Archive for August, 2006
My Dad Is Next To God
Dad called tonight.
“Hey. Whacha doin’ for Thanksgiving?”
“I guess coming to KC, why?”
“I got a couple of tickets to the KC/Denver game on Thanksgiving night…if you want to go.”
Excuse me while I change my pants. I just wet myself.
Heck freakin’ yeah!!!! Which jersey should I wear – Rod Smith or St. John Elway?
Last Day At Grace
Office packed.
Files tossed.
Keys turned in.
Lights turned off.
Last staff lunch – at PF Changs.
Now the only thing left – and Kayla I know you are reading this – remove my name off the security list.
No more friggin’ 3 AM phone calls telling me someone forgot to set the alarm.
Vacation starts….now.
Happy Early Birthday…
so we can go to High Tide Harry’s.
Nana and Poppy sent their stuff early…which means we are going to open it early.
DRESS UP CLOTHES!!!
I think dress up clothes for girls is like DVD’s for boys…you can never have too many.
She also scored a Gigi video which I have no idea what it is but ask me again tomorrow and I’ll have watched it at least 10 times I’m sure.
Grant’s New Church
That was the subject line of the email from Harry…which meant who knows what kind of picture followed…
Here they are…
Great pics, Harry. I have no idea who needs to get credit for the lego project so if you know – leave a comment.
The Orlando Blog Party
By some crazy act of God, I happen to have some great blogging friends in Orlando…and my mother-in-law. (You can’t win ‘em all.)
And we are going to be hitting O-town on Saturday for 10+ days of seafood, pools, hurricanes, and the Big Rat.
Here’s the invitation…Tuesday night, September 5th…Blog party at Harry’s Seafood.
Who’s Invited:
Rob and Patricia
Paul and Cathy (Catbird)
Andrew and Virginia
Jerry and Cathy Hertzler
Did I miss anybody? RSVP here!!
If Tuesday night won’t work, which one will?
Monday Night Football
Coop and I watched the first half of the Cincinnatti vs. Green Bay preseason game last night. Here were my thoughts in no particular order.
1. Carson Palmer is back. He may be better (smarter) than last year.
2. No matter how you slice, the Bengals have the worst uniforms in the league. I was trying to think of a better alternative for them but the glare off their uniform is such a major distraction.
3. Green Bay looks like an average college football team.
4. Favre needed to retire. He just looks tired.
5. Tony Kornheiser on PTI – very good. Tony Kornheiser on MNF – very bad.
6. Joe Theismann on anything – very bad.
7. Joe Torrico on College Football – good. Torrico on MNF – very bad.
8. MNF is just going to suck eggs this season. The booth is terrible. Theismann is way over the top, annoying, and takes his opinion way to seriously. I feel like he is trying to sell me a Kirby vaccuum. It’s painful to watch the game.
9. Boomer Esaison is calling the game on radio. So – do you want to be shot in the head and die quickly or in the lungs and suffocate?
10. Green Bay will be the worse team in the league this year. Worse than the Texans – they have a coach that knows what he is doing.
11. A. J. Hawk looks completely lost on the field. Not like a top 10 pick.
12. Palmer appears to have that “special” relationship between a player and a city. Favre has it in Wisconsin. Elway had (still has) it in Denver. Bush will have it in New Orleans.
13. I can’t get over how bad Green Bay is. What kind of crack was Favre smoking when he said that this was the most talented team he’s been on?
14. The MNF crew is terrible. Theismann is waxing eloquently on how Palmer needs to play to get in “game shape.” Torrico is still calling the game like anybody is listening to him. Sideline reports from the Wonder twins are ridiculous. Kornheiser sounds intimidated and hesitant to say ANYTHING and he might be the only guy that can save that ship from sinking.
15. Halftime…ahhhhhhh. This will be the only thing worth watching on MNF – the halftime show. Is there anyone better than Berman and Tom Jackson? There isn’t. Irvin is tolerable only because of those two’s greatness. Young is good, Jaws is great, Mort is good.
[tags]NFL, Monday Night Footbal[/tags]
What I’m Going To Miss
As I process my last week at Grace, it really is bitter-sweet. We are pumped about Pinecrest and Parker and the new friends we have there. We are excited about the potential and yes – even the WORK that is ahead of us.
