For anyone who has ever accused 24 of “jumping the shark,” I say you must not be a true fan. If you were, you’d realize that the Jack Bauer rollercoaster was just plummeting down a hill, and there’s another twist just around the corner. Exhibit A: The phone call at the end of this week’s episode. Congratulations to all the 24 Forum posters who accurately predicted that Audrey in fact wasn’t “died,” but that she would be back soon (I wonder how you ever figured that one out.)

Another memorable line that will live in the annals of 24 – in the previews for next week, when Jack asks Wayne to send someone to get Audrey, and Wayne says no, Jack says, “you owe me.” My opinion? Jack should get anything he asks for – and a lobster dinner on the side.

From a Roman prison, Paul wrote in his letter to the church at Philippi, "I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am." We usually read that verse and say, "aw, that's nice," and then move on through the rest of the letter. How often do we stop and think about what Paul was saying then - and what God has for us to learn from it today? "I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am."

Since I got my driver's license in 1995, I have owned six different vehicles. I've worked at four part-time jobs over the last ten years (switching between two of them a couple different times), and I have looked or applied for a different job each year since I started teaching. If my wife would let me, I'd try to find a different house every other year. For some reason, I'm never content - always wanting something new . . . something different . . . something better.

Over the last seven months, my blog has been an ever-evolving creation. Not happy with the original template I chose (mostly because it was a two-column design and I wanted three), I set out to find a custom template from the Internet. When I finally found one I liked, I started tweaking it to add new features and create just the right look for me. When I ran into limitations with the template's structure, I went searching for codes I could use to bypass certain features that couldn't be turned off or modified.

The biggest challenge I've run into so far has been getting rid of the generic header with title and subhead and replacing it with my own graphic. Today, I finally accomplished it! It was a VERY easy fix - I just had to change the fixed value to 'true' and then I was able to remove it on the page elements screen and add the picture. (I also had to figure out how wide to make the pic - just a little trial and error.) Now I can change the picture whenever the notion strikes - until I get exactly what I'm looking for.

Yesterday, I discovered Shelfari - a free online book community where you can set up groups and share lots of information about the books you own, maintain a top-ten list, current reading list, wishlist, and more . . . I really haven't explored that much about it. What I like about it is that you can share your list on your blog - and it uses the actual picture of the book cover. What I haven't figured out is how to share two different lists on the same blog. I want to share my bookshelf AND the books I'm currently reading . . . but I'm still working on that one. Until I figure that out, you can click on the link above the bookshelf to go to my personal Shelfari page.

Where will I go from here? Who knows! Every day I think of new features I could add and design changes that could improve the look and function. As long as the blog stays active, it will continue to change.

Change . . . you either love it or you hate it. You either long for it or you resist it. Paul said that he learned to be content. Contentment does not come naturally. I'm at a point in my life where I'm not very content at all. When I think about the size of my house or certain aspects about my job, it's really easy for me to start complaining and long for something better. Will I ever be content with what I have? No. I'll always want something bigger, newer, better. I have to remember the great things I already have - a wonderful wife, a beautiful daughter, countless friends, the love of God . . . and I have to learn to be content.

My wife has never been an avid fan of my cooking. I make a chicken and potatoes dish that she loves, but that's about all. For a few years, she has been very reluctant to let me fire up the grill. I have, on occasion, hosted barbeques and received compliments on my grilling ability, but she is still concerned that I will overcook the food (she likes it blood).

Monday afternoon, we started walking. We drove to town and parked in the armory parking lot. We walked up West College to Marshall; Marshall to West Marvin; West Marvin to South Wood. Then we turned around and took West Marvin back to South Main; South Main to West College; West College back to the armory. Our forty-five minute walk was very refreshing and we decided we would commit to doing it every afternoon (if possible).

Monday, as we were coming down West College on the home stretch, we smelled someone grilling. It was a wonderful smell - as though spring were making its debut. Since we already had ham and beans in the crock pot at home, we decided we wouldn't change the meal plan but we would lay out some pork steaks to grill on Tuesday.

After our walk on Tuesday, we decided to drive the route we had been walking to see just how far we were actually going. My wife thought we may have walked 1.3 miles; I told her it was probably more like 1.5. Don't trust us to judge distances! When we pulled back into the armory parking lot, we had gone exactly 2.3 miles. Wow . . . were we impressed - but not nearly as impressed as Jessica was with my grilled pork steaks! And she made some awesome smashed potatoes to go with them!

Yesterday was our third day to walk and my second day to grill. After school, I went to Wal-Mart to pick up some pictures, and while I was there I bought a bag of Sweet Tart jelly beans. On the way home, I stopped at Sonic to pick up our daily Route 44 lemon slushes. By the time Jessica and Ella were home, I had my candy and slush in hand and I was ready to walk!

Halfway through our walk, Jessica flipped out because I was eating candy, so she grabbed the whole bag and dumped it in someone's flowerbed. I was so angry - she wasted $1.66 worth of candy! Her argument was that as long as I was eating it, I was wasting my time walking. My argument was that if I ate it while I was walking, it wouldn't be as harmful as eating it while sitting. It made perfect sense to me! Anyway, since she had wasted my candy, she decided to run by Wal-Mart to replace it.

In our Life Plan, we identified trips to Wal-Mart as an area of weakness, so we addressed it in our financial covenant. We decided that, besides our monthly shopping trip, we would limit additional trips to emergency situations only. I broke the rule first by going after school and spending over $20 on pictures, a frame, and candy. Then she broke the rule second (and worse) when she went back after walking. You see, the second part of our Wal-Mart weakness is that we spend more when we're together; I usually spend less by myself because I only get what I went for. So instead of letting me go in to get the candy (or instead of her going in by herself, since I smelled like sweat and didn't want to be seen in public), she made us all go in.

Our mission: replace the candy and get hamburger buns. However, as we continued to aimlessly wander the aisles of the store, we found more and more things we could buy. It didn't help that I was hungry and thinking about what I could grill. I started with shrimp. On Tuesday, I had had the ribs and shrimp combo at Logan's Roadhouse, and I decided that I wanted to try grilling shrimp. We got a bag of large shrimp, an onion, a pepper, and grape tomatoes. We also got lettuce, tomatoes and cheese for our hamburgers and for Life Group. Candy and hamburger buns could have been carried out in one hand, but the items we ended up with took two bags. Mission accomplished, and then some!

