Get Ready for your Egg Roll Competition

I strongly encourage you to begin this fantastic Easter tradition for all ages. Let me know if you do it this year: http://brentthomaslive.blogspot.com/2008/04/thomas-egg-roll-competition-2008.html

Killing Time with the Fam

Here are some of the 'funner' things we've done as a family over the Christmas break. Some are traditions, some 'r not...

• Take one of the FREE personality or intelligence tests at Testdex. Compare results.
• Share a Christmas eve Breakfast. Turk on the TV comedy Scrubs calls this 'Brinner'.
• Open one present on Christmas eve and the rest on Christmas morning.
• Take a picture of the "present" that Shamus left for us under the Christmas tree.
• Play speed Scrabble.
• Play Amy Grant's Christmas album and see how long it takes for Shannon to complain.
• Catch a movie.
• Play Nerts.
• Play Upwords.
• Play Rummikub.
• Read the Christmas Story, of course.
• When the kids were little we'd build a fort out of a refrigerator box, build a mattress slide down the stairs, build a fort with blankets and couch cushions, play indoor tackle football with Dad, get bumped onto the couch cushions on the floor.
  
• Cook and bake experimental goodies (usually they're Very Good!).
  
• This year I'd like to deliver some of those experimental goodies to neighbors.

What do you do with your family at Christmas?

Thomas Egg Roll Competition 2008

Some family traditions have staying power. We've been doing our Easter Egg Roll competition for about 30 years; most of those years with the Brannans. All ages enjoy it!
How do you do an Easter Egg Roll competition? Four Easy steps:

1. Pick your own hard boiled egg.
2. Roll it at your opponents egg on the count of three.
3. Repeat #2 until a piece of shell falls off of one of the eggs.
4. The winner gets to move up to the next round.

Of course trash talk starts heating up weeks in advance (so much for Lent). We create competition brackets on a poster, lay down dark bath towels on our dining room table, unfurl the Easter table cloth that everyone signs each year, and we provide prizes for the winner.
The Finale? We take our cracked eggs outside, lay the winners egg on the ground and we pelt the SNOT out of the winning egg until it is demolished! Sweet Revenge!
Phil Young, engaged to a Thomas opponent Jackie Brannan, won the competition for the 2nd year in a row! For you novices, this has Never happened before in the history of the Egg Roll competition. I think Phil is a RINGER, so I'm appealing this "win" to Doug Lewis, Chairman of the International Rules Committee in Cameroon, West Africa. Doug is a missionary and past participant in our Egg Roll.
Rules that apply:
NO Juiced eggs allowed.
No altered eggs allowed.
Handle opponents' eggs gently.
I'll post a video in another post when You Tube isn't down for maintenance.

C'mon Already, It's Only a Vacation!

I started writing this in the middle of the night to my kids, but I thought I would share it with my one or two blog readers as well.

Hi Family,
I know that we don’t have to explain ourselves to you, but something has plagued me about our trip to Hawaii.
Bottom line, for months I had been hoping for an extended sabbatical from church but the search process for the new youth guy wasn’t letting that happen. So we reassessed and took the long vacation instead. I got permission to get away for 3 weeks. With the cheaper airfares we got, we felt that we both could use the emotional break from the load of ministry and to have the chance to re-calibrate. The downside of using vacation time and resources for this was that we couldn’t include you kids with us. Aligning all of our schedules was also a big barrier to making something like this work for all of us.
Yes, I know each of you would say that mom and I don’t need to have all of our vacation plans work around you all. But on the other hand, stretching the proverb, “Better is a little where there is love than eating steaks where there is strife.” We didn’t have strife on our vacation, but we did have plenty of “steaks” that could have been richer with you to enjoy them with us. Frequently, mom and I would say things like, “Wouldn’t it be hilarious to watch Kyle break into an imitation of the hula dancers?” or, “Shannon would probably say this about now, and it would crack us up.” Or, Megan would love to be in NATURE like this.” Sharing experiences bonds people. I want more shared experiences with you.
Also, my gift of Thomas Welsh-ness made it hard to spend money like we did. We were frugal to a point, but Hawaii isn’t a cheap vacation destination. Yes, we’ve saved for something like this for 10 years and we have the empty-nest freedom to go and do things. Again, I wouldn’t trade our experiences for the world, but I am led by God and conscience to balance the money we spent on ourselves with a more earnest resolve not to make self-directed spending a habit or a focus. I really did return, thinking about the poor more and how empty it would be to have lots of money to simply spend on oneself to accumulate experiences for oneself. This self-orientation simply amplifies the loneliness we try to conceal with money. I’m reminded of how easy it is to plan out our future self-indulgences so that we always have something to look forward to that will hopefully bring some relief to our drab, wintry drudgery.
The dozens (hundreds?) of tents of homeless people on the beach 15 minutes away from one of the world's most luxurious resorts has etched itself into my mind. We found that our resort management won’t refer its guests to any business that would cause people to drive past these homeless encampments. This is understandable from a business image perspective, but it’s really sad to me.

