Which version of the Bible do you use?

I felt like Edmund waking up to Narnia.

Blue Flames Of Kindness

My buddy Jason Levier is hooking me up 'litterally' today by helping me install the water line to the ice maker in my fridge. If you need a plumer and live around Pittsburgh you can reach him at (724) 316-7931. Thanks Jason!

Fuzzy Wuzzy

While in Barne's n' Noble's I was unconsciously clicking my fingers on all the book stacks as I walked by them looking for 'Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee'. It startled me when my ring finger didn't stop but kept going into fuzzy wuzzy's tummy. At first I didn't know what it was... piece of gum... it was warm after all. When I looked down all my fears were set aside. Maybe most of our knee jerk reactions to the unknown are just fuzzy little bears trying to get our attention.

Business Cards

Which one do you like better?

Popcorn

Nothing smells up a house much like burnt popcorn.

Homeless Man: Rich Mullins

"Rich never asked for money, power, success, or fame. He asked for wonder and God gave it to him." Please watch this 6 part video series on Rich Mullins. Your heart will grow by 3 sizes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbt4LpjvLJ4

Sent from my iPhone

I WANT TO PUKE!!!!!!

So I had this idea about a year ago... 

Birthed out of the tension that songwriters have when stumbling upon a new melody I thought a battery powered recording device with an expansion slot would be appropriate.  I made a mistake by talking to a representative at Fishman (Guitar Electronics Titan) without having him sign a form of non-disclosure.  I would say that 6-8 months would be enough to develop a patent, draw up a plan, and sell it to the highest bidder.  It just seems too ironic that Ovation guitars just released a brand new - never before seen device that allows you all the same features almost word for word what I told Fishman about 8 months ago.

I am not saying this to brag but to reinforce your privacy when you are sitting on a million dollar idea.  Patents are expensive and hard to come by without a patent lawyer.  I tried to obtain one but fell short of the $1500 needed for one year provisional - $20,000 for a lifetime patent.  Needless to say I got a little eager when I finally got Fishman on the phone after banging on the door for months.  Some days I feel like I haven't learned anything at all.  

Dave if you read this let me remind you that our conversation was private.  I will never buy Fishman again if my assumptions are correct.  If they are misguided I apologize.

The Perfect Sandwich

Sara Lee whole wheat bread, Sara Lee oven roasted Chicken, pesto,
mayo, Swiss cheese, chips (on the sandwich). What's your's?

who reads your blog?

The only people that leave comments on my blog are Nani and Beka. I am starting to think that no one reads my blog but I know someone reads my newletters!

This Never Gets Old

Booked Up

We went to the library last night in Cranberry. That and going to
Barnes and Noble is one of our favorite things to do as a family. What
does your family do for fun?

Freedom PA

This little church could be in a calender. Western PA is full of stuff like this.

Snow Ordinary Sculpture

We were out passing through Zelienople last night and saw this outside on a churches lawn. Impressive to say the least.

Does God want me to be poor?

This is an excerpt from "In the name of Jesus". I would love to hear
your thoughts.

Hot Tub Tales

Ha! I knew the steamy title would catch your attention! I was at the Y today in Cranberry (with half of the church there too!) in the hot tub. No ~ half of the church was not in the hot tub...
This YMCA is so nice that it has become the "A Model" for future facilities being built. Cranberry TWP is a busy area as it is and that growth is reflected everywhere you go.

There was a young famliy (mom, grandma, children) in the hot tub at the same time I was. They had young children (ages 2-4) that had just gotten out of the pool with towels wrapped around them and I could tell they were cold. Mom was letting them dip thier toes into the hot tub while they waited for an open shower in the locker room. There were so many people there this morning that they couldn't get to their belongings and had been waiting for a long time to get in.

Not long after that I strolled over to the mens locker room and was greeted by a warm and spacious shower, clearance to my locker, and space enough on the bench to get dressed and ready to go. Needless to say I felt bad for those moms that have the daily chore of watching after children. Not that it is a "chore" so to speak but I ackowledge the work it takes to ensure that Jr. gets his McNuggets, homework done, nose wiped, and so forth.

Beka has been home with the kids now for a few weeks homeshooling. I don't know how she gets it all done enough to make me dinner but I appreciate it. I love you Sweetheart.

HosPITTal

Were down here at the Childrens hospital downtown Pittsburgh. Caloway
has had a skin condition on his leg that we have had looked at by
about 6 doctors. They are going to take a better look at it here. I
know this might seem trite but my heart goes out to those of you who
have had sick or hurt children. Whenever your kids are sick nothing
else much matters.

Sicky Wicky

Caloway isn't feeling too well so we took him to build a bear and he
got an outfit for Rex.

Hugs and Punches

I have been reading a book by Henri Nouwen entitled "In the Name of Jesus ~ Reflections on Christian Leadership". He speaks of serving in a home of some mentally handicapped people who did not know of his books, nor lauded his education, or teaching background at Notre Dame, Yale, and Harvard.

"Not being able to use any of the skills that had proved so practical in the past was a real source of anxiety. I was suddenly faced with my naked self, open for hugs and punches, smiles and tears, all dependent simply on how I was perceived at the moment."

If you are in Christian Leadership I highly recommend this very practical book which is only about 100 pages.

Thigh Five

While editing Wednesday Night's teaching script a misspelling caught my attention. I had written 'high five' but with a 't' creating "thigh five".
Visual's started to flow..........

It could be said that a thigh five is just sophisticated terminology for a congratulatory hind quarter slap. A little banter might be in order. For example: (Guy just score's some points, be it baseball, hockey, or paper football)

"Dude, Thigh Five."

While suggesting a high five represented by an upraised right hand prepped for slapping - the cordial jester flies in with an incognito left hand to the thigh.

