Christmas Songs!!?!

One of our local radio stations began playing “Christmas” music the week before Thanksgiving, and will continue until Christmas day. It is something that they have done for several years now, but it strikes me as funny as what is considered “Christmas” music. At least three or four times a day you can hear Rod Stewart and Dolly Parton sing that old Christmas favorite “Baby it’s cold outside”. I am sure you remember singing this one at church on Christmas Eve during the candlelight service…

“Now really I'd better scurry,
sweetheart, what's your hurry
Well, maybe just a half a drink more,
why don't you put some records on while I pour?”

Ahhh, the memories, singing the good old Christmas songs about men plying young ladies (Dolly Parton – young?) well, ladies with drink, and encouraging them to stay the night.

I will say that it is kind of fun to listen to the songs that they play. (Where else are you going to hear the Band Aid song “Do They Know It’s Christmas” anymore?)
But honestly, if I have to hear the Wham song “Last Christmas” much more, I do not know if I will make it until December 25th. This is the one that features those compelling lines

“Last Christmas, I gave you my heart, but the very next day, you gave it away,
This year, to save me from tears, I’ll give it someone special….”

I can’t believe that Wham ever had to break up.

So what’s your favorite “Christmas” song?

This blog brought to you today by the fantabulous "Waco Christmas Celebration" at Columbus Avenue Baptist Church!!!

Come on by this weekend, and bring your unsaved friends!

UPDATE: Cliff messaged me last night and said "i like that song...i hadn't heard it before until I heard it on Elf". OK, two things. I am not commenting on the "Likeability" of the song, Secondly, does the fact that the song is sung in a Christmas movie make it a Christmas song? If that is true, then why isn't the Irving Berlin song "Sisters" from "White Christmas" played every year?

"Sisters, Sisters,
There were never such devoted sisters,
Never had to have a chaperone, no sir,
I'm there to keep my eye on her
Caring, sharing
Every little thing that we are wearing
When a certain gentleman arrived from Rome
She wore the dress, and I stayed home"

If it were snowing when the naked one stayed home, would that have made it more Christmas-y? Or should the certain gentleman have arrived from Nome, would that have done it? Just wondering.

A New Post

OK, this is not the usual "Papa Steve" post, in that it is not at all humorous, or even an attempt at humor, but reading this in the paper the other day got me to thinking, so I thought I would share it.

From Letters to the Editor – Waco Tribune Herald - Wednesday, December 06, 2006

‘In Allah, we trust’?

As the first Muslim elected to Congress, Keith Ellison, D-Minn., has chosen to be sworn into office Jan. 7 on the Koran instead of the Bible. Even though he has previously chosen to downplay his religious beliefs, this is a slap in the face for Americans. Some background: In 1992, Ellison helped organize a demonstration against Minneapolis police. He represented a group called United for Peace — consisting of “vice-lords” whose leader was a convicted murderer. In 2000, he gave a speech to the National Lawyer’s Guild speaking favorably of police killers Mumia Abu-Jamal and Assata Shakur. Last year, Shakur was placed on the FBI’s terrorist list with a $1 million reward. Ellison has received funds and support from the Council for American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), some of whose members have been convicted, of supporting terrorists. Many Jews and Mormons have taken oaths of public office using the Bible, though they have their own sacred literature. When all elected officials take their oaths of office with their hands on the very same book, they all affirm that some unifying value system underlies American civilization. This is America, and Ellison is swearing to protect this country — not Islam. When does political correctness end? Although we are made up of many cultures, we should come together as one nation if we are going to survive.

Now I am curious, what do you think about this? I for one, do not take it as a ‘slap in the face’ if this person wants to swear in with his hand on the Koran, nor am I particularly comforted by the knowledge that so many people would take an oath and pledge on the Bible, if they truly do not believe it.

OK, I posted, so what do you have to say?

UPDATE!

I have it on good authority that the church staff has decided against the posting of a list of givers. I have to say that I agree wholeheartedly with their decision.

