A warm sunny day in Coldwater, KY

It is a really nice day out here in Coldwater. I plan on picking up the kids bringing them in for a snack and head out to let them enjoy the day outside. The weather seems to be headed the right direction finally.

I received and email not to long ago that a certain group of churches will be conducting a conference in August. The were asking me to considered doing the event as the lead speaker (can think of a better word). I was excited and ready to go but I wanted to make sure that that is what God wanted me to do. After some prayer I realize that this is something he is leading me to do. So soon I hope to get more information on this.

Get out there and enjoy THIS DAY!

"Since my youth, O God, you have taught me, and to this day I declare your marvelous deeds."
Ps 71:17

What is it with weird things people don't like.

Today at our late B-Day parties for our girls we were discussing weird things people don't like. We began mentioning them.

Me - I don't like people touching my Adam's apple or belly button. Also I hate running through spider webs and if you smack me square in the back I will probably punch you in the tooth.

Buffy - She doesn't like you to ruffle her eye brows the opposite direction or to tickle her feet. If you tickle her feet it would be like wrestling an angry alligator.

Davida - She hates knees altogether. If you touch hers she freaks and if you move you knees around she panics. (really weird but hey...that's Davida)

Denisha - She dislikes you messin' her brows up too.

I am sure you all have things like this. Please take a minute to post in the request spot your weird dislikes.

I am getting too old for stuff.

Last night we had a youth open gym night. I had decided to hold off until the last minute to play basketball. We had Ping-Pong, ladder ball and washers to play. So I did that for the majority of the night. Then at the end the ole' man went in to play some B-ball. The first thing we played was 21 which I ended with 9 points. Then it was on to 3 on 3. About a few minutes into the game our 3 person dropped out. So we went on to play with 2 anyway. The game was suppose to go to 20. I was drilling 3's and some inside shots as well. Then came the incident. I was going for a reverse, and I had it too. One of my youth that will remain nameless plowed me over. It fell flat on my face and never recovered in the game. When I was younger I would have been able to jump right back up and play like nothing ever happened. Instead, I lost my breath and couldn't muster up enough energy to guard them anymore.

Last night I went to bed with Aleve in my system and icy hot on my body. I took a hot bath before all of this as well. This morning I woke up and could barely get my sore body out of the bed. I then proceed to head to the bathroom for another hot shower. Afterward I took some more Aleve and went to work. Right now as I sit in my office I am sore and tired. I have come to the realization that I am getting too old for this stuff.

...and he walks away from the computer limping.

Bleach Fumes

Today when I got to work our cleaning crew (Dee and Kathy) was in the Gym scrubbing the floors with the big honkin' floor scrubber. I stepped over the cleaner and headed to my office. About an hour later the Bleach smell entered my office. My office is on the second floor so it took some time to permeate the building. I thought it would fade after a bit. Well as time went by it grew stronger and stronger until I shut my office door, opened my window and turned on the fan. That did very little for the oder and now my eyes were watering. Well I decided that it was time to do something about it. I headed down stairs and opened all the gym doors and let the air come in. Then I decided to take a walk around the church and go to the prayer garden.

After a bit the smell had faded somewhat and I entered back in to get ready for tonight. I am not a big bleach fan anyway. When I worked as a janitor at MSU I loved to use ammonia. That didn't stink as much to me. It is funny how bleach and ammonia try their best as buddies to kill you.

Anyway did I mention I saw a giant turkey cross the Sullivan's golf course yesterday. It was crazy I saw this huge brown bird like thing run across the golf course and head toward the road. I pointed this feathered friend out to my girls and they thought it was funny too. Notice I said that happened yesterday. I was not high on bleach fumes then.

I must get off and head to town for a second. You all have a great day!

17 Days...

In 17 Days I will finally be graduating from College. This is more exciting than I first thought it would be. I thought at first it would be just another day. After all I am 32 and will be getting a diploma that most already have at my age. Then I realized I really don't give a flip! For once in my life I will like to pat myself on the back for finishing something. If anyone knows me I try my hardest not to "Toot My Own Horn". So I want to say TOOOOOOT TOOOOOOOT! LOL! Well Anyway what has got me all stirred up is that we all received our cap and gown. I finally realized this is almost over. I will have Tuesday nights back again.

