This was my short piece in our church newsletter. It's applicable for you too.

The boys and I had to go to the store this morning. It snowed a couple inches last night, so I ran out to start the van before we left. After we all got bundled up we were off. As we walked out the door Corban asked which side of the van he should get in on. I told him to follow the footprints.
To me this made perfect sense. The snow wasn’t that deep and he had his boots on, so all he needed to do was walk along the same route I walked earlier. In his brain though, I meant he had to walk only in the footprints I had already made. You see where this is going?
Let me spell it out for you. Corban is growing up quick, but my legs are still quite a bit longer than his. So he was struggling to make it to each footprint. He was hoping and jumping to try to make it. In-so-doing, he was kicking up snow and slipping every-which-way.
In that few minutes while I was trying to corral him into the van without having to pick him up from a snow drift, I thought about how much Corban’s actions are like ours.
The Bible is pretty clear that we’re supposed to pursue Godliness. Being like Christ. Those are some pretty large shoes to fill. There’s this part of me, this sinful nature that makes me come up short time and time again.
I wake up every morning and “take up my cross” and follow Christ. I know I’m going to come up short. It’s gonna get messy. There are days that I fall hard on my bum. And yet we jump and hop and strive to make into the footprints of the one who created us.
What’s the alternative? We could stay in the house, knowing we’re not going to make every footprint and possibly fall. We could play it safe. We could go through the motions of getting bundled up but not ever really make it to the warm van waiting for us.
My prayer for you this New Year is that you bundle up well. That you get out into the snow and desperately strive to live your days walking in the footprints of Jesus Christ. That you passionately struggle, slip, slide and make it to the warm van waiting for you. Blessings this New Year.

Let's go

Ok so I'm sitting hear drinking my morning coffee wasting time while Tobiah finishes his bottle. For fun I just checked out Chicago Craigslist to see what tickets to the Winter Classic game on Thursday are going for.

Now understand that the tickets to this game when they went on sale were much more expensive than the tickets to last years game. The main reason is that last years game was at a football stadium that held 75,000 people. This year it's at Wrigley Field which Wikipedia tells me seats 41,198. Most of this years seats weren't even put up for open sale. Most of the seats instantly were sold to season ticket holders from Chicago or Detroit.

So ANYWAY....there are still people looking to turn their tickets for serious money. They're asking crazy high prices....300 a ticket....750 for two...etc. HOWEVER...I also found a few that are selling tickets at 75 a piece. Now they're not the greatest seats, but they're 75 a piece!

So who's making the road trip with me? And more importantly who's going to explain it to Marjorie?

12/29 Monday Update

the weekend that was:
-We left Thursday (Christmas morning) to head north to Canada for a couple days. We originally didn't plan on making it up there this year....but after some discussion we felt we needed to. We made great time to Marjorie's parents...made it by 12:30. Bummer for the trip was that no Tim Horton's was open on our way. SUPER COOL BONUS...was that the Canadians were not collecting the toll on their side of the bridge because of Christmas.
-We mostly just hung out Thursday and spent some good time with Oma and Opa (what Corban calls Mari's parents)
-Friday was crazy cool day. All of Marjorie's siblings and their families converged on the house. For the record that's 6 siblings with spouses...and 19 grandkids! That's a lot of bodies. As much as a group that big would normally freak me out, for some reason I love it. I really like Mari's family. I have some super cool in-laws and I love being an uncle to all my neices and nephews. I introduced some of my neices to the WIZARD game I've been raving about. They thought it was the coolest thing since sliced bread. A great time and I once again ate WAY too much.
-Saturday we helped clean up a bit and packed. We left after lunch. No major problems on our trip home except at the border. We personally had no problems at the border but I picked a line where the guy was asking lots of questions and had two cars ahead of us searched. It took WAY too long.
-Spent the rest of Saturday unpacking and playing with toys.
-Sunday was morning church. For Sunday School I played a "would you rather" game with the girls. They were awesome as always.
-Sunday after naps we did our Christmas finally. Corban was obsessed with gifts. He couldn't get enough. We started watching his favorite movie later (Cars) and he asked us to stop it so he could just play. HILLARIOUS!

where i am at the moment: I'm at home sitting on the couch. Corban is finishing CARS. Tobiah is in his jumper...and jumping crazy!! Mari's on the floor going through Christmas cards.

on my to-do list this week: I'm planning on taking a bunch of kids out for breakfast this week. Also maybe going to a hockey game with kids tomorrow night. I have to get some worship music picked for the next couple weeks. I'd really like to do some reading this week.

procrastinating about: I hate making phone calls. I will ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS choose to procrastinate phone calls.

book I'm in the midst of: Honestly I didn't really do much reading last week with a short week and Christmas. I'm still working on Red Letters by Tom Davis. Everything I've read has been amazing. I'm hoping to do some serious reading this week.

music that seemed to catch my attention this past week: Back in the summer of 2007 I posted about a band I found called The Wrong Trousers. They're 3 high school/college students who play mandolin, harp and upright bass. AWESOME. They have a Myspace page here...and they have tour notes from this past summer on a blog here. Anyway I dig their sound a bunch. When I posted about them previously I posted a video of "Video Killed the Radio Star." Until last week I couldn't find that mp3 anywhere. I FOUND IT!!!!! Corban was singing the chorus all week.....after one listen!!! I really like these guys.

grand revelations this past week: So many churches pull out all the stops for Christmas and Easter....they create "high church". The problem being, those are the two times that people come to church. And we wonder why they don't like church!??! Our Christmas Eve service was relaxed and casual as usual. I liked it.

how i’m feeling about this week: I like spending time with teens and I'm hoping to do a good bit of it this week. Plus Marjorie had today off and has Thursday off....I love when she's home and we can just chill.

