Ahhh . . . Hawaii

It took longer than expected to get here yesterday with a 3 hour delay in DFW. I got to Hawaii about 6p last night, headed to my place of temporary residence, unpacked some, headed to Chili's for an overpriced meal and then headed to bed. The five hour time difference is a challenge to say the least but I slept pretty well and was up a little before 5a making calls to the east coast. The work day is almost over by the time you get up over here and I know folks think I am avoiding their email and phone calls. Not true. They will get their answers on Thurs. since they are already in their in boxes.

I got some work done today and pretty much took it easy. Tomorrow I hope to make it to the North Shore and then Fri/Sat will both be busy work days. I board a plane Sat. at 430p to head home. Quick trip for such a long way to come but I want to be back home for Shelbi's baccelaurate service at 2p Sunday.

Been catching up with my friend Patrick out here. Good ministry buddy and he has scheduled me to meet with his youth leadership tomorrow night over dessert. Should be fun.

Sondra's dad is not taking chemo right now due to bad rashes. Pray that will subside. Sondra will be with her parents tomorrow which will be good. Thanks for praying for us and them.

Heading to Hawaii

I think I have most of my stuff packed and ready to head to Oahu. I am not staying down in Waikiki this time since I have done that and grow weary of the traffic. The church we are doing the conference at has a mission house and they are kind enough to let me stay there. Very nice. I fly all day tomorrow, get there about 3p local time and will feel like 8p on the body. Man, that first day or two there is usually pretty hard. I wake up about 230a ready to go. Crazy.

I have a couple of meetings on Weds. and hope to get up to the North Shore and snorkel. I am going for the pretty laid back time and have some prep to do for a newer conference I am doing and then we teach Fri./Sat. and then I catch a 430p flight home and arrive Sunday around 930a.

Long way to go for such a short time. Should be fun though. Weather looks pretty good with highs in the mid-80s and lows in the low-70s. I think I can adjust. Blogging might be slim, we shall see.

Weekend Recap

It was good to be home this weekend. Friday night was at home watching Father of the Bride, Part 2 which we have seen numerous times. What a great movie. Saturday it was up for a 6-miler, (not the 10 I had planned, but more than enough for the week), and then to Panera with my wife. I love those Sat. mornings at Panera with Sondra. Just good connection time.

I worked on the toilet in Morgan's bathroom that ended up being a bigger job than I had planned, but it works properly. Yeah! I then went online, got a fishing license and headed to the lake for about an hour. Did not catch anything, but sure had a good time and then to the golf course for a quick 9 holes. First time out since last Sept. Sondra and the girls went to a play at DCA so I did not miss any time with them by playing golf. I shot 4 over for 9 so that is pretty decent for me for sure.

This morning was church and sunday school, a little rain, and a little fishing. I worked a short nap in there as well. I just love Sunday naps. This will be a busy week so a restful weekend was just what I needed.

Ahhh . . . The Weekend

I am glad that Friday has arrived, I am home for the weekend, and I have no major plans for the next couple of days. It was a busy week, but a good one. My meetings in Florida went really well and it was good to connect with many of some of my best friends in ministry.

I just finished the latest issue of LOST and have to tell you that it was really, pretty good. I like the whole time warp, continuum kind of stuff that seems to be happening. Pretty good writing. Now Ben is just a real creep to allow his daughter to be killed. What a weasel!

I plan on doing a 10-miler in the morning. The Country Music Marathon starts at 7a tomorrow and they are calling for rain and fairly warm temps. If it is not raining too hard I may find my way down there to cheer some folks on. We will see. I did go to the expo today and caught up with some folks from the Nashville Striders, our local running club, and it was good to see many of them.

I am looking forward to just resting this weekend. I am here until Tuesday morning and then I head to Hawaii for a series of meetings and then fly home leaving Saturday afternoon and back home Sunday morning. Sounds exciting and it will be, but that is a long trip for such a short time.

My dad visited with Sondra's parents today on his way down to Branson for mission training as part of the mission trip his church will make this summer. Sondra's dad was in very good spirits. A little week, but dad was encouraged to see them doing so well. Thanks for praying for them.

Hmmmm

I made it to Florida safely, got all my stuff ready to go for the meeting and am watching Idol. I just do not get it. Dread locks is terrible but has the girlie vote for sure. I was surprised that Brooke was not in the bottom two either. I really like her, but thought she was pretty average last night. The two in the bottom actually did pretty well in my estimation. What do I know? Pretty much nothing when it comes to music and singing.

