Archive for December, 2007
Christmas Wrap-Up…
December 31st, 2007 | No Comments | Posted in » My Life, Pictures
So… Christmas. Only a week ago already. And I’m just now getting around to posting a wrap-up of it all… 
It’s been nice being on vacation… vacation from work… but also vacation from blogging, computers, internet, e-mail, and phone calls. Just spending quality time with my beautiful wife and awesome kids has been great. Most people would say that’s what Christmas is about, right? Family?
Well, not quite. Christmas is solely about the birth of the Christ-child, Jesus. We add on a bunch of other stuff… lights, trees, presents, Santa, reindeer, family get-togethers, parties… you name it… but when all is stripped away and we get back to the root of Christmas… it’s about the miraculous birth of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world, born to rescue us from sin:
11Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. (Luke 2:11)
So, you ask me about Christmas and its highlight for me?
You’d find it on Christmas Eve with Nancy and the kids. We read the real Christmas story, straight from Matthew 1:18-2:12. and Luke 2:1-20. The kids re-enacted it with their Little People Nativity Set. I listened as Jeffrey told me about it all. And we all prayed, thanking God for sending Jesus to us.
Yeah… that’s Christmas.
Of course, I loved looking at the tree on Christmas Eve… I loved watching my kids unwrap their gifts… and I loved watching their eyes light up as they discovered all the great things Santa had brought. As you would guess, we took some video, and got some great photos… preserving moments I’ll cherish for the rest of my life. And yes… I even got some good stuff too.
But Christmas? These things, while great, were just the icing on the cake, providing extra memories that sweeten the holiday further. Christmas is still about Jesus, first and foremost.
He’s something for which I’ll be ETERNALLY thankful.
I pray the same is true for all of you.
It Could be a Long Season… Finale.
December 30th, 2007 | No Comments | Posted in » KC Chiefs
For the entirety of the Chiefs season, I’ve blogged after every game with the title, “It Could be a Long Season”.
I should have scratched that title around week 12. It HAS been a long season!
Mercifully, it’s over now. We lost in overtime today, 13-10 to the equally bad New York Jets… ironically… Herm’s last team, which also finished at 4-12. It was one of the ugliest games I’ve seen.
I really don’t need to say much about today’s game, though… as with the last couple weeks, we haven’t learned anything new about this team’s faults or needs. We lost due to the same problems we’ve been fighting all year… lack of a decent running game… horrific offensive line play… critical defensive breakdowns… poor special teams… coaching and play-calling which both leave a lot to be desired.
So we go into the off-season full of questions:
- Will Brodie Croyle develop into a decent NFL quarterback?
- Will we be able to rebuild our offensive line?
- Can we find some decent YOUNG cornerbacks to replace overpaid dinosaurs Surtain and Law?
- Will our defense develop enough consistency to stop opponents in the clutch when we really need them to most?
- Who will replace Eddie Drummond as return man? (Granted, just about anyone would be a step up!)
- Can Larry Johnson bounce back from injury and return to pro-bowl form of 2005 and 2006?
- Will we find some decent receivers to complement Tony Gonzalez and Dwayne Bowe?
- Will we replace Mike Solari as offensive coordinator?
- Is Herm really the guy to rebuild the Chiefs, given the major steps backwards we took this year?
- What is Carl Peterson’s future? Will Clark Hunt maintain course, hoping Carl can right the ship, or will he shake things up to keep fan interest high in anticipation of stadium renovations?
- Are we headed back to the misery of the late 70’s and 80’s, or was this down year simply a result of a rebuilding process that will lead to the heights of the early 90’s?
I’m sure there are more.
The bottom line is that this will be a very interesting off-season. Faces will change dramatically, and the free-agency period and draft should be an exciting time.
No one knows what we will look like next year.
Here’s hoping next season is long for an entirely different reason than this one.
It Could be a Long Season… Episode 15.
December 23rd, 2007 | 2 Comments | Posted in » KC Chiefs
What’s to say about my Chiefs? We lost to Detroit. Yes, Detroit.
4-11. Completely ridiculous.
Worst of all about today’s game? It was a total waste, as we learned nothing about whether Brodie is really our QB for the future. After receiving some sort of injury to the right hand trying to make a tackle after a horrible throw led to a pick-six interception, Brodie spent the majority of the game on the bench, leaving us with the pure joy of watching journeyman Damon Huard to do his best statue impersonation in the pocket.
So what else isn’t new?
Eddie Drummond stinking it up on special teams. Chiefs offensive linemen getting burnt for sacks. Critical defensive breakdowns. Dwayne Bowe making the spectacular catch, but dropping the routine ones. And of course, the one thing I really appreciate seeing consistently… future Hall of Famer Tony Gonzalez playing his heart out.
