives where allowing this to happen can cause problems. But there are other times that it is exactly what needs to be done. It is up to us though to be able to discern when the time is right for each. Just like Bruce finally has to let the Hulk go on occasion, we have to let out our feelings as well. The key is to not be a slave to those emotions, but rather to master them and know when is the right time to go with the flow. When we do that, we tame the Hulk in our own lives. Peace and Love y'all.
Anyway, if you are unfamiliar with the story of the Hulk it goes like this: Bruce Banner is a brilliant scientist (they always are) who helps to develop a gamma bomb. While testing the bomb, a teenager wanders onto the test site and Banner ends up saving him by using his own body as a shield against the gamma rays. Rather than killing him however, it unleashes a gamma powered, green skinned, super powerful beast. Now everytime Bruce gets angry, the Hulk takes over. He is pursued by the government and others and no one knows for sure what to make of him.
So there is the basis of the story in a nutshell. Like I said, I thought that they did a really good job of capturing the essence of this in the movie. If you're looking for something to watch this evening that won't require a great deal of brain power to be used, pick it up and give it a try.
What I really want to mention with this however is what it has always symbolized to me, what I thought the first movie did a good job of portraying. That is the mental aspect of things. For me the Hulk represents powerful emotion. Not just anger or rage, but the over all power of emotions. Think about it for a second. Our emotions can cause us to do a lot of things. They can transform us in ways. The Hulk represents that trying to keep those emotions in check.
Bruce is often afraid of what will happen if he allows the Hulk to run free. He therefore makes every effort to keep himself from reaching certain points, afraid of what it may trigger in him. This is the way that we react too at times with our emotions. So often we want to hold them in and keep them bottled up. We try to find ways to keep control over everything. That is what Bruce does. What we finally learn though is that no matter what we do, how much effort we put into this at some point those emotions are going to come erupting out. There comes a time when we have to release those feelings that we have bottled up.
There are of course times in our lives where allowing this to happen can cause problems. But there are other times that it is exactly what needs to be done. It is up to us though to be able to discern when the time is right for each. Just like Bruce finally has to let the Hulk go on occasion, we have to let out our feelings as well. The key is to not be a slave to those emotions, but rather to master them and know when is the right time to go with the flow. When we do that, we tame the Hulk in our own lives. Peace and Love y'all.
Monday, October 20, 2008
The Umpire Strikes Back
I've already had one sports post today, but after seeing this, I just felt that I had to post it.
It would seem that after years of seeing plays where the umpire takes the brunt of the shots- receivers running crossing routes, linebackers flying to the ball, errant passes bouncing off their melons-this umpire decided to fight back. No idea what came before this since I didn't watch the game. Maybe this quarterback had already beaned him in the head earlier, maybe he had laughed as the official was taken down by someone else. Regardless of what the case may be, it was a crazy play.
Notice how the guy lowers his shoulder though. Seriously, what's up with that? He played it like a defender and lowered the boom on the QB. It was a great shot, even if it was bizarre to witness. I wonder if the NCAA has anything to say about it? Peace and Love y'all.
It would seem that after years of seeing plays where the umpire takes the brunt of the shots- receivers running crossing routes, linebackers flying to the ball, errant passes bouncing off their melons-this umpire decided to fight back. No idea what came before this since I didn't watch the game. Maybe this quarterback had already beaned him in the head earlier, maybe he had laughed as the official was taken down by someone else. Regardless of what the case may be, it was a crazy play.
Notice how the guy lowers his shoulder though. Seriously, what's up with that? He played it like a defender and lowered the boom on the QB. It was a great shot, even if it was bizarre to witness. I wonder if the NCAA has anything to say about it? Peace and Love y'all.
A "Devil" of a World Series
So the Tampa Bay Rays my not be called the Devil Rays anymore, but they now should have a new name: American League champions. The Tampa Bay Rays won the American League pennant last night in their first ever American League Championship Series against the Boston Red Sox in 7 games. It was a great series against Boston. After taking a 3 games to 1 lead, the Red Sox climbed back to tie the series at 3 games apiece, with the final and deciding contest going to the wire last night and Tampa Bay winning it 3-1.
The Rays have gone from worst to AL champions in one season. Before this season, the team had never won more than 70 games in a season. That sounds like a lot, but when you consider that they play 162 games in a Major League season, 70 is still 11 games below .500. This is a team that was formed in 1998 and has had to wait for 11 seasons to even get to a .500 record.
I'm not sure what it is about teams that are located in Tampa. The Bucs went almost two full seasons, a record 26 games, before winning their first in the NFL contest. To this day they are the only team in NFL history that has never had a kick-off returned for a TD. This a team that started in 1976. At least 1835 kick return opportunities. Yet not one has ever been taken all the way for a TD.
The Rays have struggled as well to be relevant in Tampa. More often than not in those 11 seasons there were more empty seats than seats with bodies in them. It's no wonder really, who wants to go to a baseball game, typically the longest running game in American professional sports, just to see your team get beat...over and over again? On top of this they play in division full of history, a division in which the Yankees are king, the Red Sox are always looking to usurp, and the other two teams have had thier runs in history as well. In fact, only Tampa Bay is without a World Series title in this division.
And yet this year, here they are. They have knocked off the big guns, and are now on the edge of history. They don't have a huge payroll like the Yankees and Red Sox. They don't have the big time names like those teams. Instead they have youth and a belief in themselves, their teammates, their manager and their system. This has carried them through to this point. Now they only need 4 more wins to really make history and win the World Series. Peace and Love y'all.
The Rays have gone from worst to AL champions in one season. Before this season, the team had never won more than 70 games in a season. That sounds like a lot, but when you consider that they play 162 games in a Major League season, 70 is still 11 games below .500. This is a team that was formed in 1998 and has had to wait for 11 seasons to even get to a .500 record.
I'm not sure what it is about teams that are located in Tampa. The Bucs went almost two full seasons, a record 26 games, before winning their first in the NFL contest. To this day they are the only team in NFL history that has never had a kick-off returned for a TD. This a team that started in 1976. At least 1835 kick return opportunities. Yet not one has ever been taken all the way for a TD.
The Rays have struggled as well to be relevant in Tampa. More often than not in those 11 seasons there were more empty seats than seats with bodies in them. It's no wonder really, who wants to go to a baseball game, typically the longest running game in American professional sports, just to see your team get beat...over and over again? On top of this they play in division full of history, a division in which the Yankees are king, the Red Sox are always looking to usurp, and the other two teams have had thier runs in history as well. In fact, only Tampa Bay is without a World Series title in this division.
And yet this year, here they are. They have knocked off the big guns, and are now on the edge of history. They don't have a huge payroll like the Yankees and Red Sox. They don't have the big time names like those teams. Instead they have youth and a belief in themselves, their teammates, their manager and their system. This has carried them through to this point. Now they only need 4 more wins to really make history and win the World Series. Peace and Love y'all.
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