Becoming Greek

Starbucks City Mugs

I am a little bitter at Starbucks. I collect their city mugs everywhere I go. Jamie loves them and they are pretty cool. Needless to say I have a ton of them. From Singapore to Miami I am hooked up with Starbucks mugs. A month ago I heard a rumor that when you buy a mug Starbucks will give you a free drink. I told them that it was not true because I have bought tons and I have never received a free drink. So while in Indy I decided to give it a try. I asked the clerk and he said they do give out a free drink when you buy a mug. I am flabbergasted. So I order the biggest drink possible, add flavoring, and whip cream. I am still amazed that you have to know the secret and then ask them for it. So if you know anyone who buys mugs at Starbucks pass on the info…. I figure they owe me about 40 free drinks…. Ekkk….

Baptism

Tonight was one of my last youth services here at FYM, but it was one of the best I have ever had. We had a baptism in the Yellow Breaches with about 15 or so students. It was so cool to see the students share their testimonies and get baptized New Testament style. Here are pictures of three great students that will change the world. Nick has stepped his walk up God big time this summer, and I am so proud. Leah is going to be a star for Jesus on Broadway (it is not about if, but about when). Kayla is such a great leader, and will be amazing in the ministry. The other student will be doing great things as well, and I have been so privileged to be their pastor. I have loved my time with these students, and I can’t wait to see them all grown up changing the world. I am on cloud nine after this incredible night….. Thanks to Aaron and Jimmy for the extra hand in the creek.

Robert McKeague

At 80 Robert completed the Ironman competition in

Hawaii

.  In 90 degree weather he swam 2.4 miles, rode his bike 112 miles, and ran a 26.2 mile marathon.  Impressive.  When he was 57 he was barely able to hang with his kids on the ski hill, and so he started jogging.  He ran his first marathon two years later.  Goes to show that you are never to late to start greatness in your life.

Passport Purgatory

Today we went to Philly to get a passport for mac and hang out with the interns….. We had a 9:30 appointment, but when we arrived we almost cried. Anarchy had taken over. Anyone at anytime could now get into the line, and we were just a little late. We were two blocks away from the door. I kept things strong, and we plodded ahead. I had no idea the day we were about to have.

Here is a picture of the line that was behind us around 11 am. We had started further back when we arrived at 9 am.

We had to reach the front doors before we could get anywhere. We got in the building around 1 pm. At this point we realized what a long day that we had in store.

Once we entered the building we had another set of challenges. We had to walk through security and get into the next chamber. While in line I heard an interesting comment. A daughter and mother looked at two portraits on the wall and asked… Mom who is that? (a teenager by the way). Her mother replied “ I am not sure”….. I thought hummm as I looked at President Bush and Vice President Chaney. Even Chaney had a grin on his face about that comment

However, we were about ready to receive a kind action from security. Brady was taking a nap in the stroller and they did not make us wake him up, but they let him sleep through the detector. Thanks guys!!!

We get into the inner chamber and find a hot room that smelled like foot. The room had enough chairs for about 80 people and there were a good 125 inside. There were seven windows to process passports, and we waited some more. We were in that room for about two hours, but we got things taken care of….. Our processing agent could barely speak English, but who is keeping score…. And most of the people today were not speaking English anyways…

After we left the room we waited some more. The above photo was a guy in front of us, and the wind loved the comb over…. We were in this line for another couple hours until we decided enough is enough….. We pulled the baby card. Jamie with infant in hand wheezed into the front of the line, and we waited anxiously for a result….

Victory was finally ours at 6:00 PM!!!! After 9 hours of grueling line waiting, and passport purgatory we had won. Mac is going to Trinidad and we left with a hurrah!!!

After we left the city we finally had some time as interns and celebrated a great year at one of my favorite restaurants… The Cheesecake factory. What a fun group of people to be with!! Brady was getting a little loopy and decided to lick every sugar packet on our table. So, if you eat at the King of Prussia Cheesecake factory watch out for Brady slobber. But I truly have a great group of people around me, and I am so proud of each of these guys!!! What a great end to a tough day….

When we were getting ready to get in the car we were all happy. Even Ben was glad to get a little baby holding time. Mac was glad to be leaving Philly.

Fedex tracking number 935668974693

I am going to be open with you….. You will read later about how crazy the past couple days have been. Well I was on the go for several hours already today and pulled into the drama practice a little late. I was then greeted with some bad news by Helena….. We had two major missions prep things that should have been taken care of. An example of one issue was the jersey shop had their print press break down, and so they had not gotten to our shirts yet, as of this morning. I was pressed on ever side today and almost said some things I would have regretted to Helena. I took a deep breath and let it roll off my back. There are times when it can be easy to get upset, but that is not what Jesus would want. I took a breath. (have you ever noticed it is easy to take our problems on people close to you?) I then took a walk down to the admin area and we straightened out the issues. We called the shop, and took care of things. They printed, shipped, and we will receive them tomorrow. I could have gotten all upset, but that would have gotten me nowhere….. I will have the jersey's by 3pm, and I have the tracking number to prove it....

Better late than never

Yesterday was my birthday (cheers, applauds, and hurrahs). It was a good day, and I had some really fun moments. My wife Jamie brought some doughnuts into church in the morning and we had a little picnic with the boys. Brady probably ate 1 and 1/2, which made him bounce off the walls. I then had lunch with a few friends, and finished off the work day. My mom was in town and so we went out to dinner as a family to one of my favorite restaurants – Texas Roadhouse!!!
I ordered a steak and had some mashed potatoes. Now when you are at a restaurant like the Roadhouse you have to order your potatoes with cheese and bacon on top. Well when the waitress brought out the potatoes they were missing a key ingredient….. the bacon. To remedy the situation she brought out a huge bowl of bacon bits which is about ten times more than they usually give you. I say better late than never.
The really helpful part was at the end of the meal. Brady started to get fussy and needed a treat to occupy his busy little self. We only had two starburst which bought us about ten minutes. However, we needed another five or so minutes to finish. My son has the same DNA roots as my brother Danny. I thought what would Danny like as a treat….. hum, ahhh, the bacon. So for the next few moments Brady chomped away on one of his favorites…..bacon.
All that to say two things. Some times God has a delay to bring about a useful purpose. And that guys just like bacon.