So as I sit here to write this at 10:05pm (I know it's later than usual), it is currently 34 degrees outside. It is late November and the cool weather finally seems to have arrived for real. With this comes the thoughts of what there is that is nice about these cooler times. So here are the Top 10 things that this weather brings to mind.
10) Electric Blankets- Now to be honest I haven't used an electric blanket in years, but once the weather gets cooler like this (at least for Texas) it brings back memories of growing up and going to Nanny and Daddy Bill's farm and sleeping in the bed with the electric blanket on.
9) Chili- In my house we eat chili whenever really, but it is particularly good when it starts getting cool outside. There is just something about that bowl of warm food that is awesome.
8) Hot Chocolate- Once it starts getting colder outside, there is nothing like a cup of hot chocolate. It is one of my favorite things to have on a cold day.
7) Jackets- I've always liked wearing a jacket once it starts getting cold. I can't really explain what it is about it that I like so much, but there is something about the look and feel that makes me almost look forward to the cold.
6) Toboggans- Again, they seem like they could be worn almost any time, but once it starts getting cold that is when I love to wear toboggans. Once again, I really can't explain what it is.
5) The Holiday feel- It seems that once the colder nights and days hit, that is when you really start to get into the mood of the holidays. There is just something about the cool weather that sparks something that makes me ready to get together with others and celebrate.
4) Turning on the heater- I know some of these sound crazy, but hey it's my list. I dig that first time that I turn on the heater and can use it for an extended period of time without feeling overly stifled by it, both in the house and the car.
3) The smell of fireplaces- I really dig the smell of a fireplace in use. It brings back memories of going to the mountains on family vacations and smelling the smoke in the air. There are few things like it I find.
2) Football playoffs- It is at this time of year that the football playoffs are getting underway, and this is the kind of weather that is just awesome for it. It just seems to fit.
1) Snuggling- This is the thing that I like. Sitting down on the couch with Roni and sharing a blanket with something to watch on TV is my favorite thing about the cold weather like this.
Well that's it. Those are the things that I dig about the weather getting colder and staying that way. I hope you are able to find some things that help you to enjoy the cold. Peace and Love y'all.
Friday, November 21, 2008
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Worship Songs by Tim Hawkins
Here is another video by Tim Hawkins. Here he talks about our contemporary worship songs and corporate sponsorship in churches. Hope you get a laugh from it.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Love is the Movement
A couple of years ago I learned about an organization that was based in Orlando, Florida. I was at the Youth Specialties convention in Austin at the time and one of the freebies was a new magazine for girls. In it was a full page ad for the group To Write Love On Her Arms. I read the little bit of story that was part of the ad and then thought nothing else of it. It wasn't until a few weeks later that I really started learning about this group. The following video is an introduction to their story. I will warn you it does contain one "bad" word in it but it is a part of the context of the story, so bear with them.
The story of this group has captured my heart. As a youth minister, and as a father and follower of Jesus, this kind of pain breaks my heart. This is the pain and darkness that exists in our world. Personally, I have difficulty understanding since I have never had this experience, yet I know that their pain becomes His pain and my pain as well.
This is a story of love and hope, even through the pain. The Donald Miller quote speaks volumes to our job as followers of Jesus. We are commanded to love. It is that simple, and yet that difficult. We are to be the hands of Jesus, pressed on the wounds of this broken and hurting world, even when it seems that it is pointless. To love as Jesus loved is an act of faith obedience to the One who is the healer of our wounds. The question is if we will do it. Peace and Love y'all.
(To find out more and to read the whole story check out the To Write Love On Her Arms website.)
The story of this group has captured my heart. As a youth minister, and as a father and follower of Jesus, this kind of pain breaks my heart. This is the pain and darkness that exists in our world. Personally, I have difficulty understanding since I have never had this experience, yet I know that their pain becomes His pain and my pain as well.
This is a story of love and hope, even through the pain. The Donald Miller quote speaks volumes to our job as followers of Jesus. We are commanded to love. It is that simple, and yet that difficult. We are to be the hands of Jesus, pressed on the wounds of this broken and hurting world, even when it seems that it is pointless. To love as Jesus loved is an act of faith obedience to the One who is the healer of our wounds. The question is if we will do it. Peace and Love y'all.
(To find out more and to read the whole story check out the To Write Love On Her Arms website.)
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Wall E
Wall E came out today on DVD and blu ray disc. It's not a bad flick and in fact Averi and I went and saw it when it hit the theatres. I'm looking forward to watching it again in the comfort of my home.
In case you don't know, Wall E is the story of a little worker robot who has continued to do his job of cleaning the earth even though there was no organic life to clean for. Wall E does his job without hesitation and with a sense of purpose. See all the humans have left Earth and are now living on a huge space ship waiting to return to earth once it is determined that there is a chance that life can once again be sustained there. In their absence however, they have grown fat and lazy. They no longer do anything for themselves and have everything done for them. As I watched the movie I was struck by two things.
