For What It Is Worth...

I sermonated last Sunday. The sound guys took a while to get the feedback fixed, but finally clicked. Check it out here:

Thank You For Being a Friend - Audio

Also, I am gearing this site up to be more of what I wanted it to be in the first place. Stay tuned (?). We’ll see...

Things ya never learned in school (or, have since forgotten):

The War of 1812 was a test for our young nation. With the British attempting to seize the port of Baltimore, the fate of our nation hung in the balance. Francis Scott Key penned the words of a song to a tune that may have come from a drinking song sung in local pubs. We sing it at baseball games and other special events, but we only scratch the surface of it. Like some churches that only sing verses 1, 3 and 5 of an old hymn, we too have edited our nation’s anthem to a sound-byte that challenges the duration of our attention spans. How many of us know the full lyrics of The Star-Spangled Banner....?

• O! say can you see by the dawn's early light,
  What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming,
  Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight,
  O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming.
  And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
  Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there;
  O! say does that star-spangled banner yet wave,
  O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?
  
  On the shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep,
  Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
  What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
  As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
  Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
  In full glory reflected now shines in the stream:
  'Tis the star-spangled banner, O! long may it wave
  O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
  
  And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
  That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion,
  A home and a country should leave us no more!
  Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps' pollution.
  No refuge could save the hireling and slave
  From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:
  And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
  O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
  
  O! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
  Between their loved home and the war's desolation!
  Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n rescued land
  Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
  Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
  And this be our motto: "In God is our trust."
  And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
  O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

I Made a Little Noise on Sunday

I got to preach on Sunday. This is what it sounds like when I take to the pulpit with 3 hours of sleep under my belt...
Between the Bookends

The Boys of Summer

Ever since I was a little kid, I have loved playing the game of baseball. I think I got this love from my dad. I wish someone could have counted the number of pitches he threw to me, the number of grounders and fly balls he at me, and the endless hours of catch we played while I was growing up. I admire my dad’s dedication to us kids, but I know how much he loved the game.

Now I get to be a part of the story. Watching my youngest take to the field is an awesome experience. When he takes to the mound, he reminds me a little of Mark “The Bird” Fidrych. Sometimes, you see him up on the mound with his eyes closed and his lips moving.

We’re never really sure if he is praying, or talking to the ball!

Whatever it is he is doing, it works! He is allowed to pitch two innings maximum, and during his stint, he is usually good for 4 or 5 strikeouts. He then is moved to either third base, shortstop or catcher. I think the kids has a pretty decent arm.

I should tell you about his game-winning 3 RBI’s sometime...

Not Tonight, Dear...

Some things just don’t work out the way we plan them. Appointments get missed, kids get sick, cars break down. Life is, well... life. We can plan all we want (and planning ahead is a good thing!), but ultimately, we are not really in control. We can deceive ourselves into thinking that we are. We can conjure up grand illusions of being important enough or powerful enough to influence the universe, when there are times when we are hardly able to control ourselves...

I had grand plans tonight. I intended to take Candace out for dinner at our favorite little italian bistro. They have great food, a killer wine list and an ambience that screams passionate romance. It is a good place to take the woman of my dreams. We didn’t go. My hurried, rushed, plate-spinning life appeared seamless and smooth, but I was neglecting the important fine china. Instead of a night out, it was a night in... kids doing school work, fire in the hearth, a bottle of Zin breathing in the bottle and glasses...

All the great stuff out there is really not much to speak of when we really look at it. Most of those plates deserve to crash to the ground. Everything I have ever wanted is in this very room. We laughed, we cried, we listened to beautiful music from our children’s fingertips.

How is that for some scattered thoughts?

Running on Empty

Well? I am about tapped out. Pretty surprising how much resilience I seem to have lost in the last year. There is this principle that the more water you pour out of a jug, the more you need to refill if you are to keep it ready pour out again. Someone else compared it to breathing... you have to breathe in before you can breathe out. I’m out of breath. I feel like I am a fish on dry land... I know what I am supposed to do, but somehow, I just flop around with the water just a few feet away.

I have been waking up a lot during the night hours. Sometimes I have nightmares that are straight out of a horror movie... real slasher films... and other times I just sit bolt-upright without anything to distract me or cause me to wake. I usually get up and grab a bowl of Cheerios and have a cup of chamomile tea while I read from my Bible. The calm of the night is the best time to read, I find. Odd how I find comfort and disturbance in the same place and time.

I suspect the feeling of being out of breath, the nightmares and the times of sleeplessness have something in common.

I’m looking forward to July.

Kevie Needs a Holiday

Seriously... The brain has not been working all that well lately. Too much going on Too many tasks, appointments, meetings...
I need a holiday. I am a fried egg.

And So It Begins (Again)...

So what in the world is going on?

I’ll tell you...

Would Like to Know Where It All Went

Well, it has been two weeks since the diet shifted. I have gotten on the bike about four times, 20-30 minutes at a pop (almost been run over three times, too! But that’s for a different blog posting...).
Thus far, with minimal exercise and really, REALLY good food (albeit, “healthy”), I have dropped twelve pounds. TWELVE!
One of the key things has been drinking a ton of water every day. A ton is the equivalent of about a gallon and a half each day. I kid you not.
Looking forward to getting back to the gym.