Nothing new

Don't have much to say lately. Saw Must Love Dogs with my wife last night, and that was good. It's okay to see a chic flick as long as your with your chic isn't it? Well the in-laws are in town, so things are a little more tense around the house. They are great people, it just seems to make stuff a little bit more formal when they are around, does anyone else have that happen? Well hope each of you have a great new year.

Running out of Gas!

Literally. I was on my way to Colorado yesterday to help a friend up here with his ski groups and we were talking so much that I wasn't paying attention to the gas light. I finally look down and ask him how long does his truck run on low fuel, he says about 15-20 miles, so I say good cause we need to get some gas. Not 30 seconds later the truck stalls and we run out of gas in the middle of nowhere in Kansas! So I get out and start walking in the freezing cold toward a gas station. I'm hoping their is one a couple of miles up the road. Thankfully a trucker stopped and picked me up after awhile and the nearest gas station was 10 miles. He dropped me off and the manager at stuckey's let us borrow a gas can and drove me back the 10 miles to my friend mike, who was waiting with his truck. I felt really pretty stupid.

Now here is the real funny part..His wife ran out of gas that same morning and had called us and told us about it, and we were talking about it together and asking how can you not notice and run out of gas! Poetic Justice isn't it.

Holiday, Christmas, Season

Do all these people who are in an uproar over the malls and other places not putting up Merry Christmas signs just kinda make you sick?

I'm really not

I know it looks like I'm trying to grab this girl's butt, but I'm really not. The guy taking the picture told me to put my hands out like a picture frame and right before he snapped it, this girl stuck her butt right next to my hand. I know you're probably thinking, he sure is trying to explain this too much, well I found the picture humourous anyway.

Nothing to say

We were raking leaves in the the yard the other day and we made this huge pile, then my daughters took turns jumping into the pile and disappearing. This is a shot of all that you could see of one of them after they leap into the pile. It was quite a fun day!
Have a great weekend. 

It's cold

Wow, it's cold today. It's like 38 degrees outside and when you have been in Florida in 70 degree weather coming back to 30s is tough on the body. We are also having 50 mile per hour winds, which knocked down part of my fence. Oh, did I also mention that our washing machine broke in the middle of us washing our sheets! Oh how fun it is to be back form vacation!

Well I'm off to have some dinner with some kids and try to talk some of them into buying me a Christmas present, so I will feel special. I know it's pathetic, but you have to have some goals in life!

I just got back from spending a week at Disneyworld with my family. All sixteen of us, my brother and sister and their kids and my mom and dad all went. It was one of those once in a lifetime trips for us that we wanted to do before our kids got to old. Overall it really was a good trip. I was basically the tour guide since I set the whole thing up and no one else wanted to a make any decisions, so all of that fell to me. It is so much easier taking a bunch of high school kids across the world than it is taking your family to Disneyworld. No one wants to make a decision and then when you tell them what to do, they don't like it and then they gripe.

I know it's sinful of me but by the end of the trip everyone was saying we need rodney around to tell us where to go, because we have more fun when he is showing us what to do. I know I should be doing it out of the gratitude of my heart but it feels really good when your family regonizes your value. I guess all of us inwardly long for our families to see our value and to recognize that we have something unique and special to bring to the table. In many ways I've felt like an outsider with my family and still do to some extent, but it was nice to spend a week with them and try and understand and get along with each other.My advice if you want to do a bring family trip to disney, Do It, but wait till your kids are old enough to enjoy it. Also make sure you get the disney dining plan, it is the best deal they have...they don't have many but it's worth every penny you pay for it.

So if you are wondering why I haven't posted in a week that is why, hope everyone had a great thanksgiving...ours was spent in an airport with the family on our way back from the happiest place on the earth.

It's snowing

I'm looking at the window and it's snowing awfully hard. We were about to go for a walk, but being wimpy Oklahoma boys I don't think we are going to make it. I feel like I've been sitting on my but all week and listening to people tell me what to do in order to do my job effectively.

Two things come to mind....my butt hurts and sometimes you just have to say this is what I can do, and these are the things I can't do. It's easy to go to conferences or trainings and walk away feeling like you really suck at your job. One of the guys talking used an illustration about spinnig plates and then he gave us the plates that we are required to spin as YL area directors. He gave us ten plates and they didn't include, family, friends, health or anything like that, those are all extra plates. Then he made the committ that healthy minstry is 70% plate spinning, so at any one time at least 3 or more of your plates are in serious need of help.

Ever feel like you can't accomplish all you need to accomplish, well just remember that it's okay for some of them to be in serious need of help. This thought was both encouraging and depressing to me at the same time. So to all my fellow plate spinners, SPIN WELL and learn how to scan well.

Hey this is where I'm spending the week. Aren't you jealous. Imagine this with snow on it and you have the picture.

Question

Ever wonder why Jesus told stories that people couldn't understand. I was reading in Mark this morning and this passage really makes me wonder.

"You are permitted to understand the secret about the kingdom of God. But I am using these stories to conceal everything about it from outsiders, "

I just don't' get that. Jesus plans of outreach tell stories that confuse and make people say what are you talking about! You would think He would tell stories that people would understand and point them to God, instead of telling stories that people go "what the hell"!

So if you got any thoughts let me know.

I'm such a klutz

Okay for the second time in one week, I've posted something and then erased the whole stupid thing and it was really good. What is up with that, I know I'm not completely stupid but I'm starting to feel like I'm a little challenged with technology!

I'm in Colorado where it was snowing this afternoon...I left Oklahoma where it was 81 degrees and now I'm in the snow...that is just wierd. I like the snow as long as it's not yellow, and if it is yellow I hope I'm the one who got to make it yellow. There really is something deeply satisfying about peeing in the snow. I don't know if it's a desire to mark your territory or if it just feels good to pee in the cold, but I like it, I liiike it alot! I guess that probably tells you more about me than you want to know.

Well happy sunday and sleep well.......

Ugly mug coffee

Check out this coffee company.

www.uglymugcoffee.com
The guy who started it was a college pastor and was trying to find a way to support the ministry at his church and it become an incredible success. If you group is looking for coffee or stuff get it from them, they offer it really cheap to non-profit groups!

By the way I get no commission from referring you, just do so from the kindness of my heart.

My wife doesn't like my haircut

Kristen just told me that she thought my haircut in this picture sucks! Okay she didn't say it that way, but that was the hidden message behind, "I don't know, I just like your haircut now". After being married for 14 years you begin to pick up on the subtleties of wife speak:)
But I admit my haircut now does look better than the one in this picture. I'll put up a new picture sometime, after I've lost some weight. I just started working out again and I'm so sore I can't believe it. Either I'm getting older or I'm just much more out of shape than I thought. It's probably a little bit of both.

Kally's crud

Kally really got into crudfest this year! 

Couch O' Rama

We did this the other night at club and it was a blast. Like a scavenger hunt with a couch and digital cameras. The kids had a blast! These are a bunch of kids from McGuinness.

My first one

I had written something really smart and witty for my first blog, but I hit the wrong button and erased it all and I just don't have the energy to go back and type it all. Hopefully that is not a premonition about the future of this blog. Hopefully people will be entertained by my shallow thoughts in the coming days, months and years.