Sunday

I'm sitting in the video control room at Port City Community Church between the 8:30 and 10:30 services. Today is a pretty special day for PC3 as there will be five baptisms on site for the first time. We've all definitely been blessed with such an amazing place to worship and to serve, and such a phenomenal staff to guide us in our walks. If you told me a year ago that this is what I'd be doing right now, there's no way that I'd believe you. In fact, I'd probably think you were crazy.
God has done amazing things in my life and in Kristen's life during this past year. I'm so thankful for this change in my life, and so excited to see what's next.

Vampires, Mummies and the Holy Ghost

What do those three things have in common? If you said that they are the things that scare Jimmy Buffett the most, you'd be correct!
There's a second commonality, however, which is the reason for this post. Until recently, I wasn't sure if any of the three existed. Although I've still never seen a mummy and I've yet to be bitten by a vampire (probably due to all the garlic Kristen and I consume) I think the holy spirit and I have crossed paths. Probably multiple times but once in particular that comes to mind.
Now this story involves two main people. I write this blog and therefore am totally cool with the idea of this being online for all four of you to read. The second person I'm not so sure about, so he'll be referred to as simply "friend." Creativity at its finest.
So this friend of mine has had a rough couple of years. Some issues entirely in his control, others entirely out of his control. Kristen and I have been praying for guidance in his life as he seems to be lost as far as walking with God is concerned. Totally understandable to me, as I was a bit lost myself just about a year ago. So we had been praying for guidance and change in his life and then found out he was coming to visit for a long weekend. My prayers quickly included my own guidance as I was unsure what part I could play in the situation. With my background, the last thing I want to do is start preaching to someone who isn't ready to hear it. This happened many times in my past and if anything, caused me to take a step back rather than forward. I prayed that God take control of the situation and use me however he saw fit.
So the visit happens and we have a good time. Good food, the beach, conversation, all that good stuff. Sunday comes and we go to Port City as is always the case and he enjoys it. Mike's message that day is about starting or continuing your walk with God. Fitting, don't you think?
That night he goes with Kristen and I to volleyball and then to Dairy Queen (can I get an Amen for Peanut Buster Parfaits?). On the way home we somehow got onto the topic of a friend of his who passed away a couple of years ago after being hit by a drunk driver and how this ties into the Christian idea of everything happening for a reason. He was struggling with this for obvious reasons and was questioning a God who would let these things happen.
Without thinking I asked him three questions:
How many people where positively influenced by her death?
What kind of life did she lead up to her death?
If there is indeed a heaven, is it safe to say she's in a much better place now?
His answers:
Hundreds, a great life, yes.
I pointed out that maybe this was God's master plan for her. She led a great life, influenced hundreds of people with her passing and now is enjoying paradise in heaven. I much prefer this explanation than the alternative, that she was killed for no reason. He was nodding in agreement and thinking about this idea.
So where does the Holy Spirit come in? Well, during our small group meeting on Monday night I told this story and talked about the fact that it could have influenced my friend's walk with God, but also talked about how the things I spoke about surprised even me. This idea of everything happening for a reason has been a struggle in my life and now here I was, explaining this to my friend and in the same breath, explaining it to myself. I wasn't sure where these ideas even came from. One of the guys in the group explained it pretty clearly for me. "Now that," he said, "is the holy spirit working in your heart." Well said John. Well said indeed.

My Beef with Michael Phelps

I suppose this is less an issue with Michael Phelps, and more an issue with all this "greatest olympian in history" talk. Now granted, Phelps in a monster in the pool, absolutely dominating in the pool during these games, so I'm not trying to take anything away from his accomplishments, but hopefully people have realized how much greater his chances are at medaling by simply being a swimmer in the olympic games.
You could say that Misty May-Treanor and Carrie Walsh dominate the sand in much the same way as Phelps is dominating the water. When you watch them play, they seem to be unbeatable. And for the most part they are. They haven't lost a match in over a year! They could win every point of every match this year, and end up winning one gold medal. Most sports don't have the opportunity to win multiple medals the way that swimming and also gymnastics does.
Seventeen athletes have won three or more gold medals in a single summer olympic games. They are made up of five swimmers, seven gymnasts, two track and field athletes, two shooters, and one fencer. Outside of these events, you really have no chance of winning multiple medals in a single event. Hopefully people realize this as they watch the games.
Source

Other notes:
1. The woman who does the diving announcing annoys me. Some people just seem to be way more negative than others. She is one of these people. I'd like to see her dive once so that I could pick it apart.

