I’d blogged pretty much every day of May until the trip. And then I only did it once from the beach. Sorry.But I did have some random thoughts while at the beach. So here come the bullets:

• There is no “quick” or “direct” way to get to Destin, FL from Oxford, MS.
• Generally the hotel pools in Alabama don’t open until after Memorial Day. We left at night to head down and stopped in Montgomery, AL for a pit stop. Pool was locked up.
• Staying in a condo with six kids ages 8 and under is sometimes wild.
• You don’t need sugar to stir up that many kids, but it does add excitement.
• I was a little curious as to how the weather would be. It was cold/rainy in Oxford the day before we left. But it was mid 80′s pretty much the whole time.
• It didn’t rain a drop on us until the final day.
• If you go to a restaurant with lots and lots of alligators outside in a pond and has handwritten Sharpie graffiti all over it, you can expect to pay about $20 for a bowl of pasta and 8 pieces of shrimp.
• I brought more shoes on this vacation than I ever had, but wore only one pair the entire time.
• That means I never went for a run on this trip.
• Shuffleboard isn’t just for old folks. It was actually kind of fun.
• I never saw or smelled any oil in the water.
• The waves were really strong. Which means really fun. Good for making memories.
• “Outlet Mall” really means “yes, we have a few killer deals, but most things are just about 10-15% off, which you would have paid in taxes anyway. But we know vacationers are just looking for reasons to spend money, so we put a lot of your favorite stores together so you can give us your money.”
• People that decorate beach condos really like floral print for furniture, wallpaper, and bedding. I mean REALLY like floral print.
• The adults in my family need road-trip potty breaks more than the kids do.
• Anything on the lower pantry shelves or in the fridge in the condo is fair game for kids to grab.
• Seaside has gotten a little more crowded and busy since my honeymoon. But I’d still lik estay there again someday. Maybe Rosemary Beach could be a possibility too.
• Every condo should provide wifi these days. Just saying…
• Having an iPhone on vacation is really, really helpful.
• I actually found an iPhone, but called the people and gave it back. My oldest daughter was disappointed.
• I always bring books and magazines to read at the beach. But never read them.
• My kids can’t get enough of the pool. They’d go to the pool at 6 a.m. if they could.

We went back downtown today for lunch today to meet with an Orchard student that goes to Furman. Ate at Sticky Fingers. That is an aptly named restaurant. But then we went to the Discover Class. It is structured for people wanting more info on Grace Church. It was a two hour meeting. But was interesting.During this meeting there was the Saturday night service going on in the next building.

Afterward we got to go to the “debrief” meeting with the pastors after their service. Then a trip to supper with the teaching pastor and worship pastor. Both were really down to earth. Easy to talk with. Funny. But pretty straight on as far as talking Biblical stuff too.

Tomorrow will be a full day. Probably three or four church services. Might even squeeze in a service with Newspring Church too that recently opened up a Greenville campus.

The downtown area of Greenville is interesting. It was revitalized a few years ago, but is full of shops, restaurants, parks, plazas, and landscaping. Lots of unique lighting at night too. There is even a “Mice on Main” scavenger hunt.

I’m reading a book right now that is centered around an elite boarding school in the Northeast. From my knowledge (that is all from pop culture) it seems stereotypical. Mostly wealthy kids. Lots of sweaters, khaki pants/skirts, uniforms, lots of sports that are different from the South (squash, crew, field hockey, lacrosse, etc.), rebellion, lots of drama, old buildings with lots of wood and cool architecture,and good story lines for movies.

Sometimes I wonder if I would have ever liked going to a boarding school. I mean, if money were no issue. Some of these boarding schools have tuition for one year that probably rivals what my 4.5 years of college cost.  Part of it seems really cool. In some ways almost like going away to college as a 9th grader. I mean, think of some of the movies. Dead Poets Society, Toy Solidiers, School Ties, Rushmore, The Emporor’s Club, X Men, Harry Potter, Taps. And books like Jane Eyre, A Catcher In The Rye, and A Separate Peace.

