Dyin to Serve

DLmail 2/25/2011 perfect waste of time

2011-02-25T09:34:00.006-06:00

How fast of a reader you are will determine how much time you will waste today. I am referring specifically to this DLmail. Not much here. Take the following for an example.

This week I gave up my long hair quest and went from this...

...to this in about 10 minutes.

While I have your attention, let me mention that this coming weekend is a celebration weekend in Discoveryland. No small groups. Last week we had small groups and they seemed to go quite well with our full compliment of leaders (thanks Kevin, Em, Amy & Joe). Although I was a treat to look at with my stunning long hair last Saturday, I was battling a cold and had a persisent cough that was sure to put off my small group of girls. Thankfully Amy was on and all was well.

Um, uh, what else is there to touch on? Anyone else getting nostalgic for strongarm dictators? They are dropping like flies. First Hosni, now Moammar, who is next to bail? Fidel? Kim? These guys have been around for my entire life basically. The world news just won't be the same without them.

I really am the shallow end of the brain pool. So sorry. See you Saturday. (Be sure to read Jeannine's and Jake's emails to be inspired, read mine as a last resort).

Let me end this on a really, really low note.

30 seconds of sunrise

2011-02-04T12:47:00.013-06:00

It has been one of those weeks. I have been really busy with several things, thus I barely found time to connect with you all via DLmail. This week I have been concentrating on growing my hair out. At some point in the life of every famous hunk, the hair must be grown long (facial hair as well, but I don't have the energy for more than just the top of my head right now). I will update you periodically on my progress. Let's just hope I can come close to the awesomeness of these dude's hairs. I also received several text messages this week. Took more than a little concentration to respond to those as well. You get my gist...BUSY!

Last weekend we averted tragedy when Amy stopped by the room and volunteered to sit in with a group. You see those poor kids nearly had myself and Em as the only leaders (due to viruses and family commitments for Joe and Kevin). I hope Amy was blessed a little as she joined us as the first witnesses to our newest teacher, Steve Snyder. There is an old saying that goes like this... "Those who can't, coach." (I am using coaching as an example because I am a coach, but you could easily substitute the word "teach" there.) Well, Steve CAN. He is a professor of acting in the theater department at Bradley U. He showed us that he CAN by teaching with content and drama. Not always easy to nail both. I look forward to seeing him on stage again. For this weekend I expect Joe, Em and Kevin. Click here for the small group info if you don't already have it. Click here if you need to catch up on any of the main stage preaching. Come prepared. Pray for and with these kids. It means so much. Keep this question in mind as you prepare...What would you do if you were king for a day?

Blizzardpolousa 11 hit on Tuesday and changed all of our weeks. My week became a blur of hair growing and texting. For others it was snow removal. Still others had kids home from school unexpectedly and had to assist them in avoiding boredom. Some missed work, then I am sure had to make up for work missed. For me, today was a return to normalcy. The dog and I made it out for our walk/quiet time. Due to some scheduling necessities we went out an hour or so earlier than usual which meant we would be out during sunrise. I love the sunrise. We stopped and waited for it when we knew it was imminent. Take 30 seconds with me and enjoy some of God's creation (with a little BNSF horn blowing heard faintly in the distance) with me. You have 30 seconds don't you?

The beautiful lighting of the early morning is a gift from God. Enjoy the beauty today.

DLmail 1/10/2011 not just another FAST dog

2011-01-10T11:30:00.009-06:00

My morning routine rarely varies. Part of my routine includes 45-60 minutes of exercising our dog Shafer. We have 300 acres of fields and woods very close to home where he hunts and runs off leash each day. I walk a 2-3 mile trail along fence lines and wooded areas while he doubles or triples my mileage going in and out, back and forth. We see wildlife regularly. It is a great place and time for both me and him. I almost took the camera today, thinking I will get some bald eagle pics (got pretty close to one on Friday), but I didn't.

The first 20 minutes today were absolutely ordinary. I think as I walk. It is my quiet time (and I can't fall asleep while walking in 20 degree temps and low wind chills). Today my thoughts were dominated by the start of the 21 day fast that Northwoods and many other churches are encouraging. Pam and I have decided to participate (this will be my third year of it...I have never made it the entire 21 days for a variety of reasons). I was really battling the thoughts of doing the fast this year as I walked. I was walking up a hill, nearing the crest, thinking, thinking, thinking while Shafer was pointing at his favorite "game" tree, the one with the squirrel and mouse nest, about 50 feet in front of me. Then my thoughts suddenly changed as I looked past Shafer and saw a coyote, 40 yards away, and coming toward us. Shafer is bold and social. The coyote, in his eyes, was certain to represent just another dog to meet. But this wasn't just another dog. Shafers natural aggressive style of charging full speed to meet a new friend was certain to be viewed as a threat and there was going to be a fight (which means a lot of blood & a vet bill), or a flight (which means a fast and high endurance coyote running from a fast and high endurance dog, being chased by a formerly fast and high endurance white guy...which equals lost dog). I yelled to Shafer to come, and without turning his head north, he did so. With my yell, the coyote stopped and sat down. And stared at us. Coyotes are not large. Except when they are staring at you. Their 40 lb. frames seemingly triple in size as they glare at you, sizing you up. The stare down lasted maybe a minute. Much of that time I was regretting not having my camera. So I got out my phone and tried to take a pic without much success (the coyote really blends in with the winter grass...dang cell phone camera!). Finally the standoff ended, with Shafer dragging me toward the coyote and the coyote slinking off about 30 yards west through the trees before turning south again to avoid us. He stopped and turned around to look at us as many times as I did the same to him. It was an uneasy encounter.

It was not that different from staring this fast in the face again. It isn't just another fast. I have fasted several times through my adult life, but they were always "just another dog." A meal to pray through here and there. A few times I fasted for a day. But this 21 day fast isn't just another dog. It's the coyote that looks as big as a wolf. It's tougher. I am not sure I am up for the run in with it again. There were a few moments this morning when I wanted to let Shafer go and see what happened. He had to be twice the size of the coyote. His heritage includes hunting coyotes (of course the hunter behind him is supposed to be carrying a gun). But I didn't do it. Too much risk. Same with this fast. There is risk. I have been through it before. It isn't easy. It isn't comfy.

But here I am nearly 13 hours in, engaging the fast, thinking & praying. Day one is always the same. Pretty good. But I know if I continue beyond this first day of encounter, there will be a fight. I am so human.

Hey, this is a DLmail, and not a RickLmail, so... thanks for serving last Saturday Joe, Em & Kevin. We had a pretty good night. Kevin and I talked about it a bit and he couldn't remember when the group of boys as a whole participated so well. January is usually a good month at church. People return to church to start the new year off, determined to make it their family routine again. Hopefully the numbers we are seeing will continue, allowing these kids to really connect with other kids, us leaders and the teachers, growing them in their faith. Something to pray about. Click here for the small group leader info if you need it. Click here if you want to watch or just listen to Cal's sermon from this past weekend.

boots, sorry just one (really cool) pair

2010-12-21T15:20:00.004-06:00

Who needs a pair of men's size 10 Merrell waterproof snow boots? Just l ike last year (remember last December's boot extravaganza?), Josh got just one season out of these. Worn for maybe 10 hours (most of those hours were documented here) these boots could possible help you to have as much fun as this guy (this will make sense assuming Merrell doesn't change the photo soon). I wear Merrell all the time and look how cool I am and how much fun I seem to be having constantly. So, be like me and buy these boots for yourself, your man, or your kid with the man sized feet. Make me an offer. You might be surprised how low these will go for.

Lingenfelter Christmas Greetings 2010

2010-12-18T05:59:00.020-06:00

Rick, Pam, Josh & Erin hope you and your family have a most wonderful Christmas!

2010 brought a few changes. We added a member to our household in March. Shafer just celebrated his 1st birthday and he has brought much joy to our home. Josh & Erin are no longer the only kids they know who do not have a dog.

Josh, now in the 8th grade, has spent the past year growing. Looking up to his mom a year ago has changed to looking down at her. Next year we expect him to do the same to his dad.

Erin is also growing much these days. She is in the 5th grade and loving it. This year she acquired a roommate when Shafer arrived. He sleeps on the foot of her bed, and is always by her side.

Pam & Rick...well...do you really want a report on grown ups???? Didn't think so. (CLICK HERE to see pics from the making of this newsletter)

...God's gift has restored our relationship with Him

and given us back our lives.

And there is more life to come-

an eternity of life!

You can count on this.

Titus 3

Lingenfelter Christmas 2010 (making of)

2010-12-17T21:09:00.024-06:00

click on any pic to make it bigger

DLmail 12/3/2010 dumb not stupid

2010-12-03T19:57:00.002-06:00

I don't blog much for Discoveryland anymore. You see, while I may be dumb, I am not stupid. Jeannine and Jake send you all the info you need as leaders each week. Most of what I would send would be redundant. I have been kicking back and taking full advantage of that lately (that's why I look like I am 24 months prego). But then I realized I have something they don't. Some sweet pics. So, be encouraged good and faithful servants. You serve well. And you look fantastic doing it. Big thanks to Amy, Joe, Tim, Em, Kevin & Josh. Thanks for being there for the kids.

DLmail 11/04/2010 sunrise, sunset

2010-11-04T09:28:00.007-05:00

It's that time of the year. The kids get up in the dark and go to school before the sun comes up. Above is a pic of the sunrise (also called u-di-ga-lv-yi), a good ten minutes after I dropped them off at school.

This Saturday we change gears ever so slightly as we learn a bit about Moses. I am expecting larger numbers at church this weekend, although I base my expectation on nothing at all. Just seems like it. Last weekend we had slim pickens and in a strange move, I actually released Joe & Tim to go into the grown up service. Seemed like 5 guys leading 16 kids was silly. This week we will be short, with Em gone. Hoping Kevin, Joe, myself and maybe Tim can handle things. My prediction...38 kids. Here is your small group info if you don't already have it. Click here to see Cal from last weekend if you missed it.

I am spending some time to try and recognize nudges from God as a result of the current "grown up" series we have heard for the past several weeks. Sadly, with my diminished mental ability (brought on by under usage of my brain for the past 5-10 years), I only recognize nudges approximately 24 hours after they occur. I have had two clear nudges recently. Even sadder than my lack of recognition of a nudge is that once I realized what it was, my first reaction was, maybe. Shall I say that I am a work in progress? Can this old dog learn new tricks? We'll see. I am hoping the rest of you are more in tune with hearing God and much quicker to respond than I am.

I saw someone else get nudged in a different way last week. This guy I know mentioned that he might want to teach in our room. I am hoping that guy continues to entertain that thought and looks into giving it a try. I think he is more than qualified for the position. I am not going to say it was Kevin Stewart because I don't want any unnecessary pressure put on him. So "guy," think about it. We could use some teachers. Jake is on like every week now. All of us should be praying, not just for the kids we serve, or other leaders we serve with, but for ourselves. Pray that we will be used as God wants us to. That we will be open to His leading. That we will hear Him and act.

Like all good Christians do, the Lingenfelter family went to a driveway campfire cookout on halloween. Since I don't condone the celebration of this dark event, Erin was not allowed to dress up. Rather, as a practicing Cherokee, she wore her native attire, and it worked. She received treats just like the kids whose parents allowed them to dress up as things they are not. You didn't know our daughter was Cherokee? Silly you. While Pam's family came to America on the Mayflower, making her totally anglo, I am a mutt. I am 1/4 Croatian, 1/4 Italian, 1/4 German, 1/16 Cherokee, 1/16 Scotch, 1/16 Irish & 1/16 white trash. I didn't realize how into the 1/32 Cherokee our kids are until recently. School documents reveal that they are both Cherokees who practice tribal customs. I never knew the Cherokee tribe was so into Xbox and Justice clothing stores. It is also amazing to me that they (Cherokees) do far less hunting and gathering than I expected and watch a lot of movies while eating food purchased and prepared by their parents. They also like baseball and American Girl dolls. Crazy. If you are curious about how the paperwork got filed at school regarding their status as practicing Cherokees, just ask my wife.

As I took Erin to dance class last night (now I realize why it rains whenever she does a certain dance, she is practicing), we saw the sunset (e-ga-te-ga-wi). How beautiful. There are some positives to the short days of late fall/winter. Enjoy.

DLmail 10/20/2010 calling people

2010-10-20T10:39:00.009-05:00

First things first, I did little bios of our team last week in the DLmail. Since I can't seem to remember to take my camera to church, I used photos of other people and associated them with the bios. The photos used were not random. They somehow, in my mind, were associated with the person, and not just because of appearance. Some were obvious, but some might have been vague. Since many of you are sporting types, make a comment on this post and try to identify the person in the photo. Or not. Not very many people read this blog, so this could be a major flop.

I didn't take my camera AGAIN last weekend. Since people rarely read anything that doesn't have photos associated with it, I will share with you throughout this post pics I took of our dog Shafer today during his morning run and practice hunt. It was a beautiful fall morning. Super exciting too as Shafer got attacked by a redtailed hawk, but it was over before I could get the camera on. He couldn't smell, see or hear that bird until it pinched his butt. Surprise!!!

Thanks to everyone who served last weekend. Tim came from out of nowhere and his serving was much appreciated. With Amy, Kevin, Em and myself, we had a really solid team. What we didn't have was the huge number of kids I kind of anticipated considering we had Bruce Wilkinson on main stage for the big people. Click here to hear and see his message (and as a bonus Chris Artis appears in the video singing). Thanks also to our leaders for their overtime. Saturday night the flow for the evening had the service ending 30 minutes or so earlier than it actually did. Bruce circled the airport several times before landing that evening. I do believe the service was shorter on Sunday. His message really works well with what we are going to be studying in the Factory this coming Saturday. God, prior to the Holy Spirit being on the scene, constantly nudged Joseph, and despite his circumstances, and because Joseph paid attention, he was redeemed over and over and blessed extravagantly. Click here for the lesson. Right now I am only expecting Kevin, Em and myself for Saturday. Joe is out of town this weekend.