The bottom line, pretty much for the entire season? We need a LOT of help, starting with an offensive line. We could use a couple good wide receivers (Kennison, as much as I like him, is washed up… Parker is horribly inconsistent… and Webb is still a big question mark), not to mention a couple young cornerbacks (Law and Surtain are simply old and slow), a return man, and a kicker. And of course there’s quarterback, which remains a big question mark simply because we can’t keep Brodie in the game long enough to find out anything about him.
We may end this season on a 9-game losing streak. The Jets (coming up next week) really have stunk it up this season, but we’re playing about as poorly as anyone right now.
Favorite Christmas Song?
December 20th, 2007 | 3 Comments | Posted in » Christian Living, My Life, Song of the Day
Yesterday I asked about your favorite Christmas Scripture (or at least which one really speaks to you this year).
How about Christmas songs? What’s at (or at least near) the top of your playlist this year?
For me, it’s either, “Born in Bethlehem”, or “Jesus, Light of the World”, both by Third Day, found on their Christmas Offerings album (tracks 3 and 7 respectively). Check out some of these lyrics:
Born in Bethlehem
Baby Jesus, born in a stable
A humble Savior’s birth
You left Your throne in Heaven above
To live here on the earthBaby Jesus lying in a manger
Crying for the world
The angels told the shepherds of
The good news for us allHallelujah, the King is here
Given for all men
For today, the holy Son of God
Is born in BethlehemCome now sinners and you saints
All peasants and all kings
And bow before the earth’s Redeemer
Let all voices singHallelujah, the King is here
Given for all men
For today, the holy Son of God
Is born in BethlehemBaby Jesus, do you know
You’ll die for all our sins
Don’t be afraid, for in three days
You will rise again
You will rise again
Jesus, Light of the World
The most beautiful night of the year
All the stars light up the sky
And the city is sparkling with silver and gold
From a million points of light
A reflection of something that’s deeper within
Just a flicker of something moreJesus, Light of the World
Shine through the darkness
Bright as the day
Jesus, Light of the World
Shine in our hearts
Show us the way tonightWho is this child in a manger?
Kings bow down and angels sing
The Lord of the Universe
Has come here to save us
A precious Offering
All the heavens above and the earth below
Are filled with the light of Your loveJesus, Light of the World
Shine through the darkness
Bright as the day
Jesus, Light of the World
Shine in our hearts
Show us the way tonightJesus, Light of the World
Shine through the darkness
Bright as the day
Jesus, Light of the World
Shine in our hearts
Show us the wayJesus, shine, shine
Show us the way
Light of the world
Shine in our hearts
Show us the way tonight,
Oh, Show us the way tonight
It’s not hard to figure out why these are high on my list, given how vividly clear the thought of Jesus as an infant has been to me this year. Both songs clearly focus on our Savior’s birth and the meaning of His birth… yeah… Christmas at its very root.
How about you? What Christmas songs are especially meaningful to you this year?
Favorite Christmas Verse?
December 19th, 2007 | 2 Comments | Posted in » Christian Living, Devotions / Bible Studies, My Life
Just out of curiosity… does anyone have a favorite Scripture passage about Christmas?
This Christmas season, I find myself kind of partial to Luke 2:11-12:
11Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. 12This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.
Maybe it’s just that I have three kids, and that I’ve held each of them many many hours while they were infants, but there’s just something very real to me envisioning the newborn Savior, Jesus. Lying there in a manger or being held by Mary… the tiny, sweet, innocent, and perfect Christ-child. Born to save the world, Jesus, our precious gift from God… there with all His earthly life ahead of Him.
I don’t know what it is about the image I have in my head as I read the passage, nor can I really put it into words… it’s just, well… Christmas. Perfect as God intends.
How about you? What passage or verse sticks out in your mind as you consider Christmas? Why is it so special to you?
Sick Kids…
December 16th, 2007 | 1 Comment | Posted in » My Life, Prayer Requests
To top off the fun we’ve had with ice and snow recently, we’ve now got three sick kids.
Please pray that Jeffrey, Jenna, and Allison would get well within the next couple days. Jeffrey is especially upset about it, not only because it means he’ll miss school tomorrow (he loves preschool!), but also because it may mean he’ll have to miss his school Christmas program. The kids in his class have been working hard to learn “O Come All Ye Faithful”, and he has really been looking forward to it.
It Could be a Long Season… Episode 14.
December 16th, 2007 | No Comments | Posted in » KC Chiefs
I could say a lot of things about today’s game. Honestly, though? There’s not a lot to get too worked up about.
You see, the Chiefs dropped another one (nothing new, unfortunately), attributable to their usual culprits… critical defensive breakdowns and poor special teams. About the only thing I can’t point to as a major factor in the loss was the offensive line. They actually opened a few holes for the running game, and did a decent job protecting Brodie. How’s that for a change?
