Hiatus

For the next week or so, my wife and I will be gone to Colorado for the National Conference for Youth Ministers. I hope the terrible snowstorm going on out there takes a rest so we can make it out there and enjoy the week. On top of us being able to learn and unite with friends and hang out with people of my profession, we'll get to rest and relax a bit too.

So for the next week or so, I may be on hiatus from blogging, or I may not be. It just depends on if I'll have internet in my hotel room.

I'll be preaching this Sunday at Guntersville as well. Hope that goes well.

And by the way, my XM radio is up and running, and I love it. I also love that activation and the first free month was FREE!!! Its great to have my talk radio back in my car.

Happy New Year everyone.

My 2006 Christmas

If I could sum up my 2006 Christmas Season, I would have to say it was probably the merriest Christmas I've ever had.

It started off in Lebanon, TN with my family. We celebrated with my entire family. It is so enjoyable to see all the children open up their presents. I must say that I'm really at the point now that I would rather see the joy on someone else's face while opening a gift I got them than getting any gift myself.

However, I had a very merry Christmas. One of my favorite gifts was my Delphi RoadyXT XM Radio. Now all I have to do is hook it up and be well on my way to listening to XM radio.

We then came back south towards Kristen's parents' home, and celebrated Christmas with her mother's family. We did the great and fabulous Dirty Santa, and I ended up with a wonderful Best Buy Gift Card (my parents had given me one also).

The next morning, which was Christmas Day, I opened up Season 5 of 24, followed by some tremendous looking Golf Club Covers my wife had given me. We then headed off to her parents house again, where I opened up another Best Buy Gift Card!

There were some other things interspersed throughout the day, like an Alabama Sweatshirt, a Deal or No Deal game, and many other things.

But I guess what i was really excited about was that my family got along well, and Kristen's family got along well. Everything was great. It was indeed a Merry Christmas.

HAPPY 10,000!!!

Just a little under a year ago, I fell into peer pressure and joined the online world of blogging. Little did I know how much joy it would give me.

Today, after writing about the really cool new Transformers movie due out this summer, I have officially had my 10,000th visitor. I don't know who you were, or if you are a regular visitor, but thanks for being #10,000.

Now I know that several others who visit this site from other links have had upwards of 30,000-100,000 visitors. But for me, who never imagined anyone would even care about reading my random ramblings, I'm ecstatic. Here's to the next 10,000!

More Than Meets the Eye

Just when you thought it couldn't get any better, Hollywood releases
Is anyone else excited about THIS?

I remember as a kid, this was probably one of my favorite shows. I never owned any of the toys, but I had a friend who had Optimus Prime, with the truck bed that opened up and everything.

When I found out they were doing this movie, I felt like a little kid. Nothing beats being an adult, watching a movie about your favorite childhood cartoon. Link to the site above, and watch the exclusive trailer on Yahoo!

Who will win? The Autobots or the Decepticons?

Top 10 Most Memorable Christmas Presents/Memories

In thinking back amongst the presents I've gotten over the past 27 Christmas Days, I thought I would bring to you the top 10 presents I've ever received. These don't necessarily mean my favorite gifts I've ever gotten, but the most memorable ones.

10. Bow and Arrow with Rubber Sticky Things: When I was around 12 years old, I asked for one of these. Of course I meant a bow and arrow with suction cup tips, but I didn't know what they were called, so I asked for a bow and arrow with rubber sticky things.

9. A box full of colored briefs: When I was about 10, in front of everyone at the Widick Family Christmas at my grandparents house, i got real excited when I had the biggest package there. When I opened the box, it was full of packages of colored underwear. Wow, in front of my sister and brother and cousins and aunts and uncles.

8. Back to the Future Soundtrack: Around 1985/1986, after the movie had come out, Santa brought me that soundtrack and put it in my stocking. I bet I listend to that tape about 500 times before it finally just broke. Full of great music from Huey Lewis and the News, and on the flip side several oldies like Johnny B. Goode.

7. David Palmer Jersey: My good friend Jason and I always swapped gifts on Christmas. One year he got me a jersey for the Deuce, David Palmer, all purpose guy for the Crimson Tide. Why was this one so memorable? Jason brought it to me, wrapped up in none other than a pillowcase off his bed.

6. A terribly great trip to Florida: Back in 1992ish, my brother got married on December 22nd in Central Florida. We drove down instead of flying, our minivan broke down twice on the way down, and we ended up renting a car from a place called "Rent-A-Wreck". The tuxedo fitting guy was not so straight if you catch my drift, and it was the first time I heard my dad say the word gay.

