Random selections of other blogs. Note: I am not responsible for content on other blogs.
While Hannah was away at camp, we were given free tickets to the Padres game. These are perhaps the best seats we've ever had. They are right next to the field, with only the wall separating you from the field. The opposing team's bullpen (in this case, the Marlins) is less than 20 feet away. Here are a few pics I snapped throughout the game.
Growing up with a father who worked at Caterpillar Tractors, our family vacation schedule was set by the company. It wasn’t until I was in junior high or high school that I realized summer vacation wasn’t called "Cat vacation." Entire plants would shut down for weeks at a time as the employees went on vacation.
Cat vacation affected everything in and around Peoria. Businesses would experience slow downs and our church would have a combined Wednesday night Bible class in the auditorium, instead of the normal age-graded classes.
Part of our family ritual every summer was to pack the car -- either a Bonneville or Impala, depending on the summer -- and head for southwest Missouri. By the time I was born I had only one living grandparent, my grandmother Grace. This meant that we would spend at least one week visiting my dad’s mom and his family who still lived in West Plaines.
The town was typical small town: courthouse on the square and blue plate specials at the diner. It even had a pool hall but I was expressly forbidden from going in.
One of my favorite vacation memories was when we opted to go to Syracuse, New York, to see my Aunt Golden. We roamed the Adirondack mountains and even went to Niagara Falls. Somewhere in a scrapbook is a picture of me standing in front of the falls, long hair and no glasses.
The best vacations provide a time for restoration, adventure, and learning. They also create the memories that become a key part of our life stories. I hope as we look at faith destinations this month that you will find the same to be true in your spiritual life.
It's been an interesting week. On the job front, still no breathroughs with job interviews but the resumes are still going out. But I may have a few freelancing opportunities. On the same day, I met with two different guys who are looking for a web designer to outsource to their clients. It may produce a little work and possibly a lot of work. It may also provide me the necessary flexibility to do other stuff.
On Friday I went to one of these business networking meetings. It was more structured than some I have been to. The idea is to generate leads and tips for other members.
And on Friday I also started to come down with a cold -- the runny nose, coughing, type of cold. The weather is just too nice to have this stuff!
For the past ten years, I have been privileged to serve as the Director of Spiritual Development for Opportunity Camp. Opportunity Camp is a camp that serves kids who live in foster and group homes. This year was another great year! Below are a few snapshots of the week ...
... or "table tennis" as the sophisticated like to call it. After meeting Adrian Gonzalez and taking a three hour tour of the outlets in San Ysridro, we went to Balboa Park where the Southern California Table Tennis Tournament was being held. It was incredible! It was inside the Activities Building and had three long rows of ping pong tables. Men, women, children, young, old, and even a guy in a wheelchair were playing!
It took me back to my days when I worked in the student activities center in college. As part of my work study program, I would operate the activities center for a few hours each day. This usually allowed me ample time to play a few games of ping pong. There were several of us guys who were pretty hardcore ping pongers -- nothing quite like the level I saw today but not too shabby either.
Some of my best ping pong memories are from playing the Miller brothers, these two guys with incredible wingspans. Then there was Wasim, who would sit back and wail on the ball. There were several others ... all of us ping pong warriors.
But the people I saw today were on another level altogether. They had carrying bags for their rackets, special shoes and shirts, and coaches. It's made me think of getting a new paddle and hitting the gym. Stay tuned ...
OK, most of you are probably saying, "Adrian who?" That's understandable unless A) you like baseball and B) you live in San Diego. Adrian is the first baseman for the San Diego Padres and was born and raised in Chula Vista. I noticed in the the San Diego Reader that he would be signing autographs for two hours today. Hannah and Hope were excited to shake his hand and get his autograph; they even left with an autographed picture. Here are a few I shot myself ...
