Bible in One Hand & Gym Bag in the Other

In the recent magazine "the Lutheran", there was an advertisement from the ELCA Board of Pensions about the Wellness Journey. I have decided that in 2008, I need to focus on some physical and spiritual wellness.

I am going to try to break down the calendar year in "quarters" and focus on different aspects to get me more "fit" by the end of the year.

January - March

During this three month period, I am going to focus on the following:

1. Walk where I can

This should be a fairly easy step for me. I already walk the kids to school and to the church everyday. I also walk back to the school and home after the day is over. However, if there is anything that I need to do "downtown", I am going to hopefully walk.

2. Go to the YMCA and Cycle

I can tell that I am "out-of-shape" with my cardio. I think that it was evident the last weekend in December. While at the retreat, the b-ball game and the trail walking and the "hikes" up the hill made me "windy". Thus, I am going to go to the Y 3/4 x a week and ride. At the present time, I am not sure how much I am going to do (or try). I really do not have a "logical number" in my head. If anyone wants to throw out a suggestions, please do.

3. Please hand me the water bottle.

Drinking water is usually an "easy" thing for me to do when I am "committed". However, I have not been committed and I have not been drinking water like I should. Thus, I have my "jug" on my desk that I will be filling and hopefully, the water intake will be high (flush me out).

4. Eat More Regularly

I need to eat more regularly. I have a bad habit of "not eating" in the morning and early afternoon and it catches up with me and I eat more in late afternoon / evening. Thus, I am going to spread the food out more during the day.

Those our the four physical aspects that I am going to put into place for me over the next three months. Hopefully, these little changes will make a difference and they will help me make bigger changes and strides in April - June time period.

I will go ahead and put my "weight" out there; so I can monitor that as well on a weekly basis (Monday's). I (have a goal in my mind) will not share what I hope/want to get to and maintain but I will share that my weight this morning was 193.5

On the spiritual side ......

I am going to focus on 2 things. I am going to go through the Psalms and I am going to practice the body prayers.

Alright, let us begin the jouney.

Salvation Message & Church Promotion

I was one frustrated dad, basketball coach and Christian this afternoon. Today was our Upward Basketball Awards Ceremony and it made me SICK.

One would think that at an award ceremony, the kids may receive some awards. One would think that they may recognize the kids. One would think that they may recognize the teams that played in the league. But, not at this awards ceremony.

What we received was the following:

- a 2 minute welcome

- a 3 minute video highlight of the season but mixed it was look how far we have come since we began this ministry. In '01, we had X amount. In 2007, we had X amount - YEAH, US !!

- a one hour message on Salvation and do you know where you are going to go when you die (at least he did some chalk art)

- a 5 minute, come here if you do not have a church home. You have spent numerous Saturdays in our gym. We have worship in the gym; so your know the gym; so come and be with us.

The kids on the team was wondering if they were going to get recognized. They were wondering if their names were going to be called. They were wanting to know if they would get some kind of trinkit. I just shrugged. I had no answer for them except that we did not have the afternoon schedule.

Today, I truly experience the "BAIT & SWITCH" tactic by a church and I felt "fooled". It truly upset my stomach. I also wanted to reach out and grab someone after hearing:

If something would happen to you today; do you know for 100% sure that you would spend eternity with Jesus.

for the 8th time ........

If you wanted to give a "gospel" presentation; at least let us know that is what the afternoon will be; so we can "plan" for it or NOT SHOW. Do not cover it as an award ceremony.

At least ( the very least ), you could have done the following:

1 - Called each teams name and have them stand
2 - Get a 4-5 minute song and place each team picture on the big screen as the song is being played.

Alright, I am done being negative. I will wrap this up with my highlight of the night and reminder:

Please do not give me a gospel presentation and promote your church under the "scheme" of an awards ceremony.

Christmas Morning

The kidios always walk into the living room together on Christmas morning. In this manner, they can all see their presents at the same time. Their reactions at time are quite often a little different. This year, Bethany was the one with a little different reaction. For your information, the present from "Santa" is always unwrapped and their presents from us surrounds their present from Santa. They are allowed to ask "Santa" for 1 present. This year, "Santa" brought all 3 of them their wish.

Here is the video of them on Christmas morning:

WVU Crushes Oklahoma

Slaton went out very early in the 1st quarter but Devine came in and played a great game. His speed lit up the OU defense a few times and he finished with some nice stats for a frehman rb. He carried the ball for 12 times for 105 yards and 2 TD's. He also caught 2 passes for 47 yards and he also returned 4 kicks for 89 yards .. pretty impressive.

Pat White played a great game as well. The best things that he did was that he did not turn the ball over and he manage the game well with good reads all night. His stats weren't bad either. He had 151 yards rushing on 20 carries and he was efficient in the passing game. He was 10 for 19 for 179 yards and 2 TD's. A few of the misses (incompletes) were the WR fault.

WVU ended up winning by 20 (48-28) in the Fiesta Bowl. Not many people gave them a chance to win the game. Heck, most people did not even think that they would be in the game. They thought OU would blow them out. The team proved the experts wrong.



Congrats, Mr. Bill Stewart. I think that you did a great job holding the team together and brought them the the bowl with great energy. The govenor and AD will not be calling me for advice, but I would be very happy if they took interim off of you and named you our new head coach.

My Heart Goes Out To Kenya

NAIROBI, Kenya - A mob torched a church sheltering hundreds of Kenyans fleeing election violence on Tuesday, and at least 50 people burned to death, police and a witness said as the president came under increasing pressure over the disputed vote.