Jessica made a butter, cavenders and garlic salt glaze for the shrimp; I also put it on the burgers. With half a lemon squeezed over the skewers, the meal was complete! Between the two of us, we had over forty shrimp, two burgers, and the leftover potatoes from pork night. It was amazing! And I definitely scored some points with the wife!

I think my next grilling project will be ribs. We watched Emeril on Tuesday night. He showed an easy way to tenderize ribs and a glaze that looked awesome. I can't wait to try them. I think I'll grill some shrimp to go with them . . . maybe just half the bag this time!

I've resisted the whole Google craze as long as I could. I was never a fan of simple, especially when it came to computers. The more complicated, the better. A search engine with a white screen and a box just didn't do anything for me - I wanted more . . . more colors, more functions. But over the past few months, I've noticed that I need simple in my life. In fact, there are probably a few areas where I could stand to simplify to better manage my time and increase my productivity. It would also rid my life of some clutter - both mental and physical.

I found myself using Google's Blogger and exploring some of the simple yet neat features that it offers. I've also discovered Google Toolbar isn't annoying, but actually very helpful. I can login on my computer at school (or any other one that has the toolbar), and my bookmarks that I use at home will show up on the toolbar. Google Reader is a great (simple) way to keep up with all the blogs that I read. When I use Google Toolbar to access my Google Reader page (one-click access), I can immediately see all new items from any blog. I can also share items on my own blog with just one click. A box on the right side of my blog allows my readers to read items from other blogs that I've found interesting.

One of the first items that I shared using Google Reader was my friend Michael's complaint about the horrible service he had received from the satellite Internet provider and its subcontractors. The satellite Internet is something that we dealt with at church for over five years, and it's one of the things that I definitely DON'T miss about being on staff. Being a couple hundred feet from the DSL line, we were never able to talk SBC into installing service, and for some reason, cable was never an option. We were stuck with satellite - like it or not (we always chose the not). To follow up on Michael's "good example of BAD customer service," I'll provide my own such story from this past weekend.

Our Academic Team is approaching the end of a very interesting season. This past Friday, we made up the meet that was postponed due to the snow storm that provided for a very unique Capitol Day experience. With no other available dates in February, the other coach and I settled on a Friday afternoon. The meet was horrible - we lost by fifteen points (our worst defeat yet) to bring our record to 3-4. Leaving the school, I allowed the team to vote on where we would eat - between White Castle, Arby's, Burger King and Taco Bell. They chose Taco Bell.

There was a Taco Bell in the town where we were, and there was one in a town we were driving through. I told the bus driver we would just eat in the town where we were so we wouldn't have to get off the highway . . . and I said that it would be cleaner, anyway. Around 5:15, we piled off the bus and headed into the restaurant. It was the worst mistake I've made in a long time, and one that I'll regret for a long time to come.

I should have realized, when we walked into the restaurant, that seeing six people with individual orders waiting on their food was not a good sign. Furthermore, after watching the employees preparing the food, I should have drawn a conclusion that their speed was anything but adequate to keep up with the light volume of the restaurant, and so we should turn around and walk out. Unfortunately, by the time I realized that, five of my students had placed their orders and we were past the point of no return.

Our first order was placed at 5:22. We had sixteen people in our group, with eleven orders between them. The last order (mine) was placed at 5:36. Should it take fourteen minutes to take eleven orders? I would definitely think not. But I'm easy to get along with, and I try to be patient, so I didn't get upset. I started getting upset, however, when I realized that none of the people who were waiting on their food when we walked in had been served in the time that it took us to place our orders.

As I stood in the restaurant waiting for my food, I started taking mental notes about everything going on around me (well, more behind the counter than around me). On the bus ride home that night, I jotted down a few of the things that stood out:

1. At one point, the lady taking orders had been sweeping. When customers entered the restaurant, she put the broom between her legs as she took their orders.
2. An empty hamburger container (like the ones at Wal-Mart) was sitting at the end of the assembly line. It had raw hamburger dripping from its edges onto the counter where they were preparing the food.
3. One man assembling food was doing so without gloves on his hands.
4. Another man who had been assembling food was carrying around brochures without taking off his gloves.
5. My assistant and some of the students watched one man who was preparing food as he dropped the guacomole squirt bottle. It landed with the point hitting the ground; he picked it up, put it on the counter, and continued using it without cleaning it off.
6. Everyone was moving slowly, including the managers. And yet, they had the hardest time keeping the food picked up off the assembly line, and they still couldn't find time to completely wrap the food before putting it into the bags.
7. My order number was 127. After I had waited about thirty minutes for my order, another man who had been waiting a much shorter amount of time said that he was tired of waiting, and so he politely asked one of the employees if they could fix his order out of turn. She gladly took his receipt and another lady's receipt and fixed theirs before the rest of my group's and five other people who had been waiting longer than they had.

Forty-five minutes after I placed my order, my number was called. My six crunchy tacos were finally ready! When we walked out of the restaurant around 6:30, they were serving number 133 and were taking orders above 150. My final complaint about the service of the restaurant is that they took people's orders and their money, knowing full well that it was taking close to an hour to prepare the food, and yet they would not warn the customers. Unsuspecting customers who thought they were making a quick fast food stop were waiting longer for their food at Taco Bell than I waited on Saturday for my jumbo shrimp platter at Landry's; longer than it took to wait for a table then order, eat, and pay for yesterday's lunch, including the unlimited salad, at the Pasta House.

Most restaurants are busy on Friday evenings, especially between five and seven. And most restaurants take some time to fill orders for large groups. However, this restaurant wasn't keeping up with the flow before we ever arrived, and our group wasn't really that large. This season, we have eaten at Subway and McDonald's and never had to wait more than fifteen minutes for everyone's order to be taken AND filled. My wife takes a group of fifty students and parents to Jefferson City each year in May. We stop at McDonald's on the way back, and they are able to serve us in under twenty minutes. There is no excuse for a restaurant to not be able to serve eleven orders in a timely manner. Needless to say, we will not be returning to that establishment any time soon.