Would I have enjoyed that? I know it would have been completely different from anything like Amory High School. I think I could have gone one of two directions (at least). But I could have been the guy who ended up being very quiet and just tried to take everything in, or I could have been the one who everyone knew because he talked too much a lot. It seems that there’s various moral pathways to choose too. Lots of opportunities for “new” experiences. Part of me looks back and thinks I would have really enjoyed the experience of being away and on my own like that.

But then I think to my own kids. What if they wanted to and somehow had an opportunity to go? Would I want my 14 year old daughter or son moving out of my home to live at least a day’s drive away for a semester at a time? Would I be willing to give away the responsibility of continuing to shape them and mature them in our own family ideals and beliefs? Give it away to strangers? That’s a heavy question. One I’m sure my wife would say “Heck no!”.

I’d say I think that I could handle going away to a school like that, but not sure I’d want my own kids to handle it. Plus, as a parent, I’d be giving up some fantastic years of sharing life together (even though I’d miss out on a lot of the teen drama.) And them sharing life w/ each other too.

So…if you’ve read this far: Would you have gone to a full time boarding school if you could? AND Would you consider sending your own children if they could attend?

Tell me here.

Without any wheels yet, I walked to the church. It is only a half mile. I kept looking for a BIG church building I’d see from a distance. But I didn’t. Which was cool. But the parking lot was filling and people were all filing in towards the front door. As I got there, immediately on my right was Connection Cafe, a little coffee bar and then some seating on the right as well. A nice lady w/ a nametag was saying to everyone at once, “I know it doesn’t look normal, but adults are taking the kids to their rooms!” I don’t think I looked lost, but anyway.

There were lots of people w/o being crowded.

I went to Bob Laurent‘s class he was teaching. It was on The Radical Jesus [I'll post the notes in the next entry]. At first I didn’t clue into who Bob Laurent is. But he spoke at a youth weekend I was a part of back in 1990. I liked him a lot back then, and 18 years later I still liked his teaching. He’s pretty passionate. And there were LOTS of people there. Bob said 900. And I think with a big shift in what Granger’s mid week events used to be, that’s a pretty significant number.

But first impressions of Granger Community Church was A+. Now I can’t wait for Innovate tomorrow. I’m back in the hotel after stopping by Target for some toiletries and by Moe’s for some supper! Now I’m full and typing while watching John and Kate plus 8.

Granger Community Church is just about a half mile down the road, so I could walk down there and check it out. There are actually some Journey Bible Classes going on tonight. I might give one of those a go to check out some of the changes that GCC is undergoing. Or I might go to bed early since I probably got 3 hours of sleep and have been on planes or rushing to them all day.

I got up at 4. Showered. Ate a muffin. Left for Tupelo. Flew to Memphis for a 37 minute layover. That means I rushed around to my next gate. Then I flew to Detroit. There I had another 37 minute layover. Interesting. But then I flew to South Bend and got a taxi to this hotel. So I could use some time on a bed infront of ESPN or something like that. And you can’t beat this wifi either.

But I know I won’t do that. I’m travelling, baby! Can’t be still for too long.

OH, and if things look different now and then, it’s because I’m trying out some new themes around the ole blog.

Edit: A 3:45 I got into my room

Next week I’m heading out to Indiana. I’ll fly into South Bend and then hitch a ride over to Granger, IN. I’ll be attending the Innovate 08 conference at Granger Community Church.

I had a friend that went last year and raved about it. And I read a few blogs of folks who had attended, and they said it was exceptional. My friend actually said, “It’s better than anything I’ve been to at Northpoint…” Those were some big words there.

So what am I looking forward to?

