Kind of Blue

Oh, blue yeah! I'm feeling kinda blue tonight, but in a good way. That thing hanging around my neck has been 17 years coming.

But, alas, I've been out done today. Rachel's sister, Renee, had a baby today! His name is Spencer Ross, and the kids are eager to meet their new baby cousin.

I'd go smoke my cigar I've been saving, but I'm baby sitting, so it'll have to wait.

Nightime excitement

I'm fixing myself a Martini, when all of the sudden...

SCREEEEEEECH... BOOOM!

I run outside, phone in my hand to see what's up. A young kid ran his car right up the back of an older fella's car. "Is everyone ok?" Yes, everyone's ok. The older fella is holding his neck, but he says he's ok. My wife brings a cup of water for the man. The whole neighborhood seemed to show up to "help." And by help, I mean curse at on coming cars for not slowing down, and challenging the drivers to fight when they yell back at them. One guy suggested that one of the passers by do something vulgar to both his own self and the horse he rode in on. I noticed not one horse during this entire occassion, but it was dark and maybe it snuck by me. Anyway, the police showed up and took care of things. Funny, last night a cop sat at the intersection all evening, pulling everyone over that ran the stop sign at this very intersection.

Mmm, back to my Martini (gin, not vodka, with FOUR olives, yum!)

Pie

My wife made this yesterday:

We ate it. There was strawberries dipped in chocolate, cream cheese, whipped cream, and stuff. No coveting, now mind you. Just be happy for us.

When is a test not a test?

I went to Karate last night, which I seldom do on a Monday night. Well, they were testing the lower belts, and I was asked if I wanted to join them -- join them as in go through the rigors of the test, but it's not my test. I figured, that would be good practice, so I agreed. Well, I got through the pushups, the tricep dips, and in a much more labored effort, the situps. Then came sitting at the wall.

Try this. Lean your back against a wall, with your legs together. Then slide down the wall until your legs are making a 90 degree angle at your knees, as if you're sitting in a chair that's not there. Now, stay there... for 2 1/2 minutes. Well, I didn't make it to 2 1/2, but collapsed at about 1 1/2 minutes. Next, back up against the wall, this time, legs apart... again, I'm on the floor at about 1 1/2 to 2 minutes. So, I failed the test, but it wasn't my test, just a dry run. I think that was helpful, because now I know what I need to prepare for next week when it's for real. That's just the physical stuff, I have to demonstrate my ability to remember and perform the techniques as well, of course.

Hey, remember back in the 1970's when we were all scared of killer bees? Ever wonder where they got to?

The Wisdom and Integrity of this Evil World

"That he might deliver us from this present evil world."

As long as a person is in the world he cannot by his own efforts rid himself of sin, because the world is bent upon evil. The people of the world are the slaves of the devil. If we are not in the Kingdom of Christ, it is certain we belong to the kingdom of Satan and we are pressed into his service with every talent we possess. Take the talents of wisdom and integrity. Without Christ, wisdom is double foolishness and integrity double sin, because they not only fail to perceive the wisdom and righteousness of Christ, but hinder and blaspheme the salvation of Christ. Paul justly calls it the evil or wicked world, for when the world is at its best the world is at its worst. The grossest vices are small faults in comparison with the wisdom and righteousness of the world. These prevent men from accepting the Gospel of the righteousness of Christ. The white devil of spiritual sin is far more dangerous than the black devil of carnal sin because the wiser, the better men are without Christ, the more they are likely to ignore and oppose the Gospel.

~Dr. Martin Luther, Commentary on Galatians 1:4.

America's Pastime

One minute you're chasing down a fly-ball in foul territory, and the next thing you know you're face down in the dirt, with your glasses bent, your legs sticking in the air, and your skirt up around your waist. Well, I'll spare you all photographs of that incident, but here's Conner taking some batting practice:
He's a lefty, and yes I know, he's gripping his bat incorrectly, but give the kid a break, would ya?

