Saturday, December 24, 2005

Merry Christmas in Song

I love Christmas and I love the music of the Season. Here are just some of my favorites, from traditional to contemporary. What have I missed?

O, Holy Night
The Most Wonderful Time of the Year
Joy to the World (Avalon)
Not that Far From Bethlehem (Point of Grace)
Angels We Have Heard on High
Welcome to Our World (Amy Grant)
We Are the Reason (Avalon)
All I Want for Christmas is You
Silent Night
He'll Be Comin' Down the Chimney Down
Mary's Song

Merry Christmas

Thursday, December 15, 2005

Adoption Story

I met Jamie back in high school. She attended church with a really good friend of mine, Dean. During our high school/college years I would see her at their youth/singles events from time to time. Many years have passed since I have spoken to her. When Holly and I told Dean that we were going to be adopting from China, he asked if I remembered Jamie from his church back home. He went on to tell me that she and her husband, Brian, were also adopting from China. So an email/blogging relationship started. Brian and Jamie are in China as I write this. They picked up their daughter on Sunday. Please visit Brian and Jamie's blog to read about their incredible experiences. They have posted lots of photos which are great. All of this has really inspired Holly and me, and has made us so eager for the process to continue on for us.

Keep us in your prayers.

Sunday, December 11, 2005

Seven Things

Bruce tagged me, so now I get to list seven things on seven things, if that makes sense. Here goes.

1. Seven things to do before I die:

Have lots of fun with my wife
Enjoy my children while they are children
Enjoy the friendship of my children when they are grown
Spoil my grandchildren
Give away a lot of money
Have a second home in the mountains
Travel the world

2. Seven things I cannot (or will not) do:

Loose my salvation
Be separated from the love of Christ
Work on cars
Cheat on my income tax
Play the bagpipes
Read The Da Vinci Code
Live in Massachusetts

3. Seven things that attract me to my spouse (or significant other/best friend, etc.):

Her faith
Her spirit
Her compassion
Her beauty
Her commitment to me
Her intellect
Her desire for me

4. Seven things I say most often:

"oh, man!"
"come on!"
"move it, lady!" or "move it, dude!"
"idiot!"
"good night!"
"what's goin' on?"
"take care, man"

5. Seven books (or series) I love:

Wild at Heart
More Jesus Less Religion
Raising Cole
The Silence of the Lambs
I Love You Forever
What's So Amazing About Grace?
The Way I Was Made

6. Seven movies I watch over and over again (or would if I had the time):

Silence of the Lambs
City Slickers
My Big Fat Greek Wedding
School of Rock
Shawshank Redemption
Gladiator
Evita


7. Seven people I want to join in, too:

Craig
Brain and Jamie
Layla
Fred
Lucy
Kelley
Cindy

Tuesday, December 06, 2005

Tribute to a Fallen Officer




Fort Worth Police Officer Hank Nava died after a gunshot wound to the head. He was doing his job, serving a warrant. He left behond a young wife and two small children. The Fort Worth Star-Telegram paid a great tribute to Officer Nava. Please click here to view the slideshow.

Peace

Friday, December 02, 2005

Tagged!

Danny Sims tagged me with the following instructions:

1. Delve into your blog archive.
2. Find your 23rd post (or closest to).
3. Find the fifth sentence (or closest to).
4. Post the text of the sentence in your blog along with these instructions. Ponder it for meaning, subtext or hidden agendas…
5. Tag five people to do the same.

I only had 21 posts, so I am taking the fifth sentence from the 21st post. Here it is:

"That was a MO-tel."

Let's see, "ponder it for meaning, subtext, or hidden agendas..." Notice the emphasis on "MO" in MO-tel. It clearly indicates, and indeed communicates, that the person speaking has a feeling of superiority, and that a motel is inferior to a hotel. A motel is clearly less than acceptable from reading this sentence. The author of this sentence has high standards and is not uncomfortable making known his dissatisfaction with subpar accommodations. The person speaking here is likely to have high expectations of self and others, and will not settle for mediocrity. Taken in context, the speaker communicates with specificity and clarity. He knows there has been a mistake, and he does not mind pointing it out. All this being said, the speaker will likely be a person who knows what he wants and is not going to be afraid to ask for it. He will give very specific instructions and will depend on those under his authority to follow through.

Let's see who was the speaker? Oh, yeah, my 9 year old son, Braden.

Thanks for the fun, Danny!

Be good.