Tomorrow night we head to McGavock's spring choral show and it should be good. Our good friend, Mitch Fuller, is the choral director and always gets kids to do more than I think is possible.

I am headed to bed soon after this show is over. I got up a little after 4a and ran 5 this morning before I headed to the airport. I need to run early again tomorrow to get a 5-miler in before my meeting and then off to the airport, through DFW, and then to Nashville.

I am home this weekend and then head to Hawaii next Tues. to lead a series of conferences and meetings. Sounds pretty cool, and I really do like the Hawaiian folks. They are so gracious and thankful, but I am ready to hang around home for awhile.

Will try to check in on Friday and give you the latest. My dad is headed to So. Missouri on Friday and is going to stop in on Sondra's folks. Good for him and good for them. Pray for safe travel and a good visit.

Continue to pray for Sondra's parents. Her dad is weak right now, but a pretty tough dude for sure.

LOST fires back up tomorrow night. Should be a good one.

Hey . . . Post Already

Sorry I have not been totally diligent to keep this thing updated. We were recovering from prom weekend and all that goes with it. We were up late/early Sat./Sun. and then headed to church on very little sleep.

Monday was back to work and today was meetings all day long. It went good as far as meetings go and then I made it home in time to mow the grass (the yard looks great right now) which I get to do just about every four days or so. With gas at $3.45 a gallon I might not be able to drive to work or mow the lawn in the near future.

Just watched American Idol and am pretty sure that the dread locks guy should be gone tomorrow night. We will see. I thought he could have been gone last week but the girlie vote seems to be keeping him alive.

I head to Destin, Florida tomorrow and back to Nashville on Thursday evening. Not much time to enjoy the sun and sand. Maybe I will get to at least see the water.

A Few Prom Pics

Saturday

Okay, let me start off by saying that I finally got a 10-miler in this morning. I had been promising myself that I would do one all week, and today it finally came to fruition. It actually went pretty well too. It was in the low 50s and sunny. Pretty nice.

Yesterday afternoon it was get the yard mowed (having to mow about every 4-5 days with all the fertilizer and the rain) and I need to get my mower worked on. It seems to be burning plugs because I was a bone head and over filled it with oil I guess. I am working on that. Many stops and starts yesterday but I got it mowed and it looks good.

Shelbi had the first of her two proms last night and it went well. Read my earlier posts to get the lead in to this story but she went with Shelton who is a friend from church to his prom. He is a great kid and they went only as friends. She looked beautiful. Tonight she heads to DCAs prom with Michael and it should be quite the deal. Michael is a good friend from school and they have known one another a long time. No pressure, just going to the prom together.

Sondra and I enjoyed our Sat. am Panera visit for coffee and bagels and just to hang out with one another. I have to tell you that those are always good times. We connect about anything and everything.

It will be a long night tonight with all the prom stuff and then we are a part of the senior breakfast that runs from like midnight to 3am. Oh joy! I love late nights. NOT! But it should be a good time.

JAX to Home

I am sitting in the JAX airport taking advantage of free wireless. Makes me wonder why all airports cannot offer free wireless. Greed I guess keeps them from it. Anyway, the resource fair went very well today. The best one yet that I have done anyway. Met some really great Florida youth pastors who long for the day that ministry is about students and parents and not just trying to keep the program machine running. Very refreshing group to be around for sure.

I am headed home and ready to get there. I did another 5-miler today on the "track" that was made up of parking lots, sidewalks, and pretty much non-traffic. It consisted of 3 loops but at least I got the mileage in and did not have to dodge cars.

Sondra's dad started oral chemo today and it will happen twice per day. One in the am and one in the pm with meals which should help the stomach issues he had the last time. Please pray that the side effects will be minimal and the chemo will attack the cancer in his liver.

Sondra's mom ended up back at the dr. with bronchitis. If ain't one thing it is another. I would not have blogged "ain't" if my mom were still here on earth. It is the English teacher that always came out in me.

I hear we are having mid-70s weather in Nashville. Ready to get into that for sure. It will be a busy weekend so I may not blog for a couple of days. Sorry to put those three of you that read this on hold, but you will just have to wait. ;-}

And . . . I am ready to go out and play golf again. It has been since mid-September. Too long.

Jacksonville

Okay, let me first say that I did not do a 10-miler today either. The hotel I am at is located on a bunch of 2 lane roads with no shoulders. I did 5 in parking lots, side streets, etc. and covered the same ground about three times to get 5 miles. It was almost like running on a track or even worse, a treadmill. One of the hotel employees caught me afterwards and said, "You ran alot and ended up in the same place without leaving the area." Yeah! I know. Pretty boring, but dodging cars is not my idea of fun.