But we have so many friends that are family to us. Spending holidays and significant events with them has made them vital to our sanity and life. And yesterday brought a lot of that to mind.
Sunday Lunch with the Boehm’s and whoever else wanted to crash the party. Almost always the last ones to leave.
Zack on Tuesdays. Zack almost always popped in on Tuesday’s on his way from school to work. The visit normally only lasted a few minutes but I loved it.
5.36 – what a great experiment in worship. Had we known it was going to be that good we’d done it sooner.
Sufficient Grounds – my secret hide-away that Jeff Kinley and I would ‘randomly’ meet at.
Chris Perry at Good Wraps. What a godly man and incredible encourager. Food wasn’t always great but the company was.
Moments of “Did I Say That Out Loud?” with the Sanders, Gallis, and Boehms.
The view from Cantrell Road as I drove over 630 to the north across the river to Maumelle. It’s a 3 second glimpse but gorgeous.
Golf balls on strings in random trees around the church property.
Welcome to MOES!!!!
Cards with the Singletons, Halo with the guys, and golfing with the “Crew.”
Tuesdays with Rowland. (BTW, he’s blogging now.)
Dreaming with the youth volunteers, being pushed to go further up and further in by some of the most incredible people I’ve ever had the honor to work with. The Edwards, Gallis, Wennekers, Plunketts, Sanders, Andersons, Boehms, the “Other Edwards”…the list is long, the love is deep. Yeah, Baby!!!!!!!
In math they teach that a line is really just a series of points next to each other into infinity. I’m beginning to understand spiritual formation and following Jesus that way as well. These points or ‘snapshots’ are tiny parts that add up to the whole of who we are and who we are becoming in God’s story. These are a few of the ones I’m going to miss.
East Coast Draft
Here is the Yahoo League story.
I’m picking 7 in a 12 team league. Almost all the guys are solid players. There will be no gift wrapping in this draft.
7. Edge James, RB, Cardinals
Manning was drafted early and somehow James slides here. I’m happy but nervous. New scoring system this year gives us a point per reception. James could be HUGE with that.
The picks are all over the place. It seems that everyone is trying to figure out how to maximize the point per reception rule as well. I’ve got my eyes on Marvin Harrison or Chad Johnson with my next pick. Harrison is there at 18 but so is…
18. Clinton Portis, RB, Redskins
It may be because his injury and I might regret not taking Harrison, but I’d never imagine he’d fall to here so I have to take him.
31. Julius Jones, RB, Cowboys
Another 2nd round RB falling to the 3rd round so I take him but that forces me to draft a WR next pick
The highlights of the rest…
42. Chris Chambers, WR, Dolphins
55. Mike Bell, RB, Broncos
66. Terry Glen, WR, Cowboys
79. Jake Plummer, QB, Broncos
I’ve got Trent Green, Jeremy Shockey, and Roddy White as well.
Again, too early to say much of anything but this was the craziest draft I’ve ever done. Had a guy on either side of me that was in my brain every round snatching guys that I wanted just one pick in front of me.
Cant’ wait to start playing!
I am a Prophet
The Prophet spoketh here.
It’s starting to happen here.
The Cowboys aren’t even out of the preseason yet.
This is going to be the longest 4 game stretch ever.
Joe Theismann quote from the New Orleans/Dallas preseason game:
I think TO has changed because the game of football was taken away from him last year. And you can say a lot of things about TO but he loves the game of football and I think the thought of not playing again will keep him in line.
Hey Joe…still wanna stand by that?
[tags]NFL, Dallas Cowboys, TO[/tags]
Overwhelmed
I’ve now preached my last sermon at Grace and locked up after church my last time. (Which for all the Grace readers – we use a lot of lights on Sunday morning. Just an observation.) There was a basket of cards and throngs of people who just wanted a hug and some face time after the service. We have a ton of thank you cards to write. What sticks out most about the morning?
I guess how many times the words “real” and “authentic” as well as “a hunger and love of Jesus” were used to describe Amy and me.
I honestly have never thought of us as being the model of what a Christian family should look like. (And if you’ve spent any time at our house, you’d agree with that!!!) But I do think that Amy and I were fortunate very early in our marriage and ministry to be challenged with a decision. Are you going to be real with your junk?
