TWILIGHT AND...

If you work with high school or college students, well Twilight is part of their world. I have a bunch o thoughts about this, but here's 5:

1. WHERE IN THE WORLD DID THIS CRAZE COME FROM? with other movies, especially ones that are part of a series of books, I've at least heard of this ground swell, but it's like a tidal wave that came out of nowhere- at least for me- and the books are 4 volumes deep already.
   
   
2. CHRISTIANS LOVE POP CULTURE AS MUCH AS ANYONE: I saw like 10 girls from our college group go see it Sunday after I taught at church.
   
   
3. THIS MOVIE GENRE IS WEIRD TO ME. Since when do students flock to a vampire love story? I'm fine with lots of genre's of movies and books and I am fine with fantasy. My son TJ read the entire Harry Potter series in like 3 months straight. I have had a few Christians tell me this Vampire movie is from hell and has no redeeming qualities. I was also told some Mormon lady wrote it. I'm not sure where it is from really, but I'm highly doubting any of our students are like looking out for vampires at school now as a result of this movie or book. But I honestly don't know enough to say what it's impact will be. I'm gonna have to ask more questions I guess.
   
   
4. I MIGHT NOT CARE, BUT I ALSO CAN'T IGNORE THIS THING. I love students, but one part of my job that I'm not naturally good at is staying up on pop culture. In fact, I suck at it. The only way I make up for it to ask lots of questions of my students. I don't watch enough TV, see enough movies, or listen to enough radio stations to get the scoop myself. So I just quiz people out of pure ignorance and genuine curiosity until I feel like I'm in the know. For example: I asked the college girls (several of which are on my leadership team) all kinds of questions about this movie and books and their appeal while they were waiting to get in line for this movie while I ate lunch with my kids in the mall. One question I asked was: what would the book be rated if the movie was true to it? I was told this: "It's not like a Danielle Steele Novel. I'd say PG13 for the first 3 and R for the last one."
   
   
5. MY RANDOM PREDICTION: Twilight or some tweaking there of will the be theme for a lot of summer camps this year.
   
   

ok.... I have no idea what this means just yet. But Twilight just found it's way into my student world. Now what?

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BLESSED BY THE POST OFFICE AND MY UNCLE

My grandma Delma would be turning 86 this next month on December 3rd. Her birthday is still in my calendar and her friendship still missed.

But while I cannot have coffee and ice cream with her at my house over thanksgiving, I did get a little piece of her world sent to me in the mail today.

It was my grandma's paring knife!

It's so cool to have this piece of history in my life. I've seen my grandma peel thousands of pieces of fruit and make countless meals with this knife in her hand. I spoke about it here in my tribute about her last September.

Here's what I said about this knife in specific:

I once even remade the wooden handle for her on a kitchen paring kife she had sharpened and used so many times that the wooden handle was all but gone and the blade was nothing but a piece of tin. I offered to buy her a new one but she insisted on keeping that one, so I made her a new handle for it. I really wish I still had that knife, but I'm sure it was tossed by someone at some point in the past decade.

WELL I WAS WRONG! Someone had saved it. THANK YOU UNCLE CARL!

The knife on the top of this picture is one that she held onto that had a handle falling apart that my Uncle also sent me. However the one below is the one I replaced the handle for. It started with a blade like the one above, but after decades of peeling and sharpening, it has all but disappeared.

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IF YOU LOVE JAVA, YOU MIGHT LOVE THIS

You can go over here and read how to BUY COFFEE for your house or your office or your friends and family or total strangers this holiday season. Regardless it will actually produce funds that will go towards our adoption expenses.

You can thank Amy Taylor for us by visiting her post here and then buy some JAVA!!!

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GRAFITTI ART FOR ADOPTION

If you wanna help us with our adoption funding and find a piece of art for your home. Search no further. Just check out the picture below and then go bid on it here. It's made by a friend of mine, Randy Lipsey and is hosted on another friends site, Amy Taylor. Yeah for talented and creative friends.

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TEACHING IN "BIG CHURCH"

Today was the first time in over a year that I taught in what some affectionately call, "Big Church."

I call it teaching in "Main"- short for the "Main Service." I mentioned I was teaching in "Main" to one our adult volunteers and he asked me if he should be praying for my flight. Guess I need to give a little clarification between "Main" and "Maine".

Anyway, if you want to give it a listen, click here and download it or whatever.

Embedded in it is a testimony or story from a gal in our church, Susan. It's about how Jesus met her in a really tough spot. It's worth the listen just for that story alone if you ask me.

