Back in March the phones at the church got wiped out from lightning. For a variety of factors out of our control, it took about four months to get the phones working again. Just last week they were finally up and working again. Within the first few hours of them being repaired I realized how much I enjoyed them being out. Already the telemarketer calls have started. Various companies calling and telling me how they can save me so much time in ministry preparation by purchasing and using their products.

I would just like to state that I normally have enough time for ministry preparation, provided I don't have to waste too much time trying to extract myself from telemarketer calls.

I sort of miss the phones being knocked out.


(For full disclosure, I have nothing against Christian businesses producing materials for church use. I just prefer to go looking for them when I actually need them)

In my quest to get healthy, I've started to do something once unthinkable. At least in my mind. I was getting up early and heading out to ride my bike. I got two days in then had to take a couple days off because my wife was away. No problem. I was planning on getting back on my bike starting this morning. Now the however.

However, on Saturday I took my youth group tubing at the lake. It was a great day, until my last run. Our driver tried to kill me. I love him but I promise it's true. The final turn had us whipping across the water, and then the tube flipped. Found myself skipping across the water. No big deal, but by Sunday morning I struggled to lift my left arm. Spent all day Sunday in considerable pain. Today has been painful, but thankfully I'm regaining mobility.

So anyway, my great plans to continue my bike quest has been temporarily placed on hold until my arm is healed enough to get back out there.

This is an incredible time for television shows. As we charge forward to a host of season and series finales, there seems to be one main theme. A main character is going to die. I know that some shows have actors leaving, but there are other ways to write them out of the series without blowing them away. If this was the first time a show had done it maybe I could accept it. But show after show is advertising the sad demise of a character. I'm tired of it. It's no wonder television ratings are so terrible. Get a new idea people.

I was sitting in a park watching one of my youth girls play softball yesterday and I was reminded that I once had an unassisted triple play when I was younger. It was a hotly contested kickball game during recess when I was in the fifth grade. I doubt anyone else that was there even remembers it, but let me tell you that it was amazing.

I have a confession to make. My wife and I were out and about this evening when we happened across a KFC. I'm a sucker for testing and trying new food products and KFC has one. Perhaps you've heard about it in the news. It's called the Double Down. It consists of two pieces of boneless chicken. Not chicken tender size but full breast size. These pieces of fried chicken act as the bun. In between the two pieces of deep fried goodness resides bacon, cheese, and a sauce of some sort. There is no bun. It's a chicken sandwich in the purest sense.  Most questions concerning it revolve around its nutritional value. Having now  recently partaken of one of these concoctions, I lend my voice to the crowds that decry it's total lack of nutrition. The only problem I have was that it was amazing. We split one just for fun, but we were both surprised that it was so good. The chicken was moist and juicy and there was quite a bit of it. Both the cheese and sauce were tasty. And the bacon? Well, it's hard to ever go wrong with bacon. The end result was surprising but extremely satisfying. 

I would love to try another, but it will be a tough argument between my taste buds and my brain that knows something like that will shorten my life expectancy. 

On Facebook? The original post resides at www.focusedjourney.com.     

I have a confession to make. I had a couple of speeding tickets about two years ago. One I absolutely deserved. There were extenuating circumstances with the second and I think it was undeserved. Anyway, you pay your fine and move on with life. That is, you move on with life until it comes back to bite you.

In updating some church insurance information, my name was submitted as a primary driver of the church van. The insurance company ran a check on me and declared me ineligible to drive the van. Seems they don't like those speeding tickets acquired back in my youth (ahh...to be thirty again).

This presented a problem and problems need solutions. I called our insurance provider and they offered me probation on one condition, I had to take their online defensive driver course. I really had no choice so I accepted their offer. As of this morning, and after a grueling online course and test, I am now a diploma carrying defensive driver.

Now I have to live with the shame of being on probation. I wonder if they'll assign me some sort of parole officer?

On Facebook? The original post resides at www.focusedjourney.com.