Last weekend was the official start of the 2007 NASCAR season, with the Daytona 500. Since Dale's accident in 2001, I hadn't had a favorite driver. I would watch as often as I could, but I never seemed to get involved as much as I'd like. This year, I decided to try a little harder to watch more races and stay informed about the season. I started with the Budweiser Shootout on the tenth, and that night I chose a new drive to follow: David Gilliland.

His first time at Daytona, the Yates Team driver finished second to Tony Stewart. He said, "I've always dreamed about racing here at Daytona and to be able to come and do it -- my first race ever and bring home a second-place finish -- is a dream come true." A new addition to the NASCAR lineup, David Gilliand has potential and determination, and I think that's part of the reason I've chosen him as my replacement for Dale. Not only did he have a great finish at the Shootout, he went on to land the pole position in qualifying for the 500 - next to his teammate, Ricky Rudd. His performance on the big night was anything but beginner's luck.

Starting first in any race is definitely not a guarantee that you will win . . . or even be in the top ten. That's just a fact of life. So going into the race, I didn't think that he was most people's pick to win. I wasn't expecting him to drop from first to last with a bump on pit-road. But in NASCAR, circumstances can change quickly (ask Mark Martin, who thought sure he had won the race on a caution flag, only to find out that they waited to throw it until the two lead cars were past the finish line). As I saw his standing move from 1 to 42 on Lap 83, I almost gave up hope of my driver even landing in the top half. Almost.

Down a lap in Lap 132, he finally got his break in Lap 154 to catch back up to the back end when the caution flag flew. That's all he needed to start his comeback. He quickly went from 35 to 25, and the number kept getting smaller. I told my wife that he would end up winning the race. She said he'd be lucky to end up in the top ten. As the race continued, I watched his place climb, little by little, until he had reached 12th by Lap 190. With ten laps to go, the #38 M&M car pushed into 12th place, and four laps later, he was number 4. The night was getting exciting.

Then a major wreck pulled the red flag, and all cars came to a dead stop. The tension was building. Staring at all those cars, just sitting on the track, I could tell that something big was going to happen. Not an ideal way to end a race, the drivers were looking at a green-white-checkered finish, meaning they would go one lap on green, one on white (signaling the last lap) and then the checkered flag would fly.

Fourth place . . . almost a top-five finish for the comeback kid of the night. From first to last, and back to fourth - it almost seemed to good to be true. As they ran the last laps, I held out hope that he could get low enough to round the lead cars and go on to victory, but in the last few seconds of the race, things started to fall apart. Out of nowhere came Kevin Harvick. Gilliland tried to go up, but he started losing spots and cars started crashing all around him. One even ended up sliding across the finish line on its top. When the smoke cleared, the debris landed, and all of the out-of-control cars came to a stop, the final stats had David Gilliland in eighth place.

First to last to fourth to eighth - that's the story of the M&M car. Impossible situations, and improbable odds were no match for David Gilliland. He fought with everything he had, and he never accepted defeat. All the way to the end, his performance promised a fantastic finish. The wreck in the last seconds claimed his top-five finish, but it definitely didn't touch his determination. "...so stuff happens. It's Daytona and a green-white-checkered finish."

I'm convinced that we haven't seen anything yet from the #38 Ford Fusion, and I'll keep my eyes on those red, yellow, blue and green M&Ms.

My wife and I have known each other for four Valentine's Days, and so far, we had not spent the evening together. Until this year.

When we looked at the calendar last month and realized that I would have class on February 14, my wife was not exactly thrilled. She reminded me that the first year we were together, I had gone to a wedding; the second year, I was in Jefferson City while she had her wisdom teeth removed; and last year, I had an Academic Team meet at North County and was late getting home. She just wanted one Valentine's Day that I could devote to her.

A couple of weeks ago, Dr. Kiehne offered an assignment in lieu of class on Valentine's Day. I was very thankful for the offer, and surveyed the rest of the class to see if they were also interested. They all accepted, and we got the night off. As part of the agreement, Dr. Kiehne also told me that I would have to bring proof of what I did for my wife (a receipt from a restaurant or pictures of dinner), so in the spirit of overdoing things, I will also write a summary of the day.

It started with a phone call at 9:30 Tuesday night. I was almost asleep, and definitely not expecting the day off, but on the other end of the phone, my snow tree caller told me that we'd have one more day to enjoy. That was just what I needed to prepare a memorable evening. As I snuggled back into bed, I started scheming about the next day.

I've said before that Jessica traded vehicles and is now driving my van. Even though she wasn't taking Ella with her, she was going to take it anyway so she wouldn't have to stop for gas in the Equinox. I heard an awful sound of squealing tires and a revving engine, and I looked out to see her backing off the carport, but the back tires weren't spinning. I opened the window to yell at her, and she said that the brakes were frozen from driving through the babysitter's creek. Afraid she was going to damage my van, I told her to stop trying to free the brakes and just take the Equinox. That's when her bad day started.

Later in the morning, I sat down to check our bank balance and realized that we were $124 overdrawn. I keep a constant eye on our finances, and I know where every dollar goes. There was no way we could be overdrawn! As I checked the details, I noticed that on Sunday, Jessica had used our debit card, thinking she was using the credit card (which is the same color) to pay for my new suit and shoes at Value City. That charge had caused the next four to overdraw, resulting in $80 worth of service charges. So I emailed her to let her know what she had done. And her day got worse.

As mad as I was, I didn't want my wife to have an awful Valentine's Day, so I went to work trying to make things better. I emailed the bank and got the $80 refunded, moved some payments around and lowered the van payment for this month, and brought our balance back into the black. Then I looked up the recipe for Pasta House salad (Jessica's favorite) and started the laundry.

Laundry is one of those monsters that we still haven't conquered. It's an ongoing, vicious pile that seems to always grow, no matter how many loads we wash. My first goal for the day was to fold all of the clean clothes, sort the dirty ones, and get a system started to tackle the entire pile by 4:00. Goal two was to clean the rest of the house as I was doing the laundry. And I was going to achieve these goals while watching Ella.

I do have to say that Ella was the perfect baby yesterday. She watched Dora, played in her bouncy seat, and napped without fussing at all. There is no way I would have been able to get everything done had she been worse.

