Back to blogging

I have LL Cool J's "Going back to Cali" in my head as I titled this post. I'm going, going, back back to blogging blogging.

I have lots and lots of thoughts from this last week and a half at CSU for crusade's national staff conference. Tim Keller was bringing it, as was just about everyone else I talked to.

Starting a diet tomorrow. Crusade has a wellness program in which they're willing to donate $5 to our staff account for every pound lost between now and January 1st. Sounds like incentive to me to lose 30 lbs or so! I'm probably around 225, but I'll officially weigh-in tomorrow and keep you updated. Eating at a cafeteria buffet all week definitely was not good for me, and neither was knowing the official weigh-in is august 1st; it made me want to chow-down until then. I haven't decided if I'm getting a gym membership or not, I'll go check it out today. I'm just considering running more and lifting a bit, but I'll add some junk into that should I get a gym membership.

Deeper thoughts coming tomorrow.

I love Aaron Badenhop

That's all.

My first plane ride!

(Noah speaking) So yesterday I got to take my first plane ride. It was strange. Mom & Dad made me sit on their laps for a long time. Well, excluding the one time Dad let me crawl half way down the aisle. It wore me out. I got to take a short nap though. It was a 3 hour flight, so I needed to get some much needed nap time in. I've attached some pictures. I especially enjoyed looking out the window.

You never can be too safe when it's your first time flying.

Cool, dude!

I wore myself out again on the shuttle to Colorado State University. I liked it though. Big windows on the bus. Lots to see.

So my first plane ride was pretty good! Now we're staying in the dorms at CSU. I'm not even a student yet and I'm living in the dorms. Not sure how I feel about that. The food is good.

We went to the fair last night and got to see all kinds of people and there were rides and stuff. I didn't stay out too late though. Mom and Dad were pretty tired and kept telling people I needed to get to bed. Sheesh.

I even got to go to hang out with some other kids this morning. Mom just dropped me off and left. She did pretty good though. No crying or anything. Some of the other Moms and kids were crying but we handled it like a couple of pros. I think we're gonna try to visit the other kids a lot while we're here so Mom and Dad can go to the meetings. I liked it so we might as well, right?

Well, that's it for now. I'm liking it here. We walk everywhere, and by walk, I mean Mom & Dad push me around in my stroller everywhere we go. I'm having fun and meeting all kinds of new people. I hope I remember them when I see them again.....

Crazy few weeks, and it's getting crazier

My brother got married last weekend. The week prior we spent a great deal of time in Canton hanging our with the family, and it was a really great time. We golfed a bit, played some games, and learned the thriller dance. It was a bit like my childhood actually...

The wedding was a lot of fun. Everyone was super stressed, which is always sort've fun for me. Sometimes I think I should be a firefighter or ER doctor or something because often when people around me start freaking out I get unnaturally calm. I remember one time Melissa and I were driving home on a rainy night and at an on-ramp we started to spin and hydroplaned 180% so that we were now facing oncoming traffic. On an on-ramp! Melissa was driving and obviously panicked. I just sort've calmly said, "everything's ok baby." I put the car in park because we had stalled and then I said, "We have to restart it," and she did. It was a pretty cool time for me. I was just ridiculously calm and she started up the car and we turned around and drove away.

I was like that for the wedding and other events. Everyone was bouncing around stressing and anxious and I sort've leisurely strolled around enjoying the day. I hope my brother enjoyed the day as well.

If that flower doesn't say "laid back" I'm not sure what does!

Great time seeing the nieces also. Lots of cute pictures I'll probably post hereafter.

This week has been spent packing and getting everything ready to head to Colorado State University for 10 days for Campus crusade's staff conference. It's always fun traveling with a baby. Pfft.

Yes I kicked over a little girl

Check it out, from my brother's wedding reception this past weekend.

This was a ton of fun. I was a little flustered after booting the girl over, but I got back on track at the end. Everyone was super suprised.

