Tuesday, May 22, 2012    

Let the Hunt Begin

Thursday, September 27th, 2007

It’s been awhile since I’ve blogged…sorry about that. It’s been a crazy busy couple of weeks. And with the busy comes the stress…but I’ve got a stress reliever coming in a week.

About a year ago, Justin Monk and I started talking about learning to hunt so that we could someday teach our boys how to hunt…you know, a “pass on the tradition” kind of thing. So we started to talking to some guys at work who go hunting every year and began the year-long journey of getting ready for the first hunt. We’ve spend months now getting all of our gear collected (neither of us had much to start with), practicing shooting, getting our tags, and dreaming of the day we’d head out with the guys and kill something!!  ;o)

That day is just around the corner. Our first hunt starts next Friday (October 5th). 8 of us are heading up to Wyoming to “harvest” us some antelope. I’m sure nobody will get shot…but you never know.

We have our second hunt in November for Deer and our third in January for Elk (both in Colorado). Of course I am going into each hunt with high expectations (everyone fills every tag right? Nobody comes home empty handed I’m sure). However, while I do hope to get some game meat for the freezer…it’s not just about killing something (although that would help in the “learning” category)…it’s also about getting away for some R&R.

There will be more to come on this topic….including some picture I hope. So stay tuned…

27.09.2007 Hunting, Misc Ramblings, Recreation 1 Comment

Pennies Should be Outlawed

Wednesday, September 19th, 2007

I’m going to come right out and say it: I hate pennies! Yes, those copper coins with Lincoln’s picture on it…worthless.

I wish the feds would stop making them. I’d be more than happy to round all cash-based transactions up to the nearest nickel (and then set our sites on that coin next). Pennies are so worthless, and so few people like carrying them around, that we even have those “Need a Penny Take One, Have a Penny leave One” jars at most retail stores (people gladly leave them because they hate them). I’d just as soon give the extra change to the business and call it even.

Not sure why I have such a dislike for these coins, but i can’t stand them…even threw 2 of them away today because they were bugging me (don’t tell my kids!).

So I am unofficially starting the “Down With Pennies!” movement…pretty sure it won’t get much traction.

19.09.2007 Misc Ramblings 4 Comments

Practical Atheism

Sunday, September 16th, 2007

I was looking back this morning in my journal (something I don’t do very often) and I came across some notes in the August 16th entry that sparked some thought this morning. At the time, I was reading a book about our calling as Christians (“The Call”). On page 196 of the book, the author makes an interesting comment (this is a paraphrase, not an exact quote):

Our modern world has shifted from:
“There is no God”
to
“There is no need for God”

I think there is a lot of truth in that statement. God has become largely irrelevant in our culture…many people simply don’t think about God any more. And this “thinking” has created a generation of “practical atheists”…they wouldn’t come right out and say there is no God (in fact they’d likely say just the opposite, that they believe in a God)…but in practice, in their daily lives they live as if there was no God (because they don’t need Him).

And I’m not sure this phenomenon exists only in secular circle either…I think many Christians behave much the same way. Many simply don’t think and don’t live  like we need God in our lives (until we are in real trouble anyway). Do we take God with us everywhere and everyday? Does he truly matter in our daily lives? Or is He an afterthought?

I wonder…

16.09.2007 Devotional, Ministry, Spiritual Musings 1 Comment

Broncos’ Season Prediction

Sunday, September 16th, 2007

 Never tried doing this in the past, but since I’ve got the Blog now so I thought it might be interesting to give a shot at predicting the Broncos’ Wins and Loses this year. I obviously have gotten a head start since I already know they won their first game (still recovering from that one). Below is the table with my predictions for each game.  

   Opponent     Prediction
at Buffalo            W
Oakland              W
Jacksonville        W
at Indianapolis    L
San_Diego           W
BYE 
Pittsburgh          L
Green_Bay         W
at Detroit            L
at Kansas City   W
Tennessee          W
at Chicago           L
at Oakland         W
Kansas_City      W
at Houston        W
at San_Diego     L
Minnesota          W

Season Prediction: 11 and 5

I think this is fairly optimistic and there are a few games I’m not very confident in (but when it comes to the Broncos I tend to be optimistic–but hey, I’m a fan!).  The games I’m not confident in are:

  1. Week 5 versus San Diego: Depends on which teams show up. I have them splitting the series with San Diego, wining at home and losing on the road.

