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Archives For November 2008

Mary Ordinary

November 30, 2008 — Leave a comment

Today I did the main teaching portion in the Elementary services. With many volunteers either out of town, or just returning from Thanksgiving vacation it made some sense to put more on myself during this traditional “down time.”

This Sunday we kicked off week 1 of the Stars of Christmas series. It’s a Grammy-style presentation, with DVD media-driven skits; but 100% of the teaching is done by teachers in the large group and in small groups. I’ve torn the curriculum to shreds and put it back together again to get it to fit what we do at Trinity. Other than the DVD player being possessed by evil spirits, the first Sunday went off pretty well. I spoke to the kids about God’s ability to use ordinary people to do extraordinary things. When one really takes the time to look at Mary, the mother of Jesus, her ordinariness is quite alarming. She isn’t anyone important as far as scripture tells us. We don’t know her to be a women of much accomplishment, nor is she known far and wide for some great skill. Yet knowing all these things she was still honored by God to do something quite extraordinary, don’t you think?

I love her humble response to her life-changing news,


38 And Mary said, Yes, I see it all now:
I’m the Lord’s maid, ready to serve.
Let it be with me
just as you say.

May I learn to let God use my ordinary self in extraordinary ways (and trust me, I’m as ordinary as they come!)

BONUS: Remember this classic Bizarro from last year?

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Planes, Trains, and Automobiles

November 25, 2008 — 1 Comment

I’m out! Headed to Sand Springs, Oklahoma this week; via Amarillo, via Oklahoma City, via Tulsa. When it’s all said and done I’ll have traveled 8+ hours one-way, and spent $25 on Oklahoma toll roads…oh joy…

I’ll be back to regular posting, which is irregular at best after the holidays. In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I thought I would share one of my favorite clips from THE Best Holiday Movie EVER!

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Frigid Video

November 21, 2008 — 1 Comment
I know that those that live up north will roll their eyes at me saying it’s been cold in Lubbock the last few days. It’s currently 21 degrees outside, and there is that normal West Texas 20 mph wind blowing across the south plains. Since we’ve bought the new house, and there is finally room for my car in the garage I am now experiencing the joy of never getting into a cold car.

The other day I didn’t even realize it was cold until I got to work, and had to walk from my car to the church. How spoiled am I?

Sorry about the Christianizing of that video, didn’t realize until it was posted…Still funny though.

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Trouble on the Llano Estacado

November 19, 2008 — Leave a comment

I live in Lubbock, TX. I’m not fully aware of how I came to identify myself with this wind swept plain, but alas here I am. For those of you living under a rock somewhere, we are the home to Texas Tech University. My problem is that I was born, raised, and married in the Sooner State. This weekend is THE game. THE game is the one with an undefeated Texas Tech team playing in Norman, OK against the University of Oklahoma. If you live in Lubbock, then you are inundated with news regarding THE game; and it is to easy to get caught up in the hype. While I’m an Oklahoma fan, I’m also a Lubbock fan. (This may have to do with the exorbitant property taxes I pay yearly…)

Things I’ve seen in and around Lubbock this week:

  • I passed a mobile billboard this morning attached to a semi-truck. It was red with black letters, and said, “Go Tech! Beat OU!” Is it really necessary to advertise who you are rooting for?

  • I think every store front in Lubbock says something to the effect of “BEAT OU!” And yes…we even have our regards on the electronic sign in front of the church.

  • Thousands of cars in town have GO TECH flags dangling from somewhere…or painted on the windows!

  • Who ever sells those full-size Tech flags is making a killing! There are so many homes with Red Raider flags flying, it’s creepy.
  • My boys are picking up on the enthusiasm, and I’m not sure how to handle it. Last Sunday my 5 year old Dylan walks into the living room as I’m watching the Dallas Cowboy game; and starts jumping up and down at the sight of football while yelling, “Go Tech! Guns Up Baby!” I’d like to apologize to all my family for this, but I honestly didn’t teach him this at home.

  • And the best of all appeared on my television screen last Saturday Night. I’m watching a college football game, and the local ABC affiliate pops with this a tag-liner that simply read…“ONLY 168 hours until game time!” It has been counting down for days now. Tonight I expect it to be somewhere around 72 hours.

So as I gather with some Oklahoma-friendly friends on Saturday Night I will be publicly pulling for my Sooners…but somewhere inside of me I’m beginning to pull for my hometown team. I can’t help it. I need therapy. God. Help. Me.

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Are You OK? Call 9-1-1

November 18, 2008 — 5 Comments

Early last week the my ministry team and I took a (infant, child, and adult) CPR, AED, & First Aid Training offered through the local Red Cross chapter. We did 75% of the coursework online in the weeks leading up to the class, and only had to take a 3 hours “hands-on” course to get certified. It really was super easy, but wish it would have been cheaper.

Some thoughts:

  • I’m not sure why I’ve neglected doing this in the past. It’s weird actually that I’ve been working with kids all these years, and have always relied on others to have CPR training.

  • That 3 hour class ended up being 5 hours. Why on God’s green earth would you bring 4 test dummies when 5 are in the class? Geesh…

  • Did you know this? Now I do and I can’t quite figure out how to reconcile it in my brain. I do want to save someone life, but wouldn’t you get some strange looks if you started doing this to a woman before administering the AED?

  • We were also told to do this before using the AED? And if a shaving kit isn’t nearby…we were told to use the sticky AED surfaces to remove it manually…Again, what kind of looks would I get from the gawking crowd if I started ripping out chest air?

  • After taking the course I really got to thinking how sad it is that we don’t have an AED on our entire campus. Did you know that for every minute a person in cardiac arrest doesn’t get an AED rescue that their chances for survival go down 10%? Scary, huh?

  • We used the breathing barriers during training, and were offered them to buy afterwards. Just a word to those that work with me. If you delay giving me CPR by even 1 second so you can track down your breathing barrier and stay clean, I will come back and haunt you from beyond the grave. Just be warned…

If you’re one of those that works with kids, then please for the love of God go get trained on what to do. I can guarantee you that if you’re the Children’s Pastor and an emergency comes up, you will be the person they look to for help anyways. So bring all your choking babies, head injuries, and broken legs to me; cause I’m ready for it…maybe…perhaps…ok go ahead and bring them.

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