And the winners are...

The Dream Blog

The Dream Blog…

I had a dream last night.  It’s one of those dreams that leave you wondering…What was that all about?

I dreamed we were having ROC on a parking lot.  I don’t know what parking lot…I know it was not Northwoods because it was a white concrete parking lot not a black asphalt parking lot.  The reason I know that detail so clearly is because I was lying on my back in the parking lot.  There was a huge group of students, also lying down on their backs all in a circle.  There was no band or drama or ice breaker game.  

I told the story of Joseph and his brothers.  Not sitting up and looking at anybody, but lying on my back and looking up at the stars above us.  I shared that Joseph’s brothers were guilty of the most grievous offense possible…and against their own brother at that.  They pondered murder…But decided to go a different direction.  What was the new direction? Get rid of him and make a prophet at the same time…Sell him into slavery.  

Years later Joseph had his chance at revenge.  He chose mercy.  He could have put his brothers under…And they knew it.  He chose restoration.  In the dream I lay there…Looked up at the skies and said, “This is how God treat us.  It may feel like there are billions of galaxies between us and God.  But in reality He is waiting and wanting to hold us and love us right now.  He loves you.  Why live in the misery of separation when you can live in the warmth of His love.”

I mentioned two major lessons as I lay on that white concrete parking lot.  “Sometimes we don’t receive God’s mercy until we go through some pain.  Joseph’s brothers thought Benjamin was going to jail.  This scared them.  How sweet God’s mercy must have seemed immediately following that pain.  The other thing is this…We can’t be so far from God that He won’t sweep us back into His arms in an instance.  Just ask Him.  He loves you.  You may be in the middle of pain right now but He is waiting to pour His mercy on you.  Just ask Him.”

Than I woke up...

Yesterday Was a Great Day

Yesterday was a great day.

1. Got to have lunch with some students and listen to their stories of what God is teaching them and how He is bringing them out of some low points in their lives...nothing is better than listening to stories of God at work in students.

2. ROC was cool. We did this one really fun song...we even got to clap to it!

3. Rec ROC'd.

3. Late night delivery of DVC's to the front door. The only thing better than DVC's are DVC's delivered to your door for you!

tags: God Youth Youth Ministry Diet Vanilla Coke

What's Your Slogan?

Mine is...

From Our ToddGSapp to Yours.

to find yours go to Slog Generator and type in your name.

A Day of Snags

Murphy's law was in full force yesterday. Just a few of the things that could have gone wrong and did...

Yesterday morning began like a typical Godby football game day Friday. I came into the church set up the tables and reviewed the pre-game devotion. That's the last part of the day that was typical.

Drew's been sick so after setting up I went home so Laurie could take Drew to the doctor. After being at the doctor for awhile she calls and says, "they've ruled out all the simple stuff so they are taking him back for blood work and x-rays". That's what everyone wants to hear...They've ruled out all the simple stuff. Turns out it is pneumonia. Hearing that was actually a relief compared to all the words that went through my head for that hour and a half.

So Laurie and Drew arrive home and I head to Wal-Mart to pick up the chicken for the Godby meal. I walk up to the counter and say, "I'm here to pick up the large chicken order for Northwoods". They say, "let me check on that". Than they return and say, "we've been swamped we just put down 200 pieces. It will be ready in 30 minutes." I don't have time to wait. I'll have to come back. It's already after 2:00 and the meal begins at 3:00 sharp.

I leave and go back to the church to put on the green beans and put out the cups and roles. I'm pulling out of the parking lot when I realize she said 200 pieces of chicken. We need 250. So I call Laurie and she calls them to confirm they have 250 pieces of chicken. "oh yes, we'll have the 250".

So I get to the church and walk into kitchen to warm up the beans and put out the cups and roles. There is one problem. Someone has snagged the beans, cups & roles. They are gone. Nowhere to be found.

So I'm on my way back to Wal-Mart. The meal is less than 45 minutes away and we don't have a single bite of food to feed the team yet. This is not a good day. I arrive back at Wal-mart, grab some salad to replace the beans, grab some loaves of bread (we bought them out of roles on the first go round) and head to the chicken counter. "We have 200 pieces ready. It'll be another 15 minutes on the other 50". So when Laurie called they said, "oops it was supposed to be 250", and threw in another 50. I go ahead and pay, take what I have to the car and come back inside to wait.

Finally, we have it all and I'm on my way back to the church. I arrive at 2:58 and see the bus has already arrived, a few minutes early of course. Why not on a day like today? We rushed all the food out and served the meal.

