The Cleveland Browns Are Back

AWESOME draft!

That was ubelieveable. I don't know how it happened, but it did. Joe Thomas AND Brady Quinn? How in the heck? We virtually got the two guys that we wanted to get with the third pick. Crazy. This shows that luck is back on our side.

A little venting:
I can't stand people who do not recognize football talent. Brady Quinn is disliked because he played for the Irish...plain and simple. You either hate him or you love him. To be honest, I hate the Irish and I hated Quinn. I bet you anything, if Brady played for OSU, he'd be considered a God right now. But, I have a decent amount of football knowledge to know that this guy can really help the Browns. This guy is a smart, athletic, football player that will get the job done. What, did you think Frye was the real deal? A guy who looked down every receiver he throws too? This is the beginning of good luck for the Browns. Brady Quinn will not fail because Brady Quinn will not let himself fail. So for all of you ignorant Brady bashers, for whatever reason, get over yourself.

The "Turn-Around" starts in 2007-2008. Thank you football gods!

Cavs Playoff Game

On Wednesday night, I went up to the Q with my brother for game 2 of the Cavs vs Wizards playoff game. I entered a lottery drawing for a chance to purchase 2 tickets for Game 1 or 2 and my name was picked for Game 2. I had until Midnight to purchase my two tickets or they went back into the drawing. The tickets were a birthday gift to Cory. We ended up sitting in Loudville, but the seats and view were actually pretty good (besides the fact that we had a couple of annoying drunk guys sitting below us...seriously, stay home if your going to act like an idiot and ruin people's experiences. They were cussing left and right with a 6 or 7 year old kid sitting in front of them. Their sign painted the perfect picture...it said: Let's get drunk. Pretty sweet guys huh? Wish I was that cool). Anyways, the game was unbelievable. We got there pretty early because there was a Tribe game too. We ended up watching shoot around and all the pre-game stuff. The player announcements were AWESOME. You couldn't even hear their names being said because it was so loud. They handed out rally towels and when 20,000 people do it at the same time, it looks pretty sweet. The game overall was pretty good. The first quarter was horrible, but we knew they would come back. Drew Gooden was the player of the game and really stepped up. He was making EVERYTHING. If I ever win the lottery, I'm getting season tickets for every season until Lebron's contract is up. And if you know me, I have a slight addiction to the Cavs.

Crazy Past Two Weeks

WoW...it has been an unbelievable couple of weeks. First, we purchased our first home last week. Currently, we are in the process of financing it and that should be done by the end of this week or the beginning of next. If you think you have spent money before, wait until you purchase a house. There are fees for fees. Closing costs, application fees, agent fees, broker fees, first year of home insurance, home taxes, etc., etc., etc., I have never spent more money in my entire life. I didn't even know I had that much money. But, it is definitely a lot different than just saying, "yeah I'm going to buy a house soon." The reality of it sets in not far after that. But....it will definitely be nice not throwing hundreds of dollars away in rent each month.

Second, we found out that we are having our first child. Megan is 6 weeks pregnant which makes it a December baby. We were very nervous at first (and obviously still are) but we have begun to think of all the family and friends who have been and will continue to be supportive of us. If you would have told me a year ago that I would be in this situation, I would have just laughed. But, people have entered our lives and enriched them in ways we never knew possible. This whole experience is going to be so much fun because of the people that we have around us. We appreciate all of your thoughs and prayers and we are grateful for your love and friendship.

21 Gun Salute

I got an e-mail from a parent today that was pretty interesting. I'll share it below:

Do you know that at military funerals, the 21-gun salute stands for the sum of the numbers in the year 1776?

Have you ever noticed the honor guard pays meticulous attention to correctly folding the United States of America Flag 13 times?

The 1st fold of the flag is a symbol of life .
The 2nd fold is a symbol of the belief in eternal life
The 3rd fold is made in honor and remembrance of the veterans departing the ranks who gave a portion of their lives for the defense of the country to attain peace throughout the world.
The 4th fold represents the weaker nature, for as American citizens trusting in God, it is to Him we turn in times of peace as well as in time of war for His divine guidance.
The 5th fold is a tribute to the country, for in the words of Stephen Decatur, "Our Country, in dealing with other countries, may she always be right; but it is still our country, right or wrong."
The 6th fold is for where people's hearts lie. It is with their heart that They pledge allegiance to the flag of the United! States Of America, and the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with Liberty and Justice for all.
The 7th fold is a tribute to its Armed Forces , for it is through the Armed Forces that they protect their country and their flag against all her enemies, whether they be found within or without the boundaries of their republic.
The 8th fold is a tribute to the one who entered into the valley of the shadow of death, that we might see the light of day.
The 9th fold is a tribute to womanhood, and Mothers .. For it has been through their faith, their love, loyalty and devotion that the character of the men and women who have made this country great has been molded.
The 10th fold is a tribute to the father, for he, too, has given his sons and daughters for the defense of their country since they were first born.
The 11th fold represents the lower portion of the seal of King David and King Solomon and glorifies in the Hebrews eyes, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
The 12th fold represents an emblem of eternity and glorifies, in the Christians eyes, God the Father, the Son and Holy Spirit.
The 13th fold, or when the flag is completely folded, the stars are uppermost reminding them of their nations motto, "In God We Trust."

