Remember Quantum Leap? Sam, Al, and Ziggy; I loved those guys. Sam was always put in these situations where he had to correct or redirect something so that everything would turn out ok in the end. Often times he thought he knew exactly what he needed to do but in the end it was something completely different; something he didn’t even see coming.

I feel like Sam sometimes. I have a couple of people that I know or work with that are not Christians. I used to think that God crossed our paths so I could witness to them. So God could use me to reach out to them and help them bridge that gap to salvation. Sure, once in awhile we’ll have a semi-deep conversation; one that tap dances around the subject. I bastardize a Lee Strobel, or C.S. Lewis quote, get hung up on some “how do you explain…(fill in the blank)” question they pose in the debate, and then that’s it. It’s over. No one saved, no angels partying in Heaven. Then I think what is it, why did our lives connect? What am I supposed to do? How am I supposed to help this poor lost soul? Then it happens, that Quantum Leap, “Oh, Boy!” moment, I end up being me. I do something so human like; engage in gossip, talk like a long shoreman, tell a little white lie, something very “Jon”. And that’s when I figure out the purpose of this providential relationship. Because I find myself looking in to a large mirror that God placed in the hands of this unsaved person, while they call me out on the contradictions they just observed from this Christian.

I wasn’t placed here to get the girl to fall in love with the farm vet. It was to get the young Buddy Holly to write “Peggy Sue” not “Piggie Sue”. (If you get the reference, than you are a Quantum Leap Super Geek too.)

I'm not sure who is creepier...

H.A.L. from 2001
or
Ben from LOST

I think these kind of bad guys are far worse than
Freddie, Jason, or Michael Myers

May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind always be at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
and rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of His hand.

May those that love us, love us.
And those that don't love us,
May God turn their hearts.
And if He doesn't turn their hearts,
May He turn their ankles
So we will know them by their limping.

May you get to Heaven a half hour before the Devil knows you're dead.

HAPPY SAINT PATRICK'S DAY

Not Funny:

-When your son is completely disrespectful to his mom by telling her to stop talking as she is lecturing him about his bad behavior. Then dad lays in to him, for talking to his mom that way, and dad threatens to start taking crap out of his room and throw it away if he keeps it up.

Funny:

-Son interrupts dad to ask what "crap" means.

I guess I should be happy he doesn't know that word (or should I say didn't know that word). 

I'm thinking...this season rocks.

This is why I watch...


She rocks! She's gorgeous but doesn't dress trashy or sexy. Very innocent. Love her with or without a guitar or piano. I would pay money to watch her play in some small intimate venue.

Dude rocks it. LOVED last weeks song, that's one of my fav songs, (kids listen to Shrek II soundtrack over and over and over in the car, that's how I know it) and he's so un-selfaware and inward, very powerful. Also good for a small intimate venue.

She's cool. Not a typical Idol, but very good. Like the rocker chick thing going on. Like the Irish accent. She'll be on for awhile.

Never thought twice about him until tonight. Loved the whole jug band thing. Not as much stage presence as some of the others. And I just like saying his name, say it with me... "Chikezie"...wasn't that fun?

She's a Hoosier and so am I, so she's got that going for her. In the end...too rocker chick for me. She's comfortable on stage and looks like she's having fun. Won't be in the top five but she'll entertain for several weeks.

What the heck happened tonight. He's amazing for a Junior in high school, but too young and "show choir" for me.

Does well. So-so tonight. He'll be around for awhile, not my favorite.

Really good. Loved the Lionel Richie song the other week. In general not my style of singer. Really turned off my the blue nail polish on the video tonight. Hair looks too styled.

Pretty, but tired of hearing that she's an actress. Very amaturish on stage. No real presence. Would never buy a ticket to hear her sing. Very forgettable.

I'm sure I will really enjoy his show...when I see it sipping a Pina Colada on the Lido deck in the middle of the Pacific. Good Bye already!

Go back to the Karaoke lounge! Bo-ring!

Ba-Bye!

We went geocaching today after church. We hadn't gone in a long time and it was so much fun. First of all, if you don't have clue what I'm taking about here's the deal. It's basically a GPS treasure hunt with maps online. People all over the country, make that the world, hide these "treasures", usually in a park.
First they get some kind of container, like a coffee can, tupperware, or ammo box and camouflage it.

After that they put in some junkie swag like little army men, plastic necklace, bouncy balls, poker chips, or whatever and a pen and small note pad.

Once you've got a spot and your treasure, mark the waypoints in your handheld GPS and log it on the web site with a brief description and any hints you might want to leave. Once the webmasters have checked out your spot (they make sure it's not on private property or too close to another one) they post it and everyone can go look for it.

So what we do is look for ones close to the house and enter in the coordinates in the GPS. Then we go look for it. The GPS can get you within about 5-15 feet of the exact location. So once we get the general idea of where it is we all start looking, riffling through bushes and lifting up rocks. But beware of muggles (non-geocachers that might find the treasure)! After we find it we open up the container to see what's inside and swap trinkets. The kids wear fanny packs full of junk and they each pick an item to take and something to replace it with. We then log that we where there on the note pad and when we get home we can log the find on the website and leave a comment if we wish. It is so much fun and you would not believe how many parks and beaches have caches hidden in them. It has taken us to some parks in the middle of neighborhoods and in other cities that we would never have seen if it wasn't for geocaching.

We've yet to hide a treasure of our own. That's what the kids really want to do. We tried once but the spot was filled with homeless guys that slept in the bushes and any other spot we think of is taken.

Today it took us to Talbert Nature Preserve. It was a gorgeous day. We loaded the bikes up in the van and headed out. We found two of the three we were looking for (there are actually several more in that park alone). It's a really cool park, bordered by Estancia High School and the Santa Ana River. There are lots of hills and different terrains. A big area where radio controlled planes fly, soccer fields, big mounds of dirt that kids ride dirt bikes all over. This was Dylan's favorite part. He was all over the hills. All in all it was a good day. The Michells' highly recommend you give geocaching a try!

Did you notice the book Locke gave to Ben? I did, so I looked it up. Interested? Click her to find out more...

...Starve a Cold. Or is the other way around? I'm never sure. What I do know is that whenever I get sick the one thing that really sounds good is a grilled cheese sandwich (or a cheese toastie, as they were called growing up in Indiana) and tomato soup. But no fancy, kick it up a notch, Emeril version! Campbell's condensed soup and wheat bread with two slices of american cheese. It's the best!

What's your "I feel lousy and this is the only thing that sounds good" food?