2 Sports

Amazingly perfect. If you watch this and don't laugh, you know nothing about hockey or Canada.

Belly Laugh

When was the last time you laughed? Not a chuckle. I'm talking a full on belly laugh.
The kind where you can't catch your breath.
The kind where your eyes tear up.
The kind where you try to stop but you physically can't.
The kind where you keep thinking about why you started laughing and it makes you laugh even harder.

It's been awhile for me. I mean I laugh all the time. You can't live with a 2 year old and not laugh a lot. But a belly laugh is different.

Last night was the night. I went in to check on Corban before I went to bed. He needed some blankets pulled up (he's a very "active" sleeper). So as I'm pulling up blankets I notice that some things aren't right. Where'd his hand go? As I look a little closer I realize that he has put a sock on his hand like a glove. I removed the sock and went into our room to laugh hysterically.

It's stupid really. As I type this I don't find it all that funny. The more I thought about it though the funnier it got though. Why would he take one of his socks off his feet and take the time to put it on his hand? What was he thinking? Was his hand cold? Was going exploring and needed gloves? Was he doing sock puppets?

So this morning when he got up I asked him why he put his sock on his hand. His response? He just started laughing. Belly laughing. Hysterically.

YEAH!

It's harder and harder to find anything worth while on YouTube these days. This morning I found something that made me laugh out loud.... literally (not that stupid lol nonsense).

Thanksgiving Candles

Here is another tradition we do around this time of year. Mari and I started this when we got married. I think it started by Marjorie reading something about family traditions or something. She thought this would be fun and it has been.

Every year at Thanksgiving we get a candle that represents the year we've had.

Since we got married in September of 2000, we're kind of ahead one candle. Since we've been married seven years, we have eight candles. Our first candle was a giant 3 wicked candle that we used at our wedding to represent a strand of three cords which can't be broken (Ecclesiastes 4:12).

I won't go through each years candle here....suffice it to say that last years candle was "Welcome Home".

This year was hard though. We struggled trying to define what our year was about. In past years it's been easy to point to some major events in the course of the year that is clearly a representation of the year as a whole. Then our friend Dan Lewis stopped by a couple weeks ago. I was telling him about our dilemma. BAM he nailed it.

See a lot of the past year has been about every day stuff. Getting up, getting Corban ready, eating, playing, eating, napping, eating, sleeping, etc. It's an every day grind. Dan's idea was coffee. Our year can be summed up in the daily grind. To top that off it's double meaning is that every morning Corban loves to help daddy make coffee. He counts out the scoops, helps pour in the water, and then presses the button. AND the coffee is needed to get daddy through the early morning grind too.

So we finally have our yearly candle. The Daily Grind.

Bad Santa and Unintentional Good Santa

It's been awhile. Sorry. I've decided to post a couple times about some holiday thoughts and traditions that we do.

Up First: Bad Santa

First, I need to say that we LOVE our library. For the size of town that Warren is we have an AMAZING library. Every Monday morning Corban and I go to "Toddler Time" in the Children's section (that's a post in itself!). ANYWAY...they had a special Santa thing last night. It was a limited amount of kids, and you had to be on the list etc. So we thought, what the heck we'll take Corban and it'll be cool because he's familiar with the environment etc.

So we get there and it's upstairs not in the Children's room. So there goes the "familiarity" thing. The upside is the head of the Children's Dept. was heading the whole thing up and Corban just loves her.

So we sit on the floor with him and read some books with lady. Good time. And then she rings a little bell and music starts playing...."Here Comes Santa Claus".

And in walks "Santa" and "Mrs. Claus". I'm 32 years old. I've seen a few Santa Clauses in my day. This was HANDS DOWN the WORST Santa I've ever seen. Allow me to point out a few problems that this Santa had.

1. Santa had beard issues. Look I don't expect every Santa on every corner all over the place to grow a real white beard. I do however expect that your fake beard look reasonable and when you talk it moves with you. This guy had what used to be a nice beard, but it didn't fit him right and when he talked it just kind flopped around like a wet mop.

2. Sanata had hat issues. On this one, by "issues" I really mean....he chose not to wear it. If there's one thing that kids know....it's Santa's hat. That's why they sell just the hats for people to wear. Corban knows that if you're wearing a red hat with white trim, you're Santa. This Santa chose not to wear the Santa hat because he thought it would be TOO HOT! WHAT? Too hot? So instead he had an ill fitting white wig.

3. Other stuff.....Ok this isn't a must....but Santa to me should have glasses. No glasses on this guy. Also, this Santa was pretty darn old and going senile. Seriously. He couldn't remember the words to Jingle Bells. Mrs. Claus (who I suspect was his real wife) helped him out a lot because he frankly was able to handle the demands of being Santa on his own. He was fruity.

Forget the fact that some kids were afraid of Santa....I was afraid of Santa. He just weirded me out. Corban on the other hand was fine with him. We opted to leave early after some crafts since Santa decided to TAKE A BREAK after only seeing 15 kids. Bottom line: if you're advertising an event where Santa is going to appear for only a select # of kids...you should find a real deal Santa who isn't creepy.

Second up: Unintentional Good Santa
This happened years ago. Marjorie and I were either still dating or just married. We were in a mall in Canada. It was just before Christmas. The place was packed. Kids and parents everywhere doing some shopping just before Christmas. It was a zoo.

There was a man there that had to weigh 350 easy. Nicely round, not bulgy flab. This man also was a little older. He had white semi-longish hair. He ALSO had a big white full beard. No joke. To top things off......he was wearing a red solid color flannel type shirt.

Now this guy was just out like everyone else doing some shopping. I'm sure it was completely unintentional on his part. I have to say that if there is a Santa Claus....He Was IT!

The coolest part was that we were walking kind of behind this guys for awhile in the main part of the mall. You should've seen little kids as they would walk out of stores and see this guy.....mouths would drop...."mommy there's Santa!"......"Santa's shopping!" It was awesome!

Youth Pastor Blooper Update

A couple years ago there was a video that made the rounds of the internet of a youth pastor delivering his message. During the message he flipped some letters in what he was saying and it came out wrong. It was a slip of the tongue. He was embarrassed. We all laughed. I just ran across a update prank they played on the same guy. This was FUNNY! First the original video in case you missed it the first time.




Now the prank

Counting Crows Confession

I just put on an old Counting Crows CD.

I was about half way through one of the songs when several realizations hit me. The song itself was one of those songs that Counting Crows does so well....it had lots of words in lots of verses that don't mean too much really but are catchy enough to sing along to.

I realized first that I know ever word in this very wordy song.

I also realized I probably know every word on this whole album.

I also starting thinking and I know most of every County Crows album I own....4 of them at last count.

I then took a look at our ever growing CD collection. I don't even have a guess on the count. I also have around 300+ cassette tapes (remember those?) in my office in our basement. Between my new Mac and my the old hard drive (now converted into an external hard drive) from my old lapper I probably have around 1000+ songs easy.