Pam and I attended our 25th class reunion last weekend. Nothing like a class reunion to remind a person of all the insecurities they had forgotten they had those many years ago. Enough that one might need some pastoral consultation prior to and maybe even after the event. The person that Kevin S. emailed you about last week (his own unauthorized bio of me) wasn't at that reunion. He was replaced by some introvert with serious issues. While Pam effectively worked the room, I found myself hunkering down to a plate of meatballs and cocktail weenies sitting by a couple of the spouses who were nice enough to come. That worked for about an hour, then they moved away from me. I found some refuge hanging by a guy I have known since kindergarten. Since he was nice enough to harbor me for awhile I figure I better give him a plug for the equipment he created and is marketing. So there you go Shawn. That's Shawn in the red shirt.

Eventually Shawn tired of me dogging him and lost me somehow. Feeling conspicuous, and knowing Pam was doing alright on her own, I found another seat by a different group of spouses, who welcomed me warmly. Among that group was an actual classmate who felt the need to introduce me to these spouses with whom he had become acquainted. He introduced me as someone I never remember being in high school. His perception of who I was/am was way different than my own. I have to say, that made the night for me. So the moral of this story...there isn't one, I am just rambling. Sorry for the big buildup and no payoff.

DLmail 10/14/2010 meet the team night

2010-10-14T10:57:00.017-05:00

My return to DLmailing started off well several weeks ago. Then I took a week off. Or two. Not because I wanted to, rather because I am gifted in laziness. I know, worst gift ever. But I claim it and work with it as best I can.

First things first. Thanks for serving God through Discoveryland. Our Saturday night numbers have been all over the board, from 20 to over 40 and up and down and all around. On the nights we have needed to give a leader a break (sometimes they get the runs), we have had enough people serving to send that "hypothetical" runs person home. Sorry I can't be more specific and just say "Kevin," but those HIPA laws are there for a reason. We have managed pretty well so far and I think we will soon be adjusted to the new flow and curriculum, which you can find here for this coming Saturday. If you find that you can't make it back on any given Sunday to attend the adult service, be sure to catch it here. In streaming video these days, remember?

Seriously, thank you for serving. You are part of a select few who sacrifice just a bit of each Saturday, but a really important bit.

We tend to rush so much at times and don't always get a chance to connect while at church. I know I often leave church and think about how I feel like I just didn't get a chance to talk to any grown ups, and I miss that. So with this DLmail, I am going to remind each of you who each other are. Keep in mind I have forgotten many key details and or simply don't know as much as I should, so I have taken some liberties with each bio.

Let's start at the top...GARY WEBB.
Gary is one of the 4 executive pastors at Northwoods and he has responsibility over our service area. Gary is the tallest of the executive pastors and is currently the biggest loser among the staff at church. Back in the day we used to see more of this gentle giant, however since his responsibilities within the church were broadened, we see him only in passing and by appointment. I don't even know where his new office is! He is still our go to guy though and without his Godly leadership, conventional wisdom says DL wouldn't be quite the same.

JEANNINE VOTE
Jeannine hails from the piney woods of Loosiana and serves as the Discoveryland Associate Director (I think). Northwoods almost didn't get her after Uncle Gary allowed the volunteers to meet her during her interviewing process. Jeannine didn't think some certain facetious/sarcastic type volunteer liked her. She took the job anyway and now you can see her occasionally on Saturday nights, more on Sundays (yes, I am keeping track!!) Jeannine now rotates herself into the teaching in the Factory. This has been a clear reminder to us volunteers that she not only can talk the talk of ministry, but she walks it also. Her gift of administration is second only to her gift of teaching which is second only to her gift of kindness. Wait, can I second something twice? I guess kindness leads, teaching second, administration third. Whatever, we appreciate Jeannine despite her height.

JAKE SUTTON
Jake is pretty new to most of us. He is the reindeer that the other staff reindeer won't let play the reindeer games. He is too fit to enter. So while he gets to thrash certain staffers on the racquetball court, he will get last by default in the biggest loser game. Jake is one of those talented people (they usually are pathetically nonathletic, but Northwoods has a way of recruiting talented people who can actually throw a ball and are coordinated). His skills that I can see are musical, technical and teachical. He does it all well and the chicks dig him. He is also branching into my neck of the woods by exploring Chillicothe YFC Campus Life in his off hours.

Ladies next...AMY CROSE
Amy is a fellow Chillicothean of mine who serves as a small group leader. She has the claim-to-fame of being our only female small group leader this year. She is currently giving up a bit of the third Saturday each month. She should know that her pay will go up 75% should she decide to become an every-weeker. She is an avid traveler, taking her family to the *ends of the earth in search of adventure. *should be noted that ends of the earth means however far they can drive the camper before it gets dark on a Friday, leaving only after school lets out and with the ability to return prior to 11AM on Sundays to catch the NFL games.

TIM THORSON
Tim is the most rotational of rotational leaders currently. He got it in his contract this year that he will be there when his schedule permits. So we haven't seen him a ton this year. Like just once so far. But we love having him when we can. He is a gifted leader of kids. He is also my go to guy whenever my nuclear powered furnace or submarine break down. Yep, you probably can't tell by the white lab coat he never wears to church, but he is a bonafide nuclear engineer, phd. and all.

EMORY MORRIS
Em, as some call him, hails all the way from Dunlap and is in his second year as a small group leader. Rumor has it that Em is my wife's little brother. But as Christians we don't dabble in rumor, so just stop. Em is also the only current Chillicothe JFL Seniors coach serving in the Factory on Saturday nights. I think. Em's favorite color is black and blue and he enjoys moonlit walks during midday.

JOE PIEPER
I know Joe the least, so it will be much easier to make stuff up about him. Doug Oberhelman was just appointed to the job I thought Joe was supposed to move into at CAT recently (blah, blah, blah). So, I am only kind of sure that leaves Joe as the #2 at work. What I know FOR sure is that Joe is a kind and warm guy who nurtures the kids we lead with more kindness than most anyone I know. He is perfectly suited for serving in DL. No doubt. When I think "I'm going to grab that little snot by the neck and...," Joe simply scootches over and sits by the little talker and quiets him down. Go figure. We like that Joe moved up to the Factory.

KEVIN STEWART
Kevin is my man. I always know he has my back. It is good to have that kind of guy around. So I will enjoy it while I can, because we just don't know how long we will have Kevin around. You see, Kevin's hobby is stunt riding on sport bikes. He has seen 300km on a bike before. That is 180mph to you non-elitist who haven't driven the autobahn. I think he has seen 138mph whilst riding a wheelie. So I cherish every moment with him I get and I worry that I won't be able to lift my corner of his coffin when the time comes because I am so lazy anymore and never work out. He is also extremely gifted and can connect with ANY kid. Hard ones, easy ones. You name it. Ever wonder why my son Josh is always in our room? Look no farther than that shiny beacon we call Kevin's bald head. Kids dig Kevin.

RICK LINGENFELTER
Dang, just ran out of MB's on this blog entry. Simply put, I ain't nothing to brag about. Sad but true. **Facetious and **sarcastic don't get you far. Look where I am.

Speaking of that(?), Joe let me know a couple of weeks ago that he has to miss this weekend (Oct. 16th). Kudos for giving advance notice. Amy will join us as we serve. Don't be surprised if I show up in long pants and a dark shirt (my work uniform). Don't have to work after church, but have to make an appearance at my, gulp, 25th high school reunion. **That will be fun.

This video, on the other hand, is *totally *serious.

What you can't see is that she holds up 2 fingers when she says 3 minutes. Classic.

DLmail...really?!? 9/27/2010

2010-09-27T14:53:00.008-05:00

We sent our kids back to school a little over a month ago. That was soon followed by the return of Discoveryland. A full 4 weekends of DL have passed. I am making an attempt to keep all the Saturday nighters connected by returning to publishing the DLmail. Of course, I am doing this now, but soon, we may have no kids even coming. Our technological world you know. For instance...

I will no longer attend church in person. Made that decision today when I dialed up the link to last weekend's grown-up service. Click here to get my drift. The September 25/26 message is now available in video form. As I watched Garland in vivid streaming color and almost stereo sound, it hit me. Now that I can hear AND see the service on my computer, I just might stay home. I can eat and drink while I watch. I can hit pause when I need to evac...take a break. Kids, the future is here! Text me or email me so that we can connect. Pic message me every once in a while so I can SEE how you are doing. Get this up and running in DL and we won't have to worry about finding enough people to serve.

Speaking of serving, thanks to you all who serve on Saturday night. Sorry if it seems like we haven't really hit our stride yet with the new lesson plans and the timing of the service flow. Do you agree? Click here for a digital copy of the Oct. 2nd plans. My concerns over not having enough leaders, in particular female leaders, is becoming less. The new flow lends itself to less small group time from what I can see. And so far, with the exception of the 9/11 service, we haven't had any small group time to speak of. So far, our leaders who have committed to coming each week are Kevin, Em and Joe. Amy has committed to the 3rd Saturday of each month and Tim will be there when he can. If you know of anyone interested in serving, let me know. If it's a man, ask him if his wife is interested in serving. Really, we have 1000 lbs.+ of men serving (even more if we throw in Josh) and a little over a 100 lbs. of women. We either need to enlist more females or put a push on the video version of Discoveryland. Just saying.

The October memory verse (maybe you are familiar with it): The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Psalm 23:1-3

Pray for the kids and this ministry throughout this week as you prepare to serve this Saturday.

Erin's 2010 solo dance (& recital pics)

2010-06-14T20:44:00.004-05:00

You can click on most of the pics to make them bigger.

SURFIN SAFARI

WALKIN ON SUNSHINE

BUTTERFLY FLY AWAY

Erin's solo dance...BEAT IT!

Click on the play button below to see the video of Erin's solo.

THRILLER!

Race for the Cure '10

2010-05-11T09:34:00.042-05:00

If it weren't for the Posse, Pam would have stayed in bed for the 25th annual Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure. Why? 80 reasons...43 degrees and 30mph wind at 7AM. You do the math. But she made it and it was a great morning of encouragement for her and the hundreds of survivors joined her. They had about 18,000 overall participants in Peoria this year. Probably not as many as they expected, but the weather played a huge role. Too bad the great weather of the previous month and a half didn't stick till last Saturday. As you stroll through this post, click on any of the small photos to make them larger. You can also steal the ones you are in if you so choose.

This year Pam's Posse had around 38 "registered" members. The Posse photo shows about 25 made it to the event. The photo doesn't show everyone in their Posse shirts, which would have been cool, but again, blame the weather. I even felt cold much of the time. Pam's Posse was born last year as she participated in the Race, right in the middle of her treatments for her recurrence. This can be considered the 2nd annual for her Posse (remember the 1st?). She isn't alone in fighting breast cancer in her posse. Also intimately involved are her mom Flo and friends Carol and Cheryl. This is the day when the women in the pink survivor shirts don't have to feel so lonely. It really is a great event and a great day.

The race was less dramatic this year. None of the intrigue and injuries of last year. Just windy!

Thanks to everyone for supporting her! It means a lot.

Then we made the news. WMBD-TV posted it in a tiny little version here. Don't know how long that link will work, so watch it below.

busy dog people

2010-05-06T12:12:00.019-05:00

Spring is a great time of the year. This spring has been better than usual mostly because we really were blessed with some great weather since about the beginning of March. I say that because that is when track started and since I am the second assistant unpaid distance track coach at Chillicothe Junior High, it matters because I have to be there everyday, cold/snow/rain/wind/whatever.

It is also a better than usual spring because our team, led by a great group of seventh graders (Josh among them) has experienced some great success. They won the conference meet as well as the county meet in the past couple of weeks. We have our sights on winning the Canton Invitational next Monday and we won't stop there. But it does keep us busy.

Josh is also on a baseball team that began practicing sometime in late March. The games started a couple of weeks ago. So far he is enjoying it, but his (and our) enjoyment is limited a bit due to the overlap of the two sports. Track is rolling and going great. Baseball is kind of making it extra busy right now. Give us a week and half and things will be different.

To keep us occupied at home, we got that dog on March 20th. He is working out great, except I am seeing some of us turn into dog people. Oh Cesar would be upset if he could see some of the things that go on with Shafer. But Shafer is a good one. He is pretty obedient despite just turning 5 months old a couple of days ago. He hasn't destroyed anything. He is crate trained, house trained and hardly barks. His separation anxieties have diminished greatly. He loves people and other dogs more and more each day. So as we find ourselves solidly into month two of the dog, I have to say this experiment is a success.

Erin and Pam are the dog people I was referring to. This week made it official as Erin began letting the dog into her room to snuggle with her and read to him when she goes to bed at night. He falls asleep with her and has to be removed at some point and sent to his crate. In the morning when I lose him, I need look no farther than my bed...yes, my bed. That is where he escapes to after Erin goes to school, trying to sneak a little nap with Pam.

His pedigree has proven itself. He is all German Shorthaired Pointer. He sits at the door and points at birds in the yard. On walks he stops abruptly and unexpectedly and points at every robin digging for worms. He is an expert at finding bumble bees and pointing at them. He points at our neighbors yappy dogs. He even pulled off the most perfect and closeup point of a Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier ever recorded in a photograph.

