Reflections on a Cold Week

This past week our church (Levy Church of Christ) got to work with other local churches and local homeless organizations to provide temporary shelter during this recent bout of extreme cold weather. Thought I'd share my thoughts and observations about the experience.

Our original role this winter was to be an emergency oncall shelter, only opening once the other shelters were full or there was someone that the other shelters wouldn't accept for the night. With that in mind we planned and prepared to accommodate 1 to 6 people. Up until this past Sunday we had only been called once to provide shelter to one lady.

But this week we were asked to be opened and staffed for any women they found needing a place to stay.  The church that would normally house women was unable to this week.  Based on how many they had had before, we expected up to 9 or 10.  Sunday night we had 4 women. Monday we were asked if we were willing to house both women and men. The church that was housing men had reached near their capacity the first night and the expectation was that the numbers would increase each night we were open. Monday night we had 4 women and 4 men.  Tuesday we had 4 women and 15 men. Wednesday - 3 women, 20 men. Thursday - 2 women, 19 or 21 men.

The week left me quite tired and a little weepy (but if you know me, the weepy part doesn't surprise you). I'm sorry that it's taken me this long to get involved.

There's really not much difference in housing 4 people and 23, just need a lot more food.

No special skills are needed to volunteer. If you can be friendly, kind and non-judgemental you got it.

I heard a number of softly worded prayers, mostly of thanksgiving. Was struck especially by observing a young woman who has endured a hard and cruel life say a little prayer before each meal.

Was left brokenhearted by my new friend Thomas. He spent most of his time laying on his cot reading the bible but he came outside late the first night and started talking to me.  Words of weariness and without hope of overcoming the life that he found himself in and struggling to understand the cruelty and meanness of the world. My responses seemed shallow and inadequate. I told him I would keep him in my prayers, he thanked me and walked off into the dark headed back toward downtown. The Van found him later and convinced him to come back. Thankfully he was back the rest of the week.  I hope I see him again.

I've always loved winter and for some reason especially February.  I enjoy the cold, bleak, grey melancholy feel of the month.  Not so much anymore. It wouldn't bother if it never snowed again here, if I want snow I can go to Colorado and ski.

There's a big difference in empathizing, worrying about, donating or supporting homeless organizations and knowing some of these folks by name. Names are powerful things, names make it personal. They grab onto a little piece of your brain and heart and won't let go.  Now instead of some generic "I hope the homeless are alright tonight in the cold", it's an intense worrying, hoping and praying that Shane, Thomas and Batman are ok and surviving the night.

I need to thank some folks.  First Aaron Reddin and his facebook rants and the image of the man freezing on the street covered only with a trash bag for warmth that finally moved me from good intentions to action. My church for being so supportive of our involvement in this. To those behind the scenes who have filled our freezer with food to serve.  Friends (both old and new) and family that have given up their time and volunteered this week - Mandy, Brandi, Cack, Ruth, Jackie, George, Latisha, Natasha, Cheyenne, Stephen, Andrew and Rory. First Pres of Argenta for the extra cots and chicken enchiladas (y'all are good folk). Dr. DA Frost and Zane for coming out in the middle of the night for some medical advice. Scott Aldridge for the the blankets,gloves and caps. Valerie, James, Michael, and Gene who volunteered on nights that we didn't get called. I know I'm forgetting some, so thank you to everyone that has been involved.

I need to single out a few of these volunteers for some special recognition.
Cack Reagan- Not only did she spend all night with me on one of the nights, she came back several times during the week to use our kitchen to cook for the folks over at one of the other shelters.
Mandy Akins - She treated people that she knew as family and those she didn't as long lost friends that she hadn't seen in awhile. She immediately moved onto my short list of favorite people in the world.
Jackie Williams - I can't begin to tell you all that she has done, I've come to love her and her family deeply.
Rory Young - My 4 year old granddaughter. She came for a short while Thursday night with her dad, she picked up a broom and swept and helped me stir the lemonade. She was upset when it was time to go because she hadn't done enough work to help the people without homes. She kinda melts my heart.

Of Swords and Books and Nerdy Zealots

Last Sunday we went to church.  Nothing unusual in that, that's what we do on Sunday's.  What was different this time was where we went to church.  I've been a Christian since my mid teens and with the exception of weddings, funerals and special Holiday services I've attended the Church of Christ my entire life. Ok, I did go to a few Sunday night services one summer at The First Christian Church with a friend so that I technically qualified to play on their church softball team. But this past Sunday we went the FIrst Presbyterian Church in North Little Rock.  A couple of things before we get to why we were there.

