The Winter Family

New Blog for Scott

2010-02-08T14:16:00.003-06:00

In case you hadn't noticed, we haven't updated this blog in a LONG time. We first created it to let family and friends know what we were up to. Well, Facebook has taken over that role, so we haven't needed this blog for that.

Occasionally, I would use this platform to rant about something. Melinda didn't like me using our "family" blog for that. Since then, I have created my own personal blog found simply at scottdwinter.com. You can find my random observations there.

Well keep this blog up for posterity, as long as Google allows us to. Otherwise, find us on Facebook to see what's new!

Happy Birthday Anna!

2008-08-30T16:42:00.009-05:00

Here's a "snapshot" of Anna's birthday celebration. Thank you to our wonderful family and friends for all the birthday wishes and "Disney dollars". I love doing themed parties and Anna loves so many "themes", I made a run to Party City and turned our patio into "Anna heaven". The party room was very pink and sparkly and guest included Barbie, Hello Kitty, Disney princesses and anything else I could find that was fun.

Anna brought all "her friends" to the party and that included a Strawberry shortcake doll and many bears. She loves to pretend play and her teachers at school constantly remark at what a great imagination she has when playing. The party was great and it was fun to watch her open her cards and gifts from all of you. Anna sends great big hugs to everyone for making this day special. We love you all and since we all couldn't be together, please enjoy a few moments and pictures from her special day!

Diary of a Church Hopper - Chapter Two

2008-07-27T00:22:00.004-05:00

Well, it's been a while since we've written. We have been so busy! We have traveled as a family, I have traveled for work, Melinda worked some over the summer, and with our kids on this crazy school schedule, they have actually been in school for over a week! This summer has been full of blessing, adventure, and joy. I can honestly say that it has been a GREAT few months!

Last we wrote, we were looking for a new church. While we haven't found "the one", we have been blessed to see several different types of churches and hear some exceptional teaching. I'll take just a few lines to describe a couple...

As we alluded to before, worship is a big sticking point for us when it comes to church. We aren't die hard classicists in that we have to have a magic formula of choir, piano, and organ, but we do like a good balance. We have never been fond of the "rock 'n roll" scene on Sunday morning that dominates so many churches these days. For example, we went to one church that had great music from a quality standpoint, but their worship experience left a lot to be desired. We just don't like going into a dark auditorium with multi-colored lights on the stage where the focus is on a single person and participation seems optional. In other words, you feel you are at a concert to be entertained not to worship collectively. The contrast was the teaching at this church was amazing. Still we couldn't reconcile the two.

We went to another church where they decided to eliminate the discussion altogether and didn't have any accompaniment with their worship - just voices. While I like a good a ccapella song now and again, that was on the other side of the extreme for us.

Then we attended another church where we had one of the best worship experiences we've had in a long time. It was refreshing to hear something so contemporary in style, but conservative in execution. We definitely want to go back there, but we have at least one more church on the list to visit.

The great thing through this adventure is that we are being fed every time we go. All of the messages we have heard have been solid and appropriate. It has been proof that God's Word is living and powerful. We love sitting under good teaching and learning how to live a more faithful life for our Savior.

I would like to clarify one thing - the title of these posts. I used the term "church hopper" as a semi-indictment to the process we are going through. I do not advocate church-hopping, and firmly believe that we need to establish ourselves in a local body so that we can minister and be ministered to. Our desire is to find a grace-based, God-centric group of believers that have the desire to accept us for who we are (flaws and all), and very importantly have the ability to care for Anna so that we are free to experience church in a way we haven't been able to for a long while.

I will let Melinda write more on some of the other things that have happened this summer. We are at a great time in our lives and we love being together as a family and seeing what is around the corner as a family. As we enter into another season of school and work after our summer break we have so much to be thankful for and can't wait to share more here!

Diary of a Church Hopper - Chapter One

2008-06-18T14:38:00.005-05:00

I am convinced more and more that when we get to heaven we are all going to be surprised at how wrong we were/are about this thing called "church". With so many different interpretations how could we not have messed it up? It's frustrating and, frankly, distracting.

Recently we made the very tough decision to leave the church we were members of for almost 5 years. There wasn't one thing that happened to make us do it, but years of various preferences, issues, and differing philosophies added up, and the timing was right, so we cut the cord. Enough said about that.

So, here we are looking for a new church. One of the things that we challenged ourselves on was to question everything. We didn't want to assume that anything was right simply because we had always been taught that. Anything that comes up that is different, we want to carefully examine before passing judgment.

We visited our first post-exit church this past Sunday. It was different. That didn't make anything wrong, but it was different than what we had experienced for the last 5 years. The music was louder, the people were more animated, and it was a whole lot bigger. We were quickly faced with the very thing we were trying to avoid - automatically judging because our of preconceived notions of how church is "supposed" to be done.

We had done some research online and the one thing that we wrestling with was that this church does infant baptism. They were very quick to point out that the act of baptizing the infant doesn't mean that the child is saved. They would still be responsible later on to come to faith and trust Jesus on their own, through the teaching and influence of their parents and their church family. However, they didn't advocate another public baptism after the profession of faith - something completely contrary to what we have always been taught. We had to make a choice - would we hide behind our current beliefs, or would we open up and explore that their might be other interpretations of Scripture that weren't necessarily wrong?

For the most part, we enjoyed the service although it was harder to open our minds than we thought it would be. We aren't sure if we will go back, but I will tell you this - it has nothing to do with the infant baptism. As long as they aren't misleading the parents into thinking that the act of baptism saves the child, I can't really argue with the reasons why they do it. Just like I can't argue with the fact that they have drums in their worship music. It is one interpretation among many that does nothing to dilute the message that Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life and that no one comes to the Father except through Him. That is the one undeniable fact that bonds all believers together, and that is what church is - not a building, not a constitution, and certainly not a person, but the corporate group of people called by God into a relationship with their Savior.

I look forward to writing more as we make this journey. I have no idea how long it will take, but we already have several churches lined up that we plan to visit over the coming months.

Be a Part of History

2008-06-08T21:24:00.002-05:00

Firefox is an alternative browser to Internet Explorer. The latest updates you see in IE7 are direct results of trying to compete with features that have been in Firefox. Even still, Firefox is faster, more secure, and overall easier to customize (if you are into that). I've used Firefox for years now and would never go back to IE.

If you want to have some fun, and help Mozilla (Firefox's creator) to break a world record, click on the badge to the left. They are trying to break the software download record in a 24-hour period when they release Firefox 3.0.

In the meantime, you can download Firefox 2 from the link above, or if you are a little more adventurous, you can preview Firefox 3 here.

Forget Flying Cars, I Want This!!!

2008-05-29T16:35:00.002-05:00

This is one of the most amazing things I have ever seen. I just had to share. Watch this video and be blown away. This is Star Trek here today...

We Did It!!!!

2008-04-27T07:52:00.005-05:00

We were way too tired last night to create a slide show, but here is a quick pic to prove we actually did it!

We will have the full story, and more pictures, up soon!

Here We Go!

2008-04-26T04:11:00.001-05:00

Sorry for the late notice, but we wanted to let you know that you can follow us throughout the race at the Country Music Marathon website. Just click on the Live Results section, enter in our names and it will update you as we pass certain mile markers.

We woke up to rain and thunder this morning, but we are hoping it passes soon. We are bringing our camera and as long as it stops raining, we hope to have pictures up this afternoon!

Pre-race Jitters

2008-04-21T10:16:00.003-05:00

The half marathon is 6 days away. We got our Thomas Nelson team shirts, got some good shoes, have a sitter all lined up, and we will pick up our numbers and timing chips Thursday night. We are excited and little nervous. We are excited about being there and having the experience, but nervous at the 13.1 miles and the fact that we never did our long walk (10 miles). Based on our training history, we think we will be just fine, but it will definitely challenge us (which, I guess, is the point). The goal this week is to do some moderate walking every day to stay loose and do a LOT of stretching!

Here is a link to all the course information, in case you are curious. Supposedly, the day of the race, you will be able to track our progress online and see where we are at certain mileage markers. Since we are walking those stats won't update quickly, but it may be fun to check in on us! I don't have all the info on how that works yet, but I'll add another post as soon as I get it. We have to be downtown around 5 am, and based on our starting position, probably won't even start until around 8 am. Assuming we finish in four hours, we will be done around noon. We plan to hang out at the Thomas Nelson tent for a little while and then go home - hopefully with completion medals in hand! If anyone around Nashville would like to cheer us on in person, there is information about all the places you can do that here. We would love to see you!

Pray for us this week, and on Saturday. Pray that we have energy to sustain us through the course, that we would finish injury free, that we will be able to move on Sunday(!), and most importantly that we would have a whole lot of fun!

Social Networking Parts II and III

2008-04-16T10:26:00.004-05:00

Part II - I took my social networking experiment a step further. I added an application on Facebook called Ustream.tv. It allows you to stream your webcam to the world so anyone can see you any time that you are broadcasting (yes, you control it). Now anyone can click on the little Facebook application and, if I'm on, can see me and what I am doing. Most of it will involve sitting and staring (I do a LOT on the computer - email, research about ministries, etc.) so it won't be that exciting, but I am curious as to the response I'll get. I did choose to keep the sound off. I'm not ready for the world to hear everything just yet!.

Part III - I had a meeting in Memphis yesterday at a well-known ministry to kick off a project we are working on together. I met a lady there who opened with "How are Melinda and the kids?". I stood there a little taken aback (at first I thought she was talking to someone else and it was a major coincidence) while I scrambled to search the file folders of my brain to see if I knew her (I did grow up in Memphis). Before I could say anything, she told me that she knew I went to Memphis State around the same time she did, and mentioned a previous Memphis-based employer I had worked for. Now I was really starting to panic, thinking how did I know this woman?! I think she saw the confused look in my eyes, because she put me out of my misery and told me she had found my LinkedIn (a business networking site. There's a link to my profile to the left) profile and had read this blog. After having a good laugh about the whole thing, I thought about my previous post.

There is a LOT of information about me, out there for anyone to see. Could that ever be used against me? I try to keep things above reproach, so I'm not concerned morally, but it's a little disconcerting to have perfect strangers know all this info about me and use it causally in a conversation at our first meeting! Now, the lady I met was extremely sweet and I would never question someone like her having the information she had. But what about not so well-intentioned folk?

Again, I don't have the answers, and I'm not ready to remove my digital footprint from the web, but maybe I can end with this challenge - have you ever Googled yourself? You should try it and see what information comes up about you! If nothing comes up, and you want to keep it that way - great! If nothing comes up and you are a little disappointed, maybe it's time to venture out into cyberspace a little further. Start a blog or get on Facebook. The internet is here to stay, and you can either hide from it, or jump in with both feet. Just remember to have fun, and always look for the good in people and not assume the worst about their intentions.

What a week...

2008-04-12T20:22:00.001-05:00

This week was sales conference week at Thomas Nelson. We have sales conference every quarter, and it is always long. We listen to hours of presentations about hundreds of upcoming titles. It can be tedious and, frankly, boring at times. The publishers do their best to make it as interesting as possible, but it gets difficult. Sometimes they will try and bring the authors themselves in to talk about their books. That can be very "hit and miss", but this week was nothing short of a home run.

