My youngest son, David, just handed me my Father’s Day present (only a few hours early) and said, “I am the only one in the world that could have done these drawings!” The first one he drew was this one (which he named “Trader”):

The second one he drew was this one (which he aptly named “Triangles of King Traders”):

All I can say is this, David is the only one in the world that I would even care about to ever receive a drawing from.  What a Father’s Day present!

A kid at my son’s school said the following when asked what he would do if he were president.

“I would show a commercial of Trinity Lutheran Church, and then a commercial about cheetos, so everyone would believe in Jesus and eat cheetos.”

If that is not the funniest thing you’ve heard today then I want you to post it so I can laugh even harder than I did when I read that kid’s presidential dreams.

(sent from my iPhone)

I want to thank all the little people who made this project a reality…mainly my wife Amy and I had such a fun time putting this together (and by fun, I mean that I complained and she begged me to put it together). But the end product truly is a cool deal.  I love Apple for making this process ridiculously easy.

I hope you all enjoy this video filled with pictures and movies from 2008.

(just double click on the video image to make it play)

For those of you who want to pray for me and my friend Casey as we travel to Zimbabwe, I thought it might be cool to post my schedule so you could pray about specific things.  The following is an email from Chris, one of my new Zimbabwean friends, and I think you will see why I’m so excited about this opportunity! Read the full story

This last weekend I was not feeling very well. I had managed to snag the newest flu bug, but couldn’t bear to sit inside while the few remaining bits of seasonal warmth faded under the approaching blanket of fall. I pulled a chair out on the deck, closed my eyes, and tilted my head towards the sun. Just then, a sharp noise pierced the air. I couldn’t see where the cry was coming from so I decided to get up and poke around. It didn’t take long to discover that a baby squirrel had fallen from a tree and lodged himself in between the two panels of my fence. Carefully, I pulled him out and laid him in an old shoe box.
On Monday morning I called the vet down the street and was promptly told to call the “squirrel lady”. Amazed that there was actually someone labeled “the squirrel lady” I chuckled to myself and dialed her number. Honestly, I wasn’t sure what to expect but, a bubbly, courteous and extremely professional woman answered the phone. She gathered some details about my little friend and asked if he had any brothers or sisters. “I don’t think so” I said, and explained that he had simply fallen from the tree.
“Sounds like an orphaned nest.” She said “There are probably a few more little guys up there. They are getting hungry and starting to wander from the nest. You should try to get a ladder up there to get the rest of them before they fall.”
I headed back outside to listen, and it wasn’t long before another cry echoed from high in the tree. I knocked on my neighbor’s door to ask about a ladder, but no one was home. Worried and bewildered, I went back to the tree and peered up. The cry grew more and more intense and time was passing quickly. I knew that if I did not do something fast, it would probably mean tragedy for the little guy. So, I decided to climb the tree myself! I changed clothes, pulled on some “alligator hunter” gloves and grabbed a bag to collect whoever I found.
Carefully I climbed up a chair, hoisted myself onto the fence, and precariously wedged myself into an arm of the tree. I slowly made my way up, hoping beyond hope that I would somehow be able to make it back down again! It soon became clear that I was not going to be able to reach the nest safely by myself. I stopped to plot the next course of action, when suddenly my eye caught a glimpse of a small, fuzzy, creature clinging helplessly to a limb just a few feet from me. He began to cry in panicked outbursts, no doubt, giving away any remaining energy. Gently, I pried him from the branch and began my decent.
Once I got down and set him inside the box with his brother I assessed the damage. My arms and legs were covered in scratches and bruises, and leaves and small sticks had lodged themselves in my hair. Then it dawned on me, I had risked life and limb, not to mention an extremely high deductible on my health insurance for the sake of a squirrel!
So, what made me do it? What made me cast aside work and safety to call, search, and climb? Really, I think anyone with a heart would have done the same, but this really got me thinking.
Why don’t we extend the same urgency and self sacrifice for the hurting, starving souls around us? Literally, there are orphaned, helpless and hungry people all over. They need hope and peace that only God he can offer. They hang dangerously over the edge of uncertainty and death, and try desperately to find a comfort that will last. They have wandered far from the source of safety and are in need of someone to place personal wellbeing, agenda, and safety aside to rescue them.
How risky are you? Would you have climbed the tree or would you have ignored the plea? How much more important is the life of a human being?
I urge you to listen intently to your surroundings. Is there someone who needs your attention? Is there someone who has wondered from safety and is trying desperately to keep from falling? Time is running out and souls are in danger. Today, do something risky for the sake of eternity!

