I'm at the Ramada in Lincoln, and I'm struggling to sleep. I'm going to make sure I get a good run in the morning before I head further west.
Things couldn't have been timed better though. I want to have a sunrise at Pike's Peak as that is the best time to take pictures. I'm going to try to get the throw of the morning light on the mountain and see what I get. I should pull into Denver about 6:00 tomorrow night, I'll spend the night, get up early, get my pictures, and make it to Roosevelt on Tuesday.
While I'm in the car tomorrow I have to make sure I get my housing arrangements squared! They can't tell me I'm not coming when I'm half there!
Sunday, September 17, 2006
Packed up, Leaving
Well, my car is packed. To the brim. Literally. I had to open the back windows to fit stuff in, and was worried they wouldn't close! I'm about to go on the adventure of a lifetime. Two years into my Pastoral Studies degree, I'm taking a break to head out west, stop being a slave to lenders. God is also giving me the awesome opportunity of preaching to students and connecting with their youth pastors/other staff in churches and conventions all across the west. It really is going to be a blast.
On the way, I'll be stopping by Pikes Peak. Hopefully at some of the higher altitudes I'll get to see some leaves changing. I grew up as a boy in Middle Tennessee, and since we've moved up north I've longed to see a full, lush forest changing. Sorry, 94 just before the 10 breakoff to St. Cloud doesn't count! Gatlinburg has been the closest I've come since we moved... but we went at Turkey Time! Too late!
For those of you that read this and support me as a friend, thank you. Please pray for safety as I travel through the mountains in my 211,000 mile car. It is reliable, but you never know what can happen! Please also pray that I would maintain the discipline I've had in my life this summer and grow in it, that I would continue to strengthen my body, and that I keep my eyes open to learn this year.
I was treated to a concert last night - one of my best friends bought me the ticket as a bday present. The band was tool. The guy ended the concert by saying "Peace the **** OUT!" Well, I don't hate the world like he does, but I have as much energy as he does right now. Peace out my friends! I no longer live in Farmington!
Sunday, September 10, 2006
Police, Why Must You Destroy Wedding Day Goodness?
Yesterday, my friends Levi and Kelly got married. Go Levi and Kelly. These two have come a long ways in life and I'm very excited for the way that God will use them. Their ceremony was very nice, with just the immediate family attending, and was held at Centennial Lakes. After a great reception at River Valley Church, friends and family went over to the Hoyts and ate. Around 10:45, I went straight home. But alas, my early night was not to be. The Lakeville Police Department had other plans for me. After an awkward pause at a four way stop, a Lakeville Police Cruiser pulled behind my vehicle. They followed me for three miles and pulled me over just as I was pulling into my neighborhood. Mom, I did not get a ticket (I say this so she doesn't get all worried and read through too fast).
Within a few minutes, there were three police cruisers behind me. An officer cautiously approached me and asked if I knew why he pulled me over. "No officer, " I said. I wanted to ask him why he hadn't pulled me over sometime in the last three miles, or why he had scared me beyond what I should be scared by being five feet off my bumper for the majority of that time - but I didn't. He demanded my liscense and registration at this point, so I gave them to him, and he went to his car.
I sat on the side of 170th, just off Pilot Knob for 40 minutes before he came back."Sir, your liscence plates are registered for tab expiration in Februrary, but your tabs say March." At this point my mind is asking SO WHAT? Again, I hold my tongue. "Normally, this means that the vehicle is stolen. We have determined, however, that you most likely are the owner of this vehicle." Thank you. Is your name Captain Obvious, officer? He gives me my papers back and indicates that I'm free to leave, then pauses. "You will want to have the DMV fix your tabs. Other police might not let you off this easy - they might take you in while they determine vehicle ownership." I drove the remaining two blocks home, and I was angry.
I have to ask a few questions:
Within a few minutes, there were three police cruisers behind me. An officer cautiously approached me and asked if I knew why he pulled me over. "No officer, " I said. I wanted to ask him why he hadn't pulled me over sometime in the last three miles, or why he had scared me beyond what I should be scared by being five feet off my bumper for the majority of that time - but I didn't. He demanded my liscense and registration at this point, so I gave them to him, and he went to his car.
I sat on the side of 170th, just off Pilot Knob for 40 minutes before he came back."Sir, your liscence plates are registered for tab expiration in Februrary, but your tabs say March." At this point my mind is asking SO WHAT? Again, I hold my tongue. "Normally, this means that the vehicle is stolen. We have determined, however, that you most likely are the owner of this vehicle." Thank you. Is your name Captain Obvious, officer? He gives me my papers back and indicates that I'm free to leave, then pauses. "You will want to have the DMV fix your tabs. Other police might not let you off this easy - they might take you in while they determine vehicle ownership." I drove the remaining two blocks home, and I was angry.
