Had a wonderful night at Bammel. I told them that I was glad to be at their wonderful congregation — but that they should know that the reason I said “yes” to the invitation was a three-month old girl who happens to also live in Houston.
And yes, I’ve had a wonderful morning with her. All four of her grandparents live in Abilene, and we all get here anytime, anyway we can.
As I hold her, it just doesn’t seem like that long ago that I was holding her father. Is that normal? Or am I getting old guy syndrome?
Tony La Russa had bases loaded in the 9th inning of last night’s All-Star game. Two outs. And Albert Pujols, the best player in the world, sitting on the bench. He chose not to use him. Now the AL’s streak continues at ten games.
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What makes something funny? Is it that it’s quirky? unexpected? off the wall?
During the game, they kept showing clips of the new Simpsons movie. And for some reason, everytime Homer started singing “SpiderPig, SpiderPig,” it sent Chris and me over the edge in hysterical laughter.
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When Bonds passes Hank Aaron’s record, it won’t last long. A-Rod will be lapping him in a decade or so.
You can put this prediction next to my earlier one that Tiger won’t break Jack Nicklaus’s record. (Believe it or not, not everyone agreed with this prediction!)
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Here’s a column by Grant Boone you’ll enjoy from his “Grant Me This” column on PGA.com.
Probably several of you have seen this video clip of Joshua Bell performing.
Earlier this year the Washington Post did an experiment. They placed one of the world’s greatest violinist in a metro station in Washington D.C. He played six classical pieces on his Stradivarius. A few days before people in Boston had paid $100 a ticket to hear him.
The question was: Would people recognize beauty when it was out of context? Would they stop to hear a world master play some of the best music ever composed on one of the greatest instruments ever crafted? Would they know the difference as they rushed to their D.C. jobs?
You can tell in the video clip that almost no one paused.
Which makes me wonder: where am I missing the beauty that surrounds me in this world? Given my convictions of God as creator and as a lover of beauty, I should expect to find grace and beauty all around me.
The question is, Do I stop to listen to the music?
Sometime this morning, the clicker will hit 2,000,000. It’s artificial, of course, since I didn’t start the clicker until early in the 2nd year of the blog. Still, I’d like to send a $25 Amazon gift certificate to the person who hits the mark. Just scroll to the bottom where the clicker is. If you’re two million, leave me a comment with a way I can contact you. Thanks to all of you for participating in this “community” of ideas.
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Our junior league team won District on Friday night, ending the tournament 7-0. Next up is Sectionals, which begins in Ft. Worth this Thursday night. I’ll be getting there from Houston, since I’m speaking at Bammel Road on Wednesday evening. (I never used to travel to do summer Wednesday series. It is easier to get me in Houston right now, however! Funny how a grandbaby changes everything.)
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Thanks so much for the great book suggestions!
I just read about the referee shortage across the country. Guess what? It’s hard to recruit new refs and to convince experienced ones to remain with low pay and poor sportsmanship. Of those who quit, 76% cite poor sportsmanship of the fans, while 68% point to the poor sportsmanship of coaches and players.
While I was in graduate school in Memphis, I refed a few girls’ basketball games for a Christian academy there. We’re not talking high school ball; the girls were maybe nine or ten years old.
And it was eye-opening. The things “Christian” parents would scream at you! Several times people accused me of wanting the other team to win.
As if I cared. I was a poor, married grad student trying to pick up a few bucks. Was I a great ref? Undoubtedly, no. But you get what you pay for.
I decided right then and there I couldn’t spend my life in a profession where people got upset and questioned your motives. So I entered ministry.
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I’m going to need a good beach read here in a couple weeks. Here are the two requirements: good and nothing-that-would-be-required-in-a-graduate-class-anywhere. Any suggestions?
All-star baseball continues. Monday night our game ended at midnight. Last night we were done by 9:30 in time to watch the fireworks display beginning just beyond the horizon of right field.
This is from 2004 (and it seems so long ago, now that it’s the summer before our youngest enters high school):
“I’m embarrassed that you’re not embarrassed.†Those were my Beloved’s last words to me before we kissed and went our separate ways this morning.
God love her — she’s outnumbered. Since Megan’s death, it’s been one female and three males in our house (at least when Matt’s home from college).
This morning the issue was Chris’s insistence on wearing his worn-out tennis shoes rather than his new ones to elementary school. The old ones would be rejected by any charitable organization. If we mailed them to sub-Sahara Africa, they’d mail them back. There is not a stitch left on the toes, so they’re basically flip-flops with a lid.
But Chris’s argument is that it’s more important to save the tread on his new tennis shoes for Saturday basketball games. Better to look homeless at school than to take a chance on slipping in an AYBA game.
And it’s an argument I buy. Makes perfect sense to me. Diane looks at me, shaking her head. On one hand she’s upset with me for agreeing with him; on the other hand, she merely pities me for being so shallow.
She just doesn’t understand our priorities.
It’s the same problem we face with trying to explain to her why we keep a basketball goal in the living room to play HORSE. (â€Over the family photos . . . off the wall . . . against the TV . . . nothing but net.â€) Or why we play soccer indoors when it’s cold outside. Or why we always know where our baseball gloves are but can never locate this morning’s paper.
Some day, our 5th grader will be in college. Who will I be able to kick a soccer ball in the living room with then?
Here are some great videos from this year’s Bible Times Marketplace. It’s worth it just to watch famous ACU profs in togas.
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I just passed 25 years of preaching, having launched out with my young wife and 2-month-old son to our first ministry in Wilmington, NC around the first of June, 1982. It’s been a wonderful (mostly) two-and-a-half decades.
I’m wondering what % of the sermons I’ve preached in those 25 years I’d be embarrassed of to have to listen to!
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The all-star tournament is going well so far. We’ve won all three games by the ten-run rule. It’s going to get harder quickly.
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I don’t think I’ve ever asked this. What’s your favorite gospel? And why? I think I’m staking my claim with Mark. On some days, the answer would be Luke. But today it’s Mark.