This week, I had the privilege of listening to some amazing people. On Monday we heard from Mike Flynt. You may remember Mike from making headlines last year as being the oldest player ever to play college football. At 59 years of age, he went back and played the final year of football that he missed because he was kicked out of school. Because of his age, and the fact that he was going back to play his last year, his book is called The Senior. It is an incredible story of overcoming obstacles, never giving up on your dreams, never letting anyone tell you that you can't do something, and, in a lot of ways, a story of redemption. Look for this inspirational story to hit bookshelves this fall.

On Tuesday Marcus Buckingham spoke. Marcus is best known for writing the book Now Discover Your Strengths. This book has helped countless people put into words what they have known all along - I am really good in this area, I just don't know how to express it. Once your strengths are known, you can then work from those strengths rather than buying into the misconception that the only way to succeed is to focus on improving your weaknesses. Marcus' new book is called The Truth About You and will be just as revolutionary. Simply, it's about finding out what you really like to do, not just what you are good at, and excelling in that area. For example, at work you may be given a task to do over and over again because you happen to be good at that task. However, for you that task is a horrible, draining experience. You can't stand to do it, although you are good at it. According to Marcus that is a weakness, not a strength. Anything that makes you feel horrible is a weakness. He will help readers identify the things they love, and show them how to work in that sweet spot. For more on this, check out Oprah Winfrey's show on Friday April 18th. Marcus will be on the show with the results of five months of coaching several women in this concept. Should be interesting!

Wednesday I had the chance to listen to someone that for most needs no introduction - Dr. John MacArthur. John has a new book out called A Tale Of Two Sons, and is basically a commentary on the parable of the prodigal son found in Luke 15:11-32. Dr. MacArthur challenges the way we think about this oft-told parable. He examines the original language closely and based on the evidence found in the text feels this parable isn't all that it seems to be, and the way it is usually taught isn't quite right. It's a fascinating take, and I can't wait to read it. This book is out now.

At the end of sales conference, Thomas Nelson did something unique and hosted an Open House for Christian retailers. They brought retailers to Nashville and held special events, concerts, and seminars - all to help them with their business. Like many other things Thomas Nelson is trying to do right now, this event wasn't Thomas Nelson-centric. It was all about the retailers and all about encouraging them and helping them re-think their business in an ever-increasing hostile economy.

I wish I could have attended the seminars on Friday, but Melinda and I did get to go to the kick-off event on Thursday night where we got to worship with people like Travis Cottrell, Jaci Velasquez, and Sandi Patty among others. The highlight of the evening was listening to Max Lucado speak on 3:16, his latest book. I've read the book, and heard Max speak on this before, but it is always a thrill to hear someone as eloquent as Max tell me how much God loves me, and the lengths He went to to save me from hell. I must admit, though, that one of the best parts of the night was the date I had with Melinda - sans kids! The night was inspirational, and an excellent way to cap off the week.

Once again, I am floored that I can describe all of the above to you and it be a work week! I love where God has placed me, and I love the career I have with Thomas Nelson. I just passed five years of "official" employment with them. I've actually worked there, freelance and employment, for almost six years. I count each day I have with them a blessing.

How Much Social Networking Is Too Much?

2008-04-08T08:34:00.005-05:00

Social networking is all the rage, and I must admit that I got into MySpace for a little while. I burned out pretty quick, though. Too many advertisers (to describe most of them as "inappropriate" would be a grand understatement), too loose moderation, and the fact that it was really hard to update it left me feeling like it was more work to keep up than it was worth.

Then I got onto Facebook and social networking became fun again. I know you still have to be careful in cyberspace, but Facebook does an excellent job at keeping most of the bad stuff hidden. The applications are fun and, for the most part, easy to use, and the pages are clean and inviting. It's been great to find and keep up with people you haven't seen in a while, at same time getting a glimpse into the daily life of the people you talk to almost every day. Melinda and I both have Facebook pages and have a ball with it. We haven't let Jessica get on it yet, but she is still learning about cyberspace and we don't want to throw her in too soon.

So where is the line?

I just started using a service called Twitter. I had seen it around, but had a few minutes and decided to check it out. Twitter allows you to let your friends (and the whole world) know what you are doing at any given moment. You can update Twitter on the web, via instant message, or through a text message from your phone. You can Twitter as much or as little as you like. If want to let everyone know your every last move, send it to Twitter. Update it a couple times a day and let people know what a typical day looks like for you. Random thoughts, activities, schedule, Twitter is your stage and the world is watching your every move. They even have a public timeline that will show you everybody's Twitter updates all in a row. You can follow the lives of people you know, don't know, and may not want to know.

I took it one step further and connected Twitter to my Facebook page and now every time I update Twitter, it updates my status on Facebook. It will probably get really old for me (and for my Facebook friends), but I at least wanted to experiment with it. I want to see how ridiculous it can really get. For example, I just updated Twitter (and therefore Facebook) with an entry that I was writing this blog post. And that brings me to my point...

How much is too much? First, does anyone really care what I am doing at any given moment of the day? If so, what do people care about? Do they want to know activities, thoughts, actions, or all of it? Or none of it? How often? How detailed? Do they want to know who I called, or just that I am making a call? Where does it end?

And then there's the work factor. Much has been written recently about social networking and its impact on productivity. For example, I am writing this blog entry at work. Since I updated Twitter and Facebook with the entry that that is what I am doing, could that be used against me to say I'm not "doing my job"? There has been a lot of press lately too about potential job seekers being denied jobs because of what they have on their MySpace or Facebook pages. Should that be considered "private" although it's out there on the web for all to see? You heard it here first, expect a lawsuit over that issue soon. Don't believe me? Remember the Duke lacrosse players, and the swift judgement America made on them because of pictures of them partying on their MySpace profiles?

Of course, the absolute best policy is 1 Thessalonians 5:22 where we are exhorted to not even give the appearance of evil. However, most people have different standards of what evil is, and therefore I could take just about any picture or statement from some of my most conservative Facebook friends out of context and make them out to be a villain. Should that be used against them, or change your opinion of who they are?

I certainly don't have answers, and I do enjoy social networking, especially as a way to keep up with long lost, and/or far away friends, but the book isn't closed on social networking and it's effect on the world. New technology will continue to emerge, and people will continue to expose their lives for all to see. Some will be responsible and others won't. In the meantime, like an ice cold Coke, know that while water is the better alternative, no one will judge you for enjoying the Coke unless you chug the whole 2 liter down in front of everyone...

3 Weeks Until Race Day!

2008-04-02T08:58:00.003-05:00

Yesterday, Melinda and I received all of our race info (starting position, number, etc.) for the Half Marathon. It was timely because we had gone to the Y Monday night and we both walked and neither of us felt like we were behind at all after our relapse. That made us feel pretty good, and we are more and more excited about the big day!

We are both still able to maintain 15 minute miles or better, so we have all confidence that we will finish in under four hours. The other participants at Thomas Nelson are all abuzz and everyone is comparing workouts, times, and overall progress. It has been a lot of fun preparing with a group. I'm not sure it would be as fulfilling going at it alone.

Of course the best part is how we look and feel! I forgot to weigh myself at the Y Monday, but I have had several people comment that I look like I've lost weight. And we both feel so much better! I'm sure a lot of that is healthier eating, but the exercise alone has been great. Here's hoping we have developed some good habits that will carry us past race day.

We'll keep you posted as we round the training corner and, of course, will have the full story and pictures of the big day on the 26th!

Oops...

2008-03-18T08:25:00.003-05:00

Between Christmas and New Year's, we went to Gatlinburg (really Pigeon Forge) and spent a few days in a cabin with Melinda's family. We had a fun time playing, hanging out, and doing Christmas. Here is where the oops comes in - I created a PhotoShow of our time there and forgot all about it! I saw where I did it and thought I'd go ahead and post it even though it's almost four months late! Enjoy...

Five Outside!

2008-03-17T13:18:00.002-05:00

After not walking for a couple of weeks, we finally made it out yesterday. It was a sunny day, although slightly chilly, but we decided to head to the park and walk there while the girls played. A half-mile in, Melinda started having a lot of trouble with her asthma and had to stop, but she graciously let me continue. Melinda ended up doing a couple of miles, but I had my longest walk so far at 5 miles. I was supposed to be up to 8 yesterday, but didn't want to push it after being off for so long. Here are my splits:

15:04.234
14:43.640
14:55.603
15:00.804
14:54.913

The best part? I felt GREAT! I think I experienced a "runner's high". I was a little winded until about mile 3.5. After that, I just kind of zoned out and didn't even realize I was walking. I looked at the frisbee players, the trees, the path, and listened to the iPod. I felt good, and the next couple of miles went by fast. The one drawback was that mile 4 was my slowest time, a by-product of the "zoning" I'm sure, but I picked it up in the end.

I am very pleased with my time, and the five miles. I am more excited now than I have been in a while about my ability to finish and finish well.

Thomas Nelson Marathon Kick Off

2008-03-14T08:19:00.005-05:00

We had the official Marathon kick-off meeting at Thomas Nelson yesterday. As you can see from Mike Hyatt's blog, the company reached its goal of have 25% of the work force participating in either the Dallas or Nashville races. It was a great meeting with a lot of great information for first-timers like me. I learned more about rashes, chafing, and other potential problems than I care to admit! Melinda and I both are still WAY behind on our training. When I last posted we hadn't walked in a week or so, and then the whole family (except Anna) got sick, then I was busy at the NRB convention. So, here it is Friday and we still haven't walked! I was supposed to have walked 7 miles this past Sunday, but I have only done 3.5. We plan to get back on track this weekend and hit it hard over the next month. I am still confident that we can fisnish, since our goal it still to "just finish" and not push ourselves too hard the day of the race.

All in all, we are excited about the actual race. We still need to work out someone to watch the girls for us, and hopefully bring them down to the finish line (we would love to see them at the end!). We also still need to get shoes and socks. Otherwise, we can't wait to complete this monumental undertaking and feel the sense of accomplishment that comes with finishing!

March Snow

2008-03-08T10:35:00.003-06:00

The weatherman was right! We watched as the snow started to fall on Friday night and woke up to 4" inches of snow. It was still snowing as we attempted to build a snowman. Hmmm. . . building a snowman was not quite as easy as I remember as a kid but with Scott and Jessica's help, we got the job done! Anna even ventured out into the cold and was excited to build her first snowman too.

It's S'winter!

2008-02-28T08:08:00.003-06:00

I had a boss at Thomas Nelson that once observed that all of the Thomas Nelson emails were first initial, last name, and that some of them made for cool names. Mine, for instance, was "Swinter" (said all at once). He talked about it all the time, even joking at our quarterly sales conferences and the nickname stuck. There was a woman who worked at Nelson whose name is Pam Stein (pronounced "stane"). So, her email was pstein. Think about it for a sec and you will get it. Anyway...

A co-worker familiar with the joke just sent me this YouTube video and I had to share it. Who would have thought that out of a little office joke I would end up with my own theme song! Enjoy!

