My parents got us a great game for the Wii called Kabooki for Christmas. If you’re a fan of the board game “Cranium” and have a Wii then this is the game for you. There are a few of the categories that are difficult for little hands, but we have already staged some epic battles around the TV. This post is not as much a review of Kabooki as it is a reason to post a great tune from the 80’s. See, we were playing the game recently and the answer to one of the questions was “Clarence Clemons”. My wife didn’t think it was a real person so I had to explain that he was, in fact, the sax player for the E Street Band.
I guess I never realized it was Daryl Hannah singing backup until I saw this video (after all you can believe everything you see in music videos). Here I thought she was just a mermaid all these years….
So here’s to Kabooki, Daryl Hannah and Clarence Clemons….wherever you are.
Have you ever restored something? I can remember when I was in High School, it was a really big deal to find an old car and restore it. While I have personally never done that, the Mustang would have been my car of choice. I wouldn’t even know where to start, but I would know this…
Restoring something takes time
Restoring something takes patience
Restoring something removes the imperfections
Restoring something makes it new again
Restoring something, sometimes, makes it stronger than before
Now take those things we know about restoring something and place them over the hurts of ours and others. I think of friends that are going through struggles that we can never fully understand. I want so badly to just fix it. I want for nothing more than the TV version where they flip a house into a mansion in an hour (including commercials). I want to rejoice with them over the good news. I want nothing more than for God to restore as only He can.
After a lengthy battle with the unimaginable, God restored to Job “twice as much as he lost” (Job 42:10). God is in the restoration business. While his version is not “made for TV”, it is certainly reality. It takes time. It takes patience. It removes the imperfections. It makes all things new and in many cases, stronger than before.
That’s what I’m praying for….
“Restore To Me” by Mac Powell
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I have said it before, but I continue to be intrigued by what happens when we accept Gods call to live in community with one another. When we honestly share in one anothers burdens, we expose ourselves to what, in my opinion, becomes the hardest part of our faith. The “questions that have no answers” become living examples and challenge the very core of our finite understanding of an infinite God. When all of this happens, faith gets “messy”.
Faith doesn’t just get “messy” in community, it can get messy when we look in the mirror. I believe when we open ourselves to “whatever God has planned for us”, it can be the ultimate “be careful what you wish for”. We want the drive thru version of understanding and knowing Gods plan for our lives. It would be so much easier if we could just pull up, receive our instructions (good or bad) and drive away with a purpose. That’s not often how it works. We are asked to wait. We are forced to use our own understanding of what would happen if (insert calling here). Our plans and calculations get in the way and faith gets “messy”.
This morning as I pondered both the examples of so many I know where faith has gotten “messy” and even in my own life, I was reminded of a very important point. God never promised our faith wouldn’t get messy. Hard as I searched the concordance, I couldn’t find a single scriptural reference for that. He never promised smooth sailing. He never promised drive thru discernment. He asked for obedience. He asked that we trust that God is so much bigger than our understanding. He asked that we trust even more when faith gets “messy”.
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Well let’s be honest I don’t think I ever said the Tar Heels would go undefeated. It drove me crazy when the “experts” were saying that they would. But Boston College??? At home??? Shooting 29% in the second half will do that to you I guess.
Like my mom used to say “this too shall pass”.
On the bright side….at least the loss didn’t come to Duke.
One of the simple pleasures our family enjoys is “movie night” around the TV. We recently downgraded our Digital cable package, which included “Starz On Demand”, in favor of Blockbuster DVD’s in the mail. In this current economy, it’s good to save a few dollars wherever possible. We were not really watching Starz and have a better selection of movies with Blockbuster. The savings aren’t huge, but it works for us. Over the holidays we have watched “Toy Story“, “Kung Fu Panda“, “Hancock” (the kids didn’t watch that one), “Eagle Eye” (ditto) and “The Dark Knight” (ditto, ditto). This weekend we have “Journey to the Center of the Earth“, “Get Smart” and “Kit Kittredge“.
This post is to review “Kit Kittredge“. While “the boy” and I were not jumping up and down to watch this, we figured it was the least we could to for balance in this NCAA season. We get our share of TV domination watching hoops so it was the right thing to do. I would say that “the boy” (age eight) enjoyed this movie as much, if not more than, my girls did. Set in the great depression, this was a scary reminder of the times we are oh-so-close to living in again. Unemployment, forclosed homes and people doing what they can to get by, this hit pretty close to where we live. While it is a nice little mystery story, the message of friendship and family are very good. I did blank out (sleep) for about 15 minutes of the film, but it was a good choice for family movie night.
It is officially 2009 and this is my first post of the New Year. What an interesting spot I find myself in tonight. There is so much to look forward to in a new year. There is the known (Cabo in March, Outer Banks in June) and yet there is so much unknown (economy, new President). We started off the new year on a positive (but cold) note this morning with the “First on the First” 5K. The results are posted (HERE) but my wife had a great run. She finished 73rd overall with a 23:49 time and a 7:41 pace. Jeff and I finished 157 and 158 with a time of 27:50 and a pace of 8:59. Truth be told, Jeff probably could have finished a few spots higher. There was a hill at the 2.5 mile point that really took the wind out of my lungs and sails.
He’s got his eye on a couple more runs in January and a 10K in February. The good news for that one is that it’s a nice flat course. The bad news is that it is a one mile loop that you do 6 times….IN FEBRUARY. More to come on that one. It’s back to work for me tomorrow morning after being on vacation since December 19th. It has been a great time off but there is much work to be done in the morning. I hope each and every one of you had a safe, healthy and Happy New Year!
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Been another “wild ride” this year for the blog. Maybe it is some form of Karma for getting what I asked for when I called my blog what I did. Living life with Arms Wide Open, to me, means that you live life open to anything and everything that just might come your way. Who knew that 2008 would be a year like it was. To those that have followed along for another years worth of destroying the English language and grammar rules I say “thank you”! Who knows what 2009 will hold? For now, I thought I might post one of the many highlights from 2008.
Boy senses calling in March
Boy tells wife about calling
Boy follows calling to Charlotte, NC
Boy returns and boy and wife put house on the market
Boy and wife decide to pull house of market only to have calling and pull haunt them for months
Boy and wife put house BACK on market for 6 weeks
Boy and wife sell house and have to be out in 2 weeks
Boy, wife and family go to Charlotte to find a home and decide God’s saying “it’s not time yet”
Boy and wife return to Ohio only to buy another home (since they sold theirs)
Boy and wife have sale of exsiting home in Ohio fall apart so they never pack a single box
Boy and wife wonder what Charlotte was all about but trust God and his timing
Boy’s wife and a friend get boy to start running and he gets hooked.
I mentioned it in a previous post, but here’s the actual song. I can’t get enough of it. This is my anthem and New Years Resolution for 2009. Might as well start today!
The service for our friend Stefan Tarapchak yesterday was wonderful. The choir and Allen Lowe did an incredible job of singing songs of praise and hope. I was so proud of Sandi as she delivered a memorial speech to Stef. While it was, at times difficult, this morning I rejoice. As a matter of fact, I can’t get away from how excited I am this morning. I keep thinking that Stef would have wanted it this way. What would he have wanted???
SEVERAL people accepted Christ as their personal Savior at the end of service yesterday.
I rejoice that Stef’s personal hope was that “just one” would be saved. His journey will forever change the eternity of countless people. Scripture tells us that when one gets saved, there is literally rejoicing in Heaven. So to that I say….let’s party down here on Earth!
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