Violence has been escelating. President Mwai Kibaki came under increasing pressure for what protesters called his sham re-election. People are venturing out but violence and riots are occurring. The country is in a little unrest.

I know that there are many Christians in this country that have a real hear for Kenya and are doing great relief work there and trying to help them especially in creating safe drinking water and being able to help raise food for themselves. May your work not be hampered and may you be safe.

My New Wheels

Well, they were my "new" wheels for the weekend. This is the vehichle that we rented to go to the retreat. This was my "economy" car from Enterprize. I "digged" the free upgrade since they did not have an economy car. It drove very nice but I was shocked at the lackluster amount of power. I was expecting some muscle. I guess that is why you need a HEMI.

Out at the Sk8 Park

The boys got Fusions for Christmas. Today (due to us traveling and me at the camp retreat) was the first day that we were able to get to the park. I am going to put 3 videos up for your viewing pleasure (hopefully the one does not embarrass Jacob too much).

Isaiah and Jacob riding the park (23 seconds)



Isaiah Going Down the Ramp (14 seconds)

listen to the words of Jacob at the end ... it will be needed for the next video



Jacob ... Not Quite Ready (22 seconds)

2007 Is Behind Us

The great thing about driving and looking forward is that you can see what is ahead of you but you can also glance and see what is behind of you. Well, for me today, I look ahead and see that 2008 is right upon me and 2007 is behind me. My eyes are focused ahead and waiting to see what is going to be around each turn and hill in 2008. But I want to briefly take a glance in the mirror and see what happened in '07.

2007 was a roller coaster ride year for our family. Stacey had a battle with her Crohn's. It knocked her down for awhile and it occurred without insurance which caused a royal nightmare. However, we were able to get her back on her feet.

Due to unfortunate circumstances, we had a very short tenure in Indiana and we made another move and ministry change. In June, we packed up the house in Lafayette, Indiana and made the move to Wooster, Ohio.

The boys had to adjust to another new school in a different state. Thankfully, they adjusted to the transition well. Unfortunately, I think that they did it well because they had to make one between their 1 & 2 grade year as well (Alabama to Indiana).

However, the last 6 months of 2007 were wonderful. We settled into a fantastic community and a wonderful church that has showered us with love. We have begun living in a great community and connecting with the community through various avenues. We began to take many strides and touches on the church and the ministry responsibilities that I oversee. We are so looking forward to '08 at Zion.

My family has wonderful health care coverage and health care providers through the Cleveland Clinic. They are all doing well and the monitoring is going great. I am so thankful that Stacey and Bethany are able to be under their care.

As I mentioned, it was a brief glance back because we are looking forward and moving on into '08. We are excited to see what it brings. We look forward to church, the schools and all the extra-curricular activities that the kids are able to participate in and will be participating in. We also are looking forward to the ways that we will be able to serve our new home community.

2008, let's rock.

No Turning Back

This weekend, I had the opportunity to travel to Hopwood, Pennsylvania. In Hopwood, there is a beautiful camp in an amazing setting. The camp is called: Jumonville. It is a camp that has historic value to our nation as well. However, I did not go there for the history lesson. I went out there to help lead a weekend retreat. The youth ministry was SMX and they are part of the Greensburg First UM Church. the group of students there was wonderful.

Brad did a great job of putting the theme together for the week. He gave me four messages/lessons to develop and place into the overall theme of the week.

I will Not Give Up (Friday Night)
I Will Not Let Up (Saturday Morning)
I Will Not Back Up (Saturday Night)
I Will Not Shut Up (Sunday Morning)

I think that each of the lessons and sessions went pretty well. I am still waiting for some feedback from some of the critiques. I had the opportunity to take two of my students from Zion with me. I am thinking about (in the fall) using the method that I used there (the retreat) for Sunday School or for a week night event. Thus, I will be interested in hearing their response and see if they believe that this might work in our current setting; I am not quite sure.

I changed up a few things with each session. I am going to give each session a seperate post and give highlights of the message lay out and the main points of the talk. Maybe someone here could use them ...... But, it is also just for me to have them in my memory bank :)

Wow ... it is the last day of 2007 ... maybe I will do a year in review.

Heading Out ....

We arrived back home around 6 pm from our trip to Illinois. After getting the car unpacked, I went over to the church to check in on the room renovation at the church. We are changing up a few things in high school room. When I get back from my trip, I will post some pics. After the church visit, I came home for an hour+ to watch some of the Texas / Arizona State game. ASU got it handed to them. I also went to Wal-Mart to make a resource run. I needed to buy a few items for the weekend trip that I am headed out on.

Tomorrow afternoon or in about 11 1/2 hours, I will be heading over to Hopwell, Pennsylvania. I will be speaking / leading 4 teaching sessions for a retreat. I am also taking 2 of the students from Zion. I am looking forward to this weekend. I am looking forward to doing some teaching and I am looking for some time away at camp and I am looking forward to the time with two of the students. The lessons / teaching times were already themed out; so I have been preparring messages that go with their theme.

Upon my return, I will give the four themes and how I approached the sessions. I am hoping that everything will run smoothly. I put this 4-part series together a lot quicker than I normally would and I did it over a holiday period.

Thus, on Monday, I will try to catch up with my posting. I will give more details on the church service, Christmas, the trip in general and the weekend in Pennsylvania.

I hope that everyone has a great weekend.