A quick hello!

I understand that there likely isn't anyone waiting for my next blog, or wondering why I've been so quiet lately. But I can't believe I haven't posted anything in over 2 months. Actually, it's been longer than that for a "real" post. Let's just say I don't have the same time that I once had to blog like I did. I miss it.

My brother started a 12-week series that I think some of you will appreciate. The series is entitled "American Idols". No, it's not about the show. It is about how we as Americans can lose sight of the Kingdom of God and need to re-evaluate what is important. You probably get the gist...

I thought I'd take a second to provide the link for you. Here it is:

http://northst.org/podcasts/20090712.mp3

You can also access it and subscribe via iTunes.

Till next time!...

Laughter at the Graveside.

This will be a quick one. I'm hoping it'll bring you a laugh.

My grandma Nease died back in April and we all took a trip to Mt. Vernon, OH to bury her ashes with Grandpa and their son, David. (This is their first son David, who died in 1970. Their second son David is still alive and all too well. So don't worry if you thought I was talking about him.) The whole family had gathered around the gravestone and my family of 4 was just about the last to arrive. While we weren't all crying or anything, it was kind of a somber moment as you may imagine. Josh was walking a bit ahead of us and Joy and I were kind of watching to see how he reacted to everything. I was all ready to console him and explain carefully what was going to happen. I was concerned the he'd think it was weird.

Well Josh, ever the shy guy, walks right up to the 8-inch circular hole awaiting the ashes, peers down into the 3-foot chasm and exclaims, "That...hole...is...AWESOME!!!"

Somehow, I don't think grandma would have been all that upset.

Just had to post that story before I forgot it.

A Book Review: The Lost Letters of Pergamum

I am currently reading two books- Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places, by Eugene Peterson and The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism, by Timothy Keller, and have just finished two others- Prodigal God, by Timothy Keller and The Lost Letters of Pergamum, by Bruce W. Longenecker. My reading habits had waned in the past few months but are picking up steam again. The purpose of this post is to sing the praises for The Lost Letters of Pergamum. It is likely that you have never read a book exactly like Pergamum. It is historical fiction, but written as a series of ancient correspondences between the Biblical figure Antipas (Revelation 2:13) and Luke, the inspiration for- or as this book suggests, the author of- Luke and Acts. I was fascinated by the book and likely would have read it straight through if the details of life didn’t force me to take two breaks.

I’ve come to understand that as a white, relatively tall, extremely good-looking, blonde American living in the 21^st century, that I have very little in common with the Jesus of ancient Israel. This was a troublesome discovery. I grew up to believe that Jesus knows me better than I know myself, so it seemed only natural that I’d know Jesus pretty well too. The epiphanal notion that Jesus wasn’t from Massachusetts but Galilee, wasn’t middle-class but poorer than I’ll ever know, wasn’t college educated but an artisan, and most importantly wasn’t Christian but Jewish was somewhat unsettling for me. I didn’t lose faith, but began to realize that to really appreciate my faith, I needed to understand the cultures and belief systems from which my faith traditions were born. The more I thought about it, the more I began to understand that the ancient middle east is nothing like the modern US. As I set out to learn more about the foundation my faith, church, and traditions, I became deeply interested in learning about who Jesus was and how the world he lived in operated. But it wasn’t just Jesus’s culture that I was curious about. It was all of the cultures that influenced Jesus that began to interest me- Jewish or otherwise. And not just so I could understand a certain portion of scripture better. I want to know what my culture has in common with the ancient cultures. Or more adequately, ancient issues I've never experience in my culture. What was that culture like on a day to day basis? What were the things a Jew had to deal with in that day? Anybody who reads the Bible will see a clear culture war between the Jews and…well, everyone else. What exactly was going on? As I search for answers to questions such as these, I look for personal connections to an ancient world wherever I can find them. I look for ways to make a personal God more personal, if you will. Occasionally I find them in the most unexpected, even fabricated ways.

You will likely remember a few years back when The DaVinci Code caused all sorts of controversy for suggesting that Jesus might have been married. It’s likely that people were outraged by other things in the book too, but those issues are beside my point. I read the book, really enjoyed it, and didn’t understand why so many people were so upset by a fiction book. I was bothered by the fact that so many people cared whether Jesus was married or not, or simply that he may have been, GASP, attracted to women! When it came down to it, I didn’t care whether or not Jesus was married. I didn’t believe and still don’t believe that he was, but the simple idea that he may have had a desire inter-personal intimacy, perhaps to the level of a marriage relationship, made him more like me. You know how you can be having a conversation with someone in which they explain a challenging situation they’ve experienced and you exclaim, “ME TOO!!!!” You can really identify with their situation because you know what it feels like. The DaVinci Code didn’t accuse Jesus of sleeping around, it simply suggested that he had the same desires of any other human and got married like any other Jewish male would be expected to in ancient Israel. Listen, it’s hard enough for me to identify with a modern, American Jew living across the street from me, let alone one that lived in a 2000-year-old culture half-way around the globe. So, The DaVinci Code actually helped me to identify with Christ in a way that I hadn’t before- even if the book was fiction. It simply helped me think, in a different way, about the emotions Jesus might have had on a day to day basis. Don’t worry; I don’t pull out a copy of the book for my daily devotions. However, I might pull out a copy of The Lost Letters of Pergamum if my Bible reading will include anything from the New Testament.

