Fast Forward

Time to get caught up again, so this morning it's a bullet list:

• Daily Proverb - I'm still spending my morning quiet time in Proverbs, today was chapter 26. I really love this chapter, it's one of my favorites and has challenged me a lot in the past. I'll throw out verse 10 for now: "Like an archer who wounds at random is he who hires a fool or any passer-by." Sometimes we so want to fill a position or vacancy that we'll lower our standards in order to find someone to take the job. That can definitely be true in church circles, where almost everyone is a volunteer.
  
  I've run across this at BSU in seeking future leaders, and once while considering a candidate the Lord brought this verse to my attention. It might give us a warm feeling to have all of the blank lines filled in with names, but in the end the results will prove our decision was foolish. It's probably better not to have a position than to have one that's filled with the wrong person. I don't know who all this applies to out there, but I encourage you to keep it in mind.


• Merry Christmas! - I didn't get an official Christmas post in (although obviously updates have been lacking a bit recently). So here's a little something to pass along to you all. How many of you are familiar with Tim Hawkins? He's a comedian who was an all Big 8 baseball player at MU and is also a Christian. I borrowed a DVD of him from Tate several months ago and just got around to watching it this week. He's got lots of stuff on YouTube. This one looks to be straight from the DVD, I don't know how long it will be active, but go ahead and watch, it's short:
  
  


• New Chief at the Top? - Apparently Carl Peterson is resigning. I think that's a good thing, although I'm not jumping up and down for joy and didn't honk my car horn in excitement like some did when they heard the news. I was at the game against the Chargers, the day before his resignation was announced. That was downright cold, but I still had lots of fun! I hadn't been to a game in several years, I still can't pinpoint how long it's been. I was joined by Allen, Gary and Bob:
  
  
  
  
  
  There were some irritating clock management problems at the end of that game, and it was even more apparent to those of us sitting there freezing in the stands. This past Sunday against the Dolphins was more of the same - playing well enough to just lose a close game. Unfortunately I had a bit of a DVR mishap and missed the last five minutes or so. Oh well, maybe it was for the best.
  
  I'll watch with interest to see how the off-season unfolds. A case can be made for bringing Thigpen back as the starter next year, although that's still probably tied to keeping the spread offense around. If we get a new coach then I don't think that will happen. I'm expecting to see Herm stay another year, that's just my gut feeling right now. Blah blah blah, this is the part where Karin checks out... probably the other three of you that read this as well. :)


• Divorce Averted - It seemed to be a case of irreconcilable differences. My lawyer had the papers all written up. But in the end, I just can't bring myself to get rid of Pippin. It's mainly just a matter of annoying things that he does, and that seems like a pretty lame and selfish reason to get rid of a dog. It probably also has to do with Cooper - before we got him I didn't know just how cool a dog could be. Either way, he's going to live with us until the end of his days. (Hey now, don't read into that!)


• Turkey Approaches! - Next Monday I'm heading to Turkey, with an expected return of January 9. I think I've got my laptop and home computer all set to video chat and my outlet adapters should arrive tomorrow. I've needed some better snow shoes for a while, and a few days ago picked up a pair of waterproof/steel toed shoes. I fully intend to tromp around Turkey in those and my big brown coveralls. I won't stick out at all :)
  
  Assuming I can secure some Internet abilities, I'll try to add plenty of updates here while I'm overseas. I would certainly appreciate prayer for myself and my family during this time. Thanks!