Smell of Skunk

A couple days ago we awakened to the smell of a skunk. It smelled like the thing had crawled under our bed and took a nap. It was rough. However, later that morning when I went out to start the car I discovered the smell was very strong on Angel, our dog. She reeked! Apparently, she had the bright idea to chase a skunk during the night and got sprayed. It's been two or three days and she still stinks. Actually, she's not the only thing that stinks. The inside of my car and the inside of our truck smells like skunk. I had to make a run to Wal-Mart for some strawberry air freshner. It did the trick. It got me thinking about how strong that smell is and how it amazingly seems to stick to objects. Did the skunk spray my car, the truck and angel? I think not. Also, it was stinking inside and I know for a fact it didn't get in the car. It reminded me of a song I heard years ago by Charles Billingsley...the fragrance of Christ. Read these verses. My question is simple...do we have this aroma? I'm sure some of us have an aroma. Maybe, the smell of a certain cologne, perfume or bad B.O. Have you ever been around someone with major B.O.? Dude, some people I've been around can make your eyes burn. As believers, we should be so in love with God, his stench should be floating all around us. Whenever we enter a room, every head should turn, and not only that. It should stick on others. People leave us and they should be like, "Man, what's that smell?" For most of us, we don't spread the smell of Christ, because we've covered it up with something else. As a youngster, I would play ball, decide I didn't have enough time to shower and just squirt on some old school Polo. However, Polo mixed with B.O. is not really a good idea. It's the same spiritually. The fragrance of Christ and the fragrance of the world are not really a good mixture. The best advice, is to take a shower and rid yourself of the worldly B.O. and then the fragrance of Christ will smell pretty darn sweet.

Lady Bearcats

As many of you know, I coach the Middle School Girls Basketball Teams at Brookland. I've created a blog to keep the Athletes, Parents, Family & Friends informed during the bball season. It's going to be information directed to the students/parents for the most part, regarding anything and everything Bearcat Basketball. Most of the information will be useless to the few and proud that read this blog. Plus, I won't have to bore you as much on this site with our stories of heroism or failure on the hardwood. I do realize that some of you may have an interest, since my daughter Maddie is on the 4th grade team...Tommy, Misty you'd better. The rest of you could probably care less about Bearcat Basketball, but there's a little snoopiness in all of us...Bearcat Basketball.

This was cool!

This was Micah's study sheet for her History test today. She was pretty pumped. She said, "I didn't even have to study...when the teacher was giving out all the answers...I already knew them." Of course, I was a little sad...my one moment to shine and help her study something that I already knew myself...without having a headache and thinking..."did we have this in 7th grade?" Anyway, I went over it with her once and she nailed them all.

Sermon on the Mount

Matthew 5:1 says when Jesus "saw the crowds" he climbed up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came up to him. I'm not sure if that was the 12 or the 12 and a few others...but some of Jesus closest followers received what is known today as the "Sermon on the Mount." Jesus touched on a lot of different topics that day. One of those topics was having love for enemies. Jesus mentions it here. Something interesting about this passage is that Jesus never says..."if you have enemies" but He simply assumes that we will have enemies. And why not? Jesus lived a perfect life and He had enemies...even one within his own recruited group. If you're like me...having enemies is not a good feeling. Especially, when there's not really anything you can do to avoid it. I'm feeling that today. I posted the list of the girls that made the 4th, 5th & 6th grade basketball teams at Brookland at 7:40 this morning. There was actually about 5 or 6 waiting in the hallway for me to post it...and a couple that were waiting didn't make the cut. I went in the office and gave it to the Secretary and asked her if she could post it on the billboard today. As I was walking out the door she was posting it...I felt weird...didn't want to look back. I got in my car and drove away. Today, I made some friends...today, I made some enemies.

No Power

Was it ironic that a lot of people lost power early Sunday morning...the day we kick-off a series called, "Excuses"??? I think not! I'm telling you, when I got up at 6:00 the wind was humming big time at our house. I thought I would walk outside to major destruction and hundreds of fallen tree limbs...but I didn't. We have a few limbs but nothing out of the ordinary for us. The lights were blinking on and off when I got up so I lit a few candles in the bathroom and it was excellent planning on my part. About halfway thru my shower the lights went out. It turned out to be pretty relaxing...I may do that more often in the future. Anyway, I left the house and went to church about 7:05. When I left, the power was on. Didn't really matter though, because it was daylight outside, so there wouldn't be total darkness. And, we had plenty of hot water available in the tank. After the girls got to church, I asked Maddie if the power was off at the house. She said it was. I asked her if it was off all morning and she said, "yeah." Then she went on to say..."I couldn't get it to do anything...it just said...searching for signal." Mmmmh...I thought. I had to clarify to Maddie what power is. It's not just the TV. Lights, appliances, etc. Our Direct TV Satellite had been moved by the 60 mph winds and it couldn't find the signal, therefore the TV wouldn't work...which was apparently Maddie's biggest concern. And I'm sure she wasn't missing the smile of Joel Osteen. Anyway, I thought it was funny.
On another note, night 2 of tryouts was last night. I have 15 4th graders trying out, 13 5th graders and 23 6th graders. 23? I was like...where are all these girls coming from? One girl left sick 15 minutes into the 1st tryout and another left sick halfway thru last night but other than that they've done well. We have tryouts Thursday and next Monday will be the last. I'll probably post the girls that make the team on Wednesday of next week at the school, so, there may be some sad faces at Brookland next week. Remember, back in the day...going to school and searching for your name to see if you made the team? If you didn't make the team you hated the coach and told your Mom and Dad and they hated the coach. Well, I'm that guy next week.

