Last night I traveled to texarkana to play with the guys from the band. It was really good evening. We had a good time talking and catching up and praying for each other. I just hate that it's so far away.

It's going to be fun to be able to play worship through the colors rally in October. Jennifer and I will really enjoy the chance to sing together, and the guys in the band will certainly enjoy the atmosphere at a CMA rally. I'm feverishly working on my 'to do' list to try to get my work done so I can kick back and actually enjoy the middle of October.

Whether I get all my stuff done or not, tomorrow is still coming...and the Braves are in the playoffs....and Arkansas is ranked #8.

I appreciate all the great comments I've been getting, mainly from friends. Please keep reading. I'm going to begin listing my friend's blogs on my site. If you have a blog that you are currently writing, please send me the link.

Friday night, Blake Roberts, Zeke and Joby's friend from Fouke came up to spend the night. They had a blast. They always want me to make popcorn cooked on the stove. We had a good time together. Saturday morning it was off to the soccer field for two games. Joby and Zeke both played great and scored 1 goal each in their games. From there we drove toward Camden and met Beverly Roberts in Hope and dropped Blake off. The boys were sad that the visit was less than 24 hours long.

We had been planning to listen to the Razorbacks play Alabama as we drove to Camden, but rain delays in Tuscaloosa, meant that we only missed seeing part of the 1st quarter. What an amazing game! I don't want to sound like too much of a homer, but the hogs were magnificent, showing that they could come back from a 3 touchdown deficit. You should have seen Winfield, Zeke, Jen and I as regulation ended, and the dramatic overtime ensued. Nobody sat for the rest of the game.

Is it a sickness to actually consider falling on your knees and begging God to let your favorite college team win?

If it is...well...maybe I should see a doctor.

I have had a little trouble with my site over the weekend. Hopefully, the problems have been figured out. If you came by to read and weren't able to comment or see any other links, I'm sorry. Anyway, maybe now I can catch up on some posts.

Yesterday after work, I took Zeke and Job over to the soccer fields for practice. For some reason, the coach canceled our practice, so we had a few minutes to play out n the field before we had to be back for supper. It was only 25 or 30 minutes, but the three of us had the greatest time together.

I wouldn't consider myself a great soccer player at all, but from the perspective of my children, for that half-hour I was the best. They wanted me to kick the ball as high as I could, so like a football punter I would boot the ball straight up and they would get under it and try to give it a header as it came down. To watch them rush to the spot and brace for the impact was hilarious. To them it was the equivalent of allowing a moon rock to fall out of orbit onto your head.

What a rush for them. What a rush for me.

I don't know if it will always be this way, but I was really struck by the heaviness of my role in their lives. To say they look up to me or that I have influence in their life is such an understatement. Jen and I form their lives, and as their parents, our choices mean everything to them and their development.

Thank you Jesus for my mom and dad, and for Jen's mom and dad.
I'm going to be like them.

Passing the Buck
Peter Maurin

In the first centuries of Christianity the hungry were fed at a personal sacrifice, the naked were clothed at a personal sacrifice, the homeless were sheltered at a personal sacrifice... And the pagans used to say about the Christians, "See how they love each other." In our own day the poor are no longer fed, clothed, and sheltered at a personal sacrifice, but at the expense of the taxpayers. And because of this the pagans say about the Christians, "See how they pass the buck."

ouch.

Last night, Jennifer and I had to work. It's not that we spent the rest of the day doing nothing, but after work, after supper and after everything calmed down, we had to sit down with a pad and a pencil get some of the things involved with starting this CMA youth movement hammered out.

It's wasn't either of our ideas of the perfect night out, but you know, it was enjoyable. It was fun just to be able to spend some time with my wonderful wife, even if we were working. I am glad that we can communicate clearly to each other and I am happy that we enjoy each others company. Now that I think of it all of the moments that we spend together are great.

While looking for some art for some t-shirt ideas, I stumbled across Paul Myhill.

He has created what are not only beautiful paintings, but what may represent more of what I believe will become common in christian worship in the near future: a return to icons. His site is a must see for people who think there is beauty to be found in a horrible rugged cross.

Just want to call your attention to the Independent Christian Thinkers Allies Meetup. This is a great idea and might be something that you could get involved with in your own area. www.meetup.com also has meetup groups on hundreds of subjects. What a interesting concept: get people together, have them talk about things that they have in common, have them develop relationships with each other. The only thing is, this kind of stuff used to happen with your neighbor, coworker, or fellow worshipper at church, now it happens through, what some have called, the 'impersonal' internet.

The times they are a-changin' - Bob Dylan

Ever start out painting a room and after a few days work, as you are cleaning out your brushes, you notice that the color isn't exactly right? What do you do? I know what I want to do when stuff like that happens. But I guess the best thing to do is clean out your brushes, find the right color and start over.

Everybody makes mistakes; everyone gets off the track, so why spend time pouting about it? Just gather your thoughts, refocus and try again. When we skid off the road a little bit, we never like to admit it. To us admitting that we are human bruises our already fragile ego. But hey, maybe that isn't all that bad. Admitting your 'ragamuffinness' helps put you in a great place to be a willing recipient of the mercy and grace of God.

I found some interesting advice about life. The article is called The Practical Futurist and it talks a little about how to make educated guesses about what the world will look like in the future. The author says that "There is just one absolute: make sure you’re never heading directly opposite from where you ultimately want to land. In the end, the future happens incrementally, not all at once."

