SYTYCD (the version w/o Jessie)

Top Three
1. Lacey & Kameron (suprising, I know)
2.  Sabra & Dominic
3.  Pasha and Melanie/Jessie
Bottom Three
1.  Sara & Jesus
2.  Shauna & Cedric
3.  Anya & Dominic

No Cavities

Back from the dentist.  The pit on #28 has not developed into a cavity, but it's still on the watch list.  So that's good.  I had a nice conversation with the hygenist about a little promotion that the dental office did where they promised you a credit or a discounted teeth-whitening procedure in return for your voting for the office as the "Best in Harrisburg."  And how there were some patients so upset that they left the practice.  I also found out that she honeymooned in St. Lucia and we both commiserated regarding the summer humidity.  I was in and out in under 40 minutes (I would have been out quicker, but the dentist got in late and I had to wait after my cleaning for the exam).

 

To celebrate my excellent dental hygiene (toot toot), I got myself some chai tea at the farmer's market.  Hoorah!

DDS

Have I ever mentioned how much I don't like the dentist?  If I have, not much has changed since I last mentioned it.  So I'm headed off to my dentist in the morning.  His name is Dr. Verber.  His son works there too.  His name is Dr. Verber.  Crazy, eh?  Anywho, I like to schedule my appointment first thing in the morning so I get it out of the way quick.  FIFO.  First in, first out.

The question this time around is:  Has the pit on tooth #28 developed enough to qualify for cavity status?  Check back later on Tuesday to find out whether I'm still cavity-free.

Thoughts from Brother Lawrence

Over the past month or so, I've been reading a book entitled The Practice of the Presence of God , by Brother Lawrence.  For those of you unfamiliar with Brother Lawrence, here's a link.  I would recommend this book.  It's amazing that it was written by a French cook over 300 years ago, yet it is extremely relevant.

There are all sorts of little nuggets that I pulled from this book.  I'd just like to share a short passage with you from one of his letters.

 "We cannot avoid the dangers and perils with which life abounds without the actual and unceasing help of God; let us ask His help continually.  How can we ask for His help unless we are with Him?  How can we be with Him except by thinking of Him often?  How can we think of Him often except by forming a holy habit of doing so?  You will tell me that I am always saying the same thing to you.  It's true.  I do not know of an easier or more appropriate method; and as I practice no other, I recommend it to everybody.  We must know before we can love; to know God we must often think of  Him; and when we come to love Him we shall also think of Him very often, for our heart is where our treasure is!  Let us ponder this often and deeply."  - The Practice of the Presence of God, pp.79-80

Now don't read more into his words than what's there.  While I have read deeper thoughts from educated theologians, his thoughts seem to come from a child-like faith.  And by that, I mean that the thoughts are rather simple, but they are profound.  Brother Lawrence talks a lot about being centered and focused on God.  He doesn't get bogged down with "stuff."  He's all about getting as much of God as he can.

I've found his words to be inspiring and motivating.  If this topic is of interest to you, I'd recommend you read it.  It's an easy read (and it will be in my church library as soon as I return it on Sunday).

SYTYCD

Top Three:

Sara & Jesus
Jessi & Pasha
Anya & Danny

Bottom Three:

Faina & Cedric
Shauna & Jimmy
Lacey & Kameron

Bananas

Today I will have eaten four bananas in the past five days.  This is more bananas than I have eaten in probably the past 25 years.  In my efforts to eat better, I'm trying to increase my fruit and vegetable intake.  This is difficult mostly because there aren't a lot of fruits and vegetables that I like.  I still don't love bananas, but I'm getting used to them.  But I do love banana bread (without nuts).  And that's all I have to say about bananas.

 

Two Saturdays ago, Five Guys opened on the Carlisle Pike.  They're pretty much a quick-service burger joint.  If you take a look at the menu, it's hamburgers, cheeseburgers, hot hogs and grilled cheese.  And hand-cut fries.  Having had Five Guys at the beach (and at the new location last week), they make a good burger.  They use fresh ground beef daily AND they offer A1 as a topping (throw on some of their fried onions and you've got yourself some good eats!).  And they offer peanuts for you to snack on while you wait for your order.  So if you like burgers, you should check it out (and invite me along)!