The Lost Letters of Pergamum really has nothing in common with The DaVinci Code other than bringing additional realism to my faith. DaVinci is a fiction book based loosely on a couple pieces of historical information that might be true. It was written to make the author money. Pergamum is a fiction book based on several historical facts. It was written to take the reader back to the decades after Jesus’s life on earth in an effort to illustrate how Christianity began to take root in the Roman Empire. At no point did I exclaim “me too,” rather, the book helped me to understand just how different my world is from the world in which the writers of the New Testament were living. Instead of “me too,” there was an overall sense of “Ahhhh, now I get it!” In the Author’s Preface Longenecker states, “My hope is that readers of this narrative will not only enjoy the story line for its own sake…but will also profit from a better appreciation of the historical context of the early Christian writings and, thereby, develop sharper instincts for understanding the writings of the New Testament in the contexts.” The author hit his mark. I suppose he made a little money too. But not as much as Dan Brown.

Longenecker showed great skill and imagination by writing an entire work about a person that was only mentioned once in the Bible- and a passing reference at that. In Revelation 2:13, John mentions a man named Antipas who was martyred in the ancient city of Pergamum. The next couple of verses mention some of the circumstances that might have surrounded Antipas in Pergamum, but nothing more of Antipas. Longenecker creates a persona for Antipas- that of an ancient Roman nobleman- and creates a very compelling narrative about the life in ancient Rome and the stark contrast between the new atheist “Christians” and the Roman society of the day.

The lost letters, which are found by a fictional archeologist during a fictional excavation of the historical Pergamum, begin with a few letters between Antipas and Calpurnius, the son of Theophilus, for whom Luke wrote his monograph, which we know as the gospel according to Luke. Calpurnius introduces Antipas and Luke to each other and the letters discuss the subject of Luke’s writing, Jesus, and the empire of God. Through Antipas’s letters we begin to see, and feel like we are experiencing just what it meant to be a Christian living in the 1^st century Roman world. The following is an excerpt from a letter from Calpurnius to Antipas which I believe is a good representation of how the letters paint a picture of life in the Roman Empire during the 1^st century.

Since you [Antipas] are new to the area[Pergamum], you might be interested to know about a close associate of my household, an esteemed doctor and scholar named Luke. He is currently in Toras, where he has been instructing Eutychus, a friend. Since the shipping lanes have closed for the winter, he will return to Ephesus by land, passing through Pergamum on his return journey. He intends to stay as a guest in the house of Antonius, a city magistrate and man of great repute. Luke shares with you a keen interest in history. Before his death, my father, Theophilus, commissioned Luke to write a historical account of an intriguing man from Galilee and his followers. Luke finished this historical monograph about ten years ago. Despite its length (it extends to two sizable volumes), it remains in great demand. No doubt you and he would have much to discuss with regard to recent events in and around Galilee. Perhaps Antonius could let you now when Luke arrives in Pergamum, since you both would profit from each other’s interests.

There are historical references, and obviously many theological references throughout the book, some of which the reader may find challenge their understanding of the Bible or how they understood the Bible to have been composed. However, these new ideas do not get in the way of the flow of the book and are not faith shattering.

I highly recommend The Lost Letters of Pergamum, both for the confessed Christian and for the casual fan of historical fiction. I actually enjoyed the book so much I googled the author, emailed him, and told him how much I enjoyed it. He replied, stating that the book pretty much wrote itself. That was kinda cool. So, grab some coffee, a munchie, and let The Lost Letters of Pergamum take you back to an unfamiliar time. You won’t regret that you did.

Tweeting Isn't All That New

One of my favorite authors is Donald Miller, the author of Blue Like Jazz. I highly recommend it. One day when I was visiting his blog I noticed the invitation to send a text to a particular number so I could get a text each time he updated his blog. Seemed like a good idea to me, particularly since it promised that they wouldn't update me every time Miller is taking a shower. So I sent a text to the number and waited for the first update. Kinda wish I hadn't done that. I get about 8 texts a day from Miller. This is how I was introduced to Twittering. I was so annoyed at one point that I replied to one of the updates. The update read something like,

"Going to the movies tonight. Don't know what I'm going to see. Haven't been to the movies in months."

So I responded, "See 'Taken.' My wife and I loved it."

About 5 hours later I received a text that read, "Thanks for recommending 'Taken.' Neeson makes a great hero."

I thought that was kinda cool so I shared it with my brother, who also appreciates Miller's writing. Well, he decided to say that I have a bromance with Miller. My wife heard what he said and now every time my mobile phone chirps she says, "Who's that? Your bromance?" Usually it is. Now that I get his blog updates via RSS I can end the twittering relationship, but I don't know how. If you do, please leave me a comment below. Yes, I realize its probably easy, but techy stuff doesn't come easy to me. So shut it.

This twittering and social networking is neat. It took me a while to "sign on" so to speak, but I'm glad I did. I enjoy keeping in touch with people I wouldn't usually be calling or anything. But as much as I like it, I wonder if we have lost anything with the advance of such technologies. I was thinking about this as I was going through some old letters last night.

If you haven't heard, my grandmother on my mother's side passed away on April 7. She was 83 and had been in decline for several years. So while we were a little surprised when it happened, it's not like we were shocked. Grandpa passed away on April 6, 2006, so it kind of brought a joy to my heart to know that she wasn't living without him anymore.

