A Preview to Fall

Well, it's mid-August and that means one thing. Fall is right around the corner. Living in Ohio, there's a few key signs that I've picked up on to warn me of this. First, the nights get cooler and cooler while the days stay inexplicable hot. I also know that within the next month or so, we should get a nice preview of winter before we get the indian summer we call fall here.

Another thing that tips fall is the football pre-season. I'm not a huge fan of the NFL. I'll watch the games, but am a very VERY bandwagon fan as far as favorite teams. But pre-season NFL does mean that college football is right around the corner!! Go Bucks! College I like for the impressiveness of the fact that these guys are younger than me and still so talented.

Finally, since attending Cedarville, I know its fall when my AIM list starts to pile up. Monday, I opened iChat (remember, mac user here) and my list was huge. It caught me off guard at first, then I realized from people's away messages what was going on.... The academic year is about to begin. Nice to be away from that atmosphere. I still have a few weeks before class kicks in. Only a couple more free weekends!!

Space Shuttle

Last week I was able to watch the un precidented spacewalk where they removed the dangerous filler strips from the bottom of the shuttle. It was amazing to me that I could watch all of this. Even more so, that I watched it online with my laptop.

So, as the mission came to a close, I was greatly anticipating watching the feat of landing this huge aircraft on the ground. Much of me was praying that God would protect the astronauts from any major disasters. Sunday night/Monday morning I kept my PowerBook nearby with the stream running all night long. I woke up periodically to check the progress. When I heard that they were aborting the landing, I was able to soundly rest.

Last night, I went to bed as the astronauts were running through their checklists again. I again woke up periodically and checked the progress. Around 5.30am, they announced that they had decided to land in Cali at 8.10. I got up, showered and then laid back down drowsily until about 7.50. The last 20 minutes were spectacular. Thanks to Fox News, I was able to clearly watch the whole landing (my internet connection bowed out).

The whole idea that we are able to learn from principles that God taught us to essentially learn how to land the equivalent of a gigantic school bus being flung back toward the earth is unreal to me. How awesome is our God that he would grant us that?!?

Great Week

This week is one that I'm reflecting on and thinking... what a great week.

We had a lady accept Christ into her heart last Sunday night. I got a desk at work. Got to spend time with students. Spent a whole day with one of my best friends. Tomorrow, I get to go through a leaders' training day for the next year of high school ministries. Then, I get to hang out with my Philly Team! How awesome is that!!??

Thanks God for the great week!

Technology is amazing

For the past few weeks, I've been able to have an almost weekly conversation with friends from Cedarville. It's been great because we figured out that having multiple people make 3-way calls can actually bring in more people. Tonight, we had 8. 2 in Florida, 3 in Barberton, 1 in Cedarville, 1 in Philly, and one in Montana.

How crazy is it that all of us can talk at the same time? Sometimes, being in the technology field is completely mind-boggling.

Small Things in Life

Let me give you some background to this one... The office that I work in was created from classrooms 6 years ago. At the time they finished it, there wasn't enough money to install all the furniture. Not a problem, as the staff was not big enough to need all the furniture. So, the office area was left with basically 2 spaces unfinished.

Over the years, the staff in my department has grown and the space was getting used. In place of desks in the unfinished areas, we used 8' metal tables. A good substitute, though cold at times with the A/C running. Nearly two years ago, we bought acoustic treatment panels for one of the areas that is our cheap and dirty recording (usually video, sometimes audio) studio. The panels still sit in our church basement because we wanted to finish the furniture before installing them. A year ago (Aug 1), I began my full time position turning down a real desk in the cubical area with the rest of the interns for the 8' metal tables. It was then that I began my lobby for a real desk.

Time passed by, more time passed by and the squeaky tire got louder. Finally, our facilities manager found a company that would do the job for a fraction of the normal cost and set a date. This was over a month ago. So, we cleared the areas. I gave up my metal tables, and moved into a crammed work area. The company came in on a long weekend for me and I planned to move back in on Monday. Sadly, they had brought the wrong pieces with them. They didn't match the rest of the office, so no furniture. Not only that, but they left the bad pieces in the area where I work, so can't bring the tables back in. For the last month, I've been cramped and had to work in less than ideal situations. TODAY, that changed. They came in and spent a good portion of the day re-arranging. Now, I have a nice big desk and my space back.

Amazing how the smallest things can make your day go so well....