The Readin has begun!

The new reading for the semester is officially underway. I spent about an hour tonight reading for my "Scripture In Context" class... a book called "The Source" by James A. Michener. It's pretty interesting... it's a novel... but I've got to read 500 pages of it... so we'll see. I've also started my "Ministering to Postmodern Minds" class with "The Death of Truth" by Dennis McCallum. So, the official reading for the semester is underway... we'll see how things go.


Class officially begins on Tuesday. Tomorrow will be a good day for reading.

Jim

In Honor of Longevity... in a volunteer...

This morning was both a lot of fun and a good deal painful. For those of you who are familiar with FVCC, this face will be familiar to you if you have anything to do with students. It's Jeff O'Neal... who has been a fixture in FVCC's Student Ministry... mostly middle school ministry... for close to 10 years.

For those of you who aren't familiar with our student ministry, this is the picture of longevity as a volunteer in youth ministry.

It was painful because Jeff and his family are moving back to Oklahoma for his career (which is totally understandable). But he's going to leave a large gap in our student ministry volunteer team.

But its also a great deal of exciting to think about the longevity of Jeff as a volunteer in FVCC's student ministry. He's endured through the tough times and worked with at least 3 youth ministers... if not a fourth (and if the fourth, then that was a very challenging time in the life of this student ministry and FVCC).

But it's also been some great times as well. This morning I stood back and watched Jeff do what Jeff does best... got a full table of 7 to 8 middle school guys deeply involved in a game of Uno and then "Catch Phrase." He's a magnet for middle school guys.

We tried to find pictures this morning of Jeff "in action" with the students. But over the 3 1/2 years that I've been at FVCC and in the digital archives on a couple of other computers, only 8 pictures were found. That wasn't because Jeff wasn't there. That was because Jeff wasn't posing for pictures. He was meeting students and getting to know them. Hooking them up with other students from their school that they might know. He was having conversations with students at his table. Or in many cases, he was the one taking the pictures of the students (like THESE from Messfest). Jeff often was the one jumping in and working to pull off the program. And that's what I appreciated about Jeff.

So while, we're going to lose a great volunteer. I'm also going to lose a great friend. But this post isn't about that.

It's about how one volunteer got connected with a ministry, made it his own and then stuck with it over the long haul. Here's to longevity in a ministry as a volunteer!!!

Thanks Jeff (because I know you'll read this). We appreciate all that you've done.

Jim

Buckeyes Football!!!

Nothing says "It's fall" like the return of Ohio State Football.

Right, I'm in my favorite spot. Buckeyes game on TV... relaxing on the couch... computer on my lap!!!

Fall is here and the Buckeyes are back!!!



Jim

Bumps on my left hand...

So, I've got a couple of bumps on my left hand. They've been there for a little while... my guess is over a year... but I haven't been keeping track.

Recently (mid-July), I decided that I was going to have them looked at. My doctor sent me for XRays, then they sent me to an Orthopedics appt, then they scheduled an MRI (not fun!) and finally determined that they weren't anything but fluid-filled pockets.

So today I went in to see if they could draw off some fluid. After numbing my hand (much appreciated), they put a large needle (large enough that the doctor told me NOT to look... so I didn't) and drew out some fluid.

Now I'm trying to type with bandages on my finger and palm (location of the other one). I really hate needles. But it wasn't too bad... I think I'll live. Hopefully they'll go away. We'll have to see.

Jim

House Hunters... 2nd Offer...

Well...

Our first offer is a no-go.

It would seem that either there really is another offer or the agent is being really bold in turning down an offer. We got the call this afternoon from our agent. So, after some time talking about it and praying about it, we put our "ace" on the table (offered what we could offer...) and if that isn't acceptable to them, then we're "out" on that house and we'll move on.

So tonight, we're just waiting for a call from our agent. Hopefully we'll get one tomorrow and then we'll know if we're ready to move onto the next level with this one or onto another house. Hopefully, more tomorrow on "House 14."