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WHAT I WANT IN A GOOD LOCAL COFFEE SHOP

I love Cosmos. Love it. They had just opened shortly after my arrival here in San Diego about 4 years ago and I literally just drove down this street and said, "I need a local coffee shop, there has to be one around here." And walla, there it was. Right under a beautiful tree. From Jesus.

I've been frequenting it ever since.

We've hosted 2 or 3 christmas parties here for our student ministries staff. I come weekly. I have most meetings with students or staff or my anyone I can talk into it here. I love their java and their breakfast bowls and their tuna melts. I would move to La Mesa, just so I could walk to Cosmos and work. It would be worth it, except that we like my kids school. Minus that. I'd do it. I just saw that cosmos opened up a "satelite" site. They need one in Rancho.

Mostly cuz I bond with kid #1- TJ- on Wednesday morning and my lovely wife on Mondays. I wanted a local coffee shop to frequent. But cosmos can't be found in Rancho. I have tried 2 different places, and I'm now stuck with something well, less than Cosmos. The one bagel place only lasted about 3 weeks before I cried foul. Now we're at another coffee grounds place. Here's what I would tell my local coffee grounds place if they cared to listen:

1. MUGS: Have "here" cups. What's the point of staying and drinking your coffee if I can't enjoy it in a nice mug.


2. REAL PLATES AND UTENSILS: um, please don't serve me breakfast or lunch on styrofoam and plastic ware. Even starbucks has here cups and plates and they are as big as McDonalds or something. I want to feel at home. Styrofoam is lame.
   
   
3. PERSONAL SERVICE: yeah, you don't have to know my name, or even my drink (though most do since I'm so predictable), but at least be personable, like my business makes yours possible. Smiling is good.
   
   
4. PROVIDE A JAVA REFILL. Like fill a cup of coffee for a reduced rate or a free refill. Just don't charge me full price for the second cup.
   
   
5. LOCAL ART. It's nice to have a local place feel local.
   
   
6. MUSIC. Put on some tunes that don't make me wonder if I accidentally stepped into the java filled elevator.
   
   
7. SHADE. Places to sit outside in the shade are nice. My coffee will keep me warm.
   
   
8. TAB: Um... I wanna billable tab. How stinkin cool would that be?! Hardware store meets bar meets cafe. "Put it on my tab." I pretty much would never drink another cup of coffee anywhere if I had a tab. Nope, Cosmos doesn't have one. But yep, that'd be sweet.
   

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ADOPTION PROCESS PROGRESS REPORT

Well, it's been way too long since I've blogged. I got slammed with school and a bunch of other stuff. A slew of blog posts are coming soon I think. We'll see. But at least this one for starters.

SHANNON IS AN ADDICT: yes, my wife is a blog reading addict. Warning to the adoptive families of the world: If you speak english, have a blog, and are adopting a child from a foreign country... then my wife is stalking you and taking notes. This is her chosen method of meeting with people to learn from their experiences. We don't talk to people, we just peer in their public windows. :)

HOME STUDY INTERVIEWS ARE DONE: Well, we filled out some papers and wrote this really big check and then this lady named Darcy came to our house twice. She looked around a little, asked some questions of us and our kids, and now is going to type up some report. Her biggest concern is that we are too poor on paper to have 5 kids and she thought immigration might flag our report. HAAA! Welcome to pastor/substitute teacher pay. We're not rich enough to adopt. :) Somebody better tell God- he doesn't seem to believe it. Anyway, once the report is typed up, then it goes through a series of "tag you're it" people and then they use it in Uganda to say we can parent kids.

KIDS ARE MERGING ROOMS. Tyler and TJ have officially moved in together. TJ's old bunk has now become a double bunk with the world's longest mattress. It's two twin beds that by the grace of God, fit in just perfect. But if you want to change the sheets, better get a crane and a bowl of wheaties cuz they are crammed in there. Now I need to build Tyler a dresser and find a solution for Becky, Billy, and Jake for desks. Here's a pic of my kids in the monster bed, the now expanded and messy desk below, and tyler experimenting with gang signs evidently.


MONEY IS COMING IN. We have started receiving some checks. Last week someone donated the largest check we have ever received from a non-direct family member. Lots of people have given sacrificially and the stories and e-mails of how this has happened are such an encouragement and have brought us to tears more than once. Thank you to all of you. If you're praying, spreading the word, using your talents, or cutting checks of any size- you are with us in this journey we call adoption. THANK YOU!!!

