When to Head Out ??

I am headed out to New Orleans this week BUT I am not sure when I am going to actually leave Wooster. Here is the deal-io:

My flight (because of a great deal) is out of Pittsburgh. It is about 2 1/2 hours away. My flight is at 6 am (yuck, i know). I had thought about going to my parents house who live about 2 hours away on Tuesday night and then taking the 45 min drive on Wednesday morning.

Well, I have the weather watch on and they are calling for a Winter Storm watch from 7 pm - 7 pm (Tuesday -Wednesday). It is projected sleet/freezing rain and then 3-5 inches of snow - especially heaving during Tuesday night. So, making the drive is not going to be fun - which ever way I decide to go. I am toying with the option of leaving early tomorrow (Tuesday evening) and sleeping at the gate, we will see.

Anyways, I am going down to New Orleans for a conference - Evangelica Lutheran Church America. Part of the conference is intensive training (8 hour course on servanthood), part of the conference is worship (6 sessions), part of it is workshops (6 workshops). I am also going to be "scoping" the town. In July, we are going to a conference there with teenagers - 36,000+, so this will be a good time to get the lay-of-the-land.

BTW, I am also doing one of the workshops. I am teaching Integrated Strategy: Everyone on the Same Page - QUIT LAUGHING !!!! We will see if anyone shows up for it. I mean, it is a tough subject, I am teaching and it is at 8 am in the morning (Fri).

Most likely, the blog will be silent for the week. I was going to take the laptop and take notes at the workshops and do blog updates ... HOWEVER, I am going to keep the laptop at the church for the SS to use; that is more important.

So, hopefully on Monday, I will give a big update on the trip. Who knows, I might even give some food reviews, hotel reviews and an update on NOLA and the recovery efforts. I am definitely going to give you info on SALLT, because that is going to be a HUGE part of the convention.

Later,
Jeff "Stupid and Deplorable" Greathouse

If the signature catches your attention; there is a story behind it.

Goat Arrested For Stealing A Car

From the AP:

LAGOS, Nigeria – One of Nigeria's biggest daily newspapers reported that police implicated a goat in an attempted automobile theft. In a front-page article on Friday, the Vanguard newspaper said that two men tried to steal a Mazda car two days earlier in Kwara State, with one suspect transforming himself into a goat as vigilantes cornered him.

The paper quoted police spokesman Tunde Mohammed as saying that while one suspect escaped, the other transformed into a goat as he was about to be apprehended.

The newspaper reported that police paraded the goat before journalists, and published a picture of the animal.

Police in the state couldn't immediately be reached for comment.

Belief in black magic is widespread in Nigeria, particularly in far-flung rural areas.

Very Interesting.

A Little Odd.

These are the news story that I like :)

Another Reason to like President Obama

Bear with me, the Super Bowl is in 8 days :)

A Great Steelers Song

These kids do a great job and I like it much better than "Here We Go Steelers"

BTW, these kids are 11-13 yrs old .... unbelievable

Volunteer-ism in our county

15 months ago, I was challenged by Erin ( Decompressing Faith ). She invited me to participate in a synchroblog that was entitled WWJDWTC. You can find my original post here.

Anyways, out of the post came my commitment to help in my community. One of those areas where I am helping is delivering meals th the homeward bound via Meals on Wheels.

Well, this past Friday, it was cold - very cold. I went out and hit the route with everyone else. I want to share a letter with you that I received that I believe is remarkable and shows a great spirit of volunteer-ism in our community.

As I write this letter, on Friday, it is still -7 outside (without the wind chill), at 11:30 in the morning. On a day like today, I'm reminded of the dedication of our volunteers to the mission of Meals on Wheels of Stark & Wayne County.

Remarkably, today we had no call-offs from our volunteers. From the early morning hours, when it was as cold as -15 in some areas, right through our regularly scheduled delivery times, all of you weathered the cold and filfilled your pledge to our Agency and the people we serve.

It was a remarkable display of commitment and compassion, for which I am personally grateful. On behalf of all of us at Meals On Wheels of Stark & Wayne Counties, thank-you for a job well done. We appreciate your loyalty and faithful service. It makes a significant difference in the lives of the homebound people we all serve.

I also think that is remarkable and shows the great spirit of volunteer-ism that is out there in our county and our country ----- people truly want to help people and will help when given the opportunity.

MLK: Quotes

On MLK Day, I wanted to share sme of the quotes from him that I believe that we need to keep in our mind:

A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching
spiritual death.

I know that there are many that "justify" the amount that we spend on the military, but I think that MLK hit this on the head. We need to focus on social issues and the injustices that come along with them.

The curse of poverty has no justification in our age. It is socially as cruel and blind as the practice of cannibalism at the dawn of civilization, when men ate each other because they had not yet learned to take food from the soil or to consume the abundant animal life around them. The time has come for us to civilize ourselves by the total, direct and immediate abolition of poverty.

