Journey of Faith

These three books helped move me through three significant milestones in my journey of faith.

The Message - by Eugene Peterson & Kelly Dolan
I really started digging into the subject of "God" back in 2000-2001. The origins of Christianity was really interesting, but I resisted reading the bible until I could believe that it was historically accurate - but I couldn't find the absolute proof I was looking for. I found that I couldn't understand a lot of the arguments because I wasn't familiar with what the bible actually said. So I picked up a copy of The Message, which is the New Testament scriptures written in contemporary English. As I read, the gospel stories just blew me away. I found the character of Jesus so absolutely amazing that I couldn't put the book down. Really, it was that powerful. At times I found my heart just going "pitter-patter" for all the love that Jesus had for people. Even with so many questions, I found myself believing in Jesus, and I wanted to be more like him.

Finding God in the Questions - by Timothy Johnson
This book helped me get by all my questions, and understand that there is always mystery involved in having faith. No matter how much I study and rationalize, I'm likely to always have questions. That's why they they call it "faith". For whatever reason, God has not supplied us with all the answers, and I decided that was OK with me.

The Hole in our Gospel - by Richard Stearns
I finished this book about a week ago, and it still has me all shook up. Richard Stearns is the President of World Vision - a humanitarian charitable organization. His book describes his journey of faith, which is a huge testament to the power of being open to the will of God in your life. It's a call to action. Having "faith" is one thing, but God wants much more.

Murdered Sticks

Yesterday Erik asked me if we could have a funeral for his favorite stick that his brother Kurt so brazenly snapped in two. There was no saying no, so we dug a hole in the back yard, placed the broken stick into the earth, said a short prayer, and sang "Amazing Grace". But that did not completely satisfy Erik - he insisted that it have a grave stone, and he wrote on it:
Here lies stick - murdered by kurt

Are we a spoiled generation?

I got this funny video from Tim Pritts's facebook page. It's an excerpt from a Conan O'brien episode about how spoiled our generation is with technology. To quote his guest, "everything is amazing, and nobody is happy". From cellphones, to credit cards, to airline transportation... we take it all for granted.

Jackie Ray

Jackie Ray loves spending time at his grandparents cabin in Eagle River. He is a charming and delightful young man, and a REALLY good fisherman. Watch this video, and see him work double tip-ups and land a nice northern pike!

Peter's Airplane Sled

Here is a cute video of Peter explaining and demonstrating how his airplane sled would work. It's powered by an eggbeater propeller, and it would allow him to takeoff from a sledding hill and fly home. It's a good concept, but we need to find a better adhesive to hold on the wings & tail.

US Airways in the Hudson River

Kudos to Capt. Sullenberger & FO Skiles for good airmanship when faced with a double engine failure out of New York. Airline pilots go through a lot of training, but nobody trains for dead-sticking a jet into the Hudson. When I got home that night (from a ORD-EWR turn) all I could think about was what it must have been like for these guys when they came to the realization that they had to ditch in the river. Yikes, not a comfortable thought.

YouTube Video: Raw Footage of Hudson River Landing

End of 2008

Today marks the last day of 2008, that means it's time for a few New Years resolutions. I have three:

1) Get to and maintain 185lbs (currently 200lbs)
2) Get my bad cholesterol below 190 (currently 210)
3) Take the family to Disney World! (it'll be the first time)

Here's a 2008 photo slideshow...