Where Football is Soccer

Last evening I journeyed down to Fedex Field to watch DC United take on Chelsea FC. It was greatly enjoyable. Outside of the weather being B-E-A-U-tiful, the game was good. You could tell which team was better. The match started with DCU trying to keep pace and tire Chelsea. It was working and DCU looked good while Chelsea looked flat. Until DCU scored. I have never seen a team turn it on that quickly. Within four minutes it was tied up on a WOW goal. Chelsea ended up winning the game, but that is not why I am blogging about it.

In the second half something very interesting happened. I thought that I was just dreaming or seeing things until some articles that I read said the same thing. It looked like Chelsea was running a practice with a reserve team. It was incredible. They just ran passing drills all second half. They enjoyed controlling the ball and never really gave the ball away unless they got cute. This was a match up between two major league soccer teams. Different leagues but still pros. DC United looked like pawns in Chelsea's game of chess. It was pretty cool to watch.

On a different topic, Freddy Adu looks like he is the real deal. Although at times he looked to be 16, there were many flashes of brilliance and things to come. It was cool to watch. Maybe the US will produce a good soccer star, not some lame washout like Landon Donovan. That was exciting to see as an American.

Have a great weekend.

Oh, What a Beautiful Morning

I walked outside this morning and WOW. For those of you not in the mid-Atlantic and Northeast areas of the United States except for a couple of days the last month and so has been HOT and HUMID. I am betting that 25 days of the last month were in the 90s. That is crazy. It is crazy even for this area. We will usually have a weeklong stretch or so in the 90s, but not a month.

Anyway back to my point. A couple of days ago they started forecasting that today would be in the high 70s and not humid. I was, like, 'No Way!' This morning I forgot about my previous thoughts but was looking forward to a little cooler bit of weather. Imagine my surprise when I walked out of the door and the weatherpeeps were right. I left the door and what hit me was cool and crisp air. It was so shocking to my system that I let out a verbal 'Aah'. I didn't mean to be so verbal about it, but as to not fear, no one was around and would be the wiser.

It was beautiful and is beautiful. The weather is so refreshing. There is no humidity and temps in the 70s. We might hit 80 but it really doesn't matter. It is beautiful. It is so nice after the hot and humid weather. It actually started my day off on a great foot. I came in to my very dull temp job happy, very happy. And you know what? I am still happy. Part of that is that I am going to see Chelsea Football Club take on DC United tonight in a grand soccer match, but the biggest reason is that the weather was so nice.

THANK YOU, GOD!

Like searching for a needle in a haystack

Job searching can be depressing. Over the past 14 months I have been looking for a job. Outside of a 3 month project that I had, I have not found anything. I have gone on multiple interviews and sent out scores of resumes and cover letters to companies. I still have gotten nowhere. So why is the process so horrible? It is failure after failure. It already is deemed a failure to not be carrying a job and then to get constantly rejected for jobs just piles up on that.

Another annoying thing of the job search is the 'Thank you for applying, but you stink and why in the world would you have even thought about applying for this position. Oh, and we found someboyd way better than you , so leave us alone.' I used to think that these letters were a polite way of saying 'Thanks, but no thanks'. I have now seen the light though after getting so many of these letters. They really just want you to know that you failed again, you're not good enough, and 'They found somebody who better match the skillset they were looking for.' Crap again, I tell you, crap again.

So this whole process is full of one rejection after another. I shall triumph over it one day though. Yesterday I sent out two more resumes and cover letters. They will probably lead to poop, but I shall continue to fight the good fight. Thanks for letting me release some pressure.

Do you want some Cheese with that Whine?

Why do people complain? It is annoying. I know that I do it sometimes, but some people are chronic complainers. I don't like to be around these people because all I hear is griping. They need to cheer up. Life is not that bad. Why bring down your mood along with everybody else's.

What is the purpose of complaining anyway? Nothing will get accomplished by it. If the person can control the thing you are complaining about then maybe, but still. Why can't people look on the bright side of life.

So what is my point. Be happy. You can't do much about the crappy things that happen to you anyway. You might as well look at the positive things and make the best out of any situation.

Another topic that may spawn a discussion. The Bible says 'Do not murder', not 'Do not kill'. Is there a difference?