In 1989 when my grandfather was voted into a new position within the Nazarene Church. As the Commissioner of Nazarene Higher Education he would be moving to Kansas City, MO to his new office at Nazarene Headquarters. We began to pack up grandma and grandpa's house. The basement and attic were full of what I thought was just old junk. TONS of old stuff. We didn't really go through it, but packed small boxes into larger boxes for the move. Well, with the passing of grandma, we're finally going through those old boxes. Actually, grandma and grandpa have moved at least three times since then, each time into a smaller residence so more of their stuff was packed away into boxes. My sister did a lot of sorting of their stuff when they moved into an assisted living community and tried to cut down on the amount of things. However, there was still a lot of really old stuff to go through when grandma died. So my mother, aunts, and uncles have begun to unpack those boxes, redistribute the various family items and get rid of the trash. It can be difficult at times. You know all those awards and plaques of appreciation people get though out their life? Apparently the saying is correct; you can't take them with you when you die. We have boxes full of awards and plaques my grandfather received. Some of them we're going to send to the archive departments at the institutions that gave them to him, but frankly, we're throwing some away if nobody in the family wants them. I was looking through them and thinking, "Awww...this is really great. Grandpa was so loved, but what the heck am I going to do with this 'Thanks for 15 years of service to Eastern Nazarene College' paperweight?" So we get rid of some "nice" things. There are so many things we're trying to figure out what to do with. Fortunately, our family is really good about sharing their trinkets and such. We're not really the type of family that argues about such things...yet, we'll see. But there are some things that are priceless.
I have sitting to the left of me an eight-inch stack of love-letters that were written between my great-grandfather Floyd Nease and his wife, my great-grandfather Madeline Nease. Most of the letters are double sided. It's really fascinating, because it's like I'm getting a look into the day-to-day lives of my ancestors. It's like they were twittering almost 90 years ago and I get to follow along. It seems different than today's communications. It makes me wonder how it'll be in 90 years when my great-grandson is going through my stuff. It probably won't take long.
I've decided to take it upon myself to type out all of these letters. I figure some other people in the family might like to read what they say. And besides, maybe at the end of the task I will have found the inspiration to write a novel that makes Nicolas Sparks look like an amature and makes The Notebook look like The Cat in the Hat. HA!
I'll be starting with a diary from great-grandma that begins before they're married and ends rather abruptly. I've had it for a few years, but I didn't know where the story went. Perhaps I'll find out now. This will be a daunting task for a few reasons.

1. It's a lot of letters even without the diary. Like I said, it's a stack about 8 inches high of two-sided, mostly hand-written (a couple are typed) letters spanning about a decade. (Great-grandpa died suddenly at the age of 35.)
   
2. They're not in order.
3. They're not all dated. And even if they're dated, I still need to figure out which letter was written first if there is more than one written on one date. For instance, on the morning of August 7, 1930 Madeline writes a letter so she can get it in the mail before the postman comes. Later that day, she writes another letter which begins,
   "Honey: This is one time where I'd be inclined to say you did not use good sense." This opening comment had nothing to do with the last letter, leading me to believe that she received a letter in the mail from Floyd and is writing a response. I haven't seen Floyd's letter yet. When I do, I'll need to fit in into the right spot- assuming the letter still exists.
4. Great-Grampa Floyd had terrible handwriting. It's often very difficult to read.
   
5. Old-speak. There are terms that they use that I'm not familiar with. It's difficult to know sometimes if I'm writing the correct words or if I just can't read the writing.
6. Did I mention there is a lot of letters?

I'm terribly worried that I'll damage these letters while I'm reading them. The paper is super dry and brittle. I'm going to have to be careful with them.

At any rate, I think this is going to be very meaningful for me, and hopefully for the rest of the family. The bag in which these notes were stored within the box had a note on it. The note read:

You may not understand all these but it will help you to know your Daddy + Mother better and to know we always loved each other.

Faded old love letters

For Stephen [my grandfather] when he is 21 then for Helen [my great-aunt] when she is 21.

I'm not sure they ever read these letters. Auntie Helen is still alive and well. She actually got married again last summer! So perhaps she'll get to read them if she hasn't. Here's to seeing how the task goes.

Still Tweeting, after all these years.

Every Man's Fantasy

Every year I swear I'm not going to play fantasy baseball. And then one of my friends invites me to join their league and I do. I never win. I don't even come close. Usually I end up really beating everybody for the first two weeks, gradually make my way down to the bottom three in the league and remain there for the rest of the year. I always feel like I have a pretty good team (as I do this year) but am always beat by people with players I've never heard of. Oh, and the winners are usually people who've never played sports in their life. Go figure. So anyways, here's my team from this year. I didn't do a whole lot of research about up and coming players. I went with OPS (On base plus slugging percentage) rankings from the 2008 seasons for hitters, and past performance of pitchers. I do modify my pitcher rankings a bit based on whether the team they pitch for will actually score runs, thereby increasing the chance of getting a win. I also try to avoid pitchers that jump from the National League to the American League. Eventually these "techniques" begin to fail as the good players are all picked. Then you end up picking players because, 1) They're on your favorite team (Tim Wakefield, Hideki Okajima), 2) They had a bad season last year (due to injury perhaps- J.D. Drew, Ken Griffey Jr.) and you're hoping they bounce back this year, 3) You like their name or know someone with their name (Luke Scott), 4) They're not Yankees, 5) You have to pick someone because your time is running out so you pick the first name on the list of available players that you still recognize (Jack Cust, Jose Guillen) or 6) You don't pick in time so the auto-pick function just picks the player for you based on their overall ranking (George Sherrill...who?!?!?! Apparently he pitches for the Baltimore ).