Jim

SYM Podcast!!! Finally!!!

Stream videos at Ustream

Free Olympics Game on YouthMinistry.com

I was thrilled today to open my email and find an email from Group/Simply Youth Ministry and YouthMinstry.com (which is a pretty good place to find some encouragement, articles, resources and freebies...).   

As I read further, I noticed a familiar sight... a freebie that sounded familiar... because I submitted it. Check it out HERE.  

Sweet!!!  I just thought I'd pass along the fun.  

Jim

Making an offer...

Tomorrow morning we are making an offer on this house in Elburn, IL.

Jackie and I, our Realtor Sandy and two great friends Mike and Mark, walked through the house again this afternoon. And we like it more than when we saw it the first time on Friday.

After spending a great deal of time thinking, talking, planning and most importantly, praying... we're going to make an offer. The catch is, there is rumor of another offer being on the table for this house. Our Realtor was told today that there was another offer... BUT, in talking with that agent there is concern/question if there really is an offer or if they just hinted that way since we've asked to see this place twice in five days. They wouldn't give any details of the offer... although they wouldn't have to... but they gave our Realtor the distinct impression that it might be a smoke screen.

So, we're going to call their bluff (or not... if it's not) and make our offer that we are planning to make and see what happens. We're not putting all of "eggs in a basket"... but we think this basket is really pretty. So, first thing in the morning I will be talking with the Realtor... We're going to make our offer... and hoping to sweeten the pot by the fact that we don't to sell anything (moving from an apartment) and can close from time of contract in 30-45 days (but definitely less than the normal 60 days).

And if all goes well, maybe I'll be posting some more pictures of this house for your viewing pleasure.

If you feel so inclined, please feel free to pray for us. You can send along emails (jim@fvcc.com), notes (comments below) or texts (if you don't know it... try one of the other offers) of encouragement. That would be super. And I'll try to let my faithful-blog readers know more as soon as we know more.

Jim

3 1/2 Hours with a mortgage broker...

My wife and I spent 3 1/2 hours this afternoon with our new mortgage broker. (He's a great and fun guy who goes to an area church and comes highly recommended.) It was a crazy busy afternoon. In the end, we talked with a tax guy and filled out some forms.

Tomorrow afternoon is the big day... we are scheduled to visit the house for a second time at 3:30 pm tomorrow afternoon with some friends. We also have the necessary pre-approval letter for making an offer if we decide to make one.

Tomorrow could be a very exciting day.

Jim

Bye Bye 2008 Olympics...

Well, I have to say that as the Olympics conclude tonight (on NBC) from Beijing, I am genuinely sad to see them go.

I posted before that I wasn't all that crazy about the Summer Olympics. But I have to say that I was wrong.

I have been an Olympics addict for the last two 1/2 weeks. I'll be sad to see them go, but I'll be looking forward to 2012 in London and 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

Jim

Wired Series Video

Tonight, the "Wired" series starts for our high school students. The middle schoolers started this morning. This video is a little that I put together as a message opener.

Jim

Click HERE to view the video on YouTube.

Live Wire and High Voltage return...

Live Wire (worship for middle school) and High Voltage (worship for high school) is back for our student ministry. Live Wire fires up in the morning and High Voltage gets rolling tomorrow night at 6 pm.

It's been an interesting day getting things finalized and ready to go on my end of things. I'm looking forward to getting back to the normal schedule tomorrow morning. I love the summer... I love the trips, special events and downtime teaching-wise... but I love getting back into the fall.

We're starting with a new series called "Wired." I'm really looking forward to that. I've missed teaching my students from the front in a large group setting. But all of that will be over tomorrow as we get back into it.

Jim

Smores... #2

Good stuff...

House Hunters... Trip 4

Today was our 4th trip out to see houses. And it was a great trip... You'll know more why a little later.

