Happy Memorial Day

Philipians 3:1-11

And that’s about it, friends. Be glad in God! I don’t mind repeating what I have written in earlier letters, and I hope you don’t mind hearing it again. Better safe than sorry—so here goes.

Steer clear of the barking dogs, those religious busybodies, all bark and no bite. All they’re interested in is appearances—knife-happy circumcisers, I call them. The real believers are the ones the Spirit of God leads to work away at this ministry, filling the air with Christ’s praise as we do it. We couldn’t carry this off by our own efforts, and we know it—even though we can list what many might think are impressive credentials. You know my pedigree: a legitimate birth, circumcised on the eighth day; an Israelite from the elite tribe of Benjamin; a strict and devout adherent to God’s law; a fiery defender of the purity of my religion, even to the point of persecuting the church; a meticulous observer of everything set down in God’s law Book.

The very credentials these people are waving around as something special, I’m tearing up and throwing out with the trash—along with everything else I used to take credit for. And why? Because of Christ. Yes, all the things I once thought were so important are gone from my life. Compared to the high privilege of knowing Christ Jesus as my Master, firsthand, everything I once thought I had going for me is insignificant—dog dung. I’ve dumped it all in the trash so that I could embrace Christ and be embraced by him. I didn’t want some petty, inferior brand of righteousness that comes from keeping a list of rules when I could get the robust kind that comes from trusting Christ—God’s righteousness.

I gave up all that inferior stuff so I could know Christ personally, experience his resurrection power, be a partner in his suffering, and go all the way with him to death itself. If there was any way to get in on the resurrection from the dead, I wanted to do it.

Titanic Birthday

My little buddy Austin turned six yesterday. He’s a “plane, trains, and automobiles” kind of guy so several weeks ago his grandpa sent him a special History Channel collection on the Titanic. He’s been fascinated. Thus, it makes complete sense that he would request a Titanic cake for his birthday.

A simple sheet cake with the Titanic drawn on it would not suffice. I even suggested a blue cake with a bunch of debris…that didn’t go over very well.

Catie found the solution on the internet. A Titanic cake tutorial. Between the two of us, we could do this.

Catie baked three sheet cakes and the construction started at 11 Thursday morning.

We started by leveling each layer and then stacking them. I think it looks like a hamburger.

Then I used my spectacular childhood Lego and tree house building skills to fashion the boat. Yes, the top is a frozen Sara Lee pound cake – Catie is brilliant like that.

Due to the difficulty of making black icing, Austin gave permission for a little “artistic license” on the color scheme. Catie did the icing…I did the entertainment. I also did the Chipotle run since by this time it was 1 o’clock.

It was 5 o’clock when Catie and I called it a masterpiece. No, it isn’t as great as the one in the tutorial. But Austin’s face said it all this is the Titanic cake that he wanted.

I will neither confirm nor deny that the “smoke” came from the Sunday School project hanging on the fridge. No one will ever notice that the sheep had been sheared…

P.S. I walked into Catie’s house and realized that I should have brought my “real” camera. Once again, the cell phone pulls through.

Food Waste Friday

Apparently I’ve forgotten everything I learned about buying produce last summer. In my excitement over organic peaches arriving at my grocery store I forgot that the bad spots ripen more quickly than the overall fruit. I wasted half a peach. I also ate one and a half peaches that were as hard as apples. *sigh*

In other news…what is the purpose of “hearts of Romaine” lettuce? I was forced to buy some and I’m tossing half of it because it’s all spine. Next time Romaine is my only option, I’ll just skip salads for a while.

After not making a single meal at home last week, I’ve closely followed my menu this week. Except for one day – I was offered breakfast for dinner. The bacon just smelled too good!

Yesterday…

…I got up (kinda early..for me…) and ran five miles – despite staying up way later than I intended and waking up with an unhappy stomach.

…I went to a meeting with the town and realized that the people there view me as an equal. I am not just there for decoration.

…I meditated more on the tour of the rescue squad building that I gave on Tuesday. It was to the board of major donors. After the earlier events of the day I was exhausted. I was also shaking in my boots because losing their funds would be BAD. But they all said that I did an excellent job – even though I couldn’t answer all of the financial questions and clearly hadn’t seen the paperwork that they had reviewed. I focused on my passion – the daily operations of the squad and the total awesomeness of our volunteers. After I got over my nervousness I actually had fun. Sometimes I’m amazed at the things that can make introvert me become an extrovert.

…I didn’t have to go to work so I grilled on my front porch. See?

…I had a fudgecicle (apparently this is not a word) for dessert. My meal was perfect. *sigh*

…I lounged around my house in my comfy sweats with the window open so I could hear the gentle rain and children giggling outside.

…I rented a movie from Amazon for the first time – Netflix, Redbox, and Blockbuster all failed to carry the one movie I wanted to watch.

…I pretty much had an awesome day!

Stream of Consciousness

My last two days have been insanity. I need a day off from my days off.

I’m excited about my ceiling fans. I’d really like to be under one right now. The drama caused by living in an older building will be revealed to you in the future. Let’s just say it involved dangerous tools. And my upstairs neighbors might be worried about the integrity of their floor…

Yesterday morning I got to play with the tactical team. Did you know that the very act of putting on tactical gear makes a guy look really hot? Also, tactical situations don’t really go down the way they are shown on TV. I’ve been involved in quite a few over the years. They are boring. Yesterday’s ended with me taking a naked drunk guy to the ER. Let’s just say he was having a break with reality. Now that I think about it; I’ve never seen TV deal with the aspect of mental illness that I saw yesterday. Probably because it’s too messy.

I just turned on the AC and my window is open. It is supposed to rain all night and I want to listen. But I won’t be able to sleep in the heat. See why I bought ceiling fans?

I’m working hard to get back into the routine of running three times a week. The weather is working against me right now. I have to get up early in order to run before it gets too hot. I don’t like getting up early. About 20 years ago I had no problem getting up before the sun rose. Of course, back then I was going to bed before the sun set.

Speaking of getting old – someone whose diaper I changed got married last weekend. Pictures were posted on Facebook. I was sorely tempted to post “Hey, I changed that kid’s diaper!” Oh, the stories I could tell… It is fun to see the little people from long ago grow up. I know that not all single people enjoy watching others marry and have children – but I really do. Little people growing up into big people makes me smile.

Today I’m taking my grill to work. Steak, asparagus, and corn on the cob. No, I’m not taking enough for everyone. I’m just praying that someone doesn’t call 911 the second that I put the steak on the grill. You laugh – it has happened to me before. I did not find it funny.

Don’t forget that it is EMS Week. There are EMTs and Medics out there that need some homemade cookies. There are also some that need fresh fruits and veggies instead…

Oh Dear!

What have I done?!?