my wife is amazing

There are more times than I would like to admit that I become selfish. Times where I think, "I need a break." It is easy for me to get wrapped up in the issues of "my" world.

Today is another one of those reminders for me just how amazing my wife is. This weekend she is on call. She left the house early this morning, was home for about an hour this afternoon, and is still gone now.

Besides just the time element there are all the people she has to deal with, some of them not so appreciative of what she is doing.

It is another reminder that in our marriage I truly got the good end of the stick. So tonight I am especially thankful for that, for her and the sacrifices she makes for our family.

public service announcement

It seems like I see a lot of studies presented and then people take a correlation and extract from that a causation.

For example, ice cream sales and shark attacks may be correlated. That is when ice cream sales go up shark attacks also go up. But this does not mean that ice cream sales cause shark attacks. There may be other variables in play, in this case for example, they both go up in summer.

This is a simplified example, but just because there is a correlation between two things does not imply causation.

Correlation does not imply causation
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

crazy thoughts about church

Alright, I have been having some crazy thoughts about church. Mainly questions, I guess.

What if Sunday was the least important day in the life of the church? What if Monday-Saturday was where the real work of church was done? What if the majority of resources didn't go into a Sunday service? What could we do then? What if we break out of the model of "come to me" and we lived of model of "going to you?"

What if you have already learned enough? What if Jesus' yoke really is easy, and we have spent a lot of time making it harder? What if the Christianity can really be boiled down to, "love God, love others?" Do we need more teachings, or do they just take us off task?

What if what people are really looking for is community? Starbucks has built an empire on the sense of community. What could we build if we had the real thing? What if there were a group of people you met with every day? Can you build a community without time together?

These are just the things running though my head right now. I don't really have a lot of answers, mainly questions, but I certainly get the sense that somehow I am missing the boat.

more stupid web tricks

You Are Ernie

Playful and childlike, you are everyone's favorite friend - even if your goofy antics get annoying at times. You are usually feeling: Amused - you are very easily entertained You are famous for: Always making people smile. From your silly songs to your wild pranks, you keep things fun. How you life your life: With ease. Life is only difficult when your friends won't play with you!

The Sesame Street Personality Quiz

Purpose Driven® Message® Bible

This made me laugh

blogs: what are they good for?

I think I am coming to a realization for me that, like any communication tool, there are things that blogs are good for and things they don't do as well.

Here are some of the things I see that blogs are good for:

sharing information: blogs provide a handy way to share information, especially people separated by time or distance. many blogs are dedicated to this, and this was the reason for this blog, to make it easy on family and friends who are far away to keep up on what is happening in our lives.

encouragment and communication for people in similar situations: whether it is the struggles and joys of parenting, losing weight, going through adoption, it seems to me that blog are a good way for people who are going through similar situations to communicate and learn from each other and encourage each other.

encouragment and communication for people with similar ideas: like the previous point, I think people who share a common goal or ideas can find encouragement and share ideas and resources.

There are, however, some things that I think blogs really are not very good at:

convincing people to adopt new ideas: I don't think blogs work well for trying to convince people to adopt your ideas if they don't already have similar views. in part I think that is because of the shear time it takes to lay out arguments and defend ideas and the level of familiarity just cannot be achieved in the blogging world.

discussing differenting ideas or viewpoints: for some of the same reasons as the previous point I think discussing differenting ideas on blogs really doesn't accomplish much. too many of the subtleties of communication are lost on blogs and there are too many places where miscommunication can take place. the lack of familiarity makes it hard to try to sway people one way or another. while I have had some intelligent and civil discussions on blogs I'm not sure anyone is the better off for it. and then there are the times I have been involved in discussions that quickly turn vile. I think this is particularly concerning among Christians. I hate to think of those outside the faith looking at these conversations and thinking, "I want no part of that."

This list is not exhaustive and you are certainly free to disagree, but I am going to try to change the way I view blogs, which blogs I view and the way I react. I'm not saying I will never stumble and get into discussing differenting viewpoints on blogs, but I am certainly going to try to avoid it.

I used to golf

I used to golf. I was never great, but in high school I was pretty good. That, in part, is due to the fact that I was on the HS team and played 9 nearly every day after school. That really is one of the things about golf, to be good you have to be playing consistently.

While I have never been a great golfer I still enjoyed it. Despite the time spent in the woods or the balls I donated to the guys who dive in the water hazards, I hit enough good shots to keep me coming back.

When you hit that killer drive down the middle of the fareway or sink that 20 foot put it is enough to forget about worm burner off the 3 tee that you could have thrown further.

Recently I have seen parenting in a similar light. There are days where I feel like I am playing in the rough or I am smacking ball after ball into the water. But there are those moments that make it all worth while. There are those times of dancing in the kitchen with the music cranked up or wrestling on the floor or seeing something that you have been working on since birth start to click. There is nothing like it in the world and it is enough to make you forget the times you thought you couldn't take another minute.

So the next time you seem to live in the rough, or the water, or the sand, just think of the amazing drive of the 5 tee and how great it is to dance to the Bee Gees with a 3 year old.

I love my office

It is amazing how one thing leads to another. A leak in our main floor bathroom forces us to repair flooring, so we decide to rip out all the pergo on the main floor and have it tiled. That leads to recycling the pergo and taking the nasty carpet out of the office, which leads to redoing the office.

I wish I had taken some good "before" pictures, but oh well.

