Me and my ride

It has been an interesting experience with  the cars that I’ve had, which has only been three so far, but all of them have given me some memories I will never forget.  My first two cars and the memories that came from them were mostly brought on by my foolishness and dumb thinking, which got me into some accidents and tickets that weren’t much fun to handle. My latest car has probably given me the most laughter at what has happened and many times where I can totally see God working through those situations that I am in.

My Thundy has put me in a couple of harsh predicaments the last few years (set apart this last year when I was in South Africa), one involving the law that I won’t talk too much about, and the second one came while I was driving.  The week before Christmas came this year, Thundy starting acting up as I was driving into Lincoln to see my sisters and some other friends.  As I turned on Old Cheney, my car started shaking and a very loud noise exploded into my ears, while the steering wheel locked up and the engine revved with little movement in the car.  I was able to make it to my sisters place off of 34th street, with the help of a couple of slopes, and parked in their parking lot.  Come to find out that my damper pulley, the big pulley helping the belt spin, broke off as well as my belt and I was running with little to nothing on the movements of the car.  There was a pretty bad storm coming through Lincoln, starting right about the time when my car started acting up, so it was a great blessing by God to allow me to get to my sisters place. 

Through the ordeal, I know that God was working and there for me every second my car was having problems. It’s not coincidence that Thundy broke down not three blocks or so from where my sisters lived and not on the interstate or another part of Lincoln.  The damper pulley had been cracked for a long time, so it really could have happened at any other time than that specific one.  The repair shop even found a part for 500 less than what they were thinking of and the cost was not at all what they were thinking to begin with.  God kept me safe through the whole ordeal and allowed me to not go bankrupt, which always a nice plus.

 

Such a tragedy

I was a little bit angry and somewhat frustrated at how the Nebraska-Texas Big Twelve Championship game finished (and am still a little to this day, which I shouldn’t be) but there was never a thought to go this far. I would not say that this was intentional at all, definitely from what I have read in some of the atricles, I am just really confused as to why there would be a gun around them at all in that kind of a situation. They are marines, so I am sure that weapons are around them all the time, but it doesn’t make much sense. I do pray for the families and friends that were affected by this troubling situation.

 

What’s so wrong with what happened?

This might not be the same, but Arizona let the Huskers finish the shutout with a play towards the end zone and not a field goal. It let the Husker defense prove to the last play how good they really are. UCLA shouldn’t be mad at all as to what happened to them during the USC game. (sorry that this is a month or so too late)

I did not watch this game, but I agree with what happened. The game was for the most part out of reach, and USC was not wanting to “run the score up” and insult UCLA.  I can see why UCLA might want to try and get the ball back, maybe getting a quick TD and then an onside kick and another score to take it to overtime, but I don’t think there would have been much time anyways for all of that to happen the way UCLA would want.  USC saw something from the defense and they took it, it was just for a TD and there was really not much UCLA could do about it.  If I was UCLA, which I am not, but I would have taken the loss with how USC was going about it first and not what actually happened, but it is what it is.  Have fun UCLA waiting a whole year to get your rematch…

 

It can happen

This is not supposed to scare you into doing something crazy, just to keep you knowledgeable of what could possibly happen in a car crash.   And to be very careful with the weather these days; I saw too many cars flipped over in the ditch and have heard about too many deaths, so be careful out there!

How to die in 0.7 Seconds

Do you know what happens in the first fatal second after a car going 55 miles per hour hits a solid object?

In the first tenth of the second, the front bumper and grill collapse.

The second tenth finds the hood crumbling, rising and striking the windshield as the spinning rear wheels lift from the ground. Simultaneously, fenders begin wrapping themselves around the solid object and although the car’s frame has been halted, the REST OF THE DRIVER’S CAR IS STILL GOING 55 MILES PER HOUR. Instinct causes the driver to stiffen his legs against the crash and they snap at the knee-joint.

During the third tenth of the second, the steering wheel starts to disintegrate and the steering column aims for the drivers chest.

The fourth tenth of the second finds two feet of the car’s front end wrecked while the rear end still moves at 35 miles per hour and the driver’s body is traveling at 55 miles per hour.

