Special K's 1st Deer; 7 point

Spartan Sprint Perkinstonm MS 2012

Bluebirds 2012

All things bright and beautiful . . .

. . . the Lord God made them all.

"I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear." Nelson Mandela "There are no easy answers, but there are simple answers. We must have the courage to do what we know is morally right." Ronald Reagan

Just so you'll know . . .

. . . roughly 850 to 1800 a year survive attempts on their lives.

“A wonderful fact to reflect upon, that every human creature is constituted to be that profound secret and mystery to every other.”  Charles Dickens

Never Forget

History, despite its wrenching pain, cannot be unlived, but if faced with courage, need not be lived again.

Maya Angelou

A Good First Week of First Grade

For the great majority of mankind are satisfied with appearance, as though they were realities and are often more influenced by the things that seem than by those that are.

                                                                                                     Niccolo Machiavelli

                                                                                                   
 

Warrior Dash 2012 Mississippi

What could be better? A festival type atmosphere with 7,200 of the south’s athletes and thrill seekers; running, lots of mud, barbed wire, more running, steeple chase type walls and crawls, more mud, cargo net climbs both vertical and horizontal, more running and more mud, fire jumps, rope climbs, swimming in muddy creek crossings, pole slides, balance beam runs, more mud and more running, slogging over or under submerged logs in 50 degree water, more mud, tire runs, rope above and below over water crossing, more mud, and finishing it all successfully in 49:14:15.

 Oh yeah - all this along with music, beer, and turkey legs!!! The Warrior Dash in Jackson, Mississippi on Saturday was awesome!


If you ever want to challenge yourself and help raise money for a good cause (St. Jude’s), there are worse ways to spend a Saturday.

e. l. wood (left; 275 of 625 in age 40-49; 2,382 overall)
Superman Kimball (right; 28 of 625 in age 40-49; 273 overall)
*Special Thanks to Bethany & Adam for the socks*

What is Real?

I read The Velveteen Rabbit for the umpteenth time the other day. It has been a favorite of mine since childhood, and now Special K loves to read it too. C. S. Lewis was right: some day we do get old enough to read fairy tales again. Margery Williams’ story is about a stuffed toy bunny who arrives in a young boy’s stocking at Christmas. Over a period of time, the toy bunny embarks on a journey of transformation from merely a synthetic stuffed animal into a real, living, breathing rabbit. This change is brought about through the power of the boy’s transforming love for the Velveteen Rabbit.

It strikes me that the transformation from being a stuffed toy bunny to becoming a real rabbit is not unlike our transformations from broken and fallen creations of God to the new creatures we become through the love of Christ. Or should we say, the new creatures we are becoming through the love of Christ?

One of the paradoxes of Christianity that I constantly overlook surrounds the mystery of our transformation through faith in the love of Christ as an ongoing and never ending process rather than a one time event. Billy Graham has said that “Being a Christian is more than just an instantaneous conversion – it is a daily process whereby you grow to be more and more like Christ.” The process of transformation, then, is an ongoing attempt to give up ourselves, to “continue to work out our salvation” as Paul exhorts us in Philippians.

C. S. Lewis observed that “Until (we) have given up (our)selves to Him, (we) will not have a real self.” And while this perpetual process is often uncomfortable, Augustine reminds us that “Salvation is God’s way of making us real people.” Like the protagonist of The Velveteen Rabbit, sometimes it is difficult for us to know when we become Real people of Christ, transformed by his love.

“’What is Real?’ asked the Velveteen Rabbit one day. . . . ‘Does it mean having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle?’”

The Skin Horse, the oldest and the wisest of the playthings in the nursery replied, “‘Real isn’t how you are made. It’s a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real.’

‘Does it hurt?’ asked the Rabbit.

‘Sometimes,’ said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. ‘When you are Real you don’t mind being hurt.’

‘Does it happen all at once, like being wound up?’ the Rabbit asked, ‘or bit by bit?’

‘It doesn’t happen all at once,’ said the Skin Horse. ‘You become. It takes a long time. . . . Generally, by the time you are Real most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don’t matter at all because once you are Real you can’t become unreal again. It lasts for always.’” (Williams)

May the love of Christ continue to make us Real in a world that longs to become transformed.

If R. Reagan and M. Friedman had a love child, he might be Allen West

There are no easy answers' but there are simple answers. We must have the courage to do what we know is morally right.
Ronald Reagan

A society that puts equality before freedom will get neither. A society that puts freedom before equality will get a high degree of both.
Milton Friedman

Happy Halloween 2011

sometimes nothin' is a real cool hand

Halloween 2011

As most of you know, Halloween is a special time at our house.

As a kid, I loved dressing up in costume (old school Casper the Friendly Ghost, Tonto, The Lone Ranger, a Pirate) and going to trick-or-treat. As a teen, I liked going to the local Haunted Houses (the ones where you would reach blindly into a bowl of pasta while your guide told you about the victim's guts, or felt peeled grapes in a jar while you heard about the collection of victims' eyeballs).

My first official date with Big Al was to a Haunted Forest Charity Fundraiser (complete with an all too real Leatherface chasing us with what sounded and smelled like a fully functional chainsaw).

Even as an adult, there's a special feeling unique to late October when the cool air hits my wet face as I slosh up from a filled bucket, apple clenched in my teeth, acidic sweetness on my tongue and the smell of a faraway orchard in my nostrils, hoots of laughter and giggles flying away, like happy witches and pleasant ghosts, into the night sky.

And inevitably, I can't help but to think of Snookie, my grandmother, who used to recite James Whitcomb Riley's poem about Little Orphan Annie. It's always been one of my favorite memories of her that seems just right for the Halloween season. After all, it seems truly bizarre to go around telling children a poem about how if they don't behave the "goblins will get you if you don't watch out!" Sorta like how we tend to teach little kids the story of Noah and the Ark without really thinking about how terrifying it might come off for audience members under ten (but that's a blog for another day).

Anyway - enjoy Anne Hills version of Little Orphan Annie and have a Happy Halloween!

Soccer 2011

"Love the game. Love the game for the pure joy of accomplishment. Love the game for everything it can teach you about yourself. Love the game for the feeling of belonging to a group endeavoring to do its best. Love the game for being involved in a team whose members can't wait to see you do your best. Love the game for the challenge of working harder than you ever have at something and then harder than that. Love the game because it takes all team members to give it life. Love the game because at its best, the game tradition will include your contributions. Love the game because you belong to a long line of fine athletes who have loved it. It is now your legacy. Love the game so much that you will pass on your love of the game to another athlete who has seen your dedication, your work, your challenges, your triumphs... and then that athlete will, because of you, love the game."



Special K with her buddy from another team.

"When all is said and done, it's not the shots that won the championship that you remember, but the friendships you made along the way."




Special K finished her first season of team sport this past Saturday. In six weekends, her team, the Fluorescent Peaches, played eleven games. In a three on three format, playing two of four periods a game, Special K ended up with a grand total of 24 goals scored. In the final match of the season, she took over the pitch with five goals in about as many minutes. We are proud of our budding athlete.

Watching how the Rangers win is like watching a Fellini film. It's not immediately apparent that it makes sense, but somehow it adds up to something that works, especially in an entertaining sense.
Tom Verducci