Chattanooga - The Ride

So yesterday we went up to Chattanooga with some friends. The ride up was interesting because there were 9 of us crammed into an Odyssey minivan that seats 8. So we shoved 4 kids in the back. It's only like 2 hours up there, so it wasn't horrendous. They did really well, for the most part. Pictured are the kids in the back seat, Ana, Ana and our friend Kimberley, and me. At the bottom is a 15 second video to give you a taste of the ride.JM

Matthew 27:26-31

Sometimes people will hate you just because of who you are. The soldiers didn't really have anything against Jesus. They were just doing their job. They went further, though, and mocked Jesus. I don't think it's necessarily because they thought he was a blasphemer or anything like that, I think they were just sick of Jews. They were away from their homes, their families, and everything they knew that was familiar. It probably was relieving for them to take out their frustrations on a Jew, this one just happened to be Jesus.
Sometimes people will hate me just because I'm a Christian, or white, or whatever, but I have to keep that in mind and know that I might be starting off already losing with some people. JM

Balloons In Space

Okay, now this is dorky, but amazingly cool. This guy attached a camera to a big balloon and had it take a picture every 60 seconds. The balloon went up into space, got to 117,000 feet and popped, plummeting the camera back to earth. The pictures are awesome to look at.

This is the last one the camera took before the balloon popped. How cool is that? I would love to do something like that. I love the adventure of it. (ht:marko)

Matthew 27:21-25

People are so stubborn. About one thing or another. I think everyone is stubborn about something. I'm stubborn about doing things myself. I like to do things my own way. I've always been skinny, so I've always tried to make sure that I carry at least my fair share. And I almost always refuse to ask for help. In some ways it's easier to be stubborn. But people are only stubborn because it hurts our pride to be different. JM

Kids Dancing

Here's the kids dancing to Interpol. JM

Dog

We don't have a dog. Hopefully we'll never have to get one because of the hassle. But my daughter loves dogs. There is a website that shows a dog that follows your cursor around the computer screen. I showed it Ana and she freaked out. She'll stare at it forever and say "doggie" over and over. She also tries to pet it and kiss it. It's really cute. JM

Noah's First Day Of School

Noah goes to school now. He's learning all about high level math and science. Well, not really. Their first unit is actually about preschool so he's

learning words like cubbie, folder, teacher, rule, etc. It's cool to see him learning and interacting, though. JM

Matthew 27:20

Why are people so easily swayed? It seems like it's easy to make a bad decision and that the propensity to make a bad decision increases relative to the number of people surrounding you. Excitement and energy multiply. Your adrenaline starts pumping and so you can be convinced to do something you normally wouldn't: lie to cover up a mistake, drink, release an evil murderer from prison, etc. I hope that I always make decisions based on what God wants of me rather than being so influenced by those around me. JM

App State

I hate that App State beat Michigan. Now everybody thinks that the Big Ten is horrible (I like Penn State). They may be bad, but just because one team got upset, that doesn't mean that the entire conference sucks. But people will presume that.
The same thing is true about hypocritical Christians. People meet one and then presume that all Christians are like that. So when I tell somebody that I'm a Christian, they already have these preconceived notions in their mind. It's like starting the game already 3 touchdowns behind. JM

Matthew 27:19

We screw up so many times as men when we don't listen to our wives. I'm not saying that we need to do what they say in every decision, or that we should run every decision by them, but a lot of times they are more sensitive to things that we overlook.
Guys normally function by thinking through a decision and then sharing the outcome of that decision with their wife. Girls walk through the decision making conversation on the path to the outcome.
If we open up the decision making conversation from inside our head, to making it a discussion with more people, then I think we can benefit tremendously. The only caveat is that others have to be content if we don't do as they say, but rest comfortable in the knowledge that they were heard. JM