Monday, July 28, 2008

It's Official!


Amy took the oath of office this evening and is officially installed as a member of the Perquimans County School Board. So . . . the fourth Monday of every month for the next four years - we know where she will be - at the school board meeting. She was quite excited since she has already been to two days of training in Raleigh and several evening workshops.


Thursday, July 24, 2008

It Runs In The Family

This week our family was on our annual vacation to Lake Gaston. My family, my sister’s and my parents all spend most of a week at a lake house. We've done this since 1999. We have a lot of fun, catching up, skiing, tubing and other water sports.

This year we added something new, although it wasn’t that fun. Sunday evening after a sunset boat ride (very nice) my sister stepped off the dock and fell in the water. She had a fairly large bruise and several scrapes. Not to be out-done, my dad stepped off the dock on Tuesday evening, also after dusk (you’d think we’d learn). Unfortunately, dad ended up breaking two bones in his foot.

I think sunset boat rides are out unless we have a major flashlight. Hopefully that is the last of falling off the dock.
Despite the our tendancy to fall in the lake, we had fun. Most of all, it had little to do with what we did, but more of who we were with. Isn't that the way it's supposed to be?

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Corn-Hole


I heard about Corn-Hole from others and decided to try it. The kids and I built the corn-hole boards and ordered the corn-filled bags online. We took them on our family vacation this week and had loads of fun. For the record, my dad made the first Hole-In. We played several evenings past dusk and fed several mosquitoes.

Friday, July 18, 2008

Wow!



I came across this article written last July by Josh Hamilton, the guy who hit 28 home runs in the Home Run Derby on Monday. Be sure to read this article, it's more about a changed life than baseball. "I'm proof that hope is never lost"

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

"What a Waste!"

This evening as I was carrying our tray of fast food to our table, I noticed that we had one extra sandwich. After we prayed, I began to disperse the food and figure out which one was the extra. About the time I was down to the last two sandwiches, the employee who handed me the tray of food at the counter came to the table and asked if she had given me an extra sandwich. I responded by saying "yes", then grabbed the extra sandwich and handed it to her. She took the sandwich and threw it in the trash.

Amy and I looked at each other, dumbfounded. Then Amy said, "What a waste!"

Contrast that experience to the one we had a few weeks ago at a different restaurant. We called ahead and ordered some milkshakes "to go". When we got to the drive-thru, the employee apologized and explained that they hadn't started the milkshakes (real milkshakes, hand dipped). A few minutes later she returned with the milkshakes, apologizing again, then telling me that the milkshakes were free due to our having to wait. Cool!

Restaurant 1 made me feel bad, like I stole something. Restaurant 2 made me feel great, like they cared and that I am important. Here's the thing: both restaurants had food that was not paid for. The unpaid sandwich made me feel bad and the unpaid milkshakes made me feel good. Guess which restaurant I'm frequenting more?

Here is a question for us: If we are Christians, which restaurant are we portraying? As you interact with others, are you making sure no one gets away with anything (Restaurant 1)? Or are you are willing dispenser of God's grace (Restaurant 2)? Which is more attractive? Which one do you want to hang out with?

Hopefully we're not Restaurant 1. "What a waste!"