• I want to ride my bicycle…

    BikeThis is Megan’s new bike. But don’t tell her because her birthday isn’t for a couple more days. I learned another lesson about "the difference between Kristen and Adam." There are some people in this world who are bike shop people and there are people who are toy store people. I’m always willing to pay more for a better product and great customer service. I think Kristen was looking for the less personal approach in the toy aisle. The most important thing is that our 5 year old now has a great looking bike that will last for a few years.

    This week I have double duty as we have our normal Light Force tonight and I’m filling in for Bob on Sunday morning. So tonight we are talking about Noah and Jesus’ apocalypse (Luke 21) and Sunday morning we’re asking the question "Are we worth following?" (Phil 2)

    It’s been an interesting week for me in the office. We had a very difficult message to hear from the Bible on Sunday and I’ve had the pleasure of talking to several people who’ve come to me with their concerns. My experience (personally) with the Spirit’s moving in people’s heart is at first it is difficult to deal with the truth encountered, even painful. But when we respond to the Spirit’s leading it is entirely exciting. I keep saying over and over again "Praise God for leaders who lead the people."

  • It’s LOUD in here

    Ears
    All I can think of right now is how loud it is in the offices. The construction crew is busy removing the old facade of the building for the new brick/EFIS front. For the last week or so their work has concentrated on the far end of the building and not been disruptive… but now they are in the office wing. ZOINK!

  • Finding plum

    There were any number of projects completed yesterday outside. More plants planted, some pavers not quite installed, a brush pile burned, and the kids play fort.

    Level
    Fort McLane
    Late yesterday evening I buried the two posts that will hold the swing set still for the next decade or so. That’s pretty simple, but getting to that point wasn’t simple. I had determined that I wouldn’t call for help unless I really, really needed it.

    One of the cool things about working at a church is that the people are always happy to help. One of the problems with that is when I do call for help, I don’t often get help so much as I get people who come and do the job and allow me to just stand by or "hold stuff." I’m not whining about that, but it’s just nice to do things for yourself sometimes.

    The big challenge was getting the fort level. Since we got a "used fort" some of the boards were pretty badly warped and this makes getting it level hard. Put that together with the bumpy place we decided to place the fort and it’s no wonder we struggled.

    Since we had cut off the swing set arm to get it on the trailer I had to rejoin everything at the new location. First I used a joist hanger to mount the old 4×6 post where we cut it off. But to make it stronger, I had to marry a new 2×6 onto the old post. With the swing set a little high and the edge of the fort a little low, we had quite a predictament. Kristen and Andrea would move the posts out a little, then in a little. To the right, to the left… but with little net change. Finally we decided to jack up the middle of the fort a little bit to see if that would help.

    Bingo! From that point on it was gravy. I just have a few more things to do and Fort McLane will officially be open for business. In a few weeks we’ll be adding a slide or climbing wall… but for now it’s just fine.

  • The Thorn in the Flesh of the Kennedy Family

    KennedyOK, so Patrick Kennedy (son of Ted Kennedy) was involved in an accident on Thursday night.

    At 2:45 AM the disoriented Rhode Island democrat was speeding through a construction zone, clipped something which caused him to swerve. So a police officer tailed him and popped the lights on… to which the lawmaker promptly didn’t pull over and continued driving until he ran head on into a barrier.

    It gets better. The reporting officer describes this scene as he approached the representative’s 1997 green Ford Mustang: "Observed that D-1’s [the driver] eyes were red and watery, speech was slightly slurred, and upon exiting his vehicle, his balance was unsure. D-1 also report to R.O. [reporting officer] that he was "headed to the capital to make a vote." [Yes, at 2:45 AM!] Read the rest at the Smoking Gun

    Equal
    Of course, he being a Kennedy in Washington… nothing will happen to him. Instead of giving a field sobriety test the officer just took the representative home. But, as his website declares "Congressman Kennedy is a dedicated supporter of our law enforcement and firefighter communities." Apparently "equal justice under the law" doesn’t apply here. Anyone else in the country with those circumstances would have been field tested and probably spent the night in jail.

    I think they should remove this guy immediately until a proper investigation can be done. How can a lawmaker look like a law dodging lawbreaker? Oh well… at least his son didn’t get anyone killed.

  • Gas prices

    Since Katrina, we’ve not really seen gas go below $2.50. Who would of thought that we’d drive by a gas station and see $2.79 and sasy… "Oh, cheap gas so we better fill up."

    I’m not being nostalgic but the summer of 1998 I was buying premium in Chicago for $1.09. What the heck happened?

  • A good weekend

    It all started Friday evening. I drove down to Kristen’s folks house to have dinner and pick up Kristen and the kids. While I’m not a natural "big family" guy I really enjoy having Megan and Paul around their cousins and grandparents. So Friday night went in a blur.

    Saturday we got the play structure. Overall it was a yard day as we added yet more flowers to the yard and I got the front yard mowed and cleaned up. I’m having a general frustration with my gas blower/vacuum thing… I must have pulled that starter 250 times and it never got started well enough to actually work for me. Annoying!

    Sunday, obviously is "church day." With Bob out of town I had a couple more things to do than normal but not an obnoxious amount. After church I was in charge of running the last name change meeting. I tried my best to answer questions and keep everyone united through the discussion. (I mean that in an emotional way since there are obviously good people on both sides of the name change discussion.) I left church at roughly 2:00 and then went out to lunch with a church family. I finally got home from church at about 3:30 PM. Long day, stay home right? Of course not.

    The "big meet" was last night. I went over to YMX member, Bryan the madposter’s, house for dinner with Todd, Kim, and their friends. Also present was Chicago YMXer Cathy. I just kind of hung out and didn’t say a whole lot. But it was a lot of fun to hang out with Todd, Kim, Bryan, Cathy, Mary, Matt, Chris, and a few "non-YMX" folks.

  • Big day for the kids

    Play_fortFor months now we’ve been talking to a church family about taking their play structure and moving it to our house. Well, today is the day!

    In a few hours we’ll be going to get it. This is very exciting for the kids as they’ll have their own swings and something to climb on and be "theirs."

  • 400 and growing fast

    Ymx_arrowsLast night YMX reached a big milestone. 400 members. Barely past it’s 6 month anniversary, we’re excited about our growth rate. May has been a gangbuster month so far… pretty cool.

    There are several new developments that are right on the cusp of being able to talk about. Cool times for this little site and it’s community.

  • Youth Pastors Aren’t Planning for Retirement

    Sometimes I worry that a lot of young ministers aren’t investing in their future because they are too worried about paying off school debt and other things. Since investing is one of my hobbies, I keep track of some money-oriented websites. I came across this question today and thought it was worth posting:

    I opened a Roth IRA at my credit union, but now I’m confused. As I
    understand it, my Roth, which the teller told me is "just like a CD,"
    lasts only 23 months. Based on what I’ve read about Roth IRAs, however,
    I thought you could put your money aside for a couple of decades. Does
    the amount of time the Roth lasts depend on the financial institution
    you open it with, or do all Roth IRAs expect you to decide periodically
    whether you want to extend it?

    If you don’t know the answer, click here. (Ask the Expert on CNNMoney.com)

  • Time to spend some time updating…

    Romeo_logo_front_1I’ve finally got a day when I can spend some time working on the church website. One thing I want to do right away is get the same mp3 capabilities on the church site that we have on YMX. So if you get a minute, check it out and let me know what you think.