What a way to wake up

Wednesday I awoke to the loud sound of a car crash right in front of my house. There was a loud thud of metal hitting metal. We live on a main road, and people often go faster than they should. When I looked out the window, an SUV had hit a mini-van. I hope everyone was OK. The minivan's rear was pretty crunched up, and the vehicle had to be towed away on a flatbed. The other car drove away. Broken glass and car parts were all over the street.

Kind of a jarring way to wake up.

Will Graham celebration

Last night was the training for supervisors in the celebration this weekend. This is shaping up to be a big event, with the Ocean Grove auditorium expected to be full every night. I pray that we as a church step up to this and bring and invite many people. Our goal is 20 new people to be added to the church through this.

Stay tuned for more details.

A Fox day

Yesterday I finally met Herod the fox. Several people around church have seen him, but only yesterday did he appear to me. He was trotting at a good pace around the water detention pond, where many upset geese and goslings were watching him. He looked like a small red-brown dog, but pretty thin. I have named him Herod, as Jesus called him a fox. He has a bird in his mouth.

The irony is that I was photographed on fox (news) the same night (was Herod prophetic?). They were doing a story on the ACLU threatening Neptune on the use of the Ocean Grove auditorium for graduation. I was there for the Will Graham celebration supervisor training, and ended up clearly seen in the news the next morning (sorry, no words of mine). I guess this was my 2 seconds of fame!

Let me know if you meet our church pet.

A movie not to be missed

We went to see "Soul surfer" the other day. This is a great movie, the true story of Bethany Hamilton, a 13 year old Christian surfer girl in Hawaii who had her arm bitten off by a shark. It is currently at most movie theaters.

Why is this so good?
1. Great message, of how a person coped with personal tragedy.
2. PG
3. Great surfing footage
4. Beautiful pictures of Hawaii, a number of which I recognized.
5. The youth pastor is a hero.
6. Her breakthrough happened on a missions trip, great depiction of what God can do on them.
7. Good movie for a teen.

This really is too good to miss.

Jersey Boys story

For my birthday we went to see the Broadway show "Jersey Boys", which I have wanted to do for a long time. I am an oldies junkie, and also grew up in the area where some of them were from. The show was a lot of fun, I would recommend it.

I got a great sermon illustration from it too, illustrating how God blesses us when we give. The songwriter was at an intersection in New York when a grubby street girl starting squeegeeing his car. He thought she looked like a rag doll. When he reached into his pocket to give her something, all he had was $10, a lot for the occasion. But he gave it, and as soon as he gave it, the words and idea for the song came together instantly. You might say that it was a good investment, as they made a fortune on the song "Rag Doll."

As we give, God gives to us.

Pumpkins

I love to grow and have pumpkins! When I was young, I once grew 36 in one year on our back yard, with vines running all over our hedge. Our neighbor was pretty tolerant.

It is also a mini-interest to see how long we can keep our pumpkins. This year probably set the record, as the pumpkin I bought (not much action growing them last year) lasted almost to May, from a mid-October purchase (see the winner at the left). Alas, by then it was rotten, and I had to toss it in our garden.

But if we are lucky, its seeds will give us a pumpkin this year, and it will last even longer. We will see.