10 TV Shows

Ten completed t.v. shows of which I have seen every single episode (in no particular order...except for the first one):

1. LOST

2. Full House

3. Saved By The Bell

4. Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip (seriously--have you seen that show? Brilliant!)

5. Gilmore Girls

6. Family Ties

7. Seinfeld

8. News Radio

9. Everybody Loves Raymond

10. Punky Brewster

The Labor Day Weekend Show

It's been a near perfect Labor Day weekend around here.

We spent Friday together as a family. We stayed outside most of the day with Jonas running the neighborhood with friends. I got a large amount of reading done, which is great. It's getting harder and harder to find space to just sit and read without interruption.

On Saturday, the boys had a big day at home playing outside and I drove to Terre Haute/Brazil to see three of my college roommates and various other friends for Jenny's very first wedding shower! We are all so excited for her and it was a really fun night. I'm still laughing about some of the things that happened and I especially crack up every time I remember that Paige's parents nearly gave her the middle name "Ina" after a family member (which, if you're slow today, would make her name "Paige Ina." I laugh every time. Juvenile? Yes. Funny? For sure. I feel like I'm stealing her story by including this here, but I have a feeling Paige would hardly care.)
It was fun to be with everyone. Here are a few pictures from our time together:

Steph, Kelly and I stayed the night in Terre Haute and then I checked in at the Starbucks across from the hotel and hit the long, boring road home.

Sunday means Youth Group! We ate dinner, watched "To Save A Life" and played this silly game:
It was, obviously, a lot of fun.

Around 8:30, my phone buzzed and I had a text from Jenny. "We are at the Tumbleweed in Hendo!" it declared. WHAT? So Jason and I headed over to the 'weed and had drinks while Jenny, Paige and Rebecca ate dinner and entertained us before continuing their drive back to Houston. It was a really fun surprise.

This morning, Jason and I drank coffee and read on the back deck and then went and walked some on the trails at Audubon Park. Before long, we're going to put some steak on the grill and enjoy the rest of the day!

I hope you're enjoying yours!

If I Could Do This...

...I would do it all the time.

Al Franken draws the United States free-hand.

He'll Be Hiring An Agent Any Day Now...

So, Jason's kind of a big deal.

He wrote an article for the local newspaper and they published it with several of his trail pictures today.

Here is the link.

(Not So Awkward) Silence

".....and awkward silence...."

That's one of Jonas' new things to say whenever we're having a conversation and things go quiet. It happened the last time when I was visiting with him in his room before bed and we were talking about his dear and (recently) dearly departed hamster, Zipper. "....and awkward silence...." he proclaimed.

"Not really awkward. Just silent." I replied.

I'm pretty comfortable with silence and it's rare that I experience a length of silence that feels awkward.

Especially when I'm with people that I love and who love me, I'm very comfortable just existing. I can ride in the car with a friend for an hour without talking and it wouldn't bother me a bit. I can sit next to Jason on the deck and not say anything for a long time. I'm even comfortable sitting at a table with someone, sharing a meal and not saying anything (although a whole lot of other people find that particular scenario awkward, so I try to do my part).

For as much talking as (many of you know) I'm capable of doing, I really do enjoy silence.

Sometimes, as I sit silently with a loved one, I'm thinking about what I'm going to say or what I need to say, turning it over in my head, making sure it's going to come out the way I mean it.

Sometimes I'm thinking about things that have already been said.

Sometimes, I'm just grateful that I don't feel like I have to say something.

Sometimes, honestly, I'm thinking about my to do list or what's coming next or what we're going to have for dinner or what's going on somewhere else. Sorry about that!

Sometimes I'm just enjoying the company and not really thinking about anything else.

I don't insist on it and I love carrying on conversation, as well, but there's something wonderful about the things that can happen in silence and the things that are communicated when no one is talking.

It's the weekend--weekends can either be very loud or very quiet. I'm hoping for and needing some silence today.

Sermon Writing

I have a problem.

I'm writing my sermon for Sunday and it's on this text:

Luke 14:1, 7-14

¹On one occasion when Jesus was going to the house of a leader of the Pharisees to eat a meal on the sabbath, they were watching him closely.

