I mispell things!
my cute wife surprised me with two books this afternoon. they were:
what a great wife i have. i’m pretty excited about reading both of them because they look interesting. since, pam loves it when people personalize, write within, etc. any gift that they give to her she lived that same desire out and as usual wrote something inside the cover of each book. within “the goat lady” she wrote this great quote from mother teresa. it says:
being unwanted, unloved, uncared for, forgotten by everybody, i think
that is a much greater hunger, a much greater poverty than the person
who has nothing to eat.
that’s a powerful thought.
reading the back cover of “on photography” reminded me of a sentence i saw that brad wenner had written (i don’t remember where – sorry brad – and i’m not sure if he was quoting/stealing from someone else – sorry unknown possible originator). he said photography was a dishonest medium. i was confused by this because i figured a good photo always spoke of truth. he then went on to explain that a good photo does have truth within it but that doesn’t mean that the photo is honest. think of the lighting, the comestics, the framing. these are all designed to make a scene look a certain way – even though the scene may not really look like that in real life. for more extreme examples think of most magazine covers or the controversial photo of katie couric. are those photos honest? i thought it was an interesting thought.
my favorite line from “v for vendetta” does a good job of explaining it.
my father was a writer. you would’ve liked him. he used to say that artists use lies to tell the truth while politicians use them to cover the truth up.
once again, an interesting thought but this time from a merely average movie (i was let down by it).
i read this on lifehacker yesterday and i thought it would pass it along as what i believe to be a good tip for living a simpler life and controlling impluse purchaes. it’s called the 30 day rule and here’s how it works:
1. whenever you feel the urge to splurge — whether it’s for new shoes, a new videogame, or a new car — force yourself to stop. if you’re already holding the item, put it back. leave the store.
2. when you get home, take a piece of paper and write down the name of the item, the store where you found it, and the price. also write down the date.
3. now post this note someplace obvious: a calendar, the fridge, a bulletin board.
4. for the next thirty days, think whether you really want the item, but do not buy it.
5. if, at the end of a month, the urge is still there, then consider purchasing it.
personally, i liked the sound of it and i will begin using it. i’ve been using a “wait” rule in a much less formal manner but having a set waiting period sounds interesting to me. i’ll report back on my experience later.
i know this will lower your opinions of me (who knew it was possible to get any lower?) but ii feel the need to admit that i love survivor. it’s one of the three televisions shows that i watch:
i’m so excited that the new survivor season has started. now i’m going to watch the show.
my run for the day
distance – 4.9 miles
total time – 49:02
pace – 10:00/mile
i like things that are slightly quirky. life is just a tad bit better when you throw something unexpected in it- it’s spice for life. that’s why i love eric landry’s gorilla costume that randomly shows up every now and then when we are doing something. that’s why i loved the great statue search that was a part of last year’s JESUS project. odd things thrown into the mix add a little fun.
i say this to tell you that i have decided to add something meaningless to the registration process for this year’s JESUS project. you now have the ability to register online for the JESUS project (and of course, you can still register at the youth ministry office or any youth ministry activity). when you register i or jessica will time stamp when we received your registeration (if you do this online the internet will do this automatically). this is important because i’m going to use that time stamp. i refuel my truck once a week with gasoline. since, the theme for this year’s JESUS project is refuel i figured it would be fun to throw something stupid into the mix that has to do with refueling. therefore, the person who registers on the same day that i fuel my truck and is closest to the actual time that i refueled will become a “star” of the retreat. if you register on the same day that i refuel and are closer than anyone else to the time of the refueling you will have a video made about you and incorporated into the retreat. what’s the video about? i’m not sure. i’ll figure that out when i see who wins the privilege each time. you could be a superhero, a bum on the street, or a person who just stares at the camera. all i know for sure is that you’ll have a little bit of your 15 minutes of fame and it will make the registration process a little more interesting for me.
you can sign up for the JESUS project HERE.