There are a lot of people to thank, most don't even know it because a gift card or cash help purchase stuff for the office along with my ebay sales and freelance work, but there are a couple of people I need to point out.

First to the Good family. Thanks to Chirs for making IKEA runs with me for things that were too big for our vehicles, and thanks to Nikki for letting him go.

And of corse, thanks to my lovely wife, who let me do whatever I wanted with the design and set up for the office. Even when I was considering a color called dirty diape.

I have a couple of little things to do here and there. A couple of more pictures to put up, but for the most part it is done, and I love it. It was a room that before lacked any character and was a mess. I went there to work on the computer, but it wasn't a room I enjoyed being in.

Now, this may be my favorite room in the house. It makes me want to have "clients" over and act like I have a real job.

Anyway, thanks to all of you, whether you know you were involved in my office make over or not.

TEN

Today marks ten years since that day in Waco where Valerie officially agreed to be bound together as husband and wife. What was she thinking?

In our ten years we have lived in 4 states, owned 3 homes, lived in 3 apartments and have had 2 kids. I cannot imagine trying to go through this life with anyone else.

I love you more than I can express in words and you still make me excited about the future. I look forward to growing old with you.

seven

Today Cooper turns seven.

I still remember being in the hospital and walking over to the warmer and having him grab my finger with his little hands.

The joy and fear that comes with knowing you are in charge of another life.

But through all the joys and trials, I wouldn't trade it for the world.

Happy Birthday little man.

Val would want you to know that she took this picture

pics from Texas

small group

For those in our small group, please remember to check out the small group blog to communicate about small group meetings and information.

that's how we roll

Tomorrow we set off on our road trip to Houston for thanksgiving. In fact there are several things I should be doing right now, but I admit, I have taken a moment to check some stuff on the computer and sync my iPod for the trip. I am looking forward to listening to the Boyd-Wallis talk sometime on the trip (thanks Brenton)

I don't mind flying, I'm not scared of it and we have done it many times, but I like road trips. I like the uninterrupted time with family. I like stopping at unexpected places (like when coming back from Illinois with me and the boys we stopped at the World's Largest Truck Stop in Iowa)

My wife and I have different ways to plan a road trip. Her plan involves deciding where we are going to stay and where we are going to eat before we ever leave the house, where my planning is much more casual.

It is also good to get out of your routine for a while. Both to refresh and to appreciate what you have.

I'm sure there will be some trying times on this trip. With a 6 year old and a 8 month old there have to be, but I am looking forward to it. Tomorrow we take off, and that's how we roll.

notes

Today I sent some simple notes in Cooper's backpack to remind him to do a couple of things at school.

It is like it hit me for the first time today that I could do that because he can read.

It is strange the little milestones and the impact they have on us.

I look forward to doing that more. To remind him of stuff or just to let him know I am thinking about him.

cooper gift guide

I often gets calls from the different grands about what Cooper is into and what he wants for his birthday or Christmas.

With just 15 days until his birthday, here are a couple of things Cooper has said he would like.



First is the Gross Out Monster. Apparently Cooper saw this on a recent trip to Walmart with mommy.

"The gross out monster has tools to operate," says Cooper. "What you can do with the tools is get the body parts out."

Cooper loves monsters and halloween and associated stuff.



Next is Moon Sand.

Cooper has been asking for this since he saw the comercial about 6 months ago.

"You can make stuff with moon sand," says Cooper. "And even castles."



Lastly, is Mouse Trap.

"Mouse Trap has traps that mouses get in," says Cooper.

So there you go, a couple of ideas stright from Cooper.

"Love Cooper," he adds.

back to basics

Alright, now back to what I originally started this blog for anyway.

Here are some pics.

product placement

You are Michael Dell, the Christmas shopping season is starting and you are pushing your line of TVs. What better than some product placement.

Hollywood have departments that work in this filed, to work product placement deals out for movies, but this is the first time I've seen it at the whitehouse.

Here is your challenge, find a quote from a past president and work in a product placement that they might have missed.

For example: A Tyson chicken in every pot and a car in every garage – Herbert Hoover

Lincoln Quotes

I am a big fan of Abraham Lincoln. It is why my second son is named after him. Sometimes it is good to reflect on the voices and wisdom of the past.

So here are some quotes from Lincoln:

---

If you look for the bad in people expecting to find it, you surely will.

I don't like that man. I must get to know him better.

We should be too big to take offense and too noble to give it.

I have always found that mercy bears richer fruits than strict justice.

It has been my experience that folks who have no vices have very few virtues.

Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power.

I have been driven many times to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere to go. My own wisdom, and that of all about me, seemed insufficient for the day.

The Smartest Guys in the Room

Time for another movie you might not have seen, but maybe should.

This time it's Enron - The Smartest Guys in the Room

If you want to understand better how corporate greed, deregulation and other factors came together to produce one of the biggest business scandals in American history this movie is worth viewing.

Hear it all from the people who lived it, including rare corporate audio and video tapes. I thought it was a well crafted documentary that gave real insight into what actually happened and how.

As citizens I think we need to understand what happened, how it could happen again and what role government should have in preventing it.

education

"Upon the subject of education, not presuming to dictate any plan or system respecting it, I can only say that I view it as the most important subject which we as a people may be engaged in. That everyone may receive at least a moderate education appears to be an objective of vital importance."

Abraham Lincoln