Random Ramblings

Posted on December 16, 2006 by Jason

I enjoyed my day off today. Got in a little Christmas shopping during the first part of the day. Sunny and I got a few things for the kids and then I peeled off to shop for her. I still have a few other things to get her, but it was nice to get started. I have a few more ideas up my sleeve.
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This afternoon, I went to see Blood Diamond, the film about the international diamond black market. It turned out to be pretty good. I still want to see Rocky Balboa and We Are Marshall.
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Last night was our annual staff Christmas party. Good food, great company, Dirty Santa and a surprise performance by Lifestep. A great night, even though I got stiffed in Dirty Santa. The gift I brought was the last one to be opened…guess I was lucky I didn’t get stuck with my Far Side Mini Wall Calendar after all.
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I’m enjoying God’s Politics so far. It’s a great read for all believers, regardless of your political affliliation. Here’s one of my favorite quotes so far:

In Matthew’s twenty-fifth chapter, Jesus speaks of the hungry, the homeless, the stranger, prisoners, and the sick and promises he will challenge all his followers on the judgment day with these words, “As you have done to the least of these, you have done to me.” James Forbes, the pastor of Riverside Church in New York City, concludes from that text that, “Nobody gets to heaven without a letter of reference from the poor!”

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I’m excited about Sunday. I’m preaching Sunday morning, teaching a Sunday school class and preaching Sunday night. Guess I’ll get to see what a typical Sunday is like for Gary. But I’m looking forward to it.
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At the behest of some good friends, I’ve added some Sufjan Stevens to my Christmas playlist. His Songs for Christmas makes a fun, quirky addition to your holiday faves. I personally love his rendition of “Holy, Holy, Holy”. 42 songs for only $15.99 at the iTunes Store.
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Walt Jockettey, if you’re reading this, I know you’ve tried. I can’t blame you for not wanting to overspend on Jason Schmidt. He’ll be league average in another year or two. But we gotta improve the rotation. I know we have a little bit of cash to spend, but how ’bout we re-sign Weaver, add another corner OFer to the mix and sit on the surplus until the trade deadline? Sounds like a plan to me.

Posted in Christmas, Movies, Music, Random, St. Louis Cardinals | 6 Comments

Top Ten Movies…Seriously?

Posted on December 13, 2006 by Jason

I used to fancy myself something of a film buff. Before Sunny and I had the kids, we saw lots of movies. Most of them, we saw at the theater. Nothing beats the smell of popcorn, the big screen, paying $12 for a ticket. But I digress. Since we’ve had the kids, we don’t see very many films. We watch way more TV than we used to. It’s cheap (relative to the cineplex) and it’s just more convenient.

But as I’m getting together my thoughts for my annual Best Of… post, I realized just how few films we’ve seen at the theater this year. I know I’m probably leaving a few out, but I can only count 5 movies I saw in the theater this year. Two of those were The Santa Clause 3 and Flushed Away. As the kids get older, I guess I’d better get used to celluloid fare like this, eh?

The American Film Institute has selected its Top 10 films for 2006. The nominees: Babel, Borat, The Devil Wears Prada, Dreamgirls, Half Nelson, Happy Feet, Inside Man, Letters from Iwo Jima, Little Miss Sunshine, and United 93. Are you kidding me? I’ve seen one of these (Inside Man) and we rented it. And I wasn’t all that blown away by it.

Is it just me, or do they not make movies like they used to? Any of you seen any of these “great” films?

Posted in Movies | 34 Comments

Good Samaritan / Bad Luck

Posted on December 13, 2006 by Jason

This took place about 2 miles from my house. Scary.

Posted in Huntsville | Leave a comment

Mission Minded

Posted on December 12, 2006 by Jason

There are talkers and there are do-ers.

My friend Jon is a do-er.

I encourage you to read Jon’s blog today. He’s written a great piece entitled Mission Minded. Jon is an ambassador for the Huntsville Inner City Church. He’s devoted much of his time and energy this year to helping the ICC’s after school learning center get off the ground. Jon writes from the heart and he always has a convicting thought or two. These are the words of a do-er, the thoughts of a man who has a passion for service. Jon, buddy, you convict me to roll up my sleeves and get my hands dirty for Jesus. God bless you, man. You’re a true disciple.

Posted in Devotional, Discipleship, Huntsville, Inner City Church, Social Issues | Leave a comment

Leisure Reading?