After the flag is completely folded and tucked in, it takes on the appearance of a cocked hat, ever reminding us of the soldiers who served under General George Washington , and the Sailors and Marines who served under Captain John Paul Jones , who were followed by their comrades and shipmates in the Armed Forces of the United States, preserving for them the rights, privileges and freedoms they enjoy today .
There are some traditions and ways of doing things that have deep meaning. In the future, you'll see flags folded and now you will know why.
Share this with the children you love and all others who love what is referred to, the symbol of " Liberty and Freedom."

For The Times They Are A-Changin'

Even though the year was 1963, Bob Dylan’s words “for the times they are a-changing” have never made more sense then right now. Our society, as a whole, has become increasingly more violent because of the lack of parental and judicial punishments. When are we as Americans going to buckle down and say enough is enough? Look at the alarming number of bomb threats that occur on a monthly basis around the United States. These threats, true or false, should be punished as an act of terrorism and to the fullest extent of the law. Bomb threats close down schools, disrupt local economic markets, inflict panic and stress, and cause mass evacuations of large numbers of people. Violence is not a problem, it is a growing epidemic. Today’s music, video games, and television shows are corrupting one generation after another. TV shows like “Ultimate Fighting” and MTV’s “Scarred” attract younger viewers for all the wrong reasons. Even children’s cartoons are becoming more and more violent. What happened to the days when you could leave your doors unlocked and trust that your kids were safe on the other side of the neighborhood? Our society needs to understand that things start from the bottom and move upwards, and those people in higher places just are not making the grade.

Virginia Tech Shootings

WoW...these are crazy times we're living in. What would drive someone to do such a thing? It is just one of those things that I will never be able to comprehend. At least 33 people shot and killed for what reason? Those 33 people were people trying to make something of their lives. They were future members of this countries workforce. Why have sick minded people decided to walk into school buildings and take the lives of anyone that comes in their way? What gives them the right to take the lives of innocent, defenseless people? School buildings are to be a place of community, saftey, and learning. It is a scary to think that this could happen to any school around this area. It is really scary to think this could happen to the school I work at. What would I do? How would I react? It is just something that cannot be comprehended by your average person. When I think of our schools, how safe are we really? Our doors lock at my school and you have to be let in by the secretary, but is that enough? The front door of our school is completely glass, how hard is that to break if someone wanted too? It is just very hard to think about when this is something that I do as a profession. Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families.

We Are Home Owners!

After four days of hardball negotiating, we finally got a deal done (and a good one at that). I'll post the link below, but I'm not sure how long the house will stay on the site. It will probably be up until our closing date on May 15th. Thanks to everyone who has been there to support us in our decision. We want to especially thank the Solida's for their emotional support and encouragement. It has been awesome to be going through this experience together and I'm glad that we were there for each other to bounce ideas off of. We love you guys! Also, thanks be to God who has blessed us with an AWESOME first start. It is amazing to see You work in us and in the others around us.

There was a link to the house here, but it doesn't work because the house is S-O-L-D !!! E-mail me if you want to see a pic :)

Playing the Waiting Game

Well, it has finally come down to the last week of decision making. On Monday we put a bid down on a house after about 3 weeks of looking. We physically viewed 12 houses and then looked at 200+ houses on the Internet. We were supposed to know Monday night if he excepted our bid, but the seller got a nail in his tire on the way to the office to discuss our bid. Soooo...the deadline was pushed back to Tuesday at 5 (which was even more crazy for us). We finally did hear his counter and then made a counter offer back to his. Now we will wait to see what happens with this offer when we hear back from their party by 5pm tomorrow night. Wish us luck!

Happy Easter!

He is Risen!

He is Risen indeed!

Happy Easter! Hope everyone has a great Easter filled with family and friends. Even though Easter has been commercialized by the Easter Bunny and Easter eggs, that is not always a bad thing. I can't wait until my kids sit on the Easter Bunny's lap at the mall and wake us up at the crack of dawn to look for Easter eggs...because those are great memories for everyone. But, the problems become evident when you take Jesus out of the Easter holiday as a whole. Even when the day becomes busy and it feels as though you can't squeeze anything else in, find time to remember what Christ did for us. A prayer, a discussion, or whatever it may be....just don't let our commercialized America take over your Easter Holiday. Again, Happy Easter!