So here we go...again. I'm preparing my three weeks worth of smack talk now.

Infielders:
Catcher- Kelly Shopach
1B- Albert Pujols
2B- Dan Uggla
3B- Chipper Jones
SS- Stephen Drew
2B/SS- Miguel Tejada
1B/3B- Chone Figgins

Out Fielders:
Milton Bradley
Carlos Gomez
Pat Burrell
Ken Griffey Jr.
Luke Scott
J.D. Drew
Jack Cust
Jose Guillen

Pitchers:
Roy Halladay
Jon Lester
Josh Beckett
Derek Lowe
Brandon Lyon
John Smoltz
Hideki Okajima
George Sherrill
Tim Wakefield

A Musical Rant, A Running Freak, and Family Videos

(Some of you who are following my blog in Google "Reader" will have a new post from me that I posted by accident because God forbid, I hit "return" at the wrong time. Just so you don't make the same mistake, I'd recommend NOT hitting "return" while you are typing in the "Title" field of your blog. That wasn't even a finished rough draft, yet alone a finished post. In certain posts, I really care about my writing (the blog that follows below isn't really one of those), so having an unfinished blog accidentally posted feels like I'm standing outside in the center of Boston in nothing but pink underwear in the middle of January. So if you can help it, don't read it. But I understand it would be hard not to look at me if I was standing in the middle of Boston in pink underwear. That particular blog was one that I've been putting some thought, time, and a little bit of research into and I'm really not comfortable with it being out there. I planned on having a few other people read it before I posted it. I didn't see myself posting it for several weeks, perhaps months. All that to say, it's not a finished product so withhold your comments until a later time. I've deleted the post, but I don't believe I can delete the update to reader. I'll finish the post and get it up at a later time. Truth be told, I have almost as many unfinished blogs as I have finished blogs posted. Arghhh...)

As I type this entry, I am currently listening to The Morgan Sisters. It's one of those albums (I'll Be With You Always) that I am not normally listening to, but every couple of months I'll listen to it for a few weeks, several times over one sitting. People who went to college with me, or grew up in New England as part of the Church of the Nazarene will remember the Morgan Sisters- Myrna and Gisella. They were twin sisters who's harmony sent chills down my spine. Literally. We asked Myrna and Gisella to sing at our wedding as guests were entering and taking their seats. I was crying long before I walked out onto the podium for the wedding ceremony.
I'm afraid I have to call the songs in the album "old school" now. The newest of the songs was released in 1990, "Another Time and Another Place," by Gary Driscoll. Most of the songs are from the 80's. I feel old. Here's the playlist:

1. Another Time and Another Place
   
2. Holy Ground
   
3. Daystar(Shine Down on Me)
   
4. People Need the Lord
   
5. Friend of a Wounded Heart
   
6. In Heaven's Eyes
   
7. God and God Alone
   
8. Fear Not My Child
   
9. Hiding Place
   
10. Broken and Spilled Out
    
11. When I knelt the Blood Fell
    
12. It is Finished and Jesus is Lord

You know, sometimes I just need to kick it old-school. Some of it's nostalgia; I don't think I'd listen to the same list of songs sung by the original recording artist. It's official- I'm old. Check it out here.

While I'm talking about music...my (our) friend Nick recently asked in his blog what music people were listening to. Given what I just told you above, I don't usually answer that question. For some reason I feel like people judge others "coolness" by the music they listen to. If you like one particular type of music, there is a cool group for you. Well, I don't like one particular type of music. I like lots of music of all different types. I'm a casual listener. I don't get all excited for the next album of such-and-such a group. It's just not me.

Now, I like music. I even believe I know musical talent when I hear it. When I was a child I spent 12 years taking piano lessons. I didn't really learn to read music well, so I played by ear. As a result, I have a pretty good ear for pitch and rhythm and can tell when someone is off key or off beat. (I'm often amazed that Randy and Paula of American Idol use the word "pitchy" so much because most of the time they're wrong- either the person wasn't really pitchy, or they're way off and all three judges love the performance.) I like music, but I don't have a favorite type, and I can't keep up with the latest albums and such. If I like music, I don't stop liking it because it's not new. It takes a long time for a new song to jive with me. And I pretty much can't stand most of the pop music now. I've heard enough of Pink singing about fighting with her ex-(husband or boyfriend) and bragging about being a bratty rock-star. Then there's that other song that's popular right now- I can't believe someone would actually sing the lyrics, "When you see my face, I hope it gives you hell! I hope it gives you hell!" It's no wonder people are shooting each other. My workout playlist is filled with 80's hair-bands with the occasional Beastie Boys track. I don't have much good reason for that other than nostalgia and that there are certain 80's songs that still get my blood pumping, and probably always will. Survivor's Eye of the Tiger for instance.

