Happy Thanksgiving!

"O give thanks to the Lord for He is good." I think Thanksgiving is in the running for my favorite holiday (Christmas is the other contender). I woke up this morning at my parents house with the aroma is turkey in the air. Homemade cinnamon rolls and coffee were on the breakfast table. Lots of family members are coming over later for Thanksgiving dinner. (I'm starting to see a theme here, and it revolves around food).

But I like the intended focus of the day -- thanking the Lord for His blessings(one of my pet peeves is when people call it "Turkey Day" rather than "Thanksgiving" -- I'm not a jerk about it, I just think people are missing the point).

So I encourage you to spend some time reflecting upon the Lord's goodness to you. I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Just Saw This -- Thought It Was Funny

Top 10 Reasons you DO NOT want Jack Bauer as your accountability partner.

I thought this was funny (courtesy of Bryan Allain's blog):

10. He refuses to speak until he’s patted you down for hidden weapons or wiretaps.

9. Tough to keep his attention when he’s constantly downloading building schematics on his phone.

8. He can’t really sympathize with your “tough week at home with the kids” because he almost died 6 times last week, and actually did die once but was revived by a stray power line that landed in his mouth.

7. He’s got television cameras following him everywhere. And insane terrorists. And the government. And an unlucky daughter.

6. He cancels half of your meetings with text messages like “Sorry cant make mtg. Undercover in Iraqi Prison making a shiv out of stale bread. Breakfast Monday?”

5. He’s always got the scent of danger and B.O. going, and it kind of makes you throw up in your mouth a little if you get too close.

4. Impossible for him to get through a meeting without jamming a needle full of truth serum into the base of your neck, which kind of hurts.

3. Too much yelling.

2. Tough to know how to respond to, “How I’m doing with God? HOW AM I DOING WITH GOD??? I KILLED 18 PEOPLE LAST NIGHT WHO WERE TRYING TO SMUGGLE A DIRTY BOMB INTO MIAMI, AND ONE OF THEM WAS MY FATHER! THAT’S HOW I’M DOING WITH GOD!”

and finally, the #1 reason you do not want Jack Bauer as your accountability partner…

1. When he finds out you’re lying to him…and he will…you’re dead.

Race Day

We had a lot of fun today, running and watching our friends/family run. The weather was perfect (cloudy and low 50's). Here are a few pics:

Richmond Race

I'm back in my old stompin' grounds in Virginia. I'll be running in the McDonalds Half-Marathon with some friends. Tracy is running the ntelos 8K, and my cousin Dave is doing the full marathon.

We have been here before (I did the full marathon in 2002 and the 8K in 2007). This is a very well organized race. We are looking forward to spending time with friends and family.

Thank a Veteran Today

Ed Stetzer

I recently started following Ed Stetzer on Twitter. This guy has some amazing insights:

* We've jazzed up the music, spiced up the sermons, and spruced up the buildings but the wheat still isn't harvesting itself.
* In church life, the people that are rocking the boat are hardly ever the ones rowing it.
* We can't experience the power of the gospel if we don't adhere to the teachings of its King.
* One cannot value the Kingdom of God & devalue the church. The church is the sign & instrument of the Kingdom.
* If you can learn to order at Starbucks, then you can learn theological language at church.
* Many churches never experience a comeback because they want the community to change while they remain the same.

Foxworthy Quote

If you ever start feeling like you have the goofiest, craziest, most dysfunctional family in the world, all you have to do is go to a state fair. Because five minutes at the fair, you'll be going, 'you know, we're alright. We are dang near royalty.'
- Jeff Foxworthy

Talking Heads

So I'm siting home alone (Mrs. Soren is at a ministers' wives retreat and the kids are at a school function). Not many sports on tv (although that psycho soccer chick from New Mexico was "must see tv" on SportsCenter). So I'm channel surfing (mostly between the news channels). Some stations are overtly conservative and others are obvious mouthpieces for the DNC. I don't think I could take of steady diet of this every night. It gets old very quickly.