Obama will be president. Yes, after a hard fought campaign that lasted, well, ever since he became a senator, Barack Obama will indeed become president. It will be historic. Now, let’s see if he can make history in another way and become the first politician to live up to his promises…

Starbucks will fold. Kind of. Actually, that’s kind of already started. Beyond them just folding, I predict Caribou will become the dominant coffee shop in the Union much to the disdain of… well, I guess everybody who loves Starbucks.

Everybody will be a year older. Bold prediction. I know.

Choir robes will once again regain their popularity within churches. This prediction comes from lengthy conversations with the worship pastor, Matt Schurr, from my own church. After getting to know his heart and mind, I was able to foresee the choir robes in 2009. Forget the solid, bold colors that worship directors ask their choir participants to wear. Choir robes are the answer for those singers that don’t know fashion… Hmm…  a little bit of irony there…

Minnesota will eventually elect a senator. And that senator will be… maybe someone who didn’t even run for the position as it is battled out for months in the Minnesota Supreme court.

The Vikings will lose in the playoffs. Nobody will know because it is blacked out. It will also mark the start of another 4 year postseason playoff drought for the Purple which will eventually lead the Vikings to move to Los Angeles, not because they didn’t get a stadium in Minnesota. No this will happen because the NFL was afraid that our Vikings were quickly becoming the next Detroit Lions (albeit with a crappier stadium).

Finally, for my favorite prediction…
Psalty makes a comeback. Our beloved, singing blue book will show up in thousands of churches across the country once again. You don’t believe me? Check out this video. It’s already happening…

Until next time. Have a Great 2009!

I didn’t want to be left out, so here are my Top [or somewhere close to the top] Momentsof 2008. (Disclaimer: These are not necessarily in order, and it is definitely not all-encompassing.)

the Iphone purchase. As I stare at my Iphone sitting next to my computer, I can’t help but to automatically list this. One of the top 5 investments I have ever made.

the Macbook purchase. The only way this purchase could have been any better is if I would have bought it two months later when the new aluminum, unibody Macbooks came out. But hey, at least my wife got an Ipod touch of the deal. Love you, Honey!

the new son purchase. Yes, it was sort of a purchase. I did have to pay the hospital thousands of dollars. I have to say, though, my son is possibly the cutest baby ever, except when he pukes all over me. Not so cute when he does that.

the new car purchase. Too bad it was because our other car was in an accident…

Guatemala trip #1. All I remember is almost dying. Twice. Once on a volcano. Once in the ocean. I don’t know why I trust Jonathan.

Guatemala trip #2. Lots of memories there. From gullible students who thought the side of the mountain was part of the ancient Mayan ruins (good one, Steph!) to students killing and subsequently eating a chicken (thanks, Koby, for lunch), a missions trip that I won’t soon forget. Oh, yeah. Lots of cool ministry happened too!

the Cincinnati trip. First, I convinced Matt to drive up from Louisville to join me for a few hours. Then as we discussed the TV show “Lost” we got lost driving my senior Pastor’s minivan while searching for a Target. Wish I would’ve had my Iphone for that trip. Oh, yeah. I slept with Skip on this trip too.

the day my daughter was potty trained. Yea! No more diapers. Though I still had to wipe her butt. Even so, one kid in diapers is still better than two.

meeting Jars of Clay. Wait. Nobody really remembers them or even cares.

the day after the election. That’s when all the campaign ads stopped. That was a day of momentous joy felt by every one across our nation. Oh yeah, the election was pretty cool too, since it was historic.

Honorable mentions.

the Great Zune Crash. This just happened today.
the Summer Olympics. You have to love watching sports you would never normally watch.  It’s not hard to be the greatest in the world at a sport where only 76 people know that it exists and 23 of those 76 actually know the rules. (Trampoline, anyone?)
the return of Knight Rider. umm… I’m not sure why this is on here.
the cancellation of Knight Rider. Has it been canceled? Hopefully this is not just wishful thinking.
Iron Man. Great Movie.
the Dark Knight. One of my new favorite movies of all time.
Green Bay Packers finishing 6-10. Gotta love the demise of the Pack.
my wife joins facebook. She was possibly the last person in the United States of America that joined. Welcome to facebook, honey! Love you!
this blog. Started it. Stopped it. Started again. Stopped again. Started again. Nobody even it reads it. Well, almost nobody.

Well, those are some of my Top Moments of 2008.

Happy New Year!

Pets, Family and Faith.