In the fifth tenth the driver is impaled on the steering column and blood rushes to his lungs.

The sixth finds the impact built up to the extent that feet are ripped out of tightly laced shoes. the brake pedal breaks off. The car frame buckles in the middle and the driver’s head bangs into the windshield as the rear wheels, still spinning, fall back to the earth.

IN THE SEVENTH TENTH hinges rip loose, doors open and the seat breaks free, striking the driver from behind. BUT HE DOESN’T MIND BECAUSE HE IS ALREADY DEAD, and the last three tenths of the second mean nothing to him.

NOW, WILL YOU BUCKLE YOUR SEAT BELT?

I know this, and a few other things, have started to change my mind on the seat belt rule and how important it really is for most to all of the time. Now there are occasions where people have been in crashes and have come out alive because they didn’t wear their seat belt, but that is very few and very unlikely.

 

Where do ya look

To accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream, not only plan, but also believe.  Bradley Mines

What is your vision for your life? That is a question that always comes up into conversation if you or someone else is at a transition point in their life and are looking to start something new. You usually get a lot of those kind of questions right before you graduate from high school and go to college, but more and more people are trying to figure this out even in the jobs that they have now.  I do get frustrated with that question, but it is needed to know where your going with your life and I believe that Pastor Mike Neely has the right way of thinking about the vision statement. 

Pastor Mike Neely of Highland Park Evangelical free church, did a devotional about the world’s vision plan and seeking God’s vision plan. Here is a little bit of it:

Valid Faith Gives Us Vital Vision

Vision is today’s buzzword, but many people will not experience the power and fulfillment promised in vision seminars! Why? Because there is a vast difference between vision and fantasy!

Faith is not the ability to believe in yourself, but in God. It is a popular belief today that you can accomplish anything that you truly believe you can. But God says in Romans 10:11, “Whoever believes in Him (Jesus) will not be disappointed.” Faith is confidence and trust in the character and promises of God – in contrast to self-confidence.

Does the Bible encourage us to make up our own dream and then ask God to help us achieve it? No; quite the opposite! Jesus said: “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner,” (John 5:19-20). Jesus Himself, the divine Son of God, made it clear that He did not come to do His own will, but “the will of Him who sent me,” (vs. 30).

Jesus models visionary thinking that should fuel our personal lives, our church ministries and our planning strategies. Vision is to focus on God so we can join Him in what He is doing! Vision is not a fantasy, but a focus upon the Ultimate Reality that is beyond the natural. It focuses on God and allows Him to open our eyes to what is supernatural, spiritual, invisible, and eternal.

Vision must be more than dreaming about something bigger, better, more than what you are currently able to do. Vision must be a God-confidence that sees the impact of faithfulness, sending ripples out from your neighborhood into eternity! It is an abiding focus on God that brings contentment with Him – who He is, who you are in Him, what He is making of your life – that convinces you that you are living the abundant, eternal quality of life Jesus promised to those who hear and follow Him!                      

Press On, (Philippians 3:14)

 

It’s all about SUH

Suh definitely had an amazing last two years of college ball and will have an even more amazing career in the NFL.  His power and tenastity carried this football team when things were meek.  He still has a game left and will probably continue to show how he is the best player in the nation right now. 

Here it is . . .  Mark Ingram!

My heart screams for SUH to win the Heisman award tonight, but my mind tells me that he won’t and one of the running backs will. The good thing about the setup is SUH getting and staying in front of both QB’s, specifically McCoy.  I will be glad with a second or third place finish for The Man Called SUH.  He’s on Defense and nobody ever really wins on that side of the ball, so I agree with some of the writers when they say that the Heisman should be the best QB, RB, or WR in the nation, not the all around best player in the nation.  Those are my thoughts about that, take them or leave them, its up to you.  SUH really does have a great story about him.   (SUH did not beat out Colt McCoy, even though I think he should have. . . Just frustrating.  How can you put McCoy ahead with the head-to-head competition, I just don’t get that.)