Winter Blues

I'm sitting inside wishing this guy would love me like Jesus and scrap off the civic.

No Double Dipping!

While eating my asiago cheese bagel I was dipping into Claire's tomato soup. She became visibly irritated after my third dip and gently reminded me that Cameron's soup was "right next door".

Dahn Tahn

Me, Cam, and Claire are downtown Pittsburgh eating grilled cheese and tomato soup at Panera with Pitt students crammed in booths and stacked one on top of the other while Beka and Cal are at the hospital getting Cally's leg checked. I have been wanting to come down for a while. It
serves as a really good place for inspiration. Where are the places you like to go to discover new things?

with cheese

Last night I was printing off a post (T.O Spiritual Leader) from my blog for our leader's meeting and saw a comment from a year ago that I'd missed. I wrote it after I'd heard Dennis McCallum (pastor at Xenos Christian Fellowship) speak at their summer institutes and after reading his book - Organic Disciplemaking.

The comment was "Hey Tim, Dennis here. Did you read the book yet?"

I thought it was my Father in Law b/c that's how he always answers the phone... and his name is Dennis too. Mind you that Dennis McCallum (and my dad in law) by this time is huge in my book. I listen to his podcast every week and have read a couple of his books. Beka and I frequented Xenos this last year but I have never met him nor seen him in person. I clicked on the name "Dennis" and lo and behold it was him asking if I'd read "Organic" yet?

Dennis, if you read this I would make the trip from Western PA to buy you a burger... with cheese.

Wii had a great meeting!

We had a great meeting tonight with the student leaders at the
Salala's - good food, fellowship, and Wii of course.

Keeping Remembrance

"Over time you must realize that praying to God for people is even more important than talking to people about God."

Dennis McCallum *Organic Disciplemaking

Davenportant

My family and I have been on the lookout for some new furniture. We have finally come to the conclusion that particle board furniture does not stand up to our three kids and have been shopping around for a couple additions to our furniture family. We ended up at a store later than what management wanted us to be looking around for something new - even though it was 30 whole minutes before closing time. The lady checking us out could not have been less hospitable. She was elderly, and the owner of the store and I could tell that her cold roast beef sandwich and tivo'd episodes of 'The Young and the Restless' were more important than selling off anther clearanced item. But we loved the piece we were getting and felt like we were helping out by supporting local economy. God stepped in and reminded me to not act so quickly towards someone who was a pain to work with.

Sorry these posts have been on the prophetic side but if God puts them in my heart - I post them.

May He grant you grace towards those that cause consistent friction.

...ok I gotta go to bed.

ICE MAN

Last week I went skiing at Seven Springs and my coat was litterally a glaze donut after being punished by horrible conditions. I'm a conservative skiier as it is but one hill wore the daddy pants and kicked my tail. The conditions were horrible and I thought I could handle 15-20 mph in between turns but I have a rib that thinks differently. After I fell my confidence was shot to heck and could barely commit to any level of difficulty. I was dying for my friend to tell me not to go down another hill but he didn't. Instead he was encouraging me not to quit. There are somedays where you need to muscle through and other days where you just need to get off of the mountain so you can heal. May God send His Spirit to those of you who might be "skiing with a broken rib". Allow Him to minister to you and bring a complete healing!

Niagarathal

Cam: "Mom can we listen to the tape we got about dinosaurs?"

Beka: "No because it teaches evolution."

Claire: "Yeah Cam - we don't believe in Niagarathal's."

I thought that was pretty funny and looked online to see if 'Niagarathal' has been taken as a domain. It wasn't so I nabbed it. If some French Canadian band buys it from me in years to come - it will help me pay for Claire's college. Hmmm - maybe she'll become an anthropoligist...

Cool Design

Fountain Fun

We went to the Beaver Mall today - We hadn't been here .. nice mall. The kids love the fountains. While I was typing this I looked over and saw all three of their arms submerged. Where there is no daddy-vision, children cast off restraint.

TomTom yeah!

We had someone give us this GPS and love it. It has been so cool to discover new things about the area where we live!

Daddy! You Losed!!

I'm playing Break the Ice with Caloway. I just can't beat this kid. He's pretty scary when he takes his shirt off. I think he does it to intimidate me..

Follow This

I found this in the driveway the other day. Just minutes before -
Cameron asked me what else I did as a child besides video games. He
was more than shocked when I told him I didn't have them. It would
appear that it didn't take him long to discover what to do when the tv
is OFF!

It's Skyline Time... I Wish!!

Man I am in serious need of some Skyline right now.. I stumbled across this today in Flickr and made me think of Cincinnasty.

Barnes and Noble Productions Presents

Claire was in character *as always*

Easy Like a Saturday Afternoon

Yeah I've had a lot of these ever since I got my Ascaso Dream. If you like espresso you must experience it.

BAD DOG

Our new living room is kind of small to begin with but to salt the open wound - I have officially lost my chair to the dog.

My Friend and My Foe

I have a love/hate relationship with these. Say hello to my little friend the Fiber One bar.

I've never been to big on New Year's resolutions but this year I am making a concerted effort to:
1. Get in Shape - Since our camp in the summer is on the beach this is a big motivator to do so.
2. Track my thoughts on Scripture - I have always wanted to have a bible with my thoughts in it ready to give my kids on their wedding days. This would be a good place to start.
What are your New Year's Resolutions?

Now That's a Good re-heat

You know you have a good pizza after the first re-heat. We had Climo's Pizza for our meeting last night. Since we moved to PA in November I have been looking for a good pizza.. I want to give Climo's some ad space on my blog. If you're ever in our neck of the woods you owe it to yourself to have a slice or two. What's your best slice of pizza?