More of the same

Andrea from Better than Good posted this the other day. Yet another in a long line of videos and blogs that have made a big impression on me in the past month.



Also...I don't know where I found this. But there's this thing called (Red)Wire. Basically a bunch of musicians are giving their music away. You pay 5 bucks a month and get music weekly. Half of that 5 bucks pays for medicine to keep people with HIV/AIDS in Africa alive. Pretty cool idea. I should mention that the musicians are top quality too...not just no-namers. REM, U2, Sheryl Crow, Bob Marley, Death Cab for Cutie, Ziggy Marley, Cat Power, etc.

Random Saturday

Random Saturday was hard this week since we are away half the week....so I only had half the week to be random. Here goes.

-Belt Sander: While I want one, I should never own a belt sander myself. It's simple really. One of three things would happen if I owned one myself. 1. I would lose a finger. 2. A ton of items in my house would be smoothed, sanded or leveled. I would become obsessive about making everything even because I had the ability to do something about it. 3. I would be so afraid of 1 and 2 that I wouldn't use it.

-Intangible Christmas: A bundle of years ago a local high school student had an online comic. As part of that comic she had a bulletin board to discuss her comic. While there were people from all over on the board, mostly it was some local teens....most of which I knew quite well. Over the past couple years the comic has ended, but there are 7 of us that still use the board daily. Everyone is at least in college or done. In an odd way we have become incredibly connected (in an internet connectivity sort of way). ANYWAY....Katie the girl who started the comic is an artist now. So for Christmas she drew everyone a new avatar for the board...of themselves. This is possibly the coolest intangible internet gift I've received. Check me out.

-The definition of Irony: Have you seen this? HILLARIOUS. So there was a HEALTH DEPARTMENT Christmas party in southern Illinois. 42 workers got sick because of bad food. No joke. So what are the chances that the restaurant they were at stays open for the next year? Here's the story.

-Star Wars Geeks Christmas: Apparently George there was a Star Wars Special 30 years ago that aired one time. If you're into that sort of thing...here's a whole article with interviews and all. I don't know that I really care all that much, but my interest is peaked and I wouldn't mind seeing it once.

-Superpower: I think I have finally mastered a superpower. I made this realization last night at 2 am. I am now able to get Tobiah out of bed, carry him downstairs and give him a bottle, take him back up stairs, change his diaper and put him to sleep, all while being 50-75% still asleep myself. You may not find that impressive but I do.....so basically I'm cool.

On that note: Mac Vs. PC

Corban's train

We went to my parents for Christmas last week, we are currently in Canada with Marjorie's family. This was pre-posted....just so you know why it sounds that way...

As has been documented earlier, Corban is a train freak. We have bunch of Thomas stuff all over our house. He knows more about trains at 3 than I did before he came home....and not just Thomas stuff....he knows about trains.

This has been a joy to my father who has been a train buff since he was a little boy. Now please know that no one pushed trains onto Corban. When he came home we had cars and trains and planes and whatever else for him to play with. He instantly gravitated toward trains.

So last Christmas my father had a few trains under their tree. Corban was in heaven. Take a second to view this picture from last year.(dang he's grown up in a year!) He knew that Papa's trains are real and you don't touch them. He was very careful not to touch.

So my dad decided that this year Corban was old enough to have his own train. So being a super thrifty shopper, he found a tough old train, cars, track and a transformer. When we got to their house, my dad had a giant train layout set up in their basement and Corban's train was on there....but he didn't know it was his. So they spent a day playing with the trains without Corban knowing.

So after all the presents were open, Corban is told there is one more present for him. It's downstairs and it has a red ribbon on it. So this is the video of what happened when we got downstairs. (please ignore the mess that my sons made of my parents downstairs).

"If you touch my train you'll get in trouble". He knows you're not suppose to touch other people's stuff....so we were warned. Nice.


Oh, I'm wearing a robe. My mom bought me a robe. Just in case you think I'm wearing a dress.

Merry Christmas

"Behold, the days are coming," declares the LORD, "When I shall raise up for David a righteous Branch; and He will reign as king and act wisely and do justice and righteousness in the land. In His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely; and this is His name by which He will be called, `The LORD our righteousness.'" (Jeremiah 23:5-6) "But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, from the days of eternity." (Micah 5:2) "Therefore the LORD Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel. (Isaiah 7:14) In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to his own town to register.

So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. (Luke 2: 1-7)

We hope you truly understand the fullness of this holiday. A Savior was born in Bethlehem. Blessings to you and your family wherever you are. Merry Christmas from the Reinards!

Wrecked

God is apparently wrecking me this Christmas season. I swear this is all completely unintentional on our part. I came home tonight and Marjorie showed me a video she stumbled on. After watching that I just started clicking and found another video and then another. I ended up crying for a good half hour. A great way to spend an evening with your son in your lap.

Here's the first one we watched.


Then I found this one by Sarah Groves


Then I went through a couple videos of families going to pick up their kids in Ethiopia. Wow.

Dilemna

Normally when I wake up I don't have too many decision that face me in the early morning. This morning is clearly different.

Here's a short back story: A couple months ago Marjorie said she wanted to get "into shape". So we were joking with one of our teens one night about Marjorie doing work-out videos. This girl said, "We have the Tae-bo videos you can watch." So the next time she came to babysit the boys, she brought them over. They've been sitting on the shelf since then.

OK so this morning as soon as Marjorie walked out the door...for whatever reason....I said, I'm gonna watch that 8 minute work-out video....you know see what the hype is about.

So I pull the video out. I look at the tape in the case and think...man this is really long for a 8 minute workout.....then I read the label. OH MY GOODNESS!

It's her and her twin brothers 6th birthday party! It is hillarious. HILLARIOUS! Plus their cousins are on there who I also know. Have I mentioned it's hillarious.

