Well, how about that? Yep, that's a few of the young peoples from our very first Welcome Weekend, way back in 1999.

Do you see who I see?

My, my, my...time flies when you're having fun. 6th graders become seniors in the blink of an eye. Make the most of every moment, because time passes quickly.



Front: Jordan, Spence, Dan L, SNold
Back: DSax, Becca, Emily, Katherine, Kels, Steph

Hmmm, where to start?

Integrity? Competency? Blame-shifting?

The Steelers lost to the Patriots Sunday on a last-second (literally) from Adam Vinateri . You can read the whole debacle (thanks Myron) here. You can watch the kick here. Once again, just for clarity, the Patriots beat the Steelers.

Sure, they did. With a little help from the clock guy, who added 52 seconds to the game clock.

I know that a lot of stuff affects the outcome of a sporting event. I understand that ultimately the team that loses has to look in the mirror and face the people who are responsible for winning or losing. I am aware that it's too easy and convenient to blame a loss on the officiating.

But, come on...

How does this get by the people who are supposed to be watching this sort of thing? How could they not catch a mistake this big?

I'm not saying that the Steelers would have won without the clock error. The Pats are a good football team, and Tom Brady continues to play his best in the biggest games. Give credit where credit is due...

I am pleased that I haven't heard any whining from the Steelers. As a high school baseball coach, I know the pain of feeling cheated by poor officiating. But the ability to rise above the circumstances and take care of business is huge. I don't know if the Steelers knew about the clock mistake during the game, but I haven't heard one Steeler griping.

As I sit thinking about unfairness/being cheated/whining/blame-shifting, etc, it kind of makes me sad that I am so quick to look for someone else to blame for the things that go wrong.
My kids made me late...
My wife moved my stuff...
The dog ate my homework...

I want to do a better job of taking responsibility for my stuff. I don't want to blame others for the goofy stuff that I do. I make mistakes--pretty often.

Grace is good, and needs to be applied to life liberally. I need it, and I want to be known as a Grace-giver.

Cici's Pizza--not exactly the haven of the Carb-conscious. Yet that's exactly the place that Levi wanted to go for his 10th birthday dinner. I was prepared to knock back a few diet cokes and nibble on some salad. I've been the route of "scrape the cheese and pepperoni off" before, and I was not the least bit thrilled about the prospects of a good meal.

But then something happened. Something wonderful.

My wife asked the apparent Assistant Manager, "What do you have that's lo-carb?"

He responded, "This is a pizza/pasta/dessert place...not much."

But then the Manager stepped in, with a big smile, and said, "Hi! What can I do to help you? What can I make for you--anything!"

I was a little surpursed. $3.99 f0r an all-you-can-eat meal doesn't usually translate to the kind of establishment that goes above and beyond the call of duty.

He went on to make me a bowl of meats and cheeses, with a few peppers and black olives thrown in for good measure. He baked it in the oven and brought it out to our table. He said that it was his first attempt at a lo-carb casserole, but I would have sworn that he was an expert. He stopped by a few minutes later to see if I liked it, and if I wanted another.

I wonder how different the average non-churchgoer would feel about church if that's the kind of reception she got when he ventured into the local house of worship. What if we went out of our way (with a big smile) to make sure that (as far as it was possible) he and his family felt loved and appreciated, like they matter.

I'll bet he'd come back. I'll bet he'd tell his friends about the experience. I'll bet he'd be a loyal customer. I'll bet it might even change his outlook on church.

But (to quote a friend) what do I know?

Anybody want to go grab some all-you-can-eat?

Airline passenger #1: "What are you watching?"
Airline passenger #2: "Oh, it's some news show. They're showing an airplane about to make an emergency landing. Wait a second--that's our plane..."

Yep, here's the story. And here.

This is a remarkable story of the poise and steadiness of the flight team in the worst of situations. They are to be commended for keeping the passengers together, and for not losing their composure.

Real, modern day heroes.

Kind of like the people who volunteer to work with teenagers...heroes.

Levi (on the right) and Wes are getting old! Levi turns 10 today (double digits--sheesh) and Wes turned 9 two days ago. Time is flying, and little boys are becoming young men. It's fun to be the dad of a 10 year-old!