Posted on December 11, 2006 by Jason

I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. After tomorrow, the fall semester will officially conclude for me. I have to admit, I’m looking forward to a reprieve. In 2006, I’ve taken 24 hours of graduate classes. That’s given me a huge boost toward graduation (summer ’08, with fingers crossed), but I’m feeling the cumulative effect of so much schooling right now. Add a full-time job, two toddlers and — oh yeah — my wife and I’ve been a fairly busy guy this year. Don’t misunderstand me…I’m not complaining at all. But the flip side of such a hectic schedule is that I don’t have a whole lot of time to read for leisure. Most of my reading these days is limited to grad school texts and commentaries. So I’m looking forward to a few weeks of being able to read what I want to read rather than what I have to read. Here are a few things on my list:

  • God’s Politics by Jim Wallis. I’ve been wanting to read this one for the past year or so. I finally picked up a copy last month and it’s moved to the top of my list. I think I’ll dive into this one tonight.
  • 3 Nights in August by Buzz Bissinger. I planned on making this my summer baseball read, but I’m not sure I can wait that long. Bissinger chronicles a Cubs – Cards series from a few years back, capturing “the strategic and emotional complexities of baseball’s quintessential form, the three game-series,” (from the back cover).
  • The Challenge of Jesus by N. T. Wright. I read Wright’s Simply Christian last month and devoured it. I’ve since picked up copies of several of his other works. I know I’ll probably have to read this for grad school somewhere down the line, but I don’t care.
  • The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis. I have to be the most Lewis-deficient seminarian on the planet. And I promised a good friend that I’d read this one soon. Lucy, before the year is out, I’ll have at least started on this series. I promise.

Well, that’s probably all I’ll have time to read before I have to start prepping for next semester (I’m taking Systematic Theology in the spring…I hear the reading list is a bear). Have you read any of these? What are you reading these days?

Posted in Baseball, Books, Grad School | 5 Comments

Inner City Church

Posted on December 10, 2006 by Jason

I had the chance to preach today at the Huntsville Inner City Church. This was such a blessing. I was greeted with warm smiles and handshakes from the good brothers and sisters there. Our worship was so uplifting. I was especially struck at the passionate nature of the prayers lifted up by Brother Fletcher. I appreciate Art, Sid and the leadership at the ICC and their efforts to share Christ with members of our community. Tonight these brothers and sisters are in my prayers. May God continue to move among His people.

Posted in Blessings, Huntsville, Inner City Church | Leave a comment

New Look

Posted on December 9, 2006 by Jason

I’ve tweaked things a little bit now that I’m on Beta. My friend Lane switched a month or so ago and I finally decided to follow suit. I went for a more streamlined look with mostly black and gray. You’ll also have to check out Sunny’s page and see her new look, too. She’s completely revamped her page.

The feature I’m most excited about is the “Categories” function located on the sidebar. I’ve seen these on the blogs of other people and I’m glad to now add this feature to my page. It gives you an idea about what sort of things you tend to write about the most. Interesting.

Let me know what you think of the new look. And if you haven’t switched over yet, what are you waiting for?

Posted in Blogging, Sunny | 2 Comments

Beta Blogger

Posted on December 8, 2006 by Jason

I’ll be playing around with the new Beta version of Blogger over the next few days, so things may look kinda crazy here for a while. Just be patient.

Posted in Blogging | 5 Comments

Worst Gift Ideas For My Wife

Posted on December 7, 2006 by Jason

So after I posted my shameless Christmas list last week, I’ve been after Sunny to do the same. But she won’t give in. Don’t ask me why. I told her if she doesn’t let me know what she wants, she runs the risk of getting a pretty crummy gift from me. And trust me, I have the track record to back that up. If you don’t believe me, read this.

So that got me thinking: what would be the worst gift to give your wife for Christmas? I think those homemade “coupons” for things like “1 free back rub” or “1 load of laundry” would be pretty bad. So would Tupperware. Actually, any kitchen item would be pretty demeaning. My friend John from Tennessee had three pretty good ideas: a copy of Cooking for Dummies, a mop and a gift certificate to Weight Watchers. That cracks me up. Any others? What’s the worst gift I could get her. This could be fun…

Posted in Christmas, Sunny | 14 Comments

Cat Scan

Posted on December 6, 2006 by Jason

Just got back from the hospital. Abby Kate’s been sick for a couple days, throwing up pretty much everything she’s eaten in the past day or so. We first thought she just had a viral bug or something, but Sunny took her to the doc this morning and he couldn’t find any evidence of a bug. We went to the hospital for a cat scan. The doctor thought she might still be suffering from her fall a few days ago. We had the test a few moments ago; Abby Kate was such a trooper. The procedure scared her, but she did great. The hardest part was having to hold her down while she was so scared. Keep her in your prayers please. We’ll keep you posted as soon as we know something.
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UPDATE: Doctor’s office called…cat scan looks good. Must just be a bug. We’re very relieved.

Posted in Blessings, Kids, Prayer | 2 Comments