I was first challenged with that while in college by a guy named Walter Knight. He was pretty blunt about the whole mess.
As a spiritual leader you are going to be tempted to whitewash your failings and rough edges. You’re going to be tempted to be “nice” to everyone and be pleasing to everyone, hide or at the very least keep at a distance your failings, insecurities, and work areas. A lot of guys do it, they have very “successful” ministries and many “friends.”
It also all crashes at some point. Doesn’t have to be a moral failure but you wake up and your own family doesn’t know who you are or nobody else does for that matter.
OR you can choose “the DARK SIDE.” 
Be real with your junk. No pretenses, no fakeness, just be who God’s wired you to be, keep striving to grow. The dangers of this is there will be many people who won’t get it. They will be intimidated by the authenticness. Their response will either be embrace it and run closer to Jesus or they’ll judge it as immaturity and throw rocks at it (you).
The benefits of this is a deeper love of Jesus, deeper love of people, an openness and attractiveness to lead people further up and further in with their walk with Jesus. An understanding of the reality that God doesn’t NEED you in ministry but WANTS you in ministry. (He didn’t unpack that phrase at the time but after a few years, I finally got it.) And possibly smaller crowds during revival week. (You can’t win them all.)
But it’s worth it.
So this morning as we were being prayed over by Grace and I recounted the 4 and half years…I had to once again agree with Walter. It is worth it.
The Yahoo! Draft
I was picking 6 in a 10 team league. For my opinion on that position read here and here. I draft again in 11 hours.
But for now a quick analysis of my first draft…
6. Peyton Manning – my thinking was gamble that a back would be there on the turn around….
15. Chad Johnson – gamble didn’t work. Every player save one takes a back…
26. Domanick Davis – I had 1 of 3 backs I wanted if I couldn’t get one in the top 2 picks, here’s one of them…
35. Jamal Lewis – here’s the 2nd one…
46. Mike Bell – here’s the 3rd one…
Donald Driver, Joe Horn, and Dominic Rhodes were the next three picks. I won’t bore you with the rest of the team (Kris)!
Overall – I am not sure. How’s that for confidence? I did get all the second tier RB’s I wanted. All I need is for 2 of them to go off and have a monster year.
I normally draft backs like crazy and ride them to 2nd place. This will be the first time I’ve had a top tier QB and a WR. We’ll see if that makes a difference or not.
I do think this will be my last year in the Yahoo League unless some rule changes are made. They play with a Defense AND three individual defensive players. After doing that for 4 years – I’m done with that experiment.
[tags]Fantasy Football Draft[/tags]
Draft Weekend
Tonight is the draft for my Yahoo League and tomorrow is the draft for my ECFC League. (BTW, my ECFC League has a blog here.)
Steve “Pool Boy” Boehm is in the Yahoo leauge, Rob and Tom are in the ECFC League (as well as a host of other bloggers).
Normally strategy would dictate to draft as many RBs as possible. That’s just not going to work in the ECFC League this year because I pick 7. The Ultimate “Who The Heck Do I Take With This Pick” Position.
By pick 7 there will be 6 RBs off the board – so take a QB right? If I do that, my next pick isn’t until pick 18. That means another 17 RBs are taken and I don’t have one.
So you take a RB with 7, right?
Only your next pick is 18 and that means that any QB or WR that’s worth having is gone.
Plus the bathroom breaks for the 7th spot are horrible. If you have a 1 or 2 or an 11 or 12, you pick twice in a row, then you have time to take care of some business, get a snack, whatever. With the 6 or 7 pick – your stuck. Better have wireless when you go to the bathroom…or wear depends.
In spite of that…I’m PUMPED about FANTASY FOOTBALL!!!!!!!
Here’s how I see my draft playing out by Round:
1. Chuck Norris
2. Jay Cutler
3. Ron Dayne
4. John Elway
5. Terrell Davis
6. Shannon Sharpe
7. Jack Bauer
That team would be awesome.
[tags]fantasy football, chuck norris[/tags]
Shoot Me In The Head….NOWWWW
I’m sitting in San Fran Bread company working out the last details of my sermon and in walks this “older than me” woman. She is wearing a bright green, slanted stripe outfit and she is ordering.
