Reach for the Sky

I found an old bb gun in my basement a while back. My sister and I thought we would help to better establish the stereo-type that all people do in the Midwest is drink and shot guns. Which, if you have never lived here is far from the truth, we also do road construction. With some pop cans, a piece of wood, drop tarp and a couple of buckets we had ourselves a state of the art shooting range. The only problem was after about 15 mins. you would be shaking so much from the cold you would rarely hit the target, which made the game not so fun. The video above is just a small snap shot of your shooting activity time.

Job 31

The words of the Bible have once again opened another door in my heart. Many times the words of Scripture provide a much-needed word of encouragement to press on, to keep up the good work. Often they remind us of the power God has and that he is in control. Other times they shout of the great things God has done, the grace he has given time and time again. And still other times they convict, cause us to ponder and ask hard questions. Such was the case in my reading of Job 31 today.

The passage is a long dialogue of Job in response to his friend Bildad. Jobs response actually starts in Ch. 26, but Ch. 31 is the ending, and what I feel, is the climax of this particular response. Basically, Job goes through all the area of this life recalling the way he carried himself is those situations. Some times we know how Job responded, and other times we are not given that information. But all the while reading this passage I was putting my self in Jobs shoes. Vs. 16 “If I have denied the desires of the poor… “ vs. 17 “If I have kept bread to myself…”  vs. 19 “If I have seen anyone perishing for lack of clothing…”  vs. 22 “then let his arm fall from the shoulder.” And for someone how has dislocated their shoulder 15 times, reading that makes me cringe. But what is even more painful is being honest in answering all the though questions Job poses through out his reply to Bildad. It’s not easy, no, it’s painful to open a door to your heart that you have closed off or never new existed,  and then start cleaning up the mess in some cases, or just do a light dusting in others. Either way it’s a painful process, but one that is necessary. And in doing so, in discovering where I have fallen SO SHORT of the glory of God, I’m discovering in a new way, everyday what it means to actually live in the grace of God. I would encourage everyone to read these words with a pen in hand and a piece of paper at your side. Give yourself sometime and honestly evaluate how you have carried yourself in the areas you read about. For me, this was not just a, “Oh look, I have failed again and want to change the way I live my life. The passage actually planted a seed that moves me to action. I pray the Lord search our hearts and move us to action in the areas that need to be changed, and grant encouragement in the areas we have been blameless in.

For a cool story of how the words of the Bible convicted and caused Sara to action, see the link below. I saw this on the blog of my old small group leader.
Sara's Stroy

The Days Handy Work

Finding old things in the basement can be both a pain and a joy. Today it was a joy. With 4 boxes of wall paneling samples, some wood glue, a router, stain, skill saw, straight edge, nails, screws, wire, screw gun, brushes, drop tarp and a couple other odds and ends you have what you see below. It now proudly hangs in the basement to help take some of the glare off the white walls. It looks a lot better in person.

San Diego

I returned home from San Diego in high spirits. Good friends and family always make life more enjoyable. And I had a lot of good friends and family to play with, talk with, eat with, and celebrate with. Celebrate the marrage of my cousin Kerri to Ryan. This was the reason for the trip. But I was able to do so much more in addition to being apart of Kerri and Ryan's wedding. I arrived late Tuesday night. And after a 11:00 In-N-Out run I had a full stomach and we had a full car. We pick up grandma and grandpa brought them to my aunt and uncles house. I slept on one of my aunts couches. Side note on sleeping.

This was my sleeping schedule and location for the trip. (just bear with me for a little bit)

Tues. - Aunt's couch - 1:15 A.M.

Wed. - Wes Bruce's Attic - 11:00 P.M.

Thurs. - Floor in one of my Aunts bedrooms - 10:45 P.M.

Fri. & Sat. - Hotel Bed - 11:00 P.M.

And all but Sat. night I sleep in the cloths I wore for that day. One would thing it would be quite uncomfortable, however, I feel I slept the best I have in a long while during this trip. Their is something about going to bed really tired from playing and/or working really hard during the day. And waking up knowing you get to spend that day with the ones you care most about.