There are psalms for every type of situation, emotion, and need. Here are eight categories of psalms and some beloved psalms that fit in those categories. These psalms form a “School of Prayer,” teaching us the basic types of prayer. You can pray these psalms or use them as guides to write your own similar psalm: Read the full story

Here is an excerpt from the Rush Limbaugh show when Rush spoke to a caller: Read the full story

The other day I knelt at the foot of my bed utterly frustrated and confused. I needed answers, and I longed for clarity. With tears rolling down my cheeks, I bowed my head to pray. As I did, a gentle whisper asked me to open my eyes. I looked up to see a beautifully knit blanket now wrapped around my fingers. It had been kicked to the bottom of my bed the night before, and, in my distracted and urgent plea, I had unknowingly entangled my hands within its soft folds. Deep in thought, I ran my finger tips along the carefully threaded details.

“What do you see?” Came the quiet voice.
“Well”, I said, “I see many different colors and patterns. “
“Isn’t it beautiful?” Was the reply.
“Oh yes, it looks like there was a lot of time and effort used to create it.” I reveled.

“There was.” It spoke again…” Look at the individual sections. Each part comes together to create something beautiful. Individually, every square looks different and a little disordered, but once they are sewn together they make sense. There is a specific purpose for each element, and every single stitch was planned long before hand to fill a unique place.

I continued to examine it, and playfully poked my fingers through the small holes in the fabric.
“You see, your life is like this blanket. You may see only sections of chaos and unrelated segments, yet I see necessary pieces of an intricate tapestry. I am taking the good and bad, and knitting them together to form an exquisite pattern of significance. Where you feel holes, I see components of a bigger picture. When you see dead ends, I see opportunity for new and different colors. When those around you are cold, I am giving you a tool to adequately warm them.”

A sense of peace passed over me, and I sat back to ponder a bit longer. How incredible is it that our God loves us as He does! He doesn’t haphazardly look at our lives and simply take the pieces as they fall. No, Instead He lovingly and painstakingly works to mold and craft something beautiful and special from each strand of experience. At times when life doesn’t make sense, we can know that His plans for us are good, and that he does indeed have a purpose behind each part! What a delightful portrait of His grace and mercy!

As a New Yorker, I did not feel it appropriate that today go by without mention. It is stunning to me that seven years have gone by since that horrible day when our city and our nation were attacked. In New York, the anniversary of 9/11 is memorialized in several different places throughout the city and in several different ways. There are moments of silence for when each of the planes hit the towers, followed by moments of silence for when each tower collapsed. At the World Trade Center site, the names of each and every person lost is read and flowers are placed in the area. For those of us that live here, it is a very emotional day.

As I drove to work today, I listened to a popular local radio show. They were remembering that day too, by taking phone calls and playing songs. At some point a few of the phone callers commented that they thought too big a deal was made of this anniversary and that it was time “to move on”. The radio personalities struggled with this mentality greatly, not understanding how anyone could feel that way. I agree with them.

September 11th is a moment in our history that our country will never forget. We all know exactly where we were and what we were doing that day. I was on my way to work when the first plane hit and at that moment, we all thought it was an accident. I got to my office and turned on the television only to see the second plane hit a short time later. By then we knew. Stunned silence followed for quite a while as we watched mesmerized at what was happening. My co-worker had a son in those buildings who called to say he was told to stay put; then called again to say they were evacuating. Thankfully, he got out. It all seemed surreal as we made phone calls checking on people. The first thought for most of us was our family. We wanted them close. My youngest son was nine at the time and my dad was able to get him out of school and bring him to me. My normally active, joyful young man sat in a corner for hours unable to comprehend what had happened and why anyone would do this to us. My oldest had just begun his first year of high school and I had to go to the school to get him. While the school was organized in dismissing students, it was still total chaos as people scrambled to assemble their family.

We opened our church doors to anyone that felt they needed comfort and held a service that night so we could comfort each other. Our congregation had a police officer who was at the site that came into church that night with the dust still on his clothes and in his eyes. A construction worker had watched in horror from a building close by as people jumped from the towers rather than be burned. He came to service in shock.

Many New Yorkers lost someone they loved and many of us know someone who did. This loss of life changed all of our lives forever. There is no way we can ever forget what happened and no way we should ever ignore this day. To think we should just “move on” is a travesty to the memories of all those innocent people that died and those that loved them. Just watch CNN while they read the names of the almost 3,000 people that died that day.

September 11th, every year, needs to be a day of remembrance and of prayer. We need to pray for those families have to deal, not only with the loss, but the way it happened. And we need to pray for our country! No matter where you live in these United States, please remember this day in your hearts each and every year!

If you haven’t watched this video yet – please take a look.  It is the last lecture of Dr. Randy Pausch because he is dying of pancreatic cancer.  He has a young family consisting of three kids and a wife.  This will truly help you appreciate life and also learn how to live while while alive.