How NOT to Train for a Half Marathon

2008-02-25T10:01:00.002-06:00

Ok, I totally slacked off last week and only walked once. What's worse is the one time I did walk I really didn't want to, but when I started I felt really good so I kicked it up a notch (BAM!) and felt horrible at the end of the 3+ miles that I half jogged/half walked. I was out of town Thursday-Saturday and even brought workout clothes, but didn't make it to the treadmill at the hotel. What has surprised me the most is how much my legs have stiffened up and hurt so bad! You could play the bongos on my hamstrings right now.

Melinda and I are planning on hitting the Y tonight. I'm supposed to do six miles, but I'm not sure if I should. I'll see how it goes, but if I do six I will do it flat (no incline) and just maintain the 4 mph pace rather than trying to jog any of it. Hopefully this will get my legs stretched out without hurting anything.

The lesson I learned? Wow this is really hard. I still know that I can finish the Half, but the reality of the difficulty is setting in. Rather than discouraging me though, it has steeled my resolve. I am looking forward to the challenge of getting back into training and the challenge of the actual race. This little set-back will only make finishing that much sweeter!

Longest Walk Yet

2008-02-09T19:12:00.000-06:00

We walked three miles today. It was a beautiful, sunny, dark blue sky out with mild temps, so we decided to head to the park. Jessica and Anna played on the playground while Melinda and I walked the track. It was great! As we completed the first mile, I remembered that the iPod had a stopwatch feature, so I switched it on. I'm pretty sure our first mile was around fourteen minutes (based on my watch), and the next two miles went like this:

Mile 2 - 14:18.192
Mile 3 - 14:18.143

So, our pace is pretty consistent, and right where we need it to be to finish the half in under four hours. I could have gone one more mile at least, but Melinda was a little winded. I told her that this shows we can do it! We went three today, and all we have to do is do the same thing for ten more miles!

Training Update

2008-02-06T09:07:00.000-06:00

Training has started slow, but we are encourged. We have both been able to maintain a 15 minute/mile pace for the duration of 30 minute sessions, which is well ahead of the four hour time limit to complete the 1/2 marathon. As we continue our training the walks will get longer, so we'll see if we can keep up the pace! Otherwise it has been great! We have walked outside, but the last couple of times have gone to the Y to use the treadmill. It's nice to have all your stats in front of you on the treadmill. Another bonus is the humidity indoors so you sweat more. I love a good sweat! I also like being around other people. There just seems to be an energy in there with everyone else on treadmills, bikes, ellipticals, etc.

We are still taking it easy to start off with. Since we feel better than we thought we would, we have had a tendency to step it up a little, but have tried to keep things just under the level of extreme for us. We don't want to burn out, or worse, injure anything before we really even get started.

The best part? Other than some mild soreness, we feel great! Our energy levels are up and overall we just feel better. I can only imagine that this will get better as we go along. nothing noticiable on the weight side, but I'm sure that will come as we get more consistent with our walks. We'll keep you posted!

Call to Action

2008-01-23T11:28:00.000-06:00

Rick Burgess and Bill "Bubba" Bussey are hosts of the nationally syndicated radio show Rick and Bubba, based out of Birmingham, Alabama. They also happen to be best-selling Thomas Nelson authors. Melinda and I used to listen to their program a lot until they went off the air in Nashville. They got back on an AM station a while ago, but we never picked it up again. I can remember Melinda singing their annoying theme song and I swore I would never listen. I started and was instantly hooked. Not only were they really funny, but they were unabashed about their faith on secular radio. I respect them as artists, as authors, and as Christian men. A lot of their stories center around their families, so you could instantly relate. As a matter of fact Melinda and I remember a few years ago when Rick's wife became pregnant with their fifth child, Bronner. Unfortunately Bronner died tragically this past weekend, drowning in the family swimming pool. No parent should ever have to experience what they have experienced and it's hard not to feel a tremendous amount of sorrow even when you don't know the people personally.

Rick did an amazing thing yesterday and spoke at the memorial service for his son. It was not a typical memorial service message. I would ask that you take some time to listen to the message before reading on, as it will help put my comments in context.

Assuming you listened, what you just heard is a call to action. Don't miss it. I was incredibly convicted as I listened to Rick. Melinda and I have heard many times that receiving an autism diagnosis for a child is similar to the process of losing a child. Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to take anything away from the grief of this family, but there is a parallel - lost dreams, dashed hopes, and missed experiences. What I was convicted of was that I have had many opportunities over the years to talk with many people, a lot of them strangers, about autism. About how it affects our life, about how it affects mine and Melinda's relationship, about how difficult it is in general. You know what I don't talk about? The other person's soul. Sure, God will inevitably come up in the conversation, but I can't remember one time that I took to time to fulfill the Great Commission with the opportunity I had to talk about autism.

For Rick Burgess to stand up in that service, just days after losing his baby boy, and not talk about Bronner, but show genuine concern over the souls of men astounded me. It is not what I expected. Because of what I know of Rick and Bubba, I expected the gospel, but I didn't expect to hear Rick ask that people use his son's death as an opportunity to preach Christ.

At our church we are wrapping up a long study in the book of Acts. As our pastor has taught us, the theme of Acts is to preach Christ. At all times, in all circumstances. I must admit that I have a lot of head knowledge from this series, but nothing motivated me more to preach Christ than Rick's heart-felt message from yesterday. Why? Because I know as a Christian I am supposed to preach Christ, but what I have been missing is that I have been given a unique opportunity to have discussions with people that I wouldn't normally have the opportunity to talk to because God put Anna in our life - opportunities I have missed. No longer. I covenant from this day forward that no person I talk to about autism will walk away and not know that Jesus died for them.

Another thing that convicted me was Rick's passionate plea on behalf of his other kids. His observation that the only concern that we need to have for our kids is to raise them up to be warriors of Christ, and let God take care of the rest floored me. How many times have I chided Jessica for missed opportunities in school, but haven't sat down and prayed for and over her? How many times have I told Jessica to learn her Bible verses so that she can get a good grade, but not so that she be hiding God's Word in her heart? How many times have I shown her the wrong path, not by what I say, but by what I do, or don't do? My job with Jessica is to raise a Godly woman, not a straight A student. To raise a warrior for the kingdom, not an artist, or doctor, or teacher, or whatever else she might do as a job. God will take care of that. I need to be about the business of instilling Godly principles in Jessica, not teaching her to crave more things in this sinful world.

Rick Burgess never imagined that he only had two years with his son. I bet if he did, the last two years would have been different. But that is what the Bible means when it says to be ready (Matthew 25-1-13). We don't know when the hour will come, so we need to always be diligent, to always preach the Word (2 Timothy 4:2). So, let's live from this day forward like it was our last, taking as many people with us as we can into heaven.

Just Finish

2008-01-08T15:40:00.000-06:00

Melinda and I have a goal. The goal is simple - just finish. That's it. Just finish. The more I say it, the more I believe we can do it. Just finish.

What am I talking about? Mike Hyatt (the president of Thomas Nelson) issued a challenge to the company for a second year in a row. That challenge was to participate in the Country Music Half Marathon. While there will be some internal competition to be the fastest, the challenge was simple - participate and finish. Do so, and the company will reimburse your entry fee, give you a t-shirt, and a $100 gift card. Mike even extended the invitation to spouses (we have to share the gift card) as well as Nelson's current authors, and agents.

As anyone who has seen us recently knows, Melinda and I aren't in the best shape. Choosing to participate in an event as big a as a half marathon this late in the game, plus being out of shape, means there is really no way we could compete in the event. So, Melinda and I decided to walk to half marathon and set a goal to just finish. 13.1 miles in under four hours. We don't need to be first, we don't care if we are last. We just want to finish.

Official training starts on January 21st. We have already begun some initial steps, like drinking only water, walking, and other forms of exercise. Once the 21st gets here, we will have to keep a strict schedule of training in order to be even close to ready.

The Marathon is on April 26th, here in Nashville. We'll keep you posted on training and progress. In the meantime, please pray for us! We are excited to have a goal to work toward, rather then an abstract "let's get into shape". It's also great to have a team of people to work with to help with encouragement and accountability.

Cursed

2007-12-06T02:36:00.000-06:00

Do you ever wonder why life is so difficult? Some people seem to have it easy, at least at first appearance, but for the rest of us life is a never-ending struggle just to make it day to day. This could be emotional, physical, financial, or spiritual struggles (or a combination of some, or all, of them), but nevertheless life is just hard! And no number of platitudes or self-help books will ever soothe the struggling soul.

I am going through a season right now where life is one step forward ten steps back. Every turn produces yet another struggle. Just when it seems things are going to ease up, some other proverbial shoe drops, and whoever is dropping those shoes is getting them from Imelda Marcos’ closet, because there are a lot of them…

So what do you do? You can survive anything for a time, but what about day after day, week after week, month after month, and in some cases, year after year of insurmountable odds? What do you do during those times that nothing that anyone says makes a difference because you know way deep down another disappointment is around the corner?

The bad news? There is no easy answer. I know you were expecting some profound revelation, but the reality is we live in a fallen, sinful world and there is nothing we can do to avoid pain and struggle (Genesis 3:17-19). So, how then do you cope? First, I am going to assume that your hope is in the Lord (Psalm 33:22, Psalm 38:15, Jeremiah 17:7, Lamentations 3:24, and many more). If not, then nothing I say will make sense. Unless you first place your hope there, then, well, you have no hope.

Here is a list of some things that you can do to help you through these seasons of struggle:

Pray (Psalm 55:22). God wants to be there for you. He should be the One you turn to before anyone, or anything, else. The only way to do that is to talk to Him! What makes God the perfect person to turn to is His consistency. You never have to wonder what God will say, because he has already told us in His Word (more later). We will discuss the value of friendships later, too, but even friends will fail sometimes (let’s face it – they live in the same fallen world you do). God, however, never changes (Hebrews 13:8). He will always be there when you call out to Him (Psalm 18:6). I learned recently about a great acronym to use when praying – ACTS. It stands for:

Adoration (of God)
Conviction/Confession (of our sins)
Thanksgiving (to God)
Supplication (for ourselves, but especially for others)

If you aren’t currently modeling your prayers like this, you should try it. Spend about 2-3 minutes in each category at first, and then build from there. Often we go straight to God and start asking for stuff. Which is fine. God wants us to ask (John 11:22). But God also demands worship, and is worthy of worship (Psalm 99:5). Change the focus of your prayer life to worship of God and to God and before you know it you will be more focused on these things, and not the issues of life. Granted, they won’t go away, but your heart will be a little less heavy (Proverbs 28:14).

Praise God through singing (1 Chronicles 16:9). Song has always been a way to affect mood. You can become blue, you can become solemn, and you can become joyous – all through the influence of song. Why not direct that song to the Lord? Song is important in the Bible, too. Rather than give many, many references just start at Psalm 1 and start reading. You will find more references in this book to song than any other, although the theme is prominent throughout the Bible. After all, it is a hymn book. The best “catch all” reference is, of course, Ephesians 5:19-20. This passage tells us to sing for the express purpose of “giving thanks always for all things to God.” Check out Colossians 3:16, too. How do you get started? I highly recommend a book called Then Sings My Soul by Robert Morgan. Robert has a gift with story. Robert put together a book with the background of 150 hymns. On the left side page the book also has the words and music to each hymn. Here you can find out many, many hymns were born out of adversity. They are wonderful stories, and to have the words and music right there means only one book to carry. If you make it through that one, he also wrote a “sequel” called Then Sings My Soul, Book 2 with another 150 hymns. You will be surprised at how quickly you will forget your worries when you focus on God through song. You will have no choice but to rejoice, and your spirit will certainly be lifted.

