I've been informed (by my wife) that my quote about "bringing it all around" didn't make much sense. I started the blog with "Halloween" and ended it with "Halloween." She thinks a comedian is good if they're able to use a joke at the beginning and then "bring it all around" and end his act with the same idea or joke somehow. Anyway...

Halloween. Quite the controversial topic. That is, it's controversial if you're ignorant or Pharisaical. I wish Christians would get their act together and not take people like Jack Chick's word for it. Do some research before you deem something Satanic or Demonic. As my wife says, "Bring it back around." Halloween.

I'll tell you what's genius: when people warn the dang Blogbot. morons...

I'm pretty sure I'll be able to blog today. "To Blog." A new verb.

To further the notion of a small world, I'm readying a package of Christmas cards to be sent to my friend Karri in Zambia, Africa to distribute. I'm printing maps and pictures for my youth group to see where their cards are being sent. Awesome...

Man, our world has become so small. My father-in-law emailed from an internet cafe in a small village in Russia. It's incredible that anybody could hide in our world today.

I'm watching the Yankees and Mariners and decided to try this blogbot thing out. The Badgers blew it today in Il but they had a lot of help from the refs, that's for sure. Hopefully the Packers can salvage the Wisconsin sports weekend by spanking the Viqueens in MN. We'll see...

Relationships are incredible. I went to a pastor's conference tonight (that was about 10 minutes from my house) to see my brother-in-law who was there. It was really cool because he's from Minneapolis so we never see him. Well, in the process, I saw a TON of people who I got to hug and love and remember things with...It was so great and I really needed it. I saw Angie and her parents. Angie and I were friends when we were elementary age kids and her dad pastored our church. I haven't seen her parents since they left when I was in 5th grade! They looked awesome and said I looked "handsome" and the memories just rolled back. Hugging Mrs. West and feeling the warmth and love of them both. I got to see Andy and Mark from camp. Mark is out in Cali going to school while Andy got married but is still helping at the district office. I got to talk to Mr. and Mrs. Keller. They're the parents of one of my more serious girlfriend's in high school, Krista. Mr. Keller stares right into your eyes while he talks to you. He doesn't blink, he doesn't look away, and he usually smiles. Unless he's being serious...then he burns holes through your head. hehe He goes, "Remember that talk we had on the porch? That was great!" "For YOU!" I said as we laughed, remembering full well how scared I was that day on the porch but realizing where we both are now. He and his wife are adopting a baby! They're in their 50's but it's so cool. They are super sweet. I got to see Mike and Marla get ordained. The same with Christine (and Lion) Mendoza. I even saw Pastor Tim and he was hilarious as usual. Alex and I talked youth stuff with Mike Smith for a long time, too. Then Alex and I got to talk for a while by ourselves. It was wonderful. The love I felt tonight was incredible. I truly loved each person I conversed with. What an incredible lift...

Then I got home and found out...

Apparently, the Davis kids were left at church. I watched each kid leave and say goodbye to me (including, but not limited to, the Davis's) and then went back to clean up and get some stuff from my office. When I left I looked around and saw nobody so I left. The story is, they went around the corner and sat to wait for their parents...who never showed. I feel so stupid but I know I did everything right. Oh, well...guess I'll need to talk to their parents. From what I hear, they waited an hour and half before the choir found them!! What is that? Gets me all riled up...

Anyway, tonight was awesome and I love Jesus. I want him to capture my heart. I want to hear the call for compassion and heed that call.

One thing I LOVE is when you balance your checkbook and it's EXACTLY right. mmm...

I never get sick. Maybe that's why it's taken me two weeks of hacking to decide to call the doctor in the morning. I think I might have bronchitis. Man, I hate being sick. It just drains me of all my energy and I think that's the worst part. Oh, well...I guess I'll find out tomorrow.

Also, I'm in one of those funks where I just don't want to think. Mostly theologically, too. There are so many topics that are so difficult to grasp and every once in a while I just need a break. My break this time might actually be really good. I got my first correspondence course from Moody yesterday and looked it over today. It's "Elements of Bible Study" which shouldn't be too hard but it looks exciting none the less. It looks way harder (which better) than my course from LBC so I'm excited, in a weird way, about that. It'll actually make me think and study and apply it, etc. Plus it's all pretty self-contained in one "manual" and one text book which is great for me. Then I can check it off as I go and all that...very manly. :-) The really cool thing about this whole education business is that it's for me and God. I have to remember that. It impresses many people but ultimately it's for me to grow and for God to teach me. That's exciting.

Why is it so dang hot in here? It must be 80 dang degrees. What happened to the 40's? yeesh...

Oh, and I was impressed by George W. tonight. He handled the conference really well and he seemed very informed and passionate about all of this. He made me feel safe...even though Tony Blair (prime minister of the UK) makes me want to sit on his lap and have him tell me stories all day.

Well, we had out turkey dinner and it was awesome! I got to greet people as they came in and waited to be seated in tables of 10. The best part was the youth, though. They all worked so hard and made me very proud. And I recruited FOUR kids who said they'll come next Wed.!!! Unbelievable. This girl Caitlyn is really cool and is Abby's friend. Then the Davis kids who have never been to our church before just showed up and helped serve and clean for four hours!! The youth really impressed me tonight. They have awesome hearts and I think we need to do lots more service oriented stuff. Julie did a fabulous job in the kitchen, too. What a great night.

Hopefully I'll post much more tomorrow. I'll have time, so if I don't...there'll be trouble.

We're having our turkey dinner at church tonight. It's an annual thing and apparently we feed about 800-1000 people, including carryout. The setup has been incredible, as can be imagined. Couple things to blog about when I come back later:

The Badgers. Can they BE any worse?
therock.blogspot.com - check it out.