MJ and Happy Halloween

Thought I would share one of the early and great videos of the whole Michael Jackson era (post The Jackson 5, of course).

Enjoy.

More Like This Needs to Happen

Ran across this story and video and thought that this is the kind of stuff that needs to happen more. I have to admit that I have to set aside and even rid myself of the bias I have many times. This video runs a little over 5 min. but it is worth it.

$1.15 Billion US

The new Cowboys Stadium is amazing. It also cost a boat load of money and all of the hype surrounding this stadium has me thinking. Those of you who know me well know that thinking is not my strongest asset, but here are some of my thoughts. I guess it works in my mind that people like Jerry Jones would want to build monuments to themselves under the guise of building stadiums.

But... that is a lot of money. I mean a lot. I could do the figures and figure out just how much that is, but I am thinking you could feed and clothe alot of people for that amount of money. I have traveled some around the world and seen just a small portion of the poverty that is out there and I tell you, $1.15 billion would buy alot of food and clothes and medicine. And, we play games in these buildings. Sounds sort of Roman Empirish to me.

And then it hits me. Many of our churches are monuments that we build and in many of those churches, we play games. We preach pablum and teach our students to be entertained and we complain when the carpet gets stained and the walls get dinged and the "wrong kind of people" come in. We spend on ourselves hoping that somehow what we spend on us will bleed over and help others. I am convicted. I am sickened by my own lack of love for those who are hungry and naked and sick. Makes me want to kick my own butt but God seems to be doing a good job of that right now. And, I need it. I need to be broken for the poor, hungry and the naked and the LOST. It is not enough for me to live "christianly" and not tell others about what God has done for me and them through His Son.

I do not have $1.15 billion US because I have not been faithful with what I do have. Why would I expect Him to give me more? I do not need to get more, I need to give all. That is the issue. And . . . I am praying this is not a passing phase for me.

Exciting Locker Room

Iowa State is not a football powerhouse and Nebraska sure is not the team that they used to be in the Tom Osborne days but this is one exciting locker room. Thought I would post it for your enjoyment.

Weekend Report

Actually it was a nice weekend in Middle Tennessee. Once we got past Fri. am where the rain came in torrents at times. It also happened to be the day of my 20-miler getting ready for the Richmond Marathon that runs on Nov. 14. Some of you will know that I decided not to run Detroit and if you are interested in that story see this post.

The run on Fri. was a good mental toughness run and it did not pour the whole time, just about 1/3 of the time with continual rain the other 2/3. Other than a few bad spots rubbed, it was a good training run.

Friday night DCA played FRA on CSS and we got a call from our friends in Florida saying they saw us playing FRA which raised the cool factor quite a bit. Morgan mugged for the tv cameras and it is rumored that she was on quite a bit. DCA won which sets up a big contest in Knoxville this Fri. with us vs. Know-Webb.

Sondra and I enjoyed the weekend together with sleeping in on Sat./Panera for breakfast and then some DCA Lady Cats volleyball mid-afternoon. Unfortunately the Lady Cats came up short and ended their season. Sat. night was football on tv and just hanging out at home.

Sunday was Sondra's birthday and we had agreed not to exchange gifts this year and put that money towards some other things we need for the house. I did get her a card though that was pretty funny it I might say so myself. She enjoyed her day at church and then just hanging around. She also made her own birthday cake (I offered to get her one) and it was an amazing carrot cake.

I taught the parents of teenagers's s.s. class at church and then did a parenting conference for Oak Valley Church in Franklin. What a great bunch of parents who encouraged me and I just hope I was able to do the same for them.

Busy week ahead. Already started out extremely busy and Morgan begins her basketball season today too. The week off they had from soccer to basketball is feeling really short for her now.

I Think I Am Addicted

The last 9 days have been up and down for me. Morgan's team qualified for the state soccer playoffs and hosted Knox Webb on Sat. You know that I chose not to run Detroit on Sunday since it would mean I would have to miss the game on Saturday.