I have lyrics and melody lines floating through my brain all the time. If I thought that Karaoke was cool, I bet I'd be pretty good at it.

Ok now ask me how much Scripture I have memorized.

Um.........yeah......well......um.........................................

Not so much. I can paraphrase a lot! How much do I really know. Ask me how often I use Bible Gateway to find something. Yeah.

Amazingly enough, as much of a slacker as I am......as much of a failure as I sometimes appear......God still calls me His own. It's definitely on my own merits....as I've yet again discovered this afternoon.


(note: while writing this I googled the Counting Crows. Adam Duritz their singer is balding badly....and still trying to pull off dread locks. AND CC's were in Erie this summer. Too bad.)

BIG ANNOUNCEMENT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We are officially announcing that we are once again adopting from Ethiopia. We have been working on paperwork for quite some time now. The picture at the right was actually taken back in February when we applied to our new agency to be accepted to adopt again.

It has taken this long to get all the t's crossed and the i's dotted and lots of lots of papers notarized. We received an e-mail today saying that our dossier (all that paperwork) was sent out to Ethiopia via FedEx today! It's on it's way!

Ok so now for those of you asking questions....here are some answer ahead of time:
The first question everyone asks is boy or girl. Answer: Either. When we adopted Corban we were specific that we wanted a boy. This time we said we'd take whatever comes first.

Why Ethiopia again? A large part of this answer is Corban's fault. He's really dang cute. We also really felt like we weren't done yet with Africa. God really has broken our hearts for the children of Africa and we just felt like we needed to do more.

After Corban and all the problems and waiting...how long will this one take? This is a hard question. First of all, there were lots of problems that were out of everyone's control that made it go exceptionally long. We are also using a different agency this time, and so far we have really felt like the process is streamlined a bit. There is no absolutes in the waiting process. Here are the next couple steps that need to happen. First of all, we are headed to Pittsburgh next week to file our I-600A with Immigration. That approves us with the US Government to bring a child from a foreign country into the US. The next big thing is getting our referral. Basically that is our introduction to who our new little one is. That means pictures, possibly video etc. Right now our agency is saying that the wait from the time our dossier goes to Ethiopia (today) until referral is around 6 months. So give or take a little there. After referral, things move a little faster and hopefully paperwork moves through the courts pretty quickly after that. AND THEN.......we've decided that this time we're going to fly to Ethiopia to pick our child up personally. Last time we waited an extra three months because we chose to have Corban escorted. This time we're going to go swoop him/her up ourselves.

In related news: We just received Corban's official US Passport last week. Even though he's been a US Citizen since July 13th, this seems to make it real for me. He can travel to see Mari's family with a few less glances at the passport.

Halloween

Well basically my wife is amazing. As I've mentioned plenty of times before, Corban is OBSESSED with trains, particularly Thomas the Tank Engine. Well, no one is selling a real deal Thomas costume......and quite frankly it would be cheesy even if they were. So while Corban and I were in Arizona (see post below), my wife created Thomas.

She used Corban's wagon as the base. That way he could sit and ride inside. He wouldn't have to walk and we wouldn't have to carry him. Best of both worlds. So he rode around and ate candy, I pulled and blue a train whistle so people would know we were coming before we got there. It was an awesome night. (for the record: we only went to a few houses of people we know. mom and dad are going to end up eating most of that candy anyway....so no need to overstock)

I seriously wish we had money for every time someone said, "THAT IS SO CUTE!", or "WOW did you see Thomas?", or "That is amazing." We'd be rich.

The Trip

Sorry I've been out of it for awhile. Lots going on. I'll turn this into a couple different posts over the next couple days.

Last week my dad and Corban and I flew to Arizona to spend a couple days with my grandparents (Corbans great grandparents for those keeping score at home). Until last week they had only seen pictures of Corban. I have been blessed during my life to know and have great relationships with all of my grandparents.

Corban was great. He was a real trooper. The only even minor problems we had with him the whole trip was when we were about to land in Phoenix he wanted to unbuckle his seatbelt and stand on the seat so he could look out the window. He couldn't understand why I wouldn't let him do that....so he had a little meltdown.

My aunt and uncle also live in Phoenix so it was great to be spending time with family. The weather was pretty awesome too. We left 50 degrees and raining and traded it in for sun and high 80's low 90's! (not a bad trade)

Weird thing is that as nice as the weather was.....I don't think I'd like to live there. I love 4 seasons. I live in one of the prettiest places I've been in the world. I like that right now the hills around here are an artists canvas of colors.

It's always hard leaving my grandparents.....giving them hugs and kisses.....not knowing if I'll see them again on this side of heaven. As blessed as I've been to know them through my life, it also makes it a little harder to let them go.

Star Wars fans....

Credit to Marko

This is how we roll

Being a parent is cool. You can teach your kids to say whatever you want. A couple weeks ago when Corban and I were out geocaching I said, "this is how we roll"......later we went to see "mama" at work...and he said, "mama, this is how we roll".....so this morning he said it again for no reason at all....and I videoed it for YOU.

ANSWER TO PRAYER!!!!!

God is Good! A little while ago I asked for prayer for Brady....a little 4 year old who was diagnosed with leukemia. He has struggled with some complications with his chemo etc. OFFICIAL WORD as of yesterday is that he's in REMISSION!!!!! He still has more chemo to go through and he's not out of the woods completely for years....but we are praising God today!

Phil Collins

A fellow drummer turned me onto Phil Collins in high school. I was never a fan....but I had a deep appreciation. This video makes me laugh every time I watch it.

(on a completely nerdy note.....Phil is left handed and would have done that fill the other way....however he does love concert toms instead of regular rack toms.....so they got that part right!.....oh and Phil Collins is not an Ape)

Things to look at and click on.....and stuff

My amazing wife has somewhat taken over the "Reinard family" blog of pictures. Basically I was horrible at keeping up with it. So she is now going to be working on keeping current photos over there. That being said, there are NEW PICTURES up on that blog.

THIS WEEKEND....for anyone in driving distance of Grove City PA....World Vision has a SUPER COOL learning experience that is traveling around the country called The Aids Experience. It is simply amazing. I am taking a bunch of students down there this coming Monday evening. It's FREE! (they just ask you reserve a spot online because they want to accommodate everyone) So if you have some time, please go. A friend of mine from WV helped put it together two years ago and it will rock your world. IF YOU AREN'T CLOSE....here's the travel schedule...check to see when they're in your area!!!!

If you are a male, chances are you played with little green army men as a child. Here is the ultimate in green army guys. (Where did I find this? Mr. B?)

There is a new hockey league forming. It's called the Mid-Atlantic Hockey League. This is the first season. It has 5 teams. One of those teams is the Jamestown Vikings! (Jamestown is 20 minutes from our house and I play hockey at that rink) The level of play will be pretty OK. There is a team in Oaks PA, Indiana PA, south of Pittsburgh, and Wooster OH. I'm kind of excited to have a team so close. Go Vikings.