I like this church, I like the people there, I like what they do in the community and I really like their welcoming before each service I think it does a good job of expressing who they are:
Welcome to First Presbyterian Church in North Little Rock’s downtown Argenta neighborhood
Welcome to young and to old and to all races and ethnicities
Welcome to singles and to couples and to families of all shapes and sizes
Welcome to believers and and to doubters and a special welcome to doubting believers
Welcome if your heart is happy, and welcome if it is weighed down with sadness
Welcome if your entire being is bursting with gratitude, and welcome if it feels as though something is trying to suck the life right out of you
Welcome if you’ve got it all together, and welcome if you are in danger of falling apart at any moment
Whoever you are and whatever brought you here to day, know that this is God’s house
Come and worship just the way you are, because everyone is welcome here.

Stop reading this and go read 1 Corinthians 13: 1-13 and Galations 5:22-25 and then come back.

Good you're back (did you really stop and go read those verses?), the reason we weren't in our regular pew last Sunday was because Natasha (our oldest daughter) was asked to speak at her church, so we were there to hear her preach and I thought I would share what she had to say. Oh one last thing, I know some of y'all might feel compelled to express your disagreement on women speaking in church, DON'T, and tread lightly if you make comments, this is my daughter you'll be talking about.

Of Swords and Books and Nerdy Zealots
A Study of Paul

Today we are talking about Paul, and the verses we read a moment ago were ones he authored, ones with which most of us are probably very familiar- Paul’s Greatest Hits. And oh, we love those verses- 1 Corinthians 13 is poetry, a song written on our hearts, recited at our ceremonies, a beautiful description of what, exactly, it means to be a follower of Jesus. With Galatians, well y’all, I learned the Fruits of the Spirit as a toddler, in Bible Class. I could still sing the memory verse song right here and now. Even if I’ve left (or strayed from, depending on your perspective) the specific Christian tradition in which I was raised in order to eventually band together with you bunch of misfits and malcontents, the heart of my faith was formed in those verses, in those early days, and have guided me even in my wanderings. (In fact, I would say they sparked my wanderings in the first place.) When a writer like Paul talks about how the law and the world order have fallen away, saying things like: “And now these three remain: Faith, Hope, and Love. But the greatest of these is love,” I don’t know about you but I feel rallied to the cause, in tune with God and humanity, my soul recognizes the cosmic and deep truth there, it inspires all the great things that great writers are supposed to inspire.

But Paul ain’t that easy.
As we talk about Paul today, here are the assumptions I am working from: 1) I assume that you know, either from your own formative years, more recent conversion, osmosis, or from actually reading the assigned chapters of The Story this week, ha, that Paul is an apostle, not one of the original 12, but overlapping them time-wise. Paul is recognized by scholars as the uncontested author of 7 books of the New Testament, and the debated author of 6 more. 2) I assume you know that these books of his are what we call epistles, or letters. Paul traveled the ancient world spreading this new religion that was borne out of, but wholly different from, Jewish monotheism. His books are the letters that he wrote to these burgeoning (and often floundering) communities. They were written as encouragement, chastisement, instruction and guidance, and are not without context. Paul didn’t go up on a mountain where God dictated commandments out of a cloud in pretty straightforward, bullet-pointed fashion, is what I’m saying. They were born out of specific problems the churches were having, and generate specific responses. 3) I am assuming that you have struggled with Paul, to some degree. As our friend Cameron said Wednesday night at the Crush wine bar study group, “If you aren’t struggling with Paul, perhaps you are doing it wrong.”
So we heard the hits, now let’s listen to some of Paul’s B-sides, the sentiments we don’t usually trot out at weddings, verses you won’t find in scroll-y print on Christian stationery (sidebar- ugh) at Mardel’s.
Colossians 3:22: Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to curry their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord.
1 Corinthians 14:34-35, Women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the law says. If they want to inquire about something, they should ask their husbands at home, for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in church.
Whoops.

I can feel everyone’s discomfort. My own discomfort. These are the verses we would prefer weren’t in there. To get ticky, Colossians is one of the books that is hotly contested as to whether or not Paul actually wrote it. But whether Paul specifically wrote them or not, these are words in our holy, sacred book. The world knows Christians, whether we like it or not, as the owners of this language. Love is patient, love is kind, slavery’s ok, and women need to shut their mouths.
What do we do with that? Seriously, I’m asking. I don’t know the answer. And verses like these, that have been used as weapons for centuries to wound and oppress and exclude, they are why so many of us that have washed up on the steps of this church were at sea in the first place. I’m pretty sure Anne knows the answer, so it’s very unfortunate that she isn’t here today.
Anne asked me to preach on Paul Day because she knows that of all of the Very Important Pauls, I prefer McCartney to The Apostle. The apostle and I don’t always get along, and I have spent a lot of time just flat out angry with him. She felt it may be helpful to others who have felt the same way (when it isn’t okay to feel that way in a lot of Christian communities) that it is okay here, to be conflicted. To know how Paul and I have made our uneasy peace with each other, so that if you are one of the people who have exacto-knifed your New Testament so as to avoid him, perhaps things can get better for you, too.
So, understanding that I don’t know the answers, I propose to you that I do maybe know some helpful things, and it seems that all of you do, too. I mean, I’m here, you’re here. Even though the Bible, and specifically Paul-authored verses of that Bible, have been used against a lot of you by Christians in the past, you felt that there is something in this Jesus thing that is worth the trouble of wrestling with this stuff. I wholeheartedly agree. So in no particular order, here are some things that have helped me and Paul to this point.

