The Ending of an Era; The Start of a New

As 2008 is coming to an end, everyone is a year older, and Britney Spears' hair has grown back, I find myself contemplating on what has passed and what is yet to come. The overall answer that comes to mind is "change." Looking back at past events all I see is change. Looking forward at what is to come; more change. Some good, some bad, and some questionable; yet all in His plan. In 2008, I learned a lot about myself and a lot about life. I learned that parenting gets better with age and experience. With every "Ninja Baby" born, I am more and more thankful for my own. I've started expressing emotions and my own deepest, most thoughtful personal opinions through "The Flow," which has really reduced a lot of stress and given me an opportunity to get a lot of important issues and concerns off my chest. 2009 looks to be an amazing year, but again, much change is to be endured. Nationally, we are going to see a historical change of events in the White House. Locally, we are going to have a change in Overflow that could set a fire throughout Edmond and the OKC area that will blaze for years to come... hopefully. I cannot express enough how anxious about the changes and growth that Overflow is going to experience in the coming year. I don't want to give too much away, but it's going to be big. I hear that we've also hired a big Nashville Musician to lead worship. Personally, I am setting a new years resolution that everyone can enjoy; I am going to start loving everyone as God loves me. Also in the new year, I am going to give Chad Davis, my assistant, a raise because he deserves it.



SPOILER ALERT: THE NEW OVERFLOW..... IS GOING TO BE AWESOME.



HAPPY NEW YEAR... MORE TO COME IN 2009

And by Hate, I mean LOVE

Forgive me for not writing in a while, I am having some difficulty with large companies thinking it is important to block off websites that display "Media Content." But I do get the feeling that this is a rare occasion that I am allowed to blog, so I am making this one extra confusing so that you have more time until my next posting.


This time of year is making me quite giddy. I wait all year long for this coming season. The anticipation of the holiday season actually keeps me going through the rough parts of the year. I'm not talking about how much I love the weather because I don't. I actually hate being cold and cuddling next to a fire. I hate the way an ice storm makes a tree or a fence look. I can't stand snow. I don't think it's cute when kids make snow angels, and I don't enjoy snow ball fights. Anyone who has met me knows that my body is not built for skiing. If you're thinking I look forward to post cards and letters, your wrong again. I hate going to the post office. I hate trying to find something to say to people that I haven't seen since I was 12 years old. I hate letting them know what I've been up to. I hate hearing from everyone who sends me something via postcard or letter or email or text message. If you're thinking I am talking about the food, you are wrong most of all. I ABSOLUTELY HATE the food during the holiday seasons. I hate all of the home made turkeys and all the delicious side dishes that follow. I hate eating so much that I actually miss an entire day because I'm passed out from a food coma. I hate the smell of a delicious holiday dinner that fills the house right before you sit down to eat. I hate having to get up from the table to get seconds.... and thirds and fourths. So are you ready to know what I do love? I love all of the discount shopping and sales. I LOVE to shop. I LOVE malls. I LOVE fighting rampaged, possessed women for parking spots. If I'm going to the mall this year, I'm not taking a taxi or the bus. I cannot wait for the shopping experiences of a lifetime.


This didn't turn out like I wanted it to but it's still confusing enough.

Halloween

Being that Halloween is tomorrow, I feel compelled to make a few skeptical points about this dark holiday. Halloween is supposed to be the equivalent if Christmas for the devil, so naturally we in the ministry are supposed to be against this holiday. Unfortunately, "they" (the powers at be who make the rules about what ministers are for and against; i.e. God) know that this is a very difficult task because there are some attributes to this time of year that are quite appealing. For instance, we (and I'm keeping in mind our children's pastor more than anyone) love candy. A lot. Why would Satan choose candy as the center of attention for his holiday? It's not fair. I don't want to lust over that delicious little chocolate covered nougat, with the peanut and creamy caramel center, but I can't help it. If Heaven was ever found in a wrapper it would say Snickers on the outside of it. There is this way you bite into a snickers and instantly a since of satisfaction fills your entire body. Then there's the costumes. The costumes are a touchy subject. This is where Satan uses the best of his manipulation tools. This is the side of Halloween that ministers are fighting against the most. Some of the provocative outfits that can be found in the stores these days are definitely keeping this holiday a dark one. It's also starting to cause ripples in family bindings. To illustrate, lets use a family of three; man, woman, baby. The man is a man-among-men; a big, masculine, college football playing man. The woman is a girly-girl; a cute, prissy, dainty woman. The baby is a baby; he's just a baby. Of course the family is not going to deprive the baby of a costume so they go shopping for a nice respectable baby costume. The man has learned from previous experiences that the woman uses situations like these to forget the child's gender and just get whatever she thinks will be "adorable." Knowing this, he tries to lay some ground rules to the costume buying procedure but incidentally offends the woman and thus starts chaos. So conceding to her tears he allows her to pick out the costume. Thus, your child that's supposed to be a future college football player like his dad, is dressed like a fairy. Again.