• I’m looking forward to hearing Mark Beeson teach. He’s a gifted communicator and has pushed his church in so many creative ways. [I still find it interesting that he's in a very "innovative" church, yet still preaches with a coat and tie each week. But hey, seems to be working for him!]
• I’m looking forward to hearing Shawn Wood talk of their creative process of finding the sweet spot of who God created his church to be and who they are not. That way they are not trying to be a huge buffet of ministries, but being dang good at what they’re created to do.
• Getting to hear Tim Stevens speak about recognizing and using culture to communicate the life changing truths of Jesus.
• Maybe meeting Kem Meyer and Tim Stevens both.
• Attending the Granger Film Festival where churches bring their best vids from the last year or so for a competition.
• Hearing Rob Wegner speak his heart about missions and how to impact the local community for The Kingdom.
• To be able to hear Kathy Guy speak on the small group strategies of GCC and how it makes a difference in their people. Might even get to grab lunch w/ her at some point.
• Steven Furtick will tell the stories of how his church has had a wild growth as it’s barely 2 years old. And the struggles and processes they’ve gone trough. And I want to see his weird hair in person.
• Plus, I hope to be able to walk around the campus of Notre Dame while I’m there too.
• And there will be some good companions from The Orchard in Tupelo to be with.

I will have frequent updates and maybe some pics/video of stuff while I’m there. I’ll “take you along” so to speak.

But last year this time I was on a plane. I was flying home from Washington D.C. after a great little get away to the nation’s capital. It was almost an impromptu vacation. But after having tasted and seen how much I liked being there, I want to go back for sure. Was able to connect w/ David Russell while there, but beating myself up that I forgot that a good friend from back home now works there too as an architect.

Anyway, if you ever get the chance to visit The District…do it! It is steeped in US History. Lots of cool things to experience. Most of it free. And you can walk pretty much everywhere. After spending four days there last year, I consider myself an expert.

Here are a few pics from last year. I have many more I’ll try to upload later.

First day we were there. A quick shot.

Nice shot of Abe.

Outside of la Casa Blanca.

A shot from the WWII Memorial. Washington Monument in the background.

There’s a longer story that goes with this, but George W. Bush is in that limo. I can post a larger picture if someone wants to try to see in there. But there were TONS of security cars before and after him. The limo is about to turn right into a back entrance to the White House. That lady biker cop you see was funny.

Random street shot.

Some artistic garden.

Lots of folks around. Taken from the porch of the Lincoln Memorial.

• For some reason I don’t shower as much as I usually do when I’m at home. I guess since I spent so much time in the clorinated pool it seemed to suffice.
• Sometimes I think getting a tattoo might be cool. But then I see a lot of bad examples of tattoos, and I rethink things.
• Just because a restaurant has a lot of cars in the parking lot doesn’t mean it is good. We at at Hazel’s the first night. I’d rather eat rice cakes than go back there.
• Even when you’re gone for a while, it seems there are things you don’t get done.
• Movies seen on vacation seem to be more special.
• I still don’t sleep late on vacation. But I didn’t want to anyhow.
• Driving down the entire state with three kids isn’t that bad if you leave late enough for them to sleep most of the way. I was tempted to give them Benadryl, but it wasn’t needed.
• Internet access on vacation seems wrong to some. It’s comfy to me.
• You will go with out a lot of clothes in front of extended family at the beach and it’s not awkward. There is no way I’d walk into a Thanksiving dinner or Memorial Day cookout dressed only in nylon shorts and dripping wet and have normal conversations w/ my wife’s aunts. But on the beach? Straight from the pool? Who cares?
• You can get burned quickly at the beach.
• If you go to the pool about twice a day for five days, you’ll see some really interesting people there and think you know a lot about them.
• Outdoor pools usually trump indoor pools.
• Ground floor condos trump upper level condos. Sure, there’s not quite the view. But the access to everything makes such the difference.
• I might could live in a beach town.

I absolutely loved crawling into my own bed in the very dark hours of night/morning. But when I work up this morning I missed being able to look out of my bedroom and see the pool and the ocean.