You might think, why is Dad so evaluative about a vacation? Can’t he just enjoy a time away? Yes I can and I did. I just wanted each of you to have a glimpse into my soul. I hope you’re not sick of these Proverbs, but here’s one that started me on this rant:

Proverbs 15:21 (NASB)

Folly is joy to him who lacks sense,

But a man of understanding walks straight.

My Paraphrase:

Screwing around and random activities make the fool happy;

But even the recreation of the wise is purposeful and yields good results.

aaah, Giordano's

We landed in Orlando and, while Sue was picking up the rental car, I was browsing the tourist rack. Somehow, while flipping through a coupon book, a subliminal thought was planted firmly in my cerebral cortex, “Must have Giordano’s pizza. Must have Giordano’s pizza.”

So while dining on the best of seafood all week long in Florida, I was privately lusting for Giordano’s pizza. I even double checked our hotel room’s Daytona Beach Yellow Pages listing under ‘PIZZA’. No listing for Giordano’s in Daytona. I re-checked online through Anywho.com but to no avail. I even quizzed the locals in hopes that some enterprising, pizza-savvy investor had somehow quickly constructed a Giordano’s restaurant in Daytona and it didn’t show up on the radar of the ubiquitous Yellow Pages and online directories. Conclusion: No Giordano’s in Daytona. The closest culinary heaven was in Orlando; 70 miles away.

So, as the week wore on, being the good Christian that I am, I graciously deferred to Jonathan, Jessica and others in their selection of sub-par, non-Giordano’s eateries. As you can imagine, the anticipation was quietly building for our return to my pizza Mecca, Orlando.

Finally, as with all addictive behaviors, I was leading my traveling companions to think that Giordano’s wasn’t really that important to me. And, at week’s end, on the ride back to Orlando’s airport I maneuvered myself to ride shotgun with the job of navigator. I now had FULL control over our itinerary back to the Orlando airport. No one would know that I was directing us to Southwest Orlando (the closest Giordano’s) while the airport was located in far East Orlando. Timing was going to be tight, however. We only had about 45 minutes to rush in, eat, and get on the way to meet our flight. “Okay,” I told myself, “if the Giordano’s management is on the ball, we should have enough time.” I reluctantly resigned myself to the fact that I may not have the necessary time to Savor the pizza.

We found the exit and moved through the 3^rd stop light, which had just, for some reason, blacked out. We spotted the Glorious Giordano’s Pizza sign. I was calm on the outside, but giddy on the inside as Sue snagged a parking spot uber close to the restaurant’s front door. We passed a couple just finishing their meal on the front patio. They looked so happy. We walked inside looking for quick service. In a Sherlock Holmsian kind of way, I noticed very few patrons and a full grouping of staff. Quick service should be no problem. However, with my heightened sense of awareness, I also observed that no lights were on in the restaurant. Just at that moment, my world came crashing in as the hostess apologetically announced, “We’re sorry, but the power just went out in the area and we will not be able to serve you.”

