Mortons Salt

Knucklehead moment of the week. 

We have been having a lot of snow and ice the last few weeks.  And at my house, we ran out of rock salt to clear the driveway.  So I went to the store about bought the pictured bag of Morton Salt Pellets.

When I got them home, I noticed that these pellets looked like a mixture of horse pills and moth balls.  A long, white, cyclinder.  But they were from Mortons, who makes salt, right?  So I spread the pellets all over my ice covered driveway, and waited, and waited, and waited some more.  No melting, no change whatsoever.

After further review, I notice what I had done.  I bought Mortons Water Softner Pellets.  Not rock salt.  Instead of melting the ice, I was making it softer and easier on the drains.

I am such a moron.

Planes, Trains and Boys

With this being a wintery Daddy Day, all the trains, blocks, cars, and tracks had to come out.  I hope you enjoy this little window into our fun day.

Snow Days Have Lost Their Fun

As a kid growing up in western KY, I loved snow days.  All the kids from our neighborhood would gather at our house at 12 noon, no questions asked.  We didn’t have to make phone calls to get the word out, kids just showed up.  Even some adults.  My youth pastor, Morgan Owen, was known to stop by for the action.  If we were out of school, then there was something EVERYONE knew would happen that day.

The SNOW BOWL! 

That’s right, young boys freezing to death, out in the cold, laying extremely hard hits on each other, all wet and numb, teeth chattering, nearly getting pneumonia from being outside for hours, fingers aching, backs bruised, all with rag-tag scarfs, sockcaps, and gloves.  (My brother and I would use old tube socks.)  It was great!!!  It made snow days full of excitement.

NOW a days…I hate snow days.  As the administrator of a school, I have to wake up at 5 AM, watch the weather forecast, check the road conditions, and try to make the right call.  It is a very pressure filled moment to call off school.  It affects hundreds of families, my employees, the kids, everyone. 

Sure you think the principal of a school loves having that much power, but I would rather be looking forward to the Snow Bowl and watching another episode of Transformers, eating a cinnamon and brown sugar Poptart.  That is my idea of a good snow day.

Celebrity Look Alike

This is hilarious.  L.L. and I are brothers from different mothers.  Greg Louganis…I see the resemblance.  But is he really a celebrity?

A Tribute to My Valentine

No chocolates.  No flowers.  No romantic dinners.  Not even a date for this Valentines Day.  My wife is at home with our boys putting them to bed.  I am in the library studying for Comps.  So how can I show my love for my dear, sweet wife. 

A Tribute on the Blog…That is romantic.  Yeah, right?

Even still, I am honored to be married to my wife, Jennifer.  We will celebrate our sixth year together in just in about a month.  Six years of marriage, 6 months engaged, 1 1/2 years dating, and another year of kind of liking each other.  So we have been entangled in this love web for nearly 10 years.  And oh…how sweet the years have been.

My wife is one of the funniest people I have ever met.  She tells the most corny jokes and loves to laugh.  We named our first son, Isaac, which means laughter in Hebrew because our house is filled with laughter.  Mostly because of her.

She is also tender and loving.  She has that inexplainable compassion for people and for her family.  Now she is not a push-over, far from it, but her heart of pure gold seems to shine through at all times. 

She is a great financial wizard and has totally reshaped our family’s financial future.  She is an encourager, always willing to share a word that lifts me up and pushes me to be a better man, husband and father. 

She is also my dearest and best friend.  I can not imagine spending one day without her. 

So my dear sweet Rose.  Happy Valentines day.  I love you and will always be your “dear mister.”

This picture was taken when Rose was about 6 year old, at her grandmother’s house, in her Easter dress.  Isn’t she adorable?  God planned for this beautiful little girl to be my wife.  I am so blessed.

Reds Clergy Pass

This week I got my Reds Clergy Pass in the mail.  I have been trying to get this pass for four years.  But the pastor emeritus of our church, Rev. Calvin A. Perry, has beaten me every year.  Pastor Calvin was senior pastor of Main Street from 1967 to 1997.  He and I are great friends.  We each like to stay up on church politics and what is going on in our local association.  We serve on one of the NKBA committees together.  He is a real hoot.  One of those pastors who you know loves you, but loves the Lord more.  My kind of leader.

