by
Chet
1. July 2010 09:04
I have a little thing with hugs. With physical contact period. I long for it, yet am uncomfortable around it.Friday, after a very wearing day, I finally had a few minutes alone before bed. I sat down on the kitchen floor, put my head in my hands, and finally just relaxed and let it all out for a couple minutes. I remember saying something like, "I would just love to be hugged, God. Freely, just given a real hug."Sunday morning after church it started. A pair of boys from the youth group, Ethan literally RAN up to me and have me a huge hug. Right after that, another. Later on, a full fledged hug from Tabi.On monday, two girls came out to ride horses. Again, the hugs came as a pair, Tabi and Stevi. I was starting to get the message. These were direct from God, and just what I needed.Then today, after lunch with a group of friends, 3 more. 2 from kids I may not see again for awhile but are now emblazoned on my heart, Stephen and Amber. And another from Tabi. And I felt finally free of s...
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by
Chet
28. June 2010 08:16
As I push mowed my lawn this weekend, I had a song stuck in my head. It's called "The Voice of Truth" by a group called Casting Crowns. The first verse goes like this:
Oh what I would do to haveThe kind of faith it takesTo climb out of this boat I'm inOnto the crashing wavesTo step out of my comfort zoneInto the realm of the unknown where Jesus isAnd He's holding out His handBut the waves are calling out my nameAnd they laugh at meReminding me of all the timesI've tried before and failedThe waves they keep on telling meTime and time again. "Boy, you'll never win!""You'll never win!"But the voice of truth tells me a different storyThe voice of truth says, "Do not be afraid!"The voice of truth says, "This is for My glory"Out of all the voices calling out to meI will choose to listen and believe the voice of truth.
This song, in case you're wondering, is referring back to the story of Jesus' follower named Peter who was invited to step out of a boat in the middle of a sea and walk on ...
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by
Chet
25. June 2010 17:36
Tonight I am leading a youth activity at my church called Bigger or Better. It's a team-based game where you get into groups of 4-5 people, and head out into the surrounding neighborhoods in an attempt to trade your starting item for something bigger or better. This is one of my favorite games from my own youth days, and those in the group who have done it themselves have great stories to tell of it as well. The basic idea is you take what you have, go to a house, tell them what you're doing, and see if they'll make you a good trade. One guy made this pretty famous with his trades from a red paper clip to a house in 14 trades. I doubt we'll come back with something that big tomorrow... but who knows. If I remember right, the last time we did it, one team came home with a working refrigerator and a drivable car. Not bad for a couple hours work.
Today I am also being made known of some big changes in my life. I've thought this day would come sometime, but it wasn't until today that it...
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by
Chet
10. June 2010 09:21
GOOOOO Jimmie!
Yesterday I wrote about my dad's name being on Jimmie Johnson's race car at the Prelude to the Dream charity race at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio. Jimmie led all 30 laps, including the one that won him the race.
Several Children's Hospitals were the beneficiaries of the race, which I think is cool, with the whole honoring dad's thing:
Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis
Cincinnati Children's
Levine Children's Hospital in Charlotte, N.C.
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn.
Jimmie didn't have / take time to practice before the race, hadn't been on dirt in a while, and wound up with a bruised and battered car, but he finished strong. Isn't that a lot like fatherhood? You don't get a practice run at being a dad, you hit experiences you have no idea how to handle, and you're going to get hurt by, and probably hurt, those you love the most. But in the end, you accomplish something great.
Good job Jimmie. Good job dads. You've ma...
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by
Chet
9. June 2010 13:55
It's been 4+ years since I've seen my dad, other than pictures on Facebook. During that time God has taught me much about how He wants to father me, and it's caused me to grow up quite a bit, I must admit... both as a son, and as a man, father, and husband.
I saw this thing where Jimmie Johnson and Lowes Racing were going to honor dads on the car they run at Tonight's "Prelude to the Dream" dirt track race. My first thought when I saw it was, "wow, I wish I wanted to do something like that." But the more I thought about it, I saw that I still could. So I did. And while I'm not going to pay the $20-some bucks to watch the race, I did at least grab some pics from the site's page. I grabbed a few screen shots and have them below, as well as this PDF version.
Here's the text from Lowe's site about the list of fathers that made it to the car's paint job:
Watch for Jimmie and our specially designed dirt late model car at the Prelude to the Dream event from Eldora Speedway in Ro...