I closed out Pam's blog for a while. Hard to know what to write. Being a busy dog person has also kept me from updating this blog so our family far away can know how exciting our lives are. This one is loaded with pics to get everyone up to speed. Hope it was successful.

the freezing of hell

2010-03-21T21:55:00.018-05:00

This post is mainly for family and friends that know me well. Those that know I have held fast on not having a dog for 18.75 years of marriage. But sometimes circumstances go beyond our control. Sometimes we do things we think we will never do.

Some people have long thought I don't like animals. I do (I had two dogs for 14 of my first 23 years of life and a rabbit for the past 5). They are just more responsibility and work (thinking about those 14 years plus the current 5) on top of everything else. I never saw the payoff. My perspective has changed lately. In large part because I am putting hope that an always happy, always glad to see you creature in our house will provide us all with a little picker upper.

After about 34 hours of this experiment, it seems to be working. Here is Mr. pickerupper himself. Meet Shafer Blitz Lingenfelter, a 14 week old German Shorthaired Pointer. He is 19lbs. now and will grow up to be the size of a small lab, 60-80lbs. You are probably lumping me into the extreme dog loving category because he has a first, middle and last name. Don't. He gets the full name treatment because on his paperwork it said we could use up to 50 letters. We only used half of what they allow. Seemed like a waste to not use a lot of the spaces we were paying for with the registration.

You'll look at some of these photos and think I have sold out and the dog is a person to me because you see him on a couch. Nope. He has to reside on the ground except for the two red couches. No getting on our beds, it's a crate for sleeping and when we leave the house.

As you can see, I have some issues about having a dog. Seems like a simple thing. Josh even mentioned to me today that until yesterday, he was the only person he knows who doesn't have a dog. So why is it such a big thing for me??? I don't know. But now we do and here he is.

He came to us well on his way to being house broken. He already knows some commands and seems to be a fast learner. He doesn't bark for the most part. He loves everyone he meets and promises to one day be an accomplished runner (hopefully Pam's future running partner). He has made friends with our rabbit. He points at it. I expected our rabbit to be afraid of him, possibly hastening his passing on to the great rodent cage in the sky, but no such luck.

The verdict is still out, but I really do hope this works.
Family...you do know that if you click on these pictures they get bigger, right?

There is actually a short video below. Click on that little play button down there.

makes me feel good

2010-03-10T19:45:00.001-06:00

At 42, these are some of the songs that take me back to the 70's and my childhood, and really make me feel good. To this day, I have a fond place in my heart for hippies.

At age 10 I was listening to Aerosmith on the radio. This live performance from 1977 below doesn't sound like the radio version. Looks/sounds like the entire band had a cold or something. They were just a little off. Yea, I am sure it was a cold virus.

It wasn't only hippies and stoned alcoholics that remind me of my childhood. Michael Jackson, the African American one, along with his brothers, conjures up good memories.

I don't know that I loved this song, but it totally takes me back. These guys seem less like dirty hippies and more like plain old flower children. I never understood the lyrics.

Then there are "slightly too old to be hippie" nerd hippies that make me think of the 70's.

Try and be sad while watching this next one. Can't be done. The happiest male lead singer of the 70's always takes me back. Again, never had a clue what the lyrics meant.

Folk singers (aka smart hippies) were not always my favorite. I didn't really like Jim Croce, but his songs are forever in my childhood. Here is one I wish I could forget.

I spent much of the 70's watching TV. In the 70's smart hippies infiltrated TV and made lots of money. I feel like I am 5 years old when I watch this.

Finally, the cool hippies. The Who. I could relate. I loved playing pinball and they made a song about it!

There are more, but I imagine those of you on this blog right now are so choked up with emotion and longing for the past, that I must show mercy and stop. Soon to come, clips from my favorite 70's TV shows and maybe even an 80's music reflection.

HOLY SMOKES, I almost forgot...I actually thought she honestly loved me.

sign-O-the-times

2010-03-03T11:17:00.004-06:00

It's not as easy to tell who belongs to which shoes in our house nowadays.

Re-entry to blogging

2010-02-14T20:17:00.007-06:00

I haven't felt like blogging in quite a while. For the two people who actually read my blog, it has been pretty rough. I am sorry. So I am re-entering my blog in the most lazy of ways. You'll see.

I have been thinking about the past a lot lately. Specifically, news/sporting events during my life that stood out as clear memories. Not surprisingly, I found each of these events on Youtube. We live in a time when the movie Total Recall isn't as crazy a premise as it seemed in 1990.

This isn't really the total of my lifetime memories, but sadly it is pretty close.

As an 8 year old I watched the 76 Olympics with my dad. I remember the struggle I had understanding how our guy, Bruce Jenner, won the gold & set a world record. I just watched him lose the race!?! I figured it out at some point in my life that the 1500m was the 10th of 10 events.

It was a normal afternoon for a 9 year old kid in August of 1977, watching Beverly Hillbillies while eating a bowl of Fruit Loops. Then the TV screen changed and the program was interrupted by a special news announcement, Elvis had died. Remember it well.

Sporting events tend to dominate my lifetime memories. I believe this was the first hockey game I had ever watched. 1980 Olympics, the miracle on ice. Watched it with my dad at my grandmother's house in Monterey, IL. Pretty much everyone my age remembers this.

JFK was shot way before I was born, so this is my presidential assassination attempt memory. I was in PE at Chilli Jr. High in 1981 and Mrs. Kinney was my teacher. We were sitting on the gym floor stretching when Mr. Greene came over the intercom and announced that the president had just been shot. A weird moment for me. Didn't know what to think.

January 1986 and the second semester of my freshman year at Bradley U. was just a few days underway when this memory was burned in. I had just returned to my dorm room in the basement of Heitz Hall and flipped on the TV to relax between classes (probably should have used that time to study, but my poor study habits meant that I saw this live as it happened). Since I didn't have cable I was on a network when they interrupted the programming to show the space shuttle Challenger launch. In those days, all shuttle launches were newsworthy and this one more so with a civilian on board. Then it just blew up while I watched it. I sat stunned for a long time.

In 1990 I took a short trip to Chicago with Pam and her entire family. We arrived after interesting circumstances (Pam's grandma passed out on the ride up). We stayed at the Courtyard in Oakbrook and they had free HBO...sssuuuwheat! Em and I turned the TV on as soon as we arrived, just as the Mike Tyson/Buster Douglas fight was getting underway. At that time, Tyson was considered completely dominate, unbeatable. We put off going to dinner for a long time as we all watched in amazement as Tyson lost for the first time.

January 17, 1991 and Pam and I were driving down Rt. 6 as we listened to the radio report of the start of the Gulf War. It was very eerie to drive on that dark night listening to foreign correspondents report live from Baghdad with the sound of constant explosions near them. It was like we were waiting to hear them get killed. We later learned about many things we take for granted these days, like stealth bombers and precision guided missiles, etc., things that kept the destruction of civilians (at least the reporters in their hotels) to a minimum.

Pam and I stopped in at her folk's house for a visit on June 13, 1994, just as the strange news coverage of a police chase in LA began. We watched with intrigue as we learned the slow moving white Bronco might be carrying OJ Simpson who may have just killed his wife and her friend with a knife. It took years of TV to figure this one out. Oh, I guess we still don't know what happened.

In August of 1997 we had a bit of a OJ/celebrity/auto/drama deja vu. Again, Pam, Josh and I stopped by to visit Pam's folks just as news reports from Paris began to stream on the news channels, Princess Diana was killed in a car crash. We couldn't believe we were sitting there watching this. She was only 36 (seemed old then, now that seems so young).

1998 and I began a tradition of watching championship games with my son. Nearly 2 year old Josh and I watched as Michael Jordan and the Bulls won their 6th NBA championship. We have watched pretty much every major sports championship since. Not soccer of course, just the good sports ;)

9/11, prior to this day in 2001, 911 was the number known as the number you dial for emergencies. That changed. Pam was teaching at Mossville. I was getting Josh ready for preschool and 1 1/2 yr. old Erin ready to go to my folks so I could get to work. I got a call from my dad who said I should turn on the TV. The World Trade Center had just been hit by a second airplane. I watched in stunned amazement with the rest of the country as I held Erin in my arms and Josh sat nearby. I called Pam to let her know what was going on. Not long after, I watched live as the towers fell. Later in the day as I was stopped at the gas station, waiting in line to pay over $4 per gallon (Casey's, they got in trouble for that later), I watch Air Force One, escorted by 3 fighter jets, fly east over Chillicothe toward Washington DC. That day was the strangest day I ever remember. A perfect, beautiful, horrible day none of us will ever forget.

DLmail 1/22/2010 a virus named Gen

2010-01-22T14:37:00.017-06:00

In all of my years of hammering on computers, stories of viruses always came from the other guy. About two weeks ago, I became the other guy. Our main computer in the office, the server, the one that allows all the other machines to communicate with each other and the printers/scanner, etc., caught a virus, and it looks like her name is Gen. I would like to give you some advice, be DISCIPLINED when it comes to keeping your spyware/antivirus software up to date. It can happen to you.

It has caused a certain amount of trouble for me, making work a little trickier. It has also squashed my creativity concerning this DLmail. So don't get as crazy excited as you usually do when you read it. Here is what you need to know.

You need to know that Kevin Stewart is Ironman. He showed up at church last Saturday, 5 days out from having double carpal tunnel surgery. He wasn't doing cartwheels or anything, but he was there serving. Like I said, Ironman. Oh, and Kevin, I have your small group stuff. You left it on the counter.

Jeannine taught the week before last. She doesn't teach very often, but when she does she knocks your socks off. What a great teacher she is. She also has led worship for the past couple weeks. What a great teacher she is. :-) j.k.
Kevin Elder taught last week and of course did a fine job. He brought his little helper Ben, who didn't actually help. Rather he hung out with my little helper Josh, who didn't seem to be helping either. But they did manage to play some extreme bago with each other and laugh a lot.

Em and Pam have been doing their usual best. Em even ended up on stage with myself, Kevin and Kevin. Never has the stage looked prettier than with us four guys and a bunch of footballs on it.
Amy (pic not available), our sole surviving rotational leader, came on just the right night. She even brought her little helper Craig, who I caught actually helping, specifically working the room looking for kids that were alone or seemed disconnected. Nice work Mr. Observer. Amy gave the girls that I have led too often this year a much needed womanly presence. Hope they aren't too bummed when they return this week and find me or Tim sitting with them.

So this week, we will continue with the Discipline virtue, doing what you need to do now so you can grow stronger. Memory verse remains 2 Timothy 3:16, "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching..." Our Bible story is "Peter states who Jesus is" and is found in Matthew 16:13-17.

MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT...Rick will miss DL on Jan. 30th. Also missing will be Pam. Tim will be here this week, but on the 30th he is scheduled to be gone. You do the math 5 minus three leaves two...Em and Kevin. Needless to say I will be looking for help for them. Jeannine is aware of this perfect storm on the horizon. Pray that we can find some folks willing to serve that weekend.

Deadliest Crop ...or... Ice Road Farmers

2010-01-22T12:03:00.012-06:00

I am a fan of the Discovery Channel. Also a fan of the History Channel. So it should be no surprise that I seek out adventure at every opportunity. Risking my life is a daily activity, just like Bear Grylls. (I actually prefer Les Stroud when it comes to surviving).

Despite temperatures that would kill most Floridians, we ventured out to the farm on January 10th to do a little farming (well, kind of just watched Russ's hired hands do it, and watched Russ do the hauling). But, we could have easily DIED! Maybe. But we didn't. What we did do was manage to have fun on a wicked cold Sunday in January, the last day we saw the sun in Illinois in 2010.

Russ has a big farm. Lots of acres, in the thousands. This year, like many others, Russ had to battle the rain. Ideally he likes to have the harvest done in the same year the planting happened. As January 2010 ends, he still has 300+ acres of 2009 corn waiting to be picked. The day we joined him he was working his way down to 700 left. And Russ is such a good guy he does it with a laugh and a joke (and a constant jug of coffee). Even on this day when one of the two combines wouldn't start because of the extreme cold, meaning the work would take twice as long, he was a terrific host.

We had fun on the farm this day. The boys didn't lose any hands or digits. No one fell from the shiny new bin. Hardly any frost bite. No truck or tractor accidentally backed over us. Just a solid good day.

DLmail 1/15/2010 celebrity gossip edition

2010-01-15T11:10:00.001-06:00

Drift back with me many years and remember this (pre-Factory) allstar DL team from 2003-2004.

Notice the tall one with the hat. That's Dirk. Not long after this photo was taken he moved to Tampa, FL, then eventually to the Orlando area. This may surprise you to find out that Dirk has no manservant and must do his own grocery shopping. On a cool Monday January 11th, 2010, Dirk drove to the Metrowest Shopping Center near Windemere, FL to buy some food. Look who was next to him in the parking lot! Yessiree, none other than Mrs. Tiger Woods, Elin Nordegren. Dirk said it was hard not to miss her with four body guards and a pack of paparazzi. Here is Dirk's phone camera pic. Click here for some of the paparazzi photos from this same parking lot experience. I had high hopes that I would find paparazzi pics from this moment that would show Dirk in his car next to her, but no such luck.

Celebrity phone camera pic #2. This lovely man in the hospital dress is none other than our own Kevin. No, he isn't dressed up for halloween as Pam. Monday saw him heading in for actual surgery. A double carpal tunnel surgery to be specific. And at such a young age!?! So he is out of commission this week a bit. Most people do them one at a time, but Kevin manned up and did them at the same time. He is healing well but is a little annoyed with his lack of independence (no driving, etc.) You will be glad to know he did shower yesterday. Prayers for Kevin as he continues to heal and begins physical therapy. Need a referral to a therapist? Click here, download, and look on pages 12 & 13 (It's old info, she is now at OSF Peoria, but pretty cool).