This weekend coming up will be good. It is not optional. It will be good. And WAY too short. We are going to my parents house Thursday night. My parents and Corban are leaving early Friday morning.....to ride a train (don't tell Corban....he's OBSESSED with trains). They will be gone all day Friday and most of Saturday. That means for two days we are without child. Let Freedom Ring!

Resonating

So I'm in the car driving around with Corban. Of course we have the new David Crowder album on. I look into the back seat and there's my little man....SINGING ALONG! Now we've listened to this album a couple times at home and in the car.....but HE'S SINGING ALONG!

So don't take my word for it. Corban says GET THIS ALBUM!





(this was originally posted last week accidentally on a different blog of mine)

Underdogs

I love Underdogs. No not Underdog.....though I kind of like him too.

Ever since I was a little kid I've rooted secretly for underdog teams. If we were watching a game (and it doesn't matter what sport)...and one team was losing, I'd be hoping they'd come back. There are even times that if the underdog comes back and really starts beating up on the other team....I'll switch sides and root for the other team!

Lately I've been excited by checking the college football scores. It seems that underdog teams this year are doing some damage. Every week there's been some upsets. Yesterday was some MAJOR upsets. HALF of the Top 10 teams lost this week! How great is that! And the #1 team USC barely got past Washington.

[I think it's important to point out that I don't ALWAYS root for the underdog team. I have favorite teams and even teams that I will always root for even if I don't keep track of how they're doing......I also have teams that for whatever reason I will ALWAYS root against for some unknown reason.]

So why underdog teams? My wife believes it's because I feel like I'm always the underdog. Maybe.

Maybe it has to do with my belief that the little guys should always get a chance.

Jesus always seemed to champion the underdog though. I've been thinking lately how crazy church and Jesus are. Follow me here.

If we were going to create a company to do something....we'd find the brightest and best minds out there.....people like us that can get the job done because they have all the right stuff and then we'd do whatever our company is suppose to do.

Jesus and the church (supposedly) is completely the opposite of this. We're suppose to be about going and getting all the people who are messed up. Who need help. Who are lost. Who don't have the answers. Who aren't necessarily anything like us. Then we are suppose to make them part of our body and nurture them, and watch them fall down....because we keep falling down too....and collectively we're better for it? What kind of dumb corporate plan is that? EXACTLY!

Wow

I'm not big on plugging books or music. I figure that if you're reading through blogs you also have a good enough mind that you can pick your own books and music without my input. Occasionally I have plugged stuff. I will now do so again.

You MUST get your hands on the new David Crowder album. It's called Remedy.

It was just released the other day (Sept. 25). It's available pretty much everywhere. Rumor has it that Best Buy has it at a really cheap price. If you want to go digital iTunes has it as well. In fact, their album is currently #6 in the world of downloads of iTunes!

Ok now why should you get this. Admittedly I am a Crowder fan. I've liked his style since I first heard him. However....I honestly believe that even if I wasn't, or hadn't ever heard him before this album would rock my world.

I call Remedy a "life changing album". There is music in your life that you look back on and realize that it has affected you in dramatic ways......I believe this will be one of those albums. I literally cried the first time I listened the whole way through.

It is INCREDIBLY well written. Again, I've always been a huge fan of Crowders' style and musicality. Behind his stadium rock guitar, and turntables there is some well thought-out lyrics and structure that are the real reason they're one of the premier Christian bands today. This album takes things to a new level. The music and lyrics are very intentional. They are a call to action. The band says on one of their websites....."We are not simple enough to believe that a few songs can change a planet, but we are simple enough to believe that you can."

This album is a call to action to live out our faith. Not just say we're doing it, but doing it.

If you'd like to order direct from the band go HERE.

RUN don't walk and pick this up. You won't regret it.

Switching Gears

It's been awhile. Here's why.....I've been freaking out internally.

At church we decided we needed to do something differently this fall. We talked about maybe doing a children's outreach type thing but realized that quite frankly we just didn't have the volunteers to make it happen. So we settled on a weekly dinner, with a multi-generational "thing".....the thing would be music, drama, video, art, etc etc....

So two weeks ago was the first one. We had sent flyers to this lower income house development across the forelane. We even told them we'd come with some mini-vans to pick up anyone that wanted to come. The result? 26 kids show up and no adults.

We instantly have a children's outreach ministry.

Now here's the thing. For those keeping track at home.....I did children's ministry at N. Warren for close to 7 years. I know that I can do it. Oddly enough though last summer when they agreed to just let me be the youth pastor part time and lose the children's ministry part of that job....there was something inside of me that breathed a sigh of relief.

So now here I am standing in front of 26 kids and a handful of adults literally in a state of shock. I was totally unprepared. I had these expectations of leading music for this multi-generational group....I had included some songs with "big words" that some of the kids (who can't read) would get lost in....but some easier ones for the kids too. I just didn't know what to do. I thought I was done with kids.

God is always amazing me with his humor.

We intentionally said we weren't going to do children's ministry. God sends us children. I was pretty content with the fact that I was ONLY doing youth ministry. God sends us children.

So honestly I've internally been freaking out. What am I going to do? We're so unprepared. We need to change our plans. We need more people. How can we do this?

Problem: Not believing God is going to do most of the job too.

So this past Wenesday we had a few less kids but not many. And we had more volunteers. And we were ready. And it was amazing to jump up and down with my guitar with 24 kids.....(who were amazed that an old guy could still jump up and down.)

I think what happened mentally for me is that I needed to shift into another gear. A gear that I'd forgotten about for a year. And now I'm slowly getting into 5th.

ICE BOWL

So this past week the NHL had a big announcement. They announced an OUTDOOR game on New Years Day 2008. Not only that....but it's in Buffalo which is 2 hours from here. Beyond that, it'll be the Sabres against the Penguins!!!! So my two favorite teams are going to play a once in a lifetime game 2 hours from my house.

The NHL announced this game on Monday. Tickets went on sale Tuesday morning at 10am......and sold out in 11 minutes. I do not have tickets.

Here's the thing. The NHL in all it's wisdom (this is me being sarcastic) decided that it would not put a limit on the number of tickets that any one person or group could by. This would ensure that they could sell all the tickets. On one hand this got some great publicity for the NHL after a lot of bad press in the past couple years.

The down side is that companies or individuals from all over the country could buy tickets with no intention of actually going and try to make profit off of the uniqueness of the game. Within an hour of the game being sold out, tickets were already up on e-bay and stubpub.

I just checked on e-bay for tickets. There are 4 tickets right now going for 4 GRAND! These are tickets that cost less 200 bucks a piece. So for tickets that were around 800 bucks they're trying to back 3200 in profit. Pretty tidy.......and ridiculous.

