Day Five - February 5, 2010

We had a short break from the weather the past few days but it is back in full force today! Started raining shortly after 11am and hasn't let up all day. Thankfully it is just rain and not the snow our friends in DC and Philly are getting - this area just can't handle snow at all.

Our routine went well this morning and all went as advertised. One minor disagreement with the 2nd grader though - as we were waiting on the bus she kept tugging at her hat, saying it was crooked and not on right. I assured her it was okay and both ears were covered but for some reason she just wouldn't believe me. To say she has the family stubborn gene would be an understatement and she will not let something go until it is resolved in her mind. What had actually happened was I braided one side of her hair into a modified pony tail (right side) and it just didn't feel right to her. I finally had to pick her up and hold her in front of the Expedition mirror so she could visually relate to the situation! Poor baby got a double dose of stubborn from the gene pool!

Rest of the morning went well. I've run a total of 17 miles this week and only lost one pound - not happy with that but I'll just go with I'm at a plateau!! I had a very positive interview this morning and I've been invited back next week to do a 30 minute presentation on my "personal mission statement." Think it would be okay to say "my current mission is to get a job!?" Maybe not the best angle to take, is it? I also have an interview next week with a group of board of directors for a non-profit in Virginia Beach. That position is an executive director opportunity for a non-profit that has been operating for little over a year and they are ready to make the step up. I've just turned the whole job search over to God and I'm at complete ease right now so I feel zero pressure - gives me a terrific advantage when I go into the interview.

I did get to talk with my wife a couple of times today and she is tired, bruised and sore but surviving so that is positive. She has some downtime this weekend so that will be good for her. She qualified with the machine gun today - does the Army really think it is a good thing to let a Navy Operating Room Nurse have access to an M16 and a machine gun?? I hope they've planned ahead and have some testosterone antidote for her (chocolate) - won't be a safe place for the squirrels in the pacific northwest to hide if they don't!!

Girls both arrived home from school safely. First thing the 2nd grader said was she was upset she only got to go to school 2 days this week. First thing the teenager said - "thank God this week is over!" But I will give the teenager credit - she was lugging two really thick chemistry books home with her - anyone that says being a nerd isn't a physical sport should try to pick those books up!!

Tonight was our Teen Program. We've titled the program What's Cooking? and so far it has been well received. The weather kept some of the kids away but we still managed to have a good time. Trinity is only a small church in numbers only - some great things are happening here and God really is at work using this church for His glory in the community. The What's Cooking? program came about because our pastor's wife wanted to work with some of the teens from her job - she wanted to combine teaching the kids to cook with a chance to just talk with them. The pastor came to me and asked me to get involved as well as giving the message. I can't speak for anyone else but it has been a great blessing to me, causing me to get deeper into the bible and really challenging myself. Tonight we had mexican food to nourish our bodies and to nourish our souls, the subject of the message was "Take care of the golf balls first." The message had nothing to do with golf, it was about worship and the three things we are actually doing when we worship God (recognize God's worth, an expression of the heart, & a choice). Mainly it was about how our priorities sometimes get out of whack and we are too busy for worship - too many of the wrong things take up our time and we run out of room (or time) for God. What does the golf balls have to do with it? My illustration to start was the story about a teacher who had a large glass jar. First he filled it up with golf balls - he then asked the class if they thought the jar was full and they agreed it was. He said okay, then put the beans in the jar an shook them around the golf balls. Everyone now agreed the jar was definitely full now. He said okay, then took the rice and started pouring it in the jar - as he shook the rice filled in the gaps around the beans and the golf balls. Now everyone agreed the jar was full. If he did the three in this order, they would all fit. If he had filled the jar with rice first, neither the beans nor the golf balls would have fit. If he had filled the jar with beans first, the rice would have fit but not the golf balls. The golf balls represent God, Family and Self; the beans represented things like your job, cars, house and all kinds of monetary things. The rice represented all the other stuff we find to stay busy like partying, hanging out, tv and all that. Some people fill their life with rice and beans, leaving no room for God yet they are still not satisfied. Even if they only put golf balls in their life, they have all they need to be satisfied - the rice and beans can become idols in our life that separate us from God. Remember this was geared toward the teens. The total message was a blessing to me! I am happy to say that the pastor has given me the opportunity to present this message to our congregation Sunday night!!

After the message, the pastor made dessert for everyone. He made an amazing dessert that was very easy - he let our 2nd grader help him and it turned out very nice. First they crushed those chocolate covered mint cookies (grasshoppers)in a baggie. On a small plate, he squirted a nice supply of Hershey's chocolate syrup - this would work as the "glue" to help hold down the next ingredient! Then he cut an ice cream sandwich in half, took those two halves and cut them corner-to-corner to make a triangle. He stood the four triangled ice cream sandwiches up, drizzled a little more Hershey's syrup and finished the dish with a healthy sprinkle of the crushed grasshoppers!! They were very good and kid friendly!! Yes, my wife would probably add Cool-Whip and it would be good - just remember she is perhaps the nation's number one consumer of cool whip so you catch where she comes from!!

The girls devotion this evening was "choosing obedience" and referenced Romans 6:11-15. My devotion was "are you ready to be offered" and referenced Philippians 2:17.

Almost forgot to make my meat eating friends jealous - the leftover meatloaf from yesterday made a GREAT sandwich today for lunch!! I love my veggie friends as well, you'll just have to trust me it was good! Even better, Phineas & Ferb just came on as I sat down to eat - if your wife has to be gone, about as good as it gets is a meatloaf sandwich and P&F!!!

The rain is really pouring down, the ditches all around our house are full again. On the positive side, all the snow from last weekend is finally gone and the cars are clean! Day five is done, I'm going to finish the Capital's hockey game and look forward to Day six!!