copy/paste 10.29.06 - 12.29.06

December 29, 2006 - Friday All the things All the thigns You promise come to reality. All of Your words create and give life. Let me not forget that. 3:33 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

A Christmas thought My brother Brent dressed up as Santa to help me out at work this past week. It was really amusing to say the least. He would only say things like "Ho, ho, ho". Or, "What would you like for Christmas, Ho ho ho...". And that is really all he ever said. Now my daughter loves Red, the mascot at my work. But she was very unsure of Santa, this person whom she had never seen before. So, I had to reaveal his real identity as her Uncle Brent. Though it relieved a little tension at the time, I may have inadvertly caused a crisis down the road. Now, everytime she sees a picture of the jolly old elf, the best known of the saints, she points and says, "Brent. Ho, ho, ho." From malls to pictures on walls to the Coke bottle... they are all her uncle Brent. Cute as it is, I can just imagine the scene in kindergarten: first child: There is no such thing as Santa. Claire: Yes there is. first child: How do you know? second child (first child's best friend): yeah, how do you know??!! Claire: He's my uncle Brent. 8:47 AM - 2 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

December 21, 2006 - Thursday Be my breath Father, be all that sustains me. Let me see You as You are... as my sustainer. Where can I hide from You? Where can I go that You would not provide for me? Where can I sit that you You would not give me rest? Wherecan I stand that You would nto give me strength? Help me to see the needs of otehrs before my own. I want nothing. Well, nothing except You. 7:04 AM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

December 18, 2006 - Monday Tara Leigh is TLC So, Tara Leigh Cobble has posted this blog about how to be a toursit in NYC. The following is direct from her: HOW TO BE A LOVEABLE TOURIST: * Walk fast. * Walk faster. * When stopping to check a map or convene for a discussion, move against a wall. In NYC, the sidewalks are the main routes of transportation. When you stop spontaneously or walk slowly, it's akin to slamming on your brakes or doing 35 mph on the Interstate. * Don't refer to it as "The Big Apple" * Many of the best things about NYC aren't in a travel guide. Ask the locals what they recommend. * If at all possible, avoid eating in Midtown (near Times Square). Prices are ridiculous. Actually, just avoid Midtown altogether. * Don't wear your "I heart NY" shirt, as it will mark you as a target. * No fanny packs (this is a LIFE RULE). * Bodega ("bo-DAY-guh"): quick-stop corner shop (like a gas station, but without the gas) * Do NOT use street ATMs or the ones in bodegas. That's a quick way to get your identity stolen. The weird thing is... I woudl say this is how you should shop at Target. Merry Christmas 11:57 PM - 1 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

December 16, 2006 - Saturday two pigeons The best that Joseph could give on behalf of his son in the form of a dedication was two pigeons. And he gave it. God could've provided a ram, or a bull, but he allowed Joseph to offer two pigeons back to Him on behalf of His son. I am always hoping to give more than I have, but am I really just robbing my kids of the experience of giving them all that I ahve at the moment? 9:53 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

December 13, 2006 - Wednesday I ain't a real teacher Subbing can be difficult. You may not work some days, and others you have to choose between a couple of good schools. Some days you teach a subject you know all about. Some days you teach German. Some days you laugh with, with mind you, the fourth grader who gets his foot stuck in the chair. Others, you catch a kid passing a note to see if their friend really is pregnant. All the while being reminded that you are just temporary. An easy fix for the day. I was thinking today about the permanance of Christmas. It's a holiday that's been around for awhile. And while others gripe and complain about how commercial it is, I don't know that I'm gonna care about it anymore. It's the celebration of a permanence in a world of change. Hurry Christmas, get here fast. Then please stay. At least until St. Patrick's. 10:56 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

December 6, 2006 - Wednesday Santa at CD. My wife teaches at a local high school, and ninth period, she says, though annoying and lacks the ability to listen, is quite funny. So today, while she was trying to get everyone back to their seats, one kid was up by the window. He slowly turned to the class and said: "Hey guys! Santa Claus is out there... for all you believers." classic. Happy St Nicholas Day! 7:03 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

December 3, 2006 - Sunday Goin to be on Martha Ever wonder what Heather and I would look like on tv? Well, tomorrow you get your answer. Tomorrow they will air the episode that Heather, Brieanna, Leandra and I got to watch of the Martha Stewart show. It was fun, and a lot of work. A lot of clapping. Our amrs were so sore, and our palms were red... It was weird seeing the set and what not. And we didn;t hear any of the Martha music... not at all what you would expect. I did get a bag of Craisins for being very good at yelling. As take homes, we all got a nook on finding your soul mate (which I'll sell to anyone for $5) and a magazine full o holiday gift ideas. Beyond, that, we had a blast. It was cool getting to hang out with ym little sister, whom I only get to see on rare occassions, which are now also called school holidays. Below are some pics I took of us at the set, and in the city.. as Coke says: enjoy! 1:49 PM - 1 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