It's wrong for me to use this as blackmail right? I already texted (or is it just text?) her to tell her about the switch-up.....she found that pretty funny.......but it's wrong to use this against her right? Are you sure?

12/22 Monday update

the weekend that was:
-We left Thursday when Marjorie was done with work for my parents house. It was our Christmas time.
-Friday was technically Tobiahs' 1st birthday, but we didn't celebrate it until Saturday because Friday was "Christmas". We have a bunch of traditions centering around our evening meal. Special Christmas Soup, etc. After dinner was present time. It was AWESOME watching Corban. He's old enough to understand what's going on.
-Saturday we celebrated Tobiah's birthday. He is more impressed with playing with the wrapping than any presents.
-Sunday morning was church. I have to say I was kind of blown away. A lady in our church had asked to sing a special music slot this week. Her husband died Satuday morning and she still really wanted to sing to minister to our congregation. It was amazing.
-Sunday evening we went to see the Cantata that our church and two other churches were doing. It was good except Corban wasn't interested in sitting still and drove me out of my mind.

where i am at the moment: Home. Tobiah is sleeping. Corban is watching is "after nap movie". Marjorie just walked in the door from work. All is well with the world.

on my to-do list this week: Coffee with the youth guys tomorrow morning. Singing for the funeral tomorrow afternoon. Guitar lesson tomorrow night followed with practicing some music for Christmas Eve. Christmas Eve service is huge. I have both boys all day Wed. We get up early Christmas Day to drive to Canada for the weekend....well until Saturday at least.

procrastinating about: I don't have time to procrastinate this week.

book I'm in the midst of: As I stated in a post this week, I'm reading Red Letters by Tom Davis. This book is kicking my butt. Because it's challenging I'm kind of reading it slow to soak it all in. I don't want to miss anything. I might need to read it again in a couple weeks actually.

music that seemed to catch my attention this past week: Katie Herzig. I downloaded her whole album Apple Tree for free from Noise Trade by referring 5 people. If you're a regular follower of my blog Katie's song "Shovel" was the background music to the video I posted from MochaClub. That's kind of what prompted me to check her out. Really cool album. As I've been cramming in work before Christmas I've had it playing in the background and it really chills me out. I would totally recommend going over to Noise Trade and referring some friends or paying what you feel this album is worth to get this download....plus if you do it before Jan. 1 there are some bonus tracks included with your download!!!!

grand revelations this past week: This is a revelation that I wish I wouldn't have had really. Wheeze sent me this link this week. Basically the little foam letters and numbers for the tub....the ones Tobiah loves to chew on because he's teething....have mercury in them. AWESOME! (sarcasim)

how i’m feeling about this week: I'm a little stressed by all the stuff I need to do before we leave for Canada. This is a super short week with lots to do. High stress. At the same time I don't want to miss quality Christmas time with my family. A fine balance to keep....

Quoteable

In reading Red Letters, he quotes Henry Nouwen from "Seeds of Hope":

Once there were a people who surveyed the resources of the world and said to one another: "How can we be sure we have enough in hard times?" We want to survive whatever happens. Let us start collecting food, materials, and knowledge so that we are safe and secure when a crisis occurs." So they started hoarding, so much and so eagerly that other peoples protested and said: "You have much more than you need, while we don't have enough to survive. Give us part of your wealth!" But the fearful hoarders said: "No, no, we need to keep this in case of an emergency, in case things go bad for us, too, in case our lives are threatened." But the others said: "We are dying now, please give us food and materials and knowledge to survive. We can't wait...we need it now!"

Then the fearful hoarders became ever more fearful since they became afraid that the poor and hungry would attack them. So they said to one another: "Let us build walls around our wealth so that no stranger can take it from us." They started erecting walls so high that they could not even see anymore whether there were enemies outside the walls or not! As their fear increased they told each other: "Our enemies have become so numerous that they may be able to tear down our walls. Our walls are not strong enough to keep them away. We need to put bombs on top of the walls so that nobody will dare to even come close to us." But instead of feeling safe and secure behind their armed walls they found themselves trapped in the prison they had built with their own fear. They even became afraid of their own bombs, wondering if they might harm themselves more than their enemy. And gradually they realized their fear of death had brought them closer to it.

Random Saturday

I've figured out one of my problems with posting every day....I read other blogs. I see cool stuff on other blogs, and want to repost it here...but that's just recycling...on the flip side, most of the blogosphere is that way...just viral idea posts. Regardless, welcome to Random Saturday.

-You Smell Like Meat: I thought it was a joke. I wanted it to be. It's not a joke. Burger King in their infinite wisdom and marketing expertise has created a cologne that makes you smell like a Whopper. No really. I wish I could make up stuff this dumb. The website is pretty stupid too.

-For those of you illegally downloading songs: You have a small respite of worry from lawsuit. The RIAA has been filing lawsuits against individuals who have been found to be downloading or uploading larger quantities of music files. They have been merceless and even gone after little kids. They have decided however to stop filing lawsuits against individuals and instead start contacting ISP's when there are cases of uploads and downloads. The ISP will then contact the user with threats of severe limitations on bandwidth...or something....The RIAA will not state which ISP's they are partnering with. Full story here.

-Geek Hotels: I found an article on Wired online about geek hotels. Hotels that cater to the nerdy. Weird.

-Apple Virus Possible?: Apple quietly recommended to users that they might want to get some anti-viral software on their Macs. This goes in the face of years of marketing. Basically they know it's a matter of time before there's a Mac virus, but right now they're not being targeted because there's a bigger boy on the street. As they grow in market size though there is more and more attention drawn to them and thus more possibility for a virus to be created for Macs. UGH!

-Forget 8 is Enough: Remember that TV show? Anyway, 8 is nothing if you know the Duggers. They just had their 18th child. That's a 1 and an 8....18...really. There are days I struggle with 2. 18. No really 18. Asked if they are done...."We'd both like more". WHAT? You have 18!!!!!!