5. Nothing at all: Last year, my wife and I were in Memphis for Christmas Day. We had spent the day before at my parent's house, and weren't going to her parents house till much later because we had spent Thanksgiving at Disneyworld with them. We got stuck in traffic on the way back to Memphis on the 24th, got home 7 hours after we left (it should have taken us 4). We woke up, went to church, no one invited us over for lunch, and we spent Christmas day taking down the decorations because we were so depressed. Fortunately, later that night, our friends Michael and Catherine came back in to town and we went to eat mexican food.

4. My Granddaddy Smith from around 1990 till he passed: My mom's parents would always spend Christmas Eve night with us, and wake up with us to enjoy our presents Christmas morning. As my Grandfather got older, he wasn't able to walk very well at all. He shuffled his feet around, and took forever to get anywhere. My parents wouldn't allow us down the stairs until all the adults were in there (so they could see our faces when we turned around the stairs). Eventually, it got to the point where he was taking so long to get ready, we would fall asleep on the stairs waiting for him. One Christmas Eve night, my grandmother yelled at him to stop shuffling his feet, cause he was waking up the whole house. He yelled back at her, for the first I could ever remember, saying "Your're waking up the whole house by not shutting up!"

3. The year we finally won Trival Pursuit: Every Christmas, my entire family would play Trivial Pursuit at my grandmother's house on Christmas day. The kids always got grouped into a team. We never stood a chance, until one year, when I was a junior or senior, we finally beat the adults in Trivia.

2. No family: When I was assistant coach in Houston at Westbury Christian School, I was able to fly in on December 24th, and I had to fly back out Christmas morning because we were playing in a tournament in Midland, TX. I was alone, all by myself the night of Christmas, and had to go to a basketball tournament the next morning. That was the main reason I did not pursue coaching the next year.

1. A wife! I proposed to my wife on Christmas Day, 2002. She had come up to Lebanon to have Christmas with my family. We were slated to be in Hartselle, AL with her family that night. Around 4:30 or 5:00, my family still is opening gifts and lollygagging around. I'm rushing Kristen so we can get to her house, so we can have Christmas with her family, and then have Christmas with each other. At around 11:50 on Christmas Day, I finally got to get on one knee and propose to her. She said yes, and the rest is history. No doubt, the best present I ever received.

Welcome to online shopping

I must admit, I used to be afraid of online shopping. Now, I'm a huge fan, for several reasons:

1. Most of it is a lot cheaper. Last year, we bought a video camera listed for $500 at Best Buy for $250. On top of that, there was no tax, and free shipping. Christmas shopping has been better too, because I can get more in the budget we have set.

2. I don't have to go get it. Sometimes, I like walking around the mall, especially at Brookstone or similar stores. But, when it comes to Christmas time, avoiding crowds is the top priority.

3. No annoying Sales People. I know, they are doing their job. But if you're like me, I do all my research on the particular item I'm shopping for at home, either online, or talking to others about the product. Very rarely do I go shopping for an item not knowing anything about it. Shopping online prevents talking to those terribly annoying and pushy sales people (especially at places that sell electronics, where they think everyone is a sap and they can get them to buy anything).

4. Its fun to get packages! Ever since I was a little boy, I've loved to get mail. I remember at college, if you got a little pink slip in your p.o. box, that meant you had a package! Everyone would go with you to package pick up to see what you got. Now, i'm 28, and getting packages is so much fun. I really like tracking the packages online to see where they came from and where they are stopping on their way to me.

5. You can shop for anything and everything without leaving your desk. What mall can you go to and literally see anything you want in a matter of 2 minutes? I can shop for electronics, clothes, a car, china, furniture, and so many other things, just by the click of a button.

Of course, some people still love the "Old Fashioned" way of shopping, but I'm hooked on online shopping. Merry Christmas everyone!

What in a word?

Last Thursday night, my wife were honored to attend the 4A State Championship Game between Guntersville and Thomasville. We were thrilled that we won.

We were not thrilled with the company behind us, however.

We sat with our usual crowd of the Blacks, the Merediths, and good ole Susan. With the Merediths were 3 or 4 little children, under the age of 12, and with the Black family was their youngest son as well. Also near to us were several other smaller children which I did not know.

Not more than 30 seconds after we sat down, we heard the good ole "S" word come out behind us from an older lady, then a few "D" words followed. I thought maybe she had spilled a drink and got upset, or something along those lines, little did I know we were in for a wild ride.