May you grow up straight and strong, boys. May the Lord bless you and keep you. May you find great examples to light your path and help you grow. Take risks. Love big. Laugh often.

Remember the 2 most important things...

I'm watching "Red Dawn" on TNT right now. Ahhh, memories of the Cold War. It's pretty dated, but there are some great metaphors there.

A band of teenagers standing against the invading army...
The choices one faces in times of stress and battle...
The value of life--yours, your family's, your enemy's...
What happens when one of your buddies goes down, or gets caught by the enemy...

It's not that good of a movie, I guess (Lea Thompson shooting a 50 caliber machine gun?), but something resonates inside me when I think about this flick. I want people around me who will take action, people who are not afraid of the fight, people who will stand for what they believe. I think that's why God places us in community. We were created with relationships in mind. We need others to encourage us, to stand with us, to challenge us.

I thank God for the friends he has placed in my life. I hope that I can be that kind of friend to others.

That, and Patrick Swayze was one tough hombre, even with the feathered hair/mullet. Too sweet for words.

Over the past few years I have felt an increasing need to slow myself down, to remove the RUSH from my life. For me, that has involved keeping a journal. I used to write in the spiralbound notebooks that I had leftover from college. Then found one of those Composition books. The next step in the progression was a leather-like bound journal from the Christian bookstore. That too me a while to finish--like 3 years. But I wasn't writing every day. When I started to realize the benefits of tracking my thoughts, hopes, dreams, and prayers I bought a leather journal that I could refill. I try to write every day.

Another growing development is my fascination with pens. I have been writing with some type of black inked roller for about 5 years. I've liked the Uni-Ball Vision, Pilot's P-500, and Pentel's Hybrid Gel Roller. I've been contemplating the purchase of a fountain pen for a few years.

But today, I am excited to say that I will soon be the proud owner of 5 antique fountain pens. 4 belonged to my Paw Paw (that's Southern talk for grandfather), and the other belonged to his father. My mom found the last one while cleaning out a farm house that was part of the family farm. I told her that I had been thinking about buying a fountain pen, and that I thought there were some in a desk drawer from when I was a kid. She's rounding them up and sending them to me! I'll tell you more about stuff I have from my Paw Paw that I absolutely love...

Scot McKnight broke out 3 posts about fountain pens this week, and it got me thinking about fountain pens. Soon I'll be trying my hand at writing with one--slowing down, thinking, breathing, simply being still...I'll let you know how it goes.

We had a fun night with our youth staff (the mighty Team XStream) tonight. TGI Fridays is opening tomorrow in State College. To get the staff ready, they served meals a couple of days/nights this week to people like you and me. They didn't charge us money for the meals, but they did ask us to make a $5 donation to The Second Mile. I had an appetizer and a steak, plus the traditional diet drink (with lemon), followed by some good coffee. It was a good night of hanging out with the team around the tables, sitting outside. It took a while to get our food, but it was fun being with everyone.

I got some bad news about a friend tonight. The heart, he is heavy tonight. I'll fill you in later, unless you are that friend, in which case, I guess you know...thanks.

Levi got glasses this year (4th grade). He wanted them, and he got them. His prescription is a -1, I believe.

I used to wear glasses. I got mine in 6th grade. I wanted them, too. Then I got them, and hated wearing them. My eyes got worse and worse until they levelled out around 20-450--that's right, to see clearly, I had to be 20 feet away from something that you (the normal eyeballer) could see from 450. Sheesh.

Then Dr. Kleinart entered my life with is little laser machine. A few minutes under the beam, a few weeks of goofy eye-protectors, and now I see like a champ. Not a real Champ--there was no contest or anyting. But I see better than you...

Sometimes we need help correcting the things that are wrong with us. Dr. K helped me see better. Glasses help Levi see better. Those are the problems we can fix. God helps us fix the kinds of problems that are too big for us to handle. Sin separates us from God, and we can't ever overcome taht separation on our own. But while we were still cut off from God by our sin, God loved us. He sent us a rescuer--Jesus. He sacrificed himself to atone for our sins. When we ask God to forgive our sins, we are made right again. I love that, even if I don't totally understand all of the mysterious workings of God.

New glasses, new contacts, new surgical procedures...new life. Not a bad deal...