House 14 was the first house where my wife has used the words "really like" with any house. Its a great, great house. It's 3 bedrooms, 2.1 baths and a TON of space. The master bedroom suite/bathroom/walk-in-closet is awesome.










House 15 was a town house in Geneva. It's in Millcreek. They are brand new and have never been lived in. They are nice and they have a great floorplan, but they are so smashed together and the dining area leads out to a patio that is 4 feet from the neighbors.





















House 16 is a great house in North Aurora. It's a 1 story ranch with a full basement. The basement is huge and has an already completed bathroom. The only negative is that it's currently only a 2 bedroom. The basement could become a third bedroom, but with some work.















House 17 was a total dump. It's in Batavia, which is too bad. We were inside about 10 and decided to leave. It would need to be completely remodeled inside and out. Definitely a HUGE no thanks.










But the good news... actually great news... is that we are thinking that we are going to go to the next level with House 14 in Elburn. It's a perfect house and the only one that we have looked at that wouldn't need any work initially. We talked with our agent and she is going to crunch some numbers and we're going to talk tomorrow. We're also planning to talk with a guy who will look for the best deal in mortgages. It's a little out of our range, but we're hoping to make an offer that might be more suitable for us and see what happens. Could be awesome!!!

So... hopefully more news about "House 14" in the future!

Jim

House Hunters... Trip 3

So, I have to start off with an apology. I failed to post the pictures from our most recent House Hunters trip on Tuesday. This was a pretty exciting trip... more on that in a few moments.

But first, we visited a town home in Elburn. Of the town homes that we've seen, this was the first town home that we liked. When you look out that front window, you see trees... not another unit. I like that. (Sorry I forgot to take an outside picture.) This town home also had a very open floor plan. But the upstairs bathroom is open to both bedrooms and we really didn't like that too much.



The second house that we saw was just around the corner in Elburn. It was pretty cool. It's an older house, but the owner has been working pretty hard to renovate it.














House number 12 (overall - 3rd for the day) was the exciting point. This one story, ranch in North Aurora was the first time since we've been looking that my lovely wife used the word "like" in reference to a house!!!!!!!! The inside is pretty up-to-date and it's a very cool layout. The only downside that I could see, aside from the price (which is about $10,000 higher than we would like), is that it doesn't have a basement. But it does have a fairly good sized family room and an attached garage. The backyard is narrow and long, but would be perfect for entertaining. It definitely might be worth a second look. More on that in the future... hopefully.




The final house for the day was an older house in Batavia. It was nice and in great shape but the basement was unusable (except for storage and laundry) and it only had 1 bathroom and it was upstairs at that.


All in all, this was a great trip. Mostly because my wife used the word "like." We'll see what happens in the future. Actually, we're headed out this afternoon (Friday, Aug 22) to check out some more. We'll see what we find today. More pictures later.

Jim

Sonic Drive-In!!!!

We tried!!!

We really did. We stopped by twice. But the first time that we stopped, at about 7:15 pm, there was a 2-hour wait and at least 60 cars waiting in line to get in there!!!

I was amazed. I've never seen such a thing.

I've been looking forward to this Sonic Drive-In opening for a while. Obviously, I'm not the only one.

So we went and had some Buffalo Wild Wings instead. It was good. We played some trivia and then came back to have some ice cream. At 9:30 pm there were still about 50 cars waiting to get in... 5 rows of 10-15 cars lined up like an amusement park waiting for a roller coaster in the Wal-Mart parking lot next door.

I've never seen such a thing. I guess I'll have to wait a little longer for my Cherry Limeade.

Jim

Apple "Get a Mac" ad: Off The Air

Another classic Mac ad...

Jim

Check it out HERE.

Chillin' by a fire

We're chillin' by a firepit at the O'Neal's... Get ready for some
smores!!!

PDYM Comeback!!!

This is awesome!!!
I'm so glad that it's back. But I'm bummed because that is the week before our scheduled Dominican Republic Trip (and my wife has already forbidden me to go). But it will be excellent for sure.