Jeannine sent you all an email about this coming weekend services, so I am not going to be redundant. It is possible that this will be slim pickens leader weekend in the Factory with Kevin freshly surgeried and Tim gone to another sporting event with Erika. We might be just Pam, Em and Rick. ****1:30PM****this just in****its Amy's week to serve with us****disaster avoided!

Why? Why not?

2010-01-06T11:11:00.002-06:00

In lieu of a DLmail this week, I am posting a video. A video by the way, that is at least as, if not more, exciting than my ordinary writings.

Those in FL are jealous

2009-12-29T09:32:00.023-06:00

Our white Christmas of 2009 began just a little late, with the snow fall beginning on Christmas day in the mid-afternoon and continuing to fall for the next 48 hours, leaving us with 8 inches on the ground. This post is mostly for friends and family in FL. Envy and jealously are such ugly things, but we understand those of you who don't get snow when you feel such things. Must stink to have swimming as your only outdoor fun activity.

Erin, our snow and cold loving daughter, wasted little time in getting into the snow on Dec. 26th and built herself a sweet fort. It's size will guarantee that it will be around for quite a while. It was built with the temps in the low 20s, just low enough to make her cheeks rosey, but warm enough to be comfy. You Floridians are sure missing out. Do any of you even remember the refreshing sting of single digit temps on your face (we awoke to 2 deg. today)? How about the the below zero wind chills that make you feel alive? Jumping into your screened pool you never use when the water temp is below 80 degrees just doesn't compare. Again I feel sad for you and sense your envy.

I know, mostly because it makes the national news, FL (northern and maybe even central) can and does get a freak snow on occasion (frost and ice don't count as snow). Its those moments that I again feel sad for you. You see, I know your only hills are for entering and exiting highways and/or interstates. I also imagine that the Florida Highway Patrol makes a frowny face everytime they see a transplant or snowbird, desperate for a little non-swimming action, trying to sled down a ramp on a blow up pool toy, and shoo's them away (shoo's is a word isn't it?).

I have been to FL, both sides, up and down, many times. I have seen the South American and Germen men in their thong swimsuits everywhere. Not a pretty sight. Here in Illinois, men like Jon and Troy only wear thongs in the privacy of their own homes, far from my family and camera. When men in Illinois lay on each other on an inner tube (you Floridians might recognize this device, you use it drag thong wearing men sitting on each other with your boats in alligator infested lakes), they bundle up, so as to be modest, safe from harmful UV rays and to not overdose on the refreshing cold air sting. And when they fall off at the end of the ride they happily land (see the smiles) on frozen farm ground, rather than in the jaws of the alligator that recently ate your neighbors Shitzu, Mitsy.

Now, there are similarities to our outdoor activities. We tested the old saying "Its not the size of the dog in the fight, its the size of the fight in the dog" in the video below. Only we raced, rather than fought, using one of your Florida tubes, a big dog (Craig), and a smaller, healthier, seemingly faster dog (Josh) on an actual sled built for the snow. We found, and this video proves it, that the larger size dog wins in sledding. Just like I assume a similarly "bouyant" large dog (S. American/Germen thong wearer) in water might swim faster than a small dog. The similarities end there though. Our large dog stopped in a marginally graceful way (the small dog gets points for his ending), without being torn to pieces by an alligator (or bull shark if you prefer the ocean).

Of course, sometimes the small dogs don't stop soon enough and think they have broken their leg on a frozen mound of earth. The Floridians who have survived shark and alligator bites know what he felt like I suppose.

one of my all time favorites

2009-12-27T20:36:00.002-06:00

I am probably going to pass on doing this, mostly because we don't have cliffs around Chillicothe, but partly because it is a little dangerous I suppose. But I sure like to watch these guys. Wait till the summer scenes for this video to really get your attention.

Merry Christmas 2009

2009-12-14T15:17:00.032-06:00

In the 18 year history of the Rick and Pam Lingenfelter union, there has been just one Christmas family newsletter. That was 2004. It was a classic though, full of rotten and exciting news, produced on old fashioned paper and mailed via the USPS. How 90's.

From 2005-07 we sent cards that just said "Merry Christmas" and had a pic of our kids. In 2008...nothing. Yet all the while many of our friends and family sent wonderful holiday greetings with lots of details and wonderful photos, even though we hardly reciprocated. For years now we have planned on scheduling that family photo, the professional one that would replace the last one we had taken in 1999. A photo that would actually have Erin in it with us and be appropriate for sending along with a Christmas letter full of info. And each year we have neglected to get around to it.

This season the cards and photos started coming again. Even a newsletter or two. Fear began to settle in that once again the world was finding out how great all these other families are and wouldn't know how fantastic our kids are or how old they have become. So today I decided that I would right this yearly wrong I have done and I would declare to the world through this newsletter just what everyone needs to know about our kids and family. Here you go....

Dear World,

Josh is fantastic and he is 13.

Dear World,

Erin is fantastic and she is 9.

Dear World,

Pam is *fantastic and she is younger than Rick.

*OK, fantastic can be defined in Pam's case as having the ability to battle cancer yet again (recurrance Nov. 08) with grace and strength and beauty while relying on her unwavering faith.

Constant treatments (chemo, radiation and drug) from the beginning of 09 to the end and continuing beyond. It takes three photos to catch you up on Pam (January (ish), May, November).

To get the full story on Pam, check out her blog... http://www.dyintoserveocho.blogspot.com/.

Dear World,

Rick is fantastically overweight, out of shape and old.

Peace to your family from ours.

Rick, Pam, Josh and Erin.

John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that he gave is only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life."

Ohhhhh the time has come

2009-12-08T20:08:00.006-06:00

NEED..........

...........MORE............

....................COWBELL!!!!!!

Need some boots?

2009-12-07T12:02:00.023-06:00

Need a low mileage pair of boots for this winter. Check out just a few of these specials we have going.

How about these boy's blue and black Itasca snow boots in size youth 6?

Do you know a little girl who might enjoy these fluffy DC Shoe Co. boots in size (youth?) S?

Be confident that your young girl or boy will have warm dry feet in these waterproof Columbia boots, size youth 2.

Since these are Pam's boots, you know they are low mileage. These classic Timberland boots are womens size 6.5.

These low rise Timberland boots have a few more miles than those above, but you'll hardly notice. Womens size 6.5.

Another cherry pair of Pam boots. These late model North Face boots are waterproof and scream "cool"...I mean "warm/dry." Womens size 6.

Here they are, the Rolls Royce of our snow boot expo. These Merrell boots were purchased in Dec. 2008 for Josh. He wore them during one season, and not that often. We expected to get more than a year out of them, but of course he went from size 8 to 10 in these past 12 months. So, are you interested in these mens 9 boots? I hope so. (These seem to run just a bit smaller than a true 9).

Email me rlingenf@hotmail.com or call 696-3388, if you are interested. The prices are free, but that is negotiable.

DLmail 12/7/2009 Mary didn't do it

2009-12-07T09:40:00.006-06:00

You had to be there. It was one of those moments. It all depends upon what the meaning of the word "it" is. It was one of those unexpected classic moments in Discoveryland that you kind of had to be there to appreciate. Words that flew straight over the kids heads and hit the leaders on their funny bones.

Another great night in Discoveryland. I could go for having Rick (#1) in the room every Saturday night. Although I was a bit annoyed that I am now referred to as "Rick #2" (or Mr. Rick #2) by most of the kids in my small group.

Have any of you noticed that it is December? And with the positioning of the 25th on a Friday, the main stage Christmas production will begin on the Friday prior (18th) and wipe out our Saturday serving on the 19th (encourage your small group kids to bring their families to one of the nine services). So this coming Saturday is it for DL for this year basically. Hope to see you all there. Here is your small group info for the weekend (choose 2-5 for the material). Our memory verse for this month is John 3:16, you all know it, so I won't type it. Our Bible story for our continuing study of the virtue Compassion is found in Luke 2:8-20. Our bottom line is - God gave great news, who will you tell? If you want to hear Tim Reist's message from last weekend, click here.

We missed Em and Tim last weekend. But we did get to see Monica with baby Joshua for a while before they exited for the mommy/baby quiet room (and I mean really quiet...no sound on the monitors, Monica had to lip read the whole service). We also were blessed with Rachel White programming in place of Keith. Sorry Keith, but that's a good trade for us.

A little bit of snow today, that's good. A lot of snow possible tomorrow night...that's GREAT! Remember, if you get stuck in the snow, please don't hesitate to call me and I'll help you get out (I love playing in the snow). I will leave my phone on 24hrs a day during the snowy times. 696-3388.

That's it for this post. No guessing games for Sammy to win. Sorry.

DLmail 12/4/2009 helpful hints

2009-12-04T09:17:00.007-06:00

Jeannine is doing an excellent job of communicating the specifics of our coming weekends serving via email, so I am taking a break from in depth info delivery and I will dwell in the shallows.

It got cold yesterday. Which brings me to helpful hint #1...don't walk with your hands in your pockets, wear gloves. It only took me two falls to figure this one out. If you don't break your fall with your hands, you'll break it with your head, face, shoulder or tailbone. Skin and hair from my head are still clinging to the brick wall of the Chillicothe Post Office from my hand-in-pockets stumble of 2007. Whether you are running along a trail with your buds carrying a rifle or just "running into" the post office, be careful.

Helpful hint #2...keep track of your keys. I am so old that I remember when you could go to the hardware store to have another key for your car cut for about $1. After 2+ weeks of looking, I finally gave up on finding the key/fob to Pam's car that "I" lost ("I" is in paratheses because last time I lost a key it ended up being discovered in a co-workers purse 6 months later...I don't want to name names, but Corky remembers that). So this hint is...don't lose your keys, they cost more than makeup ($42.50 for 1.7oz.). This week I called the Ford place to inquire about getting a new key and fob. No problem, new key $40!?! New fob, $45!?! That's alot. Then they told me I had to have a service appt. to have the key synced to the vehicle or it would not work. I did it, new key, out the door, $152.80.

Hint #3...um, well, that's kind of it.

In summary, don't walk with your hands in your pockets and keep track of your keys. Enjoy this Friday and I look forward to seeing Em, Kevin and Pam tomorrow evening when we serve. Tim and Gail Thorson reported that they will be absent this Saturday. Didn't give a reason, but I am guessing its family stuff.

ups and downs

2009-11-27T21:41:00.035-06:00

Winter hasn't closed in yet. In fact, we had just the right weather for one last afternoon of ballooning on this Black Friday.

The Lingenfelter family took their regular position as crew and chasers. The launch was beautiful and in the cool 42 degree air, the hot air took the balloon (with Kathy, Deb and Brianna) to great heights. Like 4700+ ft.

Then the winds began to spin them like a top. I, for one, was glad to be tucked safely in the Jeep.

Now, balloon pilots have some control over their craft, but mostly up and down. Really good pilots somehow manage to put the balloon down where they want. Kathy is really good. After about 30 minutes at great altitudes and many miles, she landed the balloon at our church, Northwoods. The fabulous crew of Clydescope (humble group) even managed to arrive ahead of the balloon and assist in a most gentle landing.

Much to the surprise and joy of Josh and Erin, they were chosen for what was most likely to be the last flight of 2009. Larry was added as the co-pilot and off they went, expecting to land somewhere near the village of Dunlap before the sun set.

Josh brought a camera along to capture the sights from high above the earth. Here is his first shot looking north. Allen Road is running to the horizon.

In the photo to the right you can just make out two of the Chillicothe water towers (center of the pic all the way to the left). Thats the IL river on the horizon.

Hickory Grove Road intersects with Allen Road in the bottom of the picture to the left. The little black dot in the center of the pic is Pam and me in the Jeep.

In the pic to the right the kids are over Green View Nursery and looking NE.

Pam and I parked along Cedar Hills Drive as the kids flew over. They took a pic of us stopped at the intersection pretty close to the time we took this pic.

It was a race against the sun (and moon) to find a suitable place to land.

Sometimes we as chasers can get ahead of the balloon and assist the landing. Sometimes we can't. This time we couldn't. With power lines looming beyond a tree line, Kathy and Larry dropped the balloon suddenly. We chasers lost the chase.

A small tree, sent by God himself, reached out and grabbed one of the ropes. It tied the rope tightly around one of it's branches and stopped the balloon from getting tangled in a much larger tree. It tied the knot so tightly that Larry had to climb the tree to free the balloon. The landing was exciting and fast, a total plus for a 13 and 9 year old.

What a great afternoon.

We even stopped traffic for a little while as we packed up the balloon.

A great day with great friends.

DLmail 11/25/2009 times are tough

2009-11-25T14:54:00.021-06:00

Times are tough. Due to cutbacks there was no DLmail last week. Those same cutbacks will limit the amount of info you receive in this DLmail. To compensate for the lack of wording, the photo number has been increased (pics including but not limited to Stephanie Elder, Brian Cooper and Amy Crose).

Times are tough. So tough are the times that I am being left in charge of 2nd-5th grade this coming Saturday night. Keep in mind I am a last resort, which means all the qualified people are gone this weekend so they assigned the job to the guy most likely to show up. Anyone who serves this weekend (meaning Tim, Em, Pam and Brian) shouldn't over expect. No Keith, no Jeannine, no Susan, no Gary.

Times are tough. So tough that I don't even have a copy of the small group material to attach to this DLmail. I also don't know who is teaching (we are a combined large group) or who is "tech"ing.