Balancing the Church Budget

Brit said I should blog about something that happened in church this morning, so I am going to take her advice. As some of you are aware, our church has had a long-running issue with not meeting the budget. We are a large church, and have a correspondingly large budget, and I could go on for days about some of the things that make it into the budget that I don't exactly understand, but I won't. I could also point out how unnecessary any of this is, since our church has no business having money problems, since if only a fraction of our members were faithful in giving, then there would be more than enough to accomplish all that is needed and more. But the purpose of this post is for me to vent about the way we are going about correcting the problem. A grass-roots movement of people, who I am sure are sincere in their desire to help the church, has come up with a plan that is..., well, let me describe it and you can determine for yourself what it is. The idea is to ask the church membership to make special contributions to make up the short-fall. Today they asked for everyone to go home and eat a peanut butter sandwich at home and send the money that they would otherwise spend on lunch, (don't forget the tip!), into the special fund to balance the budget. The children of the church were asked to ask their parents for an increase in their allowance so that they could also give, but to make sure that the donation is in the form of a check made payable to the church for this special program. (I will point out that so far I have no problem with any of this.) Finally, it was pointed out that everyone who gives to this special cause, no matter what the amount, would have their name placed on a special listing, (on acid-free paper), that will be posted in a conspicuous place near the church office. (Being a child of the sixties, when I heard the acid-free list mentioned, I immediately started wondering if I was going to have to submit a blood sample to determine my eligibility.) Unspoken was the fact that anyone who does not conspicuously give something to this cause will not have their name on "The List".

So you tell me, what do you, my loyal blog readers, (both of you), think of all this?

I am really interested in your opinions.

Signs of Intelligence?

I have been at some NAGGL (National Association of Government Guaranteed Lenders) training this week in San Antonio, and just got back this afternoon. Our training was conducted at the Sheraton Gunter in downtown S.A., and it is a nice hotel. At one point during the training, I ducked out the back door to make use of the facilities, and noticed this sign on the wall next to the back door to our meeting room. I had to take a picture to share with you.



So, here is today's contest. Give me a definition of the word "quardangle". Best definition wins! (Brit, this could be your chance to snag the fertility goddess!)

***UPDATE***

I am unable to call a winner in the last contest. I think that I will have to call it a tie between KarenD and MAB. I liked Lydia's and Brit's entries as well, (especially Brit's use of piffle), but these two had the shortest, most coherent sentences using some really depressing words. (I disqualified my limerick because I am not sure it rhymes, nor does it have the proper meter.) Meanwhile, I will work on what fabulous prize these two can share.

Writing Contest

Recently, on one of the blogs that I frequent, we were asked to write a sentence using a list of words, and MAB, the blogster who started this bit of puffery asked me to present a list of words for the next round of the contest. So here they are.

ameliorate
egregious
lobotomize
perfunctory
sardonic
succinct
tête-à-tête

The rules are simple. Write a single sentence using as many of the words as you can (forms of the words can also be used, ie. succinctly or sardonically). We will read your sentence and enjoy the results.

Special Cliff Rule(s): You can't use the word incorrectly, and then say the word that you meant, you should punctuate properly, have no more than one parenthetical comment, and for goodness sake, don't use the word(?) 'anyways'.

So get to thinking and come up with your own original sentence. This would be a great time for any of you who might, by chance, read this blog, to speak up.

Did you know Cowboys have their own church??

This weekend I went to Whitney, to do some volunteer work at a Deaf Retreat Center called Isaiah's Place. Deaf and hearing people meet there every two months to fly model airplanes. Men usually do the flying and the ladies sit around and chat while stamping or working on scrapbooks. It was a very fun weekend. But the most interesting part was Sunday morning when we all went to Cowboy church. I know we have one here close to Waco but I have never experienced this for myself. Cowboys and cowgirls greet you at the gate on horseback and show you where to park you stallion or chevy, whatever the case may be. One should remember to look at the ground while walking into the church building or you might end up with a little something special on the bottom of your shoes.

Bad Hair Day

This morning Scott and I went for breakfast to one of our favorite places, Lolita's. We were waiting in line to order, when I noticed a gentleman who appeared to be roughly 20 years older than myself, with jet black hair. I am not saying it wasn't his hair, because I am certain he paid for it. It looked a little like this.