I am getting some presentations done that I have been needing to create for awhile and answering all manner of emails. LifeWay's National Youth Worker's Conference this Sept. is hitting the See You at the Pole day and has some folks upset. I have been answering many of those emails today. That is okay. We definitely support SYATP, but know that many youth ministers are not able to get on school campuses so we went ahead with the dates. We sure were not trying to ruffle any feathers. Next year it is Sept. 12-14 and completely away from SYATP.

I am meeting good friend from Florida tonight for dinner. Gary Nichols is just one of those guys who is good to be around. He is the family ministry specialist for the Florida Baptist Convention and we have known each other for more than 15 years. Just a good guy to say the least and we are going to get into some fresh seafood. Sounds good to me.

I am looking forward to getting back home tomorrow after a resource fair here in the morning. I love my job. I am having more fun than I probably should when work is tied to it, but I am thankful for the many people I get the opportunity to meet and learn from.

Please continue to pray for Sondra's parents. I will update you when I know when Bernard starts the oral chemo again. Thanks so much for praying.

Tampa/Jacksonville/American Idol

I left Tampa today after a great meeting and flew to Jacksonville late this afternoon. I am here until Thursday afternoon and have a couple of meetings and hope to get in a couple of runs as well. I ended up only doing 5 this morning and will do a 10-miler tomorrow since I have more time to get it done.

I have to tell you that David Archuleta (or however you spell his name), just opened up with When You Believe and flat out killed it. I am not a Mariah Carey fan much, and a guy singing some of her stuff has to be almost impossible unless you are David Archuleta. Amazing. I really think he is the one to beat.

Monday means Tampa

I woke up this morning and it was about 38 degrees outside, so I donned my extra running clothes and headed out the door. I got a nice 5-miler in and then headed out for a quick walk with the dog (I am her best friend when we I am taking her for a walk). It was good to eat breakfast at home for a change and then some wonderful southern pecan coffee provided by friends at New Orleans Seminary.

Flights were on time to Tampa and it was uneventful. I am here in Tampa until tomorrow afternoon and then fly out to Jacksonville for another set of meetings.

I talked to my good friend, Shelby Baucum tonight and he is needing our prayers. They are to place a morphine pump in on Weds. to try and give him some relief. He has the best attitude about all of this stuff though. Remember him and his wife Dora.

Looking forward to a good night's rest tonight and then a 10-miler in the morning before heading out for meetings.

Masters Weekend

I took Friday off, worked on the garage door, added memory to the home computer, watched the Masters, ate dinner with some good friends on Friday night, watched the Masters, ran 10 miles, took a nap, watched the Masters, went to church, watched the Masters, mowed the grass, watched the Masters, fixed a toilet, watched the Masters and even am catching some of the Red Sox/Yankees game.

I head to Tampa tomorrow, from Tampa to Jacksonville on Tues and home from Jacksonville on Thursday. Doing a couple of resources fairs, catching up with some youth ministers, and hoping to get a couple of good runs in. I thought about taking my clubs with me (they have not been used since September) but have decided against it this time.

Hoping to get to play some golf next week if the weather holds. Oh, I almost forgot, did some shopping yesterday and got a couple of shirts and a couple of pair of pants. I needed the pants badly. My "slacks" were pretty worn and frayed so it was good to replace them. Even used some cash from my dad I got for Christmas, so . . . thanks for the pants dad.

Speaking of dad, he has decided to put his house up for sale and see what happens. He is planning on moving back to Independence closer to where my brother lives and where my aunt lives. I think it is a pretty good move for him. I know he must be lonely and getting closer to family just sounds like a good plan to me.

Remember Sondra's parents. Her father starts the oral chemo soon, once they figure the insurance stuff out. We sure appreciate your prayers for them.

How about Trevor Immelman winning the Masters wire to wire? Pretty amazing feat. I was pulling for Nashvillian Brandt Snedeker who ended up in third. And Tiger? . . . who played very average for him and finished second. Pretty amazing.

Holmes Update

Sondra talked to her mother today and her results came back pretty good. The dr. did mention a possible narrowing of an artery in her head but did not seem overly concerned. He has ordered another test for the numbness in her hands just to check out the nerves.

Sondra's dad has decided to try the oral chemo again and we will know soon when those treatments begin. Please continue to pray for both of them. We greatly appreciate your prayers for them.