1)  I stopped trying to come up with a single cohesive theory about the Bible that accounted for every single word in it and how I should explicitly interpret it.
Some Christians believe that the Bible is the direct word of God, sent directly, word for word, from God’s mouth to your ears via messengers like Paul who did no more than transcribe the sessions. A set of instructions for living that addresses every possible situation known to man and a prescription for how to act accordingly. Forgive me, but that is some crazy absolutism. Not only do the verses about slavery and women and sexuality present difficulties in this worldview, but then you have to figure out what to do with verses like this:
Galatians 6:11 See what large letters I use as I write to you with my own hand!
I mean, we know what this means in context- its Paul reassuring people that it really is him writing the letter. But I am surprised there aren’t denominations predicated on the belief that large penmanship is the way God intended us to write, and those who disagree be damned.
Even of those that think they interpret scripture this way, they ignore some verses just as much as we do- men praying with their heads uncovered, people eating shrimp and wearing polyblends all over the place.
So clearly, this type of interpretation is not an option for me. But neither is the opposite very encouraging- if God had nothing to do with the Bible and it is purely just the thoughts and ideas of men (and it was men, no ladies getting a byline in there), then what is the point of all this? Why not just form a philosophy club, meet at the library once a week, and call it a day?
In the end, I’ve dismissed the Slippery Slope Brigade on both sides, with their rejection of critical thinking and their extreme hypotheticals. There might be an All Encompassing algorithm out there, but I don’t know it, and it isn’t even the part I’m searching for anymore. Down that path is a bench where you can’t see the forest for the trees. Which brings me to:
2)  When in doubt, I defer to the Big Picture.
And when I say big picture what I mean is- Jesus said: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind, this is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it, Love your neighbor as yourself. All the law and all the prophets hang on these two commandments.”
We so often miss the big picture because we are so anxious about the details. The verse in 1 Peter, the one that says “Love covers a multitude of sins,” I picture people hearing that verse for the first time and being so happy- “Love covers a multitude of sins! How nice! That really takes the pressure off, you know?” And within seconds they’re talking among themselves: “Did he say how many sins love covers, exactly? Big or little sins? Do you think I could trade three little sins for one big one?” We are constantly, eternally missing the point. And it would be too kind to say that we are missing the point because we are trying so hard to be good and do right. No, we miss the point because we want to get as close to that line as possible without going over.
Early on in my days at this church Anne said offhand at a bible study one night that Presbyterians interpret scripture through the lens of Jesus’ teachings, and I loved that. While this doesn’t offer the explicit comfort of telling us exactly what each verse means and why in the world it got canonized, it’s a good reminder of what our purpose is, and anything that’s driving us away from that purpose is, essentially, fluff.
Which leads me to:
3)  The Big Picture about Paul has some stuff I can totally, unashamedly and without internal conflict, get behind.
My sister was telling me the other day about a Rachel Held Evans article she had read, addressing the whole women-submitting-to-their-husbands thing. The point of the article was this: the important part of what Paul was saying was not “Women, submit to your husbands.” That was the order of the day already. The revolutionary part was when he turned to the men and told them to be kind to their wives. Kindness to women was not the standard. Women were owned, was the standard. In context, Paul was a feminist. (Ahhahha, I know that’s a stretch.) Yes, the language is icky. It’s talking to the people of the day and in their language. Some would argue that this means Paul had insight into God’s Grand Truth of the Universe and purposefully couched his argument in terms the people would understand. That he was some sort of incrementalist who knew the real truth but met people where they were. I mean, Paul is also the guy who wrote in Galatians that divisions between man and woman, slave and free, Jew and Gentile, none of that mattered anymore because everyone was equal before God. THAT was revolutionary and man, sign me up for that kind of revolution.