Next to this older was a young man, around 20 or so. I don't know him, and I'm not going to judge him, but he started cursing like it was going out of style. Not to say that any cursing has a point, but this was absolutely pointless cursing. Word after word, he spit out the "S" and "D" words like he was popping candy in his mouth.

Of course, in this great world we live in, no one really wanted to say anything to avoid some sort of scene. We all wanted to enjoy the game, but everytime a word popped out, I just wanted to cover the ears of those young children. I know, they hear it on television and radio, we can't protect them forever, but there is something different when you hear the word said right in front of you.

My wife, at about halfway through the second quarter, did something she is not known for. She confronted this young man about this. She turned around, and very politely said "I'm not trying to be rude, but could you please stop cussing? There are lots of little children around, and its very inconsiderate of you". To this, the young man replied "Oh, I'm sorry, was I cussing?". As jerkish as that may sound, I honestly believe he really didn't know he was using expletive after expletive. (However, for the rest of the night, he did not curse...the older people behind me were a different story).

When I taught speech in Houston, TX, I remember spending a day on cursing. Basically, I told the kids that only the most ignorant of people curse, because they have nothing better to say.

I went through a phase a really long time ago, when I was in 3rd grade or so, when I thought it was cool to cuss with my friends. Of course, we never spoke like that in front of a teacher or a parent, but it caught up with me.

My father, ever the good person, heard me one time say the phrase "What the?". Nothing else, just "What the?". He told me if he ever heard me say that again, he would wear me out. I think it was a day or two later, we were cleaning out the garage, and I stumbled across something in the woodpile that I had no clue what it was. Of course, that amazing discovery led to a wonderful "What the?". My father promptly put down what he was doing, and told me to get upstairs. You can figure out what happened later.

I was never allowed to say words like fart, crap, sucks, or various other words. I know those may sound silly and absurd, but I think it says a lot when you can control your tongue. Ephesians 4:29 says: Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.

I charge us all to control our tongues.

A La...

After returning home late last night, at around 12:30 in the morning from a wonderful state championship game, I am officially exhausted.

Last night, in about 18 degree weather, the Guntersville Wildcats won a thriller game against Thomasville, 28-27. It was an absolutely amazing game, worthy of saying it was one of the best games I've ever seen. Unfortunately, my alma mater, Friendship Christian School in Lebanon, TN lost in the state championship last week to Jackson Christian (but neat that two sister schools were in the championship.

What was really neat was that the whole city of Guntersville was practically at the game. Thousands of fans from Guntersville, Albertville, Arab and Boaz were there. It was the first time a team from Marshall County was in the championship.
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I'm really fired up about Christmas this year. Last year, Kristen and I spent Christmas alone in Memphis. After church that morning, we went to the house and took down the Christmas decorations, on Christmas Day. This year will fare much better. We're closer to family, and will be with family on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Then, we get to see our good friends Michael and Catherine Davis from Olive Branch the following day. Christmas is really about the family.
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This year for Christmas, all I want is THIS!!!
Seriously, all I've asked for is are Best Buy Gift Cards so I can pick out the radio, get it installed, and then I want Cash or a Gift Card for the subscription service.
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I've never been stuck as to what to get my wife for Christmas, or birthdays, or anything. This year is harder though. Any ideas would be appreciated!!
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Looks like my boys at Alabama are going to hire Rich Rodriguez as their next coach. I'm not sure if I agree with it or not, but he is a good coach and has done some tremendous things at West Virginia. Maybe Alabama will let him stay longer than a year if he loses to Auburn. We need to get over Bear Bryant, he's dead and not coming back, nor will there ever be another coach like him. You have a few now, like Paterno and Fulmer who have stayed at their school for at least a decade, but let's face it, its a business and people go where the fame and money is.

UPDATE: At 2:21 today, Rodriguez said he was staying at WVU. They must be paying him a ton. Alabmama was going to make him the highest paid coach in the SEC. This does not sound too good for my Tide.

Go Wildcats!!!

Not too long ago, I was coaching the Lady Wildcats of Westbury Christian School to a State Championship in Basketballin the state of Texas. Now, four years later, I am rooting on a different Wildcat team to win the State Championship of the beloved state of Alabama 4A football.

The Guntersville High School Wildcats football team will be playing for the 4A state championship tomorrow night (Thursday, Dec. 7) vs. a team from near Mobile called Thomasville.

We have several players on the team that attend church here at Guntersville Church of Christ. To those guys I wish a special good luck, and to the whole team...I Believe.

Go Wildcats!!!