First the seeming commentary on what seems to becoming our state of mind as a society. The humans were no longer willing or able to do anything that required actual physical activity. We are now the most obese nation in the world and this is a fact that has reached to our children as well. Much of it is due to the fact that we have become a sedimentary group. We like to sit and watch TV rather than be out and about. We have cars that take us everywhere rather than walking and we eat foods that are rich in things that make us fat. I know that this doesn't apply to everyone, but it does seem to be a growing state of things. It is a sad state really.
The other thing that stood out was Wall E himself. He continued to do his job no matter that there was no one there to see, or to praise him. He did what he was programmed to do and he did it gladly (for a robot that is). It is the way that we should strive to go about our lives. Not everything is something that we should to be praised. There are somethings that we should just do because it is what needs to be done. As a follower of Jesus, we press on even when we it seems hard or nigh impossible to do so. In the end we know a reward awaits us. Just a couple of thoughts that stood out on the movie. Peace and Love y'all.
In case you don't know, Wall E is the story of a little worker robot who has continued to do his job of cleaning the earth even though there was no organic life to clean for. Wall E does his job without hesitation and with a sense of purpose. See all the humans have left Earth and are now living on a huge space ship waiting to return to earth once it is determined that there is a chance that life can once again be sustained there. In their absence however, they have grown fat and lazy. They no longer do anything for themselves and have everything done for them. As I watched the movie I was struck by two things.
First the seeming commentary on what seems to becoming our state of mind as a society. The humans were no longer willing or able to do anything that required actual physical activity. We are now the most obese nation in the world and this is a fact that has reached to our children as well. Much of it is due to the fact that we have become a sedimentary group. We like to sit and watch TV rather than be out and about. We have cars that take us everywhere rather than walking and we eat foods that are rich in things that make us fat. I know that this doesn't apply to everyone, but it does seem to be a growing state of things. It is a sad state really.
The other thing that stood out was Wall E himself. He continued to do his job no matter that there was no one there to see, or to praise him. He did what he was programmed to do and he did it gladly (for a robot that is). It is the way that we should strive to go about our lives. Not everything is something that we should to be praised. There are somethings that we should just do because it is what needs to be done. As a follower of Jesus, we press on even when we it seems hard or nigh impossible to do so. In the end we know a reward awaits us. Just a couple of thoughts that stood out on the movie. Peace and Love y'all.
Monday, November 17, 2008
They Call it The Streak
There are a couple of things that I (and my wife) would say that I am addicted to when it comes to sports. These are things that go beyond simply watching games and ESPN and the sports page and things like that. Now I agree that these are all things that I do keep up with on a very regular basis, there are things actually beyond those. Call them extracurricular addictions if you will.
The first of these would be fantasy football. I started playing this the football season right after I got married and have been playing ever since. It is one of those things that has evolved over time too. It started with just a single league and an automatic draft. Over the years it has morphed into multiple leagues with friends as well as a couple of public leagues with random people. I have gone from auto-pick drafts to live drafts. The one that I haven't tried yet is the auction style, but we will see what happens with that as the years progress. This year I'm even doing a salary cap league.
I have done fantasy basketball as well. I have done both head-to-head leagues as well as rotisserie style leagues. I check each day to set my rosters and make sure that I have players who I feel are going to be best for my chances of winning. I have done baseball and hockey (once) and even one time there was a college basketball fantasy league. I once tried fantasy golf even. I have not done NASCAR, but who knows. I even did an XFL fantasy league the year that it was in existence.
There is also fantasy pick 'em games that I do. You pick the winners of the games each week and hope for the highest total of right picks. There is college pick 'em where you pick the top 25's games each week and work the spread. There is survival football as well where you pick one NFL team each week to win and hope that they do so you can move on to the next week. And of course there is the NCAA Bracket Challenge for college basketball each year. All of these are things that I have done now on a regular basis.
All of these have changed the way that I watch sports. No longer do I just root for a single team to do well and beat someone else. Oh no. No I now root for a team (the Cowboys and Spurs respectively) but I now find myself cheering on players from teams that I would never have cheered for before...all because they are on the starting roster of one of my fantasy teams. There is no longer Cowboy or 49er, Spur or Mav Ranger or Yankee, but rather they are all one on roster.
And now there is one more addiction that I have found. ESPN has a game called The Streak. Each day they give you a list of sporting events going on and you pick a winner. You can only make one pick at a time, but after your event is done, you can pick again if there are more on that same day. They don't just give you straight games either. No no, they add things in there like: Which side will record the higher total? Alabama touchdowns scored (against Mississippi State) or Kentucky winning margin (vs. Vanderbilt). Or How many total points will be scored in a game and then you point totals to choose from like 42 or less vs. 43 or more. And it's done with golf, and NASCAR and UFC and basketball and everything else where there is some kind of match up taking place. They even had one for the election. The goal is to build a winning streak. If you win 25 in a row by December 31, 2008 you are entered for a chance at a million dollars. If you have the most total wins for the month, you win $2500. It is crazy, it is addictive, but man is it fun to do. Peace and Love y'all.
