Last year, in the 12 days preceding Christmas, I posted a series of links to different Christmas stories. I thought of doing that again this year, but then never really took the time to do it. Now Christmas is just a week away and I thought that I would share a couple of my favorites from last year. If you're not into re-runs, you can skip these two stories. They are posts about the power of Christmas. I posted the story first and then the song that was inspired by the story.It all happened nearly a hundred years ago -- Christmas 1914.The...
Sunday, 18 December 2011
Thursday, 8 December 2011
The end of an era in the history of St. Louis Cardinal Baseball.Albert has moved on, accepting an offer from the Angels.I think that says it all as far as baseball is concerned.Okay, not really. In the coming hours and days there will be a lot more that is said about it. Already there have been fans that are turning on their now former hero and bidding him good riddance. Some fans are in mourning as if the Cardinals just closed the franchise down and will not be playing ball in 2012. Some feel betrayed that Albert would take the offer that best...
Monday, 5 December 2011
It's been a very interesting (for lack of a better word) last couple of weeks. It has been a time that keeps bringing to mind the fragility of life, the certainty of death and the question of "What happens next?"Here's the rundown:On the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, my dad's heart stopped. The pacemaker/defibrillator did its thing and brought him back around after zapping his heart with a jolt of energy. There were some pretty tense moments but the hospital checked everything out, made some adjustments to his meds and sent him on his way...
Wednesday, 30 November 2011
It's the end of November and time for Part 3 -- #21-30.In these last ten items of thanks, you will find some more materialistic items of thanks. It may seem shallow, but they are things that do make life easier and for which I give thanks.21. The internet (Thank you, Al Gore!). I use today's technology far less than most, but I really do enjoy the access to knowledge and information available on the 'net.22. Cell phones. Same as above. I don't have a 'smart' phone. It's not exactly a 'dumb' phone, but it is primarily just a phone for talking and...
Saturday, 26 November 2011
It's the day after Black Friday and I've slept a couple of hours after having worked the mid. I've had a couple cups of coffee and am getting ready to pour a third. Time to begin writing part two of the thankfulness list:11. Chillicothe, IL. I grew up in a small town in Central Illinois. Some would say that it's just like any other small town in the Midwest. What makes Chillicothe different from the thousands of other small towns is that Chillicothe is home. We played Little League baseball and anybody that wanted to play got to play. After the...
Wednesday, 23 November 2011
Since the beginning of the month, many of my Facebook friends have been posting some of the many things that they have to be thankful for--one each day.I didn't take me long to decide that this was one of the many Facebook trends that I would choose not to participate in. It's not that I don't have much to give thanks for; I just don't like to conform to the crowds and I figured that I'd mess up and miss somewhere along the way. Maybe it's the easy way out to write a single post and name 30 things that I have and am extremely grateful for.1. Not...
Monday, 21 November 2011
I've had a pretty fantastic fall season as far as ministry goes. I've been blessed with great opportunities, great audiences and great responses to the callings of the Holy Spirit. This past weekend found me in Trenton MO for two magic events and one Sunday morning message. Friday night was a youth rally; Sunday night a college Thanksgiving dinner.I recently wrote about celebrating our victories, so I wanted to share some things with you.The youth rally was sparsely attended but it is a ministry that is just getting started and is in a building...
Sunday, 13 November 2011
It seems to me that it is so much easier to give criticism than it is to give praise. I'm not certain if it is because we're afraid that if we give away something good it diminishes us or if we feel that we would rather tear others down and make ourselves look better. I'm not talking about politicians. I'm talking people like you and me.Yeah, I'm guilty. I try not to be too negative or judgmental, but it happens. I have had friends that have called me on it and it's not an easy pill to swallow. Sometimes I see it myself, but by then it's...
Saturday, 12 November 2011
I'm not too sure of what a typical Saturday actually looks like; I'm just pretty sure this isn't it.I woke up with a bit of a headache this morning and so I closed my eyes to catch a few more moments of sleep before facing the day. A couple of hours later(!) I woke up feeling better but missing a meeting that I had wanted to attend. Rats!Chris made coffee for me -- that definitely qualifies the day as a special day! Thanks, Chris. It was very good!We took our time getting around and then went to Hopedale's WMU bazaar. Chris went with the idea of...
Sunday, 30 October 2011
After the recent World Series Game 6 victory by the St. Louis Cardinals, I saw a comment about the great celebration that took place and a comparison to the lack of celebration among Christians when a person becomes a believer.I certainly agree that we have become somewhat apathetic about celebrating the event of Christian conversion. I have even stated similar sentiments in the past. There should be a celebration...something more than a raise of the hand and a hearty "Amen" is most definitely in order.However, I think that I may have something...