-Winter Classic 2 Update: As reported earlier there will be a Winter Classic 2 this New Years Day. An outdoor NHL game played at Wrigley Field in Chicago between the Chicago Blackhawks and the Detroit Red Wings. This is a cool match up because these are two of the original 6 NHL teams. Also because Chicago is a young club with a bunch of up and coming superstars and Detroit is the defending Stanley Cup champions and perennial powerhouse. There was a bit of a hick-up this past week as the Zamboni's arrived at Wrigley. (see video by clicking link) Basically it fell off the back of a flatbed. Which also leads us to Drunken Zamboni Driving. I'm not joking.

Finally to end with a video. I don't know how I didn't see this until this week. Wow is this cool form a hockey history standpoint:

We have a 1 year old!

So today is technically Tobiah's first birthday. This is the day his birth certificate says...and the day that we're going to keep as his birthday. At this stage of the game, we're not really sure how accurate it is because developmentally he's pretty far behind. None-the-less...Happy Birthday Tobiah!

Video Post-arama

In the past week I've keep stumbling over videos I like. I have WAY too many for just Random Saturday posts. So for your viewing pleasure here's a bundle of videos all in a row.
We start with a little Christmas parody

Coldplay + Muppets

40 Inspirational Speeches in 2 minutes

This guys theology is jacked up, but I still find this funny and odd at the same time.

This is plain out funny. You almost need to watch it a couple times to see it actually happen. Pay attention. I laugh every time.

Tom Davis and Red Letters

If you've been keeping up with my blog this month, I've posted a bunch of videos that might tug on your heart...that deal with injustice, orphans, where we spend our money, etc. I swear I'm not looking for them. They're literally falling into my lap.

Today I post another. Last week I stumbled onto Tom Davis' blog. At the top of his blog is this video:
As I read more about his book and blog I was rocked. So much so that I instantly went to Amazon and bought his book. It arrived Saturday and I instantly started reading. I'll be reviewing it here when I'm done....but I'll just say that chapter one spun my head. Also, my copy has a sticker on the front that says "buy this book and feed an orphan for a month". Cool.

As you've guessed Tom's heart is in Africa with the widows and orphans. He wants to see the church stand up and take care of HIV/AIDS victims and their orphaned children.

He also has a fair trade coffee company called SAINT'S COFFEE. Another cool idea. Here's the intro write-up on the site. "Saint’s Coffee is a small-batch, micro-roaster offering specialty blends and unique varietals of 100% Fair Trade Certified™ and organic coffees. But beyond being the freshest, finest, and fairest of them all—Saint’s Coffee is transforming the lives of orphaned children by investing over 1/3rd of net profits from every sale into organizations helping children." The basic premise is buy a pound of coffee, feed an orphan for a month. Not a bad trade off. I'm thinking on getting some Ethiopian blend. I'll let you know how it is.

Tom also has the cool site called Five for 50. It's kind of a short way to start thinking about being involved. It has the video I posted above....but it has 5 things that you can do. Check these out:

1. Give 5 minutes a day to pray for those suffering from HIV/AIDS.
2. Give 5 hours a week to fast for those suffering from HIV/AIDS.
3. Give 5 dollars a month to the Five for 50 Fund and support worthy causes.
4. Give 5 days a year to travel overseas and help alleviate poverty and suffering.
5. Give 5 people an opportunity to join you on your journey.

Wild thinking.

I haven't read enough of the book or Tom's blog to know what I full think about all this. I'm processing it all. I can say that I have been challenged though. I still have a heart for Africa even after two adoptions and Tom seems to be saying that being involved is so much easier than most of us think.

I think this will be an on-going dialogue.

Microwaves

This doesn't count as my daily post. But I couldn't wait until Random Saturday to post this. Christmas greetings through microwaves.

Kind-of Christmas music.

As I stated yesterday I found a bunch of Christmasish music this past week. I don't claim that it's all good. It's definitely not all inspirational. It's also not very traditional. I figured I'd share the wealth if you're interested.

-First up is not what you would expect. It's Weezer. I know. That's what I thought too. To be honest, this is probably my favorite song I've downloaded this season. They do it REALLY REALLY well. No joke.

Weezer-O Holy Night.mp3

The fact I'm posting this next one is odd, since I'm not sure I even like it. It's by Starflyer 59 though and "everyone" likes Starflyer.....so here....take it....

Starflyer 59-I'll be Home for Christmas.mp3

-Admittedly I'm a ska fan. The Bosstones were one of my first ska/punk concerts ever. They got back together last year sometime....haven't checked recently. But apparently they do Christmas music now too.

The Mighty Mighty Bosstones-This Time of Year.mp3

-A bunch of years ago now I stumbled onto the sound of Pedro the Lion. I liked their sound. I liked how they pushed the edge a little. I was a bit hesitant when they crossed the line later on. But they were always raw sounding.

Pedro the Lion-The First Noel.mp3

-There are few musicians cooler than B.B. King. Some would argue, there are none.

B.B. King-Merry Christmas Baby.mp3

-Perhaps on the same coolness level as B.B. King....would be Satchmo. I love Armstrongs sound. Very distinct vocal sound. Great orchestrations with his trumpet being the centerpiece.

Louie Armstrong- Cool Yule.mp3

-Finally Death Cab for Cutie. I mean if their name doesn't scream "we know how to sing Christmas songs" I don't know what does. I know this will sound very band-wagony, but I really just like their sound.

