Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas from our home to yours!

Just thought I would show more of our Christmas decorations. This is about it for our decorations. I'm finding that less is more (and it is certainly that way with a busy December schedule).

My Favorite Christmas Commercial

These Garmin Commercials always crack me up. Completely odd and random lyrics combined with odd visuals presented in a familiar tune with a catchy ending. Proof that how you say something is sometimes more important than what you say. Funny stuff.

I haven't found the actual lyrics online or I would post them.

Here is last years


Odd and still very good.

The Reason for the Season

My cousin Don and his family gave us this Nativity set as a wedding gift. I love it. This year for my birthday, John added two pieces to it. The green shepherd on the left and the angel on the stand.

In all the activities of the holiday season, may you have moments of peace as you reflect on the amazing Gift we were given in Jesus.

Muppets Rock

Yes I know, this video has already been posted and re-posted many times. I don't usually join in such things. But I like the Muppets. They crack me up. Beaker and Animal always make me laugh (especially because they remind me of Dr. Rev. Jonathan Grubbs and Lathan...ah Springfield memories). Enjoy.

Open Mouth, Insert Foot

Various pastor friends have told me that it is only a matter of time before I will say something really stupid in public. I have been at this nearly ten years now without a significant public embarrassment. Don't get me wrong...I have said a lot of stupid things, but nothing really and truly embarrassing...until last Saturday night.

Just for fun, I am choosing to mention some of my friend's really embarrassing moments before I get to mine. I suppose it makes me feel better to know that I am not alone. Plus these are really funny. Two come to mind. The first is the great Dr. Rev. Professor Jonathan Dwight Kennedy Grubbs (grace and peace be upon him). He is the one who warned me about my coming stupidity. His greatest example took place during a sermon where he was speaking about a passage with a high degree of seriousness and gravity. As he walked through the passage he encountered a "but". In an attempt to express the importance of this "but", Jonathan said something like..."And friends, this is one BIG BUT(t)". He of course did not catch the humor at the time. Most others did (from what I have been told). The second case was a friend of mine named Justin who was leading worship. During a song one of his guitar strings broke. He was flustered by this and later went to the microphone to apologize. His words were something along the lines of "I am sorry folks, I broke my g-string". Again, he didn't fully understand why some people were struggling to remain upright as they fought their laughter. To this day I sometimes refer to Justin as "g-string".

Now that I have embarrassed my friends I will tell you of my embarrassment. Emily posted a picture and story about a couple that just celebrated 50 years of marriage. This is a great couple who I enjoy very much. They had a surprise party in the Fellowship Hall at the church. I would guess there were 70 to 80 people there. I knew less then half. It was my privilege to be able to lead Bob and Sharon in a renewal of their vows. They were standing by their cake holding hands as I addressed the family and friends about how serious and sacred this time was. Then I turn to Bob and Sharon and in my best wedding pastor's voice say "Bob...and Larry". I immediately knew that I had messed up. If I didn't, I would have been clued in by the laughter the filled the room for what seemed like 5 minutes. I had just called one of the nicest sweetest women around "Larry" when she was renewing her vows. I would call that embarrassing and memorably stupid. Fortunately this family has a great sense of humor and extended some grace to me. We started over and they renewed the vows as Bob and Sharon. However, that did not stop the family from referring to Sharon as "Larry". I guess I gave her a new nickname.

Happy Anniversary

John and I celebrated our third wedding anniversary at the end of October. Here we are in Cincinnati during intermission of the show 'Rent'. (Thanks for taking the photo, Meg!)

This is Bob and Sharon. They are active members in our church. Bob and Sharon are a wonderful couple. They celebrated their 50th Wedding Anniversary last week. This evening, their children hosted a surprise party for them at the church. It was a great success. They were very surprised. About 70 guests were in attendance. John led them in a reaffirming of their vows. Congratulations to Bob and Sharon!

Hopefully, John and I will be able to make it to such a milestone. I'll be 80 years old before we do! Fifty is a whole lot of years!

Church - The Game

Joel sent this to me. I think he is all excited about playing it.



This is a hoax. No such game exists. Praise God for that.