Soakin' Up Life . . . at a 100 MPH!

Every once in a while I make myself read for fun - not learning, not spiritual development, nothing but pure enjoyment. I'm doing that now. On our way home from New York I picked up Robert Ludlum's The Bancroft Strategy . It's really good - just a lot going on at once. AND it takes time to read it. Mike

Ran across this Jars of Clay video. It reminds me of a child's version of the birth of Christ. Remember when you were a kid? If you're a guy somehow a plane, car, tank, ship, soldier, rocket, or something of the sort ended up in your drawings - didn't matter what it was. Love Came Down at Christmas Mike

I promised you some pictures from our New York trip. Here they are! Here's Cindy on the boat to the Statue of Liberty Here we are on the way to Ellis Island. It was a cold and windy that day - it had been raining. This is a bronze cast of the face of the Lady Liberty. Who says you can't pick your friend's nose? This is the cross that was found after the fall of the World Trade Center. It's since been moved to this location to rebuild on the site. SNOOPY!! Just one of the many balloons during the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. We were at 75th & Central Park West. More pictures coming!! Mike

Here's something to think about. My friend Gene is asking his church, Legacy Church in Plano, Texas to fast and pray this Wednesday as they enter the Christmas season. As I read it I was challenged to join them - maybe not this Wednesday, but spend one day praying and fasting to prepare my heart and head for coming Christmas season. Thanks Gene for the reminder to prepare. Mike

This is a real story. I ran across it on Fox News Online. Read about it here . As I read it I kept thinking how amazed I am that so many religions won't and don't stand for something like this. You and I would think this is a little thing. Just change the name of the bear. But they want to give her 40 lashes! Where's the liberals? Where's the tolerance movement? Where's the people who decry Christianity and shout about Islam and other religions who tout violence at the core of their belief? Where's Hollywood? Where's the scores of actresses and actors who, simply by the ungodly amount of money they make for doing nothing more than memorizing lines on a piece of paper we look to as leaders? Where are they? Who's going to stand up for this teacher who was new to her job and new to the school and new to this culture? Give me a break! Mike

It's hard to imagine, but I'm finally looking forward to Christmas this year. I've always loved Christmas. I get into the smells, the food, the time with family & friends, buying stuff for other people, watching children get into it. I even love the music. And, yes, I get into the reason for Christmas (sorry, I'm tired of "The reason for the season"). I love learning something new about Christmas - the birth of the Christ. I get into reading the prophets and the gospels' telling of the birth of a baby. . .a special baby. I love reading and hearing of how a dad gave his only son for me. . .of how a king came to be like me in order to die for me. To be quite honest, I haven't looked forward to Christmas the last couple of years. For me it was a lonely time. It was a time of memories, not making them. Not this year. I have a new wife to help me make new memories. I have a new family to share the birth of Christ with. I have a new niece and

Cindy and I got back to Mobile about 1:00 pm on Friday. We spent our honeymoon in New York. It was incredible. We did so much and still didn't have enough time to do all that we wanted. That's OK - just gives us reasons to go back! We did get to go up to the 86th floor of the Empire State Building just after the sun had set. On the city side were lights - and lots of them - on the south side was the fading orange of a setting sun. Went to the WTC memorial site. It was a very quiet and somber experience. One thought kept coming back to me, " Would I risk my life without question for people I don't even know? " Many people did. Saw Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty - you need a pass to go up inside the statue. Thanks to the National Parks officer who "happen" to have two passes he wasn't using. We had to wait an 1.5 hours after we bought our tickets to get on the boat to go to Liberty Island. Saw the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parad

It's Friday, November 16th - or better yet, it's Wedding Eve!! MY Wedding Eve. That's right. Tomorrow Cindy and I get married. We are soooooo ready - as in we're just ready to get this over with. We're exhausted. Stressed out, although Cindy got us a couple of massages today. And just ready to get on with it. My brother, sister-in-law, and nephew are here. The rest of the family are on their way and should be here soon. I'm loving it. Can't wait. Later, Mike

My friend Grant is the uniform czar. He has a keen eye for great looking uniforms and really, really sad unis. I have my favorites and my no-so-favorites - like the unis of the Oregon Ducks (what's with that stupid looking design on their shoulder pads?). See what I mean. Caught some of last night's battle between Louisville and West Virginia . Before I say anything, I just need to ask - What the crap was West Virginia wearing last night? They looked like they could double as safety uniforms for DOT workers on the night shift. Man, they were bright. Who comes up with this stuff? Maybe I'm just partial to their more traditional darker/white/gold trim uniforms. I don't know. I just hope they never wear these again. I'm not sure I could watch an entire game of them in the all yellow, at least not without sunglasses. In case you missed it, here's what they looked like. (AP Photo/Jeff Gentner) This is QB Pat White making a beautiful run in the 4th quarte

Alrighty sports fans! You ready for this? Are you ready for the end of this year's college football season? Are you ready for the BCS meltdown? That's right. I'm calling it now. If things keep going as they are - which is never a given in college football, especially this year - how will the BCS determine who should be playing for a national championship? Ohio State is a lock as long as they don't screw up against Michigan, who has won eight straight and talking lot's of smack. If the Buckeyes lose against Michigan I predict a tail spin for the BCS - CRASH AND BURN!! So play along and assume Ohio State wins out and is a lock, who do they play? Oregon or LSU if they only have one loss a piece or Kansas, should they go undefeated? Which brings up an interesting point. Should Kansas beat Missouri and win the BIG 12, do you realize that LSU or Oregon could play for the national title with one loss, versus a Kansas team with ZERO losses? Then let's don&

Here's a video sent to me by my dear friend Tama Lawson. It's by Brad Paisley and Sara Evans. Check it out. Let me know what you think. Mike

I have to be honest, I am not the handiest of handymen. I often say, "If there's a hammer in my hand, there will be a hole in a wall somewhere. Sometimes, intentionally." Besides that, when I am hitting nails, for some reason I can't always hit them straight. So. . .with that said, enjoy this video (and it's in German, so go figure on what they are saying, then again, it doesn't really matter). Mike

Just 15 more days 'til Cindy and I get hitched! That's a good thing. The hard thing is waiting and finalizing all the plans - paying for them is right up there, too. Next week we're going to spend the weekend with the pastor who is going to marry us. He, laughingly, told me to bring the marriage license and he would go ahead and marry us next weekend and take all the pressure off! I can't tell you how many times I've thought about going through with it. But, alas, I can't. We've been planning this wedding for three months now - jumping through hoops, ordering stuff like crazy, driving each other crazy. I just couldn't pull the trigger. So, we will wait until Saturday, November 17th and enjoy the entire experience! Tomorrow are the bridal pictures. It will take an entire half of a day for a couple hours of pictures. I'm not complaining. It just takes that long. Actually, I'm pretty excited about it. I can't wait to see Cindy in h