Today after church we went to have lunch with my parents and my sister and her family. We had a nice lunch followed by cupcakes. The kids all ate theirs and ran off to play some more. I was sitting there minding my own business when my wife pointed out that my sister and I were both eating our cupcakes with a spoon. A quick glance around the table zeroed in on my dad, spoon in hand, eating his cupcake. I don't need to go into the anguish we felt as our secret use of a spoon came to light. Honestly, I don't know why we were singled out as being abnormal. Of the six adults around the table, we were evenly split between spoon users and non spoon users.

So if you are reading this I need your comment. When you eat cupcakes, do you use a spoon or not?

On Facebook? The orignal post resides at www.focusedjourney.com

I have some questions for Sam’s Club. Why do we have to show our membership card to come in and shop? What is the benefit of having a worker stand there glancing at our cards? This is just my opinion, but wouldn’t some very clear signs stating that Sam’s Club requires purchasers to have membership be just as effective? It’s not as if someone can sneak in without membership and secretly buy products. As I was just there this afternoon, the only way to purchase is to have the cashier swipe your membership card. I understand that you don’t want people to unknowingly walk in, shop, and then discover that they aren’t allowed to buy. The problem is that your workers really don’t check people that walk in. All you have to do to enter is walk close behind someone else that shows their card. As long as you are close the worker doesn’t even give you a second glance. And let’s not forget today. Today as I walked in, I mistakenly grabbed my Discover card out of my wallet and showed it to the worker. There was no, “sorry sir but that isn’t a membership card.” There was no, “Hey! Members only punk!” There was a smile and I walked right on in. So again I must ask the question, why do I have to show my membership card?

On Facebook? The original post resides at www.focusedjourney.com.

Well, the Super Bowl is over and congratulations go the New Orleans Saints for winning. The last few years have featured some decent games that haven’t been over by the second quarter and tonight’s actually held my interest.

The commercials were extremely lackluster. Where’s the creativity? Where’s the laugh out loud moment? The best commercial of the night appeared before the Super Bowl evan began. The McDonald’s remake of the Larry Bird and Michael Jordan shootout featuring Lebron James and Dwight Howard was the only one that even is worth mentioning. Other than that, not much.

The Tebow ad that had feminists up in arms was short, simple, and completely unoffensive. It shouldn’t surprise me, but it does that they would gripe about a commercial that they hadn’t even seen simply because it supports life, yet at the same time they ignore the way GoDaddy treats women as nothing more than objects in their commercials. Crazy.

Anyway, the conclusion is a fair game and overall poor advertising.

I asked someone if they knew kumbaya. They did and started singing it. I asked them what it meant. They gave the the exact same answer that people always give in the States. However, they made it clear that it wasn't a Swahili word. The search for the origins of Kumbaya continue.

This past summer, my church was broken into and one thing was stolen. A metal box that the thieves assumed contained money. Thankfully, we don't keep money at the church because, how should I put this, thieves can break in and steal it? So our intrepid criminals absconded with a metal box that contained nothing more than some old ledgers filled with numbers. Quite a heist I know. Anyway, I had pretty much decided that the case was forever resolved to the dustbin of history. Then today, I got a call from a deputy that our box had been recovered. Some people out for a walk came across it on a road just outside of town. It would appear that most everything is still in it. Damp, but still there. Unfortunately, finding the box didn't mean finding the ones that dumped it there months ago. So we have our wonderful box back and just to reiterate once again, we don't keep money at the church. We keep it at the bank. You never know, the thieves may spend their idle time reading my blog and I just want them to know that.

I'm not a big fan of bumper stickers. If you're one that loves them I'm sorry. In my opinion, people often reveal their ignorance in what they choose to slap on their car. As in an example, let me bring forth a sticker that I saw the other day. It stated, "If you ain't a Steelers fan, you ain't *crap*." Now for anyone that finds that word crap offensive, I wish to point out that the word that was originally used was much stronger and I chose to lesson it.

The bumper sticker was supporting the Steelers. It was in their team colors. I think there might have even been a tiny Steelers logo on the car. Yet, when you read it properly it is a slap against the team.

Ain't (it is in the dictionary that I checked) is basically an informal way of saying "is not" or "are not." So, reading the words of wisdom again, you wind up with, "If you are not a Steelers fan, you are not crap."