By noon, I was on my way to accomplishing goal one, and my first load of dirty dishes was in the dishwasher. Ella started her nap around 12:30, and by 1:30, I was ready to go to Wal-Mart. Inconvenient timing, but necessary. So I woke her up and strapped her in, hoping she would sleep on the way there. I knew that nothing I was doing would matter if she didn't get her nap in and messed up the evening.

At Wal-Mart, Ella was wide awake, laughing, looking, and trying to talk to anyone (or thing) that would listen. And since I was in a hurry, I had to see people I hadn't talked to in a while and high school students who wanted to see my baby . . . so my half-hour trip turned into a full hour trip. I even realized that I didn't have my list of ingredients for the salad, and Ella couldn't remember what they were, so I had to buy them from memory. And I got everything right - 100%! We bought roses and cards (it was easier when I only had to pick out one, but now I had to get a wife card and a daughter card and a mommy card . . . ), and I even let Ella pick out her present. (She got a puppy dog with a picture frame.)

We got home at 2:30 and it was crunch time. I threw Ella back in bed, started setting the table, and realized that I hadn't set out our wedding cake top. Since we couldn't drag it to Gatlinburg for our honeymoon, we had decided we'd eat it for Valentine's Day. I knew it was frozen and would need time to thaw, but I wasn't sure if a few hours would be enough. I got it out, anyway, and arranged the cake topper and flowers to resemble what it looked like on our wedding day.

I started the chicken and potatoes dish that I fixed on our first date, and because I've learned that chicken and potatoes is not a mean in itself, I started fixing the salad . . . three loads of laundry to go, and the house almost finished. It wasn't all going to get done, but at least it would look like I tried!

When Jessica walked in, I had the table set, the salad tossed, and the chicken cooking. I just had to slice the potatoes and add the salad dressing. In the meantime, I told her she could give Ella a bath and spend some time with her. She fed her and got her ready for bed, and then they both opened their cards.

After Ella was in bed, it was time to serve up the food. We enjoyed a special candlelight dinner (I didn't know that we had to turn off the lights - I thought we could just light the candles and leave the light on so we could see our food), and then we watched our favorite together movie, Love Actually. We have our own favorite movies, but this is one that we share - it's the first one we watched together in the theater.

Shortly after 9:00, we cut into the cake and found that it was almost completely thawed. I was disappointed to find out that it was white, and she was excited that it wasn't chocolate. We shared the first piece, covered the rest, and went to bed.

What a day . . . .

This is my first post from my almost-finished home office! Yep, I'm almost finished with the addition that I started back in early July. It's been an ongoing project - and for those of you who've been reading my blog for a while, you may remember an update back in September when I ran into some problems wiring the ceiling fans. Well, the last large part of the project that I had tackled was painting. I had almost finished it in September . . . September 15 to be exact. In fact, I took a personal day on that Friday to stay home and finish the painting and paint the rest of the house. Then Ella came the next day, and since then, home improvement has been at the bottom of my to-do list.

I've taken a few small steps in the past four months (and I mean SMALL steps). I hung a door and finished painting some of the corners and cutting in around the ceiling. Then came the snow. After I complained all winter about not having any snow days (although we have had a couple of ice days), I was more than thrilled to wake up sometime early Thursday morning to see white ground . . . for the first time in a while. It wasn't a lot, but it was enough to get two days off, and I decided to use those two days to get ready for the carpet.

I now have all the doors hung and most of them painted. I put together my desk and chairs (which had been delivered on September 15, and were sitting in the middle of my office since then, collecting junk), and I even hung some pictures. Today, I built a cabinet-type thing around the electrical panel so it's still accessible but doesn't stand out like a sore thumb. Now that it's coming together, I'm getting really excited about having somewhere to work besides the couch or rocking chair.

The next step (after finishing the paint on the spare bedroom doors) is carpet, and then baseboards and window trim. Then there's a little paint touch-up left to do, and it's all finished!!! So, my summer project has turned into a seven-month ordeal, but that's ok - it's about to be finished!

I've dreamed of it for years, and now I have finally arrived. I'm a dot com!

After the recent email glitches at school, including our email scanner labeling blogspot.com as "spam," I bought joeclauser.com. I had a link to my blog as the signature on all my email messages, but since our email scanner thought it was spam, it wouldn't let messages back in. So if someone would respond to my message, their response would bounce back to them as undeliverable. Since having the address as my signature is my main source of "advertising," I decided that I needed another way to direct people to my blog and still be able to receive replies.

My new address, joeclauser.com, offers many possibilities for communication and navigation of my web presence. For now, I have my main page, as well as blog.joeclauser.com, pointed to my blog site. Soon, internship.joeclauser.com will be pointed to my internship portfolio. I can also create URLs such as work.joeclauser.com, church.joeclauser.com, or anything else imaginable, point those addresses to various websites, and be able to share my life with the world in a whole new way.

I'm excited about the possibilities that this new venture provides - all for only $8.50 a year - just 2 cents a day!

Ok, what's up with the weather? Everyone else in Missouri got ice and snow from the storm over the weekend, but it was warm enough here that we only got rain - and a lot of it. Then I wake up this morning and the temperature is twelve degrees, and there's a trace of snow blowing around. Where was the cold when we had the moisture - and now that we have the cold, where's the moisture? I've about had it! I want snow!

Wow . . . the past two weeks have flown by. Today is the last day of Christmas vacation, and tomorrow it's back to the normal routine for a while. Most people have lots of plans for their vacation. This year, my family and I spent ours at home . . . sick.

The first night of vacation, Ella began running a fever. We kept an eye on it overnight and then called the nurse help line around 5 am when her temperature reached 102. The nurse suggested calling the pediatrician when the office opened, but she said not to get too concerned until it reached 105. After a checkup and a nose swab at the lab, we found out that she had Type A Flu (the popular version that was the illness of choice in Madison County all month). We were quarantined for Christmas vacation! We were able to go to our parents' houses on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

The next week provided even more time stuck at home! How exciting! We were able to get out on Wednesday when my mother-in-law stayed with Ella for a while. We used most of that time to catch up on sleep that we've lost over the past four months, so I'm not complaining about not being able to get out. It saves money and gives us an opportunity to rest that we would not otherwise have.

