do you know who's birthday it is?

its his, and hers. read about it here.

have y'all seen any pics of people after they have been simpsonized? here is a simpsonized pic that the site made of me when i used a pic of myself taken at the pool of my wife's best friend. what do you think?

it took me about a day and a half to get it finalized. i think about half of the u.s. were trying to simpsonize themselves along with me. it was really slow, and painstaking.

i guess you can see that i have used this version of me as my profile pic. i think it is pretty cool. i reminds me of a shirt that i just about wore thread bare when i was dating my wife. she still has it, and she plans to use it in a quilt in the future.

who is this? pt 2

here is more of the pic that i cropped in my last post. it is a pic of david beckham in his first match with his new side, mls' la galaxy. david previously had played for real madrid, and after his contract he wanted to bring his kids to disney land. well, he has created a circus in the process. in the last post i asked if you could recognize who the person was in partial pic. i had cut off part of david's head to see if anyone could recognize the torso down of him.
david was not able to play as well as he wanted to in his initial match due to his recovering from an ankle injury ... if you have ever injured an ankle you know that they don't heal in a week. also in his first match he was playing the team that has the england's side team captain on it. david previously was the team captain for the national team of england. it just so happened that terry scored the only goal for fc chelsea, and it happened to be the game winner.

below is a pic of david and his bride, victoria.

who is this?

wake up call

i feel a little embarrassed to admit this ... what i read today on the nooma site for rob bell's videos. also, because i am about to do a series of classes that are against the way i still kinda feel about where i am.

this is what i read:

How much time and energy do we spend wishing things were how they used to be? We often think about times in our past when things were different and want our lives to be like that again. Some of us have even come to believe that our best days may actually be behind us. But if we’re in some way hung up on the past, what does that mean for our lives now? How are we and those around us affected if we’re not fully present? If we’re longing for the way things used to be, what does that really say about our understanding and appreciation of our lives today? Maybe we need to learn to embrace our past for what it is, in order to live our lives to the fullest, right here, right now.

i am guilty of what that caption speaks about. the film may be about something different, but i have longed to be back in texas for almost 4 years now. i think if i moved back there i could get back in the swing of some things, but it wouldn't be "like it used to be" now would it? people change.

also, i am guilty of not appreciating what God has done for me and my family right here, right now. i am guilty of not rejoicing fully in today. that is bad in so many ways. for one reason it is bad because i am about to start a discussion class on how "everyday deserves a chance" based on the book by max lucado. how is going to look if i don't truly apply myself to what i am talking about? how would that look if i were found to be feeling totally opposite to what we are going to be discussing? maybe, its what i need to really start rejoicing in each day, and giving it what it deserves.

are you having trouble with this, too? or am i the only one?

no title needed ...

i wanted to put this video on my blog, but they have requested that embedding be disabled, so i can only give you this link. go to it and enjoy it. there are verses that you may not recognize on there ... but they are good!

here is mr. newton's original version:

Amazing grace, how sweet the sound
That sav’d a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see.

’Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
And grace my fears reliev’d;
How precious did that grace appear,
The hour I first believ’d!

Thro’ many dangers, toils and snares,
I have already come;
’Tis grace has brought me safe thus far,
And grace will lead me home.

The Lord has promis’d good to me,
His word my hope secures;
He will my shield and portion be,
As long as life endures.

Yes, when this flesh and heart shall fail,
And mortal life shall cease;
I shall possess, within the veil,
A life of joy and peace.

The earth shall soon dissolve like snow,
The sun forbear to shine;
But God, who call’d me here below,
Will be forever mine.

John New­ton, Ol­ney Hymns (Lon­don: W. Ol­i­ver, 1779)

you may also notice that there may be a verse left out. there is a verse that most of us grew up singing ... well that verse was taken from a book that has been removed from the shelves of many book stores. the verse was written by Harriet Beecher Stowe who most of you know wrote Uncle Tom's Cabin.

here is that verse that has since been added to most hymnals of today:

When we’ve been there ten thousand years,
Bright shining as the sun,
We've no less days to sing God’s praise
Than when we’ve first begun.

i don't know what made me want to write this post today ... maybe it was just something that stirred in me after reading keith lancaster's post, and seeing the video by wintley phipps' rendition.

i hope you have enjoyed this song in the past, and i hope that the words of this song, and some of the verses you have read have given you a new appreciation of the grace that has been given to us.