I have to ask a few questions:
- What are the odds someone would steal a '97 Mazda 626 that has 210,000 miles on it?
- Would my liscense not tell him that I own a '97 Mazda 626? That it was black? That it had a plate number matching the one on my car? Would he not have access to a VIN number on file?
- Why have I gotten picked up more by the Lakeville Police Department than any other department despite having driven less than 3,000 miles in Lakeville, and well over 100,000 elsewhere in the last 8 years?
- Is there no legitimate crime for the Lakeville Police Department to fight, or must they spend 5 man hours (there were five cops in those three cruisers) investigating liscense plate tabs on a Saturday night in an area with lots of drinking and driving?
Thursday, September 07, 2006
Misplacing Things is Scary
My entire life, I have lost things. My mom was phenomenol at finding whatever I lost growing up, but her investigations from Memphis are about as bad as a long distance eharmony relationship at accomplishing what they're supposed to. In other words, when I lose something, I either have to find it, which I suck at, or eat it.
I'd been proud of myself that I've only lost sock pairs over this past summer, but last night, I became convinced that I lost my 60gb Ipod Video. Man, was I scared. I called Applebee's, checked the church, ripped apart my laptop bag, checked my car (which I've been doing an excellent job keeping clean: eat that, ADD), ripped my house apart, and went into a rough sleep.
Waking up this morning, I checked my laptop bag one more time. I had ripped it apart and even had a friend look in it. Somehow though, we had both missed it. It was in a compartment that is normally just for papers. It's to thin for an Ipod in all reality... but I put it in there. Dumb. Folks with ADD often misplace things by putting them in a spot they have no business being in. For example, a month ago I fell into the ultimate ADD textbook scenario, and found my remote in the fridge. This is the example that psychologists and college psychology classes give out to folks to say "This is how retarded these people are." Yeah, I did it.
Ironically, there are a lot of people that don't have ADD but have their biggest posessions misplaced: Their time, their passions, and their finances. I'm blessed to feel that I'm moving into the will of God in a way that I haven't recently, but I know a lot of friends that aren't. That's fine. What bugs me is when they don't wrestle with things - they don't seem to ask questions, they don't seem to seek counsil, and they just flat out seem content to continue walking through life that way.
There are two verses that come into my mind: The ever mentioned "There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death," (link) and "Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed" (link)
There are a lot of people that are putting their life in the fridge, or into the flat compartment of their laptop bag. How many people do you know that are working a deadend job that they get no satisfaction from? How many people do you know that go home every night and sit in front of their tv instead of doing something to change the world? How many people do you know of that only wake up in the morning to do busywork the rest of the day? How many do you know that have no clue that there is a God purpose for their life, and that they can find that purpose for their life? How many do you know that have no clue that there is a Biblical way to order their finances that will leave them a lot less stressed out?
It's often true that the hardest things to find are those that are immediately in front of you. Ironically, that God purpose that so many have no clue about is within them, put there to grow by the creator. The counsel that so many don't seek but so desperately need is probably within a few blocks in the form of a church leader, or maybe a successful business man. And many just don't stop to look at the resources available to help them with financial planning despite probably having breezed by them in bookstores a hundred times.
So, these people are out there. What can we do to help them?
I'd been proud of myself that I've only lost sock pairs over this past summer, but last night, I became convinced that I lost my 60gb Ipod Video. Man, was I scared. I called Applebee's, checked the church, ripped apart my laptop bag, checked my car (which I've been doing an excellent job keeping clean: eat that, ADD), ripped my house apart, and went into a rough sleep.
Waking up this morning, I checked my laptop bag one more time. I had ripped it apart and even had a friend look in it. Somehow though, we had both missed it. It was in a compartment that is normally just for papers. It's to thin for an Ipod in all reality... but I put it in there. Dumb. Folks with ADD often misplace things by putting them in a spot they have no business being in. For example, a month ago I fell into the ultimate ADD textbook scenario, and found my remote in the fridge. This is the example that psychologists and college psychology classes give out to folks to say "This is how retarded these people are." Yeah, I did it.