Being bored with baseball, Calle, Cole, and Daniel drifted off to the nearby pavillion, where the employees from a local bank were having some kind of a picnic. Daniel apparently won a prize -- an inflatable Big Bird swimming tube thingy, and Cole and Calle came back with cold drinks (they were looking at the Coke and Pepsi machines, just checking to see if they only cost a nickel or a quarter, or whatever they had in their pockets, when someone from the picnic took them over to the cooler where the drinks were kept). So the kids wandered off and came back with free stuff. Hmm... they should wander off more often. Well, ok, maybe not.

Oh, I might cry outloud.

You scored as Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan. You are an evangelical in the Wesleyan tradition. You believe that God's grace enables you to choose to believe in him, even though you yourself are totally depraved. The gift of the Holy Spirit gives you assurance of your salvation, and he also enables you to live the life of obedience to which God has called us. You are influenced heavly by John Wesley and the Methodists. Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan 75% Reformed Evangelical 75% Fundamentalist 71% Neo orthodox 46% Roman Catholic 46% Emergent/Postmodern 32% Classical Liberal 25% Modern Liberal 7% Charismatic/Pentecostal 4% What's your theological worldview? created with QuizFarm.com

If I tied at 75% with Reformed-Evangelical, why do they make me Wesleyan? Stoopid Quiz.

Hmm...lol!

"Quitters Never Win, Winners Never Quit, But Those Who Never Win AND Never Quit Are Idiots." ~~ Seen on an internet forum as someones signature line.

Numbers

7: Intitial test indicates the 7th, situation currently developing.

20: Opening set of pushups I did today in my drop-sets scheme. 20 pushups, rest 30 seconds to a minute, 19 pushups, rest 30 seconds or so, 18 pushups, etc., all the way down to 1.

210: The total amount of pushups I did today doing the drop-sets from 20.

2: The amount of aspirin I'm going to take as a result.

3: Number of pushups I started doing per set a few months ago when I was just beginning to get back into shape.

11: Approximate number of days I have until my belt test.

18: About the number of years since the last time I had a belt test (I have a newspaper clipping of me with a green belt, from 1987... I'm still a green belt).

2 or 3: The amount of times I smoked my pipe this week, if I'm remembering correctly.

1: Friends I have that are sore from falling off ladders.

2: Hours I have until I have to leave for work.

3: Things wrong with my car that will require money to repair.

0: Amount of extra dollars I have laying around to pay for the repairs or for a new (used) car.

What in the world wide web???

Sometimes I find things on the web and just have to wonder. Example number #1 is a site that you'd think has something to do with Bob Dylan, but um... well...

MysteryBobDylan

And if you hit refresh, the site changes!

Example #2, is a blogger that sings the praises of "karate for life" but in his one and only post, begs for help because he doesn't know anything about karate!

Karate4U!

Example #3 is what in the world happened to all my image shack pics? They were appearing just fine a minute ago!

The Cost of Friendship, Or...

Poor Daniel Should Wear a Helmut.

Friday night we visited the B's, and as Erica points out, I missed a fantastic potential blogging opportunity with her rather theatric sudden swooning illness, complete with cute little blubbering scrunched up face. It really was quite funny. Not that someone being in such great discomfort is funny in and of itself, rather, it was everyone's reaction (not just my reaction, but everyone's reaction). Erica's mother just sat in her chair, not seeming too concerned at all that her daughter is laying flat on the floor, in front of guests, crying that she is weak and nauseous. Erica's bro just kinda smirked at her, and gave some sort of a half-a-chuckle. The kids were asking "What's the matter with Erica?" And as adults, our only response was, "Don't look at me, I got no idea!" But, she lived and that's what's important.

Now, I would submit that Erica's plight is nothing but a distraction from the real events of the evening. Poor little Daniel, who just turned 4 years old yesterday, was mysteriously hit on the back of the head by a falling brick, leaving a nice knot. Ouch, right? Ok, but then he's in the bathroom attempting to negotiate the dangerous jungle-gym obstacle course, or should I say, "Flimsy dangerous DEATH-tacle course," climbing onto a little table/stool-type thing that is not fit to support your dainty tea cup, in an effort to wash his little hands. Bam! Slam! SCREEEEEEEEEEAM! Head smacks on something, maybe the tile floor. But here's the result, which rivals "Crash" Jason in the ugly competition:


It was a very nice visit.

Luther on Having an Interest in Christ.

"Who gave himself for our sins."