Heisman voters are charged with selecting “the Most Outstanding Player in the United States in 2009,” so will they? Saturday, the most outstanding player in the United States singlehandedly dismantled one of the nation’s best offenses. Nebraska defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh finished with 12 tackles, including seven for loss and half of Nebraska’s nine sacks. Suh has annihilated offenses all season, but has done so in relative obscurity. Saturday, on the biggest stage, he nearly exacted the Cornhuskers’ revenge for Texas quarterback James Brown’s “Roll Left” play in the first Big 12 title game in 1996.

Suh will be No. 1 on my inaugural Heisman ballot, but unfortunately, the majority of the 926 voters don’t understand the game well enough to vote for a defensive tackle. They only watch the ball, so they almost always elect a quarterback, a running back or a wide receiver who also returns kicks. Suh, double-teamed almost every down, affected every offensive play Texas ran. We don’t need to send it to the replay booth; Suh proved definitively Saturday that he deserves not just an invitation to New York but also his very own bronze replica of former New York University star Ed Smith.

And Ndamukong Suh? Well – you saw him, didn’t you? It’s Heisman time.  “If Suh didn’t win the Heisman tonight, it’s a disgrace to college football,” Pelini said.

Meanwhile, Nebraska intercepted three of Colt McCoy’s passes and sacked him nine times, while probably sacking his Heisman Trophy chances. Yes, McCoy produced his eighth career fourth-quarter rally to victory. But he looked very ordinary much of the night. Husker defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh produced 4 1/2 of those sacks and 12 tackles overall (seven for losses) in a performance that simply had to thrust him into serious Heisman consideration, assuming he wasn’t there already. Not that the Heisman mattered to Suh or anybody else in red Saturday night, when Nebraska came up agonizingly short.

 

Baseball

I am the feeling on the ball after it has left your hand

I am the feeling the player has as his ball goes flying over the fence

I am the piece of string in your glove

I am the Ball

I am the holder of the ball

I am the feeling on your glove as it grabs the ball

I am the one digging for the ball

I am the Glove

I am the one diving for the ball

I am the one giving it my all to reach first

I am the one sliding to the bag

I am the one jumping and reaching over the fence as I snag the homerun

I am the one leaving the field with grass stains on my pants

I am the Player

I am the Hat and the sweat on it

I am the marvelous game of Baseball

By: Jeff Rosacker

Rest in Peace buddy! May God bless those that knew you!

 

It’s a hit!

I am a little sorry for the kid that gets hit, but it is so funny to watch and some really good hitting by number 36.

This is another blog that posts about it, some good thoughts…

 

Who’s who…

This is just a funny picture; don’t they look really similar?

 

Things I will miss about South Africa

1) Muta (one of my guys)

2) Bahati (one of my guys)

3) Lawrence (one of my guys)

4) Patrick (one of my guys)

5) Aubrey (one of my guys/sort of)

6) Renier & Helize (campus staff director and wife)

7) Lucas (student leader, now interning with Crusade)

Paul (student leader, getting ready to do missions in Somalia)

9) Duan (student leader for next year, “chair person”)

10) Darius (student leader for next year)

11) Talkalanie (student apart of Crusade)

12)Ntando (student leader for next year)

13) Student leadership committee (past and present)

14) Chris Dirks (AIA)

15) Eddie (Staff)

16) Minte (Netherlands Stint)

17) Lerato (friend from UJ)

18) Balokile (friend from UJ)

19) Sammie (student leader at UJ)

20) Lizwi (student leader at UJ for next year)

21) Robert (student leader at UJ for next year)

22) Louie & Erica (BEAM owners)

23) Lordwick (pastor and staff at BEAM)

24) Ronnie (staff at BEAM)

25) Brian (staff at BEAM)

26) Blessing (staff at BEAM)

27) Given (kid at BEAM)

28) Cia (kid at BEAM)

29) Happy (kid at BEAM)

30) Ruben (Older boy at BEAM)

31) Diamond (Older boy at BEAM)

32) All the kids at BEAM

33) Francois (Erica and Louie’s son)

34) The Staff at BEAM

35) The scenery

36) The weather (warmth and the storms!!)

37) Blue Bulls/Springbok Rugby (They pretty much won everything they possibly could in one year, including the World Cup in 2008)

38) 15 Rand Wednesday movie night