But back to the clergy pass, only one minister from a church can get the pass each year and Pastor Calvin has been sending in his request for nearly 40 years.  For four years, I sent my request in late and repeatedly got rejected.  O…but not this year…I beat my friend to the punch.  I sent my request in November.  He always sends his request in January.  So I was two months ahead of him.  And I won!  Yipe!

I do feel bad about getting the pass from such a long-time, respected pastor in our community.  But 40 years of getting the pass is a long time.  I think he wouldn’t mind sharing the wealth.  He is also a season ticket-holder.  Maybe we can go to a couple games together this season.  That would be too much fun.

To Pastor Calvin…Go Reds!!!

(For those reading this from Main Street.  Please don’t tell Pastor Calvin.  I want to surprise him myself.  This should be fun.)

Skyline–Cincy Style

I lived in Dallas/Fort Worth for 5 years and fell in love with the Dallas skyline at night.  But after living in NKY for nearly 5 years, I have now moved more toward the Cincy skyline.  With Paul Brown Stadium (home of the Bengals), Great American Ballpark (home of the Reds), the P&G building (home of my favorite foods), and the Carew Tower, it doesn’t get much better this.  Plus the Ohio River just expands the lights and sounds of the city.  This is a fun place to live.

Our School Gets Some Press

An article in the Alexandria Community Recorder about the Main Street Christian Education Center (the school I administrate) annual Carnival and new staff persons.  Here is the link and a great pic of my pastor getting spaghetti in his face from the 2007 event.

http://news.communitypress.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/C2/20080131/NEWS03/801310330/

Not My Best Sermon

Last night I spoke to the BCM students at Campbellsville University.  Somewhere after the opening introduction, I had the feeling this was not my best work in the pulpit.  Sure it was fun to preach in the new chapel and be with these energetic students, but my part did not go over so well.

However, the content was very important and relevant to today’s college students.  Much of the discussion came from one of the most interesting cultural documentaries I have seen in years.  I would highly recommend any of you who interact with teenagers and college students or are parents of those groups, to go to the following link:

 http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/kidsonline/

This is a Frontline PBS special on students Growing Up Online.  It talks about their Second World experience with online communities, gaming, Facebook, MySpace and YouTube.  It is fascinating stuff.  This was the basis of my sermon, but I think PBS did a better job of communicating this new type of community.

Preaching at CU

I get a great privilege on Monday night to preach at the BCM (Baptist Campus Ministry) meeting at Campbellsville University, my alma mater.  I will be preaching in the brand-new Ransdell Chapel.  What a tremendous honor!

During my four years at CU (1995-99), we dreamed of one day having a chapel on the campus.  Many years later, because of the work and dedication of President Michael Carter, that dream became a reality.  Now I get to stand up in the chapel pulpit and share the words that God has laid on my heart for those students.  It will be such a treat.

Sermon Title: A Community Forged By Love
Sermon Text: Exodus 19:1-8; 1 John 4:7-17

Pullin’ For the Pats

19-0 would be the greatest NFL season of all time.  How can anyone not pull for such shear dominance in a sport?  With my Cowboys bowing out early in the playoffs, and my Bengies (Bengals for those outside of the Greater Cincy area)…well, they were just plain terrible this season, I guess I will root for the best team in the NFL.  Not a bandwagon, just hoping for history.

Top of the hat to the New England Patriots.  May you bring home the championship.

Huck’s Last Stand

Super Tuesday is going to be former Gov. Mike Huckabee’s last stand in his bid to the be the republican presidential nominee.  If he doesn’t win Arkansas, Georgia, and probably Alabama, he will mostly likely have to toss in the towel.  Even with a three state win, he probably is finished. 

It has been a good run for the only true social conservative in the republican field.  It looks like McCain or Romney will be the candidate.  In that case, I will highly have to reconsider my options in November.