Hannah and Chloe

Hannah and Chloe both have birthdays this month. Hannah is now 4 years old and Chloe just turned 1. It is amazing how time flies with children. Next year we will have 3 in school with Chloe at home.

Hannah for her B-Day got to pick whatever she wanted for dinner. She picked chicken nuggets ans "hot cheese" (Pepper Jack). That made for and interesting meal. Then she played with a Fairytopia doll. The thing programs to the TV so she can use it like a DVD remote. That took like an hour to do because the directions stunk.

Chloe today will get a push toy and a swing for outside. At her age it is really hard to pick out something that she wants. So now it is about things she might use. Buffy had the idea for the swing which was genius.

Well I have to jet now. Buffy and the kids are picking me up today from work. It appears the car might be ready. So we are off to see. Have a great evening you all!

Unleashed and BCM

Last weekend the youth and I went to a youth discipleship type weekend. This is not the Disciple Now conference that you may have heard before. The event was held at Westside Baptist Church in Murray. It was hosted by the Baptist Campus Ministry. They did an excellent job and I really took away a lot.

The focus was on social injustices that are happening all over the world. One of these injustices in particular was in Uganda. Here children wander the streets and sleep in bus stops, basements and below hospitals. Many times they sleep on cold wet floors. The ages range from 3-18. The reason they are hiding is that they don't want to be abducted and sent to training camps. In those camps they will be taught how to kill. Learning about these things will break your heart.

I began to feel uncomfortable while watching the footage of these tragic events. Then it came to me. The reason I was so uncomfortable was that I was so comfortable. That may seem wierd to you but after thinking about it I bet you would understand it too. We have become so comfortable in our environments that we are detached to what is happening all over the world. We don't want to feel uneasy. We turn a deaf ear to what is happening. We don't know because we don't want to. I say it is high time we started listening for humanities cry out for help. We have the answer to all things and the hope for a greater tomorrow. Yet while I sit here and type this over 600 children have died. Waiting for someone else to do it is idiotic.

I guess really my wake up call is to us all and especially those in America. We are one of the most wealthy and prosperous nations in the world. It's time we reach into those resources and help others.

There is so much more that I would like to type here. The problem is a person would get tired of reading after a while. Here are some links:

Invisible Children (Watch the video)

Filling His Nets

World Vision

Compassion

Car issues

It seems as though I have car issues a lot. I am sure part of it is that I buy cars that have high miles on them. The little Focus is sickly again. So my Dad has been gracious enough to let me borrow the tank of a vehicle he has (Durango). Then my brother brought me to work the morning after our coffee hour. Finally I am using the churches 15 passenger van to get to town and back. I think it is time to find another high mileage car to use soon.

Well I have a busy day ahead of me so cya!

Ministering to VT

It seems as though when you think evil things in this world can't get any worse they do. Without a doubt the whole world sits in total sadness at the tragedy that unfolded at Virgina Tech. I myself could not phatom what would make a person do such a thing. A person that would devalue life so much that they take it so freely and without remorse. We ask why and yet deep down we know the answer. Things like this happen because there is evil in the world. In the days to come students, family and friends of the victims will morn. The nation morns with them for such times as this our hearts go out.

I ask that you pray daily without ceasing for everyone involved in this. To often we say a prayer once and think that is enough. Continuous prayer is needed because the days ahead will be long.

For the students of VT. We are praying for you!

My photo

A while ago my brother encouraged me to send some pictures to the Courier Journal. They have a travel section in the paper and recently they have been asking for pictures. My brother submitted one and his made it. At first I just thought there were very few that submitted photos. As of today there have been 3700 pictures or more that have been sent to them. This picture was sent because it is my favorite. Mine made it on this Sunday's paper. So now the Hughes brothers both have one published and I am thinking that we need to be employed to go and take travel pictures all over the world for them. LOL!

I have had a busy few days so I haven't posted much. The youth had fellowship/game night at the church on Sat night. Then I preached at Northside Baptist Church on Sunday. As soon as I got home I headed back to Poplar Spring to prepare for a incoming youth group that will be staying at a members cabin. Then I headed back home to rest and head back to church for a meeting and our evening service. This week is wilder than that so I don't know how much posting I will do. I hope you all have a great day!

New phones and gut scans

Yesterday we had a new phone system installed in the church. We have needed them as long as I have been here. The old ones were not working and one you had to hold the cord a certain way or you could not hear the person on the other end. Some how they could hear you but nada on your end.