SPEAKING OF TEARS, HERE'S OUR KIDS READING OUR BOOK: We've been told that Becky wants a pink bike. Billy.. get this... Billy's biggest point of excitement is that his bed in the picture has a pillow. Kid wants a pillow. I swear, it's taking every bone in my body not to just fill his bed with pillows so when he comes home he can't even find the mattress. I might just buy him a new one every month. I love new pillows. We're going to get along just fine- especially if he loves new cushy socks too. (notice them praying over my kids here too. So thankful for a God-fearing orphanage)



GOOGLE EARTH SAYS IT IS 9427 MILES: That's how far it is from my front door to the orphanage. I need like Mrs. Incredible stretchy arms. It was fun to show our kids at dinner last night though. What a crazy satelite world we live in! Bet the peeps who dreamed up satelites never dreamed I could access data from it at my kitchen table or on my iphone.

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HAD NO IDEA THE TEA FIRE WAS AT WESTMONT

I saw some pictures on the news that the fires were threatening some very big houses.

Evidently it also took out 14 staff homes, a dorm, a science building, an a few others at Westmont College too.

Check out the pics and captions here as you pray for the students and staff and resources that have been pretty jacked up. Stuff is temporary and life is fragile. Fire season is a hard way to remember.

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EVER WONDERED...?

Ever wondered... what goes through the brain of a high school teenager?

Well, we've done a few things to try and give the students I work with a chance to express themselves and give us some insight into that very question in our high school weekend services lately.

We started out our weekend series this fall with one called, "everyone matters".

We asked students to write down their "stories" about how these messages were changing their thinking on cards during the third message in the series. We then re-wrote them anonymously and taped them to the wall the following Sunday. We talked about how our stories are all different, but our uniqueness also reinforces how "everyone matters".

Here's some of what they said: (click them and they should get large enough to read)



This weekend we're starting a new series called, "Dear God".

We stole the name from Saddleback (a series they did last school year) and then we added an iphone/texting theme to it.

Anyway, we had students turn in cards and ask questions about God and life and faith. They asked some great questions. I love the fact that high school students are embarking on the process of becoming true faith thinkers. I try and tell students as often as I can that, "I have no desire to teach you what to think, but rather how to think." I hope our ministry is producing intelligent and thoughtful followers of Jesus.

You can read their questions here on our high school ministry blog.

Pray for us as we seek to live relevantly and help students find hope and faith in the truth of God's word this series.

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BECKY'S FAVORITE PURSE

Don't even try and tell me you don't either personally want this purse or think someone you know NEEDS this purse. It's will bring you way more prestige and oohs and ahhhs than GUCCI.

I promise. Your friends will like it so much they will try to steal it- but don't worry, it comes with a guardian angel to protect you and your purse.

GO HERE NOW TO BID ON IT. Hurry. You only have 24 hours to share the love.

Becky says you'll like it. She already owes Amy a kiss for making it.

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SOCCER STUFF

Here's some stuff from the world of the berrytribe family soccer season. From oldest to youngest.

__________________________

TJ's team is called the "scorepions", but um yeah.... we didn't do much SCOREing. However, today was different! We played a man down and made as many goals today as we have made all season- go figure. Crazy I tell you. Crazy! It was fun to coach today- not because the won so much as because the didn't stand around acting like they forgot they were playing soccer. I love soccer, but this team made me think sometimes that I might suck at coaching. Here's the crew.


__________________________

Tyler's team is currently in first place- undefeated with one tie. "The Storm" has been raging all year with some very gifted and talented athletes. Today Tyler scored again, a great shot where he beat his opponent, then waited for the goalie to make a wrong move and perfectly shot it in goal. I was so fired up for him. We have the semi-finals next weekend and then the final match for first place on the weekend before Thanksgiving. Pretty cool. Here's that crew:


__________________________

Finally, there's Jake. We decided to pull Jake this year from our AYSO league and put him in a league where they only train in ball skills, don't have a "real team" and show up on saturday for a mini-field game that is 4 v 4 with small goals. The kids then try and get control of the ball and "go to goal". It's perfect for his age bracket- though lots of injuries on the coaching staff kept this from being all that it could have been. I still like the concept better for his age bracket though. Here's Jake with the crew on the last day (last weekend) and another with his buddies from our neighborhood.




