Chewy's Christmas Present

As you can see, Chewy is pretty comfortable. Last month, we broke down and finally got rid of the recliner that we have had for almost 10 years. When we moved to Charlotte, Chewy claimed the coach as hers. When we purchased a new coach last year, Chewy was not allowed to get on the coach. Chewy ended up kicking me out of the recliner and took ownership. When we got rid of the recliner she was suddenly homeless. As you can see from the picture, we purchased her a "doggy bed." She absolutely loves it! Literally, the only time she gets out of the bed is to go outside once or twice and that's it!

Kitchen Project

One of the things that we "dislike" about our house is the "popcorn" ceilings. Well, a week ago, I go ambitious and started scraping the popcorn off of the kitchen ceiling. That was on a Tuesday night. I was just going to do a little bit at a time until I got it done. Stephenie "encouraged" me to just go ahead and do it all. Well, it only took a couple of hours to scrape it off. The clean up took a little longer. I hadn't really planned to do it all that night so I did not prep the room properly.

Stephenie was a little suprised but I wanted to get it done, so on Friday, I sanded the entire kitchen ceiling to prep it for paint. Clean was easier this time because I put up plastic and also purchased a sanding attachment for my Shop Vac which collected the drywall dust.

After I sanded, I painted - one coat of primer and then one coat of white ceiling paint. I was finished on Friday night. I have one touch up spot which I will fix when I put up the crown molding.

All in all I was rather pleased with my accomplishment. (So was Stephenie!)

Mollie's Last Soccer Game

Mollie played in her last soccer game just a couple of weeks ago. Silas had a cold so Jeremiah and I were the ones that accompanied Mollie to the game while Stephenie stayed at home with Titus and Silas. Also, it was really cold that Saturday morning and Mollie's game started at 8:00 AM. It was the first day that we could really say that fall was here! After the game, Mollie got her trophy. (Just as a note - Everyone, and that included all the other teams, got trophies. This particular league at the YMCA does not keep score. It's just for the kids to have fun and learn the sport.)

Pineville Fall Festival

Every fall, the little town of Pineville has a very nice festival with rides, inflatables, food and fun. This particular year was a little different though because we had spent the entire day having a yard sale! So, we were a little tired by the time we made it to the festival.

The Pineville Fire Department has a huge ladder truck (for such a small town) and they always raise Old Glory at the Fall Festival. We're very patriotic around there!


One of the rides that Jeremiah and Mollie went on was a "centrifugal force" thinging. It's one of those where the machine spins so fast that it holds you to the side. We weren't sure about how Mollie was going to do but she loved it!





Titus enjoyed the old fashioned carousel!

Then it was off to the trains for Titus!

Evan Silas got into the action!

Pensacola Christian College Board of Reference

I am part the "Board of Reference" at Pensacola Christian College. Every other year, they fly us to Pensacola so that we can see what's going on. I enjoy going even though I have to spend the time away from Stephenie and the kids.

One new thing is that the Campus Church has a new pastor, Dr. Neal Jackson. The interesting thing is, Dr. Jackson and I were roomates while were in college. We both graduated in 1993. Although he is very busy, we were able to spend some time together catching up on "old times."

We also have a few students at Pensacola. I took a suitcase with me that was filled with almost nothing but "care items" for our college students. I felt pretty silly with an empty suitcase on the flight back.

Ramblings of an Old Man

It's been awhile since I last "posted." Since that time I have turned 35. I was asked if I felt any different! I told them that I am actually looking forward to turning 40. My youth group threw me a little party on Wednesday night! It was very thoughtful of them! They're a great group of kids - not perfect - but I love them none the less!

(Check out Stephenie's blog for pictures. There's no sense in posting them twice.) Last weekend Jeremiah and I went to The Wilds for one of their Father/Son Campouts. No, we don't actually camp out. We stay in cabins but all of the activities are held outside around a campfire. There were probably 60 or so fathers and sons that covered all ages! It is a great time just to be with your son. The preaching is encouraging and challenging. There are plenty of activities. We enjoyed the archery range, the sling shot range, "Gazeeball," canoeing, the lake zipline, the land trolley, etc. You can check out the camp at http://www.wilds.org/. On Saturday, all the fathers and sons hiked to the "2nd Falls" where we had lunch. The food at these campouts is spectacular! After lunch we were able to play around in the water. Jeremiah loves nature and exploring. He is not afraid of "the unknown." After we arrived back at the campsite we went to the camp's lake. One of the highlights was when Jeremiah climbed to the top of the 20 foot jump off tower at the lake and jumped! Did dad do it? No! A gentleman about my size did it just before Jeremiah and he actually hit bottom. I didn't want to get stuck in the mud on the bottom. We got back home Saturday evening. Titus is excited about the fact that he will be able to go with us next year!

1st Degree Murder...

Since arriving home from our youth group missions trip, we have continued to stay busy.

The week following our missions trip, I had jury duty. This was my first experience with the court system in North Carolina.

I arrived at the Mecklenburg Courthouse on Monday, August 20th. I waited all day long to be called. We were told that there were 3 trials going that were in need of jurors. Around 4:00 PM, my name, along with 24 others, was called.

The deputy sherriff escorted us to an empty court room where we were asked to fill out a very specific questionare. After we all finished, we were informed by the deputy sherriff that our "jury pool" was need in order to fill the last two "alternate juror" spots for a capital murder case! The defendant was being accused of 1st degree murder for allegedly shooting his wife and 1 year old daughter. We all thought that it wouldn't take too long to fill the last two spots. (We were told that the judge and lawyers had alreay gone through 180 potential jurors over the course of the past 5 weeks. We couldn't believe it!) One of the main reason is that the only two possible punishments for someone who is convicted of first degree murder, in the state of North Carolina, is either the death penalty or life in prison without parole. We also learned that, although in most other cases, the judge determines the punishment, in the case of 1st degree murder, the jury is responsible for also determining whether the individual is put to death or spends their life in jail.

What we thought would not take long took all the way until lunchtime on Wednesday. I was never questioned as a potential juror. However, had my name been called, I'm sure I would not have been chosen. I'll tell you why.

I strongly believe in the death penalty. That would not have kept me out of the jury. If an individual would tell the judge that they opposed the death penalty, he would ask, "Could you set aside your convictions and beliefs long enough in order to give the defendant a fair trial?" Each time the potential juror would say, "No." to that question. That made me think though and do some soul searching in the opposite direction. Allow me to explain.

The individual was on trial for and was accused of 1st degree murder which is cold-blooded, intentional murder. As I looked at the defendant I knew that I could give them a fair trial and assume their innocence until it was proven, beyond a reasonable doubt, that they were guilty. However, if they were convicted of 1st degree murder, I could not have even considered a punishment other than death. My belief in the Bible, particularly Genesis 9:6, leads me to believe that the punishment for such murder should be death with no other option (such as life in prison without parole). And, although I believe that we have the best form of government in the world, and the best system of courts and law (Yes, I know it is still flawed. It will be as long as their is sin in the world!), I could not set aside that Biblical conviction simply because the state of North Carolina asked me to.

Long post...I know...Hope you read it all.