The drought is over July 26, 2008

At least in my yard…

Off road July 23, 2008

Here is the link to my muddin’ video. Wow, that was fun! But I am not so sure I am ready to do it again soon. 🙂 You have got to check out the “Life Off Road” series at XL – Sunday nights at 6PM, 3006 Martha Berry Hwy. Everyone’s life has gone “off road” at some point or another – the job didn’t work out as you planned, that girlfriend was not “the one”, the deal that was supposed to go through didn’t, the healing you prayed for never came. Life goes off road. Why not find out what to do when that happens? Check out the first night of the series here.

Here’s the after shot… July 20, 2008

This is after they made me wash off in the creek! I went muddin’ for the first time last week. I LOVED driving the Tahoe through the huge mud holes, but the rail buggy was another story. It makes me think of being in the ocean but instead of saltwater waves crashing over you it is cold muddy water. Not really the most pleasant sensation. But, it was a blast! Want to see it in action? Go to XL’s website and look for the video. 🙂

A continuation July 17, 2008

Well, last night I did something I have never done before.  You’ll have to come to XL on Sunday night to see the video of it.  (No pressure, Craig).  All I can say is that I DEFINITELY live in Georgia.  Here’s a before shot.  The after will be up on Monday.

The Strangest Things… July 15, 2008

When I surrendered to full time Christian ministry (that is what we call it in Baptist life when you follow God’s call into ministry as a career) ten years ago there were a lot of things I did not know. Exactly what kind of ministry I would be doing and where I would be doing ministry were some of the basic unknowns. I also did not know, however, how weird ministry could be. Here is a list of some of the most unusual things I have done in ministry over the years:

• Deciding how to make a lamp made out of a female mannequin’s torso appropriate for display on stage during a service.
• Buying a bunch of little cakes- one birthday theme, one Bob the Builder theme, etc – for a welcome reception for a new minister when the order was not ready as promised. Cutting the cakes in the kitchen and then serving them helped a lot!
• Writing an email that began “Thank you for joining the XL team, Big Daddy.” :):):) I never thought fun nicknames would be a part of church work, but boy was I wrong!
• Coming up with ideas and buying items for “The Wheel of Meat Products”.
• Writing the words “fart machine” during a planning meeting.
• Passing around a stuffed bear while saying nice things about everyone in the room.
• Listening to one guy sing in a gospel quartet at church in the morning and an Ozzy Osbourne song at church that same night.  Go Cliff!
• Tackling my boss on video – my all time fav, by the way!
• Oh, yeah, and throwing a pie in my boss’s face.  That was a good one, too.
• Knowing way too much information about men’s urinals.
• Having a meeting in a men’s room.
• Sneaking into an ER to make a hospital visit – that has been more than once, I am pretty sure.
• Dressing up like a bumble bee, penguin, and a football player.  The hall of VBS shame stops there – I escaped the costume fun this year! 🙂

Funny stuff happens in Texas June 19, 2008

I thought I would share some laughs we’ve been having here in the great state.  By the way, today was “I’m Proud to be a Texan” day on the trip.  We started the day at the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum and also ate beef BBQ just about every way you could get it today – ribs, brisket and sausage.  I love Texas!  So, anyway, here are a few moments from this week:

• “Hey, I just saw Indiana Jones!”, shouted by Will as we were watching a video at the museum today.  I could have sworn it was an early conquistador exploring Texas, but I’ve been wrong before.
• “I wonder how much it costs to replace an authentic tee pee?”, said by my mom as she and I were running to go laugh where Will could not see us as he got in trouble for almost making us find out the answer to that question.
• “No dancing on the tables and no eating on the floor.”, a sign in the restaurant we ate at tonight.  Sorry, Jody, I can’t take you there.
• “A cheetah!” yelled out by Will while we were at a magic show on Monday night.  The magician was making balloon animals (Jason, I was hoping to share this trick with you) and asked what the fastest balloon animal was.  He made a snake (basically), but Will knew the right answer!
• “I really can’t believe it’s not butter!”, exclaimed by Nate at the dinner table one night as he was putting I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter on his corn on the cob.