  2. Week 10 versus KC: Not that KC is any good, but it’s always tough for the Broncos in Arrowhead Stadium.

If I’m wrong on one of these games I think we’re still OK (10-6 I think gets us at least a Wild Card). If I’m wrong on both then it’s last year’s season all over again!!

16.09.2007 Broncos, Hobbies, Sports 3 Comments

Who to Start…

Saturday, September 8th, 2007

UPDATE: So I picked right and wrong (but it didn’t matter anyway, since I ran up against the lead scoring team for the week).
     Right: I sat Lee Evans  (0.5 pts).
     Wrong: I started Ronnie Brown (1.4 pts) instead of Santonio Holmes (12.6 pts)

I have my first official fantasy football “Who to Start” dilemma. The choices are clear until I get to WR, because of a terrible matchup. Here’s the options for WR:

  1.  Larry Fitzgerald @ 49ers (this is the no-brainer)
  2. Lee Evans @ Broncos
  3. Santonio Holmes @ Browns
  4. Reggie Brown @ Packers

Lee Evans would typically be my WR2, but he has a horrid match-up against Bailey or Bly (he only caught 3 passes against Denver last year and none for TD). Both Holmes and Brown have better match-ups. So there are now two questions:

  1. Sit or Start Lee Evans?
  2. If Sit, do I start Holmes or Brown?

Thoughts???

08.09.2007 Fantasy Football, Hobbies No Comments

What’s Next?

Wednesday, September 5th, 2007

I’ve been a little reflective the past few days, especially regarding my spiritual journey and the ministries I’m involved in. This past year I have grown spiritually by leaps and bounds (don’t get me wrong, I still have a loooong way to go…but God has truly taken me on a journey closer to Him). Not only have I grown spiritually, but God has given me some pretty incredible ministries…and done some incredible work in each one of them.

But as I reflect on the past, it has me thinking about the future. And I’ve been asking one question during my prayer and meditation time specifically: What’s Next?

What’s Next…
                         for Men’s Ministry?
                         for LifeGroup?
                         for the men I’m accountable to?
                         for my Spiritual Journey?
                         for my Family (and my role as husband and father)?

The thing is, I’ve enjoyed the journey so far and I’ve learned and grown…but I’m not sure what God has in store next. I do know that He will continue to challenge and teach and grown me…just not sure how or in what arenas. I also know that I don’t want any of the list above (and those I didn’t even include) to stagnate. As Paul said in Philippians 3:13-14, I want to “focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.”

I’m looking to Him and the spiritual leaders around me for guidance, direction, and leading. I know He has my best (and yours) at heart, no matter where He takes me or what He asks me to do.

The journey continues…

05.09.2007 Band of Brothers, Spiritual Development, Spiritual Musings No Comments

Nomee Ranch

Wednesday, September 5th, 2007

We have a summer tradition that started several years ago: every Memorial Day we go camping in Nomee Ranch. It’s a piece of private property (20+ acres) in Como, Colorado (which is just this side of Fairplay) and it has 2 cabins, fishing ponds, an outhouse (yeah I said it) and a view of god’s country second to none. The land is now owned by the widow (Darlis) of a truly great man–Jim Matthews.

Jim started the camping tradition as a member of our little church. He was a man who embodied the term “servant leader”. I’ve never met another man quite like Jim. He was an old guy with a young heart…especially a heart for young couples. He had this great piece of property in the Colorado Mountains and his passion was sharing it with others (as he shared everything else).

Jim passed away a few years ago, but we have kept the Camping tradition going…in his honor! And this year we expanded it to include the Labor Day weekend. This last weekend we went with two close family friends, Bill & Cindy and Shawn & Iris (and all of our kids). We had a blast!! We did it all: hiking, fishing, smore’s over a roaring fire, BB Gun shooting, sling-shots, fixing the dam on the pond, sleeping in, and on and on.

Time with family, time with God, time away. And we shared it with each other. Jim wouldn’t have missed it for the world. Thanks Jim…and say “Hi” to Jesus for me.

05.09.2007 Family, Friends, Recreation 3 Comments