it has been quite the emotional week with max dying at the beginning of the week so tragically. max would be rejoicing with me at the end of the week as the alhambra broncos took the championship game saturday against the nightmare 2-1. it was an amazing game and the boys played their buts off. the parents and kids went crazy after the game celebrating. we got all the kids together and i was telling them how proud i was of them... when two dads came up behind me and dumped my own ice chest of ice and water over my head. the kids could not stop laughing. so now kade is a champion in baseball with the phillies and now soccer with his broncos!!! this team will get to play for the region in january so more soccer to come for the broncos. but this week, kade and i are with a almabra tournament team... we play 3 games on this friday after thanksgiving and two more on the saturday. it should be a lot of fun, but should exhaust me too!! pax.
Monday, November 24, 2008
Alhambra Broncos U10 Region 60 Champions!
it has been quite the emotional week with max dying at the beginning of the week so tragically. max would be rejoicing with me at the end of the week as the alhambra broncos took the championship game saturday against the nightmare 2-1. it was an amazing game and the boys played their buts off. the parents and kids went crazy after the game celebrating. we got all the kids together and i was telling them how proud i was of them... when two dads came up behind me and dumped my own ice chest of ice and water over my head. the kids could not stop laughing. so now kade is a champion in baseball with the phillies and now soccer with his broncos!!! this team will get to play for the region in january so more soccer to come for the broncos. but this week, kade and i are with a almabra tournament team... we play 3 games on this friday after thanksgiving and two more on the saturday. it should be a lot of fun, but should exhaust me too!! pax.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
an urban hero as fallen
max you will be missed! my heart is so heavy today. the work you have done for the last 20 some years in houston on behalf of the kids and families have last a lasting affect on so many. i remember the first time i met you over 10 years ago at a hotel in philly at the kingdomworks conference. i was a young punk, but you always treated me with great respect. thank you for the long talks into the night and giving us urban youth workers someone to look up to. peace.
Monday, November 17, 2008
20 Ways to Smoke Cigars to the Glory of God
1. Smoke slowly and reflectively, as part of the discipline of contemplation on God's word.
2. Most cigar smokers I know look at their cigar a lot while they are smoking, up close, tracing with their gaze the veins in the leaves and admiring the burnish of the oils in the wrapper. A good cigar is a work of art. It makes me happy and makes me thank God for his good creation.
3. Smoke outside and thank God for the skies and the clouds and the grass and the trees.
4. My college religion professor, the late great Princeton-trained M.B. Jackson, used to exit the classroom during test time, pipe in hand, saying, "If you need me, I'll be on the steps sending up a burnt offering." That's a good notion. Cigar smokers like the look of the smoke. Think of it as a burnt offering of thanks to the Maker of all good things.
5. The smoldering tip of the cigar is both enticing and dangerous. Like the sin that leads to hell. There's an illustration for you cigar smoking preachers out there.
6. The proper storage of good cigars takes regular monitoring and care (humidification, temperature, etc.). Mindfulness and intentionality are virtues lacking in the modern Church, and we can thank God that taking care of cigars helps cure "hurry sickness."
7. Good tobacco is cultivated, cured, and rolled by hard working men and women in parts of the world most of us will never visit. I think about this every time I smoke a cigar, what calloused, hard-working, talented hands created my cigar. Pray for those people, that God would grant them long life and health and happiness, and thank God for them and their giftedness.
8. Thank God that he makes places in the world specifically conditioned to produce perfect tobacco: the right climate, the right soil, the right farmers. There are no coincidences.
9. Don't inhale cigar smoke into your lungs.
10. Add your ashes to compost or dump them into the grass or flower beds, as a good steward of creation.
11. Have a Bible study or theological discussion group at a cigar lounge.
12. Hang out where people you don't know smoke cigars and build conversational bridges that allow you to be a witness to the gospel.
13. Smoke with good Christian friends, laughing a lot and talking about things that matter (and don't), and thank God for fellowship. As someone who does this regularly, I can say there is almost nothing more comforting to my soul than smoking stogies long into the night and just enjoying the camaraderie of good Christian friendship.