Instead of not selling out right away....but selling out in say a week or two...or a month....the NHL has once again made VERY POOR JUDGEMENT. Instead of those selling out over a longer period of time to hockey fans who will appreciate the game and what it stands for, the NHL was looking for media attention. In selling out in 11 minutes the sports world took notice.....for a day. In doing so once again Gary Bettman made a mockery of hockey.

Just a not on commissioner Bettman. He came from basketball. He was a crappy counselor to the NBA...and when the NHL job came up.....guess who gets it? He has no respect for the game. He has no knowledge of the history or tradition of hockey. The day Gary Bettman resigns I will be having a party and you're all invited.

The end result.....I'm hoping that good hockey fans won't buy these outrageously priced tickets. My guess is that in a month or two some people that're trying to turn a HUGE profit will settle for a small profit or breaking even and long bearded hockey fans from Warren PA can find a ticket so he can freeze his butt off on New Years day.

In other news.....hockey season's almost here!

This is Gary Bettman's warm reception at this summers NHL entry draft.

FIGHT!!!!!!!!

These are awesome! This guy has so much control it looks like he's wooping up on his kids. If I did this to C-rock no doubt I'd break his leg. Watch and laugh.

Things that Rock

It seems I should make a list that counteracts the one from early this morning.

-Freezie Pops

-Hockey. Even when I have a bad night I realize how much I love playing hockey. It's such a great sport.

-The way my wife both challenges my thinking and also knows what I mean when I can't get it to come out of my mouth.

-I know this is weird but...... a comfortable pair of pants.

-The sound of a guitar after you put new strings on it

-A good bargain. My mom taught me to watch my pennies. I love a good bargain. Getting something for way less than it's worth. Finding something that's on sale or getting it before it becomes popular. I love a good bargain.

-Corban's smile when he knows you're going to tickle him or when he's up to something.

-Opening up a geocaching to find that no one else has signed the log before you. You're the first.

-Mac. I saw an ad today for Virus protection software and how you better protect yourself or you'll get a virus. I thought, "man I haven't thought about that nonsense for awhile!"

-Taking a hot shower after a couple days of backpacking.

-Ska music. I know it's not even close to popular anymore. I remembered the other day that I like it. I like the horn lines. I like the rhythms. I like it......still.

-Having a student ask a really hard question, because they just want to understand Jesus Christ better.

-a good friend

Things that are annoying

In no particular order.....

-If you're standing in a long line, there's no use complaining about it. Either just stand their. Or go home. We're all in the same line and it won't go faster by you flapping your gums.

-Don't talk about your minor ailments.....particularly in public. First, I don't think this is a topic for discussion normally unless it's your immediate family and in the privacy of your own home. Secondly, I don't mean to over hear things....but it happens....don't make THAT be what I overhear. Finally, I have friends fighting cancer.....your foot fungus is kind of not worth complaining about.

-Walmart

-hidden agendas

-paperwork

-the day after I play hockey.......I'm not 21 anymore

-fruit flies.......what's the point?

-The fact that I actually have to be awake to drive to people's houses. With GPS technology and computers you would think that they would technologically be able to just punch in your digits and the car would go. If they can get a car to park itself, they can't get it to drive on interstates?

-allergies

-I don't care who you are, you shouldn't wear socks and sandals. It's just not right. If your feet are cold, then you should be wearing shoes. The only way that I find socks and sandals even remotely acceptable is when you've just come from the soccer field and you can't walk around in your cleats.

-Along those lines.....if you're a guy and dressed up.....get yourself some dark colored socks to go with those dark shoes. White socks aren't cutting it.

that's all for now.

Ego

Did Adam and Eve have egos? or did Sin bring our egos into being?

If it's the former, I would wonder why God would create such a thing. It rarely serves a positive purpose. For the most part it just hangs around getting in the way. How many ministries have fallen because someone's ego got a little too big?

I have to believe that it was the later option....that ego was part of sin.

I had a student ask me recently how they could tell if they were hearing God speak to them or if they were just thinking stuff themselves and attributing it to God. That's a tough one. I mean, theologians have been going at that one for awhile. Add in the fact that we have these silly egos and that we have desires that might not be Godly desires and it's pretty tough.

We think we're superstars in our little worlds.

God would you knock me down a peg if I become to proud of what YOU gave to me and think it's my own. Would you keep me humble when things go well. Would you let me deflect praise back to you instead of hoarding it for myself. Would you let me get out of Your way and remind me of who I am and what you've called me to.

Two articles from friends

My friend Pastor Bill Beatty had a great post on his blog recently about what makes a church innovative. I really loved the post and wanted you to read it too.

INNOVATIVE CHURCHES

The second article that I really liked recently was by a friend from Geneva, Jason Sica who was the youth pastor at Chapel PCA in Beaver when I was working there, and is now a Pastor in Wilmington Delaware.

Fear of Being Known

A Complete Addict

It's true. I'm an addict.

It happened this summer. Some family members turned me on to it and now I'm hooked.

I'm a Freeze Pop junkie. I'm pretty sure that there is some illicit drugs in them. Crack maybe? Not sure.

It all started when we went away to visit Marjorie's brother and family at the cottage they were renting in NY. For the week they bought a box of Freeze Pops. Veronica kept saying, "when they're gone, they're gone." I didn't understand what the big deal was. And then I had one. Can you say hooked?

I believe that it is a physical impossibility to have just one. So I started in on the Freeze Pops. At the end of our time there, I stopped at a grocery store in town and bought them another box of 100 pops. Look here's proof of the beginnings of my addiction.

So then I got a box when we were home. Then another. We just found out that Dollar General has a box of 100 for only 3 bucks! PLUS there's a 1 dollar rebate per box from the company. That means that each Freeze Pop is only 2 cents. It seems a shame to only eat 2 cents worth! I am thoroughly addicted. I love them.

It can't be healthy to have all that dye and sugar running through me. Ok all this typing has taken me away from my Freeze Pops.....gotta go.

Prayer Requests

I promise to be blogging more starting this week. This couldn't wait though.
Behind my son in this picture is my good friend Wheeze and her nephew Brady. This was at the Erie Zoo a couple weeks ago. Yesterday Brady was diagnosed with Leukemia. He and his parents rushed down to Childrens Hospital in Pittsburgh last night. Needless to say everyone is in a state of shock and dismay. The plans as of now are to start chemo as early as Thursday. PLEASE be in prayer for Brady and his mommy and daddy (Renee and Daniel). They are just great people who love God.

And while you're praying for my close friends....
(It's not a great picture) The gentlemen in the center of this picture is Jerry Nelson. He is an amazing man. He is quiet and humble. He's a lover of God with all of himself. He has a daughter in high school and a son in college. He's going through his second round of chemo this week for a weird cancer of the blood. I love this man. Please keep him and his wife (as she's driving back and forth to Pittsburgh) in your prayers this week.