Rainy Friday

It is a Friday and I am in town. Amazing compared to how the last few weeks have been. I ended up taking the day off today to just hang around, relax, and just take it easy. I was hoping to play a little golf but the rains have set in so that will not happen. I am planning on doing a 10-miler a little later this morning as it looks like we will get a break in the rain.

We are all doing good as a family. Shelbi is headed to Atlanta later today for a Passion conference and will be back early Sunday morning. I am glad she is getting the opportunity to go. Giglio and his crew do a good job with the Passion conferences.

I have some writing to do later in the weekend and then I head to Florida on Monday and come back home on Thursday so many of my reports on the blog will be from the road again. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel with this heavy travel schedule I have had. It has been good, but I am a little weary of the road.

Home Again

I made it back to Nashville after a couple of delays on my trip back from Vegas. I really am not a fan of Delta Airlines. They consistently change my seat after I have checked in online and it is always a worse seat. It is pretty safe to say that I will not be spending my time and money with Delta in the future.

Meetings went well yesterday even though I was pretty tired. I think I got about 2 hours of sleep on the plane and then hit it hard all day at work and watched the Lady Vols win their 8th national championship and caught up with my family. It is so good to be home.

Sondra's dad got the results on the scan he did last week and it appears that the lesion on his liver is growing. He is trying to decide if he will try the oral chemo route again or just continue to try the nutritional approach. Pray for wisdom for them in making a decision. The oral chemo made him very sick last time and I am pretty sure he is not interested in that again.

The oncologist told them that without doing chemo, he would probably have 3-6 months. Thankfully he is not experiencing pain for which we are very grateful. Sondra's mother has not heard back from the tests she took almost a couple of weeks ago, but I will keep you informed.

Pray for my buddy, Mitch Fuller who is having some kind of heart problem where his rhythm is out of whack. Sort of ironic for a high school choral director to have a rhythm problem. He is having a procedure done at 9a today.

Leaving Las Vegas

Well, it will still be a few hours, but I am leaving Las Vegas later tonight. Actually, really late tonight. I catch the red eye on Delta and get home eventually about 8a and then head home, clean up and head to work for an all day meeting. Oh the joy! I also have a DCA board meeting tomorrow night so I am sure to be fresh.

I had lunch with the youth minister at Grace and the youth minister at FBC, Las Vegas. What a great time! The guy from FBC, Las Vegas is part-time and his other job is appearing in STOMP out here on the Strip. Pretty fascinating guy who loves the Lord and kids. He is a newly-wed and was really a great guy to meet. The Grace guy is rock solid and is bringing some folks to the resource fair tonight. I conduct that meeting and then head to the airport to begin the trek home.

I did a 10-miler this morning down and around the Strip and it was pretty cool and especially dry. They just have no moisture in the air out here. I knew I would not be running on Tues. so I decided to do the long run today. Good choice.

I am pulling for KU tonight. If Memphis continues to hit their free throws like they did against UCLA, they will win though. Memphis is playing really well right now.

How about that LSU/Lady Vols game last night? Man that was exciting. Not only was I pulling for UT but those last seven seconds were just amazing. Definitely pulling for UT tomorrow night but I will tell you that Stanford is playing really well right now. It should be a very good game.

My guess is that I will not be blogging tomorrow so for the thousands of you who read this thing religiously, sorry to let you down. (Did I say thousands? Must be like 3-4 total.)

Viva Las Vegas

I finished at Cal Baptist yesterday and drove to Anaheim, watched the games, and then slept poorly last night so I could get up and fly to Vegas today. I got to worship with a good friend, Tony Forehand, who is a former trustee of LifeWay and the brother-in-law of my pastor. Tony started a church in Vegas two and a half years ago and they are doing great.

(Special note to the Cal Baptist class from yesterday - the experiment worked and they passed with flying colors.) I also have to say that the group of people I had the privilege of spending the day with yesterday at Cal Baptist was such a great group to be with. Thank you guys for a good day.

I am in Vegas the rest of the day today and tomorrow and then take a red-eye home late tomorrow night. I really think I am getting too old for red-eyes but I have a meeting, actually two, on Tuesday that I need to attend. One is for work and the other is a board meeting at DCA where our daughters attend.

I have a lunch meeting tomorrow and then a resource fair from 6-8p tomorrow night. Most of the folks could not meet during the day so we moved it to the evening. It is NCAA championship time so we will see how many we get. I am looking forward to meeting with them and then heading home. I am past ready to see my wife and daughters.

I did make it to the pool for about an hour today. Hope I did not cook myself.

My Bracket is Done

So long Carolina unfortunately. Now the KU fans can be glad they beat Roy and beat him they did. It would be good for KU to beat Memphis but who knows how that will come out. I called my dad and congratulated him on the KU win. I am headed to get me some dinner (it is 8p in California).