When I was a kid, I remember her always being so proud of her pets. I would go over to her house, and not just her dogs would show off tricks, but her cats too. I remember her cats would always be sitting on grandpa’s chair, all sprawled out on their backs. You always had to watch where you sat because one of those cats was always lying around on the chair or couch. In fact, my Aunt Darla was just showing me a photo album, and out of 15 pictures, nine of them were her of one her old cats. One of them was even watching TV. I just know that she’s showing off these pets to Jesus in heaven. My Uncle Norris commented that she probably would have been just as happy with a duck’s nest on her casket instead of this flower spread. She loved her pets.

But not as much as she loved her family. She never talked about this directly to me, but you could just sense how much she loved grandpa. Growing up I never really saw them show much affection to each other except for once. I was 13 or 14, and grandpa and I were going to go down to Albert Lea to help Kelly with something. I remember waiting around for grandpa. He and grandma were arguing, nothing serious. In fact it was a kind of their normal way of interacting. Then right before we were about to leave, she said to him, “Well, aren’t you going to give me a kiss before you leave.” I was petrified. I had never seen them do that. I didn’t think they ever did that. The memory is still burned into my mind.

She was also always so proud of her kids. Sure there were things that some kids or grandkids would be doing that she didn’t necessarily agree with, but her love for her family never wavered. Since our family is so spread out and there’s so many of us, it’s hard to keep track of what’s going on in each of our lives. But she was sort of a glue that held us together. I loved going to her and finding out that this cousin just had a baby or this cousin just got married or this person just moved here or there.

And she would do anything for her family. There are countless stories of years gone by when she would work all sorts of jobs at all sorts of hours to help provide for the family. In the years before women really started to join the workforce, she was there. She used to liken the mind to files. She would say that Grandpa’s mind had one file: cars. But she had all sorts of files because she had worked in so many different settings.

Though, more than just for physical needs, she was deeply moved by the spiritual needs of her family. She was a person of faith. Of deep held faith. Her greatest love was for Christ. It broke her heart to see people far away from faith. She wanted people to experience that same knowledge and love of Christ. This faith that had carried her through the long years, this faith that had redeemed her and shown her grace, it was a faith that she desperately wanted to pass on to anyone she knew. I had to laugh when reading my Aunt Jada’s blog. She wrote, “I remember her telling me she took one of the nurse’s aids into her bathroom and tried to help her pray through to the Holy Ghost.”

I’ve heard some relatives comment on how we knew that we could count on her praying for us. There’s no doubt in my mind that many of us have made it through some of our struggles and hardships only because of the prayer grandma was doing on our behalf. And many of us in here owe our very salvation to her. What a legacy she’s left. There are even several of her family are active in ministry and serving because of the legacy of Grandma. Think about how that translates down. Hundreds of lives being impacted because of the impression that Grandma has made on our lives.

Because of this faith, I know my grandma is in a better place today. Though, I am going to miss her incredibly, I know that today she is in a new, glorified body. One that is free from pain and illness for the first time in many, many years. Though death took her from us, I know that Jesus snatched her from death (quote from JJ Slag). I love that we can stand on the promise in 1 Corinthians 15:55-57. “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Grandma, I don’t know if you can hear this. We love you. We’ll miss you. Thank you for all of your love, thank you for all that you’ve done. Thank you for your faith. Thank you for the legacy, the mark that you’ve left on all of our lives.

So what did I do on Father’s Day? I went to church as usual. I went to my grandparent’s house on my mother’s side. Then I went to visit my grandparents on my dad’s side. They live in a nursing home in Cambridge. There, we also celebrated my cousin’s high school graduation. Congrats, Charity!

From there, I went to rest at home. Rest is such a wonderful thing. I also opened up some presents. Presents are good. But soon I found myself lounging on the couch watching golf. I never watch golf, but this time I was intrigued.

I should mention that since I became a father, I am not sure if I have watched any television programming straight through. Every once in a while, I stop and respond to or play with Abby. That, too, is a great thing. At one point, I asked her what she had in her ears. She had a toy stethoscope and was trying to hear her heartbeat by placing it on her belly. She has so much to learn.

Her response: “I have Happy Father’s Day.”

Back to golf. Tiger Woods on a bum knee. Hasn’t played in two months. One shot behind the 153rd (or whatever) ranked player who no one has ever heard of. One shot behind first place and his 14th major victory. This is drama, or at least that’s what the announcers were telling me.

On one of the last holes, the announcers get really quiet as they always do on golf programming. They speak in near whispers. Their voices are soothing.

Interject Lea here: “They sound like that dead painter.”

