Category: random thoughts

after a couple of days of having a stomach bug i have started and finished studying for the day. i am now watching the second episode of “the thorn birds” with pam and i thought that while we watched this thing i would post some random thoughts and events that aren’t big enough for a full post.

• the main priest in “the thorn birds” is scum. not because he gives into fleshly desire but because he puts his own selfish ambition before the family of the woman he loves (albeit a creepy sort of love) and then says its for the love for GOD. several parts of the miniseries have upset me but that lack of justice has been the worst thus far.
• as a family we usually go see a movie on CHRISTmas day. we were too sick to go this year until today. we finally went to see “bedtime stories” today and we were pleasantly surprised. i usually have mixed feelings on adam sandler movies but i do respect the fact that he generally has many of the same people in each of his movies. it’s pretty cool when people genuinely enjoy working together and therefore do on multiple projects.
• i’ve recently been turned onto a blog called “presentation zen“. it’s about simplicity in presentations and it’s quite good stuff.
• i’m an idiot – just wanted to get that out there for everyone to know. how could i have been in youth ministry for nearly 20 years without realizing there were pro ana (pro anorexia) web forums. these are basically support groups for teens who want to help each other be anorexic. i probably can’t be blamed for 15 of those years because i’m not sure they even existed (at least not in an organized internet manner) but i should have known over the past 5 years. i’m sure i probably read something about it somewhere but it didn’t stick with me. poor sick kids trying to help each other stay sick. it’s a great, big, stupid world.
• i am presently wearing a t-shirt that pam gave me for CHRISTmas. it says “go curling … get stoned.” it’s hilarious.
• i’ll be in NOLA january 12-14 for class. this means i’ll be busy from 8am-4pm each day but i’m open to dinner afterwards with anyone whose interested. of course, i will not have a vehicle so you’ll have come to me or meet me somewhere that public transportation can get me too.

as a youth minister for 18 years and a dad of 14 years i have learned a tried and true trick for making sure that i get something to eat … which has now been screwed up by my church family at tapestry.

when i was doing youth ministry it always turned out that i was busy doing something important when the food was being handing out. maybe i was talking with a teen, volunteer, or parent. maybe i was fixing a last minute detail or problem that had just occurred. whatever the reason i always seemed to be a little busy when the food was being dug into and it was always gone by the time i was free to eat. it never failed. no matter how much or little food i or the staff bought it would be gone by the time i was going to eat. it drove me nuts.

i guess it is more correct to say that is it drove me nuts <em>until</em> i remembered the weird things that my dad liked to eat. i quickly realized that the old fart had purposely developed tastes for things my brother and i didn’t like just so those items would be left for him. i hate to admit that my dad has ever had a good idea and i’m actually pretty sure that he didn’t create this idea but merely stole it from someone else ;). anyhow, i recognized the genius for what it was (whether it was stolen genius or not didn’t much matter to me) and i realized that there was something that i like that adolescents didn’t … pecan sandies.

i’m not sure why it is true but apparently something within the teenaged brain translates the wonderful taste of pecan sandies into a repulsive experience. i’ve verified it from about 17 years of youth ministry food purchasing. i could always depend upon the pecan sandies being left almost untouched from any youth event. all the pizza would disappear,  the double stuffed oreos would be gone before i ever got a look at them, and the only diet coke that would be left by the end of the night would be the flat stuff. yet i could always count on my sandies being left pristine for me. it was a great thing.

nobody ever informed me that planting a church would screw up all my paste ideas and methods. i’m not sure why i had never thought of it before but i now know that my sandies are not a safe bet for me anymore. the problem is that by starting a church i now participate within a ministry that has too many adults and too few adolescents for my pecan sandy method to work. i discoverd this when pam bought cookies this sunday night. pam knows the drill so she bought a bag of sandies for me  knowing that i would be able to have some at the end of the night to satisfy my craving. instead i ended up seeing young adults walking around the room with my pecan sandies in their hands. they looked like they were dunking the sandies in their coffee and talking with each other but i know what they were really doing. they were spitting in my eye! 🙂

ah, live and learn. now i have to find a different cookie that nobody likes but me.

ok, i’m going to start this by admitting that i know this is a bit off. the above photo is from the lions club building that is on the main stevens point area drag. it is exactly what it looks like. the lions club is seeking to raise funds to take kids to their lions club camps by getting people to donate the hides from the deers that they kill during hunting season. i think it’s brilliant and extremely creative. someone in the lions club realized that they could take something most people throw away or at the most turn into fleet farm for a $10 gift card and use it to raise funds for accomplishing their mission. apparently it is working because the box keeps filling up. this is not your traditional way of accomplishing an organization’s goal and that is what i love about it.

