Another Christmas Treat

Hard to believe this clip is nearly 20 years old now...

Something Special for the Holiday

I was shown this by a family member and thought I would pass it along. Merry Christmas!!!!

Is it just a part of coaching?

From the Southern Illinoisan newspaper following SIU's loss to Delaware in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision semifinals.

Kill has been mentioned as a possibility to fill the coaching vacancies at Colorado State and Northern Illinois, both Football Bowl Subdivision schools. After Saturday's game, Kill was asked if he may have coached his last contest at SIU.

"Not unless Mario's gonna fire me," Kill said, talking about athletic director Mario Moccia. Kill also noted how "inappropriate" he felt the question was.

Breaking news in the same newspaper this morning.
Kill heading north

Another Blow to the Altanta Falcons

I don't consider myself a fan of the Falcons, but can a season get much worse? First the whole Mike Vick debacle, then the 3-10 season and now their coach resigns over the phone? Team owner Arthur Blank seems to be a good guy who has seen his team fall apart around him. Right now there is little in Atlanta to lure a quality coach, maybe the second overall draft pick? I don't see things turning around there for several years to come.

Elusive Silence

"A place for everything and everything in its place." - Ben Franklin

Through a series of links I found this posting by Erich Bridges on Countercultureblog.com

Silence makes many of us uncomfortable, even anxious. So we lunge for the remote or the iPod. Silence encourages reflection, but we are not a reflective people. Silence prepares the heart for prayer, but we’re too busy multi-tasking. Silence enables us to hear the still, small voice of God, but we don’t have the patience to wait for Him to speak...

Of all the devil’s weapons, one of the most insidious is one of the most mundane: noise. Pointless noise. Endless noise. Cell phone ringtone PDA laptop inbox voicemail pager TV radio video traffic subwoofer leaf blower noise. Sound and fury, signifying nothing.

While reading the article I was confronted by how much noise I allow into my own life through gadgets on a daily basis: my iPod, Palm PDA, laptop, the radio in my truck, the XM radio in the car, wireless internet access anywhere I can find it, cable TV, DVDs and CD's. Combine this with a need to be thinking three steps ahead of where I am and it's small wonder I look back and ask where my days, months and years go.

What does this noise tend to replace? Many of the things I criticize myself for not being able to make priorities in life:

Spending time with Nancy and the girls, not just being under the same roof, but doing things together that will make memories.

Getting into God's Word on a much more regular and meaningful basis than I have been to discover all He wants me to be as a believer, husband and father.

To actually do something with the tools and wood collecting in my workshop.

My goal over the next year is to overhaul the way I spend my time. To live deliberately, not allowing the "noise" of life to give me the impression I am doing something when in reality I'm not.

It's going to be an interesting year, and I don't want to miss it.

Biblical Manhood

Dr. Ray Van Neste is the Director of the R.C. Ryan Center for Biblical Studies at Union University. A scholar, husband and father, he recently spoke to a group of Union students on the pursuit of true manhood.

If you'd like to listen to his talk in it's entirety here is the link.

Our culture is infatuated with youth and encourages you not to grow up. After all, it says, the glory is in the youth. If you would be men you must reject this siren song and swim against the tide. You must diligently seek to throw off immaturity and to grow up. Remember the one boy who never grew up was Peter Pan - and in case you haven’t noticed his role has typically been played by a woman. The chase for perpetual youth is never manly. The other example of avoiding the effects of growing up is the medieval boys choirs. To maintain the high voices of the boys as they aged, the boys would be castrated. Again, avoiding maturity is emasculating.

So my main point to you tonight is, work on growing up. It does not “just happen.” Examples abound of physically mature males who have never truly attained manhood because they failed to mature in anyway other than physically.

If you are raising boys or think you have some growing up to do yourself (don't we all?) I would recommend listening, or at least read his notes on the topic.