2. I've seen a Target commercial twice while watching this morning where I'm pretty sure we watch two girls have a room decorating dance off. Now if that's not a future olympic sport, I don't know what is.

3. Subway's Peel-off-your-winning-sticker-thing-and-then-throw-your-soda-all-over-the-person-next-to-you commercial? Yeah, absolutely awful. Someone should be fired for such a horrible ad campaign.

Under the Knife

Kristen has her wisdom teeth removed on Friday and has been recovering these last few days. This experience has led me to a few realizations:
1. You can really get a sense of your love for a person when you see them in pain and unable to fend for themselves. Seeing Kristen after she woke up from surgery made my heart break. She seemed so sad and weak. Needless to say, she got over that stage pretty quickly and was running around the house days before I was when I had the same thing done. She's one tough cookie!
2. You learn who your friends are. It's refreshing to see the things people do and say when you've experienced some sort of trauma, no matter how big or small. This year I've experienced it through my back surgery, my grandmother's passing, and now Kristen's surgery. We have some fantastic friends.
3. Lost is a great drama, and I'm so glad I kept myself from watching a single episode so that I could start at the beginning. Six episodes down, quite a few to go.
4. Milkshakes are good. Don't believe me? Blend up one banana. Add a cup of homemade vanilla ice cream (or store bought, I suppose...) and 3/4 cup of milk. Blend till smooth. Drink it up! Delish! (If you're really crazy, throw in some peanut butter too!)
5. Dogs are weird. When you really think about it, they just are.
6. The human body is an amazing thing. This is never more apparent then after watching the olympics. To see a person swim like a fish, then another person run twenty miles, then another person lift twice their body weight, then someone else jump and flip on a four inch bar, to a person...
7. Not really a realization, but on the subject of the olympics, did you know this is the last time baseball and softball are going to be part of the olympics? Yeah, I guess they don't have much room for pseudo-sports, what with table tennis and badminton and all. Maybe it'll come back as synchronized baseball. After all, we have synchronized diving now!
8. Laying around the house doing nothing is awesome if your name is Wes, not quite as awesome if your name is Kristen.

Now we're off to PC3 for the 12:30 service. Then to Best Buy to get Apple's wireless keyboard, two volleyball matches tonight and then hopefully a couple more episodes of Lost tonight!

The Newest Craziest Thing

So today while watching TV I came across a commercial for loans. This one was pitched by Gary Coleman which was strange enough. Is he really the trusting presence people are looking for to pitch their products? Probably not. But the crazy part was when the fine print popped up at the end of the commercial. I had to back up the commercial and pause it to be sure, but here is the first line of the fine print:
"The APR for a typical loan of $2,600 is 99.25% with 42 monthly payments of $216.55."
99.25%.
Ninety-nine point two five percent.
Just think about that for a second. That $2,600 loan will end up costing $9095.10 by the time you pay it off. Oh, and there's a $75 loan fee too. Now that's crazy right? But get this, I went to the site just to see what it looked like and took a look at the rates in North Carolina. Check this out:



That's right, in North Carolina you can borrow $1500, lose a third of the loan for a "loan fee" and then pay back the loan with 141.42% interest. Thank you for using Cash Call. Have a nice day.

The Craziest Thing I Have Ever Seen in My Entire Life

Well maybe not in my entire life but at least in the last couple hours. You see, I was absentmindedly flipping through my wife's Women's Health magazine (yes, I was looking through it, so kill me. It was sitting on the couch and I opened it and glanced at a couple of pages. I don't make a habit of it.) and I came upon an article about haircuts and whether or not you could tell the difference between expensive haircuts (like around $145) and cheap haircuts (like around $100). Now this isn't the point of the story, but let me just pause and say that I've started going to a place for my own haircuts that I deem "expensive.". My haircuts are $20! A piece!
Anyway, in said story was a sidebar explaining the always confusing subject of tipping. Now I agree that tipping is indeed an art and one in which I am always confused. Again not part of the story but does it drive anyone else crazy that places that you would normally not even think about tipping now have the "tip" and "total" lines when using a debit or credit card? Like PT's Grill and Flaming Amy's. I normally didn't tip and didn't think anything of it but now I'm forced to either start tipping or stare at the big fat zero I write and feel like a cheap jerk. Thanks guys.
Ok, back to the point of the post. The craziest thing I've ever seen in my entire life that happened in the last couple of hours. Here's how you're supposed to tip if you're a girl and you get a haircut (that you'll pretend to absolutely hate for a week and a half):
Your stylist - 15-20% of service.
Your colorist - 15-20% of service.
Stylist's assistant (huh?*) - $10-20(**).
Shampooer - $3-5.
Blow-out Person (for real?) - $10
Coat-check Girl - $1.