The DCA Lady Wildcats soccer team played one of the best games I have seen them play and fell to the visiting team 1-0. It was a very good game and Morgan played especially well. It was sad for her and us for the team to lose but it was good that she went out leaving all of her best game on the field. Tears were shed but a late lunch/early dinner at Big Bad Wolf helped ease some of the sting.

Having done marathon training the past 16 weeks, it was really weird not to run this Sun. and I began to try and find a race I could run that was not to far away or too far away from the race date I had been training for. A search revealed that Richmond and San Antonio ran on a weekend that I did not have an obligation so then it became trying to figure out which I could get to most inexpensively. Richmond won out and a friend even offered their guest room so lodging was inexpensive.

I bit the bullet today and booked an award flight ticket and registered for the marathon. All that means that I will do a 20-miler this weekend and pick up the last three weeks of training/tapering again. We will see if that works.

I am addicted to running evidently. I like setting goals and then having the opportunity to meet them.

Shelbi made it home on Sunday and we enjoyed a wonderful time and meal Sun. night at Carrabba's. We were celebrating Sondra's birthday a week early since Shelbi will not be back home this weekend. Morgan is enjoying her week off from any practice and basketball begins for her on Monday. 10/26. Pretty short in-between season for sure.

We are enjoying no rain and warmer, sunnier weather this week after a very cold, and wet few days last week. For a few days it felt like we were just skipping Fall and going straight to Winter. The leaves are beginning to change too. Should be pretty here in another week or so.

Open Letter to My Dad

My dad, Charles Turner, turned in his resignation /retirement letter to East Lynne Baptist Church this past Weds. I believe he has been pastoring/preaching for 48 years. This is an open letter to the greatest man I know.

I have known you for 46 years and in those 46 years you have taught me so many things. Nothing you have taught me is more important than what it is to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. You told me about Christ, you have modeled Christ-living all the days that I have known you, and you continue to show and tell others of the wonderful changing grace of God.

You have taught me that honesty is always the right choice. You have modeled that in so many ways. You have taught me the power of honoring your spouse. You have always cherished your wife, my mother, and that was never more evident than in the last few months of mom's life as you cared for her in such a loving way. But, the years leading up to that were filled with that same kind of honor for mom.

You have taught me that love out trumps everything. You have continued to love James and I and our mates even when we were knuckleheaded and ornery. You not only have told us you love us, but you have shown that in innumerable ways.

You have been a great pastor to the people God has privileged you to lead. From Highview in Chillicothe, to East Lynne, to Beaumont and back to East Lynne, people have been blessed by God through you and countless people are in the Kingdom for eternity because you have led them to know Christ. What a great pastor to His people you are.

Many people get to call you pastor, friend, uncle Charlie, Brother Charles, but James and I have always been privileged and blessed to be able to call you dad. You are a great man Charles Turner and an even greater dad. I am blessed beyond measure because God has allowed me to be your son. I am looking forward to what God has in store for you in mid-January as you step into a new chapter of ministry post-pastoring. I know it will be good. I know you will continue to be faithful to Him. And, if mom were still walking this turf, she would continue to be proud of "her man".

I love you dad. You are simply the best!
Your #2,
Paul

Sometimes Plans Change

Back in June I made a decision to start training for the Detroit FreePress Marathon. I had planned to run it last year too but some Sondra's dad passed away and I needed to be in MO rather than MI so I ran KC Marathon instead of Detroit. I ran a Boston qualifier there so I was pleased.

This was going to be the year to run Detroit. I wanted to run in a different state and it also crosses over in to Canada and back so an international marathon would be in the books too. I began training and it all went fairly well. Not the best training but good enough to finish respectfully.

Tapering started three weeks ago and then on Sunday I found out that Morgan's soccer team, DCA Lady Wildcats, had made the playoffs and that their season would be extended at least through this Sat. I am choosing not to miss Morgan's games. With her being a sr. and no "next year" for her, I will not be going to Detroit this weekend to run. I cannot work out travel and packet pick-up on Sat.

There will be other marathons to run, but this could possibly be Morgan's last soccer game of her high school career. This is an easy decision for me.