Out with the Old, In with the New OR I'm a cheapskate

The year is somewhere around 1995ish (don't hold me to that). I'm in my second year of college. My dad is dropping me off at college after a weekend at home. As I'm getting my bag out of the trunk I notice a coil of rope in there. "Dad, can I have some of that rope?" "Sure." So I took a little more than 3 feet of it.

That was 12ish years ago. I've worn that rope as a belt pretty much all the time since then. Why? Up to that point I was going through belts pretty regularly.....like close to monthly. I was a poor college kid, and just couldn't afford buying more belts. I thought that this piece of nylon rope would last a little longer than a month. And it has......a lot of months actually. (Please note that I have several dress belts for church....but for everyday wear, it's nylon rope)

Then about a month ago I went to tie my square knot in my belt and notice that the inside core of my belt had given away.....the only thing holding it together was the outside nylon.

I thought long and hard about buying a real belt. Then I thought.....WHY? No one knows (until know) that I'm only using a piece of rope. And frankly who cares? My new belt cost me all of 44 cents. Here's to another 12 years!

[I will now point out how stupid this post is. The fact that you've read this far means you are desperate for me to write something. I just wrote, and you just read about a piece of nylon rope!]

Hey

We don't have TV, but even if we did I wouldn't watch this show. However this is a funny clip. If you have children this is so much more funny. If you don't....prepare.

RICH sell me your guitar

I have my blog set so that every time someone posts a comment I get an e-mail. That way, since I'm OCD about checking my e-mail 1000 times a day, I don't have to check here. [this would be a perfect time to encourage you to post comments when you feel so moved]

ANYWAY....last week or so I got an e-mail that someone named Rich posted a note to my blog. When I read the post it took me a second to understand what he was talking about. He actually comment on a post I put up back in February. The post (see it here) talked about my week mostly....but the end talked about my obsession at that time with guitars. One of the guitars I mentioned was a kind of rare guitar put out by Alvarez a bunch of years ago called an AV-1NA.

Well Rich's comment was that not only did he have one, but the one I had in the picture was his guitar.

I don't know who Rich is. At least I don't think so. My guess is that he was doing a google search for Alvarez AV-1NA. So just in case Rich comes back after another search or something let me be very very clear.

Rich, my good friend. If you are currently or ever thinking of selling that guitar.......PLEASE consider me. I would think long and hard about robbing a bank so as to finance it. Again, Rich if you're reading this.....I'm you're man. I'll take that off your hands for you!

Children and Church

Excuse some generalizations

Church isn't really designed with kids in mind....or their parents. OK that's HUGE generalization. Let me point out some things that have come to my mind in the past couple months or so.

TIME. Why would we have church at 11am? That's just prior to lunch and naps? That's right when kids get cranky. And we expect them to sit quietly? Yeah right. I will grant you that many churches now have an earlier service which could conquer this problem....but then you would have the problem of getting children up/fed/dressed and to church by 8:30 or whatever it is.

SPACE. We really don't want children to be part of worship. (I know another broad generality.) Think of it this way though......we hope we can keep them quiet for the first 15 minutes of worship, or until the junior sermon, or until they're dismissed to the nursery or second hour or whatever it is. We hide them away and then when they're 5 or 6 or whatever they're finally allowed to sit in church with us.....but they don't know how to do that....because they've never been to church. How do children learn how to worship God? What would happen if in your church there was a small area that was like a plastic half wall......with no chairs in it.....where kids could just stand up and move about? And parents could sit on the floor with their kids? It would be expected that these kids would make noise on occasion......but it would be expected by everyone. They would be part of the worship.....which lead me to another point.

STYLE. If we created space in worship for kids....we would be required (and challenged) to make worship a little something for everyone. We would instantly be forced to break down our high and might airs and meet the God who said, "Let the children come to me." in a new way. We would be forced to sing Jesus Loves Me from time to time.....which often times we forget is the biggest truth of our lives. Maybe we....(gasp).....do motions to songs. Perhaps our sermons wouldn't use words like justification and sanctification and covenanted and dispensational........because quite frankly most people who've grown up in church don't really know what all that means anyway.

SNACKS. Ok this one isn't very real. It's just something I think would be cool. At 11am, I'm ready for a snack too. Many a Sunday I want to eat one of my sons crackers, but have resisted because I worried to much about what would people would say about that rebellious youth pastor.

I don't know what category this is.....but can we let boys just be boys! I don't care what anyone says....boys and girls are different. God made them that way.....as a church let's stop screwing it up! I'm not making excuses here because I believe that boys can be taught to sit and listen and pay attention.....but let's also remember that they're boys and that they move and make noise. Let me relate a short story here....

We took Corban to a local VBS for a night. He and 5 other boys were in a class together. That's 6 boys under the age of 5 years old! They take the boys into the "nursery" room. The room is filled with toys. The first thing the boys want to do is check stuff out, to play, to have fun. NO! It's time to sit quietly and color a page. Then we're going to play a no activity game where you stand in a line and be quiet. Then we're going to color another page. Then it's snack time. Then guess what? Color another page.

Can I say that my boy (and most of the other boys too) was ready to crawl out of his skin by the second coloring activity far less the third. He simply refused to do the last one at all. Just let them play! Look I'm all about lesson time. I'm all about coloring. But if they would've let the boys play for 5 minutes and then said, "OK now we're going to do this thing" they might have had better results instead of mild anarchy.

Hiatus

Sorry for the unannounced hiatus. My apologies for all who kept tuning in here hoping to find something new and haven't for weeks on end. I'll have some new stuff up in the next day or so. Probably several posts in a row to catch everyone up.

Quickly.....we're all still alive.

yep

Marjorie doesn't like my random stuff posts. She says they're too ADD.......except that I have ADD and that's the way I think sometimes....so here we go again.

-I'm headed out tomorrow with some students to work at the World Vision Distribution Center in Sewickley. I'm pretty stoked to be going back there. Your prayers are much appreciated.

-Since that's on my mind....I've been meaning to share this link with you all. It'll take some time to go through this so save it for when you have a little bit. It's an Aids Experience. It is very much like the One Life Revolution walk through tour they had at some of their big events. It's pretty amazing.

-How is it that "the man in the yellow hat" was able to keep George? He was a complete imbecile. George is always wandering off and creating havoc and yet he's never put in a zoo or taken away. If a parent let their child do 1/100th of that stuff they'd be in child custody like that (snaps fingers). It just seems silly.

-Pray for my dad please. He's having some minor medical problems but he's also going through some tough stuff. Thanks.

-It's fun watching Corban get sense of humor. His latest thing is to call everything by it's wrong name or color. Then he'll look at you like "did you catch that? I called it by the wrong name?" and give you a goofy look. Then usually he cracks up laughing.

-This Friday is a big day for us. It marks one year that our son has been home. God is good.