Times are tough. Pray about this weekend with enthusiasm. We will need some divine intervention.

part the man

2009-11-22T17:01:00.016-06:00

I think sometimes it skips a generation, this father/son thing. I am a mere fraction of the man my father is and I have hope that my son (the every other) turns out to be just like my dad. The 2009 Bus iness of the Year guy. And now, the 2009 Chillicothe Santa Parade Grand Marshal. Not sure how they pick a grand marshal, but they picked the right guy this year. He loaded his carriage with three of his seven grandchildren and one of his three great grandkids and off he went.

The streets were lined with thousands to watch the three bands, the dozen or so antique cars, the dozen or so firetrucks, the Wizard of Oz characters, the several business sponsored floats, the bunches of boy scouts, wrestlers and dancers, and the rest (including but not limited to the ladies riding the horses clutching their (soft?) drinks in coozies, the antique tractor guys, some struggling to light their smokes and keep their 90 year old tractors driving in a straight line) And, last but not least, our Santa, cruising through town on an open bow Chillicothe Fire/Rescue boat pulled by 8 Dodge cylinders. We do live in middle America. You can't beat it. (We even have clever flower carrying parade goers...feel free to download this pic for your desktop wallpaper).

facebook

2009-11-13T09:19:00.006-06:00

Why did I leave facebook? Because facebook...

DLmail 11/11/2009 good old days

2009-11-11T12:17:00.010-06:00

Last Saturday was kind of like the good old days. Normal number of kids. Solid lesson taught by Rogy. Kids really clicking during the small group time. A really nice Saturday night.

We were an all male team of leaders with Monica still out and Pam staying home to tend to our Erin (who showed signs of getting sick, but seems to have simply had a cold...whew...no missed school, no fever). We'll hopefully see Pam back this weekend, but we'll lose Kevin and Tim. Kevin landed DL hall of famer Brian Cooper to sub and Zach Van B should be back on the horse in Tim's place. Em and I will round out the leaders and everything should be cool.

Our lesson (for small group info click here) will be titled Go & Tell. The Bible story is Jesus' Life, Death and Resurrection, 1 Corinthians 15:1-8 and Acts 2:1-41. Our series memory verse remains the same, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind." Matthew 22:37. This weeks memory verse is one of my all time favorites (of course I like to add verse 10 as well), "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is a gift of God." Ephesians 2:8-9. The bottom line...we can make a difference in people's lives by sharing the message of Jesus. Prepare well by opening your Bible and praying. God has already decided there are things that we should be doing. I kind of think serving is high on the to do list. If you needed to hear Jeff Schwarzentraub's message from last weekend again, here it is.

How exciting it was to see all the responses to last week's one item quiz. What a bunch of car buffs we have. We had a winner not long after I posted the DLmail. Congratulations Emory III. You were right, and with your first thought. SAAB. The car often thought of as about the size of a large boulder. Coming in a close second was gymnast Tim Thorson, Hog fan Sammy Waller was third, and in fourth place was newcomer Ray Detwiler of Texas. I don't know Ray, but he registered an enthusiastic answer in the comments section, and boy I appreciate that. Welcome Ray. I assume you made a total wrong turn on the vast information highway and ended up here, but I am glad you did. Welcome. You seem to be a really fine photographer (especially the car shots, nice depth). You also know your brand symbols, gotta admire that. How are you with sports stars from the past?

Who knows these young men?

DLmail 11/05/2009 5/36

2009-11-05T16:15:00.009-06:00

How did Oct. 31st landing on a Saturday affect us in Discoveryland? 5 kids in 4th/5th. 36 kids ages 0 through 5th grade total. In a church of thousands which routinely sees a couple hundred kids on Saturday nights and roughly 900+ for a weekend total.

There isn't much to say about last weekend. We combined for worship and teach time with the 2nd/3rd graders, making our total 14. Teaching was done "unplugged," giving everything a bit of a different, quieter feel. So quiet I couldn't hear a thing. Dang I wished I would have used ear protection during certain loud activities throughout my life.

I emailed you all this weekend's small group info. I really expect a lot of kids this weekend. I am thinking Kevin, Tim, Em and Pam will be leading this weekend. Momica??? Someday. Zach Van B advised me he has returned from Wisconsin and is available. I will ask him to serve on Nov. 14th. Losing Tim that day to some gymnastics meet. I just learned he is a nuclear engineer about a month ago. Now I find out he is also a gymnast. That guy is amazing.

I am guessing Jeannine tapped into some of the economic stimulus billions because she landed new flat screen LCD HD TV's, two new HD X-boxes and a Wii last week. Em, Tim and Kevin got everything up and running, so the kids have a surprise coming.

Last week I posted a quiz for you. Sammy didn't win. He got second. The surprise winner was Pam! So you know, the images were: Houston Texans, Seattle Seahawks, St. Louis Rams, and Tennessee Titans. Nothing super extensive for this week. Just guess which make of car goes with this little fella.

That dress up "holiday"

2009-11-01T09:09:00.008-06:00

Some sights from Halloween, minus pics of Erin with Abby and Josh with Mason. Missed that opportunity with the camera.

What we do have is pre-Halloween Erin with Rachel and Maggie (Rachel with the bloody ear). Josh (the chick magnet) with Erin (the candy corn witch).

Erin planned all along to trick or treat with Abby. Josh planned on not doing it again this year, but the allure of some fun wandering around town with a friend in the dark while being given candy for free was too much. So he donned the extremely simple costume and had a great time. Pam diligently inspected the candy for safety (and to take her cut...her words).

In hindsight we are glad it is over. Not the favorite "holiday."

DLmail 10/28/2009 I'll be brief

2009-10-28T12:08:00.015-05:00

This coming Saturday is Halloween. My guess, our low numbers will be even lower than we have been experiencing. I guess a lot of people are home-churching kids these days (kind of like home-schooling).

We created the bags for the South Side Mission Food Drive that Northwoods sponsored. According to Phil Newton, director of the Mission, *,***,*** tons of food were collected. I reckon someone will make an official announcement soon. It was great to encourage the kids to participate.

Although we don't expect many kids Saturday (it might just be Erika), we need to be there, just in case. Not everyone will follow the pagan ritual of dressing their children up as Hannah Montana, clipping a flashing orange light to their back and sending her/him to the neighbors to ask for candy. Makes me wonder, how did the pagan's ever come up with this activity?

I handed out your small group lesson stuff last week. If you didn't get it, check the email I just sent you for a copy that is attached. Jeannine will also likely send you something. Don't forget how important serving is. Without volunteers Northwoods wouldn't work. Then we would all be home-churching and it's hard enough just cooking supper more than 3 nights a week. Who wants to be alone in the spiritual upbringing of their kids? I want help. Others may too.

Last week I included a quiz of sorts, to keep Sammy's attention. Well he responded and he won himself a seat next to me at a football game and a sweet cup of hot chocolate. Let's see if he is alone in guessing these football team logos now that everyone knows that serious prizes are at stake.

PRAY FOR DON BOWEN AND HIS FAMILY!

Fabulous Prize Announcement

2009-10-23T11:23:00.022-05:00

Well, the response was terrifically underwhelming. But, it made one guy happy, and that is all that matters to me, because I really like this winner. With 43% correct, Sammy Waller has won the "Guess some of Rick's favorite actors" game from the 10/19/09 edition of DLmail. Way to go Sammy. For his fantastic 3 for 7 effort, he will be awarded the following. One hot chocolate drink and...(this is big)...he gets to sit by me at the IVC vs. Limestone football game tonight. Now I bet many of you are thinking that you blew it, missed your chance. Well, you did. Sorry. The spoils go to Sammy.

For those of you who were so stumped that you couldn't even guess one, here are the answers.

Before Nicolas Cage sold out and got really famous, he starred as H.I. McDunnough in the classic, Raising Arizona.

Everyone knows this is Bill Murray as Carl Spackler from Caddyshack.

Really, this one I admit was tough. You will be relieved to know it's Ben Stiller as Derek Zoolander in yet another classic, uh, Zoolander. I only know of one guy in real life that can strike this pose.

Ok, so this one was as tough as Zoolander, maybe, but the dog nose was a huge hint. It's Mr. Jamie Lee Curtis, Christopher Guest, writer and one of the characters (Harlan Pepper) of Best In Show.

This had to be just about the easiest one next to Carl Spackler. Paul Newman, Cool Hand Luke.

This one is probably hard for a couple of reasons. Bill Murray was already used once in this quiz and the movie, while a classic, has likely only been watched by me and Brett Mellen. But we have each seen Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou several times, so the movie I suppose can be considered a mild success. This pic is of Bill as Steve Zissou.

The final actor was as easy as, if not easier than Carl or Luke...George Clooney as Everett in Oh Brother, Where Art Thou? A serious classic.

Thanks for the Memories

2009-10-21T12:10:00.004-05:00

My only regret is that this song is not longer so that I could include even more photos of my favorite people. Actually I have another regret that Windows Movie Maker degraded the quality of the pics to make the file smaller. So two regrets. Well, maybe also that I accidentally put one photo in the slideshow twice by mistake, kind of ruining the whole thing for me (too lazy to fix it). Make the regrets an even three.

DLmail 10/19/2009 less boring Black Monday

2009-10-19T10:43:00.015-05:00

Pictures quietly speak a thousand words.

Video on the other hand...

Ever been distracted? Had a hard time listening? Hopefully the kids walked out of church understanding that God has really important things to tell us and we really have to listen.

Well, I received my first DLmail complaint for the month. I won't say who complained, but he/she thought I should do something to spice up the blog a bit. And I kind of agree. So I thought I could do something like the "guess the spiritual person" or "guess guitar hero" game from a few years ago, when DLmail was just email, not a blog. So if you hang on and read through to the end, you'll face a challenge.

We had a good night Saturday, even without Tim (whose 36 hour trip to New Zealand had about 20 hours added to it), and Monica, still out with Joshua, dodging germs, building immunity. Amy came in and handled those 5th graders for Monica with ease. Pam over achieved again with the 4th grade girls, while Kevin and Emory kept the boys in line. Thanks for serving!

Keeping with the less boring strategery...

Click here for the lesson, Incredible Giving.

Now you can click here and click here for the Bible story, The Poor Widow.

Memory verse for the month...Matthew 22:37 " Love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul and all your mind."

Memory verse for the week...II Corinthians 9:7 "Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver."

Click here for Cal's mainstage message, #3 in the Experiencing God series.

Pray for these kids. Study your Bible. Encourage the kids to pray and read their Bibles.

Thanks for making serving a priority.

Now, in order to keep S****'s attention, a little guessing game. Guess the male actors from some of my favorite movies. Good luck (not that I believe in luck).

DLmail 10/14/2009 competition

2009-10-14T14:40:00.005-05:00

There is a lot of competition for the hearts and minds of the kids we serve with these days. It has been noticeable about every other weekend, as our numbers go up and down significantly. However, there is some blessing that on the Saturdays when we are low on leaders, the numbers of kids are low as well. We had a manageable crowd Saturday night for the four of us, Kevin, Tim, Pam and myself. The outlook for this weekend...

Momica is still on maternity leave. Kevin should be there, although I haven't heard from him since he left church Saturday night for an 8:30PM to 4:30 ride-along-with-a-Peoria-cop shift. Assuming he survived I think he'll be back. Hoping Em will be there and assuming Pam will. Tim will be off to Australia/New Zealand for the next couple of weeks for work. Did any of you realize Tim is a nuclear engineer? Or is it nucular? Zach Van B has fallen off the planet, last I heard WI. Timberly, gone till January. We will survive.

We enter lesson #3 in the Experiencing God series. Our series long memory verse is Matthew 22:37 "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul and all your mind." Our story is Samuel & Eli, 1 Samuel 3, God calls out to Samuel. The bottom line for the lesson: God communicates to us so I can listen and talk to Him. The memory verse for just Saturday is Jeremiah 33:3 "Call to me and I will answer you." Pray for these kids and for God's help as you read the passage and prepare to lead them. For Reist's mainstage message from last weekend, click here.

I was distracted from my duties as a team leader Saturday (specifically my duty of remembering to bring my camera and take great shots of the leaders). However, I snapped this pic Sunday morning when I went to a little gathering for worship and testimonies and teaching with this man Rev. Ben Tumuheirwe. What an encouraging couple of hours. That smile is a permanent fixture on his face, and it's sincere. He runs this place in Uganda. I really admire this guy and I was witness to an actual miracle involving him over the weekend. Has to do with a guy from Canton, IL and a Soy Bean Cow. You can google that, but you won't find it. I think I will explain the miracle in a separate post some day, and fill you in on the soy bean cow at the same time. Hope the suspense isn't too much for any of you.

DLmail 10/6/2009 creepy #472

2009-10-06T15:07:00.010-05:00

Everyone watched it last night, even us Bears fans who don't like either the Vikings or the Packers watched. What I saw was one huge coincidence and I don't know if I am the only one out there who noticed it, but Brett Favre threw 3 TD passes and his career total now stands at 472. The coincidence....ESPN aired 472 commercials during the game. Creepy.

We had a nice crowd Saturday night for our first lesson in the whole church series titled Experiencing God. Rick Rogy did a nice job teaching and I think his opening example for logic, surviving the plane crash, was a hit with the boys. My 9 year old daughter on the other hand thought the story about the plane was creepy. Creepy, but if her plane ever goes down she'll be prepared.

