News

When I was in third grade, everyone knew the Good News Bad News joke. It went something like this:

Dusty, the Crop Duster was sitting on the bench outside the General Store when a friend came by and sat next to him. "You're looking kind of banged up, Dusty, what happened?" "Well," answered Dusty rather slowly, "I was doing the field east of town when my engine gave out." "That's bad!" "Thankfully I had my parachute on and jumped out." "That's good!" "But my parachute didn't open." "That's bad!" "There was a large haystack right below me." "That's good!" "There was a pitchfork in the middle of the haystack." "That's bad!" "I missed the pitchfork." "That's good!" "No, that's bad - I missed the haystack!"

Here's a brief life update in "good news / bad news" format:

• Good news - Our Crossroads Life Group is starting up again, after the winter break. It will be good to see our "empty nest" friends again, and share life together. Leader Steve Prout does an awesome job...
  
  
• Bad news - Today marks the 11th day of my cold (sinus infection). Yesterday, I went to the doc and got a Z-Pack, which I started on last night. But instead of feeling better, I felt worse today than ever. Must have blown my nose well over 100 times today (TMI?). Anyhow, I want so badly to feel normal again...
  
  
• Good news - This weekend, I'm going to SPBGMA (pronounced "spigma"). SPBGMA is a massive bluegrass event at the Nashville Hilton, and is one of the two biggest yearly events for pickers and grinners. Picture a huge hotel where the lobby, hallways, and rooms are packed with people jamming round the clock. There's also an auditorium where all the "big name" national bands are playing (all day), and a room with all the top-name luthiers and instrument builders. I went last year, and it was a blast. I just hope I am well by then...I'm praying for healing!!!
  
  
• Bad news - Lots of car problems lately. New muffler for Zach's Accord, new front brakes for my truck, new thermostat for Cathy's CRV... But, it beats car payments! (Oh yeah, I still have one...bummer).
  

• Good news - My bluegrass band, Last Road, may have found a replacement banjo player. We've been auditioning guys for the last month or so, and we're ready to get someone on board before we start up with spring gigs. Sounds like an easy task, but it is tough to find someone who is compatible musically, spiritually, and personality-wise...

2007

Well, it's a rainy Sunday night, and the second-to-last day of the year. Not a bad time to look back at 2007.

God truly has blessed our family in 2007. These are the "good old days" that everyone talks about! Here are few of the many good things God gave me in 2007:

• Continued good health
• My 40th birthday (January)
• No cavities!
• No major or even minor health problems - I need to make good use of these healthy years!
  
• Great times with my great family
• Brandon and Megan's wedding (July)
• Best wife in the world, Cathy
• Game nights with Brandon, Megan, Zach, and Sarah (Scrabble words - oh mercy!)
• Summer grilling nights with new Weber grill - mmmmmmm
• Anniversary trip to Hendersonville with Cathy (great) and Rupert (not so great)
• Our first grand-dog, Maya (ha!)
  
• Musical fullfillment
• Three fun days picking bluegrass at SPBGMA convention in Nashville (January)
• 34 shows with my bluegrass band, Last Road
• Awesome 3-part harmonizing with Dave & Benji!
• Sharing the gospel in a non-threatening way through our original bluegrass gospel tunes
• Progress learning to play the mandolin - loving my Steffey F5!
  
• Spiritual blessings
  
• Another year of incredible worship services at Crossroads Community Church (www.crccsc.org)
• Three seasons of friendship, fun, and spiritual growth with our Crossroads Life Group, led by the Prouts.
• The privilege of serving as a teacher for my KidZone class of 3rd to 5th grade boys for another year
• More introspection this year -- God has been allowing me to understand more and more about myself, pro and con, this year. This is helping me to tear down the tower of self-reliance in my life, and to finally begin to rely on Him.
  
• Other
• Progress on our old house - renovated the guest bathroom, new kitchen flooring, lots of landscaping
• New iPod (love it!)
• Another year of great joy (and great frustration) with our dog, Rupert!

I'm sure there's a lot I've missed, but suffice it to say that God has richly blessed me this past year. These are the years when I need to be investing my life in others, and setting out to acheive the tasks that God has created me to achieve.

I'm looking forward to a great 2008.

Update

Wow, one month until Christmas!