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by
Chet
28. May 2010 09:24
FREEDOM ISN'T FREE(I don't know who wrote this)
I watched the flag pass by one day, It fluttered in the breeze. A young Marine saluted it, And then he stood at ease.. I looked at him in uniform So young, so tall, so proud, With hair cut square and eyes alert He'd stand out in any crowd. I thought how many men like him Had fallen through the years. How many died on foreign soil How many mothers' tears? How many pilots' planes shot down? How many died at sea How many foxholes were soldiers' graves? No, freedom isn't free. I heard the sound of Taps one night, When everything was still, I listened to the bugler play And felt a sudden chill. I wondered just how many times That Taps had meant "Amen," When a flag had draped a coffin. Of a brother or a friend. I thought of all the children, Of the mothers and the wives, Of fathers, sons and husbands With interrupted lives. I thought about a graveyard At the bottom of the sea Of unmarked graves in Arlington. No, freedom isn't free.
by
Chet
4. May 2010 07:28
Does the journey from boyhoood to manhood need to be recognized? Or will it just happen? Do we, as fathers, brothers, mentors, and sons ourselves, need to usher boys into the life of a man?
That's the question that Raising a Modern Day Knight seeks to answer, both in concept and in deed. I'm almost done with the book, actually, but the chapter I read this morning titled "Commemorating a Transcendent Cause" really connected with me. The previous several chapters had outlined several ideas for ceremoneously bringing young men into the world of men. The point wasn't that you have to grab them on their 18th birthday or their college graduation - the point was, they need to be grabbed. Whether it's a lonely walk through the woods that is interupted by significant men in the boy's life, or a steak dinner with a father and his comrades sharing their own journeys, boys need to be welcomed into this world. It will not happen accidently. It will not happen on it's own, unless you really, real...
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by
Chet
3. April 2010 22:27
Christ is risen - Indeed he is risen - in different languagesAlbanian: Krishti Ungjall! Vertete Ungjall!Arabic: Al Maseeh Qam! Haqqan Qam!Armenian: Christos harjav i merelotz! Orhniale harutjun Christosi!Byelorussian: Khristos Uvoskros! Zaprowdu Uvoskros!Chinese: Helisituosi fuhuole! Queshi fuhuole!Coptic: Pikhirstof aftonf! Khen o methni aftonf!Czech: Kristus vstal zmrtvy'ch! Skutec ne vstal!Danish: Kristus er opstanden! Ja, sandelig opstanden!Dutch: Christus is opgestaan! Hij is waarlijk opgestaan!English: Christ is Risen! Indeed, He is Risen!Gaelic: Erid Krist! G'deya! n erid she!Georgian: Kriste aghsdga! Cheshmaritad aghsdga!Greek: Christos Anesti! Alithos Anesti!Hebrew: Ha Mashiyach qam! Ken hoo qam!Japanese: Harisutosu Fukkatsu! Jitsu Ni Fukkatsu!Latin: Christus resurrexit! Vere resurrexit!Norwegian: Kristus er oppstanden! Han er sannelig opstanden!Polish: Khristus Zmartvikstau! Zaiste Zmartvikstau!Portugese: Christo Ressuscitou! Em Verdade Ressuscitou!Rumanian: Hristos a Invia...
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by
Chet
29. March 2010 10:30
"Contrary to what might be expected, I look back on experiences that at the time seemed especially desolating and painful with particular satisfaction. Indeed, I can say with complete truthfulness that everything I have learned in my seventy-five years in this world, everything that has truly enhanced and enlightened my existence, has been through affliction and not through happiness, whether pursued or attained. In other words, if it ever were to be possible to eliminate affliction from our earthly existence by means of some drug or other medical mumbo jumbo... the result would not be to make life delectable, but to make it too banal and trivial to be endurable. This, of course, is what the Cross signifies. And it is the Cross, more than anything else, that has called me inexorably to Christ."
- Malcolm Muggerridge, A Twentieth Century Testimony
I'm reading a book by Eugene H. Peterson (translator of The Message) titled Run With the Horses right now... I don't know if it's int...
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by
Chet
15. March 2010 13:15
Me thinks I need some Howard Thurman reading... these are some monster good quotes:
"Community cannot for long feed on itself; it can only flourish with the coming of others from beyond, their unknown and undiscovered brothers."
"Don't ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and go do that. Because what the world needs is people that have come alive."
"There is something in every one of you that waits and listens for the sound of the genuine in yourself. It is the only true guide you will ever have. And if you cannot hear it, you will all of your life spend your days at the ends of strings that somebody else pulls."
"Commitment means that it is possible for a man to yield the nerve centre of his consent to a purpose or cause, a movement or an ideal, which may be more important to him than whether he lives or dies."
"A dream is the bearer of a new possibility, the enlarged horizon, the great hope."
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