-If and when we buy a house....it's going to have central air.....so says me.

The Warren Phenomena

Tomorrow is July 4th (for those keeping score at home). Independence Day here in the good old USA. Now I love the country I live in.....but I'm not over the top either. I won't be going to Old Navy to buy their 2007 flag T-shirt, there won't be bunting hanging from our house, nothing like that. I've been enough countries to realize international perception of the US and our egotism. I also live with a Canadian and a little Ethiopian boy.

NONE of that has anything to do with this blog post though.

Every year on the 4th Warren has a parade. A big parade. Not a great parade, but it's big. AND it's a big deal. How big of a deal? Well most of the population of the county comes out for the parade. People you'll never see the rest of the year go to the parade. Since we're incredibly rural, that makes for an interesting crew of people.

Our parade is so big that no other town within 45 minutes to and hour of us has a parade. Any band that's going to play comes to Warren. Any service organization that's going to have a float does it in Warren. OK so what? Lots of towns have parades. Yes.

Here's the Warren Phenomena though. This parade is such a big deal to the people around here that they begin lining their chairs up along the parade route up to a week in advance. Seriously. Some tie their chairs to parking meters or street lamps. Some use chain. Some just set them there. And amazingly enough most 99% of them are left alone.

It's like people are saving their place in line for the new iPhone or something. "Don't want to miss out on the good stuff!"

I talked with a friend this morning who works downtown and he said there was a family sitting in their chairs most of yesterday....like they were seriously waiting. Please remember that the parade is still just under 24 hours from the time I'm writing this!

This isn't the NY Yankees winning the pennant. This isn't astronauts returning home after walking on the moon. This is Warren PA 4th of July parade. Come on! It cracks me up every year....and I've now see around 24 of them. Only in Warren.

Random thought Monday

Just a bunch of random thoughts today.

- To keep you up to date on the scooter decision.......I decided I'm too close to being done. I need to know at least if it'll kick over. It turned out we were able to temporarily fix the problem parts. There is hope ahead. Maybe even as early as tonight we could kick it over. We'll see.

-We don't often splurge on ourselves. A couple weeks ago though we did. I bought a snow-cone maker....and it rocks! We have 6 different flavors as of right now. It's the coolest thing. No more hand crank action like the old-school "Snoopy snowcone maching". This baby's electric. We took it to my dad's 60th birthday party and cranked out snow cones for everyone in about 3 minutes. It was the hit of the party. All for only 25 bucks!

-This a funny collection of real people and their avatars. Funny how life doesn't always imitate "art".

-I just noticed that my list of books and CD's on my wishlist at Amazon has grown considerably. Lack of time and prioritization (is that a word?) is to blame I believe.

-Even though I'm frustrated with NHL free agency and money (see yesterdays post), I'm also slightly obsessed watching who is going where. For the best way to do that, you can't look to ESPN or yahoo sports......you have to use a Canadian source of course. TSN.com.....they have a up to the minute blog rolling of signings here.

-Have I mentioned lately how much I love spending time with my son. He's just fun to be around (most of the time)

Disgruntled

So today is July 1st. Well there's not much left of it but still July 1st non-the-less. To my in-law family(and anyone else who might relish it) I say Happy Canada Day.

However July 1st is something else. It's the first day of free agency in the NHL. To sum up briefly. Since the lock out free agency has been a joke because teams haven't had money to sign players to big contracts because of a low salary cap. Last year and again this past week the league has raised the salary cap significantly. After the lock out the cap was at 39 million. This week it jumped to 50 million.

So what is the end result? Players are now holding out for much more money. And more importantly.......The Buffalo Sabres just lost both of their team captains today to free agency. Daniel Briere signed a giant contract with the dreaded Flyers and Chris Drury signed with the Rangers. UGH!

I am very very frustrated with the NHL right now. The league is headed in this horrible downward spiral.

The Beach

My wife loves "the beach". For those that don't know, she grew up not far from Lake Huron in Canada. It was a family thing for them to go to the beach. She has deep emotional attachment (i believe) to the beach. She is always bugging me to go. Last Friday she called me from work......"I'm taking Monday off and we're going to the beach." "Yes dear".

So that evening my parents called and Marjorie tells them her plans. Amazingly enough my mom had off work Monday and Tuesday and they were looking for things to do. So they said they'd meet us there!

I have to say here if you hadn't gathered thus far.....I don't really like the beach. I don't like swimming much. I don't like being hot for no reason. So the idea that I'm going to sit on hot sand for no reason seems silly to me. HOWEVER.....I was excited to take my son to the beach and see my parents as well......but most importantly, my wife would be happy!

We arrived a little later than planned.....due to a variety of reasons. My parents arrived ahead of us and were ready to play!

Can I just say it was a great day! My parents brought a giant umbrella that I sat under and read for awhile.

Corban was in his glory. Sand. Water. Grandma and Papa. Snacks. AND Grandma brought a POP (lollipop) for him! The downside to the lollipop was that he had a really hard time keeping it out of the sand. He was not a big fan of the seaweed that was in the water. He would try avoiding it as best as possible.

It was a pretty great day all around. We left the beach a little after 5 and went to Panera before heading our separate ways home. While at Panera my dad was waiting for our order. There was an older gentleman sitting reading his paper. Corban only saw the white hair and rain down the aisle and jumped up on the guys seat yelling "PAPA, PAPA!" The gentlemen was nice enough to laugh.

Final picture. Dad and I kept digging our feet in the sand in the water. Dad had dug a giant hole and was buried pretty deep. Corban brought me his bucket. Funny....though not clear.
So I'll be a little less disgusted next time Mari suggests the beach.....not completely....just less so.

New music

From time to time I run across new music that makes me bob my head a little. I call them "my favorite band of the week". Ultimately, I like them, but they're really not my favorite band. I just play them a lot for a week or so.

LAST WEEK (more actually): Plushgun.
For now all he's got is a myspace page......which I'm not fond of....but it appears that he's working on a full fledged webpage.

Don't know what it is about this electronica groove. If you're on his myspace page, you want to listen to the song "This is How we Roll". I've been playing that in my iTunes list over and over and over again.

I've been meaning to download his ep, but i'm just a penny pincher.

BAND OF THIS WEEK: Can you say obsessed? They don't even have an album out yet. I can't get enough of them. Again they just have a myspace page....but they're also in high school.
.
Ladies and gentlemen........introducing.......THE WRONG TROUSERS. I just find them very interesting. Mandolin, harp and upright string bass. Not your everyday high school rock band. But don't kid yourselves, they rock.

Watch this YouTube clip and decide for yourself. Granted toward the end they're vocally straining a bit, but I like them.




Do a search on YouTube for them and you'll find a bunch of live stuff. They have original stuff too. They just were in the studio. Something about them. Their boldness perhaps. They just make me happy.