Well Matt decided he wanted some company. This video is amazing. Check it out.

Where the Hell is Matt? (2008) from Matthew Harding on Vimeo.

I wonder how many frequent flier miles he has racked up?

click the map for an interactive experience

It’s crazy to see how the prices are moving up. when I first went to college I remember $5 would get me nearly 6 gallons of gas. Most people think gas will be over $4 here in Mississippi really soon. It stings going to get gas. But then I look at this map and don’t feel so bad. Or maybe not as bad as other people are feeling.

What color is your state? What did you pay per gallon the last time you got gas? I think mine was $3.69

GasBuddy.com is actually a pretty cool site if you spend a little bit of time looking around.

But anyway, a year and a half ago John, Stevie, and I went to Grand Rapids/Grandville Michigan to attend Isn’t She Beautiful at Mars Hill. We went looking for the nearby restaurant where the Sunday Nooma was filmed. We found it. And this below is very much like the opening shot of that very video! This is at the Rainbow Grill in Grandville, MI. Snow was all around!

When we asked the servers there at the restaurant which booth he’d actually sat in when doing the video shoot, not a one of them had a clue what in the world we were talking about.

Stevie, who was videoing, is getting married this weekend in Gulfport. I think I’m going.

Boom Di Atah!

[ht to Andy]

They have a new project coming out, and part of the project is a new DVD. And the name of this
new DVD is called All In This Together (click the pic for more info). I think my mind is poisoned now because of High School Musical. I even hear Pat use the phrase “we’re all in this together” last week in his sermon, and I immediately thought of HSM. In Pat’s defense, I don’t think he’s ever seen the movie.

But I think that I’m going to get the new double cd AND the DVD that Hillsong United is releasing. I’ve never been disappointed with their stuff.

Also wanted to include a short video that I found of theirs on YouTube last night.

But to compare morning and night running is like comparing, well, night and day. A morning run is WORK. A night run is enjoyable. I never really ran much in high school. Never had a reason. While working at Camp Lake Stephens one summer I ran a little now and then to try to impress a girl. [It must have worked; she married me] The next semester at school she calls to inform me that she signed me up for the Crescent City Classic. I had no idea what that was. But turns out it is the massive 10K race in New Orleans. So I figured i should train for it.

I did. And to this day, my first ever 10K race has been my best time ever. And I guarantee that there’s no threat of breaking it anytime soon. But a night run is the best. Or a run in the rain on a summer afternoon. Sometimes it’s quite nice to go running with a friend. But other times the solitude of a solo run is needed. It’s fun to run in Costa Rica too! [Emily does it in Columbia.]

I don’t know that I’ve ever regretted a run either. But there are plenty of times I’ve thought of running, didn’t, then regretted it later. Sorta like spending time with Jesus. Sometimes I know I should. And I know how beneficial it would be. But I keep saying I’ll get to it soon.

Anywho…running. Do you do it? Do you like it? When is the best time for you to run? And what have your best runs been? Please..do tell!

I wonder what would happen if we all agreed to read one of the Gospels until we came to a place that told us to do something, then went out to do it, and only after we had done it, began reading again?

There are aspects of the Gospel that are puzzling and difficult to understand. But our problems are not centered around the things we don’t understand, but rather in the things we do understand, the things we could not possibly misunderstand. Our problem is not so much that we don’t know what we should do. We know perfectly well, but we don’t want to do it.

To read this seems to place some heaviness of responsibility on us, doesn’t it?  How does that quote strike you?

