Tick tac… Doh!

So I’m down here in good ole Kansas spending some quality vacation time with all of our family and friends just chillin out maxin relaxin all cool.  Doing some golfing, fishing, ball games, picnics, fireworks, yada yada yada.

We had been living it up having the time of our life and then tragedy struck.  One of our son’s (shall remain nameless) found a tick in his no no special place late last night right before bedtime.  Could you imagine the emotional roller coaster of being a young boy having just spent the last 2 hours celebrating the 4^th of July, staying up 3 hours later than normal (that’s a cool thing in and of itself), watching and experiencing super cool fireworks displays, arriving home at 11pm thinking you’ve just had one of the best days of your life, only to find a tick attached ‘downtown’.  Yowser!

Can I tell you how humorous and sad this moment was for me as a dad.  I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

Humorous/Sad all in one:  his response as he came out of the bathroom at 11pm yelling “I’ve got a tick, I’ve got a tick” with his pants down around his ankles.   The 20 minutes it took me and Ari to get the thing out of his flesh.  I tried alcohol, matches (don’t ask), and tweezers.  The other brothers response/reactions as he looked on in horror at the barbaric event (he actually kept his hands over his eyes like a shutter opening them and closing them frequently) and actually gave some ewes and awes and at one time burst into tears.  It was quite the circus event coupled with screaming, yelling, crying, laughing, punching (my wife hit me one time as I caused her little boy to yelp in pain).  

Needless to say, it’s all good now.  In fact I came downstairs this morning only to find ‘tick boy’, dropped trousers and all, showing off his battle scar to his brother. 

Memories! 

Best in the U.S.?

i think i was treated to the best latte in the United States?  apparently the head barista and trainer at this ultra hip coffee shop won the title of best barista in the U.S. (pretty cool title) in fact if you go to their website http://www.ptscoffee.com/aboutus/awards.php you can view the massive list of accomplishments the employees at PT’s Coffee Co. have accumulated over the last several years.

As i sip this soy PT Caramel Latte i say…yep…it rocks.  i think this is what coffee tastes like in heaven.

This Guy knows everything

so im in the middle of this huge landscaping project.  way too many trees, shrubbery, bushes, plants, shovels, nights, days, and weekends.  everything was going slicky smooth uptil ’tillin’ time (the process of tearing up the dirt and mixing in compost).  the tiller i had borrowed wouldn’t start.  enter Guy Kolar (Superman’s long lost twin brother).  he accidentally stopped by as i wrestled with this beast of a machine pulling and pulling and pulling on the ‘pull string starter rope thingy bobber’.  as i was about to pack up shop (that would be ‘quit’ for the laymen) Guy Kolar got this twinkle in his eye, and started to drool.  i guess he loves to tear things up and put them back together, so he sheepishly asked if he could take a whack at it…i said sure.well, 30 minutes later we (i use this word very loosely) pulled on the pull string starter rope thingy bobber and low and behold she fired right up. 

so to Guy Kolar, Mr. Fix and Repair Guru, mad props baby!!!!!!  thanks for saving my day.

p.s. thanks to Kurt Gulbro for his help with the big ole’ tree.  and yes, flip flops are the official footwear of the NTA (National Tilling Association)

Moms and Daughters

Ran into a pleasent surprise today (I love surprises) as I entered my domain (Bebe’s Coffee House).  It was one of our Yorkville Small Groups.  What a lovely group of beautiful ladies, all laughing and reading and caring for each other.  Kudos to Sue Parrish for leading (AND HER DAUGHTER MALORIE for dreaming up the idea; go Malorie) these ladies and creating a wonderful environment for the moms and daughters to hang out, relax, and grow in their faith together.

If you are a mother or daughter that would love to come and hang out, just give Sue a call or stop her on Sunday, i’m sure she’d love to invite you! 

Fill in the blank

Our recent message series “Life’s Toughest Questions” has caused more vibrant/heated conversation than any series I can recall.  Everywhere I turn people either loved it our hated it.  People where satisfied with our attempt at answering (to the best of our ability) these tough question, or they were rather disturbed/disgruntled by our ‘lack’ of hardcore answers to these questions.  Real quick recap of questions/subjects that we entertained: Creation, Homosexuality, Suffering. 

Here are a couple of my thoughts.

• It is called a TOUGH question for a reason?  There is a reason why these questions seem to have timeless properties…because there might not be an easy answer or an exact biblically accurate answer available.
• Can we (Christians/Christ-followers) handle NOT knowing ALL the answers to life’s toughest questions?  I wish I could cay yes.

 My toughest question is this: 

What is it with some people’s obsession for filling in the blank spaces of the Bible? 

Is it a control issue?  Are they not ok with the mysteries of the Bible or God?  Why does it rock their world so much to admit that much of their belief system/practices (especially the details and nuances) are only opinions or passed down traditions of previous generations? 

My guess is that many will be shocked, including me, when we arrive in heaven and hear the right answers to life’s toughest questions straight from the big mans mouth himself.  Until then, help me Jesus to not fill in the blank spaces of the Bible with my own OPINIONS.  Let me be comfortable with an “I don’t know” or a “The bible doesn’t really give an exact answer to that” response.   Let me be comfortable with the unknowns and mysteries of the faith.  Humble me and help me relax in the fact that YOU CAN HANDLE any persons doubt, confusion, or questions including my own.  You are not shaken by our inability to understand all of life, nor should I?    