Ok so I'm crazy

This happened a couple weeks ago. For some reason it instantly escaped my memory so I didn't share it. But in my attempt to post every day for a week I was thinking about recent things and this popped back into my head. "yeah that's good!"

So you have to know a couple things first.

1. We live RIGHT next to a state mental institution. Like I could literally throw something and hit the criminally insane building it's that close (ok actually I couldn't because I have no arm, but I could definitely shoot it with a paintball gun if I so chose) Most of you will think that's weird but remember that I've lived here most of my life and they rarely escape, and it's just part of life in N. Warren. Plus they have GIANT fields that are fun to play in.

2. For some reason, my cell phone service decided to be really crappy about 2 months ago. I can no longer talk to people on my cell phone when I'm inside. So when my phone rings I walk outside to take the call......if I take the call.

3. I have ADD. Not like "yeah I think I have ADD because I can't concentrate today", but real ADD....I've been to doctors and stuff.

So my cell phone rings. It was my good friend Wheeze. So of course I'm going to take the call. I pick up the phone and head into my back yard. Usually when Wheeze and I talk it's for more than 5 minutes. So as we're talking my ADD kicks in and I start pacing around and walking......it helps me think. So I head out between our garage and the neighbors to walk through the fields.

I get out there and it's a beautiful day. I'm walking around. Now what happens is that I'm not walking with a purpose....like I'm not going anywhere. I'm just kind of pacing back and forth. I'm not thinking about it, I'm just talking on the phone and pacing.

Well I see a van pull up near the corner. I noticed but didn't pay much attention. Then I see a guy get out and start walking in my general direction. I still didn't think much of it because he could've been coming to play soccer on the field or something. THEN it hits me. "Hold on a second", I say.

Here comes a security guard right toward me. Our conversation goes something like this......
Him: Sorry to interrupt. I saw you pacing around out here and was just coming to make sure you weren't one of our clients.
Me: No sir. I live right there (points). I just don't have good cell service at my house so I come out here to get better reception.
Him: I see. You live where?
Me: Right there.
Him: and your name is?
Me: Aaron Reinard.
Him: Ok then, well you have a good day.
Me: Thanks you too.

Now a couple of things here.....
-I know that I must've looked like one of his clients from afar. I was randomly pacing back and forth at the edge of a field. I get that.
-I don't really fault this guy at all. I would rather he come check me out and make sure that I'm not someone who's wandered away.....than let everyone wander away. I'm glad he was doing his job so thoroughly.
-As he approached and saw that I was talking on my cell phone.....don't you think he would realize that I'm not a client of his? Like they don't let those folks have cell phones. I'm sure of that.
-Why did he ask my name? We had already established that I wasn't an escaped patient. Why didn't he double check where I lived? Did he think I was lying to him? Was he going to go back to his station and check me out?

Father's Day +

Just a note: I'm going to try doing a blog every day for one week. I'm so optimistic to believe that I could sustain it for a year or for even a month.....so I'm saying a week. I think I can do it. So check in regularly. Now we return you to your regularly scheduled reading.

Fathers Day 2006 I distinctly remember this day. It happened to be my birthday as well. I was preaching in North Warren. At the time of "Sharing and Prayer", I shared with the congregation that we were YET AGAIN, having adoption problems......this time with the US government. I could barely get the words out of my mouth. I know I choked on some and barely contained myself, as I looked back at my wife who was tearing up. We were frustrated.

FATHERS DAY 2007 This was a good day. We were at my parents house because my father turned 60 just two days prior. I woke up and walked out into the living room to find my VERY awake and energized son playing with a train. Fathers Day will never be the same.

At breakfast gave me a card and a box. The card was from her. The box....was from Corban! Apparently he had made me something at Day Care and she had hid it from me. It was awesome. Silly actually. But AWESOME silly. It was a necktie made out of craft foam. And had stickers plastered all over it. My first Fathers Day tie!!!!!!!! Here's where it gets good though!

Marjorie in her infinite wisdom (and I mean that!) knew that the shirt I was bringing to wear to church wouldn't allow me to wear the tie. So she secretly packed me another shirt. How cool is that? So I went to church with a craft foam tie with goofy stickers on it.

Let me clarify here. I WANTED to go to church with this tie on. I don't think you could've stopped me from wearing it. I was stoked about wearing it. I just don't want you thinking that I was forced or coerced to. And let me tell you, numerous people told me that I had the coolest tie in the place.......and they were right!

NHL bound

I always joke that Corban will make the NHL (once he figures out how to hold the stick the right way). I didn't know any Africans played in the NHL yet.....but I learned some things today. Here they are.

I knew that Jerome Iginla's dad was Nigerian, but his mom was Canadian so that doesn't count.

I knew Olaf Kolzig was born in South Africa.....but his parents are German, so that doesn't count.

BUT.....today a Nigerian player was drafted by the Chicago Blackhawks. His name is Akim Aliu. He didn't even skate until he was 10.....which for most NHL players is pretty rare....most of them were nearly born with skates on.

ALSO......There was already a Nigerian player that played in the NHL! (though he was raised in Canada.....does that count?) His name was (still is) Rumun Ndur He's now playing some minor league hockey but that's cool.

AND.....I saw this a year or so ago.....there is now an ice rink in Kenya. SOLAR ICE RINK. There was talk of some private schools possibly starting ice hockey there coached by expatriate from the US and Canada.

So Corban won't be the first African in the NHL. How about the first Ethiopian?

Quandry

Mom, if you're reading this.....I own a 1966 Vespa motorscooter (two actually). I know you don't approve. I'm sorry. I'm a big boy now and this is one of those choices that I've made.

OK folks. I have a dilemma and could use some help. As I've posted in the past, I have picked up two 1966 Vespas. Neither was running. One was a barn find, with rats nests. Only one motor between them. I've had one of them for about 5 or 6 years now. I've been "working" on it slowly.

At the beginning of the year I decided that if by my birthday (next monday) I didn't have one of these vehicles on the road, I was going to sell everything......both scooters, several hundred dollars in new parts that I've purchased over the years to restore them......everything.

I told my small group Bible study guys about this and they took steps to make sure that didn't happen. We've been regularly meeting at my house on Mondays to work on this project.

Along the way we have encountered several set-backs. And made some progress as well. When we started we had two frame, an engine, and lots of bits. We chose the frame that's a little more scratched up, but that has the better cables and rubber bits.........Right now it at least "looks", like I have a Vespa in my basement.

So last night we got together knowing that we had two nights to get something going. It seemed do-able. Well last night went like this....."uh-oh that could be a problem" "oh wait, here's the solution". "uh-oh this isn't good" "oh wait, this should do it." "uh-oh this really is a problem." "um yeah....that's really really not good".

Long and short.....at the end of the night we find out that I have a big problem with the electrical coming off the motor. There's a slight possibility that we can make a temporary fix of it to try to get it to run........slight possibility.