I fly to Las Vegas tomorrow and worship with a friend of mine, Tony Forehand at Grace. It will be good to worship with them. I do a meeting on Monday and then head home. I am ready.

Was it me or was Hansbrough unable to get a foul call when they were beating on him pretty hard? Unfortunately Billy Packer did not have to eat his words too. (See my earlier blog from tonight).

Still a huge Carolina fan.

Yikes Carolina

May be the worst half of basketball I have seen Carolina play ever. KU is playing very good defense and is having a hard time missing shots but it is not over yet. Unlike what Billy Packer said with about 7:30 to go in the first half. Classy Billy. I hope NC comes back and makes you like an amateur announcer that I have thought you always were.

California Update

Well, the sun is shining and the temp is pretty good out here. I went for an 8-miler this morning that included a run up Mt. Roubideaux. I really do not know the significance of this mountain, but it proved to be a pretty good workout. I am in Riverside this weekend after staying in Anaheim, teaching in La Puente, and now catching up on email and work in Riverside.

Thankfully there is a Panera that I can capture the free wireless. It really chaps me that Marriott wants to charge me $9 to use the internet. The hotel is actually pretty nice, but it took four calls and two trips to the front desk to get my tv remote to work. They did put me in a double queen suite yesterday since the only thing that had available in king was an accessible room. I just did not want to take that room in case someone who needs accessibility needed it. I just saw the irony in no remote and not needing an accessible room. I can be pretty spoiled I guess. The breakfast buffet was really good with fresh fruit, yogurt and cereal. And the Starbuck's coffee was pretty good too.

I guess I am ready for the Final Four. I am going to have to scramble to see both games since I teach most of the day tomorrow and have to drive back to Anaheim for the hotel. I am amongst many UCLA fans out here. They have a formidable foe in Memphis for sure. Memphis is playing really well right now and it would be a bummer for UCLA to make the Final Four three years in a row and walk out empty handed again.

Still pulling for NC over KU. Always a Tar Heel is my motto. Long live Dean Smith and Roy Williams.

California Dreaming?

I flew all day (it seemed like all day anyway) and arrived in Orange Co. on time and got checked into the hotel. I am here for a series of meetings that end Sat. afternoon and then on to Las Vegas for two days of meetings.

Last night went well with Jacob (read my last post to catch up). He is a nice, young man who was very polite and respectful. I did not have to get my gun out so it went well for him too.

I am headed out for a run since I did not get to run this morning. This two hour time difference will wreak havoc on me tonight for sure. Running when I arrive seems to help.

Will update more tomorrow.

Ahhh, Spring

It appears that Spring has finally arrived in middle Tennessee. We have been flirting with it for a couple of weeks or more, but I think it is here to stay. Here are the signs that are pointing to Spring's arrival:

• warmer nights
• budding trees
• blooming cherry, red bud, and tulip trees
• boys interested in our daughters

Okay, I am camping on that last one for a minute. I know that Spring and Prom usually arrive about the same time of year and both can bring a certain amount of joy and angst. This is Shelbi's senior year so she has a little of the whole prom experience under her belt so when she was asked to DCAs prom, that was all cool. Michael is a great young man and he and Shelbi have been good friends for years.

Over the weekend, one of the guys from church approached me about asking Shelbi to his school's prom and wanted to talk to me before he even asked Shelbi if she was interested in going with him to his prom "just as friends." Those were his words to me and I believe him. He is a great kid and one that I have great respect for. He is the kind of kid that fathers of daughters like. Nice, polite, respectful, and safe. After I said yes to him that he could ask Shel, he said, now I just have to get the courage up to ask Shelbi. My kind of guy!

Morgan, our sophomore, has met a young man who seems to be a fine young guy, but I have not met him. He asked her if she was interested in going to his prom with him and she was quick to say that if she did go with him, it would only be as friends. We are doing something right with her evidently. Jacob is coming over to the house tonight for dinner and to meet me. I have no plans to pull out the hand gun to clean it tonight, but my plans can always change. I am sure he is more scared about the whole upcoming experience than I am. I am pretty calm. I am hoping he is not. Not that I want to make it hard on him.

Two things I make sure guys know about what Sondra and I consider to be good date-able people for the girls. Are they going to help our girls become more like Christ through the relationship they have with them and are the committed to helping our daughters live out a life of purity? Those are the only two non-negotiables to dating the Turner girls.

Seems fair enough to me. Spoken like true dad.