I can smell her from here.
A very strong, fru-fru perfume smell. It’s like walking through the perfume section in Dillards. I’m about to sneeze my eyeballs out my head.
UPDATE 1:
She’s now sitting one table away from me. I’m going to die….today.
UPDATE 2:
Oh dear….she’s done with lunch and “freshening up” for the rest of the day….
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO….
Oh my gosh……more perfume???
WT&*(*&^%#?????????????
I’m looking around at the other laptopites in here and we are all just tearing up and trying hard to not laugh out loud.
UPDATE 3:
She’s leaving by walking right by my table. C’mon, lady. The pages on my Bible are now singed and I feel like I’ve been drive-by sprayed.
The Clean Air act should cover stuff like this.
I want a non-smoking/non-perfume section!!!!
UPDATE 4:
At the risk of sounding completely racist – an Indian has now just walked in and now I am blessed with the smell of Old Spice AND curry.
What the freakin’ heck is going on??????????
Not In The Parenting Brochure
I’m learning that while as a parent I can choose WHAT battles I will fight, I don’t necessarily get to choose WHEN or WHERE those battles take place.
Profound?
Glad your impressed, let’s go to the telestrater.
Exhibit 1: hairstyles
Cooper wants a mohawk. Which honestly, I’m okay with. Amy – not so much. Right now it’s a joke so no major battle is on the horizon. When it does, we’ll probably punt, let him get the mohawk and the earring.
Hopefully he’ll grow out of the mohawk. We can share earrings.
Exhibit 2: swimsuits
Amy’s okay with the little tank-ini’s and other modest two piece suits for the girls. I’m not. Besides the fact that Camber has a hard time keeping her butt crack from showing anyway, I’m not thrilled about my babies running around in bra and panties. Unlike my wife, I KNOW what goes on in a boy’s head.
Eventually – there’ll be a compromise of sorts but by moving to Colorado I’ve just limited the amount of time a swimsuit is going to be worn. Shrewd move by the Dad!
Exhibit 3: bedtime
Cayden has been sneaking in our bed in the middle of the night for some time now. We’ve tolerated it some nights – thunderstorms, sick, etc.. – but it’s become more of a pattern and we’ve decided that our bed is our bed and not hers.
Great idea, good thing to fight. Cayden got to pick the timing. Like this week. My last week at Grace. The week of lots of meetings and sermon prep and webstuff.
Here’s the typical series of events. Whining, crying, stumbling into our room, adult picking up Cayden, telling we love her but she has her own bed, put her in her bed that lasts for the next 30 minutes, more whining, getting up, picking up, back down, moving Camber out of room so she isn’t disturbed by crying.
Time Cayden finally fell asleep this week:
Sunday: can’t remember…for reasons you’ll see why later.
Monday: 3 AM
Tuesday: 5 AM
Average amount of sleep this week for the adults: 4 hours a night. You can imagine how happy of a camper Caydo is by the afternoon.
In the meantime, Cooper and Camber are looking at us and laughing. Which has led to the following exchange.
Coop: That’s funny.
G: What?
Coop: Cayden not going to bed in her own bed and you guys taking her back to her room.
G: You think that’s funny?
Coop: yeah, I do.
G: Shut up. And while you’re at it brush your teeth and go to bed. Think that’s funny???
So all of that to say this, while I am in complete control of WHAT I choose to fight my kids on, not so much as to when that battle takes place. And it will always happen at the most inconvenient time.
It’s God getting us back for how we were when we were kids.
Evaluating Lelie Deal
Here is the full story, not the shoddy one on ESPN.
So Atlanta gets Lelie, Washington gets Duckett, Denver gets draft picks.
Who is the winner?
Washington obviously is better off especially with Portis being hurt. Gibbs will know how to best use Duckett and make no mistake, Duckett can run. He’s young and a bruiser. Great fit for the ‘Skins.
Denver could be a huge winner. Plus the way Shanahan stockpiles and deals draft choices to move up in the first round is uncanny. Just see what he did this year to get Jay Cutler AND Javon Walker. Plus they get rid of Lelie without gaining another player to add to their already crowded roster.