In January or December when I made this decision I figured that right now I'd be faced with two possibilities. 1. I would've worked really hard and be riding a scooter around town OR (and more likely) 2. I haven't touch the thing and I'm going to sell it.

BUT here I am. 95% done. Maybe even closer. I have some serious decisions to make. I'm looking for your opinions. The options I see are as follows (but not limited to these either):

1. Next monday, I sell it all off.

2. I drop another 200+ dollars on new parts and pray real hard that this will solve my problems....and not allow us to find MORE problems. But I'm THIS CLOSE.

3. Take this to a Vespa repair guy in Pittsburgh who will charge me an arm and a leg, but fix the problems the first time. However to do so, will result in the loss of my arm and leg.

Now take into consideration that I purchased these things because they're classic. They're not motorcycles. Everyone owns a motorcycle. I don't want one. I want something a little different. A little sleeker.

I'm open to your thoughts.

Corban the rebel AND I'm a threat

Two quick stories.

1. Corban has decided that to go to sleep he likes to have his blankets pulled up over his head. I think it gives him his own private little space. It calms him down. So when he goes to day-care two days a week, he'll pull his blanket over his head during nap time. Apparently state regulations are that the workers must see the children at all times. So the workers have to continually peek under his blanket to see that he's alright and still sleeping or not. My son the rebel....already breaking state policy!

2. While in college my friend Grayson told a bunch of us a story. Basically a friend of his slit open a tennis ball and filled it with "strike-anywhere" match heads. He then threw it against a wall and it blew up. One evening at Geneva, a few of us tried this......though we were dumb and didn't get strike anywhere matches.....so it didn't work.....though security chased us anyway. So I told my wife this story when we were married and she has been obsessed with doing this.

I tell you that to tell you this. I was checking out the Global Incident Map that I've mentioned in another post. What should I see, but THIS STORY. Apparently stupid fun is now a terroristic threat.

Out of it

Sorry I'm in a bit of a funk right now. Not feeling post worthy.

A "How to" Book?

So I have a small "office" at Pleasant Community Church. Not really an office.....more like a cry-room.....which is what it used to be. A cry room. In my "office" is a water fountain that's 2 1/2 feet off the ground and bathroom. Everyone in the church walks in and uses these facilities all the time. I don't really have a desk.....I have like a counter top and I share this on Sunday morning with the lady who takes Sunday School attendance. None of these things are complaints really. I have a home office and I keep most of my stuff there. Would I like a real office? Sure, but let's remember I'm only part-time.

ANYWAY......so in my "office" there is a book case with books, videos and other as sundry things that were in use or purchased for use before I arrived here. I really didn't give them too much thought until last week. I was slacking off and looking for things to distract me from preparing for youth group when I started gandering at the shelves.

While doing this I found this book. I was instantly excited. Why? Well for some reason I didn't really take in the full meaning of the title. Remember I was in my office looking at books for youth ministry. Books about using movie clips, playing games, doing discipleship. For some reason I thought this was like a "how-to" book. A game book perhaps. A book of fun games that has a "devil" character maybe. I don't really know what I was thinking.

I then opened the book up. Yeah, it wasn't any of those things. It was a book from the early 70's. A scare the crap out of you book. A "these are things you better watch out for" book. All I could do was laugh. Not so much at the book, though it was kind of funny....written in that Oh so 70's sort of way.....but at my own stupidity.

Here's the funnier part. There isn't just one copy of this in my office. There are several. It would appear that at some point in the past someone must've done a study using this book. Good stuff.

This lead me though to a new train of thought though. When someone looks at this bookshelf in 2125 or something....are they going to laugh at the titles and the content of the books that we're using? Are they going to think that we're teaching tripe? It just strengthens my commitment to just teach the Bible.

Snippets

-I like hockey. I know that doesn't come as a shock to you, but I realized it more profoundly last week. I play hockey every Thursday night. Last Thursday was the first game of the Eastern Conference Finals....Buffalo v. Ottawa. In this area Buffalo is a big deal (and to be honest they have won me over too). Well instead of staying home and watching the game, almost everyone showed up and skated.....the Zamboni driver would post the scores using paper against the glass, so we could know that Buffalo was losing. But I just thought.....man I love hockey. These guys want to play more than they care about watching someone else play.

-We went this past Monday to submit (hopefully) our last piece of paperwork for Corban. This will make him (on paper) a US citizen. He's already a citizen, but it has to be on paper. Great memories and time spent at the USCIS (what used to be called the INS) building over the past three years.

We also went to my parents house last weekend. I don't think I've mentioned this, but my father spent a couple weeks in Vanuatu, which is a group of islands off of New Zealand. He was setting up housing and food for mission groups that are coming in this summer. He is home safe now, but we decided to spend the weekend with Mom. We knew we had to file paperwork on Monday anyway, and Sunday was mothers day so why not. It was great time to be there with her. Corban can be a little obsessive about his Paw Paw because they love trains together so it was good to spend some quality time with just Grandma!

This past Wednesday we had a "representative" from a camp that our church supports come and talk with us about summer camp opportunities for the children and youth. Well the "representative" was actually my "uncle" Ken.....my dad's roommate from seminary, who I've known as uncle ken since I was born. I knew he was coming, but he didn't know I was working for Pleasant Church. We had a great time talking. The coolest thing though.....as he was getting ready to leave he said, "How can I support you in this crazy thing we call youth ministry? Do you have people to talk to? Do you need a place to get away from time to time?" That was it exactly. For the past 7 years there have been occasions where I've wanted to just get away for a day and be quiet or be noisy or just be alone. He has offered me to come to his camp on Lake Erie whenever I want to get away. I can bring the family if I want, or come alone. I can't tell you how excited I am just knowing I have a place to go.

Yesterday a group of 5 of us got in a minivan and drove 2 hours to a Christian camp in Bliss NY to play paintball. The camp has started a new paintball field and had a free day for youth pastors. My pastor came with us. SO MUCH FUN. The very first game of the day, my team wasn't doing well and I was hidden well over a bank. Who should walk up on the ridge, but my pastor....completely exposed and back to me.....I pulled up and boom...paint breaks in my barrel so it doesn't hit him and he shoots me. That was the only time all day that I'm aware of that we had each other in our sights. Fun.

I haven't called the phone number to order but this "Threat Alert Jesus" sure is sweet!

Marjorie's birthday is Tuesday. Any ideas what I should get her?

NEW PICTURES....have finally been posted on the Reinard Family blog. This are over a month in coming.....but there are more on the way I promise!

Yesterday the Buffalo Sabres lost. That means a couple things. I have to answer everyone that is going to bug me this summer for wearing my new Sabres hat. It also means I can now shave my "playoff beard". HOWEVER, I haven't decided if I should shave the beard or follow my wife's counsel and cut my goatee off and leave the beard......or shave it all off.......it would be the first time without facial hair since the summer of 1993. I'll keep you updated.