The Challenge

There is a challenge so dangerous the thought of it makes women gasp and babies cry. This challenge is so death defying it turns the manliest man into a whimpering mess. I've heard of this challenge, and I've heard of people doing the challenge, but I've never seen anyone take on the challenge. What man would dare do what others don't dare to do? What man could step up to take on the challenge despite the effects it will have on his health?


Daniel Francis (or Francis as I like to call him) is such a man! Francis laughs at the face of danger. He looks at risky challenges and giggles. Tonight Daniel Francis took on the...dun dun duuuuuuuuuu....


BUFFALO WILD WING BLAZIN' CHALLENGE. The following is a write up from Wikipedia.com. They are always a good source of info, and not to mention always correct and accurate (sense the sarcasm). The "Blazin' Challenge" is offered at some locations to patrons who can finish 12 of the hottest wings offered (wings covered with Blazin' sauce) in less than 6 minutes. The rules are no drinking of any beverages, no eating other foods (such as ranch, bleu cheese, or celery), and no touching the face. Customers who complete the challenge are eligible to have their name and picture placed on the Blazin' Challenge wall and are given a "Blazin' Challenge" T shirt.


Daniel Francis' time was 2:08. What a stud! It was wicked awesome! He finished his last wing, jumped to his feet, and spiked the wing down into the paper container. Wing sauce went everywhere...including across to the table behind us landing ever so gently on another customer's lap. Daniel Francis aka Francis...You are the man!

Guest Bloggers

So, I'm going out of town on vacation. Have no fear the blog will continue while I'm gone. That's right. I've asked a few friends if they would put together a guest blog for me. Every day while I'm gone there will be at least one guest blogger. I can't wait to read what everyone is going to blog about! Enjoy!

Babies

My sister, we will call her Sarah, and her husband, we will call him Scott, are in town from Ohio. We will call them Sarah and Scott because that is their names. Sarah and Scott have two cool kids Selleck and Slade. Slade is only a handful of months old. He can't talk, he can't walk, and he can't control his food from spewing out of his mouth after he eats. In fact there are a lot of things that Slade can't do, but one thing he can do is hold up his own head. You see I have rule that I won't hold a baby unless they can hold up their own head. Slade passed the test.

My wife is the best wife ever!

So, I don't think I'm bias at saying this...my wife is the best wife ever! Yesterday she mowed the lawn and did the weed eating while I was at work. Now I know what you're thinking...that's Rob's job why didn't he do it? Well, I was going to do it that night, but as a gift for me Monica did it. I was so stressed yesterday trying to get everything done at work before my vacation that when I saw that she mowed the lawn I came in and busted out crying. I don't cry...accept for at funerals, when people give their life to Christ, and when I watch My Girl and Macaulay Culkin's character dies. Like I said in my previous post I think I had the man's equivalent to PMS. I felt horrible that she did it. She assured me that she didn't do it because I was a slacker. She did it to help me out because I was stressed and juggling a lot of stuff. I love my wife!

PS: Today she told me that she is celebrating my 30th B-Day all month long. She is giving me one gift every day for 30 days for my 30th Birthday. Best wife ever!

Birthday

In 15 days Rob will have a Birthday. That means that I only have 15 days left in my twenties. That's right...Rob is turning 30 on August 14. I'm pretty excited about my birthday. A lot of people get wigged out by turning 30, but I'm not scared. The age I do get scared about is the age where I lose all bladder control, and poo my pants like an infant. That age differs for people but whenever that age happens I will blog about how scary it is to be old. Until then bring on 30.

Mens PMS

So, I'm pretty sure men don't get PMS. But being a man myself I can say that there are times, about once a month, when my emotions run higher than others, I'm more moody, I cry more easily...I mean I never cry...ever, I'm temperamental. About once a month I joke that it is my time of the month. If that is so it may or may not have been today.

Blogs

Blogs are taking over the world of Waters Edge...and I love it!

• Now there are 3. That's right Phil Poteat, lead worshiper at Waters Edge Church, just started a blog. Phil is a creative guy and I'm excited to read his thoughts. Phil is the third staffer to have a personal blog.
• While you're checking out Phil's you might as well check out Bill's. Bill Sprouse was actually the first WEC staffer to have a blog.
• The Big Dream (Waters Edge Spiritual initiative for our new building) is updating on a regular basis. Great stuff!
• My friend and fellow WEC attender, Matt Kuchera , just redesigned his blog. He has a great post on getting jumped on the way to work. True story.
• I'm still waiting on my friend and fellow WEC'er, Dan, to go public with his blog, but I will let you know when that happens.

Wanting what you can't have

Insert your own caption for this pic in the comment section.

Nice Butt

So, Monica (my wife) asks me to go with her to her dermatologist appointment. I oblige because I love her and I like spending time with her...even if it is in a Dr.'s office. She lays out in the sun a lot, and has been reading articles about skin cancer and moles and wanted to get a few spots checked on.

Everything went great with the appointment and Monica checked out really well...maybe too well. During the appointment I didn't know what to do. Do I watch intently as the Dr. checks out my wife or do I pretend to read a magazine so he doesn't feel intimidated by me. I went with the magazine option. Everything went great, but I couldn't help but notice went the Doc got to Monica's butt he said your backside looks nice. He was going over her whole body checking for moles and was saying each section looked good or checked out nicely. I don't think he realized he said it, but he said Monica's backside looks nice. I agree. Not every man can say that his wife's butt is Dr. approved.

Video Monday

I don't recommend trying this at home.