An Apology of Faith

Today was my first day off of Spring Break (which is much needed by the way), but it started off with a struggle between my faith and my insecurities of faith. As I was running some errands, I noticed a homeless man who usually stands at the off-ramp of 77 on Portage. Usually, I just drive by and think nothing of it. Today was different. When I drove by, something compelled me to want to stop and help out. I invisioned parking at a nearby store and offering to pay for his meal at subway or country pride. I thought about lending him my time for an hour to get warm, fed, and listened to.

But, I didn't.

The entire time I drove around on my errands, I thought about that man. I thought about showing him that someone cares and that not everyone just "drives by." I wanted to tell him that God loved him even though he is going through some rough times and that no matter what, God feels his pain. I wanted to tell him to keep his head up and to think positive about his future. I wanted to shake his hand after a nice hour of eating and conversation and let him feel that feeling of being cared for.

But, I didn't.

As I'm typing this, it is breaking my heart that I wasn't strong enough to do such a thing. That my societal role and labeling got the best of me. How did Jesus do this stuff? How did He have the strength to defy society and love people like that homeless man on a daily basis. Most importantly though, why couldn't I do it? My faith is infant compared to many peoples, but I understand the struggles that go on between my heart and my faith. The one thing that I need to learn is that my heart is imbedded in the faith of God, therefore my heart is His. So what is holding me back?

What does it mean to "live like Christ"?

On April 1st, I had the opportunity to listen to Shane Claiborne, and as I am sitting here, I am finally starting to digest some of the points that were made. First of all, I am glad that there are "radical" Christ followers like Shane because personally, I could never do/live what he does. My Faith wasn't made to fit me the way it was made to fit him. With that said, I'm glad there are people like that on the side of the Risen Christ.

One of the biggest misconceptions with the Christian Faith from those "non-Christians" or "God-seekers" is that our God is a demanding and sometimes harmful God. However, this belief wasn't and isn't from my God. This belief was created by the early church and the malfunctions that have happened within the church over the past 2000 years. Ask most people what they think of when you say the word church. They will probably have several answers, including: "boring, talked down upon, dressing up, having to shut up, money hungry, conspiracy, brain-washed, etc." But like I said, this wasn't what God or the "earthly" Christ intended.

My God is a loving God. He loves me more than anything or anyone can possibly love me. My voice is the sweetest thing to His ears. My God gave me the opportunity to examine Him, test Him, and decide on my own. I didn't choose Jesus, He chose me. What an awesome, awe inspiring concept. Do I have all the answers just because I consider myself a Christian? Hardly! Do I consider myself better than other people just because I am a Christian? Just the opposite actually. It takes a very selfish person to actually realize how unselfish our God really is. Being a Christian does not make me better than the person next to me, it just makes me a person who lives each day knowing that it is not my own.

The thing that the church has forgot is that our God wants us to be real with him. We expect him to be real to us, so why shouldn't He expect the same from us? I have meltdowns and ill prayers toward other people sometimes, but God wants to hear those cries. He wants us to be real, not only to Him, but the people that we have surrounded ourselves with. Ask yourself this, do I have friends or family that I could walk up to and say anything and everything to0 and still walk away being friends with them? A lot of people would probably say No more than Yes. But God never walks away from my conversations with Him. He always listens no matter what my petty prayers pray for. God is more than a Loving God, a Caring God, a Just God, a Mighty God,...our God is a REAL God. If you want God to be real with you, be real with Him first.

Also, so many people get the idea that we have to go outside our comfort zones to make any kind of a difference in this world. If you want to be a "good" Christian, you have to go to Harlem, or Africa, or Equador, or Iraq, or sell all your stuff for charity, and donate your life savings.

Not true.

God didn't plan for us to be world travelers. He planned for us to do good things right here, right where I am, all of my life. That is the direction of the church. Look at Jesus' own life. Did he travel from country to country saving lives and preforming miracles? No, in fact, he stayed right where he was. Showing people how to love one another. Teaching people life lessons and that no matter what happens, our salvation is delivered from a Loving and Forgiving God. Jesus could have done things all around the world...but He didn't. Instead He was born in a dirty stable, dinned and walked with sinners, challenged the doubters to find God on their own, rode a donkey instead of a stallion, and died on a cross surrounded by people who hated Him. Remember, Jesus said, "people will hate you because of me." I am ready for that challenge. So, what we need to do is start here. Right here in Stark County Ohio. Make changes here, change peoples lives, and let them know that our God is a real and loving God and that he is only wanting the same in return from us.