Back on the support trail

Been on somewhat of a hiatus lately, so it's good to get back in the swing of things. We currently need about $900 in monthly support, so we're getting close! We've had a crazy week, and I'll post about it in the next few days. Getting back to MPD (ministry partner development) is always tough for me if I've neglected it for a few days. See, contrary to the majority of crusade staff, I am not a self-starter. It's difficult for me to create inertia, but once I get going it's relatively easy to keep the ball rolling. Thanks to God for the grace of today's inertia!

I spent this morning thus far reading through the entire gospel of Luke. When I study a book of the Bible, every week or so I like to read through the entire book to solidify the "big picture" of what the author is trying to convey. I think this is wise; often we can take small snippets (sp?) of what one small section of the Bible is trying to say and then form what turn out to be misguided and small conclusions. Yes, let's study each verse (For example I'm reading Darrell Bock's Commentary on Luke and I'm 200 pages in and we've just finished the first chapter), but let's not neglect the entirety of what Luke is trying to say. Each verse of each book falls into a broader picture of the books main themes. Thereafter, eve, each book falls into the broader picture of what the entire Bible is conveying. Context is key. So, I'll read through all of Luke one day each week while the other 6 days I'll really dig into the specifics.

Many other things running through my mind; those should give me blog-fodder for the next week or so. Stay tuned...

What's ahead:

You sly dog...

Heading home tonight for my brother's wedding on Saturday. Should be good times seeing all the family. We play a ton of games, for good and for bad. Meaning, for instance, my mom said she got about 5 people together to play a game of "rail-baron" a few days ago and it broke out in fights and other nasty stuff. On one hand we're spending time together, but on the other perhaps it's not the most edifying time to be had. I plan on golfing a few times over the week and it should be interesting because I haven't golfed in maybe two years. I may have went last year but I just can't remember.

We're trying to set up some support appts and work on MPD while we're there as well. If you could pray for this that would be awesome; for the obvious reasons, whenever Melissa and I are with family we seem to not be very productive. We want to remain faithful to our MPD (ministry partner development, or support raising) while we're there nonetheless. I plan on leaving a few mornings to head to Mcds for some coffee and MPD time.

Melissa's last day at the law firm is today. We're excited to move on to the next chapter of our lives. We have enough support to raise our paychecks to livable standards, so she turned in her notice about a month ago. They're going to be sad to see her leave undoubtedly. She has been an off (Baku, OSU) and on pillar for that accounting department for 5 years or so. We will both miss things about that place and hopefully we can stay in touch with some of the people there.

After my brother's wedding is Columbus for a week or so and then off to Colorado for a national CCC conference. Should be hectic. Fun, but hectic.

Rough Weekend

We headed to Melissa's families house for the 4th weekend. It started out pretty great. We had family come in from all over the place, her cousin from New York was there (and they threw a suprise birthday party) as well as other out-of towners. Great food, great conversation.

The 4th was fairly uneventful. We had some family things, but I just wasn't feeling very well. I wasn't all out sick, yet anyways, just a bit under the weather. We went out with her mom and dad that evening to a chinese buffet and man was it good. It was good the next morning, also, except it was coming out instead of in.

I woke up Sunday at 3AM or so and never went back to sleep. Was on the toilet and puking for the majority of the morning, not a good time at all.

Worse yet, though, Melissa's mom and dad's dog Spencer (who was Melissa's puppy for five or six years I think) passed away Sunday morning as well. He wasn't old, but not young either, I think he was 10. It was emotional all around and I admit I would've been a lot more said if a parade wasn't going on in my nether regions. Melissa actually was petting him when he passed away. Spencer was a great puppy and he'll really be missed. They buried him that day and I was sad I didn't get to help or be there.

It's funny how we just bond with pets, dogs especially it seems. I've said it in joking, but I'm pretty serious as well, that dogs just represent a lot of Christ. They are super forgiving (you could yell and scream at them and the next minute they're right by your side), they are loyal, and the good ones like Spencer are obedient. Melissa used to joke in college that she didn't need a man because she had her dog. To a small extent I think she was on to something there. Obviously a friendship with a dog is a small glimpse of what we were created for, for intimacy with God and fellowship with each other.