So we 'got 'er done'. It was just a little too close for comfort. Thanks to the Cunninghams, Rhonda & Sandra for stepping up and helping us get it done.

Blog Miscommunication

Sometimes blogs can lead to misunderstandings. Sometimes that is a serious problem. Other times it's just funny. For example on October 18th I wrote, "read I Samuel 24, wondered who is considered 'God's anointed today".

I got an e-mail informing me that Jenshka commented...'I've always wondered that same thing.'

I thought...wow...that Jenshka is a thinkin' girl.

Today I looked and realized she was commenting on the blog that said, 'Why is it that blogger's spell checker does not recognize blog as a word?'.

So Jenshka is a thinking girl. She's just thinking about something different than I originally thought.

Overcoming the Pressure

Despite the overwhelming pressure I am feeling from all sorts of people I am not going to blog about what everyone wants me to. So you'll just have to enjoy these family vacation pictures & videos and wait another day until once again I bow to the pressure and blog about the Yankees.





P.S. Why is it that blogger's spell checker does not recognize blog as a word?

Where's Todd?

No, I'm not dead or even out of town, though I was over the weekend. I'm just plowed under right now. When September ends for me has become uhh ohh it's October and look at everything that's got to get done. So, I haven't been taken up to the mother ship I've just don't have time to write things like...

today I got up, got dressed, brushed my teeth, stopped and got gas read I Samuel 24, wondered who is considered 'God's anointed today', went to work, went to staff meeting where our assistants had provided a great breakfast, worked on fall retreat stuff, cleaned out files, talked to Bekah, Calyn & Ashley, talked to Sandra about Laguna contract & Fall ROCs logo (she implied she hated my star concept which unfortunately I know she's right)went to lunch at Po Boy's with Reid & Scott, answered calls and e-mails, worked on Canopy Oaks stuff, sent out some e-mails, realized we have a Godby meal on Friday (uhh ohh)worked on the LIFE group brochure for Edress (unsuccessfully), answered etc. etc. etc. You know the drill - it's the here's every minute detail of my life blog. Just haven't had the time.

Stuff I needed to do but didn't...

phone calls to various people...
work on the 'meat' of the fall retreat instead of the silly details...busses, lodging etc.
Write a devotion for the Godby game on Friday
Deliver two Bibles to Godby
Prepare for ROC on Sunday night
Fix the youth web site
Figure out a meal plan for the Godby meal on Friday
Find some people to help serve the Godby meal on Friday
Train...
Send out an e-mail for Rec ROC's on Sunday
Respond to e-mails

So that's what I would have written if I had one of those blogs where I simply write the details of my day...aren't you glad I don't.

My Kind of Guy

"I don't want to play golf. When I hit a ball, I want someone else to go chase it."
- Rogers Hornsby

Can Anything Good Come Out of Boston?

The answer of course is...NO. Just kidding. Trott Nixon is something good from Boston. I didn't know much about Trott until two years ago. I watching a playoff game between the Sox and the A's. In the 11th inning Trott, who was injured with a calf strain, came in to pinch hit. He hit a walk off homer and his comments after the game were some of the best post game comments I've ever heard. He described his experience like this,

"I just feel that I'm in the hands of God-that he's holding me right there, letting life go right around me and slowing things down for me. He's given me this ability to throw a ball, catch a ball and to have that passion to win baseball games. I want to glorify Him as much as I possibly can".

I was so impressed with the way he described that experience. A lot of people give the obigatory shout out to 'the man upstairs' but it was obvious to me that Trott has really thought about the role God has played in placing him where he is at. Who knows maybe one day God will bless him and make him a Yankee!

tags: Boston Red Sox MLB Trott Nixon

Congrats to Santana and the Angels

Hats off to the Angels in a great series win. This picture from Fox Sports pretty much sums it up...

That's right the guy that pitched for the Angels was Santana. He came in after Colon went out with a sore shoulder. They didn't even have a picture available for him. Just goes to show...big names and big money don't buy championships after all. You still have to go out and earn them. Way to go Santana.



tags: Yankees Angels MLB

Robbed

No, I'm not going to say that the game was robbed from the Yankees. That would too easy. But at least we were all robbed of an opportunity to see how the game would have played out had the umps not made that bizarre call that cost the Yankees at the very least one run but in all likelihood more than that.

Fox described the play like this...

'The Yankees' best chance at a comeback against Santana was ended on a disputed call in the fifth inning. With runners on first and second and two outs, Robinson Cano swung at a third strike in the dirt. Cano ran to first and catcher Bengie Molina's throw got past first baseman Darin Erstad, apparently loading the bases for Williams. But plate umpire Joe West called Cano out for running inside the baseline, prompting an unsuccessful argument by Torre.'