Memorize Scripture (Psalm 119:114). On November 8, 1965, Howard Rutledge’s plane was shot down over North Vietnam. He was captured and held prisoner for seven years. He endured brutal torture, sickness, famine and loneliness like nothing we could ever imagine. He suffered all day, every day. How could anyone survive such unbelievable experiences? Through the power of memory.

Captain Rutledge recounts his experience as a POW, and how the memorization of Scripture became vitally important to his survival, in his book In the Presence of Mine Enemies:

Most of my fellow prisoners were struggling like me to rediscover faith, to reconstruct workable value systems. Harry Jenkins lived in a cell nearby during much of my captivity. Often we would use those priceless seconds of communication in a day to help one another recall Scripture verses and stories.

One day I heard him whistle. When the cell block was clear, I waited for his communication, thinking it to be some important news. “I got a new one,” he said. “I don’t know where it comes from or why I remember it, but it’s a story about Ruth and Naomi.” He then went on to tell that ancient story of Ruth following Naomi into a hostile new land and finding God’s presence and protection there. Harry’s urgent news was two thousand years old. It may not seem important to prison life, but we lived off that story for days, rebuilding it, thinking about what it meant, and applying God’s ancient words to our predicament.

Everyone knew the Lord’s Prayer and the Twenty-third Psalm, but the camp favorite verse that everyone recalled first and quoted most often is found in the Book of John, third chapter, sixteenth verse. With Harry’s help I even reconstructed the seventeenth and eighteenth verses.

How I struggled to recall those Scriptures and hymns! I had spent my first eighteen years in a Southern Baptist Sunday School, and I was amazed at how much I could recall; regrettably, I had not seen then the importance of memorizing verses from the Bible, or learning gospel songs. Now, when I needed them, it was too late. I never dreamed that I would spend almost seven years (five of them in solitary confinement) in a prison in North Vietnam or that thinking about one memorized verse could have made the whole day bearable.

While many of us may never endure the untold horrors that Captain Rutledge endured, the power of Scripture memorization is just as important today. The ability to recall Scripture at moments of crises is fundamental to the survival of every Christian. There is tremendous blessing and power in knowing where various passages can be found and what kind of help and resources they can provide. I have peppered this post with lots of Scripture for this very reason. Commit these passages, and many more, to memory and add them to your arsenal in the fight we call daily living.

Find a friend (Proverbs 17:17). When I say friend, I mean one friend (Proverbs 12:26a). We’ve already discussed the pitfalls of running your mouth to everyone, but there is great strength in having one true friend to share your life and experiences with (Proverbs 27:17). God is all we need, but the void left in our hearts through the fall is oft times made more palatable by having someone physical there with us. The idea isn’t to replace God with this friend, but it is helpful to have someone that that will tell you what you need to hear (Proverbs 27:6a). The Bible also tells us that sometimes that friend can be more accessible than family (Proverbs 27:10b), and that this same friend can even be better than family (Proverbs 18:24).

These are some methods I am employing as I walk through this valley. I wish there was an easy answer, but there isn’t. However, I know that God will supply all my needs (Philippians 4:19) and that He is in control (1 Samuel 2:6-9) and will never over-burden me (1 Corinthians 10:13), even when it feels like it.

New Feature

2007-12-03T11:52:00.000-06:00

I'm trying out something new on the blog. As you can see, I've been doing a little writing, but the posts (rants) go a little long. I've found a way to show a preview of the post, with a link to "Read More!" if you want. This way you won't have to scroll through a long post to get to other posts on the Main Page. The only drawback is that the code I am using adds the "Read More!" link to every post, even if the whole post is showing. There was no way around that (if anyone knows HTML and can help, that would be great!).

Hopefully this will help and not cause confusion. I will try to make the break obvious so that you sort of know there is more to read, as opposed to a complete post. Let me know what you think!

Regret

2007-11-27T10:57:00.000-06:00

Do you have regrets? Boy, I know I do. When I look back on the years of my life, had I known then what I know now, there are many things I would have done different. If they still made the De Lorean, and flux capacitors were an option, I’d be all over it!

But is regret a Biblical principle? I mean, even God experienced regret, right (Genesis 6:6)... Do you think that Moses, after years in the desert, didn’t sit on top of the mountain looking into the Promised Land that he led the Israelites to but wasn’t allowed in, do you think he didn’t mourn that his actions, and his actions alone, were the reason he wasn’t going in? I guarantee he did!

It is interesting to note that typically the first reaction we have when confronted by something that should have been handled differently is to assign blame. Do you realize that assigning blame was the third reaction recorded in the Bible immediately after the Fall? When Adam and Eve ate the fruit that was expressly forbidden them, the first reaction they had was to be ashamed. The second reaction was to hide from God. The third reaction that Adam had was to blame others, specifically God and Eve. No one made Adam eat, especially not God. God did everything He could to keep Adam from falling, short of putting an electric fence around the tree. Adam knew what he was doing and did it anyway, but when confronted he shifted the focus off of himself and onto someone else, telling God that it was the woman that God had given him that made him do it.

Part of me likes the fact that Adam shifts some of the blame to God, by the way. To me it really shows the level of intimacy that God and Adam had. If God Himself approached you right now and confronted you with your sin, how would you react? You bet! You would be on your face so fast, crying out for mercy! But Adam is so comfortable with God that he thinks nothing of shifting the blame towards God. I’m not advocating the action, of course, but I am definitely jealous of the relationship. There is a certain familiarity that allows for this kind of behavior. It gives an example of the type of close relationship we will enjoy with our Father one day.

Back to the original point… When things don’t turn out like we planned it is often due to the choices we have made. When that happens we tend to point to circumstances, or other people, rather than taking responsibility. I had a boss once that told me that it irritated him when I would step up, admit to a fault, and take all of the blame. At least if I had whined about what didn’t happen, or should have happened, or what someone else should have done then there would have been a coaching opportunity, but when I admitted all the fault there wasn’t much left to say.

So what now? Ok, I regret what I have done. What is the next step? For that, let’s look at the Biblical words for regret. In the Greek it is metamellomai, or metanoeo (there are others that are similar). In the Hebrew, it’s the word nacham. In most modern translations these words are translated as regret, or they imply feeling sad for something. In my opinion, this is the wrong translation and the KJV gets it right here. In the Greek word metaelomai, for example, the prefix meta means “after”, but implies “change”. In other words, the original meaning for the word is not just feeling sorry for something, it signifies changing ones mind, but then also taking the necessary action of making a change for the better. Also, it is interesting to note that the word almost always means to turn from sin. So, what we are really dealing with here isn’t regret, it’s repentance! And that is how the KJV translates these words the most – repent.

It also implies grief. It isn’t just that I wish I hadn’t done something, but that I am so overwhelmed by it that I have no choice but to turn away. It’s a strong feeling. It’s not, “Oh, I’m sorry” and walk away. It’s “I am grieved by this and I am turning in the complete opposite direction to correct it”. In other words, there is no Biblical principle of regret. Then how do we get out of the cycle of action, sorrow, action, sorrow and so on? Remember I said in the beginning that the key was taking responsibility? That’s what God did. He was so grieved by the sin of the world that He flooded it, and killed everything except who and what was in the ark. That is repentance.

How do we get this in our lives? First and foremost, stop regretting. It’s unhealthy. All that does is keeps you focused on what is wrong and not what is right (Hmmmm… Where have I heard that before?). Regret is sin. Regret makes you a prisoner. Repentance sets you free (2 Corinthians 7:10). What happens when you repent? Read on to verse 11. It produces diligence, it gives you something to defend your faith with, it makes you irritated with sin, it strikes fear in your heart over sin, it produces an earnest desire to do what is right, it makes your mind active and fierce, and it makes you want to change everything! (By the way, this verse is a goldmine of word study. I encourage you to take the time and explore it on your own.) In other words, repentance makes you strong! It makes you a better Christian. To me, this means that repentance isn’t something you “do” after making a mistake, repentance is a constant state of mind. Repentance is the sharpening of your mental skills to be aware of sin and mistakes and to be so repulsed by it that you avoid it altogether.

Think of a ninja, or a strong warrior, or the hero in an action movie, or the war-hardened veteran. They all possess this uncanny skill of being keenly aware of everything all at once, giving them the advantage to be able to react quicker than anyone else, often before the enemy. It is a skill that is honed by being taught, unrelenting practice, and sheer experience. These are the guys you want on your side. They never let their guard down, and they even appear to sense danger in their sleep. This is the way we are supposed to be! Repentance isn’t an action that is performed afterwards; repentance is the state of mind that keeps you ever aware of coming danger. That is why we are told be diligent to present ourselves approved to God (2 Timothy 2:15). We aren’t told that we are covered by the blood, sit back, and enjoy. No! We are told be always be on the lookout (1 Peter 5:8) and to always be conscious of what is right so that we can avoid sin our lives (1 Corinthians 15:34).

Commit, with me, from this day forward, to be in that state of mind. Sharpen your spiritual battle skills. Read, study, pray, praise, worship. These are the keys to living a life free of regret.

Anna's School Thanksgiving Party

2007-11-26T15:10:00.000-06:00

Anna had a Thanksgiving party at school where the girls dressed up as little pilgrims and the boys dressed up as little Indians. They also had a "traditional" Thanksgiving meal. Anna had a GREAT time! Enjoy!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2007-11-20T15:45:00.001-06:00

Help Plug Oh! Susanna's

2007-11-19T15:57:00.000-06:00

I just came across this link where a writer at the Commercial Appeal (the newspaper in Memphis) was asking people to vote on the best donuts in Memphis. It's a little old, but take a minute and cast your vote for Oh! Susanna's and help with a little marketing!

And I'm totally serious when I say they are the best. Nor does have anything to do with the fact that they are family. They are really very good!

Online Music Player

2007-11-14T09:31:00.000-06:00

Do you like to listen to music when you are sitting at your computer? Do you ever wish you could program a radio station with music from a favorite artist or musical genre? Do you like a variety of music, but don't want the hassle of creating play lists in iTunes? Enter Pandora. If you haven't heard of it, or used it yet, I highly recommend it.

Pandora allows you type in an artist or album and it will create a personalized radio station with music that is similar to that artist and their musical style. For example, I am getting into the Christmas spirit a little early and wanted to listen to Christmas music, but I don't like the uber-wide variety of music most radio stations play at Christmas time. You can keep your honky-tonk Christmas and your Christmas parody, I like the classics. I typed in "Johnny Mathis Holiday" and Pandora started playing Christmas music from artists like The Carpenters, Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, Nat King Cole, etc. The great thing is that I can rate the music and Pandora will learn what I like and don't like. If a certain artist or song is played that I don't think quite fits what I had in mind for the station, I can give it a thumbs down it won't play it again. Conversely, everything I give a thumbs up to Pandora will continue to play songs and artists similar to the ones I like.