Yesterday, Jessica felt sick, and Ella started running a temperature again. Hopefully we're not headed into round two!

Rest is God's way of renewing our bodies, souls and minds. I usually don't take time to slow down and rest, and my wife often reminds me that it's not a sin. Even with all that I should have done this December and all that I just wanted to do, taking a break and just staying home was probably not that bad. Especially since it gave all three of us a chance to just spend lots of time together.

After nearly eight years of part-time employment, I have resigned my position at Meadow Heights, effective December 31. The past eight years have been the greatest of my life. I have developed friendships that I cherish more than anything else in life. I have learned leadership skills and developed abilities that I never dreamed possible. The past eight years have provided opportunities to grow personally, professionally, and spiritually, and for that I will be forever grateful. But as 2007 approaches, it is time for me to move on from this point in my life - to begin a new chapter, beginning with this step.

When I started attending Meadow Heights, we were a small, country church with an average attendance of around 75. I started attending the weekend after Bryan and his family began, and we've been together since. At that time, he was the youth pastor, and I was in the youth group. A couple of years later, he asked me to serve as the youth representative on his new advisory council. At that time, I never would have dreamed that our journey would have lasted this long and reached this far.

In 1998, when he formed a group of volunteers to transform the student ministry (called the Dream Team), Bryan asked me to come alongside and volunteer as his administrative assistant. I attended Dream Team meetings that lasted until 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning; we dreamed huge, unimaginable dreams for the student ministry and for the church. I created flyers and bulletins and PowerPoint presentations for the student ministry; I maintained the database and kept him supplied with reports; I helped promote Youth Explosion, with posters, mailouts, another database, and even some websites. In the fall of 1999, Bryan offered to pay me $25 a week to help compensate for the time commitment and so that I could qualify for a scholarship as a church employee. And then the fun began!

Throughout my junior and senior years of college, I would drive home from St. Louis every weekend to perform my duties at church - and during the week, we operated virtual offices through email and IM. I was in my dorm in St. Louis and he was in his classroom at FMS. I can't imagine how much bandwidth we used sending stuff back and forth to get ready for the next big event. I also kept up with some of the work while I was holding down the midnight shift at Black River Electric on the weekends, and during my stints at the gas station, I would sometimes field cell phone calls about church work.

Then, sometime in 2000, I was sitting in my dorm room and the phone rang. It was Bryan. He had some news to share. Our pastor, Jim, was resigning. Things on the church-wide level were about to shake up, and that was about to take me from being the youth pastor's assistant to being the interim pastor's assistant, all the way to being the pastor's assistant . . . in a very short period of time.

After the change in leadership at the church-wide level, the philosophy of the church began to change. We began to abandon the traditions of Southern Baptist practices in exchange for simpler, more biblical ways of doing church. We adopted mission and vision statements to reflect who we were, and we began to be the purpose-driven church that God had in mind. With a new pastor with a background in education, the style of the messages also went away from a traditional sermon to more of a teaching style, and with that, PowerPoint support was added in the messages. Hymnals had all but been replaced by PowerPoint slides a few years earlier. And the design and presentation of the songs and message became my responsibility. I loved it!

Most churches lose members and attenders while they experience a change in leadership. Many become stagnate and take a while to start growing again, if they ever do. But Meadow Heights had grown during the interim, and we continued to grow as Bryan took the lead. So by now, it was time to add a second service, and that was about the time that Bryan asked me to start designing the bulletin rather than the secretary. I didn't think it could get any better than that!

We were on the fast-track to creating a new image in the community and being able to promote our church and the gospel in a way that few other churches around could do. We had a website! And at some point in there, we started a whole identity campaign, including a logo, that has really professionalized what we do ever since. I remember sitting in my bedroom floor, staring at a preliminary logo design, and talking on the phone with Bryan. We were trying to figure out if the sun had enough rays, if the rays were the right shape, if the MH looked right . . . it just went on and on. The preliminary design also had green on the top and blue on the bottom. We decided if that would be flipped, it would look like the sky and a field. Some people would have referred to us as idiots . . . but the logo was VERY important to us, and we had to get it just right. That was just one of many items that we've discussed and debated for well over an hour.

We started pumping out a more professional bulletin, mailouts, and newspaper ads. We bought a huge, color laser printer to do most of the printing in-house. It was about this time that I started focusing mainly on technology and graphic design, and my official title became Director of Technology & Publications. We went through some secretarial changes for a while, which provided the opportunity to professionalize the operation of the office.

With the addition of a third service came a change in my life. I was introduced to my future wife, and with that came a desire to back off from my commitment to church a little. I had become so involved that there really wasn't much room left for her in my life. There was a period of adjustment, but we worked through it well. That's when I started seeing the need for help. I couldn't devote every Sunday to being at church all morning (5:30 am - 12:30 pm) and still keep my sanity and help her keep her own. I had to get help. Dave was a huge asset to me by allowing me time away during those first couple of years of grown-up life. I would get everything ready for the weekend, and then he would run PowerPoint when I needed him to.

Then came service number 4 - Saturday nights. The days of the one-man technology show were over. I had been married a few months, and I already knew that adding that commitment was not going to work. I recruited additional help and started training them so they could take the weekend load. They have been great! We've also added more staff members - many of whom have taken some of the load that I used to carry. By the end of 2006, my weekend responsibilities are almost gone. I've worked maybe ten of the last fifty weekends, and I've loved it! I've been able to enjoy the weekend services . . . gatherings . . . as a participant rather than a performer. And I've been able to go to church with my wife (and now with my daughter). Having that opportunity over the past year is something I'll always be thankful for.

So 2006 is wrapping up. With only seventeen days left, it's almost history. With the end of this year comes the end of an era for me . . . almost a decade of being employed by Meadow Heights. With all of the wonderful memories that I've shared, you may wonder why I'm giving it up. After all, I'm resigning - not being fired. If I've loved it so much, why am I walking away? It's very simple - one four-letter word: E-L-L-A.