After seeing the replay several times I don't see anything like that. Molina just made a bad throw. Erstad was set up on the outside of the bag. Cano ran on the inside of the bag. If anything it appeared to me Cano was trying to stay out of the way.

Torre handled it with class but with appropriate rebuke. He said he had not seen the replay yet but he hated for the game to be effected so drastically by anything less than an obvious call. That's the point. It was too crucial of a moment for an umpire to step in and become the headline.

Jeter who has a lot more class than I do says he did not see the play and they were simply out played for five games. That maybe true...but we'll never know because the game was effected by something outside of hitting, pitching & defense. It was effected by umpire interference.

tags: Yankees Angels MLB

LOST Party Tonight

I'm having a LOST party at my house tonight. We'll be celebrating one of two things...

If the Yankees win we'll celebrate that the Angels LOST and the Yankees are moving on to the ALCS If the Angels win we'll celebrate that at least the Red Sox LOST before the Yankees did.

tags: Red Sox LOST Yankees MLB

The Star Spangled Banner & An American Idiot

I was walking over to Mike Long track today when I heard the Marching Chiefs practicing. I stopped for a minute to listen. Is that what I think it is? Yep...they are playing, 'An American Idiot' by Greenday.

I can hear the announcer at tomorrow's game, "Now all rise as the Marching Chiefs Play Our National Anthem. They play...the crowd roars...the jets fly over...Army Rangers parachute onto the Seminole head...we have a moment of silence for the troops who have given their lives in Afghanistan & Iraq and everyone has tears and goose bumps. And than you hear the announcer say, 'And now sit back and enjoy as the Chiefs give their rendition of 'American Idiot'.

Actually I have to admit it sounded pretty good. They also did Vertigo by U2, a Maroon 5 song and a song by John Mayer. Maybe I'm must jealous because when I was in chiefs we had some strange Broadway fixation. If I had to play one more Phantom of the Opera song I thought I'd go postal.

34

Yesterday was one of those days when in an instance everything changes. I was in the middle of getting ready for what is going to be a packed weekend when the phone range. 'Todd, coach Crews' 'Hey coach, how are you?' 'Alright. We'll be at Jim & Milt's tomorrow at 3:00pm'. This is a fairly typical Crews conversation. Brief and to the point. And than the real reason he called came out. 'Johnny Smith passed away today'. 'What?'. 'Yea, he has pneumonia and stopped breathing this morning. They couldn't bring him back'

Well my day just changed. How do you do anything after that? Johnny Smith was No. 34 on the Godby JV football team. He moved to Tallahassee six weeks ago from Chicago. They had a team meeting and decided to go ahead with their game last night. Ironically the final score was 34 to 20. God is so good at meeting people where they are. You and I are way too sophisticated to ever believe that God made the score 34 because Johnny's number was 34. Not so fast my friend. If it causes people to think of Him why wouldn't He?

As much grief as all of these guys are going through right now I since hope in hearts. Maybe all this talk of eternity and life being bigger than just what we see here really has taken root in their hearts. Coach Crews says Johnny was an angel sent to us from God. If an angel is a messenger he may not be that far from the truth. Pray for the Cougars. Pray for Johnny's family.

For the Love of Jeter What's Wrong with Us?

I remember when nobody cared about blogging. Maybe one day I'll be able to say, "I remember when nobody in Tallahassee cared about the Yankees." Baseball is much more fun with a crowd. Nobody's coming over to watch the game tonight. Oh, one person is...if there are chicken wings involved. It's the playoffs dang it.

On second thought I think I only invited one person...but still...it's the playoffs dang it. Shouldn't people just know...playoffs means we're getting together to watch the game. There now everybody knows...see you guys tomorrow night.

tags: Yankees MLB

Where's Drew?

My first thought when I heard the crash and saw the wood falling from the Stringer's balcony onto the heads of the crowd below was, 'where's Drew?'. Fotunately he was downstairs so we're innocent on this one.

My second thought was, 'where's Josh?'. We're good again. Oh, and I did think, 'man I hope that wood doesn't find somebody's head.'

Yankees Are Champions...Again!

What's wrong with the Yankees? That's been the question all year. The answer...nothing... unless there is something wrong with winning their 8th straight division championship.

Oh, yea. And guess who's been #2 everyone of those years...you guessed it...the Boston Red Sox. It must stink to be a Red Sox fan.

tags: Yankees Red Sox MLB