Death Cab for Cutie-Christmas (Baby Please Come Home).mp3

12/15 Monday update

the weekend that was:
-Friday during the day I had the boys. We didn't do much. I think maybe we went to the pharmacy to pick up more prescriptions for the boys.
-Saturday was basically some family time. I went to the church in the afternoon to do some work. We went to TIM HORTON'S for dinner because Marjorie is obsessed with their Candy Cane Hot Chocolate.
-Sunday morning church. Afternoon naps. YMCA in the evening. Hockey game late last night.....lost again 3-1. I hate losing.

where i am at the moment: Home. Tobiah is whining for no apparent reason. Mari's making dinner. Corban is hovering around asking to eat ice cream.

on my to-do list this week: Not too much actually. I need to write a newsletter article by Monday. Fix some worship stuff for this week. I'm going shopping with Wheeze tomorrow!!!

procrastinating about: Oddly, I don't think I am at all. Everything seems pretty do-able.

book I'm in the midst of: I have to say I'm horrible about finishing books. I decided I'm as done as I'm going to be with the last book I was reading...Samson and the Pirate Monks. I found a website this past week that was really cool (probably tomorrow's blog post). He has written a couple books so I bought one. It came Saturday. Even though I already have a pile of books waiting for me, I dove into this one. It's called Red Letters by Tom Davis. (Again, more info later on this)

music that seemed to catch my attention this past week: I've been a busy boy downloading music this week. I went through a bunch of music blogs I used to frequent and found some cool Christmas timeish music. More on this later too.

grand revelations this past week: Not sure if I had any great revelations. I was reminded how much I like Pastor Mike. I like just hanging out with him. He's just a good guy.

how i’m feeling about this week: I'm stoked about going "shopping" with Wheeze tomorrow. We never really buy much, but it's a good outing. We're headed to my parents later in the week, and I can't wait for that....since it'll be our "Christmas". Also this Friday is technically Tobiah's first birthday. That'll be fun.

Sunday Sermon reflection

You've probably seen that video before. It was news a year or so ago.

Pastor Mike showed it this morning. He was talking about Joy. He pointed out something I missed the first couple times I watched this.

If you watch the video all of Jason's teammates and students in the bleachers, are standing up the whole time Jason is in the game. They are anticipating the joy that would come when Jason hit a shot. And of course when he finally did they experienced the joy and went crazy.

He went on to talk about anticipating the Joy of Christ coming. I liked that. ANTICIPATING joy. That's all.

Random Saturday

This blogging thing every day is freaking hard! You'll notice my daily posts have been getting later and later into the evening. Well here are a bunch of stuff I found this week that I couldn't post enough about to leave them by themselves....but are quality anyway...OK maybe not quality...but still...

-Hockey once again proves it's a sport of class: The Chicago Blackhawks skipped a plane to head home for a night in the middle of a road trip so they could get on buses and go to their GM's father's funeral. Then they stopped off at a local McDonald's on the way back. Yeah the entire team showed up at a McDonald's. Here's the full story. It's worth reading and there's an interview video there. Really cool story.

-Hope for all the computer geeks out there: Ok another NHL story....but you kind of know what you signed up for by coming here. The Washington Capitals had an emergency yesterday. One of their goalies went down with a hip flexor and their starter was sore too. So they signed one of their web guru's to an amateur contract to be the back-up goalie until one of their minor league guys could make it to the game (which ended up being halfway through the first period). To be fair, the web guy played Division III hockey and has done drills with the team during practice on occassion. Very cool story though here and here.

-Hair...really? When Corban came home we didn't know what we were doing with his hair. It took awhile to figure that out. Tobiah's hair is TOTALLY different. It's thin and long and stringy. And when it's wet it's curly...but if you don't comb it straight it poofs all up. So I was curious and googled baby hair styles. Nothing much there. But I did find Baby Toupee's!!!

-I didn't know this. Maybe you did. This December 31st will be longer than most. We all know that every 4 years they tack on a leap day. But apparently it still doesn't work out right. So every now and then they have to add a second on the last day of the year. This year we add one second onto the end of the year. Can you imagine trying to explain this to Dick Clark?

-More Apple geekery. Last Random Saturday I wrote about some geeks making an Apple Apple pie with a laser cutter. This week we go backwards one step in the process. Apparently a guy made up some stickers and attached them to apples early on and since the light didn't get to the apple, it sort of branded them. So he sold Apple Apples. Sheesh.

-This has been circulating the internet for awhile now. It's no good to me really but maybe you. Schick lets you upload a picture of yourself and then try on different facial hairs to see what you'd look like. I'd love to see how you look.

-I'm an occasional reader of Stuff Christians Like (even though it's no in my blog roll.) If you're not familiar, it's pretty funny. Kind of a cynical look at goofy things in the church. In your free time have a read through. ANYWAY...I found an older post that is actually written as a "guest post" on there. It involves sports and God. What could be better.

I've found tons of fun videos this week. It's hard to choose what to post here. How about two this week?

Expectancy

Expectancy. It's a word that God has been putting in my head for a couple months now. I'm not really sure what it means yet.

When we were adopting Corban there was much expectancy at our house. We waited and waited and waited. We got our first picture of Corban in March of 2005. He was supposed to come home that summer. He didn't end up coming home until July 2006. There was much expectancy for his arrival.

When we were adopting Tobiah there was much expectancy. Different than waiting for Corban. We got our first picture of Tobiah in March of 2008. We went and brought him home in August of 2008. But while we were waiting, he was sick. He was in the hospital for a week and a half. Our son was in a hospital around the world and we were powerless. We just wanted him home. There was much expectancy.

We've been in the process of adopting for the past 4 years basically. In a weird way you get used to waiting. You're constantly in a state of expectancy. Something to look forward to.

As a child there was much expectancy for Christmas for me. Too much in fact. There were a number of years where I would be throwing up as we were opening presents. I'm pretty sure that I got myself so worked up that my body just couldn't take it anymore. I'd open a present and then run to the bathroom. Open a present run to the bathroom. Can I just say that Christmas isn't fun that way...