Overwhelmed?

Do you ever get to that point where it just seems completely overwhelming? I know many times it is because I am over extended in commitments or maybe just poor time management on my part. I find myself wondering just how much I really need to be involved in. At times I get consumed by others expectations of all that I "should" be doing and striking a healthy balance in lifestyle seems elusive.

I really do not feel that kind of tension right now however. I am thankful for my job (completing 17 years at LifeWay at the end of this month)and am very blessed with an incredible wife and two amazing daughters. I am fairly healthy (cholesterol is not the best but manageable)and can still run and get out and do most things I want to do. My mind is pretty alert most of the time (late night is not the best thinking time for me) and for the most part, I have not made to many enemies.

The overwhelming part for me is just how much God loves me. I know that I do not deserve anything I have by my own merit. I know that I did not get to choose to be born in America to middle class, God-fearing parents, be reared in a solid, Christian home, but have been blessed by all these things.

Why would God send His Son to ransom me? I have to say that He is in love with me as unlovely as I can be sometimes. That is the overwhelming part to me. An eternal God chooses to sacrifice His only Son so that I can continue to use Him for my own purposes and glory at times. "Oh how He loves you and me" never grows old to me. I long to be completely His. I want to live in the moment, every moment for Him. I want to let "my lifesong sing to You" and pray that I will bring You glory and honor, not because I think You will love me more, but because I love You.

Keep me overwhelmed by You, Lord.

Making Healthy Lifestyles Fun

Found this on YouTube and thought it was worth sharing. I have a two floor rule at work or anywhere I find myself. If there are stairs and I am going up two floors, I skip the elevator and take the stairs. I think you will like this video. It will make you smile.

All Things Homecoming

Here is a series of pics from Morgan's facebook account that you should be able to look at. Needless to say we had a great night! If you are interested in the entire senior group and the queen announcement, you can watch this video.

This pic includes my mother-in-law too. What an added blessing to have her with us for Homecoming and Sr. Night for this coming Monday too.

HomeComing

The past two weeks have been a whirlwind. We had our LifeWay National Youth Worker's Conference which went great and here is an article to recap it if you are interested. It was a great event.

Last week I headed to CA for the Youth Specialties Convention and we enjoyed our time in LA but the attendance and traffic through the exhibits was much less than desired. It was good to reconnect with some ministry friends and some of the leadership of YS. I have to tell you that I am a huge fan of Mark Matlock and his role in changing the tone and culture of their events. He is a great guy and I am thankful for his leadership at YS.

While in LA I caught that 48-hour bug that seems to be going around and missed the trip to the Santa Monica Pier (which is celebrating 100 years) but I have been there before. Missed hanging out with the team though. We did manage to catch a taping of Leno and a some of the team went to the taping of Conan the day he crashed on the set and got a concussion. There were a couple of movie star sightings and we got up close and personal with Bruce Willis at his World Premiere of Surrogates. I had a new phone and did not know how to operate the camera properly and he said hello and I clicked and turned the camera off. Oh well, just proves I would not make it in the paparrazi.

Morgan has had two soccer games this week and have gone 1-1. Sondra's mom flew in on Weds and will be with us until next Weds. I have to say that it is wonderful having her here with us. What a godly woman! and I think I love her more since I lost my mom almost two years ago. I think I really just cherish having her around more. I already loved her a ton.

Tonight is Homecoming at DCA and Morgan has been chosen as one of the Sr. attendants. I will be donning my tux that still fits after 12 years (thank you very much) and she has a beautiful white dress that she will be wearing. No worries, I know my place. I am filler, she is the main attraction. My job is to not embarrass her. We will see how well I do. I think Morgan is more excited about tonight than the picture shows above though.

Shelbi comes home tonight with her friend Anna. Sweet girl that we are thankful Shelbi gets to be around. I think they are good for one another.

The Detroit Marathon is a little over two weeks away. I did my last 20-miler a little over a week ago and am in taper mode. I feel less prepared for this marathon than any I have attempted but if I can get a "same day finish" I will be successful.