I also appreciate musical talent. I'm not sure many pop-culture artists really fit that bill for me. Some do. I'm very impressed that a kid like Taylor Swift can keep writing hit after hit song. She's a country artist, but her songs have "crossed over" to the pop charts too. She's very talented. And she's not even 20 yet. She's been dumped by Joe Jonas who, I don't believe, has as much talent overall as she has in her little finger. I believe there are some artists that have talent, but would never make it based on that talent alone. Jessica Simpson and Brittney Spears, for instance. They can sing and gyrate, but let's be honest, they have other assets (pun intended) that have helped their career too. I've been to two Elton John/Billy Joel concerts. That fact alone is probably making some of my readers laugh, (particularly if they host a country radio show!) but at the concert I went to back in October of 2005 Elton John did a 15-minute rendition of Rocket Man that I'll never forget. The man has talent! And for some reason, it's OK to sing Piano Man when you're drunk at the bar, but if you're a man under 40 you better not mention that you enjoy going to his concerts! Tonight on the way in to work I was listening to the soundtrack from a 1990 Spike Lee production called Do It A Capella! How popular was this production? It didn't even make imdb.com. But it's got some good a capella music on it. Rockapella is one of the groups. Remember them? They sang the theme song to Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego. And they did this Folgers commercial too.

I keep this album mainly for their performance of Zombie Jamboree as seen below. As someone who appreciates pitch, I am impressed by how well Rockapella sang.


So anyways, I clearly have musical self-esteem issues.

I also think I may have issues when it comes to over-analyzing the songs we sing in church. It comes with being a thinker. I am always considering the words we sing and if they're theologically appropriate. One of my favorite worship songs is I Can Only Imagine by Mercy Me. It's one of the few songs that I feel I really sing well- harmonizing with a tenor part that actually works well with the song. I also appreciate the message of the song. It's about looking forward to heaven and being with Jesus. The irony here is that the video is of people holding pictures of their loved ones that have passed on, implying that they're looking forward to going to heaven to see them again. Neither of those things are in-and-of-themselves bad. But, as we were leading the congregation in this song this past Sunday, I was struck by the fact that the lyrics are, well, American Evangelical-lized. Before I continue let me just say that I understand the point of the song. We look forward to being in heaven with Jesus. I get that and look forward to it myself. There is nothing wrong with that. But the lyrics fall short of what we, as disciples of Christ, believe. Here are the video and lyrics to the song:

I can only imagine
What it will be like
When I walk
By your side

I can only imagine
What my eyes will see
When your face
Is before me
I can only imagine

I can only imagine

[Chorus:]
Surrounded by Your glory, what will my heart feel
Will I dance for you Jesus or in awe of you be still
Will I stand in your presence or to my knees will I fall
Will I sing hallelujah, will I be able to speak at all
I can only imagine

I can only imagine

I can only imagine
When that day comes
And I find myself
Standing in the Son

I can only imagine
When all I will do
Is forever
Forever worship You
I can only imagine

I can only imagine

[Chorus]

I can only imagine [x2]

I can only imagine
When all I will do
Is forever, forever worship you

I can only imagine

He's right; we can only imagine what it'll be like. Actually, we probably can't imagine what it'll be like, but we can try. Here's the part that I'm finding challenging though. The moment a person makes a committment to follow Christ the eternal worship begins. Actually, even that isn't really correct. Eternal worship has always existed and always will. That's why it's eternal. When a person makes a committment to Christ, they simply enter into the eternal worship and live a life of worship. For me, "forever worship[ing] You" happens every moment of every day. It's the very definition of holiness. Forever worshipping God is to seek and work to live a life that is pleasing to God. Plain and simple.

I'll still sing this song (there are some I won't), but I hope people understand that forever worshipping God begins long before "going to heaven." (About 25 minutes after having these thoughts as we were singing the song at church, our pastor made this very point from the pulpit. Way before I could blog about it! That's happened before. That's why I like my pastor!)

Some other stuff...

I have this cousin-like person in my life. He's the son of my mother's cousin. So I think that makes us cousins of some sort. At any rate, his name is David Swanson. David is a third year student (known as cows) at West Point Military Academy. I don't know anybody that likes to run as much as David. He's a running freak. He recently decided to run for 24 hours straight in an effort to raise money for the WWP (Wounded Warriors Project) which supports, yep, wounded soldiers. Here's a picture of David finishing the 24 Hour Brigade at 107 miles.

David fell a little short of his goal of completing 130 miles. Wimp. (I can drive that in well under 2 hours!) He did break is personal best of 100 miles though finishing at 107. He also had a goal of raising $10,000. He missed that mark too. The collective effort raised $26,000 and counting. Not so wimpy! So much for hitting a target though! If he overshoots an M-16 like that he'll never do well on the battle field! All kidding aside, it would be awesome if you'd support this important cause. The website is worth a visit even if you can't donate.

I don't post stuff about my family often enough. Certainly not enough about my daughter, Jordan. I got a message from a teacher where Joshua goes attends Kindergarten, Campus Kinderhaus. Jordan will start there in the fall. Here's what the message said,

"I [one of the teachers] was just in the after-school room...Josh gave me a hug, and I said, "I think Jordan should be in my class next year." He said, "yeah, but have you seen her? I'll give you two weeks." haha, I love him!"

That's Josh! Always saying very observant things to surprise people. He's right about Jordan though, she is a handful! Two of the three videos I'm posting here are of Jordan. They were taken in December. The first is of her singing Happy Birthday to her mother and then blowing out the candles. The second is of her reaction to a Christmas present. The third is posted for Merrit who requested a video of Joy opening her gift. There was a third video of Jordan, but Joy filmed it...sideways. This is at LEAST the third time Joy has filmed a video segment with the camera sideways because she wanted a taller frame for the picture. I've made fun of her each time. This time I'm going to tell everybody reading my blog about it and THEN make fun of her. I'll wait until she gets over her severe ear infection and bronchitis that she's fighting right now. I'm a good husband. Anyways.....enjoy!