Official Mudpit 2008 pics...

Okay folks... here are the official 2008 Messfest/Mudpit pictures. This isn't all of them. There are more on my Myspace page (HERE) and Facebook page (HERE). These are just a few of the better ones.

But check out that mud... we are just getting started and I'm already halfway up to my knees in mud.








But it didn't take some students long to get to rolling around in it... like right here.















I would say that Shelby is looking a nice shade of mud. We were playing "Steal the Bacon" and we hid the bacon in the mud. They were looking for it.












It only got crazier with a game called "Anarchy Ball." And as we played, we kept watering the mud so it only got muddier and muddier as the action got crazier.















Grace and Alec look good in brown... or black... or gray... or whatever color that is.













Dylan and Andrew seem to be having a good time. Dylan was incredible at both "Steal the Bacon" and "Anarchy Ball." But he's a high school football player, so would you really expect anything less.











Will started out in jeans... not a good choice... and ended up in shorts. I actually just picked up his dry, crusty mud-soaked jeans... it was kinda gross.

















There are some people around the world who pay hundreds of dollars to get the kind of mud-treatment that these students got for $10. It becomes difficult after a while to be able to tell who is who...

But in this picture is Brooke (left), Lily (middle) and Elizabeth (right). Lily was officially awarded the "Matt Galloway Award" for the most mud on one person's body by the end of the night.

All in all, it was a muddy, crazy and totally excellent time. But I'm sure that around this area there were some bathroom drains getting clogged up. Because there was plenty of mud!!!

I'm already looking forward to 2009!!

Jim

We're adopting a couple of teenagers...

this week as we house-sit for some friends!!!

Haha!!! I love setting off the baby-radars around the country. (I did it a couple of week ago HERE!) I can hear people getting excited.

No... this might be the biggest honor of my youth ministry career. One of my best friends asked me and Jackie to house for them while they travel to Oklahoma to look at houses for a few days in preparation for their move. We will also be hanging out with their two teenage daughters (high school and middle school) for the week and their dog. It's just an honor to be asked to do this. And not only that, but it will be fun.

And it's fun to set off the baby-radars whenever I can...

Jim

Great Messfest Mudpit!!!

We had an incredible mudpit tonight...

I'm hoping to get a few pictures and maybe a video or two up for you in the next day or so. It was a great night. The temperature was great. The mud was deep and thick. And everyone had a blast. Pictures to come.

Jim

House Hunters... Trip 2

Yesterday, we headed out with Sandra to look at some homes in the North Aurora/Batavia area that we are interested in.

House 5 is a 4 bedroom house in North Aurora on North Adams Street. I really like this house. After our visit, it quickly jumped to the top of the list for me. It's an older home and one of the downsides is that it has water/radiator heat. But it has a huge basement and lots of potential. Plus, a fenced in backyard. It needs to be cleaned up a bit (by the former owners), but I think that I will want to see this one again.





House 6 was also in North Aurora. But it was weird. Someone who had owned the house before had transformed it into 3 apartments (one in the basement, main level and upstairs) and now they were converting it back into a single family home. But they had made some changes to the house that made it feel weird. Definitely a no-go.










House 7 was also a bit of a disappointment. We knew that this house said that it would "need work." But I think that it needed more than "need work." It was pretty rough in some places. But it's right along a pretty busy state highway and it has no (zero, zilch) backyard.









House 8 made me sad... literally. It's a beautiful little house with lots of potential in North Aurora in a cute little subdivision. But according to the note in the window, the previous owners were evicted. And it looks like they took all their stuff, stopped up the sink or shower and left the water running. There is major floor damage in the wood flooring in the living room, the walls have damage, the furnace was ruined and not even present and there was mold everywhere. It would have been a really cute house if some idiot hadn't destroyed it before they left. The neighborhood is really nice looking and it's good some good potential. But it would require some major $$$$ to get it into a condition to live in. But as I walked around in it I just felt sad that someone would treat something like that that way.



