Car Care Outreach

I had a great time this past Saturday with a Car Care Clinic conducted by our church. It involved checking the fluids, the belts, the bulbs, etc. under the hood. Then we gave the vehicle a good wash and dry. And fed anyone willing with a hotdog, chips and a drink. All of this was free! We would not even accept donations. Overall a great day!

I met some really super people within the church and those who came to take advantage of the service. This was a really practical example of God’s love in action. Here is a picture of yours truly doing his thing for Jesus!

(I know it looks like I'm talking, I'm actually holding the brush in the water to keep it wet until the next car appears...yea, right).

Twitter Terminated

I’ve officially terminated my Twitter posts. Seriously…who has the time to send bits of info all during the day? The pressure was too much. I am a writer, so the writing was not the problem. It was the constant question of editing. Do I share that "I had a great lunch with a friend (I had the BLT)." Or that "my pen just ran out of ink, so I strolled over to the cabinet to get a new one, so I’m back now." How about "I just got back from getting a haircut." (Who cares?).

Unless of course I begin including product placement ads ("Just got back from getting a haircut at Cost Cutters, 1234 Broad River Rd, ask for Dre’"). Then I would be consumed with looking for opportunities to place ads. Then that evolves into the question, “Do I just allow one hairdresser the ad opportunity or do I open it to all who are willing to lay down the bucks?”

Anyway, no more tweets, only sweets (sorry, it’s silly, but it made me laugh and isn’t that what life is all ‘bout?). I can see my girls rolling their eyes about now!

Humor from Africa

I just had to share this. Just reconnected with a college friend who is a missionary in Africa (the place we were all afraid to go when we said yes to Jesus!). Stefan and Andrea Hall (Mission418) are great people and as I was scanning his website, discovered these pictures...no captions needed...enjoy!

Your Dating History Can Come Back to Haunt You!

We just got back from spending a day in Charleston with my daughter. Mom had to be there for an all day meeting, so we decided to have a daddy and daughter day and act like tourists. Now I didn’t wear black socks with my shorts or hang a huge camera around my neck. We have been to Charleston many times, so we kind of know our way around. We did a lot of walking, through the Old Market, down side streets to look at the pretty houses and a good bit of time eating and drinking coffee.

During one of our pit stops to eat, my daughter decided it was time to ask my about my early dating life. She’s 17 now and starting to wonder about what to look for in a guy. She was very sweet in saying what a good guy I was and was wondering what I was like at her age so that she would have a mark with which to measure.

This is the kind of conversation that strikes fear and panic, mainly fear, but also a lot of panic. I had two thoughts go through my head at once. And if you know me, that can be dangerous. First thought…how much do I tell and how much do I leave out? Second simultaneous thought…O My Gosh…I wish I had done some things differently!

Note to all of the young guys reading this: Keep in mind that those things you are doing today that seems like a good idea or really cool…one day you’ll have to explain to your daughter!

It actually went pretty well once I calmed down. I was able to share about a couple of serious relationships and what happened. Most of all, it gave her a glimpse into the mind of a teenage boy and reinforced what I had been saying all along…boys are stupid. Now before you go off on me, I was a boy and we raised a boy, so give me some credit.

All in all, she’s a good kid and she’s had a good example (me!), so I think she’ll be okay. Plus we pray for her, have a good talking relationship and since I know all the tricks that boys have up their sleeves, she has nothing to worry about.

Bitter Twitter

Have you heard of this? Twitter is now all the rage. One report I read said that it is the new frontier that will overtake blogging and Facebook. It boils down to making constant short-form paragraphs about what you are doing all day long. It actually limits your posts (tweets) to 140 characters so that nobody gets carried away describing their time. And it actually asks you the question, “What are you doing?”

May I ask, “Who has the time to constantly update their activities during the day?” Someone who has too much time on their hands maybe? May I ask another question? “Who wants to know what you’re doing every hour during the day? Most of us don’t want people to track our every movement. When asked what I’m doing I usually respond, “Uh, just doing some paperwork” or “Well, just catching up on things”. Not exactly riveting reading right?

Most of us spend our day looking like we’re doing something for someone else’s sake. What if your boss subscribes to your Twitter? What if he’s “following” your tweets? How about when you’re supposed to be finishing the month-end report and you post that you just got back from getting a snow cone at the corner store? Not only did you take the time away to run to the store, but now you’re taking the time to tweet about it.

There are not many people that I care to follow concerning their activities. Okay, maybe just a couple. How about President Bush? “Just signed a peace agreement with North Korea. Feeling pretty good about things!”, “Can’t wait to find out who wins the election, either way, I’m outa here”

What about Osama Bin Laden? “Just left my third cave in three days, they all look the same” “Filmed another “I Hate US” video, it’s getting tougher to be creative”

Bill Gates? “Retirement stinks. Nothing to do but Twitter all day”.

Anyway, I did sign up. I hate not to be on the cutting edge. “Just got a cup of coffee, my second today”, “Looking forward to lunch”. Yes, this kind of stuff is going to be HUGE!