You will readily grant that Christ gave Himself for the sins of Peter, Paul, and others who were worthy of such grace. But feeling low, you find it hard to believe that Christ gave Himself for your sins. Our feelings shy at a personal application of the pronoun "our," and we refuse to have anything to do with God until we have made ourselves worthy by good deeds. This attitude springs from a false conception of sin, the conception that sin is a small matter, easily taken care of by good works; that we must present ourselves unto God with a good conscience; that we must feel no sin before we may feel that Christ was given for our sins. This attitude is universal and particularly developed in those who consider themselves better than others. Such readily confess that they are frequent sinners, but they regard their sins as of no such importance that they cannot easily be dissolved by some good action, or that they may not appear before the tribunal of Christ and demand the reward of eternal life for their righteousness. Meantime they pretend great humility and acknowledge a certain degree of sinfulness for which they soulfully join in the publican's prayer, "God be merciful to me a sinner."

But the real significance and comfort of the words "for our sins" is lost upon them. The genius of Christianity takes the words of Paul "who gave himself for our sins" as true and efficacious. We are not to look upon our sins as insignificant trifles. On the other hand, we are not to regard them as so terrible that we must despair. Learn to believe that Christ was given, not for picayune and imaginary transgressions, but for mountainous sins; not for one or two, but for all; not for sins that can be discarded, but for sins that are stubbornly ingrained.

Practice this knowledge and fortify yourself against despair, particularly in the last hour, when the memory of past sins assails the conscience. Say with confidence: "Christ, the Son of God, was given not for the righteous, but for sinners. If I had no sin I should not need Christ. No, Satan, you cannot delude me into thinking I am holy. The truth is, I am all sin. My sins are not imaginary transgressions, but sins against the first table, unbelief, doubt, despair, contempt, hatred, ignorance of God, ingratitude towards Him, misuse of His name, neglect of His Word, etc.; and sins against the second table, dishonor of parents, disobedience of government, coveting of another's possessions, etc. Granted that I have not committed murder, adultery, theft, and similar sins in deed, nevertheless I have committed them in the heart, and therefore I am a transgressor of all the commandments of God. "Because my transgressions are multiplied and my own efforts at self-justification rather a hindrance than a furtherance, therefore Christ the Son of God gave Himself into death for my sins." To believe this is to have eternal life.

~~Dr. Martin Luther, Commentary on Galatians 1:4.

Kobudo Idiocy

Now this kind of foolishness is rivaled only by my performance (witnessed by Brother John) in college when I smashed the overhead light in the dorm room with my Tonfa!

Exceptionally Average Intelligence

Your IQ Is 105

Your Logical Intelligence is Exceptional Your Verbal Intelligence is Exceptional Your Mathematical Intelligence is Average Your General Knowledge is Above Average

A Quick and Dirty IQ Test

The only thing that suprised me about this is that my Mathematical Intelligence is supposedly "average." I think that's probably more of a sad commentary on the mathematical inabilities of the average joe, than it is an affirmation of my mathematical abilities.

Taken Care Of.

Remember I mentioned that I unwittingly offended someone, in a rather public fashion, a while back? Well, tonight I made it right. Taken care of. Done, we're good. And let me tell ya, it feels good too. I was actually losing sleep over it!

Now, I have to go do some pushups. I'm on a strict regiment until the end of this month.

Saturday

We didn't get home with enough time to blog Saturday night, so here's the weekend update. We went fishing! But first we had to put on our pants. Sometimes no one in the house is wearing pants.


After having on our pants, we did family worship.


Then off to the fishing pond, where we fished (which for me usually means getting hooks out of trees, bushes, other kids, rigging and re-rigging everyone's line over and over, untangling lines, etc.).


And guess what? Success! We caught maybe five or six fish!


One of the fish we caught seems to have had special powers and abilities -- lightning fast, the fish appears to be able to poke Elisabeth in the eye, bite Daniel's finger, and fly away to safety.


After being attacked by giant white ducks,

we decided to go somewhere else.

So we went to a party. It was a graduation party, where there was food and balloons. As the people started cleaning up the mess from the party, my wife explained to me who it was the party was for. Chet or Chad is apparently some kind of a cousin to Rachel. The pork barbecue was good. And going home ended Saturday's events. Wait, the older three kids went to Karate class that day too. Oh, sometimes I forget stuff.