Huh? Dead painter? What dead painter could she be referring to? There are thousands of dead  painters. I should have googled what she meant. Instead, I just asked her.

“You know, the one with the afro. Paints on PBS.”

Oh that guy.

I googled “dead PBS painter” because I could not remember his name. Apparently his name is Bob Ross. His voice was soothing like the golf announcers.

Tiger Woods birdied the 18th hole to tie the unknown guy. That was incredible to watch.

Enough of my ramblings.

In weddings and at funerals, families sit in the front rows.

I was at a funeral today. I was not in the front row. I found myself thinking that I was glad that I didn’t have to sit there. I’ve sat in the front row only twice before. But only because I married into family.

I didn’t know Don Hyavolti. I only met him once or twice in passing, but I was at his funeral because I had worked with his wife. His daughter-in-law had been my realtor a few years back. He died in a tragic car accident earlier this week.

I watched from the back as the front row mourned. Standing because there was not an empty seat in the church, I listened to the wonderful stories about this man. I heard of how he had touched so many people’s lives, of how many people were blessed to have called him a friend. I heard of his unselfishness, of his love for all things family, friends and farming.  It was evident by the overflow of people in this decent sized church and the rarity of dry eyes that he had indeed made a mark on so many lives. He had made a mark on this world.

It was clear to me that this man had truly lived [and left] a legacy. Although I’m glad it wasn’t me in the front row, I can see how it would have been an honor to be a part of this front row, a part of a man’s life that had inspired so many. 

Last night, I was out playing softball in the Blaine church league. It’s something I’ve done every Tuesday night since the end of April. I’m not particularly good, and we were playing a good team. Yet, I found myself at third base about to score the tying run. Ok, it was only the bottom of the second, but it would still feel good to keep pace with the team that I think was in first place.

Then it came. The hit. I ran. I scored. The call. Not from the umpire, but from Lea, my wife. She had called our good friend, Michaela, to get a hold of me. Short on breath I answered the phone, a little bewildered.  The bewilderment quickly became concern. She was in a car accident. This is the first accident that she had been in since we were together. A new experience for us. She was shaken up and in tears. I didn’t get much information from her. The only thing I knew was that it was serious enough for our car to be totaled. I quickly let the coach know what happened, made arrangements for my daughter who was at the game, grabbed my bag and sprinted for my car.

As I raced to the accident scene, thoughts spun through my head. Confusion, concern, fear. I didn’t know what to expect. I arrived to the accident scene rather quickly. Thankfully, I didn’t cause another accident trying to get to my wife. Some great friends that I had called happened to be only a couple blocks away. They, too, made a stop at the scene. They were a great source of encouragement.

I found that Lea was okay. You could just read all of the emotions on her. Fear, anger, relief. Her only injury was a possible sprained wrist. Other than that she was going to be okay.

That was the best call that I could hope for.

My wife and I parked just west of Como Park on Como Ave. We had to cross Hamline Ave. to make our way to the entrance to the zoo which we were hoping would be an eventful time for our little girl. Just after we cross the road, my wife exclaims, “Why is that boy naked?!” Sure enough, on the corner of Como and Hamline in a slightly shaded and forested area, but still in plain sight, is a little boy apparently trying to relieve himself (we think). My wife and I quickly avert our eyes as not to stare. However, we notice that this boys parents are standing off closer to the street. What were they doing? They were laughing and pointing. Then I hear the dad (or I think it was his dad) yell, “Oh, no he’s pooping!” This boy had to be 8 or 9.

What an awkward situation, one in which you usually just whisper with your companion and laugh about a little bit later. Me? I laughed out loud for everybody to hear.

The highlight of the night was catching up with one particular classmate- Jonah is his name, and he is a vagabond. Literally. His preferred method for travel is hitchhiking and hopping freight trains. He doesn’t call any particular place home. He takes pride in being homeless.

Some background on him- He’s a genius. He was always very smart in high school. He and I often competed academically against each other. Secretly, I knew he was smarter even if I did end up with the higher GPA. That was probably because he didn’t “apply himself” when he was a freshman. Anyways, after high school he went to college, and I didn’t (at least not right away). In fact, he did six years of college and one year of grad school. He went to school to be a Pharmacist, but not just any Walgreens pharmacist. He was a pharmacist in a Pediatrics ICU in a Seattle hospital. He wrote hospital policies on drugs, attended rounds with all of the doctors, and frequently was in on decisions regarding treatment of patients. He was probably smarter than most of the doctors he worked with. Yep. That’s Jonah. A full-fledged Pharmacist that quit so he could travel the world vagabond style. And He’s still a genius.