With the agility of cloud in the night sky (my family loves to use meaningless metaphors) my mind snapped into action. Now, in problem-solving mode, I asked the hostess, “Surely the gas ovens still work?” My desperation was now exposed as the hostess reassured me that, as soon as the power came back on, we could be served. She gently asked if we would like to be seated. Realizing that waiting was out of the question, my mind shifted into high gear, ultra fast computing mode. My CPU was presenting me with multiple options in a simultaneous blur. I was rapid-fire-sequencing huge amounts of raw data, and alternately assessing the probabilities of each proposed solution. Running from the lowest probability solution to the highest my mind captured the stark reality of our plight. We could:

Option 1: Quickly call the airline and book a later flight.

Option 2: Take our chances and wait for the power to return (Sue nixed this option as too risky)

Option 3: Beg for leftover pizza from other patrons.

We resorted to Option 3. Begging for pizza was not below me. And actually we didn’t really beg. We just stood outside discussing our situation loudly enough for the couple on the patio to hear us. This wonderfully angelic couple offered us their still-in-the-pan lukewarm pizza. We responded with the obligatory, “I’m sorry, we couldn’t take your pizza. Certainly you would want to take it home with you?” They then replied with the culturally-sensitive insistent comeback, “No, really, we ordered too much and we won’t take it to our hotel.” I think that’s what I heard as I was darting back into the restaurant to get a carry out box.

After thanking the couple profusely for the 3 pieces of who-cares-what-was-in-it pizza, we forced 5 bucks into their hands to prove we weren’t beggars. Being the good Christian I am, I didn’t want to overtly disappoint the others by mentioning the fact there were only 3 pieces of pizza but there were 4 of us. As we returned to our car, I may have carefully reminded Sue that she should watch her calories. I thought this ploy might cause her to restrict herself to eating only one piece of the spoils.

Still in a time crunch, we anxiously looked for a quick food restaurant with its light on. You see, the pizza remains were Mine. But, being the good Christian I am, we wanted to find some food for the others. In a low-brow kind of way, we smuggled my prize into Chile’s restaurant under my coat, ordered drinks and some chow for the others. And, being the good Christian I am, I offered to pray quickly before the other food arrived so that some of us could go ahead and eat while some warmth was left in the leftover pizza.

So, with eager trembling hands, I gnawed my way to ecstasy. Engorged on one and a half pieces of that thick crusted delight, and being the good Christian I am, I offered a leftover bite for Jonathan and Jessica to share.

Now, in hindsight, and under the unhindered conviction of God’s Holy Spirit, I feel that I owe a Giordano’s pizza to Jonathan and Jessica. As I told Sue, we need to mail order a shipment of Giordano’s pizza and invite Jonathan and Jessica over for dinner. We will fellowship over pizza and assuage my conscience (and my appetite), being the good Christian I am.

My Daughter One-Upped President Jimmy Carter

Shannon got us some face time with former President Jimmy Carter at a reception before she escorted him onto the University of Iowa Carver Hawkeye Arena stage. My daughter eloquently introduced the 39th president to about 10,000+ onlookers. Although she kind of whipped up her 2 minute presentation that afternoon, she delivered it with conviction and poise.
How does she do it? I remember I was wetting-my-pants nervous when I read a few Bible verses at my college graduation. Of course I'm mildly biased, but here she was, giving a more moving speech in 2 minutes than Jimmy did in 20 minutes! She talked about getting involved. I was about ready to become a democratic activist!
Okay...here's a Presidential Peanut Quiz.

1. Guess what President Carter uses for toothpaste?
2. What one thing would Pres. Carter have done differently during his presidency?
3. How can evangelicals wonder how other evangelicals can vote for a democrat?
4. How can a 2 minute speech be more moving than a 20 minute talk by a former President?
   

I'll post the answers and a family pic with President Carter on later post.

Tough Times

My Dad had a really rough week last week. He's having trouble with his kidneys. So we placed him in the hospital. He's doing much better but I would appreciate it if you could throw up some prayers on our behalf. My Dad's an awesome guy and I hate to see him suffer. Isaiah 26:3 has been rolling around in my mind this past week...

"You will keep in perfect peace
him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you."