I expect another decent crowd this coming Saturday. We will be shorthanded with just Kevin, Tim, Pam and myself serving. Dr. Momica remains on family leave, however she is now spending her leave with her family at church, just not leading yet, or leaving her baby in the nursery. Joshua Stewart was welcomed to Northwoods for the first time ever last Saturday, 16 days after he was born. It was great for everyone to see him and his mom looks and feels great.
We have one verse that will remain constant throughout the month that the kids should be learning, Matthew 22:37 "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul and all your mind." Small group info might be accessible by clicking here. When I tried it earlier I encountered an error. If it doesn't work for you, let me know and I will email you a copy. The specific verse for this weekend (kids have a chance to memorize two verses and be rewarded with an extra truck dock buck) is "Give me understanding, and I will keep Your law and obey it with all my heart." Psalm 119:34. Our Bible story is titled The Bible is like a seed: It gets planted in my heart (the parable of the farmer and the seed) Matthew 13:3-23. The bottom line: The Bible is God's Word and I need to learn it and understand it. If you would like to catch Cal's message from last weekend, click here. Don't forget to spend time in prayer and in the Bible as you prepare for this weekend. We each have junk in this world that distracts us and brings us down, let your preparation for serving be a refuge.

Keeping with the creepiness of some parts of this DLmail, let me leave you with this pic, to which my daughter replied, "Oh Josh, that's just creepy."

10/1/2009 pictures last longer

2009-10-01T09:17:00.008-05:00

Alright, take a look at this picture, it's the first and last time you will see Timberly for a while. Timberly came in and covered for Dr. Momica in fine fashion last Saturday. We are very thankful. Her smile and energy were very welcome, but.... Barring a significant injury to a kid or two of hers, she won't be able to be back until mid-December.

This has been a tough week for me, thus the tardiness of this communication. And even at this last minute, I don't have much info for you regarding this weekend. Clicking here will get you Septembers small group info. You can do it, but it won't help you with Saturday...unless some elf updates the Nwoods site before you get a chance to click...hoping. You can also click here to hear what Cal said from the auditorium last weekend, but again, not much help for Saturday. In cases such as this, just be prepared to use your gifts of leadership and shepherding. You can do it.

We had smaller numbers last Saturday than the week before. Don't know what to expect this Saturday, but honestly, as it gets darker earlier and as the temperatures drop, we will see higher numbers. Sadly, church (especially the Saturday service) tends to be less of a priority than it should be when the weather is good.

Unlike church, good or bad weather won't keep people away from football games. You can't even find a seat most nights and end up sitting under the Friday night lights with a 40 year old football fanatic learning to deal with the taste of sour Skittles. Scary.

DLmail 9/22/2009 welcome Joshua

2009-09-22T11:08:00.006-05:00

We haven't had a baby born to a small group leader in several years. I believe Renee was our last and she pulled out all the stops and had three in about three years. That is a record that Kevin and Monica can shoot for. The Stewarts welcomed Joshua into this world last week. He is a big, healthy boy and everything went well concerning his delivery. He is home now with his proud parents and someday you all will get to meet him personally at church. Congratulations Stewart family!

We managed with just 4 leaders last weekend, with Amy doing a fine job taking Monica's group and I will give kudos to myself for not totally screwing up the 4th graders I took. Pam and Tim did an awesome job with their small groups and the night was a great success. Keith programmed, taught and lead worship without missing a beat. Goofy Gary even showed. I planned to post a pic of him, but the threats of physical violence seemed all too real so I decided to not post it.

This weekend we will have Timberly stepping up to lead the 5th grade girls for Monica. I'll be there for Kevin. If anyone else must miss, please let me know.

This weekend we continue our study, The Word on Wisdom. Wisdom (finding out what you should do and doing it) is our virtue for one more week. The small group leader info can be found by clicking here. Please notice that the date for our material says September 19/20 for the second time. Just be sure you are using the pages 12-13 with the Bible story Benefits of Wisdom, Proverbs 22:3. Our memory verse remains, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight." Proverbs 3:5-6. If you would like to catch Cal's main stage message from last weekend, click here.

The truck dock bucks seem to be a mild success so far. The kids seem motivated to get them. Remember, they can earn up to 6 bucks per week. They can earn one for doing each of the following: 1) attending 2) bringing a Bible 3) bringing a visitor 4) memorizing the month's verse and 5) returning their completed Livin' It. More than one buck can be given for bringing friends, but remember, no more than 6 per night....EXCEPT... you can offer a one time larger payout of 10 bucks for memorizing the books of the Old &/or New Testaments in the correct order. Something for the kids to shoot for. If I did it as a kid, anyone can do it.

Thank you all for selflessly giving up your Saturday evenings for these kids. I know there are a lot of other things you could be doing, but appreciate your willingness to make serving God with these kids in the factory your priority. Besides, I have said it before and will say it again, church is out by 7:15pm. You don't have to give up much to serve. If you know of anyone who may want to join us on a regular weekly basis, we sure could use another gifted woman to take a small group of girls.

DLmail 9/16/09 truck dock buck

2009-09-16T12:50:00.006-05:00

Yep, we call them truck dock bucks, and we are giving them out in DL. The truck dock buck can be spent at the truck dock, located just outside of our room. It is hard not to notice. The kids seem excited about this new idea. Let's see if they are excited enough to remember show up, to bring a friend to church, bring their Bible, actually do their Livin' It, and maybe even memorize the monthly memory verse (which is a long one this month..."Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight." Proverbs 3:5-6). Just remember, they can't earn more than 6 in any one night.

Last Saturday we got a glimpse of this coming year. Looks like a lot of girls. That is the opposite of the past two years where we saw boys coming at the rate of 2 to 1. Kind of troubling in a way. The model Discoveryland uses puts emphasis on consistent small groups. Same kids with the same leaders each week. Our promise to small group leaders is that their groups will remain small. Large small groups are obviously not ideal for the kids or adults and it is an oxymoron to boot. Last Saturday Pam and Monica, our only committed 9 month women leaders divided 23 girls. They are over what we promised they wouldn't be as far as numbers and we were only on the second week. Our A team men (weekly 9 monthers), consisting of Kevin, Tim and Emory (I guess I could be thrown in that group making us 4), divided 13 boys. Pray for more gifted women to commit to serving each week. For now I will keep the girls groups smaller by taking one group myself, but I am not the ideal small group leader for girls.

We continue our study of the virtue Wisdom (finding out what you should do and doing it) this coming Saturday. Our Bible story is Solomon's unwise choice, from 2 Chronicles 10:1-19. Your small group info can be found by clicking here. Our bottom line...to be wise, hang out with wise people. Spend time in prayer and Bible study this week as you prepare. If you want to hear Emerson Eggerich's message from last weekend, click here.

We'll be doing DL this Saturday without Monica. Monica is with child. She doesn't show it very much, but she is really with child. Like he was supposed to pop out a week ago and he is still hanging in there. So tomorrow or Friday she expects the issue to be pushed medically. At that point Kevin becomes more of a dad and less of a stunt motorcyclist. Pray for the Stewarts at this really really exciting time. They will be great parents! I am expecting Amy this Saturday in Monica's spot.

DLmail 9/9/9 DO NOT READ UPSIDE DOWN

2009-09-09T10:44:00.013-05:00

Like the title says, don't read this DLmail upside down or else the number will be a lot less churchy.

Discoveryland has started back up. It felt good to be back in the Factory. Double the good feelings for me for many reasons. At long last my daughter Erin has made it to the 4th grade and the Factory. We have both been waiting a long time for this. With Erin came Pam, putting us together in the same room for the first time in 5 years. And last but not least, I got to see my fellow volunteers again. Great to be back with Kevin, Monica and Tim. Great to welcome in my brother-in-law, Pam's little brother, Emory. It is going to be a great year.

Our numbers weren't large, too much competition for their time as it was Labor Day weekend, but still quite a few made it. I expect many, many more in the weeks to come. We'll do our best to cover the next few weeks. Tim will be with us this weekend, as will Em. Pam is a big question mark. As I type she is in Miami at her grandmother's funeral. She is scheduled to fly back on Saturday, but may catch a flight on Friday, we'll see. Kevin and Monica...I was remiss by not getting a photo of Monica to post on here. I meant to. But it would have been a bit disappointing. She is set to have her baby (Joshua:) any day, but she doesn't look super pregnant. Really not much different than a month or two ago. She didn't get big, take my word for it. So I don't expect Monica, but maybe Kevin. Amy Crose will be there a week from Saturday. Timberly???? I don't even have Timberly's email, so she doesn't get these messages to see what she is missing. Can someone forward this to her?

Here is the lesson material for this coming Saturday if you don't already have it. We will continue with the virtue Wisdom (finding out what you should do and doing it) for the entire month. Our memory verse is "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight." Proverbs 3:5-6. Our Bible story this week is "The Queen of Sheba visits Solomon" from 1 Kings 10:1-13. Be wise and spend plenty of time in prayer and preparation so that you can effectively reinforce the lesson with your small group. Encourage your kids to 1) bring their Bible each week, 2) bring a friend 3) memorize the monthly verse...what else??? We are now doing the truck dock bucks and you will reward the kids accordingly. I will get you more details. Finally, you can always click here for the main stage message for the previous weekend.

Looking forward to seeing you all this weekend.

Nonnie in Chilli

2009-09-02T10:57:00.011-05:00

From the family email update archives, Nonnie in Chilli. June of 2003 was the last time Pam's grandma traveled the 1200+ miles from Miami to come see us. She stayed for a week in Erin's bedroom and we really cherish that visit. Life was a lot different for us in those days. It was a lot different for Mary as well. 7 months after her visit she found herself on her death bed (Jan. 04). Pam flew to spend the week with her in the hospital. She managed to recover but life changed for her from that point on. Within a year or so she ended up moving out of her condo on Biscayne Bay into a "retirement" village and even stopped driving.

June 12, 2003

Nonnie in Chilli

Sometimes when you invite your 91 year old grandmother to spend a week with you, traveling 1200 miles alone, you get tense. The severe thunderstorms predicted for Tuesday afternoon this week didn't materialize and Nonnie made it to Peoria ahead of schedule. The trip went well and we had a wonderful birthday party for her on Tuesday evening.

Wednesday was spent hanging out at the house and eating. Today, Thursday, we realized that Nonnie is capable of more than doing hair with the girl, playing patient to Erin's doctor, and posing nicely by beautiful flowers. Her energy level seemed more like that of a 65 year old, so we put her to work.

The pictures speak for themselves. We found her to be a little slow on the uphill portions of our yard while mowing, but she gutted it out and managed to get us some supper to boot.

Talk to you later.

Rick

DLmail 9/1/2009 whale tail

2009-09-01T10:46:00.010-05:00

There are whale tails.
Then there are cool whale tails.
Then, of course, there are the dreaded whale tails (or remnants of such in this case).
Why am I bringing this up? Well, Discoveryland is set to kick off another fantastic season for us September thru May volunteers. We need to break the old habits of the summer and get back into the groove of serving these eager 4th and 5th graders in the Factory. So team, join me as I put my thong in storage, and dress in a non-revealing fashion as we lead these kids.

Our team is kind of set, I think. I have to admit I have really taken a break this summer. A couple connections with Kevin Stewart and Kevin Elder have been about the extent of my DL involvement recently. As we draw close to beginning I will tell you who I think is joining us this year (and we will need everyone...I predict big numbers with the incoming 4th grade class). Rick & Pam Lingenfelter, Kevin & Monica Stewart (Monica may be with us later rather than sooner considering the baby on board that is pretty much ready to pop out any minute now), Zach Van Buren, Tim Thorson, Timberly Miller, Amy Crose...uh, uh, seems like I am missing some names...I really took the summer off.

We kick things off this weekend with all large group activities. No small groups to prepare for, just show and reacclimate yourselves to serving. I really look forward to seeing you all. Remember, dress appropriately, bring your H1N1 face mask, and get ready to have a great time. It is expected that on the nights you serve you can arrive by 5:15pm. This will be an important time for us adults to connect, pray, and prepare. We will have kids arriving beginning at 5:30 each week, so you can see the importance of being there 15 min. prior. Each week I will give you a link to the small group material on Monday so you can prepare throughout the week. Concentrate on the Scripture. Use it in your small group time. Use your gifts to the keep conversation going in the right direction. Put great priority on praying with your small group. You just might be the only person praying for/with them each week. We should all try to connect with our small group kids occasionally through mail or in person outside of the church setting. Find out what they are up to and maybe try to make their football game to watch them play or cheer. I have loved bumping into DL kids in this way. We see them all the time at baseball games in the summer. You get my drift.

One major, major difference for all of this year will be the absence of "born to work with kids" Rachel White. Rachel was called to take a teaching position at Lincoln Grade School (in E.P.) this fall, where she will have an impact on an entirely new set of little heads and hearts. Lucky kids. All my favorite Nwoods staffers get "calls" eventually, drives me nuts, but I understand (still don't have to like it). Rachel, we will all miss you. We all are thankful for the time you spent with our kids and for your friendship through the years.

St. Jude 2009

2009-08-04T12:40:00.009-05:00

With Pam's situation this year we decided we would particpate in the run less as runners and more as fundraisers/organizers/supporters. Our fundraising went very well. The organizing was fun and effective and the supporting was a better experience than I ever thought it would be. Pam managed to hit the road for 1.3 rainy miles through Chillicothe, a full 20 miles less than she ran last year, but last year she hadn't gone through a couple surgeries, chemotherapy and radiation (which ended the day before the run), so I think she did a fantastic job on the road.

I have a few pics posted here from my point of view during the day. If there were a police line up of just people's calves, I could identify about 63 people easy. I also could pick out a few butts in running shorts. It was a great day. I even took a few videos from my seat. Enjoy, but don't forget to check out the pics too.

This gentleman ran with us for a bit on Lakeshore west of Woodland Heights. He neglected to pay his minimum buy-in of $750 so we may have some litigation forthcoming.

The rains came...an actual blessing...while on Wayne Road.

These girls in the back have great personalities.

The crazy and satisfying finish up Fulton.