Tryouts Start Tonight!!!

I'm the 4th, 5th & 6th grade girls basketball coach at Brookland and it all starts tonight. 4 practices will hopefully be enough to determine which girls make the team. Should be fun!

Allow me to vent

Before I get started, let me make something clear. Wal-Mart on highland has stepped up their game. The whole store has been updated and re-organized. I was a little lost at first but I like the new layout. Also, they have all new buggies...which I'm totally for since I always get the buggy with the bad wheel. Ok, enough bragging.
I'm at Wal-Mart a couple days ago with two items...two items people!!! Of course, I head on over to the 20 items or less aisle...both lines open are pretty big lines. 20 lanes and 5 are open!!! What's up with that? Anyway, as I near the register the person in front of me leaves and I notice the person in front of her (now in front of me) has an overflowing buggy. I mean...she could almost be kicked out of the regular line. I'm thinking, what are you doing in this line? It's 20 or less...how hard is that to figure out. I have two items...I'm allowed 18 more. She has like 200 items. I'm pretty frustrated but I'm trying to keep the good Christian attitude. Then, the lady looks at me and says..."you can go ahead if you want." I did, of course. And in my mind I'm saying..."you just acted like you did me some sort of favor." I mean, she was real nice about it...gave a friendly smile but it one of those..."I'm doing a good deed smiles." I wanted to tell her thanks but it's my right to be here and you're not even allowed to be in this line. So, don't come over here where you shouldn't be and pretend to be a generous person. Of course, I didn't say squat...I just paid for my 2 items and got out. Why? Because it reminds me of my attitude towards God. I give my money, my time, my gifts to God. I don't even deserve to be where I'm at...I deserve death...but somehow I end up in this line and rather than being thankful for that...I act like I'm really doing something big. I'm a loser.

On a lighter note...I heard this story on the radio this morning. Funny!

New Crossroads' Gear

We have new Crossroads' Gear hot off the press for sale. Hoodies in chocolate, red, pink & grey. 3/4 sleeve shirts also available. Hoodies $20.00 each and 3/4 shirts $10.00 each. Don't call me and tell me to hold some for you...I won't do it. This is not 1st come 1st serve...it's 1st pay 1st serve. No charging, no "I'll pay you the rest later." When all that's available sells out, we may order more. Gear goes on sale this weekend but if you want to stop in and buy some this week...that's your choice. I'm here all week but you may need to call 1st to make sure myself or James will be around during the time you choose because I tend to study at Barnes/Noble and make frequent unscheduled visits to my second home at Wal-Mart.

Cell

We had our 1st Cell meeting last night to kick-off the ministry season. Our group is going thru the book of Genesis...the beginning...starting next Wednesday that is. Last night was a night to cast vision to the group, so everyone is on the same page and play a couple games in the process. We played one game called myth or truth. It was men versus women and the men came out victorious. However, the funniest game of the evening went like this...each person had to name one item they want to get rid of and 3 reasons they want to get rid of it. For example, I may want to get rid of a TV. My reasons...it's too small, has a short & the sound doesn't work. Also, I told each person to write one of four names at the bottom of the page for a separate game (I sort of fibbed.) Your spouse, Mother-In-Law, Father-In-Law or a good friend. Here's the catch, after everyone handed me the papers I told them I was going to switch the item they wanted to get rid of with the name they put at the bottom of the page. Some came out very funny. Here's the list:

Carol Harral wants to get rid of her father-in-law because...
1) don't need
2) in the way
3) to help someone else
(hers was a tv)

Chip Black wants to get rid of his good friend Thomas "Cadillac Wheeler because...
1) it's 14 yrs. old
2) it has a slight short in it
3) High Def is the talk now
(his was also a tv)

Marinda wants to get rid of her mother-in-law because...
1) need space to put Michael's tools
2) to declutter my life more
3) to make Michael proud of me because I was able to let go of stuff.
(hers was stuff in the shed)

Tim Harral wants to get rid of his wife because...
1) don't want to move it (they're in the process of moving)
2) don't want to store in the attic of new house
3) won't be missed
(his was extra house decorations)

Zach Gilliam wants to get rid of his wife because...
1) in my way
2) need to get money back out of it
3) it's going to ruin
(his was store merchandise)

Jake Hillis wants to get rid of his wife because...
1) slick hide
2) worn laces
3) busted seams
(his was football)

Stephanie Gilliam wants to get rid of her mother-in-law because...
1) broken
2) too many (didn't really apply that's why you need 1 object...not multiple)
3) not played with
(hers was toys)

Cristi Hillis wants to get rid of her husband because...
1) taking up space
2) i'll never make anything out of it
3) i feel guilty for having them and not making anything with them (again, need 1 object)
(hers was bag of old jeans)

We're excited about this Cell season and all that God wants to do in and thru our group. Feel free to use this game at your next work party or family get together...I have lifted the copyright so you can have the freedom to use it as is, or tweak it. Later!

Happy Labor Day from Penny