November 28, 2006 - Tuesday moments of grandness Sometimes, when I'm not doing anything, or I forget what I'm supposed to be doing, a song will slip from my lips. Lately, "Never knew. Never knew that everything was falling through..." will come pouring out. In moments of total clarity someone else's words will come out, and it is usually about nothing. When is it that my gut reaction will be to Praise? 11:49 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

November 22, 2006 - Wednesday Ian Thorpe has retired Ian Thorpe, called "The Thorpedo" by some, is by far one of the, if not the, greatest male swimmer of our times. Well, was. He retired on his birthday, adn I thought his farewell speech was very poignant in several ways. He said part of his reason for retiring was that he didn;t want to use swimming as a blanket, or as a safety. He knows he's good at it, but is that all he is good at? This is kinda amazing, but not altogether unheard of. Look at Michael jordan trying baseball and golf. I wonder if Tiger ever gets this thought? He also said: "You can swim lap after lap staring at a black line and all of a sudden you look up and see what's around," he said. Currently listening : Myself When I Am Real By Bebo Norman Release date: 10 September, 2002 10:22 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

November 20, 2006 - Monday and... And when He takes my life, I will be glad, because then I will know I had nothing more to give to Him. Currently listening : How To Save A Life By The Fray Release date: 13 September, 2005 10:16 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

November 14, 2006 - Tuesday what happens next? When my children ask me for advice years down the line, I want to give them answers based on my experience, not on my regrets. When my children are in need, I want to give out of the abundance of God's grace and love, not out of anything I recognize as my own. Don't pity us, and don't feel bad for us. I want you to know that God is good to us, despite our sitting on a heap of ashes and scraping our boils with potshards. He has blessed us so much, that He can take away. 1:11 AM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

November 5, 2006 - Sunday clinging to the bottle As we took Holy Communion today, I noticed how small a cup it truly was. Such a small amount. I think even less than a shot. It is certainly less than the amount of blood our Lord lost on that day. And yet, this is enough? Who determined that this was the amount in order to fully remember the sacrifice of Christ? Or, is this amount just enough? Not too much. Not too little. Is this small amount getting us by until we partake again? I generally get the idea from Scripture that whenever we brake bread, or drink, we are to remember the sacrifice of Christ. Communion is a shared cup and a shared loaf, torn not just once a month, but whenever we sit and drink of fellowship with otehr Christians. maybe we need to flee from the idea of just enough and run in the direction of more. Not be satisfied at all in how we remember Christ; how he lavished His love upon us. More Christ, more of the Father, more of Him. Leave the small insuffiient plastic cup and cling to the bottle of Christ's redemption. See how you live, drive, eat, sleep, and be around others drunk on Christ. 10:00 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

October 30, 2006 - Monday Salt-n-Peppa have passed on to the big wheel in the sky Last night, they were happy, young gerbils without a care in the world. Today, they line my garbage bag. Yes, it is sad but true, Salt and Peppa have passed on to the big wheel in the sky. Their wheel and ball antics will be sorely missed by us all. Claire will remember you as her gerbil friends. Aslan will remember you as the meal he was denied. Lily, well, Lily has never really met you, nor had the chance to get to know you as well as we did. But if she had, she would mourn your loss with sackloth and nashing of teeth as is the customary funeral rites for gerbils. But alas, no pyre for you, my dear rodents. Too big for the toilet, too small for a plot, your destiny lies elsewhere. Please remember us as you move on to wherever the Father has seen for you. Your late night cacophony will be missed. Currently listening : Mozart: Requiem / McNair, Watkinson, Araiza, Lloyd; Marriner By Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Release date: 05 April, 1991 11:52 AM - 4 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

October 29, 2006 - Sunday Lamenting "Rise during the night and cry out. Pour out your hearts like water to the Lord. Lift up your hands to Him in prayer. Plead for your children as they faint with hunger in the streets." Lam. 2:19 I love to read Lamentations. Not because I'm a dour kinda guy. It just reminds me of what an attitude of a contrite heart should look like. What does forgiveness cost me? My pride laid out, my heart turned to water, and my hands up in surrender. Is there a ratio of praise to prayer that should be followed? If we are to be in prayer all the time, what attitude should my life reflect: one of a constant mood of thanksgiving within a humble heart, or one of exhuberence and joy in thanks? 8:45 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

copy/paste 9.15.06 - 10.26.06

October 26, 2006 - Thursday I did not steal from Vanilla Ice I learned today that if you don;t make the holes big enough in the top crust of your apple pie it will rise like a soufflee. Under pressure from all the good boiling will just make your apples expand. Sure I could go on and make the analogy of how we need to find holes in our day to day lives so we do not expand from all the pressure, but I'm not gonna do it. I think you all are smart enough to figure it out on your own. 11:30 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