House 9 was a cute little house in Batavia. There are a couple of downsides... the living room is pretty small... there only one bathroom. The basement is full with lots of potential, but it would require some work.







All in all, it was a good trip. The house on North Adams stood out to me, but we'll see what happens. Check back in next week for another exciting edition of House Hunters, the Clark Edition. If you missed the previous edition, check it out HERE.

Jim

REMEDY TOUR LIVE DVD/CD THEATER ANNOUNCEMENT

I would love to go and see this. Its showing in our area... I might have to check it out...

MercyMe - 'Hymned Again' Pre-Sale

I've started watching MercyMe's blog. It's a pretty good one... But I saw this today and thought I would pass it along. I'll probably pre-order... $7.99 is a pretty good price for an album.

I just thought I would share.

Jim

Check it out on YouTube HERE.

The mudput is ready

That's a good looking mudput if I do say so myself... And in record
time!!! Quick... Someone alert NBC!!

Random Friday...

It's Friday... (a collective Yay goes up around the world as long as it's Friday for you...)

Today would normally be my day off... but today is going to be a very full day off...

• I'm heading down to the church to till up a huge mudpit for Sunday night's Messfest... it's going to take about 5 hours... thankfully I have new music
  
• We're going out on House Hunters 2 this afternoon to look at a couple of places
• We've got our first 2008-2009 Youth Leaders' Gathering tonight as a cookout at one of my small group leader's homes.

So even though it's Friday, I don't think there will be too much of "off" happening today.

Jim

Edit: Oh, and by the way... I posted earlier about not being too excited about the Olympics... Wrong!!! I'm totally addicted!!! The text messages and being able to watch online have me totally hooked.

Cougars win!!

Fireworks are more fun when you win!!! Go Cougars!!! 8-7 with 2 runs
in the 9th inning with 2 outs!!

Great seats...

At a Kane County Cougars game...

Dominated at Life

Totally... $2.03 million... Tech support baby!!!

FREE Phil Wickham

I like FREE.

Especially when it comes to music.

I saw on a friend's blog that you could pick up a FREE Phil Wickham album... "Singalong"... just by signing up for his newsletter. Again, I like FREE. So I downloaded it. It's pretty cool.

If you would like to get it on your iPod... Check it out HERE.

Jim

2008 Olympics...

So...

I've never been a huge fan of the Olympics. I like "live" sports and the idea that it's been taped and edited to fit into a time slot just irritates for as for a sports event.

For instance, last night we watching/endured the Opening Ceremonies. They were nice and long and Bob Costas is irritating at best. But everything wrapped up nice and neat at exactly 11:00 pm.

I like "live" sports and they don't begin and end on time. I like Cubs and Cougars games that go into extra innings (like yesterday's Cubs win over the Cards). But the Olympics, unless they are here in the US (and I'm not saying that they should be), are always taped and edited to show during prime time.

But I noticed something new that they are doing this year... or if it isn't new, I missed it last time. They now have a whole website set up where you can watch stuff live. (It's HERE.) I've actually been fairly impressed with it. It has running metal counts, schedules of upcoming events and more. You can even set up your cell phone to get text messages so that you don't miss "live" events online. I don't know if I'll go to that extreme. But they are trying.

We'll see what happens.
I've also never been a huge fan of the "summer" Olympics. I enjoy the "winter" ones more. But I like the swimming and basketball (and I'm sure, as Jackie has already warned me, that I'm going to have to endure some gymnastics) so we'll see what happens.

Jim

House Hunters... Trip 1

Jackie and I went and checked out some houses today. We saw a couple of good ones... and a couple of not so good ones.



House #1 is in Batavia. But it's pretty old and outdated. I fell fairly short of what we thought it looked live from the online pics.







House #2 is in North Aurora. It's probably the top runner of what we saw today. It's a 1 story ranch though with a full-(finished) basement. But it's got two fireplaces, a big backyard and a huge garage. We might have to see this one again.