Seriously, that's what it says. You should be tipping somewhere between $50 and $100 dollars. Each time! I will barely tip that much this decade! What is the deal with women and haircuts? A blow-out girl? All I can say is thank God I'm a boy.

* What exactly does a stylist's assistant do? Hold the comb? Hold up the mirror so you can see the back of your head? And you gotta pay her $20 for that?

** And if you're paying the assistant $20 then I'd assume you're paying the actual stylist twice that. Unbelievable.

Sunday

This is probably going to end up being an awkward blog post. I'm just putting that out there. So if you read it, and you think "boy, that was an awkward post" you can't say I didn't warn you. I'm just going to see where this ends up.

Today I took my brother to Port City Community Church for the first time. He's in town, and that's what I do on Sundays, so it doesn't seem like a weird thing. The thing is though, that a year ago I was constantly looking for an excuse to skip church, and this would have been a perfect excuse. I really only went to church because my wife went to church, and it was an important aspect of her life. I wanted to be a good husband, to support her interests, but there really wasn't anything in it for me. Just less than a year ago, I agreed to tag along with her to the new church she had been going to, PC3 as the cool kids call it. I walked in to Roland Grise middle school, took my seat, and was blown away. For the first time in my life I actually felt something while sitting there in the old wooden auditorium seat. Something was happening in that room that I couldn't just write off. Since that day, I've gone to nearly fifty services at PC3 and I can feel real change happening in my life. Everything about PC3 fits with what I needed at the time. Their mission statement says it all: "Reaching people and helping them walk with God." That's it. That's what everything comes down to. It's not about rules, negativity, status, whispers, attendance sheets, etc. For most people, it's a continuation of their walks, for me, it was about taking those first awkward steps. For once I felt like it was normal and almost expected to have questions. It was okay to feel some doubts, to feel lost when looking through the Bible, to be unsure what to do next. The important thing was all about taking those steps, and that's what I've been doing. Those steps may have been awkward, and I may not have known where exactly I was going, but after eleven months of walking, I can look back and recognize the progress I've made.

The best part, for me, is that I've gotten to the point that I can actually participate and give back. From the first service, I was taken aback by the professionalism and creativity of the church. I wasn't sure where everything was coming from, I guess I kind of assumed there was some kind of Ikea for churches where you could go and find cool bulletins, video, maybe a bassist and some stage lights, a message or an entire series, but quickly I realized that not only was most of what I was experiencing done in house, but it was actually done by volunteers! Impressive is a total understatement. I was drawn to the production team from week one, but spent nearly ten months working up the nerve to actually put my name out there and step up to the plate. Last weekend was my first experience running a studio camera during the service and it was awesome. I've watched the playback and definitely have some room for improvement, but it's so nice to feel like I'm contributing to something that is literally changing my life. I spent a long time being a skeptic, and the knowledge that someone may walk in those doors for the first time and I can have a small part in helping them take those first steps that I had taken nearly a year ago, well, it's pretty amazing. I'm so glad and thankful to have that opportunity.

Besides the staff of PC3, I owe a great deal of gratitude to my wife, Kristen (who had been praying for this change in my life for over five years), Chad Brewer, David Crowder Band, my entire small group and the PC3 Production Team. Hopefully you all know the impact you've had on my life. Thank you to you all.