October 24, 2006 - Tuesday Courage "Courage," said Slikisteinsauga, "you are seein the land as it really is." After having surveyed the land, I wonder how easy it was to bring a bad report. How easy was it to disregard all that they had seen before, and not listen to the voice in their heads saying: "It's gonna be ok". Maybe its easier to go against God in numbers. I know better than that. I don't need anyone else to be around me to totally forget God is there. Do not be afraid. 11:45 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

October 19, 2006 - Thursday Dear Jesus, make me a bird... Dear Father, You are in Heaven, and I am not. Please do not allow me to act in anger. I've had some better days. 11:42 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

October 16, 2006 - Monday my baby Lily and Mum are coming home today, and all things are going well. Well, except maybe Claire. We had wondered what Claire would be like with the baby. Though she shows strength in many things, her main problem is keeping her strength in check. Not the gentlest young lady I've ever known. And then, there is the possessive issue... she's been the only one for a bit, so how would she share? Well, we're teaching her to be gentle. But thats not the hard part. The hardest bit would be teaching her to share "her" baby. She wants to hold her, but doesn't want anyone else to hold her. She wants to feed her, and wnats to be the only one to do so. "Lily! My baby!" the cries are heard troughout the hospital room. But maybe this will only occur on the 9th floor of Harrisburg Hospital. Maybe we'll bring her home and things will kinda wind down to where they have been... Or maybe they'll be completely different. 7:59 AM - 5 Comments - 6 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

October 14, 2006 - Saturday The world is a lot Fuller today It's a girl! Lillian Eileen Ashlyn Fuller was born this morning at 4:49 am. She wieghs 8lbs, 9oz, and is 19 inches long. She is beautiful, just like her mum! ..http://picasaweb.google.com/whfuller/MyPictures/photo#4985769045988999186">.. src="http://lh6.google.com/whfuller/RTECiBZQABI/AAAAAAAAABI/YB1XIZJJ_5Y/s288/random%20188.jpg">> <>style="font-family:arial,sans-serif; font-size ..http://picasaweb.google.com/whfuller/MyPictures/photo#4985768584308981778">.. src="http://lh4.google.com/whfuller/RTECHJgKABI/AAAAAAAAAA4/IzHS_YkX2jE/s288/random%20189.jpg">> 11:55 AM - 1 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

October 11, 2006 - Wednesday a baby update as of right now, we will have two more babies before the current one decides to show it's head... Apparently, she has wrapped her ankles aroumd my wife's ribcage. But otherwise, things are good. Here's a questions for you all... if you could have a theme song, what woudl it be? Do you have songs that you hear in your head for certain days or moods? Or, when you run, if you wanted to run, what would be the song everyone heard as they saw you go down the street? 4:08 PM - 2 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

October 4, 2006 - Wednesday soon... So, in any moment, any day, I could possibly be a father again. My wife is like a bomb that could propel life at any moment. She's not due until next friday (13th.. oooooo), but we both are pretty anxious and ready. And much like I did with Claire, I wonder how God is knitting in there. Did He use golden thread or brown for her hair? From what part of the spectrum isHe painting her eyes? What words of comfort are being whispered into her ears even now? 7:50 AM - 1 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

October 3, 2006 - Tuesday a direct quote Here is a direct quote form my TSS training yesterday: "Mental health patients are not stable." I don;t think it was meant in any derrogatory way. But its still funny. Of course, I wrote it down rigth away and would chuckle to myself at different periods throughout the day. That and the image of my daughter dancing to Sexy Back in her car seat. Priceless. 8:15 AM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

September 26, 2006 - Tuesday the evolving love "Poetry replaces grammar, gospel replaces law, longing transforms obedience, as gradually as the tide lifts a grounded ship." ~ Lewis The Weight of Glory As I re-read Lewis, I find myself buoyed against the stuff that tries to bring me down. The written can not be dead, seeing how ti gives me life. Daily I am refreshed as I read His Word. Encouragement and love are pured into me, a broken vessel, so that I may be healed and shown how to love and encourage others. If I did anything to just allow myself to be encouraged and felt loved, then I would indeed be a clanging cymbal. 9:27 AM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