Pandora has a wide variety of artists and songs, even if it doesn't have exactly the artist you are looking for. The downside is that you can only listen online, but if you really like a variety and want to play songs from a certain musical vantage point, all while sitting at your computer, then check out Pandora today. Oh, by the way, it is completely free!

Peace, Part II

2007-11-01T10:04:00.000-05:00

Melinda's brother Mark is the Executive Pastor at Burke Community Church in Burke, Virginia. Mark has been taking on some regular teaching duties at the church, and wouldn't you know it, he spoke on peace this past Sunday (10/28).

You can listen to the message here. Under "Attachments", there is also a PDF of the PowerPoint for you to follow. Enjoy!

Peace

2007-10-31T10:05:00.000-05:00

Have you ever wondered why we are promised peace that “surpasses all understanding” (Philippians 4:7 NKJV)? Why aren’t we just promised peace? Wouldn’t that be enough?

I was driving home from Atlanta yesterday and was really raging on the inside over some issues. As I was driving, I received an email note on my BlackBerry from a friend that said that for some reason the Holy Spirit had laid me on his heart and he was praying for me right then. (Side note – isn’t technology wonderful! I can be on the interstate in Georgia and instantly receive an encouraging word from a friend! I love it!). My friend was praying for peace. He didn’t know if I was even going through anything, but God told him to pray for peace for me and he obeyed.

I got off the interstate, sent a response, and after a short break I got going again. You know what? The rest of my drive was, yep, peaceful. The great thing was that I didn’t even realize it until I was almost home. I hadn’t thought about my situation much, and I certainly wasn’t raging anymore. God had answered his prayer.

So, how does that relate to Philippians 4:7? We love to quote that verse and tell people that are going through tough times that God is there and will grant us peace. But what about that second part. Let’s look into it…

First, we have to go back to verse 6. Simply put, in order to receive the peace we have to be praying. Even more we have to pray thankfully (see previous post). Once we are doing that, then we are promised peace. But not just any peace. It is 1) the peace of God, and 2) this peace will surpass all understanding.

So what is the “peace of God”? The Greek word peace here is eirene. The verb form of that word means “to join”. The peace part is certainly the traditional form of peace – no war, tranquility, etc. However, there is a deeper meaning to this word. To quote Strong it means “the tranquil state of a soul assured of its salvation through Christ, and so fearing nothing from God and content with its earthly lot, of whatsoever sort that is.” Wow. Read that again. Whatsoever sort of your earthly lot. That pretty much covers all the bases, and we are quick to point out how this relates to our physical well-being, but don’t gloss over that first part! You must first be assured of your salvation. That’s where the joining part comes in. You can never have the peace of God if you aren’t first joined with God through Christ. When you are joined with God, through Christ, you have nothing to fear because Christ already paid the price for you. So why would you be worried about stuff here on earth? You can only have peace if your eyes are fixed on God!

And what about the “surpasses all understanding” part? This Greek word nous refers to the ability to sense spiritual and divine things. It’s a “sixth sense” perception that allows one to recognize good and hate evil, and have the discernment to avoid the evil. We obtain the peace of God, first, by having a relationship with Him thorough Christ, and, second, by being in tune with everything that is good and right in this world and not focused on the bad.

So, if we are to focus on good things, what does that look like? Continue on to verse 8. We tend to separate these groups of verses, but they are all related. Paul gives us the formula by telling us how to hone this “sixth sense” by thinking on things that are noble, just, pure, lovely, and of good report. We won’t break those down here, but you get the idea. Paul goes on to tell the Philippians that if they think on these things, and model themselves after him, inferring that he thinks on these things, then he once again promises the peace of God.

What does that mean for us? My situation above is a perfect example. My peaceful rest of the ride home wasn’t necessarily divine intervention in the sense that God reached down into my brain and re-wired my thoughts (not that I’m limiting God!). What really happened was that I, with God’s help for sure, changed the focus of my thoughts. I no longer dwelled on what was bothering me, but I thought about other things, good things, and that brought me peace. What we have to do is make that a natural habit. We have to be so joined with God that we are only in tune to the good in our lives and not the bad. It has to become second nature, involuntary. Referring back to Strong, it has to be a function of our soul.

One final note. Nowhere in this passage does God say that He will supernaturally remove you from your circumstances, or will remove the circumstance from you. He doesn’t promise a solution, He promises peace. Why? How will we ever learn to rely on Him if we know that He will simply bail us out of our predicament? You see, we tend to run to these verses when things go wrong. What we forget is that this isn’t a balm, this is lifestyle! If we don’t allow this type of behavior to control us, we will always be a victim of our circumstances and we will never have relief from our misery. Paul even tells us in verse 7 that what happens when this becomes a lifestyle is that this peace of God will guard our hearts and minds. In other words, we will never have to fear discouragement again! This deep spiritual perception about things will take over and we will always think on the good things. My peaceful drive didn’t come because my situation changed. I still don’t have hope in that sense. But what I do have is the ability to remember what God has done for me, what good there is my life, and simply focus all of my attention on those things. Then, and only then, will I have the “peace of God which surpasses all understanding”.

P.S. – Thank you to Wayne Kinde for listening to the Holy Spirit and acting on it. You were the inspiration for this post, my friend.

Disappointment

2007-10-24T11:28:00.000-05:00

There are varying degrees of disappointment.

You go to the ice cream shop and they are all out of Rocky Road and you have to settle for Turtle Tracks. Disappointed? Of course you are.

On the other extreme, you are expecting something big and get next to nothing. It’s the classic ending to Christmas Vacation. Clark Griswold is expecting a huge Christmas bonus. He’s been planning on it, and has even started spending it. What did he get? Enrolled in the Jelly-of-the-Month Club. What follows can’t be repeated here, but suffice it to say after blowing his top, all Clark can lament is “Where’s the Tylenol?” Disappointed? Understatement of the century.

I had a disappointment last week. Our pastor is very fond of reminding us that when things go awry you will always speak out of the abundance of your heart (Luke 6:45). When you are faced with disappointment how you react shows a lot about your inward character. I must say I wasn’t very proud of myself this week.

It just seems that you can only take so much. Clark Griswold didn’t fly off the handle because this was his first disappointment. After a series of let-downs you just come to the tipping point, to borrow a marketing phrase. It’s the proverbial pressure cooker. It builds and builds and builds, and the whole time you are keeping your composure because you want to maintain the image that you have everything under control, but eventually it’s too much and the top blows right off and all that you had pent up inside you comes spewing out. Not a pretty picture.

Now, I’m not sure that in situations like this you are really showing your true colors. I mean, let’s face it, you did keep your composure all the other times you were disappointed. My question is how do you strike the balance? How do you express frustration without becoming a raving lunatic? Proverbs 29:11 says that “A fool vents all his feelings, but a wise man holds them back (NKJV)”. So what is the answer?

The Hebrew word for “feelings” in the above verse is ruwach and has the connotation of spirit or, better, wind. Even more specifically, air or gas. It also has the connotation of vain or empty. You guessed it. The fool here is a windbag, or as we would say “full of hot air”. The other key word in the verse is “all”. Another inference we can make from the word ruwach is an uncontrollable impulse. Therefore, the fool is one who, without thinking it through or being careful, opens his mouth and lets everything uncontrollably come out of his mouth. It’s the action, not the attitude. A fool can have the most sincere motivation, but no discernment, so they say the first thing that comes to mind and keeps going without thinking.

For the answer we have to take a look at the second part of the verse. The proverb doesn’t just tell us who not to model, but tells who we should model. It tells us that the wise man holds back his feelings. Isn’t that contrary to everything we have ever learned though? Doesn’t modern psychology tell us that we need that venting in order to keep from blowing our top like Clark Griswold at the end of the movie? That we need a confidant that we can share all these feelings with? I don’t think that is what the proverb is saying at all.

Shabach is the Hebrew word used for the phrase “holds them back”. This is the only time that it is translated this way. It is translated more times as “praise”. Other words it is translated into that are similar are “glory” and “triumph”. What can we learn from this? I believe it’s all about PMA – Positive Mental Attitude. Not in the look-in-the-mirror-and-tell-yourself-that-you-believe-in-yourself attitude. If that is what you are doing, you are looking the wrong direction. The praise, glory, and triumph the word shabach implies is directed toward God. One other way the word is translated is “still” (where the connotation for “keep it in” comes into play). What does that mean? I think it means that our hearts need to be directed to God in quiet praise. We soothe our hearts by constant thankfulness to God for everything we have.

Why do we blow our top? Because we are focused too much on what we didn’t get instead of what we have. I didn’t get what I wanted this week, but I got something. Thank God. I didn’t get anything, but I already have enough. Thank God. I was wronged for no reason, but I’m alive and healthy. Thank God. I’ve had the carpet under my life ripped from underneath me, but I have people around me to help me. Thank God. No matter what is happening we have to constantly remind ourselves that in Christ we have something.

If you have never been to a Seder Feast you need to go to one. The Passover Seder is a Jewish ritual that commemorates the Exodus of the Jews from Egypt. During the Seder there is a section where praise is given to God for the favor He has shown us. There is a Hebrew word used in this section – dayenu. Dayenu means “it is sufficient”, or “it is enough”. Over and over again we are reminded that if God had only done one thing during the Exodus, it would have been enough. If God had only parted the sea, it would have been enough. If God only allowed the Jews to cross on dry land, it would have been enough. If God had only fed them manna, it would have been enough. All of these blessings are recounted as a way to show how God did abundantly more. But it’s the attitude to take notice of here. If God had only done one of these things, it would have been enough! Can you share that attitude? If God only gave you shelter, would it be enough? If God only gave you food for today, would it be enough? If God gave you a portion of what you were expecting (or thought you deserved), would it be enough? That is our problem – we constantly doubt our Heavenly Father who provides us everything, but somehow it’s still not enough for us!

If you want to know why you are constantly disappointed, and why every expectation you have is not met, look at your heart. Are you in constant quiet praise for what God has done for you, or are you constantly grumbling in your heart that you don’t have enough so that it eventually comes to a head and you erupt like a volcano? It is this kind of positive mental attitude that will keep you from disappointment. In this life, God has given you something. Rest in the fact that no matter what it is, it is enough.

Doha, Qatar

2007-10-13T10:16:00.000-05:00

Qatar is in Saudi Arabia. It kind of looks like Michigan without the thumb. Why do I bring this up? If you look at our ClustrMap, we have a little red dot there. This might be the most exotic place we get a dot so I thought I would share the reason why!

Mark Sears is one of the geniuses behind eBible.com (also linked to the left, and if you haven't used it yet, I consider it to be the best internet-based Bible program out there). I met him through Thomas Nelson. He has a company called Godspeed Computing and lives in Canada, outside of Calgary. His wife works for the University of Calgary and they are living in Qatar for three months while she works for the UoC over there. I have a lot of respect for Mark as an internet guru, and consider Mark a friend. If you are so inclined you can follow his adventure in the Middle East over at MarkSears.com.