But I don’t believe that even Paul understood the specific way his words would be revolutionary for the world. He was pretty obsessed with the idea that Jesus was coming back LITERALLY ANY MINUTE. See, Paul was an intellectual AND a zealot. The way my family (and Deann’s family, I’m pretty sure) love shows like Firefly or Harry Potter or comic books, and we learn every single thing there is to know about them and try to make everyone around us obsessed with it, too? Come on, you know nerds like this. We are the nerdy zealots. Well, Paul was totally a nerdy zealot, and his zealotry was about this idea that Jesus changed everything, and He was coming back speedy quick, so you better get ready. He wasn’t interested in modifying society, because society wasn’t going to be around much longer. He had no time for rallies on equal rights. He would have been shocked if someone had told him we would still be kicking 2,000 years down the road. So I don’t think he even fully understood what a concept like “everyone is equal before God” would mean once it fully took root. (And to speak truth, it hasn’t fully taken root, yet. There’s still work to do.)

I tend to believe that Paul was just a man who grabbed hold of a giant Truth bigger than even his great intellect could handle, and with the prejudices of his day deeply embedded in him the way you and I hold things to be true that decent society of the future will judge to be ridiculous. What will stay true? God loves you no matter your identity. And be kind to one another. These will always stay true.

Here’s the final big picture thing about Paul: without him, there would be no us. Or, if there was an Us, we would look very, very different. Paul joined the band when the rest of the guys were dreaming too small. Peter and the guys wanted to tour close to home. They were playing small venues, mainly in Jerusalem, talking about maybe releasing a mixtape. Paul was talking about selling out stadiums across the world and putting out an album every few months. If it weren’t for Paul and the sack of Jerusalem in 70 A.D., Christianity would be much closer to Messianic Judaism, and much harder to access. (If you think it is hard to sell Christianity to jaded postmoderns now, imagine if adult circumcision was part of that deal.)

I got the title for this sermon as I was researching Paul’s representations in religious culture. If Paul is to be found in a painting, he will likely be holding a sword and a book. Turns out St. Paul is the patron saint for writers and publishers since he consistently churned out bestsellers, and the sword is because he supposedly died by one, martyred for his faith. But, not knowing the traditional symbolism when I first started looking at them, the paintings struck me as perfect representations of Paul, because of the contradictions inherent in holding those tools- swords and books, warriors and scholars, opposites and difficult to reconcile. That was so fitting, to me, as I contemplated my relationship with his work.

We have brokered a peace, Paul and I have, in part because in general, the people I am close to in my life and those I choose to worship with let me and Paul be. They are never trying to force us into counseling to hash out our differences, and slowly we have come around a little, agreeing to not talk about certain things in the presence of company. I wish for you the same peace in discomfort, and a willingness to struggle with the difficult but important things. Amen.

Softball at 53

I know you can hardly wait to once again read about my softball exploits but alas it's not going to happen. We're not having a team this year. Too many guys have hit that period of life where family and other commitments make it hard to commit to playing full time. It just wasn't felt that we had enough to consistently field a team. I guess I could make some calls and play in the Over 50's League, but I don't really want to. I like playing with younger guys and especially this group of guys. So I will take the year off, play more golf, play a lot with my granddaughter and go to the gym a little more (ok, probably not that last one, but I sure need to). Maybe we'll have a team next year, maybe I'll play in the over 50's league, maybe this is it.

Resolutions 2011 Update - February

I just need one word to describe how I did on my 2011 Resolutions during February.
FAIL!

Resolutions 2011 Update

So we're a month into the new year and my resolutions. How have I done so far? I've sucked.
Resolution #1 - Finish at least 1 or 2 projects that I've started - I have made some progress on one of my projects but I'm always making progress on this project so that's nothing new. will keep plugging away and maybe finish it someday (when I do I'll let you know what the project was)
Resolution # 2 - Lose 40 lbs - I didn't gain weight this month, does that count? revised my simple diet and exercise plan and still didn't follow either.
Resolution #3 - Read More - Success! My goal was 2 books a month, I read 3 in January (Classics Mutilated, Sandman vol 2, & God's Tomorrow). For February I've started Radical & Against All Things Ending. The problem with being successful with this one has cut into the time I would spend on the others.
Resolution #4 - Try a New Bible Reading Plan - Still way behind on the weekly Tanakh readings and haven't started on listening to the New Testament. The plan for that was to listen in my truck to and from work each day but my old truck has a cassette deck and my tape to mp3 player dohicky broke and I haven't replaced it yet.

Resolutions 2011

I don't usually do New Year's resolutions. In general I'm not a fan of to do list and new year's resoulutions are just a big year long to do list. But for some reason I felt like doing them this year and actually trying to stick to them (Gray Dillard will be so proud).


1. Finish at least 1 or 2 projects that I've started. This one might be the hardest for me since I suffer from completion anxiety disorder (self-diagnosed of course). Once I start a project and get far enough into it that I've figured out that what I'm doing will work, I'm finished and ready to move on to something else. I can think of 5 or 6 unfinished projects off the top of my head, some being years old (Dianna could probably come up with a few more). What I've decided I really need is some minions to finish up stuff for me. If you'd like to volunteer to be one of my minions I promise to be a kind and benevolent master.