Some random things going on over the last several days:

• Last Road - We started recording our first "studio" CD last Saturday, at OMG Studios in downtown Greenville. It was a long, tiring process, but exciting as well. Unfortunately, of the 12 songs we hope to record, we only laid down the music to 3 songs that day! We may end up having to charge $50 per CD in order to re-coup our investment! Ha!
  
  
• Mandolin - Went to Owings jam session last night, and enjoyed getting to play the mandolin a bit. My 2002 Gibson Adam Steffey F5 is an awesome instrument -- low action, easy to play, huge volume and tone. God is good!
  
  
• Christmas trees - Put up our fake-o tree Friday...bought and put up an 8-ft real tree on Saturday...helped Brandon and Megan put up their real tree from NC on Saturday as well. Look like a forest in here!
  
  
• Christmas music - Charter cable has a great music channel with traditional Christmas music (Perry Como, Bing Crosby, Sinatra, etc). The channel is called Showcase, and its #924 for us. Every year, I begin to appreciate the crooners a little more.... I must be getting old.
  
  
• Work - For the last four or five months, I have been in transition between jobs (within Michelin). I've been doing 50% of my time in each job (feels like 80% in each!). Anyhow, I officially become full-time at the new position on December 10th.
  
  
• Fun - Zach and I have a tradition of playing 2-player, tactical shooter games (in co-op mode) during the holidays. Worked through some levels of Ghost Recon and Rainbow Six this weekend...good fun.

I'm really tired, and the four-day weekend is officially over, so I'll post again sometime this week.

Later!

Random

Random life updates:

• Our life group dedicated the Prout's new house tonight, by praying in every room. It is a beautiful house, and I know without a doubt that Steve & Angie will use it for God's purposes in the upcoming years.
  
  
• Brandon & Megan's closing for 202 South Pliney is two weeks from today!
  
  
• This Saturday is our 17th wedding anniversary. God is so good.
  
  
• New show on Discovery called "Storm Chasers"...man, I would love to go out west and go on one of those tornado-chasing vacation weeks... I've always had a fascination with tornados.
  
  
• Election '08 thoughts. I'm a Huckabee man. He is the closest I've found to a truly conservative, Christian candidate. Oh, and Alan Keyes, too. But I like Huckabee best - a true class act.
  
  
• Dentist appt today, with the usual outcome: no cavities. My teeth may not be the prettiest, but man they are hard as diamonds! ha
  
  
• Started reading the book of Ezekiel today. The visions God gave Ezekiel were really fascinating. I have some trouble with folks today seeing visions supposedly from God. I think God allowed Ezekiel to see, through visions, real things in the hidden spiritual realms. I think this is vastly different from people today with charismatic leanings who are always offering up visions they have seen. If God gives me a vision, you'll be the first to know, but I don't want to think up visual analogies in my head and then claim them as "visions". Rant over.
  

Updates

Yesterday's post was kinda heavy, so today it's just a couple random updates.

Kids update:

Brandon is down in Columbia at the USC-Kentucky game. Bummer that it's raining, but it should be a good game anyway. Not that I'm any kind of sports expert, or anything... Tomorrow, hopefully, Brandon and Megan will sign the contract on the house Brandon grew up in. Pretty cool how God has made it available at this time, and how Brandon was interested in the house.

Saw Zach and Sarah last night for the first time in a while. It was good just to sit around, chat, and laugh. Zach is playing in an ultimate tourney down in Columbia this weekend -- go NGU! Ha.

House restoration update:

Last Saturday, I re-screened the original screen doors for our house and hung them. It was nice to get a cool natural breeze going through this old house, for the first time since we've been here! It's going to be GREAT when the weather finally cools off a bit. LOVE autumn. Anyhow, this Saturday, I have to finish trimming out the screen doors. Unlike most screen doors, these don't use the spline-in-channel method. In our case, it's the staple-screen-to-door method like in the old days. Looks more authentic, but kind of a pain to stretch the screen evenly. But it's worth it, it looks right for the house. Don't you just love the sound of an old wooden screen door slamming?

God is good - Rupert is curled up next to me, The Office comes on in about 20 minutes, and there is a piece of Key Lime pie with my name on it in the fridge. We are blessed.