Home Archive by category "Life" (Page 17)

Category: Life

A Balloon for God

Dear God, I love you! Luke. It’s not uncommon for a restaurant to offer my son a balloon. But I didn’t expect my son to say, “Dad, can I give the balloon to God?” My immediate instinct was to say no – thinking “That’s politically incorrect today!” You know, some bird might choke on it. It’s liter! But then the Holy Spirit whispered, “Your son is wanting to give a gift to God”, and suddenly I realized that wasn’t something I wanted to squelch. Sorry bird, but you choking is a risk I’m willing to take – at least once. So I went and found a marker at the host’s station, wrote a note to God on the balloon, explained to Luke this might be a one-time thing, and then we went outside and sent his Gift up to God. What fun it was to watch it drift up into the sky. After several minutes it was impossible to see, and then Luke said, “And now God has it. I wonder where He will put it? I hope He thinks of me when He sees it in His house.” If you ask me, God just might have plucked it out…

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Living Room Super Bowl

Super Bowl Sunday! I enjoy the Super Bowl a lot. Usually, I plan a Super Bowl Party, but this year my party was more virtual as I sat and partied mostly via Twitter and enjoyed it at home by myself, though the family came around once and awhile to check in on me and make sure I was stocked up on snacks. Who did I root for? Well, as a former Chicagoian, I really really honestly tried to root against the Packers and go for the Steelers – and as a Rush Limbaugh fan (who is a Steelers fan) I tried to root for the Steelers, but knowing nothing about them, it was hard. Especially, when they never gave me any reason to, other than being the team playing the Packers. I really enjoyed the video CBN put together of Christians in the Super Bowl, and it really seemed to slant toward the Packers, and that made it even harder to root against them. Even though the Steelers QB wore God’s favorite number (#7) on his chest and their coach was a Christian.. they just never seemed to show up for the game, even as they managed to always stay…

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When The Challenger Blew 25 Year Ago

It was 25 years ago today… It was 25 Years Ago Today that I brought the news of the Challenger explosion to my own school. I remember it VERY well. I stayed home to watch the launch, being a big fan of the space program, and having met the astronauts of the first launch (Columbia) personally, due to some connections at Rockwell International via my church. I saw it happened and was stunned and shocked, of course. (I was in 9th grade) When I got to school and checked into the office they saw my crying and asked why, and when I said, “I’m just upset about the Challenger explosion” they were not aware of it. I was the one to bring the news to one of the largest high schools in LA. (Lakewood High School) Soon it was announced over the PA, classes were canceled and everyone was around TVs watching the news. Being the one who had delivered the bad news was a strange feeling, especially after having met some of the astronauts (Bob Crippen and Bill Young) and having sat in the cockpit of the Columbia at a tour of Rockwell International. What are your memories of…

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A Sobering Day in America

I consider myself the most patriot person I know. I love this country passionately. Today my emotions are a mixture of deep sadness and anger – I don’t even know where to put them. Sadness for the families impacted today. My heart and prayers go out to everyone who is personally touched by the tragic events that unfolded in Arizona – I am simply stunned. And anger at the way so many are politicizing this event. While politically I may have disagreed with Rep. Gifford on some issues, I had never heard her name before today, and I applaud her for being a politician who was holding a “Congress on the Corner” event. Being one who was desiring to listen to the people. I hope this doesn’t discourage our public officials from being accessible. Regardless of where anyone is on the political spectrum, what makes America Great is that we fight our political battles at the polls and not with guns. Whether it be the dramatic shift of 2008 that brought us Obama and his gang and the swing to the Left or the big swing back that just occurred with past November to the Right. Either way – we’ll…

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Grand Prize Gingerbread Champs!

And the GRAND PRIZE, “The Bastian Family!” We couldn’t believe our ears! We were at our church’s Family Gingerbread House making event, and there were well over 100 families making yummy houses. When they announced there was a competition and my wife saw my face slightly change she said, “You’re not competing are you?” I answered, “Of course!” (Men, you understand.) But I didn’t seriously think we had a chance, after all, I had a four year old on my team who I was not going to cut out of the process to increase my chances. We struggled away with our house, since we didn’t cheat and use a kit (!) and even added shingles and a chimney! When we heard the ten minute warning three sides were still blank! I then realized that the chimney look a little like a steeple, so I quickly added a triangle and a cross just as we slapped on frosting and stuck candy all over the sides! When I got to the tables and saw all the amazing creations I thought we don’t have a chance but as I was setting ours down I overheard the judges say, “Look at that and its…

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