⁷When he noticed how the guests chose the places of honor, he told them a parable. ⁸"When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, do not sit down at the place of honor, in case someone more distinguished than you has been invited by your host; ⁹and the host who invited both of you may come and say to you, 'Give this person your place', and then in disgrace you would start to take the lowest place. ¹⁰But when you are invited, go and sit down at the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he may say to you, 'Friend, move up higher'; then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at the table with you. ¹¹For all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted."

¹²He said also to the one who had invited him, "When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, in case they may invite you in return, and you would be repaid. ¹³But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. ¹⁴And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous."

You can probably see the problem just based on the passages I decided to highlight with blue. Those are trouble-making passages if you read them the way I read them. I'm having a hard time writing a nice sermon.

I'm going to step on some toes and say some obnoxious things and people won't like it.

Just wanted to give everyone a heads up!

Ten Tuesday Tens

Usually, I try to come up with a list of ten things for each Tuesday (I call them the "Tuesday Tens.") Last week was a tough week, mentally and emotionally. So I'm cheating.

Or walking down memory lane if you prefer the positive spin.

Yes, I know I barely have ten of them and it's too early to pick a top ten and it's silly to turn other lists of ten things into a top ten list. Welcome to MY blog.

The Top Ten Tuesday Tens (in no particular order, of course):

1. 10 Things I Believe

2. 10 Silly Things I Love Right Now

3. 10 Favorite Scents

4. 10 Life Events

5. 10 Scary Things

6. 10 More Scary Things

7. 10 Potential Titles (for my autobiography)

8. 10 Favorite LOST Scenes

9. 10 Nevers

10. 10 Things I Would Do If I Won The Lottery


One day I may run out of ideas for Tuesday Tens (like, perhaps, next Monday). Any beloved blog readers have any for me?

Today's the Day!

Today, Whitney flies to Holland for a conference with Operation Mobilization.

When she's done there, she flies to Chile to begin her work!

We love you, Wii! Go with God and have the time of your life!

Whitney's Gleaner Article

Whitney's Courier Press Article

The Internets Are Interesting

I've been up since 5:30 this a.m. with a neurotic dog who insisted on sticking his wet nose under the covers of our bed and under the shirt of my pajamas and running it up and down my back. I know Samson well enough to know that this means "I HEARD THUNDER!" Sure enough, it was starting to storm.

(When he just wants to go outside and do his business, he doesn't bother me with his nose--he lies next to the bed and does this "threatening to bark" thing...it's like a half bark that doesn't make much noise, but wakes me up. When he's ready to leave the room and start his day in the house, he starts pushing on our mattress and bounces us around until one of us gets up and opens the door. You know, some days it seems more like he owns us, but whatever...)

So, here I am, three hours and three (biggest mug in the house) cups of coffee later. The good thing about this scenario is that I caught up on Google Reader and my bookmarked sites. Here are some things I found worth watching and reading this morning:

The day's Lectionary reading.





Rachel Held Evans discovers that she is, in fact, a Christian Hipster.



I finally had a chance to watch Andrew Marin's interview on CBN.



Heck, YES, I want one of these....well, maybe not actually. But if I did, I'd want the one with the sheep on it.

Jon Acuff address big church hats and it's one of the funniest things I've read this week.

Adam McLane gives some tips on the new Facebook Places

Carol Howard Merritt's whole blog is pretty awesome.

Ann Dilenschneider Explores Clergy Burnout

Roland Martin and the Mosque at Ground Zero

Landon Whitsett and The Problem with Dr. Laura

Also, I re-read Thanatopsis. Which is a really wonderful poem.

Astronaut Baths

Second graders Ava and Dain were doing their reading homework during after school club yesterday. The topic of the story was Astronauts. Ava thought it was hilarious that astronaut toilets have seat belts. Dain wanted to know how about astronaut baths.

"Well," I said. "It says in your book that they take sponge baths."

Dain wrinkled his nose.

Ava, however, has an idea for the astronauts:

"Here's what they could do. They could fill the bathtub with water and then the astronaut could get inside and his astronaut friends could take a great big mattress and strap it down tight on top of the bathtub and then the astronaut could (*wigglewigglewiggle* motion) and get clean and then drain the bathtub and his friends could unstrap the mattress and then the astronaut could climb out and someone could hand him a towel and he could dry off and be all CLEAN!"

NASA, are you listening?