I’m baffled by only one thing today… Eddie Drummond. Certainly not his play (it’s been awful all season)… I just can’t figure out why in the world he was back returning punts and kicks again today. He’s absolutely horrible… the fumbled punt (my wife said she could have caught it) was simply pitiful, and the 0 yard return to the three was simply sad.
Defense? Well… same story different day. At times, spectacular… at others, atrocious. It’s maddening, especially given that this is supposed to be our strength.
Brodie Croyle? He looked decent for most of his fourth start. Most throws he made today were on the money, with just a few he’d want back (the interceptions being the biggest). It’s just a shame he didn’t get a little more help from the rest of his team today… D-Bowe dropped the first pass of the game, an absolutely beautiful deep strike that hit him in the hands that might have gone for six. Holding penalties nullified several other big gains. He continues to make strides forward (you’ve gotta accept that he’s gonna make a few bad throws and decisions). I still think he’s got a chance to be something special for the Chiefs.
Anyway, yeah… 4-10… seven straight losses (5 at home!)… in line for a high draft pick. Who’d have thought we’d be THAT bad?
Iceland… Diminishing!
December 13th, 2007 | No Comments | Posted in » My Life
With a title like that, you’d think this would be about global warming.
WRONG… how about something a bit more real when it comes to peril to humanity… the ice storm here in Iceland northwest Missouri?
Yeah.
Day 3 brought us temperatures, yes, amazingly enough, above freezing! And sunshine!
Good for thawing out our ice-coated area, of course… but BAD for power outages.
Most people don’t realize it, but ice coming OFF power lines is usually as bad (if not worse) for causing outages than ice developing ON lines. It’s especially bad on the transmission system. What happens is basically this… ice loading on all wires on a power line stretches and sags the lines equally, so adequate spacing is maintained. When ice comes off the lines, it generally doesn’t come off all at the same time. Big chunks fall off… the lower lines spring back, and the wires contact each other, forcing breakers to trip on the line ends, knocking out power to complete substations (which often serve hundreds, even thousands of customers). When ice is widespread, this causes major issues for the system, as outages can occur all over. Thankfully, there’s generally not a lot of additional damage, but it does put people in the dark again, at least temporarily.
So that was my life today… watching the system, helping direct crews and restore power as ice-related outages spread across our system. Not necessarily physically hard work, but certainly hectic and draining.
As you might imagine, three days of ice has me feeling pretty worn out… not because it’s been bad at home due to lack of electricity (it hasn’t… we’ve been fortunate to keep it for the entirety of this)… not because we’ve had a busy household with friends staying with us (in fact, it’s been a majorly good time)… not even because we had a household full of college students from the Missouri Western Baptist Student Union tonight (we’re glad to be able to host them)… but simply because ice storms make for some stressful days of utility work, and I’m worn down. VERY worn down.
Anyway, yeah. Here’s hoping and praying we’ve seen the worst of this and that life can get back to normal for everyone soon. Snow is forecasted for tomorrow, and we just don’t know what that will bring.
Keep praying for the region!
(Sorry there’s no pictures today… I left in the dark for work, and returned after dark!)
Iceland, Continued…
December 12th, 2007 | 1 Comment | Posted in » My Life, Pictures
When I wrote yesterday, St. Joseph was experiencing the beginning of a severe ice storm. 24 hours later, the rain finally stopped (after dumping almost 2 inches of precipitation), and we were left with a nice coating of ice blanketing everything.
Obviously, this much ice is bad news for a town that’s been around as long as St. Joseph has… there are a lot of older trees that, with ice loading, are wreaking havoc on the electric power system here. Damage to the power system from ice, primarily due to tree branches, left roughly 90% of St. Joseph residents without electricity. I don’t know what the percentages are for the entire area, but it’s definitely a significant figure.
The good news in all of this? Somehow, we were one of the fortunate ones to have electricity still flowing to our home.
Needless to say, this is a great development. While I’m at work helping with this mess (I work for an electric utility in the area), I don’t have to worry about Nancy and the kids staying warm. Additionally, we’re able to share our home with friends, so they’re staying nice and warm as well. We’ve got seven kids ages five and under running around, and six adults. Talk about busy! It’s definitely good though… the kids are having a blast together, and once they’re in bed, we adults are having some good laughs as well. We’ll all remember this for a long time.
Anyway, a post about an ice storm just wouldn’t be complete without a couple pictures, so here’s a couple I shot yesterday morning, about halfway through the storm.
Welcome to Iceland… er, St. Joe.
December 11th, 2007 | No Comments | Posted in » My Life, Pictures
Well, it’s just after midnight here in Iceland St. Joe, and the ice storm has been going strong for over four hours.
As you can see from the view out our front porch, it’s beautiful outside. Beautiful… unless you like electricity or have to travel.
Here’s hoping and praying we can keep power through the night. Given that I work for an electric utility, tomorrow may be a long day.