Back during our days in Georgia I was privileged to serve as the campaign manager for State Senator John Douglas. He had previously served in the Georgia House of Representatives; I managed his first campaign for the State Senate. We won ... in large part because John is one of the hardest working politicians I know (not that I know too many).
He recently came to Anaheim as part of delegation from the City of Covington. On Thursday I drove up to LA and we then drove together to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. It's located high on a hill in Simi Valley. It's really quite a remarkable location -- fitting for a president who referred to America as the "shining city on a hill."
I've included a few pictures for those of you who are more visually inclined :-)
I've just created a new graphic that can be used for a background or wallpaper. It emphasizes the optimistic nature of being a Christ-follower. Feel free to download and use. I'm also including the Photoshop file if you wish to edit or change.
A few exciting things are happening on the church front here in San Diego. CityWalk Church held her first service a few months ago and is establishing a new model for urban church planting. LifePoint (www.lifepointcommunitycom) designates ten percent of our weekly offerings to CityWalk.
Recently I 've had several conversations with our bass player at church. With a background in ministry, he has been considering returning to church work as a church planter. It looks like he will be starting a new church in the older part of Chula Vista in a few months. I've encouraged him to share his vision at LifePoint and to ask for helpers.
It's exciting to see new dreams and visions spring up!
I was recently hired to redesign the website of C&C Glass here in San Diego. C&C is a large commercial glass company that works on a variety of commercial and municipal projects. Part of my assignment was to improve their search engine appeal. I designed the site entirely in CSS (that's a bone for you web geeks out there). Take a look: www.ccglass.com.
I'm sitting here at Cosmos and there' s a new group on stage. When I close my eyes, it's hard to tell if the singer is a boy or girl. Opening my eyes doesn't help much either.
For those of you who may suffer from extreme insomnia, here's a link to my podcast which contains my weekend teaching.
http://lifepointcast.blogspot.com/
Have you customized your Google page yet? For several years I have had Google set as my home page since that's where much of my web surfing begins. As a true believer in all things Google, I'd like to encourage you to customize your Google page. You can now set up Google to include news, weather, stocks, custom searches ... almost anything. If you have a Google account, you can even customize the theme and save it.
It's been a while since I've posted something about LifePoint. We recently turned 18 months old and are continuing to grow and develop. We've been through a few hiccups -- that's the theological term for minor challenges. None have been life-threatening. I feel like we're just now beginning to hit our stride ... moral is good, music is good, and newcomers are becoming regulars. Even the pastor is OK.
Looking back, it's easy to see things that I would have done differently but that's a part of the maturing process. Looking ahead, I see a bright future and am encouraged by the quality of people that God brings our way.
If you're in San Diego, stop by and say hello.
It's hard to believe but our oldest daughter turned ten today. It was ten years ago we went to Kaiser hospital in downtown Walnut Creek. The wonder has never stopped.
I believe that within each of us is a desire to know that we made a difference in life. We want to know that how we spent our time, energy, and money contributed to something greater than ourselves.
However, it seems that relatively few people find what I call alignment -- the opportunity to match up their skills and life experiences with their desire to make a difference. A few people find that intersection at work; others look for ways to contribute outside of their careers. Some have stopped looking altogether.
As Christ followers, we have a unique opportunity to not only make a difference in our world but to make a difference for eternity. From the very beginning, Christianity has been a movement focused on changing the world. We call fellow travelers to follow Jesus with us because we believe his way is the best way.
I went this past week for a free LASIK eye examination. LASIK is one type of laser surgery that involves reshaping your eyeball with a high-powered laser. Admittedly, that’s an over-simplification.
The doctor confirmed what I already knew -- I’m basically blind. Take my glasses off and I’ll walk straight into the wall. With my glasses off, everyone looks pretty.
I began wearing glasses in the third grade; to be honest, it’s hard to remember life without glasses. Every morning I reach over to the night stand, feel for my glasses, and start the day.