I'm wondering what it would have been like to be Simeon. God told him he wouldn't die until he saw the Messiah. "So I'm just hanging out until Messiah shows up...." So they've been waiting for years and years and years for the Messiah to show up. There had been prophecies saying Messiah was coming. And Simeon wouldn't die until He showed up. Talk about expectancy.

So I've been struggling a little this fall with the word expectancy. As of now we're not adopting again. For the last 4 years I've had something to look forward to. Something that God clearly had us doing beyond our jobs and our every day existence. So I'm not really understanding why the word "expectancy" keeps popping up...now. I've been trying to figure out what it is I'm suppose to be expecting.

So as we headed into Christmas what are you expecting? I don't want to hear a list of stuff, I want to hear what you're expecting. What are you waiting on?

My Family, My Macbook

Lots of people post fun photos taken with their iSight camera on their Apple. Corban has figured out how to open up the program by himself and change the option and take pictures. The results are pretty funny. The first few photos are ones he's done on his own....as I was looking through, I found a bunch more cool pics though......this is just me bragging on my awesome family. (Tobiah's facial expression near the bottom is purely a reaction to being part of this family.)

Beard Day 1

The possibility your beard/goatee is really long....or possibly too long:

• Numerous ZZ Top references.
• Numerous references to "Shavo" from System of a Down (see picture)
• You don't actually remember what your chin looks like and are kind of afraid that it might not be something you want to look at.
• Your beard/goatee might be covering up weird neck hairs or something that comes with getting older.....but you wouldn't know because you can't see them.
• You grab/stroke your beard so many times a day while thinking that if you cut it off there's a good chance you would go insane from nothing to do.
• Numerous Jim "the Anvil" Neidhart references (see 2nd picture)....cause you know I'm built JUST LIKE HIM!
• Most guys say "that's cool how long you been growing that", most women say "why would you want to grow that."
• When other youth pastors in town talk about you, or use you as a sermon illustration they say "you know Aaron with the beard" or you know Aaron and make a stroking the beard motion.
• You actually have to look for split ends.
• Numerous David Crowder references when hanging out in Christian circles (see blog post here for clarity)
• You can't lick an ice cream cone the same way as most people. Normally you would lick up from the cone, but you have to lick side-ways

Any others I'm forgetting?.....I'm sure there are. Feel free to comment if you think I've missed something. I also reserve the right to add others in extra posts later on.

Mocha Club

Start by watching this video

Thanks Andrea for turning me onto this clip.

"Africa has taught me that possessions in my hands will never be as valuable as peace in my heart."

"I bought into the lie that circumstance defines happiness."

Much like the video I posted Sunday this one has rocked my world.

So the gist of the Mocha Club is you give up 7 dollars a month to help feed someone in Africa for a month. Someone sets up a "club" and invites friends to join. Jointly you take on a cause...for instance orphans in Africa....and your "club" jointly gives into the club to help out.

Very cool idea. That being said, I haven't started a club yet. I'm very tempted. Anyone interested if I start one?

Check them out here.

12/8 Monday update

the weekend that was:
-Friday during the day I had the boys. We had to run to the store to get supplies for Sunday night. No biggie
-Friday evening was the Christmas parade. This won't come as a surprise to regular readers of my blog, but WAY too many people stand in the cold to see a few organizations, the marching band (which I walk with) and Santa. Then the downtown shops have window displays and downtown is closed off to traffic. Not a bad evening, except it was bitter cold.
-Saturday morning was a little lazy with the family and then we piled in the van and headed to Jamestown for some shopping. We're nearly done...and probably will be soon. Lunch at Tim Horton's which is a family favorite (surprise surprise). Home for naps.
-Saturday evening two girls came over for dinner. I had asked one of them to sing for Communion on Sunday....like months ago and we finally got around to practicing. Dinner was good except a glass dish exploded (literally) in the oven which meant we had a crazy mess to clean up later that night. We literally had to take our oven apart.
-Sunday morning was insane snowy (see yesterday's post). Communion went well, and Lindsey did an amazing job. Sunday afternoon was family time. Sunday night at the YMCA. Then off to hockey where we tied 6-6.....not a great game....but we didn't lose!!!

where i am at the moment: Home. Have I posted a Monday update from anywhere else? Maybe....Toddler time, then Mari will be home for an appointment with Tobiah so she'll be home the rest of the day after that. That's fun.

on my to-do list this week: You may or may not know this, but I have a phobia of the telephone. I hate making phone calls. Sometimes I'm fine, but often I freeze up. Well I need to make some calls this week to check on some things. I hate that.

procrastinating about: See above

book I'm in the midst of: I'm almost done with Samson and the Pirate Monks: Calling Men to Authentic Brotherhood by Nate Larkin. I'm still liking this book. A full review is coming. I don't know that it's applicable for everyone.

music that seemed to catch my attention this past week: Lisa Loeb-Jingle Bells

grand revelations this past week: Blogging every day is harder than I thought it would be. However I love reading blogs so I'm in it now. Matt joined Tara and me in our daily outings. Cool.

how i’m feeling about this week: Fine. I'm not really stoked, but I'm not so apathetic as last week either. We'll see what comes.

Snowy Sunday

As I woke this morning it was clear we got some snow last night. It was also coming down hard. After getting ready I went out to brush the cars off. By the time I got done with the windshield, the top of the windshield where I started was already covered. The plows had not been out at all. I was driving through 6 inches of fresh powder with ice underneath. It was a mess. I kept hoping Pastor Mike would call to cancel Sunday School or something. No dice.

Last year there was a week when we got dumped on big time over night and we canceled church. It doesn't happen often, but it happens. We thought about going to another church that Sunday, but were heathens and had our own family fellowship time in our house instead.