Sunshine in My Day 3 June 14, 2008

• I made it to Texas with no delays and no problems at all.
• God worked out my way to and from the airport in a very cool way.  Thanks, Teri and Nancy!
• I shopped from 10AM to 6PM today.  I loved every minute of it!
• On the way home from the airport we were talking about when my family drove across country to see me last summer.  Will said, “I thought Georgia was going to make me an old man!”.  We ALL laughed for a long time on that one.
• My dad grilled chicken and sausage for dinner tonight.  Yum!
• Being with my family is one of the best things in the world – and I get to do that for a whole week!
• My almost 88 year old grandmother taught me everything I need to know about shopping (and other stuff, too) and I got to spend the morning with her.  I love my grandmom so much!  I hope I can sow some of the seeds of fun and faith that she has sown in my life.
• I am getting to spend Father’s Day with my dad for the first time in at least 4 or 5 years.
• I am going to church tomorrow and am not in charge of a single thing!
• I held my own in Guitar Hero tonight.  Much better than you would expect, Randy and Erica! 🙂
• God was teaching me cool stuff on the airplane.  I have been reading in John 10 and 11 and I saw the story of Lazarus in a whole new light.  More on that will be coming.
• I got satin shorts today and they look awesome!  I feel so snazzy! (I think I just lowered by coolness rating by using the word snazzy.)
• I hand handmade tortillas and yellow cheese last night and no one looked at me funny nor did I have to drive to another city to get them.
• I got to throw a pie at Jarrod on Friday.  Good thing I was heading out of town…someone might want to make sure I still have my job when I get back. :):):)
• Tomorrow is going to be an amazing day at West Rome.  Make sure are there.  If you have to miss it (like me 😦 ), be sure to check out Jarrod’s message.  It will be online Monday afternoon here.

What makes me mad? June 2, 2008

Well, cotton ball fuzz stuck on my freshly painted toenails is pretty annoying but stuff like this: http://www.ragamuffinsoul.com/?p=5305  makes me want to use language that would get me put on that list.  I can’t stand it when people make Jesus look bad.  Jesus never carried around a big sign with a list of people who would not make it to heaven, shouting at others about their sin, condemning them to Himself.  Jesus loves people and died for them.  He gave upHis life for people who rejected Him in the hopes that they would come to Him.  I am not saying He is not serious about sin – our sin required His life.  But Jesus came to us in a way that we could relate to, could understand – He became a human being.  We have to bring His love to people in a way that they will understand, if we are going to follow His example.  So, please don’t be stupid.  Be like Jesus.

The water was great May 31, 2008

That is the only positive thing I can say about Antonino’s Italian Grotto in Cartersville. Gretchen and I were in Cartersville today and decided to eat dinner there. Since the Appalachian Grill was packed, we headed to the Grotto because it was nearby. We got an upfront parking space and a table right away at 7PM. We should have know. Here is a list of questions/statements from our waitress that sum up the experience:

• Did you notice anything funny about your coke? (it was completely flat)
• Would you like something else to drink? Maybe alcohol? (alcohol was like a 5 syllable word when she said it like I was 9 and she was asking me if I wanted to play with matches since my parents were gone)
• The good news is if you like flat coke it is free tonight!
• Are you, like, on call and just got a call and you have to go? (when we asked for the check after eating only 2 bites of dinner. we said no)
• Are you full already? (when the on call answer was no)
• Do you have a dog? (she thought we could take the leftovers home to the dog)

We were laughing so hard by the end of the night because it just kept getting worse! The salad was brown and wet, the coke was flat, the Ranch dressing was lumpy and the lasagna tasted like it was made by a famous chef: Boy-ar-dee! The waitress was super nice. She gave us free cheesecake to make up for the bad experience. We didn’t have the heart to tell her it was awful, too, and ended up hiding it in the lasagna so we did not have to explain why we didn’t eat it! Oh, it was SO funny!!!!

Sunshine in My Day 2 May 23, 2008

• I went to the lake today!
• The sky was blue and the sunshine was out.
• God is teaching me how much He really loves me. Not just teaching me, but showing me and loving me in ways that are so very cool.
• I ran into a good friend in the Wal-Mart parking lot and she encouraged me so much today.
• I had one of my favorite summertime snacks for lunch – summer sausage, colby jack cheese and crackers. Yum!
• Mickey and Kristie’s baby, Kendall Page, arrived early but safe and healthy this week. She is beautiful and blessed with some of the best parents around. I got to spend about an hour holding that sweet baby last night!
• My tax incentive came in and I am going shopping!!!!
• Did I mention the lake? I love the lake!!!!!
• My parents made it back safely from their trip to Louisiana. Not sure if my mom has any money left, but she is at least home and not losing anymore! :):):)
• David Cook won American Idol. I was not an avid watcher this season, but he was a favorite of mine from the start. Yay!
• I cooked dinner tonight.  It’s been almost 2 weeks since I’ve done that.  So nice!
• My friend Mere and I had a great laugh together today.
• I have a great roommate.