I enter my office and start to play with this new gadjet as often we all do when something new is purchased. I pretty much figured it out except there is a button labeled RI's. Apparently it drops all calls so if I push that button everyone would be disconnected. Me and the music minister (Dee) are trying to figure out this paging thing. I keep pushing buttons but it beeps at me and so I will wait until our all knowing secretary gets here tomorrow.

Anyway about this gut scan I had today. They found a cyst on one of my kidneys. That is not a big deal because people have those and most of the time it is nothing. What alarms me is the fact that they scanned my left side and when I was at the Dr the first time they said it was my right. Now either one of them is wrong or I have multiple cysts. Most likely one of them is wrong. In that case I am sure glad they are not taking off a leg or arm. I would be like that Dr on ER where he told the to write on his good arm "Not this arm idiot".

I also added a google calendar feature so that youth can check out scheduled events. I hope it is up and running correctly. I need to get to work now so you all have a great day!

Pic Game

exanastasis??

Today in our youth bible study we were talking about Jesus' rising from the dead. It came into my head that so often we speak in a "Christian language". We go around saying phrases like:

• Have you been washed in the blood of the lamb?
• Are you sanctified?
• I am redeemed!
• I believe in the resurrection?

Saying these things makes a language that people that are not "in the know" would have a hard time understanding . Why would we want to speak in a code where others could not see Christ clearly? I don't mind using those words when we are in a setting where it is an in depth bible study with Christians. I will now translate those 4 statements or questions:

• Are you a Christian?
• Are you a Christian?
• I am a Christian!
• I believe Jesus died and rose from the dead.

I know that some of those words have more meaning but the idea is that we need to speak a lauguage that is easy to understand. If not we are saying words that people need to Google to figure out. Just like the title word. That is translated to "resurrection".

Sitting in a coffee shop.

Today me and my brother went for our normal Friday morning coffee meeting. When entering the building I noticed a man sitting in our chairs. Although I wanted to go over there and dump him out I figured that might not be the best idea. Remember I haven't put caffeine in my body yet so I am a little grumpy at this time. So I just took my cafe mocha and the breakfast bar to a coffee type bar area. This all faces out the window. Once my bother enters (astonished at the man in our area) he sits down too. I realized that when we talked we looked at the window the whole time. Instead of sitting in the nice comfortable chairs and having a intriguing conversation we were having problems communicating looking out the window.

So next time Mr seat stealer you are going in the FLOOR!

I am gonna glue your hands to your head!

I was reflecting today over some funny things that happened while I was in AZ. One of the things that a lot of us laughed about was about a lady we will call "Nancy". This lady was new to the team this time and her and her husband drove to AZ from Mayfield.

"Nancy" was in charge of crafts during the VBS we were doing in Casa Blanca. Now I must explain that Nancy can sound gruff if you don't know her. During one of the first nights the children in the 5 and 6th grades were wild. She grabs some glue and yells, "I am gonna glue your hands to your head!!!". Of course the little kids looked at her like this lady is crazy.

On the last night we came into the craft room again. And again the 5th and 6th grade class was WILD. Nancy then grabs some scissors ... I yelled "Nancy DON'T DO IT!!!" (I was pretending like she was gonna go crazy with the scissors). We aggravated her because we knew she was really using them like you would when you are pointing at something. Nancy was something else let me tell ya.

*No kids were harmed or threatened- these events were ALMOST real..the author felt free to embellish on a FEW things for dramatic effect*

Who'dle Bops?

This Saturday we took Micah, Abbi and Hannah to the Regional Special Events Arena in Murray. The Doodle Bops were in town and my father and mother had purchased tickets for the kids to see this show. I have to admit I know very little about these strange creatures. The kids really enjoyed the show and they all left with toys and stuff to remind them of the experience.



I think they might be part human and part alien. I am not for sure. One has hair like a one of those scrubber mops at the old car washes (Micah has one on). The other has hair that looks like it is glued into place with crazy glue. Finally the other is an orange ball of energy that has an actual orange wig on. Their hands appear to be that of an African Dart Frog. Whatever they are my kids had a great time watching them. If they enjoyed it then I enjoyed watching them. So Mom and Dad the money was well spent. Your grandkids had a blast and will talk about it for years to come.

Oh and I am changing my blog look so be patient as I make updates.