I've said it before - parenthood changes everything. It's time for me to re-evaluate my course in life and decide where God is leading me, then focus on that. I have to give up the good stuff that I've been a part of for the great things He has in store. In that re-evaluation, I've realized that I'm holding onto a part-time job to supplement my income, while taking time away from my family each week - sometimes their best time. As a member of the church, and as a follower of Christ, I'll continue to serve, but I need to step away from the position as an employee. I met with Michael this morning to work out a transition plan . . . an "exit strategy" . . . and to talk about some of the things that I will continue to do as a volunteer. By the first of the year, I will only have one job - after having two (and at times three) for the past six years. But more importantly than any job that I could have, I now have a family to devote my time and attention to.

To those of you that I have worked with over the past eight years, thank you for the opportunity to serve with you and to share life together. To the members of Meadow Heights, thank you for the opportunity to serve God and you. To everyone else, if you've never taken the opportunity to volunteer or work in your church - if you ever have that opportunity - go for it. If God can take what I was in 1998 and put me in the position I have been in since then and use and change me the way He has, I know that He has something in store for you, too.

Any "How I Met Your Mother" addicts??? Every time Barney wants someone to join him on a new adventure, he says, "Suit up!" Well . . . this whole parenthood thing is a new adventure for me. So . . . SUIT UP!

Parenthood changes everything. Don't argue. Just believe me.

I never believed that - I thought it was a crutch that people used to get out of responsibilities . . . to not be involved as much as they were when they were single or just married. I thought I could handle a new baby and everything else that I did before . . . and more!

The last six weeks . . . wow - it's been six weeks already??? . . . have changed the way I see everything in life. From relationships to positions to my life's purpose. This has been an opportunity to re-evaluate everything that I do and stand for.

Now don't get me wrong - pre-September 16, I was just as purpose-driven as I am today. I knew that I should give up some good things to do God's best. I knew that my life had a purpose that was much greater than myself, and I wanted to fulfill that purpose with everything within me. Parenthood didn't change my approach - it just gave me another filter to see the world through.

I can't wait to get home every afternoon and hold my baby girl. I love rocking her to sleep; I love having her sleep on my chest; I love watching her look around the room in amazement. I don't love when she cries and I can tell that she's in pain . . . but that will go away eventually. The time I spend with her is invaluable.

A few months ago, my wife and I decided that we were going to try everything possible to put us in a financial position that would allow her to quit her job and stay home to raise our children. When we set the goal, we knew that it would be important. We understood that being a stay-at-home mom was a very noble undertaking that would have lasting effects on our kids. We didn't know, however, how much that would mean to us once the babies started coming.

A week before she has to go back to work, my wife is now wishing she could stay home immediately. She doesn't want to leave our daughter during the day while she drives an hour each way to work and spends seven hours in a classroom. She loves teaching - but she loves mothering even more. I see the care in her eyes when she cries at night, wishing that she didn't have to work. I know how much that means to her, and I want nothing more than to make that dream happen . . . soon.

So we have worked on a budget. We've paid off a lot of debt. We traded in my 2000 Ford Expedition for a 2004 Dodge Caravan so we can have a longer-lasting vehicle that will be cheaper to maintain and that we can pay off in a year's time. We are devoting 66% of our gross income to paying off as much debt as we can so we can refinance our house and just have one payment next year. No one could imagine the sacrifices that she is making so we can do that. I am really proud of her for her dedication to making this dream a reality.

So now I've started thinking. Am I making the most of my time that I have for my family? Are they included in everything that I do? Is it worth the sacrifices that I make to be away from them in order to make money? Hmm . . . should I quit my job and do something where I could work from home? Ok - maybe that's pushing it a little. But my new goal is to maximize my potential to provide for my family in the best possible way while not robbing any more time from them than I absolutely have to. Will there be changes in the future? Probably. Do I know what they will be? Maybe. I'll definitely keep you posted. But for now, I am in a state of re-evaluation that may lead me down some paths that I may not have ever imagined traveling just a few months ago.

Parenthood changes everything. Don't argue. I'm living it right now. I am seeing why so many people give up jobs, positions, and dreams to take part in the greatest thing that God has to offer. My priorities are still the same: family, God, kids. My calling is still the same - make a difference in the lives of kids. In fact, knowing that I have a child who will be going through public schools in five years is even more of a reason for me to work for the improvement of education in Missouri. What I work to accomplish in life will never change. How I accomplish it may be changing soon. I'm ready for the journey. I'm strapping in for the ride. I'm excited that you will share the ride with me!

Don't you just love it when your wife wakes you up in the middle of the night and asks, "did you hear that?" It's a common occurrence around our house * probably because I could sleep through a freight train hitting the house, but she wakes up when she hears a cricket outside the window.

When the air conditioner fell out of the bedroom window, it was probably as loud as a freight train. But last night, the sound really wasn’t much louder than a cricket. It was a rustling noise from behind the house. It took me a while to hear it, and I tried to make her believe it was thunder. I just wanted sleep!

A few minutes later, I was slipping on my jeans and heading down the dark hallway * I really wasn’t as brave as I seemed. I kept thinking about someone trying to break in; I just knew I was about to die. But I kept going * trying to be the brave warrior, eager to protect my family.

When I got to the back porch, I heard the noise, and it sounded like it was under the house. In times like this, I always think it’s a person making the noise (probably not logical, but who thinks logically when they should be ASLEEP?!?!?!) I thought someone had removed the glass panel and crawled under the house * even though there was a large trash can, the water hose caddy, and an aquarium in the way.

Afraid, I didn’t want to be on the back porch in case the person would see me and have a gun! I ran back into the house, and into the utility room, where I could get a good look into the corner. I hit the window, hoping whatever it was would show itself * nothing. My frightened wife, apparently thinking something was attacking me, came in to see if I was ok.

I decided to take the screen out of the window. I would still be protected by being in the house, but I could have a closer look, and I could use the rake that was leaning on the house, to find the source of the noise. When we noticed the trashcan moving, I assumed something was under it. With the rake, I hit the trashcan . . . moved it around . . . still nothing. The stupid thing had run away while I was taking the screen out. But that argument wouldn’t satisfy my wife. No * I had to go out there and make sure.

With a broom in hand, I slowly opened the back door, and reached out to turn on the light. When I did, I looked down into the trashcan by the steps, and there it was * an opossum! It was stuck. Now what?