__________________________


Oh.. and I started playing indoor again on Sunday nights with the "has beens". That's good for my soul and my health. I love playing indoor. Last Sunday I scored twice. Rock on. No pic of me and my team. Sorry. I'm too fast for the camera :)

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DEAR MR. OBAMA... CAN U FIX THIS PART OF THE AUTO INDUSTRY?

Today I heard president-elect Obama say that our auto industry is failing and needs our help.

Great. Let's help. Um... I have an opinion on how per my experience today.

• Car breaks.
• Car towed per AAA service I pay for.
  
• Car serviced.
• Parts $101
• Labor $188 or $94 per hr. for 2 hours.
• Actual time it took to do the job including the paperwork per my bill: 50 minutes.

Auto industry explanation: "The guy is fast. He gets paid the allotted book time regardless of how long it takes, under or over the book time. Sometimes it works in the techs favor. Sometimes it works in your favor."

Reality: My wife works as a substitute teacher. She has to work 16 hours to make what it took the car dealership 50 minutes to make.

Are you kidding me? 2 days of work to teach our kids verses less than an hour to fix my ignition? Can your cool new financial policy solve that discrepancy please?

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BLOGGIN FROM MY IPHONE

This is a test. It is only a test. If this event were an actual emergency, I would follow this blog post with some important information. however... nope. I am only testing the possibility of blogging from my iphone with my cool new app if I wanna. So wish me luck.

remote blogging shall now commence.

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone]

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I DON'T AGREE AND YET I DO...

I don't agree with John Piper's view of women. I don't think it is Biblically accurate. I'm not going to write a dissertation on it here in this post. (you can download a copy of a paper I wrote in review of a book on this issue for a seminary class I took last year here if it interests you. Don't plagiarize it:)

However, I don't think commander-in-chief of the army or government is anywhere on the pages of the limitations the Bible gives to women. He says it in the video below. He defends it here.

However, this does not mean that other things he says are not both true and good.

This video, which I saw on another blog, is not unlike how I felt about the speeches and positions of presidential candidates for this election. Some of what is said I found myself saying Amen in agreement. Others of it I found myself scratching my head and wondering why we were so disconnected. I both agreed and disagreed with this 7 minute assessment of the decisions I faced yesterday.




Which leaves me wondering.....

• am I to believe that no one could honestly fear God, love Jesus, and be faithful to the Scriptures and not agree with John Piper?
  
• Is it possible for two people to vote differently yesterday and still do so in obedience to God's call?
  
• Was there really a Godly and an unGodly candidate to choose between?
  
• What is the issue that God gives the most weight to in the world?
  
• Which poor, orphan, voiceless, or widowed individual matters most to God around the world and in the womb?
• What do you do if all decisions lead to partial joy and regret?
• Are humility and wonder really the opposite of conviction and truth the way some want to make them out to be?
  

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WANNA NOEL ADOPTION BANNER?

If you like the banner above, then go here and buy it. All the proceeds go to our adoption courtesy of a VERY generous and kind friend who is using her talents to advance global causes she believes in.

Her blog has a new address due to the fact that her "old blog" was accidentally deleted when she tried to dump her gmail account. Woops. Anyway, if you know any google guru's who can resurrect stuff out of the might electronic trash can, shoot me a comment or better yet, shoot her one on her blog.

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WHY I VOTED FOR OBAMA, BUT ALMOST DID NOT.

I voted for Obama yesterday. Here's a few reasons why:

• because he told me that while he was a Democrat, he didn't care to lead by that banner, but by the banner of the United States. I didn't get that same sense from McCain.
  

• because I sensed a humility that I think is lacking in our leadership. I pray he keeps it.
  

• because I believed that the President of the United States is no longer responsible for just our portion of the North American continent, but to be a responsible Global Leader. I believed that Obama would bring a combination of humility and conviction to the table of world leadership discussion and debate.

• because in the end, I thought he made a wiser choice in a proven running mate. It was not as good for Saturday Night Live, but I'll just watch the re-runs of Tina Fey if I need a good laugh.
  

In order to do so though, I had to come to 3 conclusions- each of which were a hurdle large enough to cause me to vote for McCain if I could not cross them:

• I was not voting for him because I desperately wanted to see a black man in the oval office. He got 95% of the black vote, pollsters tell us. I understand why, but I think some of that is unhealthy and unwise as a standard for our future. I hope that does not continue anymore than I hope any white guy wins 95% of the white vote or a woman wins 95% of the female vote. I'm excited at the historical landmark this is today- even brings me to tears at the significance of this and what it will mean for me and my children and for generations to come-, but there are lots of black, white, asian, hispanic, what have you- men and women who should not be in office. I had to believe that Obama was someone who could do the job, regardless of color or gender. The historical landmark was a bonus, not the point for me.
  

