Mighty To Save

This has to be my newest favorite song these days:

Josh Hamilton

- A man who was a first round draft pick.
- Quit playing baseball due to drugs and alcohol.
- Picked up again several years later and sober.
- Now is an All-Star and the star of the 2008 Home Run Derby.

My Book Wishlist

The Gospel According to Bruce Springsteen       By Jeffrey B. Symynkywicz, a graduate of Harvard Divinity School, a Uniitarian Universalist minister, and a dedicated Springsteen fan.   With a lively and engaging style, Symynkywicz probes each of Springsteen's albums and shows how his music helps make sense of the many threads of our lives, including experiences of sin and redemption, fear and courage, and above all - faith, hope, and love. Softcover, 198 pp.     "Fatigue makes cowards of us all." - Vince Lombardi "It ain't no sin to be glad you're alive." - Bruce Springsteen "If the world hates you, keep in mind it hated me first." - Jesus of Nazareth

John 16:31-33 (TNIV)

"Do you now believe? A time is coming and in fact has come when you will be scattered, each to your own home. You will leave me all alone. Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me. I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."
- Jesus of Nazareth circa 30-33 A.D.

This of course is when Jesus is speaking to his followers about his death and how they will all leave him alone to suffer and die. I love the part, "In this world you will have trouble." OK - and your point is...

The point is clear in the next phrase. It is for them and us a glance of hope, a knot to hold onto, a glimmer of light in the darkest days..."But take heart! I have overcome the world." WoW!!! Say it again Jesus...I have overcome the world! One more time for those who know this text and line way too well..."I have overcome the world!!"

So whatever trouble we face, let's keep it straight...Jesus faced the world and won! If God raised Jesus from the dead, he too can raise you and I from the depths of hell and destruction, as long as we are breathing - there is hope. "Even though I walk in the shadow of death, you are with me..."

That's something to write home about, hang your hat on, and do a jig in the middle of the mall!

"I Don't Like Remembering"

If you haven't seen the movie Reign Over Me (Adam Sandler),
There's a scene in the waiting room of the psychologist (Liv Tyler). Sandler's character is very complex and has really "lost it".

So often, we refuse to remember. It's just too painful. But in my life, I've learned that the possibility of healing and redemptive value is worth the tears and pain.

Select, AAU, Traveling Teams, etc

This comic speaks to the sports teams we have created to help our youngsters "get ahead" of the regular athletes in our recreation, school, and city leagues.

Jon Mark has a really good shot with baseball, especially with pitching and defense. A local high school coach has told him and me if the high school we are zoned for does not choose him to be on the team, he wants Jon Mark to play for him and he promised he would be a starting pitcher. As you could imagine, this made Jon Mark really proud to be noticed already and he's only in 8th grade!

I must say that I was proud as well and thankful to the coach and his kind words. He watched Jon Mark pitch twice this year and said he is the hardest throwing pitcher he's seen in Little League Baseball.



Well, I don't know about that - but the kid has an arm!

Umps Can't See

This is today's comic from In The Bleachers:

Chasing After You - Lifehouse

Tremendous song by Lifehouse called "Hanging By A Moment"

Desperate for changing
Starving for truth
Closer where I started
Chasing after you

I'm falling even more in love with you
Letting go of all I've held onto
I'm standing here until you make me move
I'm hanging by a moment here with you

Forgetting all I'm lacking
Completely and complete
I'll take your invitation
You take all of me

Now.. I'm falling even more in love with you
Letting go of all I've held onto
I'm standing here until you make me move
I'm hanging by a moment here with you

I'm livin for the only thing I know
I'm running here and crashing
Where to go?
And I don't know what I'm diving into
Just hanging by a moment here with you

There's nothing left to lose
Nothing left to fly
There is nothing in the world that can change my mind
There is nothing else
There is nothing else..

Desperate for changing
Starving for truth
Closer where I started
Chasing after you

I'm falling even more in love with you
Letting go of all I've held onto
I'm standing here until you make me move
I'm hanging by a moment here with you

I'm livin for the only thing I know
I'm running here and crashing
Where to go?
And I don't know what I'm diving into
Just hanging by a moment here with you

Just hanging by a moment
Hanging by a moment..
Hanging by a moment...
Hanging by a moment here with you..

When Neighbors Die

I did a google search of my name and found this 3-year old post I had made on my xanga page - the precursor to this blog:

Wednesday, March 23, 2005

Bobby Wilhoite. Friend and Neighbor. These two words are rarely used together. We never fought over property lines, dandelions, or dog poop (though we both owned one). Instead we chose to speak about our kids, our wives, our jobs, our love of the Dallas Cowboys, and our God.

How many footballs and baseballs did he throw to my young son Jon Mark? How many times did he smile as our young daughter, Emily, learning how to ride her bike would turn around in his driveway and bump his garage door? How many times did he get pulled outside by their dog Autumn just so she could find some relief? Bobby died yesterday @ 5:10 AM of brain cancer. I called April at 9:30 AM and we spoke for about ten minutes. After hanging up, the tears came easily and abundantly.

Goodbye Bobby, we will once again throw footballs as we live by one another forever, never having to move again. Bobby Wilhoite was 31.

"Land Where My Fathers Died..."

My Country, Tis Of Thee is a great hymn, as well as America The Beautiful. The phrase in the title of this post says it best when referring to which flag I honor first - the Christian flag. Though I cannot say it verbatim, it represents more for me of who I am than the American flag.

I am not anti-American, nor am I an American Christian (there is no such thing). I am a Christian that resides in a beautiful land called America.

I am free both as a child of God and as a citizen of my nation. Thank God.

Abby is 8!

Whoa! Are you kidding me? My little girl is growing so much. She yesterday informed me that she knew each of the four Presidents carved into Mount Rushmore. She actually named three, but still impressed the living daylight from me!


We are very proud of how she takes a stand for what she believes and is not afraid of anything or anyone.

A Tribute to Tim Russert