Love Note

I remember getting love notes from lots of girls back in grade school and even through high school.  You know what i’m talking about; the notes that would say ‘circle yes or no’ if you like me or ‘check the box that best says how you feel about me’.  It was soooooo awesome!  The hardest thing about those love notes though was the responsibility of passing them along to their intended party.  That’s right, they were never for me but I seemed to be the best go-between guy in the entire school.  I took pride in being the ’responsible’ one.  They knew i’d never read them.  They knew i’d never lose them.  They also knew I was a safe ‘mule’ that would never get jealous or wonder why they were not writing ME love notes cuz they were totally out of my league hotties.

So yesterday my middle son (4 yrs old) came to our back door and he had this look on his face coupled with his hand discretely hidden behind his back.  After a couple of neutral ‘fishing’ questions I finally asked him what was behind his back.  With a sheepish grin on his face he slowly pulled this piece of paper from around his back and said it was from Alexis (our new 4 yr old neighbor girl).  My first thought was “what in the world is she giving him a folded up piece of paper for?”  Then it dawned on me, THIS IS A LOVE NOTE!  

I had several feelings rush through my mind as I quickly assessed the situation.  Panic -Cuz my boy is much to young to be entangled by the vicious web of love or even puppy love for that matter.  Proud -My boy seemed to have shaken my bad boyhood luck with the ladies and is actually a chick magnet!   Scared -What kind of tom-foolery would this shady 4 year old girl be doing TO my son?  Anyway, you get the picture.  Speaking of picture, if you click on the picture above you’ll notice the drawing of her (big girl with lots of curly hair) her puppy (poops in my yard and must remember I have a BB gun) and my son (small, happy faced guy).  Funny stuff.

I guess I said all that to say this:  I’M NOT READY FOR MY BOYS TO GROW UP YET!

“I did it all for the Message”

This verse wrecks me.  If you study the life of Paul and his passionate crazy no-holds barred approach to bringing others into a God-saved life you know that he gave it all for his King.  Nothing stopped him from the mission: jail, shipwrecks, the church, beatings, loneliness etc.

It got me wondering, Is all I do… for ‘the Message’?  The quick answer is a shameful no.  It would be easy (and is quite tempting) to pretend my life is all or at least mostly for the message, I mean, I’ve got this label of Pastor and leader to live up to.  I have a whole lot of reasons why I do what I do but I must admit it rarely involves the message.  Are you telling me I have my mortgage payment (1/3 of my salary) for the message?  My mini-van and car are all for the message?  My Nintendo Wii?  My landscaping?  My savings account?  My 401k?  My wife?  My kids?  Did I gain/attain/and retain these things ALL FOR THE MESSAGE?  Again, insert sad face here.  Don’t get me wrong, I am happy, feel blessed, love my life, and know that God had been real nice to me (which could include the above mentioned), but my motive for what I have gained in life has not been pure and filtered through this ‘message’ Paul gave his life for. 

Sorry, I have no pretty wrap up for this blog.  I’m stuck… thinking this one through for awhile. 

nkotb

Wanted to give a shout out to the little man in town.  In a time where big boxes and chain stores rule the roost there is 1 new kid on the block that just might make the cut, Bebe’s Coffee House.  It’s a local joint that has established itself as the go to place for great coffee, good vibe, and consistent service.  Every first Friday night of the month is open mic for local talent and when it’s warm they have a sweet patio that has plenty of comfortable seats to sit back, relax, and get your chill on.  With free WiFi it is my office away from my office…can’t beat that!  Stop by (Lakewood Springs Commons on edge of Plano/Yorkville), check it out and enjoy the best cup of coffee in town. 

Amazing week

Spent the last week in sunny Orlando and had a blast.  Here’s the cliffsnotes. 

Ran out church door, caught plane, smooth landing, great weather, Spyder Convertible, got made fun of, great friends, awesome food, smart speakers (at Exponential Conference), late nights, early mornings, Starbucks, met new faces, great conversations, PF Changs, Cheesecake Factory, Seasons 52, Pirates cove, Corona Cigar Co, Carter snoring, slept in a kiddy size twin bed, Apple store, ping pong w/plastic paddles, GPS awesomeness, Metcalf’s D-B LeBaron Convertible, Bret naked……ewe……hairy, runnin late, caught plane, smooth landing, saw Ari, can’t mention next activity, slept in my OWN bed.  

Amazing week!

Bromance

Hey guys, do you have a special male friend that you like to hang out with, go to the bar with, plays sports with, and maybe even go to the movies with.  Well, you now have an official title for that relationship…it is now called a BROMANCE.  That’s right, ABC News ran a story last night that put a new label on these types of male friendships.  Don’t know if that’s the word I would choose to use for me and my best bud Chrissy B’s relationship, but then again it could grow on me.  I got to believe there would be a less weird more palatable name for my good male friendships. 

Are you alright with that label or do you have a way better name/label than Bromance?  This could get pretty funny…let the names fly!