if only the church could be this creative. if only tapestry can be this creative. well maybe as creative as the spirit of the deer hide gathering. i’m not real sure that i want to go about collecting deer hides.

just typing a few random things:

• even though it’s not official yet it appears that i have beat my brother in the semi-finals of our family’s fantasy football league. i just wanted to point out that he should not feel like a complete loser just because i have smashed his face into the ground!
• i received my rapala rewards stuff yesterday: stainless steel pliers, fishing clippers, rattlin’ rapala sinking lure, and a sticker. woohoo! i love free stuff. it’s great when you get promo stuff for something that you were going to buy anyway.
• how did the packers go from the nfc championship last year to not even making it into the playoffs this year? argh!
• walking the dogs today i found a new coat, a new pair of socks, a new scarf, a new pair of yaktraks, and a torn package for a hitachi 160 gb portable hardrive. this is not typical stuff to find on the side of the road and i thought it might have been thrown out from a break-in. so i called the sheriffs’ department. they came, picked up the stuff and said it did seem like the type of stuff that would be dropped off from a break-in. the deputy also added that there had been some car break-ins recently so he would check the stuff to see if it matched any of the break-in losses. of course, i quickly said that if no one came in for the yaktraks then i would like to claim them.
• i have a love/hate relationship with the book of jeremiah. while i really love some of the point of the book, jeremiah’s constant wailing really grates my nerves. the crying prophet … sometimes i just want to scream “get a backbone!” there are some biblical figures that i would love to hang out with and others that i’m fairly sure i wouldn’t connect with as well. i tend to think jeremiah would be on the “not connecting” list. this is all the worse since my next seminar at nobts is on the book of jeremiah.
• is anyone else with a wordpress blog experiencing problems with the “now reading” plugin?
• the two videos that i used at tapestry 12.14.2008 are below

the above photo is not a wonderful picture of them but pam came up with a great idea for our house tonight. we both love luminaries and she thought we should use the snow to our advantage by poking a hole in the snow and then placing a candle in the hole to act as a luminary for when people came over for the tapestry CHRISTmas hot drink night (which was a lot of fun). it looked great.

when i was a kid i loved riding over to my paternal grandparent’s neighborhood during CHRISTmas because so many of the neighbors put out luminaries along their street. even as an 8 year old boy i thought it was pretty.

now for the fun of it i am going to experiment with some ice luminaries.

a decent amount of snow has finally hit the point area. now if we could only get a few more inches then the terrell family can go cross-country skiing.

i know that i have already briefly posted on “black friday” but pam pointed out this article and so i thought i would post it. a worker was killed at a new york walmart by crowds trampling him as he opened the doors of the store for the beginning of the black friday sale. the crowd was so adamant about shopping that they refused to leave the store when it was announced that the store was closing because of the death. the response of some shoppers was “i’ve been on [sic] line since yesterday morning” and they continued to shop.

of course, faithful adherents usually view a few deaths as acceptable within a pilgrimage. i believe that is how america is treating “black friday” and the economy. our economy is our god and a death as a result of worshiping our deity just makes the value of our god that much greater.

i now some within the bride of CHRIST (the church) are already preaching against the value system that is behind events such as “black friday.” perhaps more of us should begin to do so and maybe the church should specifically begin to protest against participation within things such as “black friday.” this is part of what i like about advent conspiracy. i believe it is a call to readjust our worship and which deity we place out trust in.

ht to my lovely wife.

is black friday an american holiday (in the meaning of the word’s original meaning as a “holy day:)? i fear that it might be almost a holy day of obligation within our society.

i’m in my public office (emy j’s) and i can’t focus on what i’m supposed to be doing because the afternoon rush has started. therefore i am going to start recording random statements that i can hear over the din of noise within the place. here are some of the statements:

1. you have to keep a hat on to keep your ears warms, right?
2. it was almost like a scrapbook or something.
3. i opened the refrigerator this morning and found a bottled water in it.
4. i’m paying for this! response – then i’ll get the most expensive thing on the menu and teach you not to make that mistake again
5. was yours a 12 ounce?
6. i’m not sure how to type this – random sheep sounds and laughter
7. do you want to sit in the other room? apparently said in response to the random sheep sounds
8. i’ll just grab this table.
9. that’s the only one with peanut butter?
10. i’m sure i’ve never had bad ice cream.
11. kids’ for me please
12. it’s really sad to be in the company of two medical people.

basically meaningless dribble but i wasn’t able to do anything else because the store suddenly became quite noisy. this is why i am now grabbing my coffee and leaving.