Although, it is still a winning situation because our little fairy is still too young to eat his candy.

Gypsy Lover

Relationships are a funny thing. Everyone has the perception of relationships as being these beautiful experiences, but I think it's kind of hard to see the beauty in something that can make you feel like your on top of the world in one moment, and then at an all time low in the next. To rectify my point, we'll use the event of a relational date to show the emotional roller coaster of a relationship. This is not a first date, this is a relational date, lets say of one year. You go to pick up your significant other (this is way past the point of butterflies because this is date number 237) and you wait outside for her to come and get in the car (going to her door ended at date 102). Excitement level is high because you do actually like your girlfriend, and you do enjoy spending time with her. She walks out and she's wearing an outfit that she thinks is trendy but actually makes her look like a blind gypsy. Excitement level low because you realizes that when you are sitting across the table from her it's going to look like you scheduled an appointment with your fortune teller at chili's. You push the thought of dating a fortune teller out of your mind and you go to chili's. Excitement level high because you love molten lava cake. Your waiter walks up and of course, why wouldn't Brad Pitt be your waiter? Excitement level low because you assume that every time he talks to her he's hitting on her, and on top of that, you are dating a girl that has never met a stranger so she wants to know all about the waiter and be his new friend (disclaimer: guys don't like this when you are on a date, no matter what commitment level you and your significant other are, we don't like you talking to guys in front of us, don't know why; we just don't. We may tell you that it doesn't bother us to seem like we never get jealous, but we're lying). To save time, I'm going to skip the roller coaster of a delicious desert, choosing a movie, and seeing a ridiculous chick flick that you conceded to, and we'll go straight to the end of the date. You pull up to her house, half asleep because Ryan Gosling and his Notebook put you pretty close to a coma, and walk her to the door. You tell her what a wonderful evening you had, and you kiss her goodnight. Excitement level all time high because in that moment you realize how lucky you are to have such an amazing girl in your life and that every low point of the evening doesn't compete with the thought of how lucky you are to have the possibility of spending the rest of your life with one of God's greatest creations.



Now how do you not see the humor in that last sentence? Even though you're falling for her, she's still dressed like a Gypsy.

Politics

After watching the debate last night I feel compelled to comment on politics. So here goes... Politics are pointless. Do we really believe any of them? Bottom line, they both lie now, and they both are going to lie if elected.





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Caffeine

Is it cliche to start this off with "In my old age..." I'm tempted to put it but at the same time, I refuse to admit that I'm getting older. I know that I'm still young at heart. At least, I feel young at heart, but for some reason my body doesn't agree. These deep thoughts of my fading youthfulness were engaged through an unwanted bodily reaction last night. It was around 9:30 and I was up at the church with some of my leadership and I decided to drink a Mountain Dew. To Do the Dew if you will. Next thing I know, I'm wide awake at 1:00 and there's no way I'm going to sleep anytime soon. I finally enter this game with my body to where, I try to trick it into falling asleep. I eventually win. But it doesn't end there, 4 hours later my body realizes that its been duped, wakes itself up, and refuses to fall for the trick of letting me sleep again. After many failed attempts of trying to fall back asleep, I give in. Now, I'm awake, miserable, and no longer WANT to Do the Dew. After 4 hours of sleep, I HAVE to Do the Dew or I'll fall asleep at my desk. When did I reach the age that one caffeine drink at night affects my whole sleep pattern? What happened to the days when we can stay up all night off Red Bull, sleep 2 hours, then do the same thing over again without any remorse or hesitance the next day?




(As I read over this blog) When did I get so lame that the most exciting topic I can think of is my sleep pattern? I'm old.

Slacking Off

I am having a hard time with being accepting of those who make long-term commitments and then start slacking off within a month of duty. Why even start the project if you can't commit to it? You know what I'm talking about? People who say their going to build something, and half way through just give up and never do anything more with the project, and it just sits there half completed. Maybe someone who draws or paints and never finishes the masterpiece, then it just sits their on the drawing table (forgot the word of that tri-pod thing...ansel maybe?) and collects dust. Or someone who starts a blog and stays pretty consistent with it, and then a month into it, you don't here back from them until two months later. Why even start the blog in the first place?!? At least discontinue the website or leave a "be back in two months" sign. JEEZ! If I were one of those people, I would seek professional help, join a life coaching group or go to support meetings because there seriously is a problem with all the slackers in the world. And hypocrites, don't even get me started on hypocrites....



I apologize for my inconsistency.... I'm back.