You can track fashion trends by looking through one of my photo albums. The “lost years” had to be the 1980s when big, and I mean really big, glasses were in style. Though I’m ashamed to admit this, I even had a pair of red glasses at one point in the 1980s. Not red lenses -- red frames! Surprisingly, most of those pictures have somehow disappeared :-)
Bad fashion is an equal opportunity employer and blindness isn’t restricted only to eyesight.
Believe it or not, I pass many blind people every day who are driving cars or waiting in line at Albertsons. Some wear glasses and some do not. Worst of all, many don’t even know they are blind.
Some are blind to the needs of those around them. Others are living with no vision for their life. Many of the walking blind fail to see God’s fingerprints, the imprint he has left on them.
Spiritual blindness may be the most insidious form of blindness. It means our lives are out of focus with God’s plan for us. Dreams and opportunities look fuzzy and we just assume that everything is normal.
May your spiritual eyesight come into great focus this week!
Wow, it's been almost a month since my last post. I would like to have some exotic tale of why there hasn't been a post ... something like spending a month in Tahiti or prison, but nothing exotic comes to mind. It's just been a busy time of year and blogging took a backseat. But I'm back!
The following is a true story:
I'm waiting in line at the local Subway near our house, waiting to grab some sandwiches to take to the Padres game. The lady ahead of me in line orders a "Veggie Delight," Subway's all-veggie sandwich. When the fellow behind the counter finishes with the veggies, the lady asks him, "Where's the meat?" Without missing a step, he simply asked her if she wanted turkey.
Saw this on the job section of Craigslist. No commentary needed -- it speaks for itself.
*****
2 Male Models needed for daughters birthday
Reply to:
Date: 2007-04-25, 12:43AM PDT
I am looking for 2 gorgeous guys to carry my daughter on a chair as an entrance to her 13th birthday toga party. You will need to dress in Toga attire, be in great shape (a six pack is required) not be over 21. Once she has made her grand entrance you will fan her with a huge fan and feed her grapes. You will only need to be present for apx 30 mins max! You will be paid $75 for 30 mins. The event will be held on May 12th at 7pm-7:30----this will be a kids event. I just want to totally shock my daughter and give her the time of her life. Please send me 2 RECENT photos and why you would like to have this job, do not forget to include your phone number. College students feel free to apply.
I was trapped. Even as I tried to work and do something productive, I found my attention being drawn back to the television.
On Tuesday, I found myself inside the local automotive shop while I waited on them to finish several repairs. Unfortunately for me, the television was tuned in to what must have been the all Judges channel. Judge Alex Ferrer followed by Judge Judy.
I’m sure I’ve probably forgotten one or two of the others. But you have to understand that after several hours, my mind was jumbled and I began rooting out loud for different plaintiffs or defendants.
I have to admit, I was a bit disappointed that the judge from the Anna Nicole Smith trial didn’t have his own show yet.
The whole experience lead me to one conclusion: we are a strange bunch of people. Unfortunately, we beam the best and worst of our television programming to the rest of the world. I wonder if they think we all go before Judge Judy to settle disputes over bad hair extensions.
But if I ever do get a bad hair extension, I’ll know where to go to get it resolved.
Our mission here at LifePoint is to point people to real life in Jesus. In case you’re wondering, real life isn’t often found on daytime television.
Real life as a Christ-followers is about following God into a life of adventure. It requires a depth of soul and spirit not often found in our cosmetic culture. It welcomes and embraces big challenges and opportunities.
I would go on ... but Judge Joe Brown is about to hear his first case.
For the second day in a row, I'm at Firestone Tires on Lake Murray Boulevard having work done on a car. In this case, it's routine work on Tonya's van before her parents arrive. As I'm waiting, the two front desk workers get in a verbal shouting match about how to schedule appointments. One of them is the manager and she is giving as good as she is receiving. The ironic thing is that myself and another customer are less than ten feet away. The lady next to me can hear them over the music playing on her iPod.
