Just call me "Redbeard"

so, i'm rockin' the beard. i let it go at camp last week, and i haven't convinced brooke to let me shave it yet. not sure how long this little experiment will last, but thought you'd like to see it while it's still here.

Fun Sing at Maywood

every day at 9:30 am, we would have a period of Fun Sing. we sing stupid songs like "mama, don't you whoop little Buford" and "dum dum da da da da" and "singing in the rain". well, this year, i had 2 new favorite fun sing songs. one was what i call the "chicka-chicka" song, and the other was what i call "peel the orange". i took a short video of part of the "peel the orange" song. have a look:

Good Ol' Maywood Camp!

we had such a good time last week at Maywood!  we are still recovering from the long days and short nights, but we're getting there!  

brooke was a co-counselor in Gilgal, the 13-14 year old girls.  she also taught a girls Bible class for the 11-12 year old girls.  i was a counselor for Dothan, the 9-10 year old boys.  i also taught the 7-8 year old boys in Bible class.  i also got to speak at our nightly worship service on Monday night.  

we loved getting to catch up with so many old friends.  even though we were "working" to keep up with all these kids, it still felt like a vacation because we spent the entire week with Christians.  

we are making plans already to go next year.  Kristi, Kate Reed, Ryan, Kelly, Mendy, Emily.....ya'll be making plans too!

Brooke and Patti James

A beautiful camp sunset over the "Sea of Galilee"

Me and some of my boys for Bible class

The stands were this packed or worse the whole time!

A-Camping we will go!

we're leaving this afternoon for Maywood!!! we'll spend the week at this camp where Brooke virtually grew up. it will be great to see so many of our friends and help all the kids this week.

check back next week for updates and pictures.

Gage and Ella

Kenzie and Gage

forgive me for being late with this post, but our niece and nephew (Kenzie and Gage Pressnell) stayed with us for a few days in the middle of July.  we had a great time with them!  those kids are too funny, and they are very sweet and well-behaved.  here are some pictures to give you an idea of what all we did.

they absolutely LOVED our neighborhood cat that we call "Shasta".  that was one of the first things they asked about in the morning when they got up was, "Where's the kitty?"

the kids got to meet alot of kids from our church during the week.  this is a picture of Gage and Ella at the McWane Center.  they became big buddies by the end of the week.

here's the entire group of kiddos at the McWane Center.  

we even took a break from shooting basketball to get some ice cream from the ice cream truck!  i think Kenzie ate about 3/4 of hers before it melted.  most of Gage's ended up dripping onto the bricks at his feet.

Mascot Bloopers

way too funny....dog, i love people falling down!

Here's your "America is going down the drain" video of the day!

Iowa mother charged with child abuse for spanking child

i would comment about this video, but i would get too mad.

Ever feel like this?!?

i rounded the corner at work today in Cullman and found FOUR charts in one door!  it was a family of 4, all dilating in one room.  some days just seem that busy and hectic.  but that was definitely a first for me!

What will your legacy be?

i got the chance to speak at the Flint church of Christ as a part of their teenage summer series class.  the theme for the summer series is "movie trailers".  see pictures above.  for each lesson, the class will watch a short clip from a movie, and then we make Biblical applications from it.  my movie was Gladiator, one of my all-time favorites.

the main lesson we discussed was looking at our purpose in life.  what is our reason for living?  how do we want to be remembered?  we made some good points about wanting to receive that inheritance of eternal life with God once this life is over (1 Peter 1:3-5).  

i think it went well.  it's strange to explain how it feels when i'm teaching/preaching.  i always tell Brooke that i'm either Peter or Paul.  when i feel comfortable and confident in my lesson and presentation, i feel like Peter preaching on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2.  when i feel nervous and awkward and the words just don't come out right, i feel like Paul (who had a reputation of being a stronger preacher in letter than in person).  fortunately, i felt like Peter last night.  

as an aside, you must click this link:  Boom Goes the Dynamite.  yes, sometimes i feel like this poor guy when i'm teaching/preaching.