The Winter of My Blog Discontent

2007-10-06T09:49:00.000-05:00

Well, it is October already. Only three months left in the year. Fall is on its way (although you couldn’t tell by temperatures here in the South) and Christmas decorations are already on sale. Once again time has slipped by and we haven’t put anything meaningful on our blog. If it weren’t for these occasional laments on not writing, we’d barely have anything on here at all!

The fundamental issue is that there is too much “regular” life going on and not enough (at least in our mind) “blog-worthy” life going on. People ask how it’s going and I tell them that that I wish something was happening so that I could say that something was happening! Life is fairly routine right now, and routine doesn’t make for good story. Oh, I’m sure that I could come up with some sort of political rant, or some other pithy observation but even the ol’ writing juices haven’t been flowing lately.

As a matter of fact, life lately has been a day-to-day trudge through the snow. Not particularly difficult, but slow and mundane nonetheless. You walk and walk and walk and the landscape doesn’t change much, and when you look back the wind has erased most of your tracks so it’s hard to even recall where you’ve been.

Sure every now and then you have this epiphany and realize that life is passing you by and you need to do something, but that moment usually comes while you are driving, or otherwise occupied, and by the time you get to where you are going and reality kicks in you soon forget all about it.

Don’t take any of this as complaining. Life could be bad. There are many people that have overwhelming circumstances that consume their time. Me? I’m just ADD and can’t seem to make the time to do those things that I want to do. As our pastor recently taught, sin and procrastination are definitely kissing cousins. Like Paul said – the things I want to do I don’t do, but things I don’t want to do that is what I end up doing. Sure I want to post something on the blog, but the reality is that I am consumed by everything else. The “everything else” ranges from essential things like work, to the non-essential things like watching the Cowboys on a Sunday afternoon (although those things could arguably both be considered essential, I have to draw the line at what pays the bills and what doesn’t. Too bad.).

You would think that with 5 years of time and life management experience under my belt at Franklin Covey I would be better at this, but like the old saying goes those who can’t do, teach. I could tell you all the principles of prioritizing, but putting those things into practice is quite another accomplishment.

So, here we are again at yet another milestone in the year and unless you have talked with Melinda on the phone recently you are no closer to us than you were a year ago. Shame on us! The quick and simple is this:

Scott is very happy in his new position at Thomas Nelson. He has had the chance to work with a lot of great people on the front lines of ministry. If there was one thing he would like to improve it would be in the area of new business. What Nelson Ministry Services does is the best-kept secret in the industry and more people need to know about it

Melinda has enjoyed some time off over the summer and then started a new job at the beginning of September. One of the biggest reasons she is working is that she is taking early childhood education classes and they are paid for as long as she is working in a pre-school environment. She is working at a pre-school in a local church and loves having a lot less pressure. She also has a great schedule that allows her to be home in the afternoons with the girls, which is a huge blessing.

Jessica is almost half-way done with the 6th grade and continues to grow into a (even more) beautiful young lady. Everyone at the school loves having her there and enjoy being around her. The challenge we face is that this is her last year at Bill Rice Christian Academy. Where they used to go through the 12th grade, they made the decision to stop at 6th. We now have to start looking for a new school – one that holds similar values as Bill Rice, but won’t break the bank!

Anna is getting so big it’s unimaginable. It’s tough to look at her like a 10 year old, but she’s growing up. To be honest we have really been struggling with Anna’s behavior lately and we (Melinda) is working hard to get her on an even keel. She is on a balanced calendar school schedule (“year round”) and is currently on her three-week break. That has been a God-send for everyone (especially for her teachers). Pray that we can discover what it is that is triggering her outbursts and that we can moderate her behavior.

Well, there you have it. As you can see nothing spectacular, but a lot of stuff to keep us busy. We will continue with a random post just to keep you coming back to see something, but will also continue to aspire to more. In the meantime, enjoy this fall season and see if you can find how many places in your neck of the woods that have Halloween and Christmas decorations right next to each other.

P.S. - We need more red dots on out map to the left! Tell everyone you know to at least look at our blog! Thanks!

Blog Tune Up

2007-09-19T10:47:00.000-05:00

O.k. - a couple of enhancements:

A new feature was added to the left called Cluster Maps (I first saw it on Mike Hyatt's blog, but I have to give credit to my friend Mark Whitlock for adding it to his blog and inspiring me to do the same). So, tell all your missionary friends, and anyone else you know in foreign countries to at least take a look at our blog! I would love to see red dots all over the map!!
Now that Google has taken over Blogger, the issue of separate users has been resolved, so now you can see when I post vs. Melinda posting. We will work on updating our individual profiles.

I hope this improves your overall experience with our little corner of the world wide web.

Shameless Promotion

2007-09-13T08:00:00.000-05:00

I don't want to turn anyone off with a bunch of promotion about upcoming Thomas Nelson product, however this time I just can't help it.

Yesterday we released a new audio project called The Word of Promise. Here is the description of the product:

A 20-hour, 20-CD, diverse star-studded audio Bible production of The New Testament. This multi-voiced faithful rendering of the NKJV New Testament is presented in a compelling, dramatic audio theater format.

The arresting world-class audio production immerses listeners in the dramatic reality of the Scriptures as never before. Complete with an original music score by prolific Italian composer Stefano Mainetti ( Abba Pater ), Contributions by Dove Award winners Michael W. Smith and Rebecca St. James, and ambient sound effects that are woven together with compelling narration by Michael York, the Bible comes to life for a new generation. The post-production, sound design and Foley (sound effects) are produced, engineered and mixed at Cerny American Creative in Chicago-an award-winning post-production facility ranked in the Top 3 in the nation for sound design.

Cast includes:

Jim Caviezel (The Passion of the Christ, Déjà vu) - Jesus
Michael York (Romeo & Juliet, Austin Powers) - Narrator
Academy Award winner Richard Dreyfuss (Mr. Holland's Opus, The Goodbye Girl) - Quotes from Moses
Academy Award winner Marisa Tomei (My Cousin Vinny, What Women Want) - Mary Magdalene
Golden Globe winner Stacy Keach (Prison Break, Hemingway) - Paul
Academy Award and Golden Globe winner Lou Gossett, Jr (An Officer and a Gentleman, Roots) - John
Terence Stamp (Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, Superman II) - Voice of God
Kimberly Williams-Paisley (According to Jim, Father of the Bride) - Mary, Mother of Jesus
Golden Globe and Tony Award nominee, Lou Diamond Phillips (La Bamba, Young Guns) - Mark
John Heard (Prison Break, Home Alone) - Matthew
Ernie Hudson (Miss Congeniality, Ghostbusters) - Peter
TV Guide's TV's 25 Greatest Teen Idols honoree Luke Perry (Beverly Hills 90210, Jeremiah) - Judas & Stephen
John Schneider (Smallville, Dukes of Hazzard) - James
Chris McDonald (Happy Gilmore, Quiz Show) - Luke

To give you a better idea, here is a video from GodTube:

I have heard a lot of this project and it is truly powerful. It is virtually word-for-word the New King James Bible (there are some "scripting" elements to it to make the text flow better, like eliminating phrases "and he said", etc.), so it really lends itself to us for memorization. Or, just sit back and experience the Scripture like never before. If you have surround sound, even better! It's like listening to a movie!

I hope you don't mind the pitch, but I just had to share! Let me know if you any of you want to know more.

Scott

Jott

2007-07-30T10:12:00.000-05:00

Mike Hyatt (President and CEO of Thomas Nelson) has come through again with another cool productivity tip. It has so many applications I just had to share it with you:

Never Forget a To-Do Item

For more tips on life and productivity be sure to check out Mike's blog From Where I Sit (link to the left as well).

Life and Whitewater Rafting

2007-06-27T08:36:00.000-05:00

So, my friend Randy not so subtly pointed out that Spring has sprung and we are now into summer and there have been no updates to the blog. First of all, YEA! Someone actually does check our blog! :) Second, whew! Here is a quick rundown of the last 6-8 weeks:

I started my new job (which has kept me busy)
Melinda has quit her job (which, believe it or not, has kept her busy)
Melinda has been taking some early education classes
The girls finished up school
Melinda's gandmother passed away
We went on vacation to Colorado

These are just the highlights of what has been robbing our time lately. We will post details and pictures of our Colorado trip, but one of the activities we were able to enjoy was a whitewater rafting trip on the Colorado River.

It's interesting the parallels between the instructions we were given in case we fall in and our life lately. When we hit the water there were several Class IV rapids at the beginning. We were told that if we fall out the only thing you can do is put your feet out in front of you (like you are sitting in a recliner), hold your head up high, and float to calmer water where the boat would come get you and pull you in. Oh, and try and aviod the rocks! That pretty much sums up our life lately! We have been holding our head high, letting the river take its course, and avoiding the rocks. But, calmer water is ahead and we are waiting for the boat to come pick us up.

Thank you for being patient. Look for a vacation update soon. We are waiting for our pictures to be developed (our digital camera broke, so we took film cameras on our trip) and will post a slide show.

Keep checking back or, better yet, sign up to receive an email whenever we post something. Sign up is on the left!

Spring Fever

2007-04-05T14:50:00.000-05:00

The dogwoods are blooming, the grass is green, the oak tree in the front yard is bursting with leaves. Ah! Spring time! I never understood why you made new year resolutions in the month of January. You are entering the darkest, coldest part of the year. There is nothing environmentally that even remotely evokes a spirit of change. Spring, however, is the complete opposite. Birds sing loudest. Bugs buzz with vigor. People clean house. It's all about freshness and newness.

Which brings me to the subject of today's post: I have a new job. Like the proverbial 800 pound gorilla in the room, it looks/sounds funny just seeing it there out in the open, but it's true.

I have been with Thomas Nelson for almost five years now. I started off as a freelancer and four titles later I am currently a Senior Acquisitions Editor. All of this time I have been in the area of digital publishing - turning the books Thomas Nelson creates (specifically Bibles and Bible Reference products) into electronic versions. I have served passionately in this area the entire time. While here I have managed (and created) many top-selling software titles, and brought new strategies and relationships to Thomas Nelson. My heart, however, has always been in the relationship business. I love to be in front of people and talking with them and helping them see how what we have can help them. Hence the change...

Starting Monday the 16th I will be a Regional Sales Manager for Nelson Ministry Services. This division handles all of the sales to our author and large church partners. I will be covering the southeast helping authors such as Charles Stanley, Hank Hanegraaff, and John Maxwell just to name a few. I will be working with churches and ministries of all sizes, to help match Thomas Nelson product with their strategies to grow their ministries.

It's an exciting new venture, and I am most pleased that I can do it while still working for the largest Christian publisher in the US. Please pray for me as I transition. There is a lot to finish in my current position, and a lot to learn in my new one. Pray that I finish well here, and can start off running over there. More importantly pray I never forget that even though I am in sales, that my primary job is putting tools in the hands of people so that they can better understand God's Word. That, above all, is my purpose.

Scott

New Feature

2007-03-23T09:09:00.000-05:00

One of the ways I learn about cool things to do with blogs is by reading other blogs. I already credited Mike Hyatt with a lot of the tools I've added recently. Well, I've found another little gadget to add.