While it would have been awesome to get Duckett, it would have cost a roster spot and with all the other backs in Denver not sure that would have been best.
Speaking of Duckett, how cool of a move is this for him? He goes to a playoff team, great city, and plays for Gibbs – a running game guru.
The Losers…
Despite what Lelie’s agent is saying (“This is a win-win for all parties”) this is what I think.
Atlanta wanted depth at their WR position but in order to get it they trade away their insurance policy on a 30-year old back in Warrick Dunn (who isn’t exactly Mr. Ironman either). On top of that they get a mal-content, overrated receiver who wanted out of Denver because he wasn’t going to be the Number 1 WR.
Guess what? He’s not going to be the No. 1 WR in Atlanta either. Plus, Atlanta is not as good of a team as Denver. They’ll be lucky to make the playoffs and that’s only because they are in the pitiful NFC.
Lelie is the biggest loser. He’s lost some of his signing bonus, a chunk of his salary, he’s still a No. 3 WR on a worse team. Which means he’ll miss out on the playoff checks AND the mentoring he could have gotten from Rod and Javon. Plus he’s missed all of training camp so now he has to learn a new offense, new terminology on the fly, get in game shape around teammates who only know him through the media as opposed to Denver where despite his boneheadedness, almost all of the team liked him.
Yeah for Washington and Denver. Hope it works out for you Atlanta and Lelie.
[tags]Lelie, Duckett, Atlanta Falcons, Broncos, Redskins, NFL trades[/tags]
John Mayer & Sheryl Crow
Unbelievable. I can’t tell you how awesome it would be to see these two in concert.
They are going to be at Red Rocks…..in SEPTEMBER!!!!! Which means we’ll be here in Little Rock.
And when we get to Denver in October….they’ll be in Dallas.
Perfect….
(sigh)
Time to bust out the iPod.
[tags]Red Rocks, Sheryl Crow, John Mayer[/tags]
“Literal Interpretation”
Crap like this just makes me want to find the nearest rock and hide under it. Or pick it up and throw it. I definitely know how Jesus feels about that so I’ll just blog instead.
Pastor claims literal interpretation of the Bible means that women should not teach men – so a woman who has taught Sunday School for 54 years was asked to quit by their pastor.
If she was boring – fine, ask her to quit. If she’s been falling asleep in her own lessons after 54 years of teaching – that’s grounds for resignation.
But because she’s “missing” a chromosome? And it took you 54 years to figure it out?
I’m wondering if they are going to start drinking poison and handling dangerous snakes now – since that is also what the Bible “literally” says we should do.
Exhibit A in “It’s possible to quote the Bible and be unbiblical.”
Know what’s cool?
Seeing Denver, Colorado show up in my site meter stats.
he he he heh
Welcome to the G Sides!!!!! Let your voice be heard!!
Know what’s not so cool?
I’ve got no way in Africa to see the Broncos in their second preseason game tonight. That’s just wrong on so many levels.
The Calm Before the Storm
Over the next two weeks I’m going to preach possibly the hardest sermons I’ve ever had to preach.
Not because they are the last ones at Grace.
Not because I have 108 emails and phone calls to respond to on top of sermon prep and moving details.
Because I’m dealing with the topic of marriage and divorce.
And stupid me – I’m starting with Hosea and Gomer. Every heard a sermon on Hosea and Gomer? Neither have I. Then next week I tackle Jesus and Matthew 19 – his “teaching” on divorce.
Smooth, Grant. You’re leaving and now is the time to pull out softball sermons, not these.
The troubling thing is the more I read the story of God – the more I’m uncomfortable with the implications it has on marriage for the believer. I’ll unpack more tomorrow – both in the sermon and possibily on the blog.
To “lighten” the mood, I’m opening the sermon with the opening scene in Mr. and Mrs. Smith.
[tags]Hosea, Matthew 19, Jesus on Marriage[/tags]
The Sudduths
Last night was just awesome. We went to the Sudduths. Scott used to manage resort hotels. What’s one thing that all resort hotels pride themselves on?
Food.
Great food and lots of it.
Eating at Scott and Beckie is no different except it’s better. Scott is an incredible cook – and that’s not even doing him justice. Beckie is an incredible host. She made us feel like celebrities.