The best part is when the phone rings and the employee picks it up and answers in a sweet voice. Then goes back to shouting.
This morning a commercial for Kaiser caught me eye. The tag line was "be your own cause" and was designed to encourage people to take responsibility for their health and wellbeing. But the phrase made me think of how often our culture encourages us to be our own cause ... look out for yourself ... do what makes you happy ... it's all about you.
Yet it's not that bad of a tag line. There are times when we do need to see our lives as part of something significant -- a cause that extends us beyond ourself. The trouble comes when all of our causes extend no further than the shadow we cast.
By now, you’ve surely seen some of the coverage about the shootings at Virginia Tech. I was stunned as the news went from one shooting to a mass murder. My heart still aches when I think about the deep trauma suffered by those who lost a loved one and those whose lives were spared.
Dramatic stories are beginning to come out about what happened. Liviu Librescu was an aeronautics engineer and teacher at VTU. The 76-year-old gentleman was also a survivor of the Holocaust. The professor blocked the door with his body while telling his students to jump out the window. He was eventually shot and killed.
There are already critics and finger-pointers looking to place blame. There will certainly be a time to reflect and inspect – but hopefully we will move beyond the immediate cast of characters and look at the deeper issues.
Issues like why we live in a culture that glorifies death and violence. Issues like why we allow toxic video games to pollute the values of our youngest minds. Or why we commercialize music that dehumanizes and incites.
Are any of these the immediate reason why a young man would kill so many? Probably not. But they do explain (in part) why we are seeing an increasing rate of these types of activities.
This is not a political issue; it is a moral issue. It sounds trite, but we really do need to promote a culture of life rather than death. As Christ-followers, let us do our part to hold out hope in the midst of despair.
We had a good morning at church -- the full band was back and was rocking. Doug has added a steel guitar to his reportoire and it's really cool. After church, we went over to some friend's house and had a BBQ. A bunch of people from church was there and it was really fun to just hang out and talk.
The girls are continuing to improve at softball. Both girls enjoy the sport and are quick to pick up and learn. I'm especially pleased with Hannah's coaches -- not only are they good instructors but they are very positive as well.
No worries ... I'm still around. For whatever reason, updating the blog has taken a backseat to living life :-)
On the family front: all three girls and both cats are doing fine. Hannah and Hope are both progressing well at school and softball. It's been exciting to watch both of them improve and get better. Tonya is excited to have her parents coming out in a few weeks. Pokey and Smokey are enjoying our new leather couches.
On the church front: we had our best crowd year-to-date on Easter. A good number of our guests were locals, which is always exciting. Several good stories are beginning to percolate.
On the job front: still a mixed bag. I've continued to send out resumes for local jobs and have begun pursuing freelance options. I've landed a few freelance projects but will definitely need more to afford the good coffee.
On the picture front: I'm hoping to upload a new batch soon ... just to prove we're still alive!
I bought a new pair of dress shoes. I figure since I will be hitting the streets to drum up business for my new creative design venture, I'll need a good pair of shoes. After sticking my feet into more shoes than I can remember, I walked away with (pun intended) a pair of Born Shoes and I like them.
To learn more about my new venture/adventure, visit fullybrewed.com.
You have to love Microsoft's auto correct / auto fill-in features. As I was typing an email tonight, I typed "it would allow me more time for pastoring." Only Outlook changed it to "it would allow me more time for pasturing."
How did they know!
It's been another busy week. I often wonder, did my parents find themselves saying ... "Wow, another busy week." Or was life run at a different pace back then. I honestly don't remember being shuffled around from one activity to another; I do remember riding my bike through the neighborhood and building piles of leaves. Pretty soon I will remember having to walk to school through snow drifts. But wait! I did walk to school through snow drifts, albeit with shoes on.
On Friday of this past week, Hope had only a half-day of school so we made it a father-daughter day. We went to the USS Midway and took a tour. The Midway is a retired aircraft carrier and is enormous. It's been relocated to San Diego and turned into a museum by a private foundation. I had my doubts about how long Hope would stay engaged but she outlasted me. I'll upload the pictures soon.