2. Lose 40 pounds. I know losing weight and getting into better shape isn't a very original resolution but it needs to be done. This will be a continuation and tweaking of my Lazy Man's Diet & Exercise program that I kind of started back before Thanksgiving. The diet part was pretty simple and easy and was working while I was doing it, but with all the Thanksgiving and Christmas eating it ended up being a wash for November and December (at least I didn't gain weight). I also had started a very simple and easy workout program but apparently not convenient enough since I didn't do it very many times, so it was back to the drawing board and an even simpler and easier workout plan to start the new year. I'll be back with details at the end of the month to report whether it's working or not.


3. Read More. I love to read, but with the invention of the DVR, TV series on DVD, Facebook, blogs and the tendency to stay up til 4 in the morning when I'm reading, I haven't read as much as I'd like the last few years. My goal is a modest 24 books this year (no where near the 200+ that Scott Freeman read last year), but 2 a month seems like a reasonable goal.

Here are the books that I already have or are downloaded on my Kindle that I plan on reading:
Classics Mutilated - anthology - already started
The Sandman vol 2: The Doll's House - Neil Gaiman - already started (graphic novels count)
Radical - David Platt
Against All Things Ending - Stephen Donaldson
The Hole in Our Gospel - Richard Stearns
Under the Dome - Stephen King
Alas Babylon - Pat Frank
Full Dark No Stars - Stephen King
God's Tomorrow (Ghost Targets) - Aaron Pogue

I plan on rereading a few of my favorite books
The Winter of Our Discontent - John Steinbeck (my favorite book by my favorite author)
Of Human Bondage - W.Somerset.Maugham (I've read this book more times than any other)
Something Wicked This Way Comes - Ray Bradbury

I also want to read these books by my friend Jim Murphy
A View From a Height
The God Virus
The Next Buddha

So that leaves at least 5 more books, any suggestions?

4. Try a New Bible Reading Plan. There are numerous read the Bible in a year programs, I've tried some of them with varying degrees of success. This year I'm going to do something different. Instead of reading the New Testament, I'm going to listen to it. A few years ago I bought The Bible Experience New Testament mp3 discs. It's a reading of the Bible by a cast of over 200 actors with musical score and background sounds. Some of the background sound loops get kind of annoying after awhile and I don't really need the few gospel songs thrown in between some of the books but overall it's an enjoyable way to travel thru the New Testament. And I've downloaded the Tanakh: The Holy Scriptures - The New JPS Translation (for those that don't know the Tanakh is the Written Torah (The Law, The Prophets, & The Writings) and am going to try to follow the weekly readings used in the synagogue. I've got some catching up to do since the new cycle of reading started back in October I believe.


So there you go, my 2011 resolutions. I'll try to keep you posted on how I'm doing through out the year.

Christmas List

It's more blessed to give than receive. So in the spirit of Christmas I'm willing to make the sacrifice and be the recipient of gifts so y'all can be blessed by giving. And to make it even easier I'm going to supply you with my Christmas Wish List (links provided). Ok so this is mostly for a few family members to use but if anyone else gets caught up in the Christmas spirit and wants to join in I'm all for it (especially the last gift ideas on my list).

Kindle or Kindle 3G - Ok so it doesn't have the feel, smell or soul of a real book but it's so stinkin convenient. Plus I'll still buy real books, I'll just be more selective in the ones I own.

MUSIC:
The Beatles Mono Box Set

BOOKS:
UnPoverty: Rich Lessons from the Working Poor - Mark Lutz
Against All Things Ending (The Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, Book 3) - Stephen Donaldson
The Hole in Our Gospel: What does God expect of Us? The Answer that Changed my Life and Might Just Change the World - Richard Stearns
Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream - David Platt




TV:
Justified: The Complete First Season [Blu-ray]
Carnivale: The Complete First Season

MOVIES:
Cool Hand Luke [Blu-ray]
Paranormal Activity [Blu-ray] (2009) Unrated
Paranormal Activity 2 [Blu-ray]


Golf:
Callaway Ball HX Hot Plus Golf Balls (12-Pack)

Cash or Gift Cards

Other:
A Flock of Chickens , A Flock of Ducks or A Flock of Geese from the Heifer International Gift Catalog - help children and families around the world receive training and animal gifts that help them become self-reliant.