Now when I say black, I do not mean the color of a black lab, I am talking about the black that represents the total absence of light, such as one might expect to associate with a black hole. It made me think about a sports figure that was in the news in past years.



Now I am not ashamed to admit to a certain amount of gray hairs, though I am not particularly proud of them. In fact, the gray was a large motivation behind shaving my facial hair off.

Before

After


Amazing what a shave can do for you, huh?

Anyway, if you ever see me wearing a toupee, combing my hair over a receding hairline, like this guy;



or (heaven forbid) growing my hair extremely long and weaving it around in an attempt to redistribute it over my dome, like this fellow;



please remind me about how hard Scott and I (discreetly) laughed this morning.

Oh, and if you were at Lolita's this morning, that wasn't you, it was some other guy.

Eschatalogical Signs

I have received incredible, unbelievable and almost incomprehensible information from a source whom I have previously found to be truthful, so I have no reason to doubt the veracity of the information.

I don't want to just come out and say this because I know that this will come as a shock to most of you. Not just your ordinary "Oh my gosh, that guy from 'N Sync was gay" kind of shock either. Far more indicative of an end-times event than North Korea or Iran obtaining nuclear weapons. Tim LeHay will probably incorporate this fact into his next series of books. I believe that once I have divulged the information revealed to me, you will all agree with me, (as well as with R.E.M.), when I say "It's the end of the world as we know it." The fact that has been revealed to me is Clifford P. Lusk has completed his education!!!!



That is correct, after 23 short years, the formal education of Cliffy is largely complete. If you see him tell him congratulations (and it's about time). And if I know Cliff, I am sure he is praying that Jesus will come now, so that he won't have to actually take a real job.

Anniversary Trip

Well, we had a good trip down to Lakeway on Lake Travis for our anniversary, here are two pictures of the view from our room.





The hotel was pretty, but still a lot of construction going on. This is where Jan and I went for our honeymoon 25 years ago, and we did not recognize anything. The entire area has changed dramatically, and the old resort where we stayed has been completely torn down and rebuilt in the intervening years. Thankfully, we are still the same. On Saturday we drove around and went swimming in the lake, and just relaxed. Unfortunately Jan's good friend Button Burns passed away this weekend, so she spent a lot of time on the phone contacting people that she needed to speak with, and we hurried back a little earlier than we expected this morning, but all in all, it was a good time away for us.

25 Years Ago Today

Twenty-Five years ago, this very day (July 24th), Jan made me the happiest man in the world, and for those of you that know me well, I haven't really stopped smiling since. (The goatee is gone now, but the smile is still there.) Let's hope I can keep her from figuring out how far over my head I married until we have made it to at least 50. I want to say Thank You to all you friends and relatives that have supported us through your prayers through all the events of the past 25 years.

Summer is Here, Trish and Scott (and Toby) are not.

Well, it is the first day of summer and that means that the weather can go ahead and start getting hot here in Texas. In honor of the first day of Summer, TXU Energy just sent me the last electric bill of Spring, and it is the largest electric bill that I believe we have ever received. I know that it has to be the largest May/June bill we have ever gotten, so it has me worried about July/August and August/September. I mean, we are just now starting summertime!!! Oh well, it's only money, right?

We failed to get any pictures up before now of Trish and Rick from the wedding so here are a few.



The above picture was sponsored by The Lactose Intolerance Society of America. "Milk, mmmmmmm."



I am sure that Trish was just being shy as she hid behind her flowers. She couldn't have been making a wisecrack....



Too many pictures can be trying... or is it just the punch?



I really like this shot Jan took of the two of them as they were leaving.



Scott is gone to Nicaragua (Toby went too!) for a week of mission work. The blog updates sound like they are having a wonderful time. You can read about it here.

Happy Father's Day

Somehow the wishing of "Happy Father's Day" or even "Happy Mother's Day" always seems to fall on the non-celebrated spouse...whatever the case may be. Ie: Today is Father's Day. A day for all children to honor their fathers. Not for spouses to honor THE person with whom they share offspring. Now...I need to say here that many times Steve has reminded our children to "Remember Your Mother for Mother's Day"...AND had it not been for that gentle reminder(or him actually running to the store to purchase gifts in the name of our children..which by the way is very acceptable) I might not have experienced the HONOR of the day. And visa versa: I have reminded our children to remember their father on HIS special day. Now to all of you out there whose children are younger than ours...there is hope for the future. At some point in their young lives your own children will remember..all by themselves to honor you on YOUR day. I know this because of our wonderful children. They have join the world of being responsible. Yes, they actually remember birthdays and even Father's Day and Mother's Day. Wow...what great kids we have!!!!

