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Category: Stuff (Page 10 of 65)
A quick tour…
Yes, I’ll be going to the Mississippi State Bulldogs vs. the Ole Miss Rebels basketball game in a little over an hour.
Hope it’s a good game for the visiting team.
So I’ve been out of the blogging habit the past week. But things have been a little crazy. So for the last handful of days, here’s a recap:
- The whole fam is up here now. So we’re living in my dad’s basement. It’s both a blessing and a test.
- A slew of tornadoes swept through the area. It caused some serious damage all around. One crept through Oxford too. I watched the crazy sky for it, but didn’t get to see it.
- We started having morning services at The Orchard. Yesterday was our 2nd week of it. We had about 59 for the morning and 110 for the evening.
- I had taco soup four different times in four different houses in two weeks time.
- We looked at lots of houses in Oxford. I relearned or had reinforced the fact that the housing market is seriously crazy and overpriced in Oxford.
- The inside door handle quit working on my vehicle.
- LOST is back with a fury.
- MSU lost two in a row; then they won two in a row.
- The writers strike seems to be over.
So, there’s a quick recap. And we got wifi in my dad’s basement!
So I’m in a parked car on an old iBook G4 outside of a coffee shop using some bootleg wifi. Such is life.
Pat and I came over for some meetings. But I’m not a part of the first meeting. So I’m running a few errands around Tupelo before the meeting I am a part of.
The first official Sunday is over now. It went well. I got to meet a few new people. I think that’s going to be something I should and will be doing a lot of these next few weeks/months. To be a leader of small groups I’ll need to make a lot of connections. Sorta the same, but sorta different from leading youth specifically. We’re still trying to map out what involvement I’ll have with the youth ministry here at The Orchard in Oxford. I know I’ll have some, but not sure to what degree. And it may be something that shifts and changes as time moves.
I’ve not yet spent even a week up here in the “North”, but there are a lot of familiar places and spots. It’s good to be back. But there’s still lots I miss from Clinton…. again, such is life.But it’s really cool seeing the church in Oxford still in it’s toddler stage of life. And all the potential and promise that it holds.
But as I was driving up yesterday, The Wife reminded me …that I need to rely completely on God. That’s it’s Him in me that even made any of this possible. And with all the busyness of the holidays and final youth trips, and traveling, and living out of a suitcase….I’ve let some of that slip.
So I ask for your prayers specifically for 2 things: That I spend time intimately with Jesus as I take these next steps in my life, and that our house sells. There may be a lead on that one…so I really, really, really, really want that to happen quickly.
I’m at my grandmother’s house right now. I’ve already been to my in-laws, my dad’s, my new church, and lots of neighborhoods around Oxford. I’m about to head to my mom’s. Then back here for supper tonight.
Then I’ll hit the road to sleep in my own bed tonight. The Wife and The Girls will sleep and I’ll let Matt and Kidd talk to me on the way home by way of my mp3 player. I think some more inlaws are going to follow us home.
Life is a whirlwind. But I do enjoy it!
I get a call today from the office of my dentist friend. “Mr. Thompson, we have had a cancellation and Mr. Dentist wondered if you wanted to come in for a teeth cleaning?” Sure. Why not?
But then they discover that I need a little more work. TWO FILLINGS. Both right side of my mouth. Top and Bottom. Now I feel like Mr Clump or whatever his name is.
Hopefully I’ll feel normal by in the morning.
The good news is I might have a little work to be done on the other side next week. Lucky me!
I ran across this on YouTube. I remember going to this hamburger restaurant since I was a little kid. My friends and I would ride our bikes up there. But a few years back my uncle bought the place. Now he runs it. It’s been in continuous operation since 1929.
This is a little story done on it from somewhere or another. That’s my uncle and aunt being interviewed. And no, I don’t talk just like they do.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgC9qACeAwM[/youtube]
The Wife and I were looking at Christmas gifts the other day. But we’re starting to get tired of either looking for a gift that we probably wouldn’t like ourself to give to someone we hardly ever see; a gift that they’ll probably not appreciate or end up re-gifting anyhow. You know what I’m talking about, right?
Then The Wife tells me about a $20 bottle of water she read about. We could spend $20 for a bottle of water and the $$ would go to building or rebuilding wells for villages in Africa. I was a little skeptical at first, but after we sat down and found it online, and spent a little bit of time reading and watching some videos…I was sold on the idea.
Right now, 1.1 BILLION people in the world, mostly in developing nations, do not have access to clean, safe drinking water. And we’ve found that this is a way we can contribute a little bit to the plight. Here is some text from the website:
Charity: Water is currently funding the construction of more than 268 wells in 8 African countries that range from $3,500 to $12,000. Also included are training programs where our partners teach well maintenance, basic hygiene and sanitation to maximize lifespan and impact of the new water sources.
100 percent of your donation will directly fund our projects in Ethiopia, Uganda, Malawi, Central African Republic, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Liberia.
Make sure you visit Charity: water, watch their “Why Water?” video, and if you have time, spend a couple of minutes learning a little more about the project.
And if this is something you connect with, then buy a bottle or two. Gift a family member or friend with it. I know, it’s not the traditional Christmas gift. And you may get a puzzled look or two about it. But I guarantee it will be used unlike most traditionl Christmas gifts.
[Also, here’s a great interview with Scott Harrison, the founder of Charity: water. It talks of how it got started, the why’s behind it, and the tools used.]
I first saw the trailer for this film a long way back. I think Corey Mann had a link to it on his blog. I thought it looked pretty interesting and intriguing. I figured it might be a good film to catch over the holidays or a for sure rental in the Spring.
Then a few weeks later I start seeing the email chain letters talking about how evil the movie is. Apparently the author of the books is an atheist and is trying to espouse his beliefs through this series. In the books God is represented by a really old man who is stuck in his old timer ways and has some oppressive thinking. I think he might actually die in the end of the trilogy.
So help me think through this… A guy is writing a book trilogy where someone his whole belief system is based on exists and then dies? I think he’s just trying build up a belief system and then break it apart.
I’ve read stories and quotes to where Pullman, the author of the books, basically sees himself as the Anti-C.S. Lewis. He hates what the “church” has done in history (and admittedly there have been lots of wrongs done for wrong reasons in the name of the “church”).
So should we boycott the movie? Will you go see it? I’m torn. Part of me wants to say sure since he’s anti my own belief system. But then does a boycott really accomplish anything? I think many will still go see it. So it’s not to “hit them where it hurts the most (the pocket)” situation. Now I won’t carry my own kids. Why? It’s a PG-13 movie! Neither of my kids are even half of 13. Their ages added up don’t even break double digits yet.
But even if the movie is calling God into question, and God fearing people are scared of God being called into question… Goodness, turn on your television just about anytime of the day or pick up a newspaper. God is being called into question all the time.
And there are tons of movies and television shows that have values contrary to Biblical values. Heck, most of the children being “protected” from The Golden Compass probably hear worse stuff at their lunch table at school.
If our children’s own faith is the biggest concern, then I think we as parents and we as followers of Christ need to realize that we should have a much deeper influence of their faith than a movie. And if they do see the movie, we should have the relationship with our kids. I don’t think God is scared of our questions. Actually, I think He invites our questions. That way, when we get through them and He’s helping us find the Truth…then our faith in Him can be solidified.
So…will you see the movie or read the books? (And thanks to Jeremy for getting my thoughts stirring)