Over 50 Lazy Man's Workout & Diet Plan

Aargh, I stepped on the scales this past weekend and weighed ??? lbs (actual weight is none of your stinkin business), it's not the most I've ever weighed but still a ridicules amount unless maybe I was a couple of feet taller or a sumo wrestler. I've never been that concerned with my weight tho I've always been on the heavy side. I've always been strong and quick enough to compensate for the extra weight to do whatever I felt like relatively well, plus I've also always been able to quickly lose weight whenever the mood struck me. Unfortunately as I've gotten older, weaker and with the onset of type 2 diabetes that approach to my health and fitness has not served me very well over the past several years.

So it's back to the gym and eating better. I have no intentions of starting some super intense workout program (no P90X, Crossfit, etc) or structured diet plan (Atkins, South Beach, whatever). I'm honest enough with myself to acknowledge that I'm basically lazy and undisciplined; I like to do what I like to do. So any workout & diet plan has to fit within the basic nature of who I am and how much effort and time I'm willing to spend on it. Luckily I also know what type of workouts work for me and as strange as it might seem I do know some things about nutrition. Over the next several months I'll be sharing my journey to a marginally healthier me.

Father's Day

Father's Day is one of those holidays that I've always had mixed feelings about.

Even though I like the cards, presents and not having to pay for Sunday lunch, do I really need these to know that my kids love me or how blessed I've been to be their dad? Nah, not really. Plus you don't even get a day off work. What kind of real holiday is that?

Father's Day is a yearly reminder of what I've missed, a little poke at the pain that tho dulled and mostly hidden deep in the background after all these years, is still there and still flares up on occasion.

But Father's Day also reminds me of the people who have knowingly or unknowingly stepped in and in big and small ways filled in for my dad.

So here's a big Happy Father's Day to:

My Mom - She's the one who had to become both mom and dad for me and my brother after my dad was killed in a car wreck when I was in the third grade. She's the one who took us fishing and to ballgames. She's the one who played ball with us in the front yard. And she's the one who got to worry about us with no one to share the burden.

David Watson, Loy Reaves, Uncle Frank, Coach Glenn Stewart, Coach Joe Forrest, Richard Akins and Garry Neal. Thank You!

Levy Community Garden

Dream Big, Start Small. A few years ago while looking for different ways for our church to connect with the community I came across a number of urban gardening and community garden sites. I thought this was a good fit with what we were trying to do.
A community garden would in addition to helping provide healthy vegetables it could serve as a bridge between the church and the neighborhood giving opportunities to form relationships in a non-churchy atmosphere. We had even picked out a spot and began making plans to turn a piece of land adjacent to the parking lot behind our building into a huge garden (I think we estimated that there was room for about 90 4 x 8 plots).
Alas before we got very far in our planning the land was paved for expanded church parking. But I've never been able to get the idea of a garden out of my head, so I've continued to talk about it and look for the right opportunity. That opportunity has arrived.

Thanks to the work of Graham Sutherlin, Patrick Bewley and Ted Bowsman this past Saturday in some sloppy weather the Levy Church of Christ Community Garden is up and growing. Besides the tending of the garden plots there is still quite a bit of landscaping type work to do, but it's a start.

The garden is located in a lot beside the church on the north side of Martin Drive. We decided to start small this time. There are 8 4 x 8 raised bed garden plots. 6 of the 8 plots have been assigned. We're sharing one with my daughters and Son-in-law, the women's ministry has one, the Sutherlin's home school group has one, Roberto one of our hispanic brothers has one, Jan the lady that lives next to the garden has one and the Huffs are partnering with Elena (a lady that was reached last year during the Levy campaign).

The lot that it is on was purchased to build another senior citizen home. A number of the lots on this street have over the years benn bought and duplexes built for senior members of our church. Because of economic conditions (I believe) a house hasn't been built here yet, so we know that this might only be a temporary home for the garden. Our hope is that the garden will become such an integral part of the neighborhood and our work with the community that it will be decided that it is the best use of the land. But if not we'll just look for another spot when that happens (can't really get upset about being bumped by housing for senior Christians).

I'll keep you posted on our progress.

Softball 2010

Softball season starts this week, it will be my 103rd season of playing. I'm ready, went back to gym in December and have worked out semi-regularly since then. I think I'm back to about as strong as I was in Jr. High. Plus we've had one practice, well not a real practice, a practice game (so a total of three swings). A weak grounder to shortstop (which I didn't run out, hey it's practice) with the new bat I bought from Justin, a solid line drive with my old real man's bat and a decently hit ground ball to the shortstop (which I did run out, hey it's practice), so I'd say I'm in mid-season form. Looking forward to another fun year.

Retirement fund update #6

Market continues to fall. I'm now below the break even mark.

This Week Total Invested - $23
This Week Total Return - $9
This Week Net - -14


Year to date Invested - $119
Year to date Return - $117
Year to date Net - -2

But I found out something at our Christmas party. I did not know that there is a second chance drawing on losing tickets. Found this out the hard way after giving away all my losing tickets as a gift. Luckily my fantastic wife stole them back for me. Have not entered them yet, so maybe the year will end up on a positive note.