After that, we meandered down to SeaPort village which just so happens to have a Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream store. After twisting Hope's arm, we decided to have some ice cream. It was OK.
Saturday was softball and more softball. The girls both love it and have great coaches this year. Hannah is even beginning to slide. During practice last week she did a head-first dive into second base ... and it was a planned dive, not a trip and stumble dive. Kind of reminded me of her old man ...
And today is Sunday. We get to gather with a great group of people at LifePoint and have a worship celebration. Life is busy but life is good.
"Astronaughty." That was the creative genius of some writer at Fox News. It was used as the story title for an update on the astronaut who drove to Florida in a diaper.
It's been so long since I've posted a blog entry that it made me think of that line from a Neil Diamond song ... "you don't bring me flowers anymore." I never was a Neil Diamond fan ...
Busy. That's about the best way to sum up life over the past few weeks. In order to allow LifePoint to remain viable, we made the decision that I would seek employment in the marketplace. So, it's been a flurry of resumes, a few interviews, and no job offers -- yet. I've mainly looked at web and graphic design positions, along with general marketing and communications positions.
I've also decided to start a freelance marketing firm. It will combine web, print, and other media. It's called Fully Brewed Creative Group. Here are the logos:
Those of you who are keen observers, might notice from where I get my inspiration.
So ... any job leads would be greatly appreciated!
LifePoint hosted the Ugandan Orphan's Choir last Sunday night and our family had three little girls and a chaperone stay with us. It was a true blessing to have these special ladies in the house -- especially for Hannah and Hope. Through limited English and the universal language of smiles, the girls got along great!
One of the girls left a note for Hope, part of which said "You showed me love and fun." I'm actually tearing up again (sorry to disappoint you real men out there).
Most of the kids who stay at the village sponsored by Childcare Worldwide in Uganda have lost one or both of their parents to AIDS. Though the spread is declining, it is still devastating. They estimate that there are over 2 million orphans in Uganda -- a country about the size of Oregon.
I'm glad our daughters got to befriend girls from another part of the world, a part of the world that is experiencing struggle. And yet Fina, Ruth, and Joann beamed with love, joy, and thankfulness ... even thanking me for cooking after every meal. My prayer for Hannah and Hope is that they grow up with a sense of two things -- thankfulness and vision. To be thankful for what they have and to have the vision to see how they can make a difference.
Ruth, Hannah, Joann, Fina, and Hope
I’m a dummy. Maybe I’m only admitting what some of you have known for a quite awhile. If so, please be kind ... my children may still think otherwise.
What brought me to this recent revelation? The book I bought at Barnes and Noble told me I was a dummy. In fact, it reassured me that I wasn’t the only dummy but part of a larger group of dummies. There are times when one can find comfort in numbers; I’m not sure this is one of them.
Sitting three feet away from me is a book entitled, “InDesign CS2 for Dummies.” It’s mine. It’s not a gift for someone else. I am that dummy!
The “For Dummies” series of book have swamped every conceivable topic. Based on the large number of titles in the series, I can only assume that I’m surrounded by a bunch of dummies. Fortunately, I’ve not seen the “Brain Surgery for Dummies” book yet. But I emphasize yet.
Since we’re being candid, can I let you in on a secret? You’re probably a dummy, too. That’s ok: God loves dummies.
The “For Dummies” books are designed for people who want to learn, expand, grow, and develop. But the title alone forces you to admit that you don’t know it all; in fact, you may not know anything at all.
Take it from this dummy: When it comes to matters of faith and spirituality, we all have room to learn, expand, grow, and develop.
Yesterday was a good example of what it means to be a church community. Our worship leader was out of town, our main sound tech was out of town, and I was at Disneyland -- out of town. And yet the wheels of church didn't grind to a halt!