• The economy was going to be a mess for a while, and neither party has the right solution. I don't believe that the Republicans or the Democrats hold the solution to the way we mismanage our money on a government level. But I was ready to try something else. Hopefully this will be the "something else" that will bring solution and not greater divide to our economy and it's influence around the world.

• I had to believe the studies that said that the abortion and rights of an unborn child are not ultimately tied to a President. They go up and down regardless of the political persuassion of that person. If it were this issue alone, I would not have voted for Obama. I cannot fathom for the life of me, why a dentist cannot take out a wisdom tooth without parental permission but a doctor can perform an abortion without one or why a man of Obama's influence/wisdom/etc. would see this as good. He makes me doubt the wisdom piece with this position. I also cannot see why one can- on a purely humanitarian level- support a partial birth abortion. We voted as a state of CA to treat chickens with greater dignity today than we give a human fetus just minutes from birth. I believe that pains the heart of God. I ultimately had to believe that this issue goes way deeper and must be solved by someone other than the man with the chair in the oval office.
  

Lastly, I completely and wholly agreed with this post from my friend and pastor- Ed. I prayed this today along with him and will continue to pray this for Obama and for myself for that matter.

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY WIFE

My birthday card to her read, "happy birthday to a wife who has great patience, love, and devotion.... from the man who tests them all." or something like that. Thanks for putting up with me oh most amazing friend and partner in this crazy adventure we call our life.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY WIFE and the MOM of our 3 boys. We took her to dinner last night ala Discover Card point redemption for Applebees card. Yeah for gift cards.

Here's the pic I snapped. Cute wife. Cute kids. She's gonna have to get Mrs. Incredible stretchy arms though, I'm not sure how she's gonna fit 2 more kids in those.

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DECISIONS, DECISIONS, DECISIONS

I'm up late. I'm praying about my voting decisions.

Here's a few things I'm concerned about, if you happen to be up late too.

I WANT TO BE A THINKER:

• I'm not in favor of telling Americans to vote to show their freedom. Too many do so out of ignorance. I don't want to do this either.
  
• I have come to really value and appreciate the words and wisdom from Patrick Lencioni. He lives in Nor Cal and one of these days, when I'm back visiting family, I just might have to try and schedule a long shot coffee with him. I've read several of his books and I subscribe to his monthly newsletter, which never disappoints. The October newsletter started like this:

"I always find it interesting—or maybe troubling—when people encourage everyone to go out and vote on election day. Don’t get me wrong; I’m an ardent fan of democracy. I just don’t think it’s a good idea for people to vote unless they’ve taken the time to understand the issues and make informed decisions. It would be far better, in my opinion, if those who are too busy or disinterested to stay abreast of the issues exercised restraint on election day. I think that makes perfect sense, and yet is often viewed as politically or socially incorrect."

• I couldn't agree more.

PROBLEM IS, MOST OF THE INFORMATION AVAILABLE TO ME IS BAD.

• campaign ads are full of partisian bullcrap.
• law makers write long bills and then stuff pet projects in the small print between the lines, making my distrust for law makers and politicians mountains high. No other industry would tolerate this junk.
  
• what they send me in the mail is either ridiculously simplified to the point that it is of little or no use, or so complicated, I need like 20 hours and a poli-sci degree to comprehend it.
• many media sources tend to be one sided in their criticism.

SO, HERE'S WHERE I'VE FOUND SOME HOPE:

• I read this blog post and the comment streams and then chased that stuff all over the place.

• I enjoyed this site and spent several hours reading about stuff I cared about. It's seems to at least attack both sides equally.

• I have a friend who has thoughtfully posted a bunch of stuff on his blog. I don't agree with everything, but I did appreciate the process and found it immensely helpful in my own decision making, confident I had someone helping me sort out truth from lies.

SO, NOW I HAVE TO SORT THROUGH IT ALL AND BUBBLE IN MY BALLOT. NOT AN EASY JOB FOR ME THIS YEAR CUZ OF:

• COMPLEXITY: Hardest part of my decisions is that I agree and disagree with parts of like everything. Whether it be I agree with the policy, but not the methodology a proposition employs or visa-versa, I'm finding a lot of decisions hard for me this year.