Ironically, there are a lot of people that don't have ADD but have their biggest posessions misplaced: Their time, their passions, and their finances. I'm blessed to feel that I'm moving into the will of God in a way that I haven't recently, but I know a lot of friends that aren't. That's fine. What bugs me is when they don't wrestle with things - they don't seem to ask questions, they don't seem to seek counsil, and they just flat out seem content to continue walking through life that way.
There are two verses that come into my mind: The ever mentioned "There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death," (link) and "Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed" (link)
There are a lot of people that are putting their life in the fridge, or into the flat compartment of their laptop bag. How many people do you know that are working a deadend job that they get no satisfaction from? How many people do you know that go home every night and sit in front of their tv instead of doing something to change the world? How many people do you know of that only wake up in the morning to do busywork the rest of the day? How many do you know that have no clue that there is a God purpose for their life, and that they can find that purpose for their life? How many do you know that have no clue that there is a Biblical way to order their finances that will leave them a lot less stressed out?
It's often true that the hardest things to find are those that are immediately in front of you. Ironically, that God purpose that so many have no clue about is within them, put there to grow by the creator. The counsel that so many don't seek but so desperately need is probably within a few blocks in the form of a church leader, or maybe a successful business man. And many just don't stop to look at the resources available to help them with financial planning despite probably having breezed by them in bookstores a hundred times.
So, these people are out there. What can we do to help them?
- Live your God passion out before you start telling others to.
- Set an example of asking for wisdom from others yourself.
- Get your finances in order yourself (that's my next year's exclusive purpose).
- Encourage those younger than you. Pride will often prevent people from accepting advice from someone that's younger than them.
- Notice people, and let them know that what's important to them is important to you.
Saturday, September 02, 2006
Happy Birthday?
So, it was my birthday today. In fact, it was the first one to get celebrated in two or three years. That was meaningful, seriously. Having your birthday at the beginning of the college year and changing schools doesn't help people know about the day.
I had a transmission mount replaced today on my car. My wheels have 210,000 miles on them, but they're paid for and I keep them maintained. I'm so confident in my maintenance though, that I felt deeply disturbed when my mechanic showed me the old mount - it was snapped completely in half! My follow up thought was anger: I had my transmission replaced 60,000 miles ago. I thought the reason my old transmission case had devloped a crack was because of the wreck my car had been in (I got it at 140,000 and rebuilt the rear. Less than 2,300 in it, purchase and repair!), but now I'm inclined to think - and my mechanic agrees - that the mount cracked first, and the transmission followed suit later due to getting slammed around. That makes sense when I think about the way transmission handling for both transmissions has really paralled the other's. This means though, that the guy that replaced my transmission didn't replace the mount! Not only that, but the guy owes my family's business for three transmissions we sold him! He's a total crook... but his business in town went under. It's so hard to find good mechanics, I'm really fortunate to have a guy now whose word I would take at face value. The good guy's name is Cliff Barth, and he owns Motor Magic in Breckenridge, MN. I give him two thumbs up and a recommend any day. He's also mayor of the town :p
Sometimes I feel like people have similar trust levels for Pastors and Mechanics - a mentality that they will either help you or screw you over, but more screw you over. I hope that any ministries I'm associated with will see folks helped, with personal hurts kept to a minimum.
I'll put up a picture of that part in a few days :p
I had a transmission mount replaced today on my car. My wheels have 210,000 miles on them, but they're paid for and I keep them maintained. I'm so confident in my maintenance though, that I felt deeply disturbed when my mechanic showed me the old mount - it was snapped completely in half! My follow up thought was anger: I had my transmission replaced 60,000 miles ago. I thought the reason my old transmission case had devloped a crack was because of the wreck my car had been in (I got it at 140,000 and rebuilt the rear. Less than 2,300 in it, purchase and repair!), but now I'm inclined to think - and my mechanic agrees - that the mount cracked first, and the transmission followed suit later due to getting slammed around. That makes sense when I think about the way transmission handling for both transmissions has really paralled the other's. This means though, that the guy that replaced my transmission didn't replace the mount! Not only that, but the guy owes my family's business for three transmissions we sold him! He's a total crook... but his business in town went under. It's so hard to find good mechanics, I'm really fortunate to have a guy now whose word I would take at face value. The good guy's name is Cliff Barth, and he owns Motor Magic in Breckenridge, MN. I give him two thumbs up and a recommend any day. He's also mayor of the town :p
Sometimes I feel like people have similar trust levels for Pastors and Mechanics - a mentality that they will either help you or screw you over, but more screw you over. I hope that any ministries I'm associated with will see folks helped, with personal hurts kept to a minimum.
I'll put up a picture of that part in a few days :p
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