Merry Christmas, Happy Holiday, Winter Solstice, Nativity Scenes, Whatever

Man I almost made it. The new kinder gentler less sarcastic me had decided I was not going to write anything this year about the annual Merry Christmas versus Happy Holidays feud or any of the other silly Holiday season arguments. But I just don't seem able to resist commenting. I'll try to keep it short.

Am I the only one who finds it odd that this is where so many seem to have drawn a line in the sand and are standing up, both hands raised, middle fingers extended and defiantly yelling it's Merry Christmas not Happy Holidays? Doesn't really seem to fit in with the whole peace on earth goodwill toward men theme of the season. So once again what we have is the loud rhetoric of the superficial replacing the simplicity of a quiet life of faith.

But what do I know? So go ahead continue contributing to the trivialization of the sacred, I won't say another word.

I hope you have a Happy and Joyous ______________ season however you choose to celebrate it.

Gym Time

Each summer after ever increasingly poorer softball seasons, I think I need to start working out again if I want to keep playing for a few more years. But that's about as far as it gets, thinking about it. Well, I joined a gym last week but i've been sick so tonight was the first night I've worked out. I didn't really need to join a gym, I've got everything I need at home. I've got an olympic barbell set with over 300lbs, an excellent heavy-duty weight bench with the attachments I need and an adjustable dumbbell set that goes from 10 - 50 lbs. Aside from the fact that you really can't get to them in my garage right now because of all junk, I also own a magical chair and wand. The chair somehow teleports me from the front door to it's warm comforting embrace and the magic wand makes pretty pictures appear that keep me mesmerized for hours. So to thwart this evil sorcery, I've joined a gym and will go there straight from work (pretty brilliant plan, huh).

Wasn't expecting much from tonight's workout, it was mainly to gauge where I'm at. It was not a pretty sight, I'm going to have to workout for a month just to get ready to workout. So maybe I won't be as strong as I was when I was in my thirties or even early forties but I would like to be stronger than a fifth grade girl. Maybe I can score some steroids, I don't think they test for that in church league softball.

Retirement fund update #3

Round Four of investments in the Arkansas Scholarship fund.
Lottery Market took a slight downturn this week
Fund - 3 Times Lucky - Invested - $1 - Return - $12
Fund - Money Bags - Invested - $1 - Return - $4
Fund - Jumbo Bucks - Invested - $0 - Return - $0
Fund - Money Madness - Invested - $2 - Return - $0
Fund - Arkansas Riches - Invested - $2 - Return - $0
Fund - Crazy 8's - Invested - $2 - Return - $0
Fund - $100,000 Cash Bonanza - Invested - $5 - Return - $0
Fund - $uper 7's - Invested - $5 - Return - $0



This Week Total Invested - $18
This Week Total Return - $16
This Week Net - -2


Year to date Invested - $56
Year to date Return - $104
Year to date Net - +48

Still haven't invested in Powerball, probably will give it a try next time.

Retirement fund update #2

Round Three of investments in the Arkansas Scholarship fund.
The state opened up 4 new investment opportunities, so now my portfolio is spread among 8 different funds. After the first two rounds I was beginning to think I was going to have to try cutting and pasting together a winning ticket. Hopefully I would do a better job than the lady who has already tried (probably got bad advise from her financial advisor).
Here's the results:
Fund - 3 Times Lucky - Invested - $1 - Return - $0
Fund - Money Bags - Invested - $1 - Return - $0
Fund - Jumbo Bucks - Invested - $2 - Return - $0
Fund - Money Madness - Invested - $2 - Return - $0
Fund - Arkansas Riches - Invested - $2 - Return - $0
Fund - Crazy 8's - Invested - $2 - Return - $4
Fund - $100,000 Cash Bonanza - Invested - $5 - Return - $5
Fund - $uper 7's - Invested - $5 - Return - $70



This Week Total Invested - $20
This Week Total Return - $79
This Week Net - +$59


Year to date Invested - $38
Year to date Return - $88
Year to date Net - +50

I really don't plan on continuing to invest in all 8 funds, especially once they start up the super fund POWERBALL. We'll examine how well each fund has done after a couple of more rounds of investing and weed out the low performers.

Til next time, happy investing.

Retirement fund update #1

I made my second round of investments in the Arkansas Scholarship fund this weekend.
Here's the results:
Fund - 3 Times Lucky - Invested - $1 - Return - $0
Fund - Jumbo Bucks - Invested - $2 - Return - $4
Fund - Arkansas Riches - Invested - $2 - Return - $2
Fund - $100,000 Cash Bonanza - Invested - $5 - Return - $0

This Week Total Invested - $10
This Week Total Return - $6
This Week Net - -$4


Year to date Invested - $18
Year to date Return - $9
Year to date Net - -$9

Since I'm a little down I'm thinking I might need to add another investment. I think there's a Bingo parlor nearby, maybe I'll head over there for a little while.