House #3 is a townhome in North Aurora. It's close to friends. It's nice. Really nice. But I don't know if I am all that interested in a town house because it feels so much like living in an apartment. But it's an end unit, which would give us some room. It's also very well laid out and newer.















House #4 is in Sugar Grove. It's over 100 years old and definitely feels like it on the inside. It has some very high ceilings and is laid out very unusual. I thought it might be cool... but for the price, it might be a bust for us.




We're hoping to get a chance to get out next Friday and see a few more. So, feel free to check back and see if the Clark's find a house they can both live with within their budget... (sounds like the show... hehe).

Jim

House Hunters... Clark Edition... intro

So this afternoon begins a new thread on my blog. I'm calling it "House Hunters... the Clark Edition" mostly because my wife can't get enough of THIS show... (she's telling me right now about a show that she was watching last night).

This afternoon we are heading out to see 6 houses!! We've started to work with a great realtor that has shown us some great houses (online). Today, we get to see if any of them are interesting to walk around in. (I'll probably be brainfried by dinner!!)

So... more later.

Jim

REMEDY TOUR LIVE DVD/CD THEATER ANNOUNCEMENT

I love the David Crowder Band.

I've been a fan since way back when we first experienced David Crowder at Milligan for CIY when they were still the UBC Worship Band. I've got all their albums and most I have pre-ordered. I just love their music.

Well, then I saw THIS on YouTube (sorry... I still can't embed videos from YouTube for some reason). Live, in the theaters!!!! And one of the theaters is the Charlestowne Mall Theater (about 5 miles from our apartment)!!!!

I think that I'm going to have to go. I would encourage you to go if you can. It will be awesome to see a 12 foot tall David Crowder!

Jim

Cougars lost

5-3... But the fireworks were good!!

Kane county cougars game

Great seats for a fun single A baseball game!!

National Youth Ministry Conference 2009 promo video...

My buddy Josh just pointed out that Group and Simply have released the promo video for the 2009 NYWC in Columbus. I'm already looking forward to it.

I would embed it, but I can't/don't know how. So, check it out HERE. I would highly recommend it!

Jim

PDYM 2009!!!

There is a rumor floating around that the Purpose Driven Youth Ministry Conference is back in 2009!! The dates that I've heard are March 24-27th! I'm looking forward to some more details!!!


Jim

MercyMe - 'Hymned Again' Pre-Sale

I love it when for whatever reason Blogger/YouTube/Al Gore (Internet's self-proclaimed inventor) won't allow me to post videos from YouTube to my blog. It's very frustrating.

But, any how... until someone gets their act together or the stopgap is removed... Check out THIS VIDEO from MercyMe.

Sorry for the inconvenience of not being able to embed them here for whatever reason.

Jim

Almost in a tornado last night

So, Jackie and I went over to Schaumburg to pick her up a new MacBook. (It's a long story...) She's been needing a new computer and last night we had a free night, so we headed over. Little did we know that the weather was about to turn tornadic... literally!!! (See HERE, HERE, HERE and HERE!)

As we turned onto Bartlett Road, we heard tornado warning sirens. Hoping to stay ahead of it, we continued to drive. Hoping to get to the mall before it hit. But eventually it caught up with us, so we stopped in a neighborhood. Staying in a car in the midst of a tornado is NOT a good idea and I knew that. So as we pulled around a corner, I noticed an open garage door on this house. So thinking that the owner of the house would be more understanding than a tornado that may or may not be coming, I decided to try to explain to the owner.

They weren't home. Or if they were, they never came out. We stayed inside and waited it out before heading on to Schaumburg and getting the computer. But it was seriously scary. It was definitely the most weather-scared I've been since THIS happened a couple of summers ago.

The news last night said that there was one unconfirmed tornado last night in Elmhurst (about 30 minutes east of where we were in Streamwood). But at this point (Tuesday, August 5th, 9:45 am), we don't have confirmation. But it was close enough for me.