Movie Review - Oceans 13

Friday night, some friends and I caught the latest installment of the adventures of Danny Ocean and the gang.  If you saw it, you may not have thought much about Oceans 12 and you may be concerned about the quality of 13.  Well, Steven Soderbergh wanted to subtitle 13 "the movie that we should have made."  And I'm happy to report that this film is much truer and almost as good as the first movie.

There are some spoilers here so proceed with caution...  Danny and the gang are back in Vegas.  Reuben got shafted on a casino deal with a wealthy developer, and the boys get together to get back what's rightfully his.  Danny tries to tactfully ask the developer (well-played by Al Pacino) for Reuben's money but is rebuffed.  So the boys decide to hit his new casino.  Hard.  All the players are back from the prior films, with the exception of Julia Roberts and Catherine Zeta-Jones.  Ellen Barkin fills in for them here, but she was probably the weakest role of the bunch.  Her character could've been removed and the storyline would have hardly been affected.  On the plus side, she allows Linus (Matt Damon) to get a little more screen-time and be more directly involved in the heist.  Plus there's an appearance by a man I only knew as Super Dave Osbourne (real name: Bob Einstein).  I knew it was him because he's still got that gravelly voice.

The movie flowed well and while there were a bunch of little sub-plots, I thought they all fit in pretty well and made for a good end product.  I'm going to give Oceans 13 a "9."  I'd see it again.

Tis the Season!!

Wedding season that is.  This weekend starts the wedding season for me.  I will be attending three weddings in the next four months.  I don't think I've attended three weddings in the past three years.

**The first paragraph was written Friday night, while the second paragraph was written Saturday evening.**

The wedding taking place this weekend is one of my good lady friends from college.  We became acquainted through her roommate and became good friends.  If you can keep a secret, she was actually on the short list.  And this weekend she is getting married to a fine young man who I know nothing about.  I was thinking about this particular wedding and thinking about how I hadn't seen any of the people who would be attending in at least two years (my friend included).  And I got to thinking about how awkward it might be.  I know our mutual friends and acquaintances, but I can count them on one hand.  And I got to thinking about what sorts of expectations I had.  And honestly, I didn't come up with a lot.  It was around this point that I realized that I wasn't attending this wedding for myself.  I was attending because I love my friend and I want to support her in this new adventure she is undertaking.  She thought enough of me to invite me and I will be there. I don't really care about what interactions I have with everybody else.  It's not about me.  It's about her and her man and their new life together.  

*********

And now the wedding is history and I can talk about how it all went down.  The proceedings went well.  I arrived right as the service was starting (after the mothers had lit their candles, but before the processional) and scooted my way into the back row.  Y'all know how tardiness is one of my pet peeves so this was unlike me.  But I missed the exit by maybe three miles.  Add beach traffic and I was L-A-T-E.  The service itself was simple and elegant.  We shifted to the reception site for the celebratory.  I am very grateful for the table I was put at.  Initially, it was awkward, until one of the people mentioned above (who I can count on one hand) sat down next to me.  That made all the difference.  There was dancing and food and a blue velvet cake.  And two neat things occurred that I must mention.  Number one, the bride sang to her husband.  I thought that was awesome.  She sang "Bless the Broken Road" by Selah.  The other neat thing was when some of her relatives sang a traditional Polish song and bestowed upon the bride and the groom tradtional polish gifts.  That was pretty cool.  I'm glad that I went and that I was able to be a part of their day.

It was a beautiful day today...

For those of us in the Harrisburg area anyway. Mostly sunny, high of 65 degrees. And it's the middle of June!!! Thank you God! (Could we have some more?)

Last week, I talked about a photo that I wanted to take in Carlisle, PA. Well, I got a photo, but it didn't turn out quite as well as I would have hoped. Hopefully at least some of my readers will be able to figure out why I took it.