As you probably noticed, Josh has a bit of difficulty sharing the spotlight!



Again, Joshua quickly needs to move on to HIS presents!



Did I mention Josh enjoy's the spotlight? This blanket is one of those fleece blankets with a big pocket for your feet. (Eat your heart out stupid Snuggie!) This particular blanket has Disney's Brother Bear embroidered on it. They stopped making them a while back. Our more-than-just-good-friend "Auntie" Merrit Andrews hooked us up with one. Brother Bear was the last Disney film Merritt worked on while employed as an animator at Disney. Apparently she still has people in high places! Awwww, geez, thanks Merritt!!!!!

Till' Death Do We Part

My day starts at 4PM- literally. I work nights from midnight to 8 AM and am THRILLED if I'm in bed by 9. It's not one of those "crawl out of bed" experiences either. The alarm goes off and I'm up, dressed, and in the truck to pick up the kids. Typically I try to get Jordan first in an effort to alleviate the burden of 4 children for my sister-in-law who watches her for us. From there, I rush to pick up Joshua at Campus Kinderhaus by 5:30 to avoid the $1 a minute charge for being late. So far I think that's only happened twice. By the time we all get home, it's about 6PM and the kids are usually beginning to get really hungry. Joy doesn't get home until about 6:30 at the earliest. Most nights we sit down to eat at around 7:30 or 8PM. (Yes, we eat late at the Scott house. It drives my in-laws nuts when they visit.) Recently, I've been trying to tide the kids over by giving them a snack in the truck while I pick them up and bring them home.
A few days ago I thought I'd give them a little treat and I put Lucky Charms in Tupperware containers and brought them along with me for the snack. I usually try to be a bit healthier than that, but I was feeling charitable on that day knowing full well that they'd simply pick out the marshmallows and leave the grain bits. That would upset me except that it's exactly what I do! Anyways, I picked up both the kids and headed home, knowing that I was the best dad ever for such a snack.

About 5 minutes into the ride home, Joshua told me he had a question for me.

"Dad," he said?

"What's up buddy?"

"Do people get another life when they die?"

Hmmmm... It was one of THOSE questions. I immediately began looking for a good response, unpacking all of my theological baggage as I prepared to answer this question for a six year old.

"Well, no. We believe that when a person dies, they either go to heaven...or they don't."

I'm not a big proponent for the eternal punishment view of hell, and didn't really want to scare my son into choosing the way, the truth, and the life. I believe people should choose the way, the truth, and the life on it's own merit- not out of a fear of eternal burning. (This is a way different blog topic for a way different day.) BUT, I quickly amended my answer to be a bit more biblically centered and said, "We believe that when a person dies they either go to heaven or hell. It's what we call an afterlife, but it's not a life like we have on earth. We're someplace else, not here like we are now."

I braced for the follow up questions, preparing to butcher my answers. He didn't immediately say anything, and I began to wonder why he had asked. He's been playing many different games on his Nintendo DS ever since he got one for Christmas, and as best I can tell not one of the games has a limit to the number of "lives" each character gets. It just goes on and on. I was wondering if that's why he'd asked. After a couple more minutes of silence, I asked why he asked the question.

"I don't want to talk about it," he said.

"I'm just curious," I replied, "Is it because you play Lego Star Wars and everybody gets another life when the die?"

"No," was all he said.

"Then why did you ask?"

"I really don't want to talk about it."

At this point, he was pretty somber, and I began to wonder if he was getting car sick. Perhaps the sweet marshmallows of the Lucky Charms weren't such a wonderful idea after all.

"Do you feel OK," I asked?

"Yeah, but here, I'm done with these," he said as he handed me the bowl of cereal, mostly uneaten with marshmallows still mixed in. I wasn't convinced he was feeling OK and was pretty sure there was a good chance the kid was going to vomit all over the interior of my new-to-me truck. "Then what's wrong," I pressed?

"I really don't want to talk about it."

I let it go, still pretty sure he was simply sick. But when we got home, he hopped out of the truck like there was nothing physically wrong, although still a bit somber. He went inside and got ready for his gymnastics class and soon forgot about the conversation.

Later on that night Joy and I went on our date night. We decided that we were going to be rebellious and celebrate Valentines Day on February 10th. Take THAT Hallmark! (She did, however, inform me that since Valentines Day was on the 14th then the correct day to send flowers to her at work was Friday the 13th. Duly noted.) Over dinner I shared the story with her.

"I wonder if Nipun was talking about his family's beliefs," she mused.

Nipun is one of Josh's best friends at school. His family is Indian, and his mother told stories about some of the Hindu Gods during a visit to Kinderhaus one day. (I imagine that was awkward for the teachers at the Christian day-care, but it kind of just blew over!) Joy and I began to wonder if Nipun had been talking to Josh about reincarnation. At dinner last night, I decided to bring up the conversation again.

"Josh, do you remember when you asked me if a person gets another life after they die? Were you asking because Nipun had been talking about people getting another life after they die?"

"No."

"Was it because people on your video games get new lives," I asked again?

"No." He again became very somber and upset. He looked like he was on the verge of tears.

"Then why did you ask? I just want to be able to help you. You seem sad."

"I really don't want to talk about it," he said.