14. Give good cigars -- good ones! -- out as gifts on more occasions than just the birth of a child.
15. Marvel that someone along the way figured out how to turn the tobacco plant into a cigar (or pipe tobacco) and see that human ingenuity and creativity is a result of being made in the image of God.
16. For the married smokers, thank God you have an awesome wife who is cool with you smoking. (This assumes you have an awesome wife who is cool with you smoking. If you don't, thank God you have a wife who cares about your health, your reputation, your good breath, or whatever the grounds are for her disapproval.)
17. As you smoke, think of all the famous cigar smokers you can -- comedians and writers and actors and painters and poets and filmmakers -- and thank God for their artistry (and for art in general).
18. Pick a spot in your Bible. Light your cigar. Start reading and don't stop until you're smoking a nub. Beats using an hourglass or timer.
19. Take two outside. Light one up. Wait for your neighbor to come outside, then offer him the other.
20. If you buy in bulk, turn the empty boxes into care packages for soldiers or children in third world countries.
i found this list at this blog!
2. Most cigar smokers I know look at their cigar a lot while they are smoking, up close, tracing with their gaze the veins in the leaves and admiring the burnish of the oils in the wrapper. A good cigar is a work of art. It makes me happy and makes me thank God for his good creation.
3. Smoke outside and thank God for the skies and the clouds and the grass and the trees.
4. My college religion professor, the late great Princeton-trained M.B. Jackson, used to exit the classroom during test time, pipe in hand, saying, "If you need me, I'll be on the steps sending up a burnt offering." That's a good notion. Cigar smokers like the look of the smoke. Think of it as a burnt offering of thanks to the Maker of all good things.
5. The smoldering tip of the cigar is both enticing and dangerous. Like the sin that leads to hell. There's an illustration for you cigar smoking preachers out there.
6. The proper storage of good cigars takes regular monitoring and care (humidification, temperature, etc.). Mindfulness and intentionality are virtues lacking in the modern Church, and we can thank God that taking care of cigars helps cure "hurry sickness."
7. Good tobacco is cultivated, cured, and rolled by hard working men and women in parts of the world most of us will never visit. I think about this every time I smoke a cigar, what calloused, hard-working, talented hands created my cigar. Pray for those people, that God would grant them long life and health and happiness, and thank God for them and their giftedness.
8. Thank God that he makes places in the world specifically conditioned to produce perfect tobacco: the right climate, the right soil, the right farmers. There are no coincidences.
9. Don't inhale cigar smoke into your lungs.
10. Add your ashes to compost or dump them into the grass or flower beds, as a good steward of creation.
11. Have a Bible study or theological discussion group at a cigar lounge.
12. Hang out where people you don't know smoke cigars and build conversational bridges that allow you to be a witness to the gospel.
13. Smoke with good Christian friends, laughing a lot and talking about things that matter (and don't), and thank God for fellowship. As someone who does this regularly, I can say there is almost nothing more comforting to my soul than smoking stogies long into the night and just enjoying the camaraderie of good Christian friendship.
14. Give good cigars -- good ones! -- out as gifts on more occasions than just the birth of a child.
15. Marvel that someone along the way figured out how to turn the tobacco plant into a cigar (or pipe tobacco) and see that human ingenuity and creativity is a result of being made in the image of God.
16. For the married smokers, thank God you have an awesome wife who is cool with you smoking. (This assumes you have an awesome wife who is cool with you smoking. If you don't, thank God you have a wife who cares about your health, your reputation, your good breath, or whatever the grounds are for her disapproval.)
17. As you smoke, think of all the famous cigar smokers you can -- comedians and writers and actors and painters and poets and filmmakers -- and thank God for their artistry (and for art in general).
18. Pick a spot in your Bible. Light your cigar. Start reading and don't stop until you're smoking a nub. Beats using an hourglass or timer.
19. Take two outside. Light one up. Wait for your neighbor to come outside, then offer him the other.
20. If you buy in bulk, turn the empty boxes into care packages for soldiers or children in third world countries.
i found this list at this blog!
Alhambra Broncos Move On
it was a great weekend for the alhambra broncos... we won our semi-final match 4-2 and get to play for the region 60 championship next saturday at 3pm!!!! my phillies won and it will be one great year of youth sports for j-lou if we pull this one out. we practice tonight and firday nite to get them ready.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
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