Wed. brought about lunch in the afternoon with my Aunt and Uncle from Moreno Valley, Parents, Brother, Sister n Law, and Niece. Thank you Pat and Oscars for some great bread sticks. It was then off to hanging with Wes Bruce. Our first stop was as the Museum of Contemporary Art in San Diego where he works. He showed me around the building, his office, meet some of his co-workers, and told stories of days past. We had stopped there on your way to the Habitat House, a small gallery space where another of my cousins, Kelli. was having and art show. Wes and I arrived early to help her finish the installation. Neither of us were expecting to have to help out, but we're both glad Kelli gave us a call. We had a really good time, and the show looked really great. Kelli Murray Larson Art. It was also really fun to have a good chunk of my family at here show. It was neat to see Grandma and Grandpa interact with a show that was largely based off where they grew up and what the provided for their grandchildren. From there it was time for California Burritos and hang out time in the Attic. Thurs. brought about another set of adventures. Wes and I took a trip to the beach for a nice morning walk and talk. Then took off to Escondido with his girl friend Emme and a couple of her friends to spend some time at the Fort. The fort is a incredible  installation Wes did at the California Center for the Arts in Escondido. Wes Bruce Fort. It is just an place to hang out and play or read and reflect. We were here for a good hour and hour and a half. Upon arrival back to Pt. Loma it was Taco Bell time then off to San Clement to see the Eckerts. Along the way Camp Pentelton was busy with activity. Helicopter were everywhere. It was pretty sweet. But it was even sweeter to see the Eckerts one last time before I depart for Guatemala. What wasn't sweet was the chip that got stuck in my through for the rest of the day. After Wes, My sister, and I had sat in traffic for way to long were back in Pt. Loma ready to head north once again to La Jolla. We went to see a film, Flood Tide, about these artist who built these boat to float down the Hudson River. I would finally end Thurs. back at my Aunt and Uncles house sleeping on the floor, a great day. Friday would bring competition and a rehearsal dinner. My uncle organized a golf outing with, teams, prizes, lunch, and all sorts of fun. I got to play with my brother and dad, we went even par on the front, but were three over on the back. We had three really bad holes that did us in, bogey, double bogey, bogey. All of that after a birdie, it was not very encouraging. That three over par put us into a tie breaker hole with my Uncle Kevin, Uncle Larry, Cousin Kerri, and Cousin Max. We each picked two players to play in the play off hole. It was Chad and I vs. Both my uncles. We lost because neither of us could make a very makable  6 foot putt. Saturday was the wedding. I arrived around 1:00 to help with some audio stuff and didn't leave till about 9:30. The wedding went really well. Kear Bear was glowing the whole night. I love going to wedding where you know about %75 of the people there. I guess family weddings usually help with the percentage. It was also really great to have my cousins from Minnesota there. They had not seen many of the family on the west coast for some time. I get along with them so well and really enjoyed there company. Sunday morning was also extremely fun. The whole family had brunch, there is just something magical about eating with your family, playing games and talking. The whole trip was just really good. 

  

Scrabble

Scrabble around the house usually consist of me playing my dad. Using words we don't know the meaning to or will never ever use in normal conversation. I have been keeping a running total of scores since I have been home in an excel spread sheet. It automatically calculates the highs and lows, as wells a provides you with you average score. At the moment I'm averaging 316 points a game to my dads 295.1, and have 5 wins to his 4. Today however, the stats ment nothing as I lost by 40 some points, not by best showing. After a post game press conference with the announcers on Scrabble Net and a taking time to sign some autographs for over joyed fans I took some time create shapes out of the scrabble tiles. Today's post game shape consisted of a Christmas tree with words that represent Christmas to me. Next week I'll be traveling to Zürich for a International Scrabble conference to discuss the possibility of getting scrabble into the 2012 summer Olympics. I'll also be making a stop by the FIFA offices asking them to reconsider their choice for the 2022 World Cup. 

Christmas Tree

Today was decorate the house day. It started out with a little garland and light hanging in the front, both on the house and on this little fence we have. A word of wisdom, make sure you check the lights to make sure the work before you place them in their final resting spot for the cold winter. I had finished putting up all the lights, granted it wasn't that much, only to discover a middle section did not work. After the front yard was finished, it was on to the back. Over the years the Christmas decorations have gotten significantly less around the house, but I don't think any area has taken as bad of as hit as the back yard. This year only two light up deer grace the ground of your house. I must confess, putter up fewer decoration does make the clean up of all this in the spring much easier. For there it was on to the Christmas tree. Due to some allergy related problems the real tree has been replace with the fake one we have had for the past 7 years or so. The most difficult part of putting up this tree is making sure all the branches are spread out evenly. The video below is a time laps of my putting the whole thing together. It's not complete yet, but mom will finish it up tomorrow.


http://www.vimeo.com/17353593