• Bottletree Bakery:  Just off The Square. (map) A really eclectic, snazzy bakery with good breakfast and lunch. It was actually featured on The Food Network and Oprah because of their pies.
• San Francisco Bread Company: Jackson Avenue (map)
• Pak Mail: Jackson Ave (map)
• McAllisters: University Avenue (map) The restaurant that is pretty much like all the other McAllisters, yet this one was the first one.
• High Point Coffee: North Lamar by The Square.
• Purple Haze: North Lamar (map) Nice little shop with culture and groovy tunes.
• Puddin Place Bed & Breakfast: University Avenue (map)
• Kroger: University Ave (map)
• Comfort Inn:  Jackson Ave (map)
• Days Inn: Jackson Ave (map)
• Proud Larry’s: South Lamar (map). You may have to ask them for access, but they’re cool about it.

Now please double check me on these. Sometimes I’ve found a signal, but then turns out you have to pay to surf (like McDonalds).  But I may have missed some or have been mistaken about a couple. If there is a correction or addition that needs to be made, leave a comment!

It was good to see a lot of family. Everyone was excited that we’ll be back closer in the coming months. I am thinking I look forward to being able to see them some more too. Being close to family wasn’t a determining factor with the decision to move and shift into a new job/place. But I’m sure it will be a definite added benefit.

We stayed at my mom’s new house last night. First time we’ve done that. It slept pretty well, but shortly we’re going to head up to my dad’s for some lunch and to watch the Egg Bowl. I’m a little nervous about the game. Mississippi State should win. All indicators point to that. But you never know with this game…

Now we’re about to head out and do another blitz of family sites, only to return Saturday night with a lot of food eaten and a lot of folks able to see us and probably not much good sleep!

Oh the holidays!

• DC may be the most diverse place I’ve ever been to when you consider all the tourists.
• I’ve no clue why people from Bangledesh and Peru want to take pictures of a statue of Abe Lincoln.
• Having a laptop and a hotel with free high speed internet is now a must on vacations (helps with numbers, maps, directions, menus, schedules, prices, distances, movies, email, blogs, facebook, newspapers, espn.com, and instant messaging.)
• The Yellow Line seems to be the slowest of the Metro Rails.
• But the Metro Rail system is a nice way to get around.
• The burgers at Five Guys are big and HUGE!
• The burgers at ESPN Zone are pretty good too, and still HUGE!
• But if you walk around all day, I think it doesn’t matter how big of a burger you eat.
• 75% of people on the streets in China Town smoke when they’re outside.
• China Town has a lot of non-chinese people in it.
• Could almost be Africa Town at some point.
• I didn’t meet anyone named George in Georgetown.
• But I think Georgetown is a really cool place.
• But I could never live there….real estate is WAY above my means.
• Georgetown U is pretty cool too. A pretty diverse campus. And they have mad school pride. Part of me wishes I’d gone there.
• I like the Circulator.
• National Community Church is doing some great things there in DC.
• Most of the “nice” people in DC seem to be from the South.
• It’d be cool to do a segway tour of DC. But those things cost over $5k.
• Seems people either run (lots of runners around Capitol Hill) or smoke (lots of smokers everywhere.)
• If I liked coffee a lot, I’d probaby hang out at Ebenezeer’s Coffee House.
• But if I wasn’t in that area, I’d be okay. There seemed to be about 1.5 million Starbucks around DC.
• Somethings look smaller in person. Some look bigger.
• Jason Bourne is a very bad man…in a good way, of course.
• I wondered if George Bush always looks that happy to see people on the sidewalk or if he was genuinly glad to see ME.
• I want to read some books and watch some movies again that are based in DC since I know where stuff is now.
• If you can help it, try to fly into Ronald Regan Airport…it’s much easier/cheaper to get to your hotel from there.
• Most of the areas we went to were pretty clean. I was impressed.
• It’s really loud in both the Hard Rock Cafe and ESPN Zone.
• Stadium Seating is best for movie watching.
• There are cops everywhere in DC.
• Food is really expensive in the Smithsonian Museums.
• The Loews Theater in G’town gives one free refill on your popcorn and your drink. Now that’s awesome!

That’s it for now. Now I want to go back and spend more time.

Who wants to go with me?