"Are you worried about Mom and Dad? " He shook his head, "no." "Jordan?" Again, he shook his head."

After listing a few more members of our extended family, Joshua burst into tears and said, sobbing, "I'm worried about you and mommy!"

There are moments in the lives of every parent that rise above all others. Just two days before I remember being proud of Josh as he began to stretch before his gymnastics class. I was proud of him when we met recently with his teacher. I love to watch the way he plays with, and takes care of his sister, Jordan. It touches my heart that he wants to play with me and bring me into his world of imagination- usually I'm playing the role of the bad guy in whatever story we're acting out! I don't imagine there are many things as precious as the love between a parent and child. I tell my kids how much I love them several times a day. I make sure to ask them if they know it. Not once have I ever said it out of habit. I mean it every time. And deep down in my heart, I want to know that they love me too. They tell me they do, and I believe them. But never in my short parenting life have I understood just how much Josh loves, needs, and relies on me until he burst into tears that evening admitting that he worries about what life will be like without his parents. It really touched my heart and I'll never forget that evening.

I asked Josh if he'd like to sit on my lap. The truth is, I didn't care if he wanted to sit on my lap or not, I needed him to sit on my lap while we discussed this. I stood up from my place at the table, walked over to where he was sitting, picked him up, and brought him back to my seat. It was kind of difficult to be honest. Everything within me wanted to tell him that I'd never leave him. That I would always be there for him and would only die when I was 90+ years old. I wanted to tell him his mother would always be there too. But I knew that might not be the truth. The truth was that we don't know when we're going to die, but that he was going to be OK if we did. Mommy and Daddy were careful drivers (well, at least I swore that I would be from that point on), we looked both ways when we crossed the street, and he always reminded us to wear our seatbelts, etc... We talked about how difficult it would be for a little while if we died, but he had a strong family that would take care of him. Eventually, I think I made it sound so good that he might have wished for a surprise death of his parents! Nah, but we managed to calm him down and even get him to laugh. After a few moments of lighthearted giggling and tickling, I took his face in my hands and directed his eyes towards mine.

"Joshua" I said, "you can always talk to us about anything. Anything!" I meant it too. There were about a thousand things that were going through my mind that I would want my son to be comfortable talking about with me. And as I was thinking about these things, my lovely wife added, "Yeah! Even sex!"

......what the...?

Now, if I hadn't just explained to my six year old son that mommy and daddy were going to do all we could not to die, I might have killed her! I couldn't believe that my wife had just brought up the word "sex" to our six year old boy! From the look on her face, neither could she. I didn't know what to do. I was sure he was going to ask "What's sex?" At which point I would have plopped him on his mother's lap and left to load the dishwasher. Fortunately, he just laughed hysterically. Unfortunatly, it was clear that he probably has had some exposure to the subject of sex because he wasn't curious at all, and he laughed about it. (Thank you Viagra and Cialis commercials!)

I'm always amazed at how fast my kids are growing. It's not always easy, but I try to remember to take time to stop, be the "bad guy" when it's not convenient, go to the playground when it's35 degrees out, and not get frustrated when my little girl says "daddy, daddy, daddy!!!" repeatedly in the back seat. We love our kids. And it really helps to know they love us too.

3 Smiles and a Million Hugs

(I feel a little funny blogging about a homecoming I didn't attend, particularly when a significant number of people reading this know the family better than I do! But alas, I blog anyway. For those of you that don't know them, they are not related to my Scott family. Actually, I could probably find a relationship through some distant marraige, but I'm not going there.

As you read this, keep in mind that I've made up what I've written. It's simply what I thought I saw in the pictures. I've linked to the real story within the blog.)

Captain Christopher Scott has been in Iraq since 1952. OK, it hasn't been that long, but it must seem like it to his family. I must admit, I don't know Chris and his family as well as I would like to. It's a matter of miles. We live miles apart and don't get to spend as much time as I would like to getting to know each other. Then again, the last time I tried to spend quality time with Chris by waking him up for an early morning fishing trip, I accidentally woke up the family matriarch and spent some unplanned, awkward, NOT quality time with his grandmother. (A different story for a different day.) I've gotten to know his brother Randy pretty well since I started listening to his morning radio show on Froggy 99.9 FM. Since I'm in Boston I listen online. (You should too. His partner Mike and he make a great team.) His mother, Judy, follows my blog and has been gracious enough to not call me a liberal moonbat. His father, Steve is great too. He never got upset at me for breaking his bench grinder some years ago. Then again, I'm not sure I ever told him. (He'll never know.) Come to think of it, I imagine they may be happy to have me 435 miles to the north! I know Chris, Mindy, and their little ones- Luke and Will- least of all. So I was a bit taken aback by how emotional I got looking at the pictures of Chris's recent R+R homecoming from Iraq.

The pictures in the blog were taken by a photographer from the Salisbury Daily Times. I imagine it was difficult to choose which one to include in the paper. I feel like each and every picture tells a very emotional story. Granted, I wasn't at the homecoming, and I've already stated my shortcomings when it comes to how well I know the family, but I couldn't help but feel like I knew what was going through thier hearts and minds as those pictures were taken. I see three disctinct smiles from Mindy.
The above picture is obviously focused on Mindy and the boys as they get their first look at Daddy as he comes through the door, but I'm drawn to the expressions on his parents' faces (on the left of the picture). Have you ever seen a prouder dad? I don't think so. And Judy, look at her hands- all clenched in happy anticipation of the long hug that I'm sure occurred within minutes of these pictures. Moms can't smile any bigger than that. If I know Judy at all, she also cried before they left the airport. Mindy's got a lot going on here. I don't think that she's made eye contact with Randy yet, but more importantly, she's concerned with how the boys, primarily Luke react when they see their daddy. She so wants him to recognize Chris and be excited to see him. That's so obvious to me in the next picture.