That would be First Lutheran Church. I have to give a big thank you to the Carlisle Police Department. I had forgotten to put money in the meter when I saw a meter maid about a block up from where I had parked. I asked her where she was headed and it turned out she was heading back towards my car. And I hadn't even taken but one photo of the church. So I told her that I would have to beat her back to my car. She asked if I was done taking pictures. When I said no, she told me that she would head straight up East Street before coming back to High. I thanked her profusely and we each went our separate ways. And I was out of there before made it back onto High.

Quote of the moment..

I missed the first half of "So You Think You Can Dance" tonight, but for good reason. I was at a meeting at church and the missions pastor dropped the following quote on us:

"If your church disappeared tomorrow, would the community miss it?"

He dropped this while talking about a church's role in it's community. That it shouldn't just be a place where people meet on Sundays, but where you can take the kids for tutoring, or visit a clothing closet for some clothes, or get some free financial counseling. The bottom line: The Church should play an active participatory role in it's respective communities.

So would people in the community miss your church if it disappeared? I don't know that a lot of people would miss my church..... But we're working on that.

The Morning Mix

It's a little on the short side I know, but my commute averages about 20 minutes, so I don't need an hour's worth of music....

Coming tomorrow..

My Morning Mix.

What is this 3M?  I've decided to make a mix cd of songs that will help me start my day off right.  And by that, I mean centered on Christ.

So stay tuned.....

The HD Vida

I think that when it is within my means, I would like to buy a High Definition television.  Then, I shall invite all my friends over to watch any and all sporting events (golf excluded).  I have come to this conclusion after watching game two of the NBA Finals on a HD telly.  HD takes home sports viewing to the next level.

Father Knows Best

This thought came from yet another podcast that I've subscribed myself to.  I was listening to a series of messages by Andy Stanley, who's church is down in the ATL.

 

So he was talking about how we often take the position that "I know what's best."  You know what I'm talking about.  The opinion that each of us knows what we want and that what we want is the best thing for us.  I think the best thing for me is a new job.  I've been thinking this for some time now.  But despite my best efforts, I have still not found a new job.  So maybe I don't know what's best for me.  But I think I know. 

 

I fancy myself as a smart person.  I'm not an intellectual, but I manage (for the most part).  Yet I frequently fail to consider that God knows best.  I know he's looking out for my interests, but I don't necessarily associate that with the fact that not only is He looking out for me, but He knows what's best for me.  Beyond what I even can comprehend.

 

And so I have to change my mindset.  I have to stop and pray: "God, what job is best for me?"  "God, who is the best mate for me?"  "God, how can I serve you?"  And that's tough.  What if my current job is the best God has for me?  How do I handle that?  I obviously don't realize it, but it could be.  So I need to get to the point where even if I don't think that something is the best for me, I have to think that God knows what he's doing.  And that he's got my best interests in mind.

Out of my mouth

I've been trying to listen to John Piper's Desiring God podcast over the past couple of days.  It's kind of hard to listen and understand him when I'm doing other things, but I pick up things here and there.  He briefly touched on the following two weeks ago.

 

In the New Testament, Matthew 15.18 says "But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart."  It's interesting to me that he doesn't qualify it by saying "some of the things."  Just says "the things."  And I've been thinking.  Thinking about the things that come ouf of my mouth and the things that come out of the mouths of other Christians.  If a "Christian organization" verbally attacks someone in the media, what's in their heart?  I'f I'm driving with a friend and he berates, the driver who cut him off, what's in his heart?  If I'm playing racquetball with a friend and they call themselves stupid, what's in their heart?  If I find myself calling somebody a moron, what's in my heart?  Or more importantly, what's not?  Why do we grumble and complain?

Hodge-podge

First, proof that Mr. Beckham has guaranteed himself at least two more matches with the English National Team.



Second, I wanted to link to this article about something cool they're going to be doing in Pittsburgh. Be sure to check out the photos. That's some incredible art.

While driving through Carlisle today, I decided to come back and take what I think will be a killer photo. I'll post it when I do. For those of you familiar with Carlisle, make a list of what you think it might be. Here's your hint: It's on High Street.

Stay tuned for some potentially deep thoughts later this week......