The brains of our operation (you’ve probably figured by now that was NOT me) suggested putting the lid on the trashcan and taking the opossum out in the yard to let it go. As I got closer to the trashcan, its mouth opened wider, revealing some pretty mean-looking teeth. I wasn’t sure if it would bite, but I definitely didn’t want to take the chance.

To finish this story as quickly as possible, once I got the trashcan out into the yard, and I realized that tipping it over and trying to pry the lid off wouldn’t work, I took off the lid, stepped back as far as I could, tipped over the can with the broom, and ran like crazy.

I didn’t look back.

This is the first of many posts about my new baby girl.

I was awakened around 7:30 by the sound of trickling water from the other side of the bed. I could only imagine what it was. My wife said, “Either my water broke or I just wet the bed.” I was shocked!

From the time we found out we were expecting our first child, the due date had been October 13. I plugged in all the information on webmd.com and walmart.com. Both of these sites gave the same date, and the doctor’s six-week ultrasound confirmed it. So on September 16, I found it very hard to believe that her water had just broken.

We called my sister-in-law, and then the hospital. We were told that we should go to the hospital to be checked out, and I read in our pregnancy book that it’s better to err on the side of caution. But we already had plans for the day, and a visit to the hospital really didn’t fit into those plans.

Some time around 8:00, we started taking showers, preparing to go to our niece’s birthday party, and we thought we would stop by the hospital to let them tell us that everything was fine. But the water kept coming. Maybe it wasn’t an accident - maybe it was her water. We just didn’t believe it.

An hour and a half after we awoke, we were on our way. My wife kept telling me not to worry about taking anything because they weren’t going to keep us at the hospital. I still took the camera, under the pretense that I needed to take pictures at the birthday party.

When we arrived at the hospital, we went straight to the OB department. When we walked in, a nurse asked if she could help us. We just stared. Finally, I said, “she thinks her water broke,” and before I could say anymore, the nurse said, “I’ll take her back here, and you need to go to the emergency room. We’ll get some paperwork filled out.” The emergency room? I just assumed that’s where she would come out when they were finished checking her, so I went to the ER waiting room. I read a newspaper. I watched TV. I even fell asleep!

It was probably twenty minutes later when a nurse came in to ask if I had filled out admissions papers. Me? It wasn’t my water! Why would I be filling out paperwork? The real reason I was sent to the ER was not to wait - it was to check in with the registrar and sign outpatient admission forms. Then I was supposed to go back to OB. That made more sense . . . I just hadn’t thought of that!

I made it back to the OB department and into the room where they had my wife hooked up to a fetal/maternal monitor. She was now in a hospital gown. I guess I had missed a lot while I was napping! When I asked if they had told her anything, she said she had no idea what was going on. Then a nurse came in and said, “Well, you’re dilated to six or seven.” And I asked, “Did her water break?” If you know much about pregnancy and childbirth, you probably know that was a stupid question . . . but remember . . . I was the one who had just spent twenty minutes in the ER waiting room!

By now it was a little after ten, and things were about to get exciting. I guess I was just full of stupid questions. We had just been to our first childbirth class the Monday before, and we still had two sessions left. The teacher of the class was the nurse who was now answering all my stupid questions. Before thinking, I asked, “does this mean we’ll have a baby today?” Well maybe she gets this kind of question all the time!

I had phone calls to make! But wait . . . I wasn’t ready. This definitely didn’t fit into my plans. Earlier that week, I had created a call list. I started with people to notify on the way to the hospital, and then I made a list of those to call once the baby was born. I had grouped people in the first category so that I had four calls to make, and then those people could call others in the category. It would definitely make for a less stressful day . . . had I had the list. Thinking we still had a month, I didn’t print the list.

I had to go half-way down the hall to get a cell phone signal. I started with my wife’s sister who was given her assignment and had to make the decision to cancel or postpone the birthday party. Then I tried my parents but wasn’t able to reach them. By this time, I decided that the next person I talked to would be assigned the rest of the calls. My uncle was given this task - one he readily accepted. I had to get back to the room.

Because my wife’s entire family was headed to the birthday party just ten miles up the road, most of them were there within minutes. My family arrived a little later. It seemed like information overload was about to hit . . . there was so much I had to remember from childbirth class, but there was so much more that I was having to find out along the way.

Sometime around 12:45, my dad went to the cafeteria to get me a barbequed hamburger, baked beans, and chips. I sat in the waiting room eating my lunch, and then I went to the cafeteria to say “hi” to my wife’s family so they wouldn’t think I was being unsociable. Then I headed back to the OB department to find the doctor preparing the room.

While I had been eating, the anesthetist was starting the epidural. What a God-send. When I returned to the room, my wife said, “I don’t hate everyone anymore. I don’t wish you would blow up.” And then came the next stupid question . . . “can I take some of that home with me?”

We had now been at the hospital a little over three hours. I asked the doctor how far she had dilated. She was now at 10. The rest of the conversation went something like this: “So we’re having a baby?” “We’re having a baby.” “Soon?” “Soon.” “Like how soon . . . within the hour?” “We’re having a baby within the hour.” Wow! The whole ordeal had just started a little over five hours ago, and now we were less than an hour away from the arrival of our first child. I couldn’t believe it!

If you know me, you know that I am very squeamish. I can’t watch the Red Cross first aid training video without passing out; I can’t stand the thought of pain; I almost passed out when the dentist said my wisdom teeth had to come out! So my plan for labor and delivery was to stand as close to the head of the bed as possible and not look at anything. But since when had any of this day followed my plan? It wasn’t about to change now.

The doctor said, “Since you’re in here, I’m not going to call in a nurse. You’re going to help me. Mock me.” I responded with, “What does that mean?” Now I have a Bachelor’s degree and I’m currently working toward my Master’s. I know what mock me means. But I didn’t want to do it, so I was hoping he meant something else. He said, “Do everything I do.” Luckily, he didn’t mean EVERYTHING! But I did hike up my wife’s leg and put her foot to my chest. As she would have a contraction, we would push on her legs so she could push the baby. I even had to get gloves out of the drawer for him! Keep in mind, this was about five minutes after I ate a barbequed hamburger and baked beans. I was now wishing I hadn’t!

