Camping 2010 Photos

This Week in Our Household

Sheri had surgery on Monday. She has been suffering from chronic sinusitis and other sinus problems for a long time. An ENT recommended she have surgery to correct the problem: a deviated septum. Sheri came through surgery fine and is recovering well.

On Wednesday, our congregation has a number of activities such as Children's choirs and chimes and bells and iYouth and SWAT and worship at 7 pm. There's a meal thrown in there for everyone as well. Anyway, we are usually all there together as a family - the girls are in choir and chimes and I usually am scheduled to lead worship most Wednesdays. So, Sheri stayed at home - still recovering - leaving me to take care of the girls midst all the Wednesday evening stuff. We got thru it all okay.

Then it came time for worship. Usually, there are a couple of families with children in worship that my girls are familiar with or friends with. But that was not the case on this day. So, I put the girls in one of the back pews, gave them an order of worship, and went about my business. Abby and Emma did what they were supposed to do - be quiet, listen, sing, pray, etc. I only had to give them the evil daddy/pastor eye once. They worshipped as they have been trained. It has taken almost eight long years of hard work - mostly by Sheri - to get to this point. This Wednesday, the girls past the test. They have developed good worship habits. I could not have been more proud that day.

Persistent Love

Last week, around 2 am, Truman (one of our cats), started moaning and meowing really loud. And we know what that means: he's seen another cat outside a window. So Sheri got out of bed to see what was going on. She turned on the back porch light and saw Milo! Another one of our cats. He must have gotten out when we let the dogs outside to "take care of business" just before we went to bed. She saw him run and called out to me, "Milo's outside!" And I thought, "What???" and got out of bed and went outside with Sheri. We couldn't see him. So we got some flashlights and started looking around our yard and our neighbors'. Nothing. After about 15 minutes, I started thinking to myself: "You know, Milo's a street cat (he literally blew into our neighborhood and we adopted him.) He can take care of himself tonight. We can find him by daylight in the morning and he will probably be waiting right by the door." I told all that to Sheri and I went back to bed.
But Sheri kept at it. She just kept looking. She came back inside and got some cat food and took it outside and called for him to come. And a little while later, I heard her say, "I found him!" I jumped out of bed, went back outside, and saw Sheri with a flashlight trained on Milo, who was just sitting there crying. I said, "Don't move! Keep the flashlight on him!" And I walked around and picked him up.
I gave up, but Sheri was persistent. She had to get Milo that very night because of her love for him - a lot like the love our God has for us as he goes after and finds his lost sheep like you and me. A lot like the love God has shown us in Christ.

1st Day of 2nd Grade

Today the girls started 2nd grade. They didn't seem as excited as they were for Kindergarten and for 1st grade. It has kind of become a bit routine now - getting back into the same routine of getting up at 6 am to catch a 7 am bus - going to a now familiar school but just a different classroom - getting off the bus at 3. Both girls seemed more excited when they got home. I don't think they'll be quite so excited tomorrow - I fear the homework will begin.

Tour De Cure

This September, I'm riding in the Tour de Cure to raise money for Diabetes research. Click here to go to my fundraising page. I still need to get a photo or two up there. But I really want a cool action shot of me riding - and that's something I don't have...yet. Stay tuned.

Vacation Time

We're going on vacation! We are headed north to St. Louis for a once-in-a -lifetime opportunity: to celebrate my parents' 50th wedding anniversary. My sister and her family and a number of uncles and aunts will be there as well. We looking forward to seeing them and the celebration. But we aren't looking forward to the drive: 2 days. First day we travel 13 or so hours to Jackson, TN to stay overnight with Sheri's folks. And then another 5 hours to St. Louis the next morning. We will be visiting our Jackson people for a few days on our way back.
Anyway, it's good to get away for awhile.

Can You Trust?

A few weeks back, the computer on my bike failed. It is a Specialized Speedzone Wireless Computer. The bluetooth transmitter that picks up wheel speed stopped working. I did the whole change the batteries and reset the computer to no avail. So I looked to see what kind of warranty Specialized offered. The manual said it had a two year warranty. But I had to ship the computer back to Specialized where they would repair or replace. Okay...do I send it in and trust that Specialized would honor the warranty? (Meaning I'm without a bike computer for a few weeks.) Or do I just buy a new one? It comes down to trust. Can I trust a company to keep its word? Twenty years ago or so, this wouldn't even be a question. But with the way many companies have recently betrayed the public trust, (just watch the Nightly News every night!) I had to make a serious decision. So I decided to go for it.
About two weeks later, a FedEx package arrives at the door. Inside was a brand new computer! Specialized came thru and honored their warranty. The weird part is that I was suprised at all. I shouldn't have been. A company should back its products and honor their warranties. But I cannot deny that I wasn't surprised. While I commend Specialized for doing the right thing and I will continue to do business with them, the fact I was surprised says something about the state of commerce and public distrust in America today - that I fully expected them not to do the right thing.