EDIT: PROOF THAT THE OTHER KIDS WENT FISHING TOO!

God Keep Me from Temptation

We should be very solicitous lest we should be drawn into temptation and, therefore, we are taught to pray, Lead us not into temptation, as well as Forgive us our trespasses. True, God keeps me from such and such sins, but what if God should leave me to temptation? What a wretched creature I would be if ever this corupt heart of mind should prevail against me! I have cause to fear because I find such wickedness boiling and bubbling up. I find such proneness to such and such sins. If the Lord is not infinitely merciful to me, I shall break out to the dishonor of His name, the scandal of religion, and the wounding of my conscience, and this, God knows, causes the most solicitous care I ever had lest my heart should break out against God to the scandal of that holy profession I have taken upon me.

Oh, is it thus with you? Oh, this would be a happy thing, indeed!

~~ Jeremiah Burroughs, The Evil of Evils, chapter 67.

Tests

Found out last night at Karate class that my instructor wants me to test for my next belt at the end of THIS MONTH! I have some work to do. While much of the stuff I learned over 15 years ago is coming back to me just fine, I'm not 17 any more, and the physical tests are going to be a serious challenge for this out of shape pappa of 6. I must hit the floor and do pushups and situps like mad if I'm going to have a chance. Tests.

I also learned that I may have caused undue offense to someone in the class. Last week, the instructor was talking to the class about how training for many years is very effective for strengthening the body. As an example, he pointed out that a particular black belt in the class had been training in Karate since 1973. The instructor then asked me, in front of the class, if I remember this black belt from over 15 years ago. Being caught off guard, I said something along the lines of, "Oh yeah... I've been kicked by him before," intending it as a compliment to his fast and powerful kicks that I vividly remember from sparring and working on the bags with him so many years ago. But after class, this black belt comes to me and says, "I never kicked you!" I explained to him what I meant by my comment, and he said something like, "Well, you made it sound like I accidently kicked you, for lack of control, on several occassions. I've always taken pride in my control." Now I feel awful, like I need to publically clarify my statement, but I don't know how to do that without interrupting the class. I actually tossed and turned about this all night last night, feeling like I tarnished a man's good name. All I meant to say is that the guy can kick like a horse. Tests.

Last night I was privy to a conversation about integrity. Someone said that integrity is doing what is right, even if no one is around. Well, this morning I was reminded, like a slap in the face, that I don't always do what is right when no one is around. I have some work to do, and some grace to beg for. Tests.

I heard these song lyrics yesterday: "I don't get angry when my mom smokes pot, hits the bottle, and goes right to the rock." The band is called Sublime, and I do NOT recommend them. Some of the lyrics are rather foul. But I immediately related to these lines. I guess I can't truthfully express those sentiments, however. I do get angry. I just tend to stuff it deep inside, way down into my toes, until my chest hurts and my teeth feel like they're gonna crack from gritting them so tightly. I don't talk too much about my past anymore. At some point talking about my past lost the therapeutic value it once had, and so I just kinda forget about it. Sometimes I'm reminded of things, and think to myself, "Oh yeah, I forgot that happened." Of course, some things from the past aren't exactly "past" yet. Tests.

"I have no idea, Mr. Waybright"

I'm online! I'm online!

It seems like longer, but shortly after posting here yesterday morning, we all the sudden couldn't connect to the internet.


So, I did some trouble shooting, checking all my wire connections, unhooking stuff, yelling at the kids and throwing things at my wife, until finally today I decided to call my ISP. After going through some kind of check list which included all the "duh" type things like, "Is your computer on?" "Have you checked our website's help section as to why you can't get online?" Etc. Finally, with me making no changes, the guy says "Try it now." And BAM! I'm on. So I asked what was wrong on their end, since they fixed it from their end. Silence, for about one solid minute. Then, "Anything else I can help you with, sir?" Um, yes. What was the problem and how did you fix it? "I have no idea, Mr. Waybright."

I guess I kind of expect people to lie to me, but must you do it by feigning kindness? That just makes me angry.



Oh, well. I'm online, yes! I'm online!