So what does it take for you to have church canceled? Has it ever happened? Growing up? Maybe it's not snow....maybe you live where there are floods or hurricanes or tornadoes. Tell me the story....by leaving a comment. PLEASE?

Also here is a video we showed in church this morning. I found it on my friend Matt Swain's blog and it rocked my world. I had to share it.

Random Saturday

It's only 9 am but I'm already feeling like this is an odd day. So instead of trying to force my brain into thinking clearly, I will be reverting to one of my random style posts that I have pretty much abandon because Marjorie thought they were too ADD. Please fasten your seatbelts and keep your hands and arms inside the vehicle...and on your own side too.

⇒Have a cut on your hand? Normally you just put a band-aid on it. But let's not stop there kids. Let's put a bacon band-aid on. That's right, band-aids that look like strips of bacon. That's kind of funny in itself. The best is that when I found them, they also have a variety band-aid pack that is bacon and eggs.

⇒If you haven't checked out Fail Blog yet in my Links list, you should do so. Normally some pretty funny stuff. From the same people that brought you Fail Blog comes Totally Looks Like. The premise is pretty simple really. Find two things that look alike. They are often people, but also encompass animals and inanimate objects. Beethoven = David Carradine.

⇒I may or may not have already posted this once upon a time. This has every possible statistic along with a world clock. It's pretty crazy. I can't spend more than a minute or two looking at it without getting depressed.

⇒From the world of nerd-dom...So apparently college students have more time on their hands that I thought. There are 150 colleges that now have Quidditch teams. Yes that's right, the made up game from the Harry Potter books. Now in the books the game is played on broom sticks and the characters fly around. Well this is more like rugby on broomsticks. It's pretty ridiculous.....so I thought I'd share.

⇒And from the world of very very cool Apple geek-dom. These guys made an Apple®... Apple-pie. They took a laser cutter and cut an Apple lattice into the top crust. It kind of looks like a Mac-mini to me.

⇒Finally a video for you. Just watch the background go by.

Where I Live: 4 BY 4!

I know, I know where you live there are pick-up trucks too. Where you live there are people who are "outdoorsie".

I will remind you that I live on the end of the Allegheny National Forest. The first day of hunting season (this past Monday) is like a national holiday here. Kids get school off. There are some employers who shut down too....and others just understand that people won't be showing up to work...or calling in "sick".

So because of these things there is an abundance of 4 wheel drive vehicles, particularly pick-up trucks. They don't know how to drive them, but they have them. They often still drive slow in the snow...but they're everywhere. A local youth pastor thinks his wife is the "coolest wife ever" because she thought it would be a good idea to trade in their minivan for a huge extended cab pick-up.

So if you had a vehicle you loved, what would you do? Pimp it. Maybe jack it up.....possibly. Maybe pin-stripe it? YES! But not just any pinstriping. I mean you need to prove you're a true outdoorsman. You have to prove your truck could probably hunt even if you weren't going with the truck. That's right!.....you need camouflage pinstriping. The best part is that this isn't incredibly uncommon.

Tis The Season

Admittedly I have, in years past been quite the scrooge during the Christmas Season. Bitter in fact. Mostly I believe it centered around the commercialization of the Holiday. I have over the past few years turned those feelings around a good deal.

However, I still have some carry-over side effects from this "season" of my life. One in particular is justifiable: Christmas Music.

I'm not a big fan.

I could go through a series of reasons if you'd like why I have come to justify my dislike for most Christmas music....would that be helpful? Probably not....but let's do it anyway.

-Theological or Practical inaccuracies. I've been around enough little babies to know that there was little chance it was "Silent Night, Holy Night all is calm all is bright." I've also had enough Sunday School teachers instill in me over the years that we have no idea how many Magi came to see Jesus...."We Three Kings of Orient Are." Where is the Christmas song that says "This little kids crying and it smells like a farm in here?"

-Most traditional Chistmas Music is musically not phenomenal. Have you ever been in a crowd of people and had someone try to start "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear" or "Away In a Manger" or "Joy to the World"...all of which require you to start in the right key or you have ladies singing in the basement or guys singing falsetto. There are other songs that are just plain hard to follow for the common untrained musician...."Lo How a Rose Er' Blooming" or "Let all Mortal Flesh Keep Silent".

-It's a pretty niche area. We sing these songs for one month out of the year. You can't get away with singing "O Little Town of Bethlehem" in April....at least not in most churches I know.

-This one is probably the most annoying but the most off topic. Bad songs for the niche market. Since we have this specific season where most of the Western world is celebrating..."musicians" take it upon themselves to craft new music that will only be played on the radio for one month a year. Often they are incredibly poorly done and/or will be forgot in a year or so.

So I struggle with Christmas Music. This year has been incredibly difficult though. Since I am the Worship Leader at church I am picking all the music we do on a Sunday morning. So over the past couple weeks I have had to go through a plethora of Christmas music to prepare for Advent. Until this past weekend I wasn't at all thinking about actual Christmas, but was being forced into Christmas music world because of my job. I have to say that I was not pleased. A little grin and bear it mode.

Before I close please don't mistake what I'm saying. I fully appreciate the significance of Christmas. I complete recognize the preparation of Advent. I even recognize the need for Christmas Carols as part of tradition and family gathering. I'm just not a giant fan of the music.

This is even funnier because my wife LOVES to play Celine Dion's Christmas album. Talk about combining the worst of both worlds. As soon as I leave the house to go to a meeting in the evenings she's allowed to play that.

All Month

I was reading my friend Tara's blog the other day. I stop by from time to time to check in. She's going to be blogging every day for the month of December. She also challenged others to get on board. Well whether I can do it or not, I don't like backing down from a challenge. So I'm in.

