Life Offline

Okay, so I'm sure everyone who sets out to create a blog as their new year's resolution runs out of steam about January 20th: things get a little busy, work starts gearing up, the usual stuff.

Then there are emails and calls reminding you that you need to write again, "we miss your stories", etc. It's late, but I think I promised someone today or yesterday that I would write tonight. So...

Business has really picked up online, and I have found myself preoccupied with web page "work" instead of "play". Steve has emerged as my fasting rising affiliate, with sales this month coming nearly every day, and often more than once a day. Sadly, they are mostly of the "Richard Simmons Disco Sweat - DVD" variety, (a payday of $1.73 fyi), but there are bigger sales, too. Not bad, considering the advertising budget for his site is $0, to my knowledge. He still remains second banana behind Mom and Dad, whose site Grand 8 Marketplace continues to generate "pennies from heaven" (as Mom calls their commission checks).

The potty training has had mixed results, though the pee-pee is nearly 100% in the potty at this point. Poo-poo is still a bit dicey, but Braden messing his pull-ups is truly an "accident" now, as the norm is going to the potty. Vocabulary this week has focused a great deal on "boke" and "fick it". Example: "Oh no Da-ee, Bay-un boke dub uh toy. Da-ee fick it?"

Austin had a very successful sleepover with a friend from school Friday night. I emphasize successful because he has tended to get antsy around bedtime in the past and call the whole thing off. But he enjoyed himself a great deal, and he and the boy he stayed with worked on some props for their "Destination Imagination" team. Too late and too tired to go into an explanation of DI - some other time. Like when I catch everyone up on the story about the anniversary cruise Austin "gave" us.

His pinewood derby car is wickedly cool, though I'm sure that is a "stupid" way to describe it. I listen to him incorporating slang and [teenage?] jargon into his daily vocabulary and it makes me want to sit in the rocking chair. Current 'fingernails on a chalkboard' expressions include "gay" meaning "anything stupid" and "dude" meaning literally anything. He says "dude" like I say "uh" when I preach - that is to say, about every 10th word or so. He is still a sweet, goofy kid though, and I cherish that sweetness because I know it has a short shelf life until the expiration date sometime around his 13th birthday.

Had an interesting meeting with the "double-secret sermon inspiration task force" at church Monday afternoon. Several members of the staff meet every Monday to give the Senior Minister ideas/stories/scriptures to use in his sermon. They met with me Monday to help me get ready for February 13th. [New working sermon title: goodandfaithfulservant.com!] Several helpful ideas, but the thing which sticks out the most was the curmudgeon of the group telling us all his theory that the Internet is the Anti-Christ.

I'm going to take a moment so you can let that sink in.



I had neither the time nor the patience to explore this theory, and the rest of the group gave him the "it's a tool, and like all tools it can be used for bad OR for good" speech, and then changed the subject. Sadly, the subject was my comparing building a successful Internet website with being a good and faithful servant of Christ, so the Internet kept coming up. [Key moment for the message: "Millions of people are searching every day - what, as Christians, can we offer to help them find what they need?]

Okay, it seems goofy reading it, but when I preach it with my finely-tuned "10% Billy Graham, 90% Gomer Pyle" delivery, there won't be a dry eye in the house!