Archive - July, 2007

To Read or Not To Read

July 30, 2007 in Personal with 3 Comments

Famed historian David McCullough, who once told a class of graduates at the University of Massachusetts, “I understand the average American watches four hours of television a day. That’s 28 hours a week. I also understand the average American reads 250 words per minute. Therefore, if the average American would turn off the television set and spend those 28 hours a week reading, he could read all the poems of T.S. Eliot, all the poems of Maya Angelou, two plays by Thornton Wilder, including Our Town, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, and all 150 Psalms in the Old Testament. That’s all in one week. My advice to you graduates is read, read, read.”

Reading is something I love to do, but feel as if I never have the time. I guess you make time for what’s important, but sometimes I feel like I’m thinking through my day to figure out when I could read. I also get bogged down in bad books sometimes, and it affects my reading habits. I’ll read about one book a week for a month, then get stuck in something not as fun to read and get stuck on that book for a month. Then I’ll eventually just get another book, and then I’ll have two books going at the same time. Then I get overwhelmed and feel like I’ll never get through two books. About that time I’ll be in a book store and find a book that I’ve wanted to read, and now I have three books going at the same time. And sitting on my nightstand is this unfinished stack of books taunting me and lording over me like I’m some inferior creature. I’ve always felt that a real sign of intelligence is how often a person reads, and when I’m not reading regularly I start feeling dumb.

Anyways, I’m in the middle of 4 books currently; but one of them is really, really great! Undaunted Courage by Stephen Ambrose. This book makes me want to head out on an adventure and conquer some unseen land!

I do love reading, I just wish I could escape to a beach for the weekend and catch up on all of it.

While sitting in the backyard reading a book..

July 28, 2007 in Personal with 2 Comments

..I noticed my oldest son playing in a little mud hole he had created with the water sprinkler. He wasn’t getting too near it, and was content to just stir it with a little stick. I had to fix this…

I offered to cover him in mud. He happily accepted!

Then after some encouragement he got into the act.

The leafs are a nice addition to the Mud Costume, don’t you think?

VBS 2007 Thoughts

July 26, 2007 in Ministry with 2 Comments

I am a Children’s Pastor. I don’t like Vacation Bible School (VBS). What a weird combination.

In the past I’ve always planned the extravagant, money wasting events by myself. Maybe I’d have a few in the church assist with various things; but mostly it fell to me to do EVERYTHING. As a result, I’ve always wished I could do something else with the money and do something that might be a little more effective at creating a positive environment for the kids. However, this year it was different. Being at a new church, around a new culture, has been extremely refreshing. I worked at a wonderful church before, but it was always a challenge to pull off big events and to get volunteers. My VBS experience this year was BIG. Everything was so stinking big! We had almost 400 kids last night at the finale, and well over 150 volunteers working along side the kids. For the finale we did a special Celebration service for the kids to show off all that they had done, and then fed over 800 people hot dogs and chips. (The best pork, chicken, and beef dogs money can buy!)

It’s the first VBS I’ve ever done where I didn’t feel like I needed a vacation afterwards. I had volunteers helping in every single area, and they took responsibilities that most wouldn’t want. I also had some wonderful staff members, ie Pastors, who pulled off major responsibilities without complaining or acting like they would rather be somewhere else.

I’m still not a huge fan of VBS. I wonder about it’s overall effectiveness; but here in Lubbock, TX I know that the community responds to a VBS event. Guess it’s time to start planning next year’s event!?!

Stop Doing It Like That

July 24, 2007 in Links with 1 Comment

Found this cartoon and it made me laugh out loud. There are more here. (Warning, not all are as innocent as my favorite.)

Don’t Mess with me Technology!

July 23, 2007 in Technology with 1 Comment

These are the things that have happened to me over the past 4 days.

  • My Cable Internet bill went up from $29.95 to $49.95
  • My VOIP bill went up from $17.99 to $24.95
  • I’m forced to make some changes…
  • I decided to finally cross over to the dark side (ATT) and order one of those great bundled deals. I would now have DSL, Telephone, & Television (Dish Network) all through ATT.
  • The phone and DSL due to be on by the end of this week.
  • I get home after ordering the ATT bundle, and discover that same day my VOIP provider (Sunrocket) had gone belly up. My phone is kaput! It’s really gone!
    • Good News, I signed up for new service just hours before, so disaster is slightly diverted
  • Good News, Bad News Install
    • Bad: DishNetwork, via ATT, tells me it will be 3 weeks before install.
    • Good: They call the next day and offer to install on a Sunday Afternoon!
    • Bad: When they come to install, they cut my broadband Internet line. No Internet, I have to wait until the end of the week to get DSL.
    • Good: I got in touch with the installer, and he repairs my broadband cable Internet!
    • Bad: I need to purchase a wireless phone system so my DVR can be connected to the telephone line.

I’m still without adequate phone coverage, and my head is spinning from all the new phone numbers. However, I can now watch Sportscenter! All is Good!

Page 1 of 3123»