The Way

Today my mother-in-law, Joyce (Trail) Holmes, turns 80. She has relayed to us that she was born about 3am after her mother and father arrived at the hospital on their motorbike. Because it was so early in the morning, they pushed the motorbike away from the neighbor homes before starting it so they would not awaken any unnecessarily that early in the morning. Joyce was born in New Zealand and the best I can recollect, she was born in Wanganui which is about a 3-4 hour drive north of Wellington. I know that she has 3 sisters; Nola, who lives in Atlanta; Rose, who lives in New Zealand; and Betty, who is lives in Guatemala. There was a brother, Jack, who died in an accident when he was pretty young. She married a boy named Bernard (Bernie) Holmes who ended up bringing her to the US via Canada. I have to admit that seeing home movies a few years ago of their move to North America via ship with a stop in Hawaii showed a much less developed Honolulu. It was pretty awesome to see. ...

On Thursday night I got the opportunity to go to the Vandy/Ole Miss game with Michael DiMarco and Ben Williams. I have known Michael for a long time but I did not know Ben before Thursday. We go to church together, but since the church is so big, there are many I do not know. Ben is from New Zealand, loves sports, and is the father of young children. With Sondra's parents being from New Zealand, we had an automatic bond. I enjoyed getting to know him and I always enjoy Michael and the football game was just a bonus. It was a hot and humid night and virtually no defense in the football game so lots of points and lots of excitement. On Friday, Sondra, Morgan and I headed to Bolivar to be with Sondra's mom and Sondra's sister and brother in law and family. It is an 8 hour drive each way but it did not prove to be too bad. We arrived about 11p on hit the bed not too long after. On Saturday we enjoyed doing some work around Joyce's house and my dad came down and spent mos...

The MLB Playoffs are in full swing and in my opinion, this new format shows how goofy leaders have become in this sport. A one-game playoff and then the Division Series where teams with the better record in the regular season are sent on the road for the first two games. Seems to be no reward for playing well during the regular season. But . . . they get three games at home IF it goes to 5 games. I realize that it did not effect all of the better recorded teams but Selig seems to just be a goober and this is another instance. I remember when MLB used to be fun. I spent the weekend watching alot of football since Sondra headed to MO to be with her mom (more on that in a minute). The MIZZOU debacle last week of 5 players being suspended for marijuana use; Pinkel announcing a divorce from his wife; etc all led to a miserable performance on the field against that powerhouse Vandy. Now, I like Vandy. I have struck up a casual friendship with Jordan Rodgers, quarterback for Vandy and ...

I have been remiss in blogging the last couple of weeks and some of you have been unable to sleep without the aid of reading my blog late at night. It usually helps people right off to sleep. Last week was a bit of whirlwind with a trip to Atlanta for a Transform event where I had the privilege of learning alongside of some great youth workers. We covered many of the "basics" in student ministry that I have the arrogance to overlook too many times. It was good to be reminded of the simple things in ministry that tend to make the most impact. On the backside of that trip, I went through Rome, GA to see Shelbi and Mark; catch one of Morgan's roommates who plays soccer for Union play against Shorter College and then get home late Sat. night. Sunday was quick with church, meetings and packing for the D6 Conference in Dallas Mon-Weds. It was good to be able to spend some time with a couple of ministry friends, Shelby Baucum whom I have mentioned earlier, and Gene Wilkes w...