Addie 'Beth

State of Mind...

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Cedar Point

So yesturday was a good day. it began with a 120 miles per hour journey up 420 feet and back down again with an inverted twist, ta boot.

Yesturday, we took a group of 46 to Cedar Point, the greatest amusement park in the world.

Here is a rundown of my day:
10:20 am - tix in hand, the group is released to a day of enjoyment.

11:30 am - after only an hour wait, we ride Top Thrill Dragster.

12:05pm - we ride the Magnum - at one time, it's 209 ft. first hill was the tallest in the world. This is always one of my all time favorites. It was my first real roller coaster that I rode back in '89. Wait time: 25 minutes.

12:33pm - up next is the Gemini... the classic wooden racer. Wait time: 15 minutes.

1:00pm - lunch back at the pavilion.

1:35pm - we get in line for the Raptor (a feet dangling suspended roller coaster with many inverted loops.

2:25pm - Raptor rules the sky! i actually got dizzy. We were all really dehidrated so we went back to the pavilion to get some water. wait time: 50 min.

3:10pm - i had never ridden the Disaster Transport. It is an indoor ride that is air conditioned. Since it was 95 degrees, this ride was perfect. wait time: 20 min.

shortly after, a Mountain Dew was needed.

We headed next to the Mantis, a standing roller coaster, with a series of inverted loops.

4:20pm - We ride The Mantis. When your legs are tired, and you've been on your feet, who would want to ride a roller coaster in which the rider is requred to stand? Oh well, it was a good ride. wait time: 55 min.

Nest we rode the train over to Fronteer Land so that the youth could ride the water rides.
Bryan and I sat these out and rested in the shade.

5:50pm - Bryan and I head back to the pavilion for supper. I wanted to get Chicken fingers but it would have been a 10 min. wait. I then got a foot long hot dog and some fries in stead.

7:45pm - the final ride of the day is The Millenium Force - a fast ride that starts our with a 300+ ft. incline and descend. This ride is like riding a motorcylcle really fast. It was a great way to close out the day. wait time: 70 min.

we left Cedar Point, on our 59 passenger Dutch Transit Tour Bus at around 8:45pm.

It was a great day and we didn't have any major problems. My love for amusement parks grows after each trip!

my new toy

i have joined the iPod revolution. my new U2 iPod arrived on my doorstep this morning at 9:38am.

the first song to ever play on it was Simon & Garfunkel's "The Only Living Boy in New York City" @ 6:56pm.

->to steal a line from that song: Hey- I've got nothing to do to-day but smile...






word.

ap

abandoned places...

sORRY bOut yOUr Luck ChuCK!

you know you're having a bad day when...

this happens

ugly dogs

U-G-L-Y
YOU AINT GOT NO ALIBY
YOU UGLY

CYF 2005

so for over 10 years i've been serving on staff for a week long summer camp called CYF. we used to meet up at Lakeside, Ohio (on Lake Erie) but this year we took a giant leap of faith and moved to the Malone College campus in Canton, Ohio.

my role this year was Worship Coordinator.

to be honest, going in to this years camp, i was being puleld in many directions. My wife and i just had a baby a few weeks back, but we had made arrangements for me to spend as much time as i needed over at CYF (about a 15 minuted drive from home) as her mom was visiting to help with the baby. I was able to come home in the afternoons and at night to see my new little one and to help out.

in addition to that, i had been in a rather dry place spiritually. i've had no problem 'feeding' my sheep (i serve as a Youth Pastor) but had not been fed myself in quite some time.

what happened this past week was AMAZING. i've seen the move of the Spirit before. I've seen God move before... but not like this. It was supposed to be a difficult transition. We expected it to be a challenge. God is stronger and wiser, though. Thankfully, we, as a leadership staff, wholly put our trust in Him. God did the rest.

Not one technical glitch.
Not one injury.
Not one instance of conflict amongst the 100 teens in attendance.
Not one instance of a teen sneaking off or a couple messing around.
Heck, not even one instance of a girl (or girls) flaunting their stuff (in other words, the girls all dressed modestly).

i've never seen an event prayed over more. God taught me so much in that. my prayer life has definately ben rejuvinated as a result.

After most camps, you leave on a spiritual high, only to gradually fade... On Friday morning, we challenged the teens to finish strong... to finish the race... to answer the call.

i could go on and on...


basically, i am so thankful that God has given me the awesome privilage of mentoring, teaching and befriending teenagers. i am so glad i answered the call he placed on my heart. i count it an honor to be placed in such a position. but it's all God. When i rely on my strength, i fail. I realized that again this week. But when I (we) rely on God for all things, many things can happen... things that can not be planned or contained.

God is so much bigger than my measly thoughts of what he can do and how he can do it. Praise & glory to the One who sacrificed it all even if for only me.