But there is a couple of things in this story worthy of note.
First, don't drive in a tornado (duh!)
But second, there are little things that we do everyday that we may not realize the impact of. For instance, for some reason the people who owned that house last night decided to leave their garage door up... not knowing the comfort and protection that it offered us. And they may never know. There are little things that we do everyday that we may not recognize the significance. So be aware of those things today.

Jim

We've got TWINS!!!

MacBooks that is...

Haha... There are baby radar's all around the country that are going off right now because of that subject line. And don't think that I don't know all you people out there who are secretly (or not so secretly) waiting for an announcement of baby-dom from the Clark household.

No babies yet.

But we do have a new MacBook in the family. Last night, amidst a near tornado (see HERE), we drove over to Schaumburg to the Apple Store and picked up a new MacBook 13" for my wife. In the picture to the right, you can see the happy twins sitting side by side. Jackie's is uploading new software. Mine is letting me know about incoming email. Don't they look cute together???

Hehe... Part of the fun in this post was setting off all the baby - radars...

Jim

My PT Cruiser turns 100,000

Last night, in the midst of going to Schaumburg to get Jackie's new computer (HERE) and almost getting into a tornado (HERE), my PT Cruiser had a momentous event...

It turned over 100,000 miles!!!

Wow!!

It was an incredible occasion. (Maybe I can talk Jackie into having cake tonight in it's honor!!!)

Jim

Larknews Update!!!

I saw this over at my buddy Josh Griffin's blog... and it totally cracked me up. I love LARKNEWS... but somehow I missed this article. Here's a snipet:

MySpace gives pastor ‘prophetic’ edge
"PEORIA, Ariz. — Last Sunday, pastor Irwin Alton, 62, preached against several specific sins during his sermon. Some people in the audience gasped with recognition.
"When he talked about skipping mid-week service to go to the lake, and buying a new boat when you haven’t tithed, I felt nailed to my pew," said one man. "It was like the Holy Spirit was speaking right to me."
But it wasn’t the Holy Spirit — it was the man’s own blog where he had posted photos of himself and his buddies on his new boat on a Wednesday evening.
Pastor Alton, who cultivates a reputation as a computer illiterate techno-phobe, is actually an avid reader of MySpace pages, blogs and personal websites of the people in his congregation."

The article cracked me up. Check it out. Lark's got some pretty pithy stuff.

Jim

vacation...

I'm wondering (on Monday) why anyone ever goes on vacation. You work twice as hard to leave and then work twice as hard to catch up when you get back. Wouldn't it just be easier to never leave and just work consistently through???

Maybe, but then you would miss all the piles when you get back. Welcome to catching up from vacation!!!

Jim

Scored an iHome with Coke Rewards...

We scored a sweet iHome (check it out HERE) from mycokerewards. Every time you drink a Coke... or Coke product (Diet, Zero, Sprint, Barq's Root beer, Powerade Vault, Minute Maid Lemonade, etc), there is a little code under there.

For about the last 6 months, I've been collecting them. Friends have been giving them to me (by the way, if you are drinking Coke, and don't want the code... I'd be glad to take it off your hands... you could email it to me or text it to me and I'll add it to my collection.). I've even been known to snag one from a recycling bin when I walk by or from our apartment complex. I've even got some students texting them to me...


A couple of weeks ago I finally racked up enough to order my iHome... It took me 2500 point (a bottle is 3 points... a 12 pack is 10 points... and a case is 20 point). Some people think I'm obsessive... I'm just committed. They market for about $100, but why pay when you can get it for free with a little ingenuity.

When I got home from vacation, there it was with the rest of my mail. Now it is a new addition to our bathroom (I like to listen to music while I shower in the mornings and most of my music is on my iPod... and if you don't know, this works with my iPod.). I got to use it for the first time this morning. It was a sweet moment.

I'm still collecting points... just wondering what to start working on next.

Jim