Saturday, 29 October 2011
Friday night was a super night......And I'm not talking about the Cardinals winning the World Series.Yeah, that was great, but it was far from what made Friday a great day and Friday night a super night.I got to see Hannah last night and celebrate her 20th birthday by taking her out to a late-night supper at Steak 'n' Shake (I know that's not a great place but there wasn't a lot to choose from at that hour)! We ate and had a few minutes to chat and I got to catch up on her school experiences and give her a small gift.The dinner meant missing a...
Sunday, 23 October 2011
If the World Series is baseball's greatest stage, then Albert Pujols is the game's greatest performer.Even if you are a Rangers' fan, you can't help but wonder at the Game 3 performance of the Cardinal slugger.Last night he:Tied the MLB record for the most hits in a World Series game (5). (Paul Molitor 1982)Tied the MLB record for the most HRs in a World Series game (3). (Jackson '77, Ruth '26, '28)Tied the MLB record for the most RBIs in a World Series game (6). (Richardson '60, Matsui 2009)Tied the MLB record for the most runs in a World Series...
Sunday, 16 October 2011
It was only a short time after I began following Jesus in earnest; less than a full year.During the previous summer I had made a profession of faith and been baptized by immersion at the First Baptist Church of Hammond IN. By the end of that year, Chris and I left Northwest Indiana and moved to St. Louis. In the spring, we became members of a small General Baptist Church in South City and that is where I began to grow up as a Christian.I remember an evening service that took place the beginning of that first summer at Christy Park General...
Thursday, 13 October 2011
I really don't like posting from my cell phone. It's not a "smart" phone (I guess that makes it a "dumb" phone) and I usually mess up some where along the way.I'd wait until this afternoon to post this except it's just too good to put off until then. I had a GREAT time at the Galena Baptist Church.It was the last night of their fall revival and the small rural church was packed! Kids, youth, adults--all ages filled the pews to near capacity. I had the pleasure of sharing some magic and the privilege of sharing the gospel. There were several people...
Saturday, 8 October 2011
I'm blogging from the Starbucks in St. Joseph MO, today.I'm in nearby Maysville for a weekend Crusade hosted by the First Baptist Church of Maysville. Yesterday, I was at Osborn schools for two assemblies and Maysville High School for one. The school assemblies were on self esteem and making good choices. I had the opportunity to invite the students to the 'fifth quarter' event after the football game last night and to the Crusade events tonight and tomorrow.The Crusade events are taking place at the high school instead of the...
Thursday, 6 October 2011
I read this on a friend's Facebook status:Her name is Joanne ............. In 1954, she was a young unmarried collegestudent who discovered that she was pregnant. In the 1950s, her options werelimited. She could have had an abortion - but the procedure was bothdangerous and illegal. She could have gotten married, but she wasn't readyand didn't want to interrupt her education. Joanne opted, instead, to givebirth to the baby and put it up for adoption. And so it was that in 1955, aCalifornia couple named Paul and Clara Jobs adopted a baby boy, born...
Wednesday, 5 October 2011
The other day I noticed that about 15% of the hits on my blog are from Germany and Russia. Really?! I guess that's pretty cool. I'm not sure why I look at that stuff, maybe just because Google tracks it. US readers only make up about 70% of the hits. Following Germany and Russia are Netherlands, UK, France, Canada, Australia and--get this--Iran! I also get regular hits from the Philippines, Indonesia, New Zealand, Mexico and UAE. Other countries (like Latvia and Andorra) also show up from time to time--no doubt, hits from random...
Tuesday, 4 October 2011
Today is my wife's birthday.Happy Birthday, Chris.I figured that this would be an ideal day to write a What I Like About ... post to honor Chris!What I Like About ...ChrisChris is funny. Many people never really get to the funny side of Chris. She loves to laugh. I'll admit that I don't always find the same things funny, but at least I enjoy her laughter (and occasional snort!)In so many ways, Chris stabilizes our family. Before we had...
Monday, 3 October 2011
In the past I have written about negativity and how it drains me of positive energy. I have mentioned that I sometimes go to great lengths to avoid negative people so that I can stay positive. Recently, I've read that some of my Facebook friends have started deleting friends that regularly post negative comments or statuses.To counter some of the negatives that I encounter on a daily basis, I've decided to write a series of What I Like About ... posts. I'll cover a number of things like work, home, family, friends, church, community,...
