A View From The Inside

I just added a new theme.  I really wasn’t planning on updating the look right away, but I had no choice.  See, i just bought a new FTP program for my mac.  I was playing around with some settings and i get i accidently said “overwrite folder contents” instead of “merge folder contents”.  When I updated Wordpress to 2.3.3, it erased all of my themes and plugins.  Now i have to start all over.

Maybe this is God’s way of telling me that my blog is very boring because i never update it.  Maybe it’s time to start fresh again, for the third time.

A lot of people would consider it a privilege to be a juror.  Ok, so maybe not.  Everybody dreads on receiving that letter saying that “WE COMMAND YOU” and “IF YOU DON’T SHOW UP YOU’RE GOING TO PRISON.”  It is a duty that everybody will have to endure sometime in their life.

I am here to tell you that I am the luckiest person on this planet.  No really, it’s true.  Here is my reasoning:  Not only did I get summoned to be a juror on the county level, I have also been summoned to be a juror on the federal level.  What really hilarious is that they are both at the same time !

Yep, really.  I am not kidding.  I’m that lucky.

Instead of sounding like a broken record (where has the time gone stuff), i’m just going to act like i just posted last week and that i’m a very active blogger.

I just got back from pushing snow.  There was only a half inch on the ground, so it made things very easy.  We were done in about 2 hours.  But now, i’m tired and at my real job.  The coffee hasn’t been injected into my veins yet and my food hasn’t filled me up.  I’m still a little cold, but i’ll make due.

Brett Favre has been named  the SI 2007 Sportsman Of The Year.  When you have an MVP like season at the tail end of a hall of fame career, you deserve this award.  If you’re a fan of Favre or just like to read about NFL players, take a look at the article.  It’s a good read.

Happy Deer Season!

I can’t believe it is October already.  Where did September go?  Actually, where is the entire summer go?  Since it was 21 days ago when i last blogged, here is a little rundown of things that have been happening…

• Still working on the photo gallery of our vacation pictures.  I found an awesome tool to use, but haven’t had the time to use it.
• Bought a new desk.  Picture will be forthcoming.
• Bought Apple Logic Studio and iLife 08.  Studio is a professional recording software for Macs.  I hope to being making some music.
• The power went out at work.  When it came back on, two of my servers were not working.  15 hours later, things are happy now.
• Made 2 videos for Metamora football players in two days.
• Bought David Crowder* Band’s new album Remedy.  I highly recommend this album.  It rocks.
• Green Bay Packers are now 4-0.  Favre broke the TD record and a few more.  This will be a good football season for me.
• Erik and I found our 100th cache.  Our geocaching names were on the big screen outside of nPlay.
• Setup and filmed a fireworks show in Urbana.  It was a wedding fireworks show.

I think that’s about all.  It’s been a very busy stage in my life and i’m hoping things calm down a bit.

GO PACKERS!

Well, we’ve actually be back since Sunday, but it’s taken me a few days to get caught up with everything.

Vacation was awesome.  We had a great time and took a bunch of pictures (over 850) to share with everybody.  Most of our days were spent on the beach, but we were able (forced for Erik and I) to do some shopping, found some awesome restaurants (Throwed Rolls!) and watched season 2 and 3 of The Office at night.  It was awesome and a very rejuvenating trip.

I’m trying to make a nice flash based photo gallery, so ya’ll (that’s some southern speak that i picked up) can see our pictures.

I’ll post more later when i get the pictures working.

I know, i still have one more work day left, but i’m getting excited. I’ve been working very hard to get a lot of my projects done and it looks like i’m going to come up a little short. Oh well, at least i got 90% of what i needed to finish before vacation done.

So, on Saturday morning at 2:30AM, us and Erik & Bree will be leaving for Gulf Shores, AL. 7 nights / 8 days of nothing. I can’t wait.

I’ve been stressed out over the past week. It has nothing to do with what I do, just the amount of work and the lack of time, which is caused by my poor time management skills. You could say it is self-induced stress. These weeks don’t happen very often anymore, but when they do I have a short fuse and get crabby. I know, me? crabby? Yea, it’s true, just ask my wife.

One of the ways I like to relax during weeks like this is to crank some music, close my eyes, and drift away into my sanctuary. This place for me is a log cabin in a beautiful forest with a big lake to fish at. Very peaceful. Lately, i’ve been listen to the song Coming Toward by David Crowder Band. I was playing it while driving home from work and I began to thing about the song. The song does not have any words, but I think there is a powerful message in the music.

The song starts with a guitar, a piano and a specific beat. The two beats are not the same, but they compliment each other. One would sound funny by itself, but two makes a complete song. As the song continues, more instruments come in and the music gets louder. Some instruments have a small part, but add a dynamic that no other instrument could deliver. They all keep building until they reach the height of the song, then it’s solid and strong until the end. At the end, they all become one sound, one beat and fade out to silence.

As I was driving, I was thinking about the music and the name of the song, Coming Toward. Throughout the entire song, they gradually become stronger and stronger. No one instrument is by itself, but as a group, they all grow together. This is how I want my life to be. My coming toward is Jesus. As I grow up and live my life, I begin to meet people and surround myself with people who all have the same goal. Maybe a couple of them have a different beat, but it always compliments the song. Each person adds a dynamic in my life that I cannot produce myself. Some will stay and some will go, but they are in your life for a reason and you rely on them to take you to the next section of the song.

Then it comes to the height of the song, where we are the strongest we have ever been. This is the battle. We stand strong, we fight strong and we do it as a team. No one person can fight this battle alone. A group of people, with the same goal, fighting the same battle will always be stronger than the opponent. This is truly what the christian faith is. We are all in this together. No one person needs to fight by themselves. We have been called to go through life together, to pick each other up, and strive to reach the goal. Together.

And then, in a split second, everything comes together. All instruments become one sound with one beat. You look behind you and the army has been defeated. You turn back around and you are facing your goal. No more worries. No more battles. You have made your goal, your coming toward. Then you fade away peacefully.

So, what is your coming toward?

It appears I have been awarded the first ever “Crosspoint Servant Freak of the Week” award. I wasn’t even prepared for this award. If i would have known i was in the running, i would have prepared a speech. It would be something like this….

(crying….)
I can’t believe i won. Oh man…this is awesome.
I first want to thank God. You da man!
Secondly, i want to thank the academy and everybody who was involved in making this happen. I couldn’t have done it without all the love and support from all you guys. Most of your names i can’t remember, but you know who you are. You deserve this just as much as i do!

[Music starts playing...]

And last but not least, i just want to thank my beautiful wife and my children, Henry and Peggy Sue. You guys stood beside me through the ups and downs, but we did it. WE DID IT. THANK YOU!

On a serious note, thanks Dave for saying all those nice things about me. I don’t do it to be rewarded, but God gave me the talent and abilities with technology and music and i’m glad i can use it to help out when i can.

Jennie’s side of the family is having a big ole’ family reunion this weekend, so we’re flying down to Texas on Friday and flying back on Sunday.  It will be a short trip, but it should be fun.  I hear we’ll be at a lake on Saturday for some swimming/wave runner action.  Be prepared, if you ride with me, i will throw you off. :)  See ya next week!

Just as summer brings baseball and picnics, summer also brings out the best in high schoolers. I can hear the conversation now….

“Dude, what do you want to do?”
“Dude, I don’t know? What do you want to do?”
“I know, lets get a bunch of people together and TP somebody’s house!”

Yep, i was TP’d last night. I know who you are. I also know where you all live. Payback will be sweet.