September 25, 2006 - Monday Today was boring I started my classes for Guest Teacher today. Fun fun fun. This what I saw: 1) A woman too polite to raise her hand when she had a question. 2) A man doing needlepoint as we talked about kids who couldn't stay on task. 3) 5 questions unrelated to the topic at hand while the instructor tells us that most kids sufferring from emotional problems will usually try to distract the teacher from the lesson. 4) The man has now put down his needlepoint and is doing crosswords. Yeah, and theres more tomorrow. It's better than TV. 7:21 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

September 24, 2006 - Sunday whilst watching tv I was up late on friday night and caught a bit of the interview with the two guys who created South park. They were talking about all the troubles they've had, and most are not from Christians. Trey Parker said something kinda amazing though, and struck right between the ears. They were telling how in one episode last season they had an image of Muhammed, the prophet and founder of Islam, and they got a lot of heat for it. So much so, they were told by executives at Comedy Central that they were not allowed to do it again. Trey Parker then went on to say how we truly do not live in a religiously tolerant society. He said things are kind of on their heads. They can do whatever they want to Jesus, and they have (he carries guns, gets into punching matches and even poops on pictures of presidents), but they can not even show the face of Muhammed. He then notes that a truly religous tolerant society is not afraid of ramifications by pointing out the faults of other faiths. A truly tolerant society is not afraid of stepping on toes, but has to really be ready to defend itself and be in converstaion with other faiths. This reminded me of a class I took at HACC that was called Comparative Religion. It really was "Bash Christians". Christianity was portrayed by the teacher and the books we read as an intolerant religion were members were exclusive to their own society set. It's unfortuante to think that there are some who see Christians as such. Instead, they see Hinduism, Islam, Buddhism and the rest as highly tolerant, a faith where everyone gets to heaven. But this is not true. Religions are inherently intolerant of others. If they weren't, why would there be so many? Like a salesman's pitch, one has to be able to guarnatee something or there is no reason to be believe in anything. And what about Christianity? What makes it so different? I think along the lines of a famous Lewis quote that it is Love that seperates true Christianity from the otehr world religions. And I think that the co-creators have something right, when they see us, the world as being intolerant to each other's faiths. Perhaps, this is why are given patience. Not so we can wait for others to change, but so we can wait with them as they weigh the evidence of their own faith. 4:17 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

September 22, 2006 - Friday apples Picasso had his blue period. Van Gogh had sunflowers. Sargent had a myriad of portraits. I apparently have apples... From My Pictures From My Pictures From My Pictures 8:23 AM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

September 20, 2006 - Wednesday Isaiah "Only in returning to me and waiting for me will you be saved. In quietness and confidence is your strength." Isaiah 30:15 Does my longing for approval of others get in the way of my pleasing God? -Of course. How can it not? Quietness and confidence. Waiting actrively and seeking Him. Save me from my jealousies, and from my own ill-planning. Help me to find rest in You and to be confident in the truth you bring. Help me to stop talking just to fill the quiet void. Help me not to see it as void. 6:30 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

September 19, 2006 - Tuesday possession... "O God, you are my God, I earnestly search for you. My soul thirsts for you, my whole body longs for you In this parched and weary land where there is no water." Psalm 63:1 My plea for my God is not a cry of possession. It is more than a three year old's tantrum over some toy taken, a not willing to share. It is the cry of obsession, of longing. How I long to be where, in that place where I first heard You call my name. I can never get enough of You. All of life reminds me of Your presence, and I chase You, only to feelt he wind racing through my fingers. Who can hold You? Who can lay their ownership on You? You have set me free, yet I am a slave for You. The leaves are falling now and I wish I could shed my skin so I could stand in Your presence. "Here I am, send me!" One day I will see You, and my longings for You and for my "Turkish Delights" will be satisfied. I will no longer stray. But, I do not want to stray now. I want the peace that satisfies, and the satisfaction that brings peace. 8:00 AM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

September 15, 2006 - Friday Not accidental, really " He died for our sins, just as God our Father planned, in order to rescue us from this evil world in which we live. That is why all glory belongs to God through all the ages of eternity. Amen. ... But then something happened! For it pleased God in his kindness to choose me and call me, even before I was born! What undeserved mercy!" Galatians 1:4-5&15 I am never more astounded by God's grace and mercy, His infinite love for us, saint and sinner alike, as when I've remembered it. Its as if the light is turned on again and I can really see with all clarity all the wonder and marvelousness of my Father. It's as if Ive awoken, roused from my slumber, to see a new sun. Though I've seen it the day before, the night has been long and dark. And all I can do is stare.