Sunday, 2 October 2011
It's Sunday evening and I'm watching the Cardinals try to figure out the Phillies' pitching so that they can tie the series before heading to St. Louis. The week ahead will be a busy one. It starts early tomorrow when I meet with my accountability group at 6:30. The Monday morning meet works well for us and allows a couple of the guys to get to work on time and doesn't take away an evening or time on the weekend from our families. The only downside for me is that Mondays are my day off and would be the day that I might sleep in a little bit...
Wednesday, 21 September 2011
So....Facebook is innovating and redesigning once again. So what?Okay. I realize that change is never easy, but is it really necessary to complain about how much you don't like something to people that can't do anything to help you. So far, we have apparently adapted to all of the changes that Facebook has made in the past and continue to use Facebook to keep in contact with (or stalk) our families, friends, enemies, classmates -- whatever.There are other options (although the archaic snail mail is becoming even less of one) for...
Tuesday, 20 September 2011
In a previous post I mentioned that I am faced with some serious car trouble. I've acquired my son's old '93 Honda Del Sol. At just under 200,000 miles, I replaced the engine with a used Honda JDM. It's been less than a month and so I'm using the 6-month replacement engine warranty and getting another replacement engine shipped. Unfortunately, the engine is the only thing covered in the warranty and I'm going to have to pay (again) to have the engine swapped out.Having to car share with my wife is a bit of a pain. We're...
Sunday, 18 September 2011
If any of you have been involved in church ministry for very long, you are well aware of the dreaded "committee meetings" that are often many hours of wasted time. How I hate going to meetings at church. They have a way of just sucking time out of your life and seem to accomplish very little compared to the minutes spent discussing/debating/arguing/or just telling of irrelevant stories.I suppose that you can now imagine how I was dreading a Sunday afternoon filled with two meetings, followed by a Sunday evening post-service business...
Wednesday, 14 September 2011
If there is an irritant that is common to the civilized world, it must be car trouble. Since there is never a convenient time for it, and there is seldom a convenient cost for it, it continues to cover the "hate" part of our love-hate relationship with the automobile like a well-worn blanket.I am in the unenviable position of owning two cars that are high mileage vehicles (one over 200k miles, one just under) that are both in need of some high dollar repairs. I suppose I could suck it up and assume a car payment and buy a new or newer car...
Monday, 12 September 2011
It's post #600.600 posts isn't anything monumental as bloggers go, especially when it's been over 5 years of blogging here at Out of My Hat. Several of the blogs that I read post on a daily basis. Most post much more often than I do. Several of the blogs that I once followed have faded into the cyber mist and no longer exist. Others have taken their places as new people have started blogging and I have found new blogs to follow. I haven't taken the time to delete idle blogs from my list of "blogs I follow" and should probably...
Saturday, 10 September 2011
Today was the first meeting of the 2011-12 session for the Ozarks Chapter of American Christian Writers. It was great to see friends that I hadn't seen since April (I missed the May meeting) and to greet our new guests. Our group continues to grow and I am always amazed and inspired by the knowledge, experience and talent in our group.If you are a Christian and a writer, I would encourage you to visit us and see if we can be of help or encouragement to you. ******I have had an ... interesting week. I could say that it was a week from hell,...
Monday, 5 September 2011
The following is a re-post from Labor Day 2009. The original post generated a number of comments that had nothing to do with Labor Day and served to advance a personal agenda of a reader. It is the only time I have not posted comments from my readers.I hope that you are one of the millions of Americans that have an opportunity to celebrate Labor Day with family and friends. On a normal Labor Day, I would be at work with thousands of other men and women that are watching the skies. Since I am still waiting for medical clearance, I get to enjoy...
Thursday, 1 September 2011
This is a subject that I've been thinking about for quite some time. I have some mixed up ideas about it and I'm not really sure how to convey my thoughts in an orderly manner. I've decided that I'm just going to throw it out there in whatever order it comes to mind as I write (with a little bit of editing when I'm finished) and see what happens. I know that for some of you, this may be offensive. It's not meant to be a judgment of your parenting styles or skills; this is just one humble man's opinion on one area of teaching...
Tuesday, 30 August 2011
Don't you just hate it when you check your e-mail and it's full of forwarded e-mails? Okay, so maybe you don't. Maybe you enjoy reading all of those forwarded e-mails. Maybe you're one of the people that just can't help but believe that everything that you find cute/moving/interesting/whatever has to be shared with every person in your address book. If you forward stuff to me on a regular basis, chances are that I never read them. It may even be true that your e-mails have been blocked or go directly to a spam folder. In...
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