Reflections of a Ecletic Weekend

1. I had a great weekend
2. I had two choices that would have resulted in great weekends
3. I can only be in one place at one time
4. Did you know that a dust cloud can cross the ocean
5. I like playing softball
6. 3 for 5 with a walk is good
7. 'Bewitched' is a good movie
8. Nicole Kidman is cute
9. Will Ferrel is funny
10. I like sleeping in
11. I got to play golf
12. That was great
13. I kicked Mr Shoop's butt
14. It was a beautiful weekend
15. God's creation is awesome
16. I love being outside
17. I needed a break
18. It is hard to be honest with people when you know their feelings will be hurt
19. Hot tubs are awesome
20. A hot tub in the winter, when the snow falling, with a woman would be most awesomest
21. Pool parties are fun
22. Try jumping off of a diving board and landing on a boogy board
23. Congrats to Lance Armstrong who won his 7th straight Tour de France
24. I'm a sap
25. Tennis is fun
26. God blesses me

$49 million is not enough

Terrell Owens is a jerk. Many have known that for years due to his incredibly cocky style and antics on and off the field. He also has a mouth that may just be bigger than Warren Sapp's. Now he has proven that he is a greedy jerk. After last season where he spent 6 weeks on the disabled list, but came back to play in the Super Bowl, he has decided that he is not being compensated enough for his services. Before last season he signed with the Philadelphia Eagles for $49 million over 7 years.

Over this offseason he has fired his agent and signed with even-bigger jerk, Drew Rosenhaus. This guy has more clients of his holdout than probably anybody else. Anyway, back to T.O. He was perfectly happy with his contract last year, but now it is not enough. And evidently his family is suffering with the timy contract he has now. A quote from him: "What it all boils down to is I'm going to do what's best for my family." I guess that his family cannot live on $7 million a year.

Can you believe that his ideals are that out of wack? $49 million is a lot of money and could be used to help a lot of impoverished nations, but it is not enough money to feed his family. He really needs a wake call.

So what is going to be his response to this? He is throwing a big temper tantrum. If they don't pay him, he's not coming to work. I hope that they don't trade him. I hope they fine his happy butt and sit him for his contract until he's old and slow. Maybe then he might learn to reset his priorities and ideals.

Burnout

What are the warning signs for burnout? I don't know. I probably am showing some of them too. I have been extremely busy this month. To be exact, 1 free night total. That's crazy busy. There are many days that I go to work in the morning and don't get home till after 10 pm. It is starting to wear on me. But if I can just get through this month it will get better. Will it though? I always seem to pack my schedule. I have a definite trouble saying 'no'. I am always willing to do what people want. So much so that I can't even return a phone call in a good amount of time.

I am trying my hardest not to get burned out. I try hard, but I never seem to get anywhere. Maybe it's because I am trying and not training. In small group, we are reading this book called "The Life You've Always Wanted" by John Ortberg. He is a fantastic applicational writer and I would recommend any of his books. Anyway, the chapter this week talks about training versus trying. There aer some things that we try to do that we never will accomplish by trying. The training is the necessary part. His example is a marathon. We have to train for that, we just can't try to do it. If we were to try, we would go out, start running and depending on how bad a shape your in, would drop after a few miles. Unless we get out and train we won't acomplish. Every day, running farther and farther and being dedicated to it, that is what will allow us to run the marathon. That is so true for so many things in life. We need to discipline ourselves.

So what things do you do that you try hard for but never really accomplish? Maybe it's not a lack of trying, but training. Maybe I have to practice and train myself to say no and be less busy. Then the next time I need to slow down I will be able to because I have trained myself too; not just try and fail.

What a statement

A second post to focus on an incredible statement. I like it so much I have placed it at the bottom of my blog. 'You have a footer?', you ask. Yes I do.

when our depravity meets His divinity it is a beautiful collision

God bless

I'm thankful for...

Friends: Most every Tuesday night there is a group of people that get together in a house somewhere in the world. We are apt to play a game, watch a movie or just talk. Last night we just talked. It is a very cool thing. We have added people to this group which have been great to know. Some people a few months ago, some people many years ago, but there are four of us that have known each other for 10 years. We met in our freshman year of college at good ol' Messiah College.

It's great to have people that have known you for that long. We have basically stayed in close contact fot all ten of those years. What an awesome blessing. It is comfortable. These people know me. They have seen my ups and downs. They know my good parts and my bad parts. I know theirs. We are always there for each other. I am so grateful for this blessing and will enjoy it as long as it lasts.

