Spinning wheel...

I know you are going to be disappointed, but this post is not about the awesome Blood, Sweat, & Tears song of the same name. It's about that glorious and wonderful time of the year that us students like to call the "end-of-the-semester-panic" about papers and finals. Seriously, I am getting way too old for this.

Take today for example. I get up and plan to print out some notes so that I can work on a study guide for one of my finals. That didn't work because I was out of ink. So, I had to drive to Staples to get said ink and then come back home and start something else. That something else was a paper. I worked on it for almost 3 1/2 hours and what is the end result? 5 pages. Yup, 5 pages. Hey, I'm halfway there, right? Unfortunately, I'm a glass-half-empty kind of guy.

It's so hard not to feel like I'm spinning my wheels. It's not like I don't keep up with my work all semester, it's just that some things take a LOT of time to accomplish. So much so that you feel like you are ten feet tall but only taking six inch steps. Oh well, the end is near at least. T-minus sixteen days till finals...

In the words of one of my favorite professors, "Quit whining! Take it like a man!" Yes, sir.

Another weekend...

Ahhhh...another weekend. And this time we are staying home. Megan has to work tonight so I'll be home alone working on some homework. I hope to get it done early because I would really like to put in the extended version of LOTR: The Fellowship of the Ring. I haven't watched that in a while and it would be nice to sit on the couch and do nothing while feeding my mind with images of Middle earth.

Speaking of homework. Finals start in three weeks!!! Oh my...time is flying by. I really need to start studying for my finals as I really don't want to have to do too much cramming the days before. We'll see how that goes. I have one more big paper to finish up and a funeral sermon to write for my preaching clinic. It's weird to be doing a funeral sermon but I guess it is good for us to learn.

Some random stuff:

-I have started a new blog. It's a site where I (and hopefully a friend or two) will post pictures and (hopefully) people will comment with captions (sort of like the post below...). It's still in the early phases of planning, etc. Have a look and don't be shy - try out your own caption. http://thecaption.blogspot.com

-Speaking of captions, my friend Noah has decided to play the caption game on his blog. I think you'll like it. He "stole" a picture of me from Facebook. Noah is one of the funniest guys I know and I hope y'all will enjoy his contributions to the new blog, The Caption.

-Am I the only one on the planet who was actually happy to see Carly get kicked off American Idol this week? Seriously, if cats could meow with an Irish accent they would sound just like her.

-Along the lines of American Idol, I want to publicly thank the producers for allowing those kids to absolutely destroy the genius works of Andrew Lloyd Weber. I can only hope that they do justice to Neil Diamond this week. It would absolutely rock if Brooke sang 'Cracklin' Rosie'. What's next? Idol does songs from Barry White? The Wiggles? Heck, why not just do songs from the collection of John Denver. Seriously...

-This is the last week of the Sunday school class on the Reformation I have been co-teaching. I am working on Sunday's lesson this afternoon which will cover the reformation in Scotland. I'm also going to sneak in some time to talk about the Covenanters - which is so ARP of me.

-Anybody know of any good Irish movies? Meg and I are going to Dublin, Ireland this July with World Harvest Mission and want to get a glimpse of Irish culture through film.

Enough for now. Hope everyone has a great weekend!

When morning gilds the skies...

At first, I wasn't too excited to wake up at 5:00 this morning. But I just couldn't go back to sleep. So I laid there...and then that great hymn, "May Jesus Christ Be Praised," came to my mind and I just started singing it (out loud - much to the displeasure of the cat...):

"When morning gilds the skies, my heart awaking cries!
May Jesus Christ be praised!
Alike at work and prayer, to Jesus I repair:
May Jesus Christ be praised!"

I love that hymn - all fifteen verses of it. Too bad I don't have them all memorized...

Anyway, I digress. With praise in my heart I turned my attention to God's Word and was greeted with the pleasure of reading and meditating on Psalm 59 today. I came upon these words in verses 16-17:

"But I will sing of your strength; I will sing aloud of your steadfast love in the morning. For you have been to me a fortress and a refuge in the day of my distress. O my Strength, I will sing praises to you, for you, O God, are my fortress, the God who shows me steadfast love."

What a blessing it is to truly live out God's Word! I now count it a joy to have sung of his steadfast love this morning. Just as sure as I am that I will be unfaithful to him in so many ways today, I am even more confident that his steadfast love (literally, his covenant faithfulness) will not fail me. The LORD loves me perfectly and for that I am grateful.

I pray that all of you will sing his praises today and take time to thank him for his steadfast love towards you!

Caption this...

So I received this picture in an email from a friend today and couldn't help but posting it here and asking some of the wittier among our readers to write a caption for this picture in a comment. Come on, don't be shy. It's actually fun. If it goes well, we'll play this game more often.

I'll go first:

"Nothing says romance like carrying your wife's six pack for her..."

The (micro)evolution of my beer preference...

It all began in college when I went to my first party with beer. The keg stood like a precious artifact in the corner and everyone was waiting in line with a five dollar plastic cup ready to get their fill. What was in the keg, you ask? It was none other than Natural Light.

So throughout the rest of my college life I drank Natural Light and on special occasions the king of all southern Illinois beers, Stag, was brought out. If you have never enjoyed the beauty of Stag beer, you must have some the next time you are crossing Illinois on interstates 70 or 55.
You won't regret it.