The first of these would be fantasy football. I started playing this the football season right after I got married and have been playing ever since. It is one of those things that has evolved over time too. It started with just a single league and an automatic draft. Over the years it has morphed into multiple leagues with friends as well as a couple of public leagues with random people. I have gone from auto-pick drafts to live drafts. The one that I haven't tried yet is the auction style, but we will see what happens with that as the years progress. This year I'm even doing a salary cap league.
I have done fantasy basketball as well. I have done both head-to-head leagues as well as rotisserie style leagues. I check each day to set my rosters and make sure that I have players who I feel are going to be best for my chances of winning. I have done baseball and hockey (once) and even one time there was a college basketball fantasy league. I once tried fantasy golf even. I have not done NASCAR, but who knows. I even did an XFL fantasy league the year that it was in existence.
There is also fantasy pick 'em games that I do. You pick the winners of the games each week and hope for the highest total of right picks. There is college pick 'em where you pick the top 25's games each week and work the spread. There is survival football as well where you pick one NFL team each week to win and hope that they do so you can move on to the next week. And of course there is the NCAA Bracket Challenge for college basketball each year. All of these are things that I have done now on a regular basis.
All of these have changed the way that I watch sports. No longer do I just root for a single team to do well and beat someone else. Oh no. No I now root for a team (the Cowboys and Spurs respectively) but I now find myself cheering on players from teams that I would never have cheered for before...all because they are on the starting roster of one of my fantasy teams. There is no longer Cowboy or 49er, Spur or Mav Ranger or Yankee, but rather they are all one on roster.
And now there is one more addiction that I have found. ESPN has a game called The Streak. Each day they give you a list of sporting events going on and you pick a winner. You can only make one pick at a time, but after your event is done, you can pick again if there are more on that same day. They don't just give you straight games either. No no, they add things in there like: Which side will record the higher total? Alabama touchdowns scored (against Mississippi State) or Kentucky winning margin (vs. Vanderbilt). Or How many total points will be scored in a game and then you point totals to choose from like 42 or less vs. 43 or more. And it's done with golf, and NASCAR and UFC and basketball and everything else where there is some kind of match up taking place. They even had one for the election. The goal is to build a winning streak. If you win 25 in a row by December 31, 2008 you are entered for a chance at a million dollars. If you have the most total wins for the month, you win $2500. It is crazy, it is addictive, but man is it fun to do. Peace and Love y'all.
Good Weekend
Well where to start with the sports related stuff for today. This was a good weekend for sports I thought and so there is more to write about than just one single game or team.
First Alabama remained undefeated and #1 in the BCS standings. Texas Tech stayed at #2 and will be facing off against Oklahoma this coming Saturday in a game that should be awesome really. Other than that, Florida totally dominated South Carolina giving Steve Spurrier his worst loss in his coaching career. LSU staged a huge comeback against Troy by scoring 30 points in the 4th quarter to win 40-31 after trailing 31-3 in the second half. Alll in all not a bad weekend in college football, even if there weren't that many big time games taking place.
Second Brock Lesner won the UFC heavyweight title Saturday night. I will be real honest, I don't care that much about UFC and MMA, but I know who Brock Lesner is and I think that it's impressive that he is now a legit heavyweight champ. He went for the WWE to trying out for the Vikings to now being the UFC champ. Not too bad.
Finally, there is the NFL. The Titans won again to go to 10-0 on the season. The Cowboys showed up and beat a tough Washington team. There was the first tie in six years as the Eagles and Bengals ended tied at 13. Then there was something that had not happened in the previous 12,837 games in the history of the NFL. The Steelers and Chargers ended with a score of 11-10 in the Steelers favor. What kind of crazy game must that have been?
Like I said, it was a pretty decent weekend in sports, at least in my opinion of things. Peace and Love y'all.
First Alabama remained undefeated and #1 in the BCS standings. Texas Tech stayed at #2 and will be facing off against Oklahoma this coming Saturday in a game that should be awesome really. Other than that, Florida totally dominated South Carolina giving Steve Spurrier his worst loss in his coaching career. LSU staged a huge comeback against Troy by scoring 30 points in the 4th quarter to win 40-31 after trailing 31-3 in the second half. Alll in all not a bad weekend in college football, even if there weren't that many big time games taking place.
Second Brock Lesner won the UFC heavyweight title Saturday night. I will be real honest, I don't care that much about UFC and MMA, but I know who Brock Lesner is and I think that it's impressive that he is now a legit heavyweight champ. He went for the WWE to trying out for the Vikings to now being the UFC champ. Not too bad.
Finally, there is the NFL. The Titans won again to go to 10-0 on the season. The Cowboys showed up and beat a tough Washington team. There was the first tie in six years as the Eagles and Bengals ended tied at 13. Then there was something that had not happened in the previous 12,837 games in the history of the NFL. The Steelers and Chargers ended with a score of 11-10 in the Steelers favor. What kind of crazy game must that have been?
Like I said, it was a pretty decent weekend in sports, at least in my opinion of things. Peace and Love y'all.
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