I am not typing this to exclude any one of my friends or those who game with us. You guys are awesome too. I just want to acknowledge a great thing that I have.

Who wants to tour France?

Evidently 100s of bicycle riders want to. This year's Tour de France is coming to a close in 5 days. Again as like the last six years, Lance Armstrong is in charge. Is this good for the sport? I doubt it. Is it good for the sport in America? Yes. Americans love Armstrong. I am glad that he conquered cancer and came back to be one of the best bike riders ever, but I am ready to see someone else win. I am glad that he is retiring after this Tour. It will be nice to follow others. Can Basso win it? Can fellow Americans, Landis or Leipheimer win it? It is time for the Tour to have some drama.

This is where I stand. Lance, I hope you win it this year. I can't wait till next year's Tour where there will be more suspense. And I also wish I hadn't lost my yellow band. DOH!

As an aside, I would like to tour France, just not on a bike.

Reflections of a bit more than a weekend

Since I haven't seen a computer since last Tuesday, this will encompass from then to now.

1. Nitetime, Ocean Waves, Standing on beach---AWESOME
2. My church youth group is awesome
3. So much love for each other
4. I don't like driving through thunderstorms
5. Especially when lightning hits 20 feet away from you
6. I didn't get thrown in the ocean
7. I did get thrown in the pool
8. I don't like beer
9. If I did, it would be the darker beers
10. The Market Cross Pub in Carlisle, PA is okay
11. It is nice to sleep in when tired
12. The Tour de France is fun to follow
13. I don't know who I want to win
14. I've seen high school relationships change the people involved in them for the worse.
15. I am glad RK jumped in after I got thrown in - it would have just been a matter of time.
16. I hate mosquitoes
17. People from Mass talk funny
18. AC seems really nice
19. It's fun to hang out with friends
20. I hate the Yankees
21. They got beat 17-1
22. It's hot
23. It's humid
24. I am still thinking
25. We have a new victim to the world of blogging
26. When you are saying nice things about many people in the room, it is nice to include everyone rather than exclude one person
27. I want to go back to the beach

Emotive Ramblings

This weekend brought back a lot of emotional feelings as I returned to my former place of residence after three years. I am glad I went but was surprised at my reactions. Also there was a lot of love in between everybody. That was great. It is something that I don't notice or get as much up here. As a commenter pointed out, even up here is more friendly than the ice-cold New England states. I notice that I don't always show many outward signs of love to my friends. I need to get better at it. I really enjoyed the love we expressed to each other on Sunday though.

Last night was VBS practice for church. It brought a question to my mind. Why as Christians do we sacrifice music because it has a good message? Shouldn't we strive to make excellent music too? Too many times in the Christian music world, somebody might write some "Godly" lyrics but the music is pure crap. That is not the way to do it. So for VBS we are doing some songs that don't sound very good just because they have a good message.

I shall take my leave from you all for a while. I am leaving tomorrow morning to drive to NJ to the beach. The youth group that I am helping with has there beach retreat there until Saturday. I hope it is much fun. I shall be back early next week.

I forgot: Congrats to those ubiquitous friends of mine who had a bouncing baby girl this morning. That's awesome.

Reflections of a Weekend in my life

1. WOW
2. Fantastic Four - good action, bad story, bad acting
3. The waitress that served me at Damon's wasn't very good
4. I got my haircut
5. The catering at Hersheypark doesn't really serve food
6. I am not sure if it was even meat
7. It's fun to take a person that is scared on a roller coaster
8. I wish Stormrunner was up more
9. It is too crowded on weekends in July at Hersheypark
10. Why did I go to church in the morning?
11. Why do I still go to my church?
12. I enjoyed going back to the DC area
13. The Sweetwater Tavern is really really good
14. It was nice to see JP again
15. Frontline was awesome
16. I miss it
17. I wish there was a good church in the Harrisburg area
18. Central Pennsylvania is too conservative for me when it comes to church
19. The music was awesome
20. The new auditorium is cool
21. It is good to worship God
22. I got to see some really good friends from down there
23. There is a lot of love between us
24. KA, you're awesome
25. A love for God is a very attractive thing
26. I am glad to see that my friends are doing well
27. I need to be more thankful for what I have been given
28. I like hugs
29. I bet I'll like kissing the right woman, too
30. The Silver Diner makes good malts
31. I wish people in the central PA were more outwardly loving and caring
32. It was a beautiful night last night
33. I am in a very pensive mood
34. I am also very relaxed
35. God is great
36. I think this is my longest reflections ever
37. God, please use me
38. I want a woman
39. SM is a good friend - he listens well
40. Honesty is the best policy
41. I am content with where God has me
42. I want more, but I am content
43. There are so many thoughts running through my head
44. I need to stop
45. It is good to reflect
46. ...