• DOUBT ABOUT THE SOLUTION: I think politics and government can be tools by which the Kingdom of God can be seen, but it's rarely the first goal of either of them. I have trouble believing that voting changes the human condition that I believe is in desperate need of grace and truth and love and redemption. That is so much more than any vote or ballot can accomplish. I go the poles a bit skeptical that much of it will really deal with core level issues and not just be bandaids on much bigger problems.
  

• I'M NOT A REPUBLICAN: I'm registered as one, but I'm not one. I'm also not a Democrat. I'm a follower of Jesus, and there is no such thing as the "Jesus political party" and I pray no one tries to create it either. But regardless, I'm no longer willing to walk into the polling station and simply pick someone based on party allegiance. I've done it in the past. I'm not doing it tomorrow. I'll vote for some on both sides of the isle.

• MONEY IS LAME: only thing lamer, is how government spends and raises and borrows it. The whole tax deal, wall street buy out, and yatta yatta makes me wonder who is in charge or what it is I must be missing.
  

SO, IN CONCLUSION:

1. I'm praying for our country and our world. This is literally a global decision these days.
   
2. I'm proud and honored to be a country where I can have a voice. So I'm voting as informed as I know how.
3. A bit random, but I'm still a little weirded out by the fact that Rachel Maddow has become a TV personality. I sat in Calculus, English, and several other classes with her in high school- she is part of my graduating class. She now has her own TV show, is a regular on the Today Show, will be a big part of tomorrows coverage on MSNBC, and interviewed Barack Obama last week. Someday I'm gonna get my picture on a box of Wheaties and then she'll be calling me for an interview.
   

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WHERE'S THE GIRL?

Today after 3 soccer games, we went shopping for a new mattress for Tyler, cuz he is moving into TJ's room and Tyler's bunk is gonna become Billy's.

Anyway, we were at JC Penny and buying a mattress from our 72 year old salesman (he told us that earlier in our sales process) when at the end, he tries to be funny and says:

"Hey, it was nice of you to come in. But you appear to have only brought in part of your family. Where did you put the sister?"

To which Jake says all loud and proud, "Oh, she's in Africa!"

Salesman, smiles and looks at Jake and says, "Oh, that's cute. Africa." and rubs Jake's head and laughs a little.

To which Shannon says, "No really, we're adopting and that's why we need another mattress."

I then bust out the phone to show the "family picture."

Salesman then looks at us and smiles and says, "Well, that's great. God bless you."

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HMMM

I've been doing a lot of thinking. Here's some of the random things in my head:

GAS TV: Who decided I needed to watch TV when I pump gas?



OIL SCHMOIL: Why can the oil industry post 14 billion in profits and this not be a social sin when people had to buy gas to go to work but can't afford the milk they need at home? I'm sure there's a reason why we don't regulate this industry like we do natural gas/electricity- but I can't figure out for the life of me what it is except ego and power.

FEAR MONGERING: Why is fear such a popular voting motive? I should probably give this a whole post- cuz I have HUGE concerns about how Christians interact with a secular society... but I don't understand the ones who say I should vote Yes on 8 for fear that my kids might learn at my public school that there are people who think homosexuality is a lifestyle one can raise a family under. There are tons of things my kids learn at school I don't support. But I also have not deligated their learning away. If it's taught as THE way, then that's a problem. But A way? Well, I'm not sure not teaching that is changing much these days. They learn condoms can protect pre-marital sex, abortion is ok, the absense of God, a view of religions I don't agree with, and a bunch of other stuff. I took Tyler to a museum this week with his class where they subtly told him again that he has evolved from nothing... which all of my kids are taught at one stage or another in the public school realm. But I use it as a teaching moment, not a fear moment. I didn't tell Tyler he can't go to the museum because they'll say he evolved from a soup of nothingness. Anyway- I don't fear the society I live in, I want to influence it- which is why our kids are in the public school environment in the first place. Voting is one of many ways I can continue to spread my influence. But at the core, I want to engage this society and teach my kids and students to think about what America does or does not teach and learn to agree and disagree sensibly and Biblically. I don't fear it. I don't think Jesus did or does either.

HEY YOU: The guy in the mirror. Self-awareness seems to be a daily pursuit these days. I wish I was more of this and less of that and well, thank God he loves me, cuz I'm a distinct work in progress.

TEXTING: When did texting take over the world? This thing is virtually the only way I can track my student leaders down these days. For a few years I fought it. It seems now, I either use it or lose IT.

FACEBOOK: Facebook might be the best thing that has ever happened to some of my friendships. Maybe?

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