You can probably guess what Steve is doing for Father's day... yep. Playing golf with one from our brood. Steve and Stephen are out at Cottonwood right now enjoying the beautiful sunshine and cool, fresh air. Oh wait...it's probably not that cool out today. But don't tell them how hot it will be. Seems golfers don't really pay attention to the temperture. They are just out on a mission to move that little white ball around on some nice green grass. What could possibly be more fun!!!


A shout out now to our Heavenly Father YEAH GOD!!! who blesses us daily beyond belief. Thank you for your son Jesus who died for our sins.I can't imagine watching one of our children suffer and die. Thank you to our Heavenly Father.

Brit's Wedding Hair

Brit asked what we thought she should do with her hair for the wedding, and Jan and I thought that the way she wore it on the College Prison Trip was a good look for her. Here she is with Tito.



Be sure and let her know what you think.

Happy Mothers Day
http://www.tnpsc.com/ssaver/moms.html

Pick Your Nose

You can pick your friends
and you can pick your nose
but you can't pick your friend's nose.

#1




















#2




















#3




















#4




















#5




















Make your guesses...cast your votes. Which noses look the most alike?
Can you name those noses? HINT: They are ALL Gohring noses.

Work Dilemma

I have this problem at work, and I could use some advice. My office is close to the back door, which I have always liked, because it is a quick shot out the back door to my truck and home. The problem that I am currently facing is that my office is also next to the men's room.



Up to this point, this had been a good thing as well, because it is just a few steps from my desk to..., anyway, on to the real issue. The walls at most offices are not real thick, because they are interior walls, they don't require insulation, so the wall next to my desk is not a great deterrent to sound. Now, I know what you are thinking, "What could possibly make that much noise to be a problem?" No doubt your mind racing to all sorts of possible answers, which I assure you are most likely NOT the case. This issue is this. I have a coworker that frequents this facility on average twice a day, and he proceeds to, after other activities, I suppose, begin a ritual of sinus clearing, snorting etc. that is genuinely troubling. The first week or so, I felt real compassion for the guy, he clearly had a bad head cold. But this has been going on for MONTHS. I tried clearing my throat loudly in my office to convey the relative thinness of the walls, no effect. I took to turning music on in my office when it started, to try and cover up the sound, no luck. This really makes me nauseous to hear daily, but the topper of all came this last week, when I was in the aforementioned room, sitting in one of the designated spots, when the door opened. I performed the requisite rituals observed by men everywhere when someone enters the facility when it is in use. I tapped my foot, cleared my throat, you know, the usual. But Mr. Phlegmy, much to my astonishment, finished up his preliminary activity, and then began the sinus project, while I sat there having to listen to it in that surreal bathroom tile acoustic environment. Upon my attempt to exit the situation, as I was washing my hands, this person then backed away from the sink and dropped his pants to adjust his shirt tuck, etc., as he was talking to me, so clearly any attempt on my part to appeal to his sense of propriety would be wasted. I look forward to hearing anyone's thoughts.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY STACI!!!

19 years ago today, my favorite daughter, Staci, was born. (Sorry about that Trish and Brit), and today is also her last final and her last official day of freshman-dom?-ry?-ism?

Please wish her a Happy Birthday if you see her today.

Sorori-Tea

Saturday afternoon presented a wonderful opportunity for us to change into our better clothing, (including a tie for Papa Steve, which as I am sure most of you are aware is definitely one of his favorite things), and go to the Founders Day Alpha Delta Pi Tea.

There were some pretty good things to eat. A big highlight was the chocolate fountain, which looked like it had blue chocolate in it, but Katie let us know that is was really "white chocolate, but it's blue." In this picture I am concerned about the plate capacity. I am not sure that the girls correctly calculated the load limit.