Of all the pictures taken, this is probably the most poignant one for me, and it's all about the expression on Mindy's face. Smile number 1 is the "hopefully expectant" smile. It reminds me of Christmas morning when I'm watching my kids get their first glance at the presents Santa has left for them under the tree. We never wrap the biggest and best one. And I watch for that excited reaction that Santa imagined they'd have when Santa made the gift. (Similar to this.) That's the expectant look on Mindy's face...only times 1000. I get the idea she feels that of the whole visit home, this is the most important moment. She's clearly watching, waiting, and asking for recognition. I can almost hear her saying, "Hey, Luke! Look who it is!" And I think I can hear her thinking, "Will he remember him? Will he be happy? Will he be excited? Please be happy and excited! See how happy and excited mommy is? Please be this happy and excited! Daddy needs you to be happy and excited..." Chris seems to be a bit more nonchalant about the reaction. He's happier and more excited than any of them. Luke could walk up and kick Chris in the shins and he'd be happy! OK, maybe not, but then comes smile #2...




...the "sweet relief" smile! While the previous picture was the most poignant, this is the one that brings tears to my eyes...still. All those questions I imagined were going through Mindy's head were answered exactly like she had hoped. She can breath again. Luke looks a bit overwhelmed, but happy just the same. I can't see Will's face, so we can leave his face up to the imagination!




Clearly Will figured it out too. And I believe Chris was surprised to find Will walking. This is the third smile I've seen on Mindy's face- this time pure joy. It looks like it took everyone about .5 seconds to get comfortable again.




This final picture captures something unique in the lives of military families during times of war. Each and every moment they spend together increases the total amount of family time they've ever had at an exponential rate. By the time I got around to writing this blog entry, Chris is well into his R+R and I'm sure he's treasuring these days in his heart. Unfortunately Chris came down with a cold and Luke got a rather nasty stomach bug. (This info came from Mindy and Chris's blog. This is where you can find the real story about the homecoming from Mindy's perspective.) Perhaps it's just as well that Luke is feeling yucky, my kids snuggle a lot more when they're sick. I'm sure Chris wouldn't mind extra snuggling time!

(While I'm confident nobody in Chris's immediate family voted for President Obama, I'm sure they'd be happy if Chris was home sooner as a result of the election!)

1) Joshua lost his second tooth on January 21, less than two weeks after losing his first. Apparently there was less drama this time as he told me, "I just yanked it out in school!" Some blood, no tears. So much for needing Mom and Dad's tender touch. I suppose this is a good thing...sniff.






2) I was right and the Dunkin Donuts guy was wrong!

(Read here if you need a reminder.) I happened to be in the Dunkin Donuts at the same time as the store manager the other day and asked him about the price of my beloved French Cruller. He said it was priced like any other donut and was a bit annoyed I had been told differently. Last night when I went in for a coffee, the person that I had the "difference of opinion" with apologized and gave me a free coffee. I kind of felt bad, but not really! #1 IS BACK, BABY!

Josh's first lost tooth!

Well, Josh lost his first tooth on January 5th. We discovered it was loose a couple of nights before. I have to admit, Joy and I weren't quite ready for this! I think it's the first thing that has happened in Josh's development that I wasn't ready for! He's just so stinking cute! Oh, well. Joy and I had a bit of a hard time leaving the boy and his tooth alone. At one point he came downstairs crying because mommy had "accidentally" pushed on the tooth too hard. I comforted him, laughing and rolling my eyes on the inside. I didn't think there was anything accidental about it! Later on when I told her what Josh told me, she replied, "I never said it was accidental! That was his word!" Hey, at least she's honest.

The next night it was really loose. It had gotten to the point that you could see under the bottom of it. I told Josh to see if he could get his fingernail under it and pull it out. He really tried, but it hurt a little. I didn't have the heart to tell him it was bleeding a little! Through tears he said, "I want to wait until tomorrow!" About five minutes later he changed his mind and said, "This thing's coming out tonight!" We went into the bathroom and about five minutes later he pulled it out! I believe he was a bit surprised at how easily it came out. He ran downstairs and told Joy all about it and asked if it was OK if he saved it to show his friends at school. We said yes.

The next evening, Josh was really having a hard time deciding if he should keep his first lost tooth, or put it under the pillow for the Tooth Fairy. He wanted everyone's opinion on what to do! I had no idea what to say. I don't think there was a right answer there! Eventually, he had Joy write a letter to the Tooth Fairy. It read:

<----Here is my tooth. [Tooth taped to paper]

Dear Tooth Fairy,
I really want to keep my tooth + I really want a dollar. (1) So, I was going to ask you what would you do if you lobed your teeth so much + you really wanted a dollar- which would you choose? Please write on the back.
(Heart,)

Joshua

The next morning, Josh found a note from the Tooth Fairy:

Dear Joshua,

Since this is your first tooth, why don't you keep it? Here is a very special gold dollar! I will take all the rest of your teeth when they fall out. OK?

(Heart),

T.F.

Crisis averted!