Look over to the left and you will see a couple of new sections that indicate whether or not Melinda or I are online via three popular instant messaging services - AIM, MSN (now Windows Live Messenger), and Yahoo!. I know you could just as easily pull up the messenger service and see if we are online, but a lot of people don't automatically sign in to their service when they log in to their computer. This way, if you are checking the blog (you are checking, aren't you? We've been getting more regular at posting! Better yet subscribe over to the left!) you can see if you want to sign in and chat.

O.k., I know what you are thinking and I admit it - I'm a gadget freak and things like this make me giggle like a school girl. There isn't any practical purpose to having it, I just think it's cool. You caught me!

Enjoy...

Scott's Trip to New York City

2007-03-21T15:25:00.000-05:00

O.k. - we really want to share photos on this blog however I haven't been very happy with any of the options so far. I thought Slide.com was going to work, but in the end I didn't like the results. Flickr produced great results, but it was a lot of work to get the actual show into Blogger. Also, both of those options required that I be online while I create the slide show.

The best way to accomplish what I wanted to do was to actually build a Flash slide show myself. That isn't easy! I'd have to program the Flash show, find an online place to host it, and then publish it so that I could link it here to play for you. Too much work (not that you aren't worth it!).

Enter Flash Slide Show Maker. This FREE (yes, free) desktop program allows you create a great looking Flash slide show, but also provides FREE (there's that magic word again) online hosting of the show through SkyAlbum.com. All I have to do is create the show and it will upload it for me. Once that is done I copy and past the link and, viola, I have a great looking Flash-based slide show on the blog! I love technology! There are a lot of great features to the software, but I will let you read about it yourself.

Now, on to the good stuff!

I took this trip almost a year ago, but it was great test for using the software. I went to New York to visit with the Sony Corporation and attend a conference. Like all of my trips, I had to squeeze a lot in a short amount of time. So, here is a summary of my three-hour tour of New York City!

I am extremely pleased with the results of the slide show, so after many empty promises we can get to work on putting up more photos for you to enjoy and catch up with us.

P.S. - I am going back to New York again in May, so I am hoping to see some of the things I didn't get to see last year!

Spam Blog

2007-03-16T15:18:00.000-05:00

The last entry about my sprain took a few days to actually post. I could write it as a draft, but when I attempted to publish it I got a message that our blog had been blocked by a spam-prevention tool because it appeared to be a "spam blog". What in the world is a spam blog? They had a handy link that explained it all:

The ease of creating and updating webpages with Blogger has made it particularly prone to a form of behavior known as link spamming. Blogs engaged in this behavior are called spam blogs, and can be recognized by their irrelevant, repetitive, or nonsensical text...

If that last statement doesn't accurately describe this blog, I have no idea what does! :)

Scott

Off Balance

2007-03-13T16:23:00.000-05:00

O.k. - this settles it. Scott must lean to the left. Literally, not politically.

This past Saturday we watched our pastor's kids at our house. It was a beautiful spring day. Kids, a beautiful day, and Scott trying to keep up all spells disaster! While playing hide-and-seek, and chasing a much faster eight year-old to base, Scott rolled his foot over and sprained his ankle. Time to go inside!

He sat on the couch for a while and called to Melinda to check on whatever was beeping in the kitchen. She called him a wimp and asked why he couldn't check it himself. He called her over and showed her why. At this point his ankle was swollen and the pain was increasing. It was off to the emeregency room.

Final prognosis was a sprain (thankfully, it wasn't broken). When Scott asked what exactly that meant he was given this quote - "If anyone ever tells you they sprained their ankle and are back playing basketball the next day, they didn't really sprain their ankle. "Real" sprains involve torn ligaments". Although only an MRI would tell how bad the damage was, the doctor figured this was the case here. He was fitted with a large "boot" to walk around in and has to follow up with our regualr doctor this week.

The irony is that it is his left foot. You may remember he broke his left collar bone almost a year and a half ago (also trying to capture some long lost glory of his youth) so, he must have a tendancy to fall to his left.

The moral of this story? Same as last time - leave the running to the eight year olds. From now on Scott can referee from the sidelines!

Housekeeping

2007-01-29T20:08:00.000-06:00

A few items of update on the blog:

Our profile is fixed, so the whole family is back! There's even an updated picture (it's bigger, too, so you can actually see us!). This was a snapshot taken at Thanksgiving.
I've added a couple of little tools. The first is a service called Snap Preview. It allows you to hover over a link with your mouse (try it with the one above) and a small pop-up window will give you a preview of the website. This will help you determine if you really want to go to the site before you click and navigate away.
Obviously we have been sporadic in updating (we are trying to correct that!). I'm sure that you have better things to do with your life than coming back to our little corner of the web just to see if we've posted anything. Well, worry no more. Over to the left I've added a place where you can sign up and you will receive an email notification whenever we get around to posting something. This is a service from a website called FeedBlitz. There is no spam, you aren't signing up for anything other than this update, and you will never have to worry about your email showing up anywhere. I've used this for a while and I've never had a problem. You will receive an email the morning after a post has been made. We'll try not to clutter your inbox too much! ;)

Finally, I have to give props to where these cool tools came from. The President and CEO of Thomas Nelson, Mike Hyatt, is an avid blogger. He's been a huge inspiration for me wanting to blog. He's also a fellow technophile and helps keep me up to date on technology. He has an incredible blog and I highly recommend that you take a look, and subscribe to it. Those of you reading this in the business world will find a treasure trove of information here, but even if you aren't in business you will find a lot of what Mike says useful. I've added his blog, From Where I Sit, to the links on the left.

I hope you enjoy these small enhancements. Like I said, we are trying to get better at updates. Keep checking back, or better yet subscribe and look forward to a surprise in your inbox soon!

15 Seconds

2007-01-29T11:07:00.000-06:00

Scott isn't the only one in the limelight these days! Jessica is enjoying some fame via an article in the newspaper about her class at school. It wasn't on the web, so below is a scan of the actual article (to read it, just click for a larger image):

Today the class went on their "special field trip surprise". They went to Chick-fil-A for lunch, then they were off to meet the Mayor of Murfreesboro, go to the top of the AmSouth Bank building (the tallest building in Murfreesboro), and then to the park to play (although with the high expected to only be 41 today (and it's only 30 now!) I'm not sure how long that will last!).

Almost Famous

2007-01-16T10:15:00.000-06:00

Recently I had two opportunities to represent my job, and my company, in two high profile situations. I'm excited to finally begin to establish myself as an expert in the arena of digital publishing.

First, in November I was a guest on a nationally syndicated radio program called Point of View talking about Bible study software, and specifically our brand, eBible. It was a two hour radio program and I was the guest the whole time! Unfortunately, the link is gone on their website, but here is a link to listen for anyone interested. A few technical notes: The first 5 people can click and do nothing. After that, you have to sign up for a free XDrive account. If you do, you get 5GB of online storage for free. If you don't, I understand. Also, the file is 22MB and the interview is long. I will NOT be offended if you don't listen! :)

Second, The Tennessean, our local newspaper, ran an article today about the future of e-books. This article was prompted by a press release from our company about a new partnership I made with a software company. The newspaper called me and I spent a lot of time on the phone educating the writer about the world of e-books. In the end, we weren't the feature of the article, but I was quoted in it and the partnership was mentioned. Here it is, for your reading pleasure!

I just thought I would share with you a couple of successes for me lately. It's great to have a job you love, and have the opportunity to communicate that to others.

Scott's trip to Washington DC

2007-01-09T11:57:00.000-06:00

Happy New Year to all!!

We have been a little dry on posting over the holidays because we have a lot of pictures to share and I've been trying to figure out the best way to accomplish this. The previous slide show of my trip to Washington state was done at a site called Flickr, but in order to upload any reasonable amount of pictures you have to pay for the service. I wanted to avoid that. After much research, and even trying to do it myself in Flash, I found Slide. It's free and it even gives you all the code you need to put a slide show directly into a blog post. Before I had to do some HTML coding (a not so easy task when you have no idea what you are doing!). So far Slide seems like a great solution. Let us know what you think and we'll get more up as soon as possible (including the long overdue updates on each of us, and the house tour!). On a little bit of a technical note, I'm very suprised that Picasa doesn't support doing this since Google owns both Picasa and Blogger. Maybe in future updates...

Now on to the subject of this post. Below is a picture slide show from a business trip to Washington DC I took in November. Unfortunately, I left a few hours before Mark and Shary came home from Florida, so I didn't get to see them. :( This is a summary of about 4 hours of hard and fast sightseeing! All in all there are some good shots, so I hope you like them.

On a final note, Blogger has updated their site recently and in the transition my picture and my profile have become the default. I'm not sure why, but I will work on that quickly so that you can see all of us again.

Santa Claus lives in Franklin!

2006-11-01T22:21:00.000-06:00

Last night we took Anna (Jessica went to a Fall Festival with a friend) trick or treating in our new neighborhood (that in itself made this night even more magical - walking around in a real neighborhood) and believe it or not Anna actually wore a Snow White outfit and said "Trick or Treat!" when the person opened the door. This is a big deal because we never know quite how she will react towards new things. Well, we went to about 7 houses before we happened upon a home that is always decorated for Christmas. And there stood and I am not kidding, (drum roll . . . ) Mr. & Mrs. Santa Claus! Their license plates on their cars even read "SCLAUS" and "MSCLAUS". The couple looked just like the real thing! I wanted to run home and get a camera! Unfortunately Anna decided she was done trick or treating before we got to their home so I didn't get to meet them. But imagine the merry old couple living right here in Franklin, and in our neighborhood! The man has a real snowy white beard and the Misses was just as if she were in costume for the holidays. We can't wait to see what they do for Christmas! If curiosity has the best of you, please feel free to visit us for Christmas!

Happy first of November to everyone! We are also enjoying all the beautiful leaves in our yard. Our home looks like a Hallmark card! The yard is covered with all colors of leaves, there are pumpkins on the porch, and there sits a huge pile of leaves in the backyard just waiting to be jumped in! Well. . . Jessica has raked it, jumped into it, then raked it up again. :)

"People have no idea..."

2006-10-24T09:28:00.000-05:00

Below is a link to a video about living with a child with autism. We really debated on whether or not to even post this message, but after thinking about it we decided to go ahead. Please know that our motivation is purely educational. While the video is very emotional, we aren't seeking sympathy, just understanding.

When we first saw this video we both agreed that this is the most accurate portrayal of daily life with a child with autism that we had ever seen. Most people still think of Rain Man when they think of autism, and although Dustin Hoffman's portrayal is somewhat accurate, it just isn't reality for most people.

There is another caveat, too - we are very blessed with Anna. Although she leans toward severe on the spectrum, she isn't as bad as some of these kids. We experience probably 80% of what you see in the video. However, every single thing that is said by the parents in this video, we have said, thought, experienced, agonized over, suffered through, and worried about. That is what we wanted you to see. We want you to know that when we say we battle with Anna, this is pretty much what it looks like. When we are stressed about money, or we are tired, or we can't go somewhere, this is why, and this is a lot of what our life looks like.

Extra credit also has to be given to Melinda. Unlike the women in this video, she works full-time. She sacrifices more than most when it comes to life with Anna. She is truly an amazing person and deserves all the credit, encouragement, and reward for everything she does. All day. Every day.