SIDE NOTE – indoor skydiving is just plain cool
i’m not the world’s greatest on html and web design. i know enough to be dangerous but not enough to do what i actually want to do. this year for our fall retreat i wanted to have sometime of online registration (i’m not comfortable with allowing credit card payment yet because i can’t do that through the church and i don’t want the money coming through my hands). i tried a few different ways of creating forms (manners that work for the stupid people like me). none of them really worked for me until i accidentally ran into formsite. it’s pretty much dummy proof. if anyone knows of a better form building site i’m still open to changing things. i appreciate the collective wisdom of the two people who read this blog.
i tried something new this year for the JESUS project (our annual fall retreat). actually we’re trying allot of new things during the retreat but what i’m talking about here is that i’m trying to work out online registration for the event. i have a basic form up on the youth ministry website now but hopefully be the end of the week it will be something more professional than that. i’ve tried a few wordpress plugins that are supposed to be able to do the trick but nothing has worked just right yet. i’ll keep on trying.
i through the view was great tonight. the band and sergio were but right on target. of course, it didn’t hurt that i got to knock antonio around during the message.
some exciting news youth ministry-wise is the planning that i got to do with several other youth ministers today. right now at least four other churches will be joining us for this year’s famine. you’ll here more about this later.
my run for the day
distance – 3.7 miles
total time – 35:31
pace – 9:35/mile
every now and then i get a strong craving for burger king cheeseburgers. in high school i worked at burger king for awhile and yet still i like their food (which is unusual because typically when some works at a resturant they usually hate the food after awhile). my problem is that while i enjoy the taste of burger king charboiled burgers i despise the service you find within burger king resturants in the baton rouge area. i’m not sure why it is that burger kings stink so bad at service around baton rouge. all the other places i have lived (alabama, michigan, texas, missouri) had burger kings with exceptional service. yet that’s not true in baton rouge.
this past thursday i finally reached my limit and i had to write them. i sincerely hope that someone will read the letter and change some attitudes around burger king because every now and then i really do like their cheeseburgers.
here’s the letter i sent
burger king corporation
5505 blue lagoon drive
miami, florida 33126to whom it may concern,
i have lived in several states within the southern and midwestern portions of the united states. in fact, i worked at a burger king in dothan, alabama when i was in high school and had a positive experience there also. i have enjoyed eating at burger king restaurants within each area that i have lived until i moved to baton rouge, louisiana six years ago. the franchises within baton rouge consistently offer miserable service. the food is usually fine but my experiences with the service personnel both within the restaurant and through the drive-through window is consistently awful.
while i have felt this way for some time i finally reached the point that i felt i had to say something based on my experience thursday, september 7, 2006. my family and i entered the burger king restaurant on o’neal lane (within baton rouge) and stood there standing for almost five minutes before seeing any cashier. there was no one visible behind the counter. we finally saw an employee walking from the rear of the building. i called out and asked if someone could take our order. the employee rolled her eyes without saying a word and walked away. at this point my wife and i both decided that we did not want to support such a business and we walked out of the restaurant. we went to another fast food restaurant further up the street and bought our meals there.
i still enjoy eating at burger king restaurants outside of the baton rouge area but the same cannot be said for those in baton rouge. i am not sure that i will ever enter another baton rouge burger king.
sincerely,
robert terrell
my run for the day
distance – 3.7 miles
total time – 37:43
pace – 10:12/mile
it’s time to start registering for our annual fall retreat. november 17-19th we will be going to the judson retreat center for the seventh annual JESUS retreat. it’s a time for for us to recharge and focus on the ONE who is important to us.
i’ve done the path of prayer labyrinth with amazing results within our youth ministry. awhile back grace (a worship community in england and the creators of the “path of prayer laburinth”) developed a new prayer experience on the CREATOR. i wrote jonny baker and asked him about the resources and he said they would be coming out soon. well they came out awhile back and we’re going to use it for our fall retreat. i haven’t used “worshipping the CREATOR” yet but i have a great deal of faith in what comes out of grace.
do any of y’all have any experience with “worshipping the CREATOR?”