Read it again slowly. "If you are not a Steelers fan, you are not crap." Basically, if you cheer for anyone other than the Steelers, you are not crap. Or, as I was taught in school, let's use the fact that having two negatives in the same sentence cancel each other out. We're left with, "If you are a Steelers fan, you are crap." Somehow I don't think that is what they were intending when they put it on their car.

Whether you take the literal meaning of the real last word in the phrase, or use the idea that it means "a person that is worthless," it still doesn't make sense.

Before you slap something on your car for the world to read, think it through first.

On Facebook? The original post resides at www.focusedjourney.com.

I do about 95% of the cooking in my family. It’s something I enjoy doing and quite frankly, something I’m really good at. You name it and I can cook it. From homemade spaghetti sauce and meatballs to handcrafted spicy pork tamales, I really can do it all. That is, I can make it all except a lowly meatloaf. Over the years of my marriage I have tried again and again to make meatloaf and it never comes out right. It’s my mom’s recipe so I know it should work, but it never does. Every time it falls apart as you try to dish it. You can never get a nice slice of it. I’ve added more egg and I’ve taken away egg. I’ve added more bread crumbs and I’ve taken away bread crumbs. Nothing ever seems to work.

Now, my brilliant readers out there may accuse the recipe as the being the problem. Trust me, I wish I could blame the recipe, but remember, my mom makes it and it comes out fine. Even worse, my wife can make the meatloaf following the exact recipe that I do and it turns out fine. I love her, but that’s a little frustrating.

I guess there’s a moral to all this though, and if you know what it is, please leave me a comment so I can know it too.

On Facebook? The original post resides at www.focusedjourney.com.

First off I give major apologies for letting this blog be quiet for the month of July. I had my vacation and chose not to blog during it. Then, I had a week that was leading me up to being away for a week at a youth camp. I was doing various prep and just didn’t have time. Of course, the time wasn’t available while at the camp either. So, I finally find myself in a position to start being a regular on my own blog again. Thanks to any and all that read these words and hopefully you’ll stick around for what’s to come.

Just a perfectly pointless story to share. I grew a full beard on my vacation and kept. Just because I thought it would be crazy, I went to Camp X and shaved off a part of it every day. I went from full beard on Monday to a mustache goatee with long sideburns on Tuesday. Wednesday found me with the mustache gone. On Thursday I got rid of the sideburns and to wrap it up, on Friday I shaved down to just a small soul patch. I haven’t been without my goatee since I was a sophomore in college. That was over ten years ago. The best part, on the last day of camp I asked the tract I was working with which look of the week was the best. Everyone was talking at once, but the words I remember being the most clear were something to the effect of, “the other day you wore a brown shirt with jeans and some light brown shoes and that looked pretty good on you.” I can’t remember exactly who said it, but it was perfect timing. So in honor of that, I wore the same color scheme today. I mean, if it looks good, why mess with it?

On Facebook? The original post resides at www.focusedjourney.com.

The coolest thing. I was watching some television tonight with my family when the Wendy’s commercial for their 99¢ chicken sandwich came on. I was barely paying attention until I realized that Wendy flashed the Camp X sign. Camp X baby.

In case you would like to see it, here’s the link to the YouTube page with the full commercial.

I realized yesterday that I had an addiction. I was working on my laptop with the television on. A commercial came on for a school of trades. I was typing and not really paying attention. I glanced over, and I stopped in my tracks. They were offering some sort of course of study for a Mac Hinist. What on earth is a Mac Hiinist? I know computers, especially my beloved Mac, extremely well. For a split second my mind raced and I tried to solve this cryptic computer related occupation.

Thankfully, the pitchman explained that anyone could become a qualified MacHinist. That's a machinist. Yes, my computer has even changed the way I read.

Help me!

Just so everyone can enjoy what I experienced this Christmas. Our family gift exchange on my wife's side of the family revolved around each person's favorite movie. I like movies, but not enough to have clearly defined favorites. Anyway, I picked the movie Tron. If you've never seen Tron you've missed out. Anyway, recently on some talk shows and making the rounds of YouTube was a man that made a Tron costume for himself. My brother-in-law, whom is a little warped anyway, photoshopped me into the photo. I post it here for your amusement. Just so it's clear, the goofy smile isn't mine. He created that.