There's actually a National blog roll for National Blog Posting Month. I chose to not sign up because honestly this is personal. And really who wants a prize for....blogging? They have the idea that maybe you blog on a theme for a month....but the way my brain works...that wouldn't last a week.

Like Tara though, I would challenge you bloggers to get in to. Miss the first 3 days? Who cares. Start now. I love reading blogs, so make me come to your blog daily this month.....and waste even more of my time.

Now today's only the 3rd. So it's not thing that I'm rocking it still. The killer will be weekends and the holiday season I think. That and finding things that are worthy of blogging about rather than filling space. I don't want to blog because I have to, but because I want to.

However, if you are to go back through my blog over the past couple years you will see a weird trend. (I know because last week I went back through my blog.) Throughout 2007 my monthly blog post count was like this 7,5, 4,9,5,8,6,3,11,6,5,5.....so 11 was my high, then 9 but mostly 5, 4 etc. In 2008 I started off the same way 7,7,6,5,8, 11, 9,7....so 7 is August. We spent a week in Ethiopia and a week in the hospital, so that's a faulty month. But then something happens. I start wasting more of my life writing here. September-present is as follows...16,19,18. For whatever reason I've felt the need to write more. I've been more intentional about it and I feel like I'm always trying to catch up to an idea I had.

(As an aside...and this will sound incredibly not humble at all...and I don't care......as I went back through my blog looking for something....I had to read a lot of my posts. I really like my blog. I mean, if I wasn't me, I'd read it. It's very ADD, but so am I.)

Also, please let's be clear that I'm fully aware there are all of about 4 people reading this. I'm OK with that. While I often address things to "you"...it's really a myth. Most of blogging for me has nothing to do with you and everything to do with me. I'm a crappy thought organizer. I have lots of ideas but they quickly fade into the background. Because I'm blogging, I intentionally write things down more or organize them in such a way that they stick. So while I'd love all my friends from years gone past through to today, to check my blog regularly...I'm a realist and recognize that it's a silly blog.

So after all that has been said...the video's been removed but this is a repost of a video I once had up here...

A couple sits in a car outside Sonic, a fast-food drive-in chain.

Him: This strawberry cheesecake shake is amazing!

Her: I love the real strawberries and the pie crusts bits.

Him: I think I’ll put a little something on my blog about this. All my fans are going to be very interested in my experience of having this shake.

Her: You mean your mom?

Him: (defensively) Well, yea, well, um, she’s one of the readers.

Her: I think she’s THE reader.

Him: Well, no, she promised to tell her neighbor about it, so…

Her: (sarcastically) Oh! Your Mom’s Neighbor!

Him: Yea.

Frustrating Part 2 or the lack there of

If you have not already please read this post...it'll just make more sense that way.

So I just watched Tobiah push down all 4 of the little doors in under 10 seconds. The task two weeks ago would've taken him all day.

So it brings me back to my original post. I don't know if God gets frustrated with us. This is also a hard analogy to be making because God is God and I am me.

I think I forgot part of parenting though. Of course I could put those doors down fast myself. But what would Tobiah learn from that? Of course God could swoop down and fix the church and us and show us what he intended for us for every day, but where is faith in that? If God wanted he could be visible and instruct us regularly. If he wanted to. We would have no doubts or questions of his character. There would be no discussions about who God is. There would be no trust or faith aspect either though.

Maybe God doesn't "close the toy doors" for us so we can learn something about who He is. I don't know....just asking questions.

12/1 Monday update

the weekend that was:
Ah Thanksgiving weekend. A few days of complete slack. Where fat Americans can be encouraged to be gluttonous by those around them.
-We left for my parents last Wed. night. The trip was uneventful.
-I love my mother. She occasionally goes over the top. She invited her entire family to their tiny house. Thankfully most of them had other plans (not thankfully they didn't come, because I'd love to see them, but it's a small house and that would've been insane). However my uncle, aunt and two kids still wanted to come to see Tobiah, so we had to get up early on Thanksgiving because they were going to show up between 8:30 and 9. Good to see them.
-My brother and his family (minus oldest daughter) arrived around....actually I don't know when....then my grandparents. Dinner was amazing as always. As we were finishing, my cousin Bethany showed up.
-I was a mess the rest of Thanksgiving. I couldn't wake up....and I was stuffed....I quit eating after lunch, and was still stuffed going to bed. What a horrible holiday.
-No Black Friday shopping for me, mainly because I think it's an abomination.
-Instead I met Vin and Grayson at IHOP (I love IHOP). We were trying to figure out the last time I've actually seen these guys. Minimum guess is 3 years. Possibly 4 though. We spent 3 solid hours talking. I love those guys. We're promising to do better. I hope we do.
-Saturday we came home.
-Sunday was Sunday as normal.

where i am at the moment: Home. Normally I'd be a small group right now, but it's the fist day of hunting season and most of our guys were out an about today. I'm kind of glad because I'm feeling tired and apathetic. A good reason to stay home and drink tea and eat Take 5's with my wife.

on my to-do list this week: Advent is almost completely done. Need to work on special music for this week. Need to touch base with a bunch of people.

procrastinating about: Not sure really.....but this would be the week for procrastination. As state above I'm feeling kind of apathetic in general. Not really interested in doing much. Maybe that'll change tomorrow when I go into the office. Right now, I'm might procrastinate about everything!

book I'm in the midst of: I'm in the middle of Samson and the Pirate Monks: Calling Men to Authentic Brotherhood by Nate Larkin. I'm liking this book. I will definitely be writing a review here later. I'm interested to see where he goes from where I am in the book...cause it seems kind of obviously over.

music that seemed to catch my attention this past week: Nada. Honestly. Nothing.

grand revelations this past week: Honestly I'm kind of tired right now....any grand revelation I might've had is clogged in the back of my thick skull. Check in later.

how i’m feeling about this week: I need to get motivated.