After I graduated college in 1998, my beer tastes took quite a turn. I gave up the cheap stuff and moved into the wonderful world of cider brews. No longer was I drinking what tasted like animal urine - I was drinking a sweet fermentation of apple pulp. It all started at a Jars of Clay concert at the American Theater in downtown St. Louis when I took that first sip of Woodchuck. It literally changed my life. And as good as Woodchuck was, cider beer got even better when I went to Scotland in 2000 and the smooth dry taste of StrongBow cider encountered my taste buds. Since that moment, I still crave a good StrongBow from time to time...

A couple of years after my cider awakening came a dark day in my beer preference. In late 2002 I fell prey to the low carb craze and decided to limit my beer completely to Michelob Ultra. I wish that a good friend would have slapped me upside the head at this time, but all the faithful ones were duped as well. For almost a year I drank this recycled badger urine mixed with turpentine and I have since been convinced that I lost a good 3 or 4 years off of my liver's lifespan because of it. Because of this I refuse to give it a picture.

In 2003, I was pulled out of this prison by taking a sip of Sam Adam's Octoberfest. This was a beautiful moment in my life. The taste was remarkable and the calories were welcomed by my gut. My beer future was now bright once again and I was primed for the best that that brewing has to offer.

I had tried Guinness before but I didn't love it until 2004. It became the drink that fed my deepest thirst for beer. I had given up on the beers that I could see through and was now embracing the very likeness of motor oil. In fact, I was now convinced that domestic beers were trash and would laugh at and mock my friends and family who settled for anything made in Milwaukee or St. Louis.

In 2005, Guinness allowed me to try other imports and I have now been enlightened to operate on a seasonal calendar. In the spring, I drink Newcastle. The summer, Heineken. The fall, Bass. The winter, Guinness. I do step out and mix and match, but surely this is the way I plan to enjoy my brews throughout the calendar year.

Now, I am thirsty...

Awkward signatures...

So I have a technical dilemma. Maybe you can help.

Our world has been revolutionized by the smart phone. People can now surf the internet, have a calculator handy (without wearing the calculator watch), send pictures of that guy picking his nose in the mall to a friend, and send email from their phones thanks to the Blackberry, the Palm Treo, the iPhone, and a myriad of others. Well, I have noticed a disturbing trend now that people are indeed sending mail from these phones: its the awkward signature at the end where they tout that they have one of these gadgets and you don't. Surely you have seen these. Right after they say, "Thanks, Joe Bob" at the end, there will be a signature line that goes something like this right "Sorry if this is short, but it was sent from my Treo."

Don't you find these somewhat disturbing? I know I am uneasy about them. I have an iPhone and it has been my close friend for the last seven months. And I do A LOT of emailing from it. But I just haven't brought myself to using one of these signatures yet. Sometimes I feel bad because I don't feel like typing out a long email or I don't have the time and it seems that it would be polite to at least clue the person in on why I didn't write a small story in reply to their mail. So what do I do? I guess I have a few options...I could add a signature that says one of the following:

1) Sent from my iPhone
2) This email is short because I am sending it from my iPhone
3) If you were cool enough to own an iPhone like me you would understand why this is short
4) I'd like to type more but this super cool Apple keypad on the iPhone is still a pain in the butt to type anything longer than 26 characters at one sitting on
5) I would have emailed you from my laptop but I'd rather email you from this iPhone so that you think I am too busy right now to send a full reply when in all actuality I really don't want to write much more than this to you.

Such are the dilemmas we are faced with in the 21st century...I welcome any suggestions you might have. Bueller?

Ocean refreshment...

This past weekend was absolutely delightful!!!! I had an absolutely wonderful 29th birthday and I cannot wait to see what this next year will bring. Originally, I had asked for a bowling birthday party! Yes, I love to bowl and I hardly ever do it anymore. Dan had agreed to throw such a party (I have such a great husband), but then I had the opportunity to go on a women's retreat at Emerald Isle with our church in Apex, NC. As much as I desired a bowling party, the opportunity to go and spend 2 days at the beach with all my friends was something I could not pass up!!!

The retreat's theme was Seeing and Savoring Jesus (loosely based on the book written by John Piper). I actually spoke on Saturday morning regarding Christ's joy and the joy that he gives to us.....even in the midst of disappointment. The talk went well. All glory to God and my thankfulness to him. The other two talks were equally encouraging and challenging. After each teaching time, we spend about 45 minutes to 1 hour in a discussion group and I LOVED my group. I got to know several ladies much better and am so blessed by their sharing, honesty, laughter and wisdom. God's church is such a sweet, sweet thing.

The beach house that we stayed in was absolutely lovely! The first night, I arrived after the sun had set, but I was able to set on the porch and just listen to the ocean. The second afternoon I spent just a couple hours laying in the sun and enjoying God's powerful creation. Then a couple of my friends and I did some exploring and found a little, tacky, antique shop.... Emily got a lovely oar and I managed to find a lovely tea cup, saucer and dessert plate to add to my collection! Happy Birthday to me!!!!! As the finale for my 29th birthday, my darling, thoughtful husband had arranged to surprised me with an actually birthday cake! Yes, he did have some accomplices (Karen and Matt) , but still it was such a special thing for them all to do. It was an absolutely wonderful day... even if there was no bowling! I would not have traded it for anything.

I rode back to Apex on Sunday morning with the ladies and then Dan and I drove on to Charlotte.... I must say that I was absolutely exhausted and I totally went to bed shortly after getting home and did not get out of bed until about 9 am this morning. Soooo now back to reality. I've already started the laundry and have some light house keeping to take care of as well as some grocery shopping to do. But I am doing so with a song in my heart, and a spring in my step....the joy of the Lord is overflowing....