Zach Attack

The easiest way to gauge the city that you live in is to have a family member visit for a long weekend. All of a sudden you have to take all the best aspects of you city and scrunch them together into a five day vacation. Some towns are harder than others. For instance, in my hometown of Williamsport, there was always a good chance of running out of things to do by lunch time. On the first day. Wilmington is slightly different. Here's what's planned:
Thursday
Lunch at PT's grill.
Nap! (Zach's flight left at 6:15am)
Boating with the Eisley's.
Dinner at King Neptunes.
Friday
Sleeping in obviously (Zach is still in bed.)
Making Chocolate Peanut Butter ice cream.
Walk around downtown including CD shopping at CD Alley.
Lunch at Chick-fil-a. (I take Chick-fil-a for granted. Zach doesn't have one nearby in PA. Oh the horror!)
Dinner at Water Street Restaurant.
Beer and pool and Blue Post with Joe and Amanda.
Saturday
More boating.
Picnic at the beach.
More napping! (Beach + Nap = Heaven)
Dinner somewhere. Maybe Flaming Amy's to celebrate Zach's birthday.
Sunday
Get to church early to grab some coffee and walk around.
10:30 service.
Brunch at Sweet n Savory.
Volleyball at Captain Bill's
Monday
I don't plan this far in advance.

Needless to say, there's plenty to do in Wilmington. I love this town!

Super Obvious Gym Etiquette Rule #1

PUT. DOWN. YOUR. CELL PHONE.
Yes I'm talking to you, girl who is barely even moving on the treadmill. I don't care how animated your phone conversations are, talking is not exercise. Likewise, a cell phone is not a piece of exercise equipment.
Barbell?
Sure.
Treadmill?
Of course.
Cell phone?
Not even close.
You shouldn't be able to exercise and have an entire conversation at the same time. Look around, see those people who are sweating? The ones who are out of breath? Be more like them and hang up the phone!

Frightening Self-Discovery

Yesterday I discovered something very surprising about myself. Something I never saw coming. Something I'm still finding hard to believe. You may want to be sitting down for this.

I no longer enjoy shopping for used CDs. I know, crazy isn't it? It used to be quite the past time for me. I could think of nothing better than spending the greater part of an afternoon holed up in some crummy used CD shop thumbing through grimmy used discs waiting to find that one rare disc to add to my already overwhelming collection. I'd stand there for hours, hunched over an endless sea of polymer, squinting at album titles in the dim light, beeds of sweat starting to form on my body as I realize the air conditioning is, as always, no match for this small space. Rapidly skipping the Britney Spears singles, the Sublime bootlegs, the random albums that some record exec somewhere should be ashamed of after letting such a horrific 52 minutes of noise be released on their label. I keep searching and searching as the hours pass. Hunger, thirst, the need to pee, these things I suppress as the hunt continues. The stale stench of body odor and mildew are no match for my heightened state of awareness as I move on. Backstreet Boys, Lita Ford, Savage Garden, a cornacopia of the crap America used to listen to before we discovered the error of our ways and sold our former precious things for pennies on the dollar. Still I press on. I can feel it getting close. The scent of discovery is near. My neck starts to cramp as hour number three comes and goes, still awaiting for that moment of glory when this exercise of dedication presents its award. I feel my pupils dilate, as album title after album title are processed by my over clocked brain. For a moment I feel connected to my ancestors, as they hunt for game over the plains of, somewhere. We are as one, searching, hunting, feeling so alive. Then I see it. Finally. The plastic case seems to be just a little brighter, the font just a bit more legible. Could it be? It is! Chamberlain's The Moon My Saddle! Such an amazing album, just sitting here, waiting for discovery! Who would have ever thought that such a gem of an album could be sitting here for only $7.99? Pure amazement and joy flood my body as I pull this prize from the rack and take a closer look. It is beautiful, a perfect specimen. Barely played, free of all scratches and smudges. The liner notes intact and crisp. That tiny hole in the bar code. Simply breath-taking. It's too bad I already have two copies. I put it back with a knowing smile, knowing that someday, someone will find this piece of art, and they will leave the store with a sense of accomplishment, knowing that their day has been worthwhile. Me? I continue the search. Only 23 letters of the alphabet to go.

Yeah. I'm done with this crap. You other people can continue the hunt. I'm loading up iTunes. Where's my credit card?

I Scream You Scream...

Today is going to be a good day. Why? Because I'm making ice cream! I have lots of ice cream to make. I have requests for a chocolate fudge brownie (plus one for me!), raspberry ice cream with dark chocolate chips and peach. Time to get some dairy and get to work!