That being said, the video is called Autism Every Day. When you click the link, just go to the section called Autism Every Day and choose your bandwidth.

New digs...

2006-10-15T21:19:00.000-05:00

A lot of you have been asking for house pictures (Oh! You didn't know? We moved last month!). Like the blog, getting to that simple task these days is more difficult than it sounds! We really want to give you the "grand tour" through pictures, but we will need a little more time to get it together.

In the meantime, enjoy this shot of the front of the house. At least you will have something to refer to when you think of us living here in Franklin!

Stay tuned! We will have more up soon!

Need to do a quick Bible search?

2006-09-29T22:28:00.000-05:00

There is a new link over on the left. It's to a revolutionary Bible search website called eBible.com. This is a joint venture between Scott's company, Thomas Nelson, and a company in Calgary, Canada called Godspeed Computing. Scott was instrumental in the ideation of this website. The development was passed on to some other very talented people, but he stills feels some affinity for this project.

Check it out! Scott guarantees you have never studied the Bible like this on the internet!

Since Matt & Mary Jo are showing us up...

2006-09-05T14:24:00.002-05:00

Here is a little update on our blog since we have completely fallen off...

I can't seem to figure out what time it is in Ireland while reading all of Matt and Mary Jo's updates, so I hit the web. I found a cool little utility that will put a clock on your website or blog. Pretty cool! I sent it to Matt and MJ, so hopefully they will add one for Ireland for people like me.

In the meantime, enjoy a clock of the local time in Franklin (more for fun, not because the math is that hard!), and I also put a link on the side for Matt and Mary Jo's Ireland blog.

Scott's Trip to Seattle

2006-04-22T03:38:00.000-05:00

Recently Scott went on a business trip to Seattle and took some great pictures. Below is a slide show of some of the highlights. If you hover over the top and the bottom you will get some options for viewing - you can speed up or slow down the slide show, or you can look at pictures invidually and more. Click on the picture and you will see a description.

Enjoy!

Fried Dough Anyone?

2006-03-15T15:51:00.000-06:00

We've added a link over there on the left. Check it out. And if you are ever in Memphis you have to go and sample some of the best donuts ever. No kidding! Be sure to tell them we sent you, and you might even get a free sample! Yum!

Oh My!

2006-02-07T11:55:00.000-06:00

Oops. Looks like the blog has gone by the way of the newsletter we talked about in our first post! Has it really been over three months since we last made an entry?! That is both sad and indicative. Sad that something so simple can be so elusive, and indicative of our time of life! We have been extremely busy. We know that's the worst (and oldest) excuse, but when it's true, it's true.

Your next question may be - why are you so busy? Or what are you so busy with? Both are great questions! As a matter of fact, that will be a great action plan for the next few posts! Look for updates on each member of the family over the next few weeks. That way you'll be caught up, and we might get in the habit of writing on a regular basis! Wouldn't that be nice for everyone!

So stay tuned! More will be coming soon!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2005-11-24T13:16:00.000-06:00

Dearest Family and Friends -

Although we are all scattered about this year, we wanted to let you know that we love and appreciate each and every one of you. As we take time to share our blessings, know that all of you hold special places in our hearts. We can't call or see all of you this weekend, but we are thinking about you and are thankful that God has placed each of you in our lives.

Have a great and wonderful Thanksgiving holiday!

Act Your Age, Not Your Shoe Size

2005-11-19T17:17:00.000-06:00

Three weeks ago today we had our annual Fall church picnic. After lunch the "men" of the church started a flag football game. I say "men" because the vast majority of those playing were definitely attempting to be younger than they were. Scott was one of these.

All he remembers is catching the ball, turning to run upfield, and the next thing he knew he was on the ground. Long story short, Scott broke his collar bone. Here is a picture of the x-ray from the emergency room (click on any of the pictures to see a larger image):

Notice it broke on the very end and not on the middle. That is the most rare type of collar bone break (less than 10% of the time according to the internet) and the most type requiring surgery. They shot Scott with pain medicine and referred him to an orthopedic surgeon.

The funny thing is that, not fifteen minutes after Scott drove off to the ER, another man fell on top of a teenage boy. He ended up in the same ER, in the adjoining room to Scott, and he also broke his collar bone on the same side! The hospital staff wanted to know what church we went to so they could avoid any future social functions we might have! :) Here's a picture of Caleb and Scott leaving the hospital with matching injuries and matching slings (BTW - Caleb's break was more "typical". It broke in the middle and will heal on its own):

Monday, Scott went to see the orthopedic surgeon. He gave him three options, and basically told him option three was the only viable one - surgery to repair it. Because the two pieces of bone were on top of each other, and not facing each other, they would need some help staying in place to heal and grow back together. The surgery was scheduled for Wednesday morning. Here are some "before" pictures taken before he went in.

Notice the "lump". That's where his collar bone is sticking up. Also notice how his shoulder has "caved in" without the collar bone support:

Here is a shoulder to shoulder comparison, to see how much shorter the broken one is:

The doctor's plan was to align the bones with a "closed" procedure, where he would align the bones, and put screws in from the outside, and when the bones had healed remove the screws. Alas, that was not to be. A lot of the bone had shattered, and so he couldn't get proper alignment. He ended up having to make a large incision and go in and bridge the two pieces with a metal plate, and secure it all with six screws. Here is a fluoroscope image from the surgery:

All in all, he missed eight days of work, and his left arm was completely immobile for about twelve days. He is out of the "immobilizer" and just wearing a sling, but still has a way to go before he is completely healed. If you look close at the above picture, you can still see the separation between the bones (from the left there is bone, and a whitish space (the gap), and then a small darker piece of bone, another whitish space (the joint) and then the shoulder bone). It actually looks worse here, but that gap will have to grow together before he will be able to be completely mobile. After it heals, there will likely be some therapy to help regain lost muscle from the immobility. He also has a nice 3-4 inch "Frankenstein" scar as a souvenir right on the top of his shoulder.

One of the funniest things about the whole situation has been Anna. She has seen the pictures and heard us talking, and seen Scott's arm. Now whenever she sees Scott she calls him "Bone"!

Needless to say the last few weeks have been crazy. Melinda says Scott has been a good patient, and not too demanding, but she was very glad when he was able to tie his own shoes again! ;)

Please pray for continued recovery, and for no long-term affects because the church picnic is only a year away, and he needs to be ready for the football game... :)

Slideshow Update

2005-10-30T12:04:00.000-06:00

If anyone wants a copy of the slideshow from Jessica's birthday, you can download it here. Just save the zip file and extract it. It's a higher quality, full-screen version. It is a 12MB file, so slower connections be aware.

Jessica's 10th Birthday

2005-10-23T18:02:00.000-05:00

Remember before how we said we couldn't get around to doing things on time? Here's a great example. Well, better late than never. . . Back in May, Jessica turned ten (10!). To celebrate, we took a nostalgic trip back to Memphis to rekindle some memories, and make some new ones. We took her all over the city and showed her ten different things that were significant in her early life.

Here's the list:

First Evan (our first church as a family)
Lunch at Benihana (a Japanese steakhouse where they cook at your table)
The hospital where she was born
Our old house and neighbor, Mr. Johnson
The carousel at the mall (one of Scott and Jessica's favorite hangouts)
Mother/Daughter/Friend banquet at Hope Pres (the church where Melinda's brother and sister in law, Matt and Mary Jo, attend and Mary Jo works)
Oh Susanna's donut shop (owned and operated by Scott's parents, Dick and Susanna)
Visit with the Albright's (some good friends, and Jessica's girlfriend from First Evan)
Presents at Cameron Brown park
An Irish Festival with Mary Jo

We had a GREAT time! We took some pictures, and even though it took us six months, we finally have put them into a slideshow you can view online! Below you will find a link, but first Scott (the nerd) has to insert some technical stuff! Enjoy!

The show is pretty big. It may take a while to download, so be patient. While it's doing its thing, click on the "Memory Game" button to keep yourself occupied!

We tried it once and the music didn't play. If you don't hear music, just hit the "Back" button on your browser to re-start the show. It should work then.

Finally, keyboards are susceptible to water damage. Please keep some Kleenex handy so you don't cry all over your computer! ;)

Click here to view the show.

Michael & Jill's visit to Franklin

2005-09-28T08:29:00.000-05:00

Melinda's brother Michael and sister-in-law Jill visited last weekend. Tour guide Jessica showed them all over the Opryland Hotel and then we stopped by the Mills to do a little shopping! Saturday evening, we went to a Seder Feast at church (these are usally done around Easter time) and enjoyed an evening filled with Biblical insight to the Jewish Passover and some really good food. Sunday night Jill and Melinda beat the guys at a game of spades. I'm fortunate to have sister-in-laws (all of them) that excel at cards!

Anna is home on her three week school break and is enjoying reading, swimming and watching a few of her favorite videos. Her favorite part of the week is going to the library where she can play on the computer, put puzzles together and pick out books to take home. It's like heaven on earth for her. She sends big hugs to everyone!

Welcome to our blog!

2005-09-16T15:39:00.000-05:00

Dear Family and Friends -

There are so many of you, and so few hours in the day. How will we ever keep you up to date with what is going on here in Tennessee? How can we get the same message to everyone at once without adding to the stress of normal life? Trust me when I say we have had great intentions of sending out Christmas newsletters. Then they turn into New Year newsletters. What about an Easter newsletter?! Better make that a Labor Day newsletter... What?! It's Christmas-time again? Better start the newsletter! And the cycle continues. I can even remember a few years where cards were actually made and/or addressed and they still never got out!

Enter Technology! "I know!", says Scott, the nerd. "Let's start a website! Everyone can come, and see pictures and find out what's going on, etc.! It'll be great!". Well, we've had Comcast for three years now, and although we have space with our names on it, alas, it too has gone the way of the newsletter.

What we need is a quick and easy way to create "snapshots" of our life so that people can see what's going on. Sometimes it's short. Sometimes its long. It has some pictures. If only there was some way for us to journal, and then give everyone access to that journal. "Wait!", Scott the nerd says. "That sounds an awful lot like blogging!". Melinda crinkles her nose. "What in the world is 'blogging'"?. "Oh! It's great", says Scott. "You can journal, and add pictures, and it can be short, or long. And people can come and visit and see what's going on in our lives!".

Hence - our blog! A place where it's "always wintertime"! (Get it?!) We can give some updates, and you can stop by at your leisure and catch up with us. You can also post comments, that way you we can interact with each other, too! A HUGE advantage over a website. What is our goal? Well, it will be short, or long. It will have some pictures. You get the idea. This will be a web log (Get it?!) of our lives and you can jump in at any time and see what's up. It's our elusive Christmas newsletter, but on a consistent basis. No tinsel necessary! ;)

What our blog is not... It's not profound (we aren't trying to impress anyone). It's not deep (hey it's our lives - this is as deep as it gets!). This is the mundane stuff we would talk about if we had the chance to sit around the table over a cup of coffee with nothing better to do than catch up. Better yet, if you lived next door (wouldn't that be wonderful?!) this is the stuff you would hear about every day.

We would love to hear from you! Post a comment and tell us what you think! We will try and update this as regularly as possible, so come back often.