After about thirty minutes of labor, the baby was almost here. I made it all the way to the episiotomy; I even saw the first cut. After that, I looked away until he finished it. I’d made it this far; I wasn’t ready to pass out now! The episiotomy seemed to make everything go much easier, and within a matter of minutes, the baby’s head was out and the doctor pulled the rest of the body out. When my wife asked, “what is it?” I choked back tears to say, “It’s a girl.”

All women over 40 have some way of telling if the baby is a boy or girl. For the past few weeks, everyone said this baby was a boy. We knew that meant nothing, and we definitely didn’t accept it as truth, but we were beginning to think that they must be right. But as I looked at that beautiful baby girl lying there with her umbilical cord still attached and covered in white slime, I was eager to welcome my daughter into the world.

Nothing in life is as miraculous as the development and birth of a baby. The past eight months have been wonderful, and they have led to the most amazing event I have ever witnessed. Seeing that new life enter the world is something that I will never forget. I’m looking forward to sharing life with her. I know she has many new experiences in store for me, and she has many lessons to teach me. It will definitely be a journey - one that I am so excited to begin!

The past two weekends, I have watched a movie at a theater. For the past few years, I've averaged two visits to the theater a year. I've already doubled that for 2006. My wife and I saw only one or two movies in the theater when we were dating - I'm just not a fan of paying $5.00 each to see a movie that I'll soon be able to buy at Movie Gallery for $8.00 or less. But I love the theater - the smell of the popcorn, the HUGE screen (especially when I'm sitting in the front) and the sound. So when I am going to be willing to pay that much to see a movie, it's gotta be good.

The day after school started, I saw World Trade Center at Farmington. I'll devote a complete post to 9/11 later. It was a great movie (I cried) and seeing it in the theater made it even more realistic and helped me to empathize with the characters even more.

Then last weekend I had a new experience - going to a drive-in. Now I've been to Sonic hundres of times - it's one of my favorite fast food restaurants - but I had never been to a drive-in theater. We saw The Ant Bully - another good movie. And I even splurged and bought the large popcorn and a large soda (ending my four-year no soda streak). My wife and I agreed that this was a special occasion, and that it was ok to drink soda for a special occasion. But the main reason was that 44 oz of soda was much cheaper than 20 oz of water!

The drive-in is a symbol of our country's heritage. As we pulled in, I couldn't help but think of all the cars that had occupied the parking spaces over the past forty years. Most of the cars there that night were mid-nineties and newer; a few were older; one in particular was an early-seventies model. And I thought . . . no matter how much has changed around the drive-in, it's still the same - they still use the original popcorn popper; the concession stand is still the original building; the white posts dividing the parking spots are still there. All that has changed are the cars, the people, and the movies - all of which come to the drive-in each night to experience a piece of Americana.

I always had a preconceived idea that when you go to the drive-in, you sit in your car, watch the movie, and go home. I had no idea that kids played games in front of the screen while they were waiting for it to get dark. I didn't know that the audience sat outside in lawn chairs and visited with each other. I wasn't aware that everyone just rolled down their windows and tuned their radios to a station and turned it up to hear the movie. It has the feel of a neighborhood. I like that. In a theater, everyone files in - usually in the dark - and sits in their chair, staring at the screen until the movie starts. They sit in the dark and watch the movie, then get up and leave. No one remembers who was sitting next to them, unless they were a nuisance (which reminds me of World Trade Center - there were a few nuisances there.)

Maybe movie-going is a reflection on the way our society has changed. In today's busy life, we rush to the theater, slide into our seats, watch a movie on a huge screen right in front of our eyes, listen to the pristine sourround sound, then get up and hurry out. Or we pull into a parking spot, stretch out the lawn chair, visit the concession stand, speak to the neighbors, watch the kids play, and wait patiently for the sun to set . . . then we watch the movie on a far-away screen, listening to our car stereo (and our neighbor's). And if we're patient enough, we may even see a shooting star.

Do you live life as though it's a theater or a drive-in?

You know, for a techie, I'm way behind on the whole blogging scene. I guess I might as well jump right into the middle of it. At our church staff retreat earlier this month, we were challenged about our spiritual habits . . . quiet time, Bible reading, prayer, tithing, accountability, journaling . . . I must admit I have been a VERY lazy Christ-follower for quite some time now. So it's time that I pick up some of the habits that I let slip, and start some new ones that I have never tried. Journaling is one of the new ones . . . and what better way than electronically through a blog?!

I believe God's purposes for my life are in three areas - church, school, and politics . . . three things most people run from, but the three driving forces of my life (aside from family and my relationship with God.) My posts will probably focus on God's direction in those areas.

For today, I'd like to leave you with something that I've already shared with some people. My family experienced the hardest week of our lives at the end of July. My grandma, who meant the world to all of us, died at age 80. Eighty years seems like a long time to live, and 27 years seems like a long time to get to spend with your grandmother, but when it's someone so special, no amount of time seems like enough. The unrelenting disease of Alzheimer's had taken her from us over a period of four years and that time - especially the last year - was very hard for all of us. I'll tell more about her in a future post, but for now I want to share this:

I started reading The Purpose Driven Life again this week . . . third try's a charm, right??? Today was Day 4, so I should know next week ifI am going to make it through this time! There were a couple of things that really stood out to me today more than they did the last two attempts:

1. "You weren't put on earth to be remembered. You were put here to prepare for eternity."

2. Later, he talks about how we long for immortality, and we want those we know and love to live forever. He says, "The reason we feel we should live forever is that God wired our brains with that desire!"

3. Then he quotes C.S. Lewis from the last page of the Chronicles of Narnia: "For us this is the end of all the stories . . . . But for them it was only the beginning of the real story. All their life in this world . . . had only been the cover and the title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story, which no one on earth has read, which goes on forever and in which every chapter is better than the one before."

Our 70, 80, 90 years are just the cover and the title page. Wow . . . it's just so hard to imagine how, when we think about how much there is to life, we haven't even begun to live. And when we die, that's the BEGINNING of chapter one! And every chapter gets better?

Just think - for us, July 25 was the end of a lot of great stories . . . . But for her it was only the beginning of the real story. All her life in this world had only been the cover and the title page; now she has begun Chapter One of the Great Story, which we haven't read, which goes on forever and in which every chapter is better than the one before!

Until next time . . . .