Til next time, happy investing.

My New Retirement Fund

October my favorite month. I usually only post about Halloween stuff during October, but I've got a great new retirement strategy that I wanted to tell you about. Before I get to that I need to do a little blog house cleaning. Week before last I took the week off work to do some work around the house, I had also planned to spend part of each day finishing up some blog posts that I wanted to get done. Of course I didn't get them done. One I got about half way thru, one I've got the opening paragraph and don't really like it and the other I didn't write anything. It's really too late to post two of them so I'll give you the abbreviated versions.

My Trip to Chicago to See U2 -6 a.m flight, security issues (I'm a doofus), eternity spent in Springfield Ill, Cheesecake Factory, dead guy in street (jumped from hotel across the street), Snow Patrol - good band, U2 - Emotionally Overwhelmed! Greatest Concert I've ever experienced, Greek Food, Train ride home, good weekend.

Summer of TV - We love TV, summers are spent watching old shows on dvd, 1 season - Firefly, 3 seasons - Veronica Mars, 7 seasons - Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Great shows, you should watch.

Ok, now to my new supplemental retirement fund. I don't know if you've heard about this yet but the state of Arkansas has started a new scholarship fund that you can invest in. Currently there are only 4 options that you can try but more exciting investment opportunities are coming soon. This opportunity seems almost too good to be true, not only can you make money but it will fund college scholarships*. But what I like best is there is no waiting to find out your return on investment. That's right, no waiting years as interest compounds slowly or having to depend on the state of the economy. Instant gratification, you'll know how your investment did within minutes. Since this is a new kind of fund for most of us, I thought I'd provide a little public service by letting y'all monitor the results of my investments. My plan is to follow the same systematic approach I use for my 401k. Each pay period I'll invest a set amount, periodically increasing that amount as new opportunities arise. I'll post the results here.

Here are the results from my first investment that I made last week:

Fund - 3 Times Lucky Invested - $1 Return - $0
Fund - Jumbo Bucks Invested - $2 Return - $0
Fund - $100,000 Cash Bonanza Invested - $5 Return - $3
This Week Total Invested - $8

This Week Total Return - $3
This Week Net - -$5

Ok, didn't do so well the first week, that's the way it goes sometimes, but at least I'm helping some kid go to college. hmmm, maybe I should run down to the gas station and invest some more right now (resist the urge, resist the urge, must stick to strategy).

Hope you'll join me every couple of weeks as I invest my way to riches.

* As with all investments there is no guarantee of future earnings. Do not invest if you can't afford to lose your money. This is a high risk fund, especially since the economic forecasts and projections typically used to promote these types of funds are usually done with smoke and mirrors or pulled out of a particular body orifice of someone involved with the fund.

3 things

Three things I thought I'd be able to do with my eyes closed til I died.
Hit line drives to left.
Throw strikes when I needed to.
Hit a fade away jump shot.
Obviously I was wrong.

Oh,well. But there are a number of 3's coming up that I'm looking forward to.
3 day memorial weekend.
3 days of good music at Riverfest.
3 days of golf with good friends next weekend.

And for good measure how bout a little music form "Tres Hombres"

Softball Season is Here!

Our first game is this Thursday at 8:30. I'm ready, I started a rigorous off season workout program immediately after the end of last season. I lifted weights 3 or 4 times, ran another 3 or 4 times, played Wii fit a couple of times and we've had one practice so I'm in tip top shape and rarin to go (I just need to lose another 40lbs this week). I'm ready to hear these words of encouragement before each game from my wife "Don't get hurt and don't have a heart attack!" and the moral support of my daughter Latisha who comes to the games just to laugh at me when I run. Despite the emotional uplift I get from my families support, my self confidence and self esteem did take a couple of blows this week (don't worry I recover quickly). The first was when one of the new guys on the team was asked by his wife who was at practice the other night, he told her the names of the guys he knew and some OLD Guy. Wait til he sees me go from 1st to third, then see what he has to say about some Old Guy. The other blow came today at church. I was taking my new jersey to the car between classes and worship and two of the girls that I bring saw me and asked what I had. When I told them it was a softball jersey, they almost fell on the floor laughing hysterically. Let's see how they like walking to church.

Play Ball!

P.S. To Ted or Jason or whoever makes out the lineups this year. Just a reminder, Even with my greatly diminished skills I'm still not a team player and I'm a poisonous disruptive influence on the team when I'm not playing.