So...how did little Chillicothe stack up in the fundraising arena with the other runs? Really, really well. Here are Saturdays totals (all are subject to grow, I know we are near $82,000 now).

1. Memphis $952,500

2. Chicago $330,000

3. Bloomington/Normal $210,000

4. Macomb $115,000

5. St. Louis $90,000

6. CHILLICOTHE $80,500

7. Tri-County $73,000

8. Washington $63,000

9. Quincy $56,000

10. LaSalle/Peru $55,000

11. Canton $54,000

12. Dunlap $50,000

13. Galesburg $46,000

14. Lincoln $37,000

15. East Peoria $35,000

16. Pekin $31,000

17. Champaign/Urbana $21,000

18. Decatur Area $20,000

19. Springfield $18,000

20. Richwoods $15,500

21. Elmwood $13,500

Great job Chillicothe fundraisers. Good luck staying ahead of us St. Louis and Macomb. B/N & Chicago, don't think we aren't aiming for you also. Memphis...

Perfect Sunday

2009-07-26T22:11:00.025-05:00

I knew the Sunday drive in the 66 Vette was going to be hard to top, but today came close. Just a beautiful day. Abby & Erin's faces say it all, but since I am a wordy guy, I won't stop there. Pictures are worth a thousand words. Here are thousands and thousands of words about today. Finally a baseball free weekend.

We capitalized by going ballooning this evening. First time for us this summer. After the charity flight that started in Dunlap and landed gently at the Peoria Soccer Club fields in Mossville, Kathy decided to tether the balloon and have some fun. Josh took a tethered ride in the wind-free field. The rides continued for a while and she spiced it up a bit. Anyone who wanted to could hang on to one of the basket handles and ride on the outside. More people took her up on it than I ever thought would. It is a minute or so of literally hanging on for dear life. You can't let go until the burn is over and the balloon decides to decend. Pretty fun stuff.

Just making memories, people.

My view this summer

2009-07-21T16:53:00.007-05:00

I spent a great many evenings viewing the world through a video camera stuck in between the links on a chain link fence. Every once in a while it paid off with a great digital memory.

Misc.

2009-07-13T14:57:00.016-05:00

St Jude Run is coming

2009-06-19T13:38:00.003-05:00

I like to be real about the sport I grew up with and excelled in. Running. Not quite the glamour of football, baseball or basketball, but it was all I could/can do.

Sights & Sounds

2009-06-09T13:43:00.020-05:00

If you have stumbled over here from Pam's cancer blog, you are happening into the kids last few weeks, brought to you in video and pics. If you find other peoples home movies and kid pictures entertaining, well then, hold on to your hats. We have an 800m race by Josh (in the red), four different dance numbers with Erin in them, three different baseball game vids, and a video of the buses taking Josh and 127 other middle schoolers away to Michigan last Sunday morning. There are also pics from the departure for camp which moved into the maintainence building when the rains came down, a photo of Erin with Abby and Lydia sitting on the stage at church, and a shot of Nathan with Josh during the Metamora tourney.

See, we do more than hang out at hospitals. Well, at least our kids do more.

DLmail 5/28/2009 broken arms & stuff

2009-05-28T12:56:00.012-05:00

It is almost over and it was awesome. Our tour of duty, Sept. 08 through May 09 concludes this Saturday evening. It has been quite a year. We have seen weeks with solid numbers of kids and weeks that were pretty slim. We have seen changed lives. We have connected with and gotten to know many great kids. We will send those 5th graders off to Quest and we will await the fresh faces of the new 4th graders who are so eager to experience the Factory. They'll begin in a week, we'll be back in Sept. When I say we, I mean the Stewarts (with Momica possibly still on baby hiatus to start), myself, possibly my wife Pam, and Timberly Miller. I will talk to Tim and Zach as well, and I expect they might re-sign for another stint, or at least I hope so. Kevin is even in talks with some former leaders about getting back on the team.

They'll be much welcomed as we are bringing in a huge group of incredible 4th graders. I know many of them personally and they are the best. Next year will be really fun.

This Saturday I will be absent, attending the dance recital my Erin has worked so hard for since last September. Kevin and Monica are scheduled to be there and I am hopeful Tim and Zach will be there as well. I plan to keep connected this summer as much as possible. I know I am looking forward to the Stewarts relocation from Bloomington back to Peoria next month, making getting together so much easier.

As far as the programming this Saturday, it is mostly large group with the nicely tall in stature Gary Webb running the show. Small group time will consist of signing and passing out certificates to the exiting 5th graders and enjoying their company one last time. Pretty easy and should be a very satisfying evening.

I wished the timing was different for the dance recital, but it is what it is. The end of school, the break from dance, the conclusion of the track season...all things that are really welcome events in my little family. It has been a very long and difficult 2009 so far, laced with some fantastic moments. But man it will be nice to take a break. We aren't on easy street. Pam begins radiation soon, barely recovering from chemo. And Josh is juggling a couple of baseball teams, so we are finding ourselves at ballfields a lot right now. But there is a really cool side to that. We see DL kids at the games. I wondered last Saturday if the kid my son collided with while sliding into 2nd base in Dunlap was a DL kid. I had a lot of time to wonder as Josh stood safely on 2nd base, having just slid over the outstretched arm of the 2nd baseman, breaking it. Yep, this fuzzy pic (focused on the fence), was taken during the game delay after the moment that both boys will talk about for years, Josh about coming out unscathed, the other boy about the time his arm was broken.

Thank you for serving this year. KEEP IN TOUCH! I will miss you all and Discoveryland so much this summer (so much so that I might show up to serve a time or two).

DLmail 5/14/2009 tired, butt running

2009-05-14T11:38:00.012-05:00

This is a keeper DLmail, only because it is rare that I write one nowadays. I am getting tired I suppose. I took a job as an assistant track coach at Chillicothe Jr. High. We began practices at the beginning of March and have only taken one weekday off since. It gives me something to look forward to in the afternoons from 3:00-4:30 (longer on meet days), but it has made my workdays noticeably harder. I am always behind, but I have really gotten to know a lot more kids a lot better. It has been worth it. The head coach even told me he is doubling my pay since the kids have had such great performances, improving each week throughout the entire season. So, 2 x $0 = argh. As the season has progressed, I have resorted to coaching from a sitting position, too tired. The kids have adapted well to their sad, tired coach. Sectionals this weekend, state the next and we are done.

Just like this track season is coming to an end, so is our season in DL. For us September to May people, it feels like it is time to take a break. Our struggle to field volunteers in May is second only in difficulty to December. We squeaked by last weekend with me, Tim and Marjean Moser. It was one of those Saturdays. It is never good to enter the room and hear "the mainstage guest speaker is late, she missed her plane, but we hope she will take the stage by 6:45." Now it is one thing to entertain a bunch of adults waiting in the auditorium. It is an entirely different story in DLand. We survived with some solid help from superteacher Kevin Elder, but it was maybe less than really fun. Although small group time was great. Obedience is an easy topic to get into with these kids.

This Saturday we will kind of limp through again with myself, Kevin and Zach. We'll lose Momica to a family commitment. We'll also welcome a bunch of 3rd graders for the evening. They will enter and we'll treat them to the snack shack and maybe some nerf kickball. They will then taste our plug-in time, worship, large group teaching and finally an abbreviated small group time before returning to the Treehouse to be dismissed. Plan on it being a busy evening. I will be pulling in to church either sunburned or soaked from the Sectional track meet in Morton on Saturday. If it goes late, I will certainly call to advise of my tardiness, but I really don't think that will happen. I really hope not. Really, really.

We continue studying Obedience (trusting those who lead you by doing what you are asked to do) this weekend with the Bible story The Lord calls Samuel, found in 1 Samuel 3:1-19. The memory verse is found in Hebrews 13:17 "Obey your leaders. Put yourselves under their authority. They keep watch over you. They know they are accountable to God for everything they do." The bottom line - obeying your leaders can help you know God. For your small group leader info, click here. For any mainstage messages you have missed, click here (except last weekends Mother's Day message, that message must be copyright laden because it isn't an option to listen to).

In all the hustle and bustle last Saturday, my camera never made an appearance, so this DLmail is two dull pictures, plus a thousand words. Sorry.

And then there is this. I added 20 lbs. to my frame since mid November 08. I went from running 30-40 miles weekly to coaching runners while sitting on my butt. But this week, with preparations for the August St. Jude run gearing up, I have felt a twinge of motivation to get back into running, working out and eating right...until... I had a meeting with a guy from Lancaster Co., PA yesterday afternoon. He left me with the most delicious 48 oz. box of handmade pretzels. I haven't eaten any yet, they just sit on my desk and stare at me. Then this morning John Stephens comes in to my office and hands me a huge cinnamon roll from The Confectionery in Morton. It stares at me and cruelly wafts fragrances my way, and I have a knife. Have I ever mentioned I am addicted to food? This is a hard day. My twinge is fading.

The Intriguing Fanny McCoy Situation

2009-05-10T08:41:00.006-05:00

THIS MOMENT REGARDING THE FALL OF FANNY MCCOY WAS NOTED IN THE PEORIA JOURNAL STAR. http://www.pjstar.com/raceforthecure/x114619092/Magical-emotions-at-Race-for-the-Cure SHERI AND LISA (...MEDICAL HELP...JUST BEHIND ME AND THE CAMERA IN THIS PHOTO BELOW, TAKEN ABOUT 20 FT BEFORE FANNY MET THE HOLE) CAME RUNNING AND IMMEDIATELY BEGAN CARING FOR FANNY'S INJURIES. MOMENTS LATER STEPHANIE, A TRAUMA NURSE, ARRIVED AND ASSESSED AND NOTED SHERI AND LISA HAD IT ALL UNDER CONTROL. BIBO, THE WRITER OF THE ARTICLE, DIDN'T NOTICE THE GROUP WITH FANNY WAS PAM'S POSSE, NOT JUST WAITING WITH FANNY FOR MEDICAL HELP TO ARRIVE, RATHER PROVIDING THE FIRST RESPONSE MEDICAL ATTENTION AND COMFORT AND PRAYER NEEDED. THE POSSE ACTUALLY WAITED UNTIL THE AMBULANCE AND EMT'S ARRIVED BEFORE LEAVING HER.

DLmail 4/23/2009 hot technology

2009-04-23T05:10:00.008-05:00

I haven't done a DLmail in a while. Time seems to be scarce and somethings got to give. Lately it has been my computering.

The Saturday Easter weekend service was a highly attended service, which surprised me. This past weekend our Saturday night numbers were low, but Sunday seemed really heavy (I stopped by the Factory Sunday for the 11AM service and Kendra had nearly 70 kids in the room). I believe our Saturday numbers might continue to dip as spring activities spike (baseball games, track meets, etc.) with the better weather.

I know that I will be at church Saturday along with Kevin and Momica. Tim was with us last weekend and I am not sure if the Sheuer's plan a return visit soon, but hope so. We'll take Zach anytime he wants to come. Kevin Elder did a fine job teaching about conviction last weekend and we'll finish that virtue this Saturday. Our memory verse is "Never tire of doing what is right." 2 Thes. 3:13. Our Bible story is titled Stephen is Stoned and can be found in Acts 6:8-10; 7:1-60. You can get your small group info here. The bottom line...when you stand for what is right, you can know God is with you. You can catch (or re-catch) Cal's main stage message from last week by clicking here.

My day job isn't super exciting. I sit at a desk and stare at a computer and talk on a phone. In the old days I would actually meet with people face to face. Nowadays it is rare to see them. Everything is done digitally. Years ago I got to step in as a young hothead contractor picked up and threw an old man from one office into another office in a bit of a rage over allegations of his failure to fully complete a job and the old man withheld the claim check he was given to pay the contractor. I was on the phone when that began and had to hang up on the person I was talking to. That person got concerned, called the police and they showed up. That was an interesting day. Then there was the day last year I shocked myself changing an outlet...marginally exciting. I occasionally get to chase livestock during work hours. And nothing compared with the excitement of Rt. 29 being widened in front of our office one summer in the 90's...wooo boy those were the days. So imagine how exciting it was on Tuesday of this week when I smelled smoke. I was on the phone, a rather important call at that, when the smell of smoke became so intense that I pretty much just hung up on my client. There are five computers in my office and one of them is a dinosaur that kept working so we have never bothered to replace it. Well, it caught on fire, right while I was sitting at the desk where it resides, a place where no one usually sits. It also conveniently happened during office hours and not in the middle of the night when things could have turned out very badly. So add this computer to the list of things we have that have burned up unexpectedly (my sweater, a lilac bush, a log cabin, etc.) and added a little flavor to my rather ordinary day.

Smashing good time

2009-04-20T11:56:00.010-05:00

I am the second assistant Chillicothe Jr. High track coach for 2009. Specifically I am the distance coach (which in jr. high means 800, 1600 and sometimes 400 meter runners). The head coach and the first assistant get paid in $$. I get paid in life experience. And Wednesday April 15th was payday.

This really is a rewarding coaching situation. We have some really talented kids with a lot of desire and they are willing to work really, really hard (for instance, last Fridays workout was: 1 mile warmup run, 6 by 600 meter runs at race pace with a 200m jog in between, with a 1 mile cooldown). All good.

In jr. high track, 5th and 6th graders are allowed to participate, but must earn a spot as one of the top two in an event in order to go to away meets and compete. We have several 6th graders who travel to each meet. But this year we added three meets that are just for 5th and 6th graders, so they all can compete with kids their own age. Last Wed. we ran a meet at Dunlap with seven other teams, 5th/6th only. Our kids had a great time. I didn't think anything could top the fun they had at the meet. Until we left.