Katie and Staci both got roses as new members.

I'll put Katie's rose picture up first, since they always do these things alphabetically, and she is usually at the end, I think she deserves to go first.


Staci was still a little bit hungry....




On the way out the girls noticed that there was a cookie bouquet that they somehow missed on the way in.



All told it was only about an hour or so, and was not that bad, so far as sitting around in a tie goes.

Prison Trip Recap

Sorry I am just now getting around to this, but we had a great time last weekend on the prison trip. (And, yes, they let us back out, although it is decidedly easier to get into prisons than it is to get out.) Jan and I did, I think, an admirable job as grown-ups. (My impersonation of Ed W. singing Sir Mix-a-Lot notwithstanding) That is to say, no one was maimed or otherwise seriously injured, and we had a good time, so that qualifies as a successful trip in my book.

F'real though, beyond having a lot of fun on the bus (and what happens on the bus, stays on the bus), the College Singers and Ringers did a wonderful job bringing the meaning of the Easter season to the prisoners. The dramas were dramatic, the music was musical and the bells were bell-rific. I hoped to have some pictures to share, but that will have to wait until I get some from B-Hoody and the "kids" (as Uncle Chucky called them) from the trip.

As a side comment, there were a lot more prisoners this trip, than any other that I have been on in the past, that came up to me and told me that they were from Waco, and that they were planning on coming to our church when they were released, and others asking for our church address so that they can write to us.

***UPDATE!!!***
I forgot about this picture of the Hood-lums that was on my phone. So here is your picture from the weekend.

Prison Bound

Jan and I are off to prison tomorrow with the College Choir, Chuck, Toph, the Hoods and the Marshalls. Please pray for this group as they share with our brothers and sisters in chains. This is always a great trip because it is such a joy to be there as these eager folks join us in worship, and we are allowed to reflect on how very little difference there is in our lives and theirs. We all have fallen into sin at times in the past, and only by the grace of God are we restored. Thank God, that although the immediate consequences of our actions are unavoidable, the eternal consequences have been eliminated through His ultimate sacrifice. And what better time of the year to have all of these thoughts than the weekend when we honor the memory of what He has done for us, even before we were willing to acknowledge Him as Lord.

Rom 5:1-2 (NCV) "Since we have been made right with God by our faith, we have peace with God. This happened through our Lord Jesus Christ, who has brought us into that blessing of God's grace that we now enjoy. And we are happy because of the hope we have of sharing God's glory."

Rom 5:6 "When we were unable to help ourselves, at the moment of our need, Christ died for us, although we were living against God."

Krackuh a celebrity?

I was watching Frasier tonight in my hotel room, and an advertisement for something called "Lip Explosion" came on, and I think that Krackuh has been moonlighting as a lip model, but here are the lips from their website, so you can decide yourself.



Honestly, I do not know what this product allegedly does, but the website says that it "is the first non-burning, non-drying, non-chafing, instant lip plumper."

Is this really something that the world could not get by without, a lip plumper? Also do you think that the result of using this product is that your lips are stuck in the position displayed in the picture?

Shake Your Body

Do we serve an AMAZING God or what?? We were so blessed by these children..I can't even begin to explain it.





We hosted some of the Mwangaza Children's Choir this weekend. We had three boys; Ivan, Abbey and Godfrey and the choir director, Alex. We went to visit Suzanne and family for dinner. Here you see the boys teaching us some moves.

More pictures coming later.

.

Remember Spring Break???

OK, Nostalgia time... Remember getting to go on a road trip for Spring Break?

Getting up before dawn to get an early start...


Driving in shifts....


and sleeping in shifts...


Doing things that you would NEVER get to do in Waco....



Meeting some interesting people....


and bonding through some difficult times?


The only problem now is deciding what to do next break???
THINK

THINK

THINK

THINK

THINK

THINK


We will have to let you know next time what they came up with....

Warning: The streets of Waco are no longer safe

That's right.... If you are wise you will stay off the streets for a while. Scott is getting his permit in less than one month. I have ordered the Parent Taught Driver Education packet from Austin...and as soon as it arrives we will start the process. I'm sure he will fall in line with our other children and turn out to be a wonderful driver.