Normally if you’d told me that I’d take 3 hours to eat dinner – I’d just soon get shot in the head. But not this way. Appetizers, steak with marsala sauce, wine from Italy, bread, homemade original recipe Ceasar Salad all under the flicker of candlelight in a warm home. I just can’t even tell you how wonderful the evening was.
Two things struck me as we were leaving.
Mike Yaconelli (founder of Youth Specialities) would say that you’ve found God’s calling when you feel His pleasure when you work. That definition has stayed with me all these years and how I often tell volunteers to find what their called to do. Start serving and working and pay attention to when you “feel His pleasure.”
When Scott and Beckie serve and host others in their home, you can see, smell, touch, and taste God’s pleasure on them. It’s an awesome picture of a couple “in their zone.”
The second thing that struck me – how completely other centered we are when we are in that zone. So not only did I eat like a king and got served like a king, I got to see the King’s pleasure.
Thanks Beckie and Scott.
10 Things Before You Graduate
Top 10 Things Students Need to Know Before They Leave High School
1. They are valued.
2. They are loved.
3. They are passionately in love with Jesus.
4. They are the Church.
5. They are to love others.
6. They are to be Prayer Warriors.
7. Practice the Spiritual Disciplines.
8. They know some of the Word. (Not all of it, because it is a journey of faith and ongoing)
9. They are life long learners on a faith Journey.
10. They have mentors and are mentoring others.
huge HT to Gman.
Pool Boy Steve
I’ve blogged about Steve before and his quirky taste in movies. He’s my best friend in the world, he has no bigger fan than me…which gives me the right to tell this story.
Steve and Beth just moved to Dallas. They got a great deal on a house that just so happens to have a pool. Steve’s never owned a pool before but he loved the idea. Morning quiet times by the pool with your Diet Coke and Bible. Good times.
But of course with all things that concern Steve, there was going to be a few hiccups along the way.
Hiccup 1
Buy house in early July, don’t move in until early August – pool sits dormant. Plus the former owners were an elderly couple and didn’t take care of it in the last few months. So there is a haze of green in the pool and Steve ponders the possibility of stocking it with largemouth bass and calling Bassmaster for a tournament spot.
It’s annoying but fixable. Some shock, a couple of trips to the pool store with other fun chemicals and you’re on your way.
Hiccup 2
Of course to circulate said chemicals and vaccuum the junk out, you need suction and for suction you need pumps. Pumps that work.
Annoying but fixable.
Pumps are imbedded in concrete.
Annoying, sweat like a banchee to get them out but fixable.
Pump is $500 to replace.
Annoying, sweaty, expensive, but fixable.
Result? Green goes away, starting to look like a post-card pool.
Hiccup 3
When you have a pool, the first thing you notice is how many new friends you have…that just so happen want to use the pool.
Steve had green friends that hopped. Frogs invade the pool. Actually, just a couple of them but they were so loud that they disturbed his dinner.
Annoying, but fixable.
Get the scooper thing, get them out, return them to the wild ala Steve Irwin and everybody is happy.
Right before bed – more ribbits that shake the windows. Now instead of a couple – it’s a small group. 6 to 8.
Annoying, but fixable.
Scooper, return to wild. Go to bed.
Middle of the night – Frog convention takes place in pool. The ribbitting is so loud that it wakes Steve up from slumber. He’s not sure what is going on so he stumbles out to the back yard in his whitie tighties to see dozens of frogs in his pool.
Annoying, but fixable.
Steve goes pyscho grabs the scooper shouts to God “I can’t let your people go because I don’t HAVE THEM!!!!!!” Frogs are then launched to every neighbors’ yard and a couple a few blocks over.
Hiccup 4
The next day, Steve and Beth pick up their new foreign exchange student and show off their ever clearing pool. She is impressed. They spend the day cleaning the sides of the pool, brushing the tile. Pool is looking awesome. It has a little haze but with one more shock treatment, it will be golden.
Next morning, Foreign Exchange Student From Korea says in broken english – “I can see the bottom of pool!”
Steve’s thinking – “Yes, you can! That’s my work, baby!”
He goes to the pool and….
