Gezundheit!

I suck at basketball. I love to play it and I enjoy learning things about it, but when it comes to putting the knowledge into action I'm terrible at it. I have a hard time making even open layups. I think I get too excited to have the shot and just blow it. That and I have the technique of a four year old and the grace and coordination of a baby rhino. But boy, can I box out.
Happiness is watching a great TV show with a full belly and all of your girls asleep. Emma's in her crib, Laurie and Butter are on the bed next to me and Peanut is on her dog pillow. Our DVD player went after 7 years and we got a new one. 28 bucks! I got two. The great thing is I'm realizing that our old DVD player sucked and all the DVD's that wouldn't play before are now working perfectly.
The sandwich is the best food on earth. I stand by that statement and invite a healthy debate on the subject. I own a few food documentaries and one of them focuses on singing the praises of the sandwich. For the record, I consider anything between bread to be a sandwich. Peter Beckwith used to put mashed potatoes between slices of white bread. Odd, but a sandwich none the less. My Friends: take this opportunity to think on the humble sandwich and report back on your likes and dislikes.
Topic #6
How do we love God more?
I had a thought last week. I was watching an Andy Stanley video series called "Pause". It's on temptation and I was left pondering my own struggle with sin. My contention was that I don't hate sin enough. It was realized after much debate that the actual issue was that I need to love God more. This being a seminal moment for me, I also had the opportunity to have a conversation with a friend who stoked an old idea of mine from a flicker to a flame. Hopefully an inferno will result. I've got till the end of March to try and raise $2ooo for a steam table and meat to fill the most immediate needs of a local shelter. How do we love God more? Well, obey his commandments and love other people. The rest is just crap.

Woe to thee Meijer and Peter Pan

So has anyone else noticed these seals that they put on your favorite foods? Usually they're like paper with a foil top. They have these tiny little tabs that you're supposed to be able to use to rip off the seal only they never work! They rip only a portion or they rip down the middle. Hmmm.
I just started a new job today and I had to fill out at least fifteen forms. Some of them asked me to say I had read certain materials or understood certain policies even though I hadn't seen anything pertaining to my job yet. The company stresses integrity and yet they were completely fine with me lying for their records. Hmmm.
Remember being on school buses and how they always had to stop at railroad tracks? Well did anyone else's bus ever stop directly on the tracks? Mine always did. Isn't the whole point of doing the stop to not get caught on the tracks in a long vehicle? Hmmm.
Have you ever noticed that as we age we tend to look more like the opposite sex? Men get man-boobs, grow their fingernails out and have no more hair on their legs. Women get flatter, and start growing mustaches. Hmmm.
Positives: Boxers from Old Navy, dinner with friends, paychecks.
Negatives: Holy socks, canceled dinners with friends, No tuna subs.

Pilfered Wisdom

Stole this from Marcia Boland who stole it from someone else. If you don't want to look deep inside at your own motives after reading this, kudos to you. But I bet you're not looking hard enough. What a statement on the condition of our hearts. My savings account looks a lot bigger now.

I was recently sent this little story... It resonated so loudly in my heart! My prayer is that 2008 will be a year where I learn to worry more about the quality of the coffee than the cup I have to drink it from...


"A group of alumni, all highly established in their respective careers, got together for a visit with their old university professor. The conversation soon turned to complaints about the endless stress of work and life in general

Offering his guests coffee, the professor went into the kitchen and soon returned with a large pot of coffee and an eclectic assortment of cups: porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal - some plain, some expensive, some quite exquisite. Quietly he told them to help themselves to some fresh coffee..
When each of his former students had a cup of coffee in hand, the old professor quietly cleared his throat and began to patiently address the small gathering . ''You may have noticed that all of the nicer looking cups were taken up first, leaving behind the plainer and cheaper ones. While it is only natural for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is actually the source of much of your stress-related problems."

He continued .''Be assured that the cup itself adds no quality to the coffee. In fact, the cup merely disguises or dresses up what we drink. What each of you really wanted was coffee, not a cup, but you instinctively went for the best cups" ... Then you began eyeing each other's cups .''
''Now consider this: Life is coffee. Jobs, money, and position in society are merely cups. They are just tools to shape and contain Life, and the type of cup we have does not truly define nor change the quality of the Life we live. Often, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee that God has provided us ... God brews the coffee, but he does not supply the cups. Enjoy your coffee!''

The happiest people don't have the best of everything, they just make the best of everything they have ...So please remember: Live simply. Love generously. Care Deeply. Speak Kindly. Leave the Rest to God. And remember - the richest person is not the one who has the most, but the one who needs the least.

You can thank me later

Have you ever noticed people are getting angrier? I know I am..... or was. I tend to wonder about things. Sometimes obsessively. Why is it that people seem to be angrier or at the very least, more comfortable expressing their anger publicly?
I think it's because we don't fight anymore. Used to be you had a disagreement you'd settle it with guns or a sword or a fistfight. Today though, that's seen as uncivilized and is punishable under our laws. It seems that people would be a whole lot calmer if they could just duke it out once in a while. Maybe this is a guy thing. After a physical confrontation guys can be buddies. Like nothing ever happened.
I watched football yesterday and it occurred to me that a lot of coaches can't get their players to do what they need to do or they don't know how. This one team was getting run on and they couldn't stop them. They knew it was coming and still they couldn't do a thing. Sad.
I hate myself enough right now that Laurie and I are going on diets. I'm actually only 20 lbs more than when I married but I'm not in love with the direction my tummy is headed. I'd like to see my wiener when I look down for at least a few more years. My terrible confession? I love everything bad for me. Butter, Mayonnaise, bacon, pop, fried food, cheese and all manner of dairy. It will be hell and I will hate it. Happy freakin' new year.