Chris's Musings

Merry Christmas Eve! "Today" has always been a day of expectation for me; awaiting the Christmas festivities of opening gifts and the newness that comes from all of the new toys and games in the house, now awaiting the arrival of family that I don't get to see much with my living 700 miles away in the peach land of Georgia.  It kind of started with my childhood expectation of what Santa may bring me; and now it's a different and much richer expectation that's come from experiencing the love of Jesus because regardless of which historical day He actually came into the world, tomorrow is the day that those of us that cherish Him celebrate it. However, in our festive anticipation... with all of the glamour and beauty that we place around it... dwarfs the anticipation and expectation of that very first Christmas.  On whatever day and whatever month it actually happened. There were no rushes to the shopping malls.  There were no trees.  There were no lineups of p

Tomorrow will mark another day in the history of the world where someone predicted the end of the world... A bunch of people got worked up... And... Nothing happened. The Mayans got us worked up a little with their little calendar trick... of course our calendars go defunct every year so it's time for them to feel what we all feel and pony up for a Cow Calendar.  Heck, it pays for itself, assuming you like Chicken. But seriously, if I were to bet on anyone's prediction on the end of the world, I probably wouldn't. I mean, Jesus said that when it comes no one will be looking for it.  It will be a shocker. The Mayans predicted the date. Jesus rose from the dead, was seen after the fact, and the people that wrote about it could have had it disproven but no one could. The Mayans were conquered by the Spanish and their culture has been defunct for almost 400 years. No offense... I'm going with the guy that beat death. If I see one of y'all, I'll

A week or so ago, I was having breakfast with Mark Shull, my groups director and a mentor of mine; and I remember, in mentioning my frustration with my sinful tendencies, that sometimes I would like go get a Delorean (I am a Back to the Future fan, so any time machine that I would envision would be housed inside of a Delorean... any amens?), travel back to the Garden of Eden, and punch Adam in the face. This created some dialogue, as you can imagine, because the statement does have a little shock value.  But more on that to come. I had the same thought when I finally grasped what happened on Friday.  Apparently some deranged kid (he was 20) decided to go into his mom's school and start shooting innocent children.  26 innocent children and teachers lost their lives... for what?  They just showed up to school.  Again.. I wanted to get into a Delorean and punch Adam in the face (well, him and this dude in Connecticut). A week ago, in my mentor group that Mark leads, we discussed

Yesterday, the "check engine" light of my car came on, and begrudgingly I took my car into my dealer (they're pretty good and don't overcharge) to get checked out.  Given that it was time for a number of "maintenance items" to hit on my car, a 9 year old (2004) Honda Accord, I decided to go ahead and get them knocked out.  I really enjoy not having a car payment and this car has at least 3 more good years left in it (and I'm pretty frugal). Turns out, they weren't able to get everything turned around today so I ended up getting a loaner (and for grins I did ask them what they would offer for a trade in... don't worry, very little chance I'm going to give up the margin I have right now).  Guess what I got, a CR-V!  That'd be the car I want to get when I eventually get a new car (I am big fan of mini-SUV crossovers and looked long and hard for one when I got my Accord).  This car rocks.. it definitely hasn't dissuaded me from the desi

I got up like I normally do this morning, but unlike most mornings I did not go to my coffee maker to make the morning java.  No, I didn't give up coffee (I hear some of you laughing)... I had my annual physical this morning, which means I get to give up luxuries like food and beverages (just "high quality H-2-0") from midnight until the yearly trial is over. Most of you reading this post have been through the annual medical physical.  I'm pretty happy that my insurance covers it at 100% now, but for most of us that's the only part of it we're really looking forward to.  It is a fairly invasive (both in the exams you have to go through and the questions they ask you) and somewhat awkward hour of your life.   This year was a little different for me, because during last year's exam my doctor had a "hmmm... that's interesting" experience when feeling around my thyroid gland, which resulted in a lot more doctors' visits; resulting in