Poverty has stronghold onour country. We, as a nation, could end poverty. However, we really never have had a full-scale attempt to do it. It needs to be done. Ther are a few organizations that are really stepping up to the plate. I will be watching those organizations closely.

If a man hasn't discovered something that he will die for, he isn't fit to live.

What a powerful statemen, is there something that you truly would die for? If so, that is what you are living for - every breath. Now, if there isn't anything that you are willing to die for ... are you really living?

I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.

I think that there are many that carry the "hate" card around with them. What woud happen in our lives and our world's life if we truly played the love card on every transaction?

Life's most persistent and urgent question is, 'What are you doing for others?'

Such a self-explanatory quote and a quote that should be easy for us to follow and do but in the self-centered world that we find ourselves in (so much), it seems impossible and how sad is that.

Peace is not merely a distant goal that we seek, but a means by which we arrive at that goal.

Thinking about this quote as we are in war to give people peace .... hmmmm

We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the vitriolic words and actions of the bad people, but for the appalling silence of the good people.

I am guilty and need to repent. I know that I have been silent on too many issues regarding the injustices that folks face. We need to let our voice be heard and we need to stand up for some people.

--------------------------------------------

These are just a few quotes. There are hundreds that we could pull out and learn from. These are some that "float" to the top. Are there any MLK quotes that stand out to you, wehter they are on this list or out there that you have heard and meant something to you?

Steelers to the SB

I am sorry ESPN but this has to be the dumbest caption under a photo. The Ravens offense came no where close to solving the Steelers D. They (Steelers) had some bad special team penalties and two pass interference (one really bad one) that led to the scores. Check the numbers:

The Ravens had a total of 198 yards for the game ... that is not solving the Steelers defense.

The Steelers are off to the Super Bowl again. It is because of the defense. Our offense did not play that well. Big Ben did good. Parker and the running game though was no where to be found.

Even Colder ....

Today, it is even a little colder,

It Was A Cold One ....

The walk over to the church was a little cold. When I left, it was -2 with a windchill of -17 degrees (fahrenheit). The cold brisk walk though opened up the lungs. The school cancelled classes today, so the kids are all at home with mommy. Snow on the ground but too cold to play, what a bummer.

Update: Walk to New Orleans

It has been awhile since I have made an update about my walk either here or on the walk site, so I decided to do it at both places. It came to the front of my memory as I get letters out to those who have/are supporting the walk:

It has been a long time since I have posted and for that I apologize. My current location is Falkville, Alabama. Thus, I have walked approx. 1400 miles. I have about 600 miles left to go. Here is the map of my walk from New Orleans to Falkville:



My trip back is going a lot slower than my trip down there. There are two main reasons: the weather and my schedule. The weather is the one that is really getting me though. Here are my weekly totals for the trip back:

Week 1 – 72 miles
Week 2 – 65 miles
Week 3 – 72 miles
Week 4 – 62 miles
Week 5 – 55 miles
Week 6 – 63 miles

Now, some individuals believe that tose are still good totals and overall, I guess that they are. However, compare the 6 weeks back to the first 6 weeks down there:

Week 1 – 107 miles
Week 2 – 105 miles
Week 3 – 108 miles
Week 4 – 77 miles
Week 5 – 100 miles
Week 6 – 80 miles

I should still be on target for my original finish date which was end of February. Once again, thank-you to all the adults who supported the walk and made this trip possible.

A Christmas Photo

Here is a photo of the kids during the Christmas season. This is a picture of them at church on Sunday in Room 100 infront of the trees:

The Gators Win

Yes.

I love SEC football and I am a huge fan of TEBOW.

Congrats.

To my "Big 12" folks, wow, it was a rough bowl season for you. Oh, I know that you were 4-3 but, come on ....

3 of those 4 wins were against the Big 10 (who was 1 and 6) and the other one was against Clemson. You were 0-3 against the SEC and PAC 10. Texas Tech and Oklahoma, if you played in the SEC you would be at least 3-loss teams.

Yeah, I know that with me living in the SEC for 10 years, I am bias but c'mon, admit it; they can play and they outplay you on a regular basis.

I will tip my hat to Oklahoma, they played a great game but they played a great game and still lost by 10. Maybe next year, you can stop your losing streak - 5 straight BCS games.

Ohhh, I hear you that you say, "hey, at least we make it to the BCS game". That is true, congrats. One last stab though *cough*, you would not make it to the BCS games if you played in the SEC.

Eskimo Baptism

I apologize if this offend anyone. But, I did get a snicker this morning when I saw this cartoon:

Family Sunday School

We are moving towards a family Sunday school approach at church and yesterday was our first day. Overall, I think that it went well. I will be making a post on it in the near future.

There are not too many churches (at least that I have found) that are doing it. I may begin a family Snday school blog and journal our journey.