He can see the bottom of the pool. Mainly because there is no water in it. No water. Not a drop of water. Not a stitch of sweat or drop of rain. Deserts have more water than his pool.
He calls me on the cell.
“This has to be the worst start of a day in my life. My pool has a leak in it. Every one of the 14,000 gallons are gone.”
I call him back. Leave a voicemail.
“If your house isn’t wet and the ground isn’t saturated with water – good news. You don’t have a leak. Bad news – you did something stupid – like leave the pump on all night – and drained all the water out of your pool. Have a nice day, your friend, Grant. PS – I’m guessing this solves your frog problem.”
(It’s a gift I have with Steve. Able to call at the most inopportune moment and give him the encouragment he needs. And no, I really didn’t say the last line. Someone else did at work to him.)
I get this email later…well, I can’t print the first one but here’s the other one:
Good news, good news, bad news
The pool is 3/4 full.
The cause of the evacuation wasn’t the valve shifting – a fitting on the pressure side of the pump blew out.
Which means the cause of the pool draining wasn’t my misunderstanding of how the machine worked, but WAS caused by my being cheap by trying to connect to 3/4″ stub sticking out of the valve rather than cutting a hunk of pipe and buying a $2.36 fitting.
Story’s not so good, but makes me feel a lot dumber.
Steve called me later yesterday but I couldn’t talk. He was on the phone trying to tell me the whole story from his perspective but I was so doubled over laughing, Amy had to administrate oxygen. I literally couldn’t talk.
In the words of Steve – you can’t make this stuff up!
Air Force Academy
Part of the candidate weekend at Pinecrest was giving our family all day Saturday to basically do what we wanted. It gave us time to process the weekend, hear from God…or in our case, rip down to Colorado Springs and see the Air Force Academy and US OIympic Training Center.
So we roll up to the academy and see the chapel. It might just be the most awe inspiring center of worship on our continent.
The inside is incredible – so much so that the kids were even in silent awe as we walked in.
This view is from the pews if you looked to the side.
The ceiling of the chapel:
And here we are!!!
One more cool thing happened at AFA. The football team was practicing. So we sat right beside the field and watch the team go full contact scrimmage! That was awesome!
We took the “backroads” on the way home. Unfortunately we didn’t get to see the Training Center. It was pouring down rain and 70% of the tour is outside. Bummer for us but as we pulled into Parker, Amy snapped this pic.
[tags]Air Force Academy[/tags]
Decompressing Colorado
We’re finally back from a crazy time in Colorado. I have so many phone calls and emails to write – it’s overwhelming. It’s a good problem to have! And we do feel loved (or we just enjoy hanging out with nosey, obsessive compulsive people. It’s a toss up.)
After spending most of this day on the phone or responding to emails, I’ve made the selfish decision to write about it instead.
This post is the backstory but this weekend at Pinecrest was clear. In spite of completely fumbling through my sermon, it went well.
And about that – it’s not that the sermon was bad…I just never felt like I hit 5th gear. If you are a speaker, you know what I’m talking about. It didn’t suck but it wasn’t awesome either. Just never got in the groove – and that could be for a lot of reasons that I’m too tired to care about now.
They want us. We want them. It’s a place where only about 10% of the population is churched and the main religion is Denver Bronco worship. I should fit in great.
Here’s the official invitation…
Believing that you are called to ministry, and that your life, conduct and ministry competencies line up as well with our church, you are officially invited to join the Pinecrest Ministry Team as our full time Associate Pastor of Student Ministries, effective October 1, 2006. This is a unanimous decision of the Student Ministry Pastor Search Team.
Grant, we want you to know that we will be praying for you and Amy – your children – and your coming relocation to Colorado. We are trusting God for the resources both in people and material to help you as your minister among our youth, and the youth of our community. We realize that the best ministry is a team ministry, and we want to be counted as a part of the ‘team’ that will pray for you, encourage you, support you and provide guidance to you in the days ahead.
The Student Ministry Pastor Search Team –
[names have been withheld to protect the guilty]
There you are…a more eloquent and thought provoking post will happen tomorrow but for tonight…cell phone is off and we’re going to celebrate. By playing cards until 10 then watching more episodes of 24.