-tim

Explosions in the Sky / Sigur Ros

in honor of the Forth of July, I am listening to nothing but Explsosions in the Sky. I've added Sigur Ros to the rotation 'cuz my brother in law just got back from Iceland.

power

so today the power went out for like 3 hours.

man, life sure is dependant on electricity. it was about 97 degrees, i think, too.
micah and i hopped in the car and drove around, listening to a new mix CD i made just prior to the outage.
we saw a horible trafic accident with this car upside down with a power poll & transformer on top of it. maybe that was why we were without power.

we had fun.

we saw the ice cream man. everything was closed, except him. he probably made lots of cash today.

BOOM GOES THE DNYOMITE

BOOM.

Baby on Board

excellent. that is how i would describe this experience. wonderful. magnificent. unbelievable. miraculous. heavenly.

last Thursday afternoon (June 16th, 2005) @ 12:56pm the Lord delivered to us a bountiful blessing in the shape and size of an 8 lb 4 oz, 20 inches long beautiful baby girl.

ladies and gentlemen, i present to you the most beautiful baby in the world:

Addison Elisabeth








Adore Her!

p.s. Mommy & baby are doing great! And i've managed to surprise myself... having a girl is not half as scary as i thought it would be...yet...

p.s.s. Micah is already lovin' on her... it took a little bit, but now he is very curious and likes to help out!

What a blessing she is!!!


My legs felt like...pt. 2

so i went out running again, yesturday morning. my legs didn't feel like cement blocks...until after about 3 minutes. i kept running though... ran for about 10 minutes... walked for about 5. all told, i ran/walked over a mile. no big accomplishment, i know, but it's a start.

Worship: Louie Giglio Article

Check out this interesting article about the beginnings of the Passion movement with Louie Giglio.

My legs felt like cement blocks

So as I have gotten older, and since I turned 30, my metabolism seams to be slowing down. By looking at me, you'd still think I was a skinny guy, but alas, I have added a nice gut. Right now, I might weigh 166-168. For ten years I weighed the same thing... 150 lbs. I hit 30 and the gut emerged!

so my bro-in-law, Jerry, who is a distance runner, mind you, talked to me over Memorial Day weekend about running. I said I wanted to lose a few pounds and at least get into shape. He gave me a running strategy:

>start off running a few times a week, for 10-12 minutes.

>gradually increase length of running time and number of times you run each week.

>in two to three month's, you will feel a lot better and lose 10 pounds.

So yesterday, after a long evening of installing car seats and assembling stroller, I decided there was no better time to start running. I set out to run for 10 minutes. As soon as I took my first steps off of the back porch, my legs felt like cement blocks. I knew I was in for a rough start. I ran eight minutes and walked for three. Rough start, but at least I started.

I hope I can keep it up.

yesturday.

so yesturday we made many of the final arrangements before the baby comes. this is our second, so you'd think we have it down pat. things that yesturday tought me:

1. It was a blessing in disguise that when assembling our new double stroller, that a piece was broken - meaning we'd have to return it to Babies R' Us. Turns out the stroller was recalled and is now off the market. So we bought a new dobule stroller & traveling system. This one is nicer and easier to fold, manouver, handle, etc. Plus, Micah approves.

2. Even with the LATCH system, car seats are impossible to get in to a car. You can never get the dumb straps tight enough.

3. Having a two year old means finding crumbs in places one never thought possible. While installing the new baby's car seat, we vacuumed out the car. Crumbs were everywhere, it appeared.

---

Things that need to be done before next THURSDAY - the day Baby # 2 arrives:
1. Pack bags. Last time, even though my wife was overdue, I still forgot to pack bags for the hospital for myself.

2. Before we can pack bags, we need to do laundry.

3. Clean up the house, so that it is nice and ready for the return from the hospital.

cre8ive

some ART projects of mine

and another...

walking in mist.

"Quit telling your God how big your mountain is, and start telling your mountain how big your God is."


this morning, while walking to work in a beautiful mist i stretched my arms out wide and embraced all of the cool, all of the wet, all of the refreshing mist. i love a misty morning. i truly have fond memories of playing soccer in the mist on Saturday mornings when i was 16. some of my best games of golf have been played in the mist. just two weeks ago, i participated in a huge dodge ball tournament (using finger blasters) on a beautiful misty afternoon. I was sore the entire next week, as my hamstring and other muscles were stretched just as much, it seemed, as the rubber band inside the mini-nerf-rocket launchers we used for our games.

there is something beautiful about mist. it is refreshing (just like the drink). Maybe misty mornings are God's way of telling us "be clean. Embrace the cleansing power of forgiveness."

this morning i enjoyed walking in the mist.

nuthin to say

i have nothing to say. don't read this.

oh. o.k. you're not.

Fiddy Cent

I'ma say Fiddy Cent is the wahcked out greatest lyricist of alls time.

I aint trippin. you know it be tru.




whatever... i'm lyin. just saw the Lil Bit video this morning and thought "this is crap."