Uuuugggghhh!

Ever had a rough week and didn't really know why. This is one for me. Nothing really bad has happened. Overall many good things have happened compared to only a few irking things, yet it has still been rough. Is it because I expected too much of the week? I don't know. Small group last night didn't help. The discussion lead to some hard things and made it tought to get through. By the end of the night I was emotionally drained.

But today dawns the beginning of the weekend where I get to do many fun things like see a movie, go to Hersheypark, and visit my old church. And next week in the second half, the beach shall call my name. Woohoo.

So have a great weekend and remember to pray for your friends even if they haven't asked for it. They need it.

Why are west shore people such snots?

Here in Harrisburg, Pa we have an interesting phenomenon of being right on a river with substantial pieces of the population being on both sides. Well, there is a definite sentiment among west shore people that they are better than east shore people and therefore they don't cross the river. I myself live on the east shore and find it very annoying that people I know from the west shore won't come over to the east shore to do something. I have to go over to their side to do something. Now let me state that I don't not mind at all driving over to the west shore and enjoy it many times. BUT it does get old when I drive over to the west shore 80% of the time and west shore people come over 20% of the time.

Where does this rant come from you ask? For years the east shore had the best movie theatre in the area. Recently one that is comparable has opened up on the west shore. Suddenly, west shore people want to go to the movie theatre over there and won't come to the movie theatre on the east shore. This is an outrage I tell you. Will I give in to their demands? Probably. Should I? NO!! This will just be another activity where they refuse to drive 20 minutes over to here. Goodness sakes, I can't imagine asking those people to drive to Palmyra. That might be a 35 minute trip. Oh no.

When will the west shore people stop thinking about themselves and being selfish? When pigs fly is my guess.

What an evil Witch!

I read 'The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe' over the weekend. More specifically on Saturday. Since the movie is coming out in December and I hadn't read the book in 20ish years, I thought it would be a good idea to read about it. I remembered very little about it.

It was good. It was an easy read but a good read. Coming in at 186 pages means that it won't take you long. It is nowhere near as complicated as Tolkien's famous writings. You can easily remember who everyone is. I am not saying that either is bad, just different. Although an easy read, it was completely enthralling. I had trouble putting it down because I wanted to know what happened next. It is a very well written fairy tale. For grown-ups and kids alike.

I encourage you to read it. Books are better than movies anyway and this will give you a great background for when the movie arrives. I need to read the rest. Maybe I will set a goal to do that by the end of the year.

Reflections of a Weekend et al.

1. Stupid rock
2. Camping is awesome
3. It was beautiful outside all weekend
4. JS is a very gifted speaker
5. 'Meet the Fockers' is okay (worth a rental)
6. 'The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe' is a good book
7. It's great to have time to chill
8. Ouch
9. I am very glad that my mother isn't one of those overprotective types
10. Mountain pies are good
11. I had a butterscotch malt, caramel would have been better
12. I had a bbq on July 4, so cliche
13. It is nice to talk to friends about what is going on in their lives
14. It was nice not shaving since Friday although now it is starting to annoy me
15. Friday night was hot and humid
16. I love the water
17. Go sis, do that mission trip thang
18. I am well-rested
19. I like hammocks
20. The Relevant Magazine article on premarital sex is a good one
21. Bottles of beer on the wall
22. I have a busy week ahead

O the beauty of the earth

Have you noticed how beautiful the creation is? How brilliant the colors. It's been hitting me recently how intricate and colorful things are. A line of grass with a couple orange flowers sticking up. The beauty of it. Wow.

Also the sounds are incredible. Have you ever just closed your eyes to listen to ocean waves crashing on the beach? They sound so full and wonderful.

So this holiday weekend, get outside and enjoy the wonderful creation. It's awesome.

Also be thankful for the freedom we have been given.