We seperated the boys and girls before the bus pulled away, girls toward the front, boys in the back. The bus got as far as the stop sign exiting the Dunlap High School parking lot onto Cedar Hills Drive when we heard a huge crash. I turned to look and saw the stop sign jutting through the smashed window on an unoccupied row of seats. Seems the bus didn't quite make the right turn as wide as necessary. It took some back and forth driving to dislodge the stop sign from the bus.

Of all the great races and memorable moments of this track season, it's likely no memory will last longer than this odd moment for these kids. There are likely a hundred different angled photos of this damage from the 20 or so cell phones the kids had with them. I heard the words "...could have been killed" at least 10 times (although I kind of doubt the accuracy of that statement).

CEC track 09 will always be remembered as the year the bus hit the stop sign.

DLmail 4/2/2009 free for all

2009-04-02T12:08:00.011-05:00

Last Saturday we saw pretty large numbers of kids at church. Realizing we were outnumbered, we let them run wild, sort of. A week off after a very solid month with the virtue of Hope. The Hope lessons were really great and I believe that all the kids (and adults) learned so much during the month. So we ended with a fun night, injury free, no puke...all good.

Now we get down to some heavy stuff again with our new virtue, Conviction - standing for what is right even when others don't. The Easter story fits so well with this virtue and we'll begin with the lesson The Darkest Hour (Jesus' arrest, trial, and cruxifiction) found in Luke 22:39-71, 23:1-26, 34-36, 44-49. Our memory verse for the month is 2 Thessalonians 3:13 "Never tire of doing what is right." The bottom line...when you stand for what is right, you may feel like you're alone. Cal delivered another message in the Storm Shelter series last weekend, click here to listen.

This weekend we'll see Kevin & Monica, Tim, myself and maybe one other leader. The following weekend is Easter. We have DL as usual. The big question is how that weekend holiday will affect our numbers on a Saturday night. No idea myself, could go either way...either way we kind of need to know who will be serving. Please email me and advise (rlingenf@hotmail.com).

Now is the part of this post where I should put something clever, entertaining, enlightening, etc. However, I seriously have nothing. If anything interesting has happened recently, I have forgotten it. Pam and I did get out of the house together on Monday for the FCA luncheon featuring AZ Cardinals QB Kurt Warner. Our table host was fellow DL leader Kathy Arkwell. I would say more about it but pretty much everyone that reads this blog was in attendance. I just thought it was cool that Kurt took the opportunity to mention my name as he spoke. Did you hear it?

DLmail 3/25/2009 chasing chickens

2009-03-25T10:51:00.017-05:00

I had to take a week off from DLmail last week. Just feeling overwhelmed and couldn't get everything done. I realize that I likely ruined the week for most, if not all of you, by not publishing one, and for that I am sorry. But hopefully I will redeem myself with this potentially award winning post. Fasten your seatbelts for this ride.

Discoveryland has seemed crazy lately. But amazing things have happened. The month of learning about Hope has been great. The kids have responded, most notably in 3rd grade last weekend after the lesson regarding heaven. Three changed and committed young lives. Awesome. In the 4th/5th Factory, Heather teamed with Nathan Rychener and rounded out our month by again involving the kids in the teaching, much the same as Rick Rogy did with the combined large group the week before. Look for more and more kid/teaching involvement in the future, it is a great method. Kevin and Monica were gone last weekend and they enlisted veteran Factory volunteers Brian and Karen Cooper. They are welcome back any time. Actually every time. All the time. I don't care. Zach was also in the house Saturday and rounded out our team very nicely. This coming weekend it will be the Stewarts, Tim and myself. It would sound better if I wrote the Stewarts, Coopers, Tim and myself. There is no small group info for you this weekend. We are going to be doing something totally different as the entire evening will find us moving from room to room for different activities. Should be interesting for adults and kids the same.

If you have been missing the mainstage series Cal has been doing titled Storm Shelter, you are missing some fantastic and basic truths of our faith. Check them out here.

On March 14th I dashed from Discoveryland to get to the Chillicothe Chamber of Commerce annual awards dinner. My dad (business of the year) and Stephanie Farris (Civic Achievement Award) were both being honored. They are shining examples of Christian business leaders. My dad, unprepared and surprised, kept it fittingly short (unless you think Steph is 6' 2"). Humble and gracious. Stephanie was asked to prepare a speech to finish off the evening and she hit it out of the park. Scriptures flowed as the honor was deflected to all those in the room. It was quite a night. For me, I don't know if honoring my dad, being humbled by Stephanie's kind words or winning a door prize (a basket of farm fresh brown eggs, compliments of Three Sisters Park) was the biggest moment. But those eggs took on special meaning to me this morning.

I sell insurance. I sit at a desk all day. Let me highlight my nutty surroundings. As I look at my desk I see highlighters. I have a bag of nuts (almonds) close by. There are some balls with Travelers written on them (I guess they are actually hacky sacks). Stacks of files containing client's private information. You get my drift, those are the most exciting things around me right now. Discovery Channel is unlikely to send a camera crew to film me at work. It just might not captivate audiences. Because my days are mostly mundane, boring, etc. I take advantage of the rare moments when excitement comes my way. So this morning when Jeff came into the office and said "I hear you have a chicken problem" I perked up (even though I wasn't exactly sure what he was talking about). On Monday I had noticed a chicken pecking the ground just down the block from my office. She was a beauty, big and brown. I am fairly used to unusual animals popping up in town. Last year Josh and I chased a fox around our neighborhood with a video camera. Two years ago the kids and I caught a beautiful parrot in my parents yard. I can't count how many possums/raccoons we have caught and relocated. Three years ago a deer ran into me while I was mowing the lawn (that was weird). Also three years ago I tried to catch a rooster in the backyard of my office. Gee, the casual observer would guess I lived in Arkansas. So...

Jeff is in charge of the chickens that produced my doorprize eggs at Three Sisters Park. Someone had called to complain about this chicken (not one of his) hanging around my office. Word got to him and he figured he could add it to his collection at the farm. Catching a chicken isn't all that easy. I knew that going in. So I got out my phone and took a video. Then, I accidentally took a second video (normal for me). It took us about 10 minutes of chasing, mostly around a vacant firetrap of a house. In the end, we made the capture. I received a call just a little while ago from my perplexed wife. "What does chasing chickens mean?" she asked. That caught me off guard. I said it means to chase a chicken. Next question, "Were you chasing an actual chicken down Rt. 29 this morning?" Uh, yes, who (or how many people) saw me? Pam was at the health club walking with friends when a guy mentioned to Pam that he saw me chasing a chicken down the road. Pam and her friends figured that had to be code for some other activity. It was actually non-code for that actual activity. There is something wrong with me. See for yourselves. (oh, and I just noticed that my phone video is rather creepy when transferred to this blog...need to be sure to have my regular camera next time I chase chickens)

Turning 40 isn't pretty

2009-03-09T13:07:00.009-05:00

A little over a year ago I turned 40. On that day, I pretty much looked like a goof (see above, and I still have no clue who that kid is holding Pam's hand). I thought it was just me. Last week Tim Reist turned 40. How happy it made me when he too looked goofy on his day. I no longer feel so all alone.
Then there is Sammy, who turned 40 in January, and I just don't know how he was made to dress on his birthday.

DLmail 3/9/2009 springing forward

2009-03-09T10:30:00.010-05:00

Discoveryland, March 7, 2009, a night that had everyone frazzled. It seemed crazy, but great things were happening, whether you knew it or not. We had a bunch of kids (and from what I hear the Sunday services were packed as well). A big weekend. Thanks to Zach, Kevin and Monica for serving with the 4th/5th. This DLmail contains a bunch of pics and a couple of videos of our combined teach/worship time with the 2nd/3rd graders.

Kevin Elder and Rick Rogy taught as a team on Saturday. A lot of last minute changes went into the teaching and as it turned out, Kevin ended up playing several roles himself. My personal favorite was the Red Hat Lady (below is a pic, taken telephoto, without a flash, so it is blurry, oh how I wish it were clear). Next week the teach time will address why Mr. Kevin is on stage as a woman about 50% of the time. Another interesting lesson as the kids learned about the incredible, often unimaginable powers of God. There was a bit of a cancer stack in the room as Pam had her little friend Lexi on her lap. Both are cancer patients currently in treatment. Lexi wondered out loud if God has enough power to heal them. Yes He does.

This weekend we continue learning about the virtue of Hope (believing that something good can come out of something bad). Your small group info can be found by clicking here. Our memory verse remains the same, Romans 8:28 "We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him." Our Bible story is The Last Supper - Jesus' last supper with the disciples, Luke 22:7-23; John 13:33-38. The bottom line is - whatever happens, remember what Jesus did for you. For part two of Cal's mainstage message (Is there really a God, and can I really know him?), click here. I am expecting to see Monica, Tim and Caleb (?) this weekend. Be sure to devote plenty of prayer to your ministry this week.

Why do you have to look like such a dolt when you turn 40? To understand better why I ask this question, click here.

DLmail 3/5/2009 table for 36

2009-03-05T15:05:00.008-06:00

This is about the third week in a row that I have been busy enough that I can't put a whole lot of effort into the DLmail, so sorry to disappoint all three of you, my readers.

We had somewhat low numbers last Saturday. Easy enough for the four of us to handle. Heather took care of the teaching responsibilities and even let me take one photo of her. I guess she is DEA. Pam is related to a guy who was with the DEA and he always covered his face when I tried to take pics of him, so I figure that is her excuse.

Our virtue for the month is Hope (believing that something good can come out of something bad). This weekend our lesson is Raising Lazarus. The small group information can be found by clicking here. Our Bible story is "Lazarus is raised from the dead" and is found in John 11:1-45. Our memory verse remains Romans 8:28 "We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him." Our bottom line...whatever happens, remember how powerful God is. For Cal's mainstage message (Is there a God and can I really know Him?), click here. Study the Bible passage and devote some solid prayer to this weekend. Thanks.

A little shout out to fellow DL Factory (Sunday) leader Randy. He did what most medical providers do, made a housecall for Pam Sunday and really reassured her by working on that bloody nose. Randy joins Nwoods point first responder Stephanie Elder and DL momma Lisa Benson in the housecall medical provider ranks. It's nice to know the right people, especially when you get sick. Pam is still serving with the kids in 2nd/3rd, but that may soon be changing. Kind of getting to the point where she needs to be really careful about being around any illnesses. She had a great night with just the girls from her small group last Saturday. At long last her little cancer buddy Lexi made it to church. It was a great night and maybe one to end this season on. We'll see.

Finally, we went out to eat after church with some fellow Chillicothe families. As I looked around the table at our crowd, I counted 36 (maybe more, they kept moving). Crazy. Dan Garner took great care of our entire crew. Sadly, Dan's father passed away just a day and a half later, early Monday morning. Pray for Dan and his family if you know them and if you get the chance. His father knew the Lord and was prepared for this day.

DLmail 2/25/2009 pie hole filling

2009-02-25T12:25:00.007-06:00

Another virtue finished, so long Fairness. Jeannine did a little teaching last weekend and while she was at it she held a little pie eating contest (video not attached...too large, sorry). Before that there was a little pie tasting going on. It was all good and the kids enjoyed it. The exact opposite of the previous weekend occurred when church seemed to get over kind of early. I know I didn't really have a lot of time in small group to dig into what we learned during teach time and I imagine it was the same for Kevin and Monica.

When it seems like we are pinched for time it would be great if we would get to the meat of the discussion right away, the Bible story. Each week we have a passage in the Bible that the lesson is based on. Please be sure that this is the foundation for your small group discussion. Our lessons cover the basics of our faith, uncomplicated things these kids need to know to grow in their relationship with Christ. Be sure to save time to pray with and for these kids. They need to hear you pray as many have no other model of prayer in their lives.

As I mentioned, we are switching gears starting this Saturday and will study Hope. Tim will join with the Stewarts and me as we try to help the kids understand how something good can come out of something bad. Our lesson for Saturday is titled Shipwrecked! The small group info can be found by clicking here. Our Bible story is titled Paul sails for Rome and is found in Acts 27:1-44; 28:1-11. Yep, that's a lot of verses, kind of like reading 50 status updates on facebook...more on that below. Our memory verse is Romans 8:28 "We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him." The bottom line...whatever happens, God has a plan. Finally, if you missed last weekend's mainstage message by Terry Prisk, or if you heard it but your teenager wasn't there and missed it and you want them to hear it and to see them squirm, click here.

Oh and here is a shameless plug...eat food from Willie's Tamales. Whether you eat at the old gas station he has at the corner of Rt. 29 and Rt. 17 in Sparland or from his newest location, an old travel trailer located directly across Rt. 29 from Picket Fence (another plug right there, you all know Stephanie, just didn't know if you knew she had a website), he will serve you about the biggest pork chop you can imagine. The tamales are nice and spicy. Willie is a good guy and a great cook.

Finally, this is not the most entertaining DLmail I have ever written. The goal was really just to get you the facts. I am in an unmotivated state right now. Our new bottom line has mucho meaning for me currently. Circumstances can be distracting. But I can always count on facebook to take my mind off of my worries. (Remember, I am all about the facebook). I log onto facebook and read the status updates of some of my 100+ friends and I am instantly transported to la-la-land. My friends with Blackberry's are the best, they update all day long. Sweet. It is so uplifting to read the words..."**** is going to the store after work"..."*** is picking up the kids from school"..."*** is sick"..."**** is needs a coffee"..."****is can't believe she is up this late"..."**** is driving to work"..."**** is just took some sudafed"... "**** is just watched the amazing race"... "**** is waiting for the mail to be delivered"...pretty cool stuff. What did we ever do without facebook status updates?