My life is the 'incremental' addition of moment on top of moment. Each day, each hour, each minute moving me forward and scuplting the world's memory of me. My aim is that I'm never living, even in any one given moment, in the 'directly opposite' heading of God's future for me. Kind of reminds me of a line from Rich Mullins, "And step by step you'll lead me, and I will follow you all of my days."

Spent all day putting together office furniture. Do I really need these books that I have in these boxes?

"You call it violence, I call it...action!" - Quenton Tarantino

Super hip Hollywood type knows what he is talking about. Any artist will tell you that where you stand alters the way you see things. The perspective makes the perception.

I wonder if I have any forced perspectives.

God Is Dead
Christoph Friedrich Blumhardt

God is of no real importance, even for people with religion, because religion has become more important than God. Though people get into tremendous arguments about religious questions, all the time God is dead. And it is perfectly all right with them if God is dead, because then they can do what they like. That is another trait of our times, people want to be able to do whatever pops into their heads or feels good at the moment. Nietzsche was right, God is dead!

~God has truly been pushed to the margins of our lives. And the kicker is, it has mainly been those of us who pretend to be the closest to him that have done the pushing. Does Jesus have any actual importance in my life? Which is more important to me, what Christ desires for me to do today, or my notions about what is good and acceptable practice? Do I know Jesus well enough to discern the difference? Am I searching through the dusty files of my mind hoping to come across something I might stretch to fit, or am hearing straight from the boss? My aim is that when someone looks at my family or hangs with any one of us for very long, they could see or sense or whatever, that God is back from the 'dead'.

I had a really good bowl of potato soup today for lunch. Probably better than that was the conversation that I had with Tim. Tim manages the print shop here at CMA. He is a really neat guy to talk to and really has some insight into church and what a new testament church might look like. What I enjoyed most was to listen to him talk about how he volunteered at CMA for 5 years before they hired him, and about how he got his start in prison ministry 10 years ago. Over the course of our conversation I heard him say, "numbers aren't the main thing", "programs aren't the main thing" and "flashy materials aren't the main thing". I think Tim must know what the main thing really is.

Girl dies in Miller County crash
By SABRINA MCCORMICK
Texarkana Gazette

A wreck about 4 p.m. Friday involving two girls, one 15 and one 16, is being investigated by Miller County officials. Reports say the 15 year old passenger was ejected from the vehicle while the 16 year old driver was attempting to negotiate a right-hand turn while traveling southbound on County Road 31. The driver lost control of the vehicle and struck the ditch embankment and overturned. According to reports the 15 year old girl was pronounced dead on the scene by Miller County Coroner Eddie Hawkins. Officials would not release the name of either girl, saying the case was under investigation.

~I know these girls...I've worshipped and prayed with them.

It was really a weird weekend. We had a great time playing soccer games and hanging out in the neighborhood, but we also heard some tragic news. One of the teenage girls from our youth group in Fouke was killed in a car wreck Friday afternoon. We are, as you can imagine, shocked. We have seen so many devastating accidents lately and now to hear that someone we know and love is gone due to a car wreck really shakes us up.

Meredith Evilsizer was a cool person. I have lots of neat memories of her. I think of how she would play with my kids on Wednesday night after church, and of how people would turn and greet her whenever she would walk into the room. During the '02-'03 school year I would go down to Brightstar school in Doddridge, Arkansas and hang out with students. Meredith and her sister Anna were the only two people that I knew there when I first started going, but they were incredible in introducing me to people and in bringing people around to our little bible study/prayer time. Meredith and Anna always called me 'brother Jerod' and it would drive me crazy, but I couldn't get them to stop. Meredith would talk about her candy striper work at the hospital and about her interaction with the sisters at the convent in texarkana. My wife and I remember praying with Meredith many times and remember certain worship songs that she would always want us to sing. I always knew her to have an open heart to God.

I think the thing that upsets me the most is that I see a young life that's over. No high school graduation, no college, no marriage and no children. And what about her parents, grandmother and sister? I know that this present world is only part of the story, but it still seems sad.

Last night we went to Zeke's soccer practice. He really jumped in there and gave it everything he had. I was really proud of him. I hope that he will always go for stuff like that.

Since moving to Mena, Jennifer and I have really had some fun times. Granted the changes have been pretty huge, but for the most part we are loving every minute of it. Mena is a really neat little place and we are already finding places that we like to go. Papa Poblano's is a great mexican joint, and we have probably been to the WM supercenter more times than the number of days we have lived here. Zeke and Joby have both gotten onto soccer teams and they both play their first games tommorrow. Abby had her first dance lesson last monday. In short, we have really gotten into the swing of things.

But even though we are finding ourselves just as busy as when we lived in Fouke, Jen and I have managed to locate some beautiful moments with each other and with our children. It's so awesome to watch the kids explore their new surroundings and attack life with such gusto. And Zoe...oh my, she's the most loving child you have ever seen. When I come in she always rushes over, raises her little arms and puckers up. It just does something to a dad to get a kiss from your 16 month old.

I don't want to brag about anything except Jesus and his cross - Galatians 6:14. When I start thinking about what I can and can't do, I immediately want to look back into what I have managed to do in the past. It's cool for me to look at what God has done for me and through me, but if I'm not careful I fall into the trap of being proud of what I can do. I mean really though...what can I do? Hardly anything of meaning without Jesus.

I hope I can remember this while I work today.