Sunday Reflections

This is just my opinion, but church at Waters Edge ROCK'd today! The whole day was dedicated to volunteering. In the morning we provided breakfast for our current volunteers, and in the evening we provided dinner. Every volunteer received a free T-shirt and CD with a message from Stu to them. We've found that giving CD's out is a great way to encourage, and cast vision.
Here are some thoughts on the service...

• Worship - AMAZING. I don't know what it is but sometimes it seems like everyone is on board. People clapped, cheered, and sang out. Our band did a phenomenal job leading everyone to worship. Set list - Forever by Chris Tomlin, Awesome is the Lord by Chris Tomlin.
• We did two specials. The first was a parody of the Johnny Cash song I've Been Everywhere, but ours was called Volunteers Everywhere. Phil wrote the words and preformed it. FABULOUS! It was crazy good. The crowd went nuts in all three services. The second special was called Shoulder to Shoulder. It's from the Biblical story of Nehemiah. I think it's from North Point, but we couldn't find who wrote it. Keren did a great job with it, and there was a video of our volunteers serving that went along with the song. I'm not going to lie I teared up a little during the first service.
• Stu - hit a home run. Great presentation and passion. And at the end of the day Stu challenged those that call Waters Edge their home church, but are not volunteering, to start volunteering. We had over 90 new people sign up to join a volunteer team! Are you kidding me! That is CRAZY!

My Dad

My parents are wicked AWESOME! Both of my parents are dreaming big dreams and trying to accomplish them. My mom wrote her first book this past year. It's called Shake the Dust and Move On. It's a good book and I'm proud of her for writing it. You can check it out here.

My dad has always had a dream to be an actor. He has done some really cool things throughout his life. When he was single he was on the Dating Game. He was one of the bachelors and he won. 9 months later my sister was born. Just joking. People always ask if that is how he met my mom and the answer is no.

Over the last few years he has worked pretty steady, but he hasn't had his big break yet. He has appeared in the films Evan Almighty and Flags of Our Fathers, and he also did a Cox commercial, but I want him to get a major role. He's out in LA right now and I'm praying that something happens. I would love to see him get a role on a show or a speaking part in a major movie. He's only out there for a few days, but you never know what will happen. I told my dad not to settle for work. It seems a lot of up and coming actors start off in cheap movies to try to get their big break. I told him to stay away from the porno, and anything staring Van Dam or Paris Hilton. Those films may be work, but every serious actor looks back over their career and wishes they didn't make films like that. If you know any connections call them and tell them to look up Bob Shepherd.

Week in Review

Was this a good week?

Cons:

• I'm stressed.
• My comments and readership for my blog were down this week.
• Monica said our marriage was an 8 out of 10. Do what?
• Worked really hard on N.O.G. (Night of Games) for Students and it got rained out.
• I had something every night this week. I need some me time and then some me and Monica time.
• I gained two pounds.
• My Twitter account mysteriously vanished. Now no one is following my every move.
• I barely fit into my suit pants that I had to wear for the wedding I did. I had to squeeze in like a rhino in spandex.
• I got pulled over by a military police officer in Ft. Monroe after the wedding reception. Who knew driving while on a cell phone was illegal?

Pros:

• I go on vacation this Thursday. I know that's not until next week, but finishing this week makes me one step closer.
• I'm suprised anyone ever reads my blog. Thanks!
• Monica said our marriage was an 8 out 10. If we were playing baseball I would be batting 800. When you put it that way I can lose 5 more points and still get into the Hall of Fame. That's fantastic!
• N.O.G. was canceled and I fell asleep that night at 9:00 PM. I was exhausted and I needed the rest.
• I was able to hang out with my Community Group on Monday, good friend on Tuesday, I talked to a lot of parents and students wondering if N.O.G. was going to be canceled on Wednesday, Wedding rehearsal/dinner on Thursday, Wedding on Friday, hang out at Stu's on Saturday afternoon. Whew. Even though it was too busy I was able to hang out with a lot of really cool people. I had a blast at the wedding and talked with a bunch of friends that I haven't seen in a long time.
• My two pounds were from eating buffalo dip (I would eat my left hand if it was made of this stuff) and then Moe's on Thursday. Totally worth it. Plus my friend paid for Moe's so that's even better.
• Twitter vanished. I've been thinking about getting rid of it anyway. Only 4 people were following me and this gives me one less thing to manage. I don't know if I will get rid of it for good, but I'm taking a break for now.
• At least my pants fit.
• Military police let me off with a lecture. At least I didn't get a ticket.

And the verdict is...Good week!

Step Brothers

I'm pretty excited about Step Brothers the new Will Ferrell movie. The preview looks ha-larious. Monica and I laughed out loud through the whole thing. Here I'll show you...



Now if you notice that preview is really funny, but it is also pretty clean. In fact all of the previews that I have seen have been clean. And yet the movie is Rated R. Why? No doubt it will be for language, adult content, and most likely nudity or sexual content of some sort. This movie is going to make a lot of money no matter what the rating, but I believe that if they would have kept it PG-13 it would have made even more. Elf is my favorite Will Ferrell movie and it is also his highest grossing movie that he was the top billed actor. It made $173 million dollars. It was PG.

I am glad that in America we have freedom of speech to say whatever we want, but I believe we should have some responsibility with that freedom. We are free to say whatever we want but just because we can doesn't mean we should. We are free to say what we want, but not everything is beneficial. My point is that I wish that Hollywood would not add adult content in a movie just because they can. Why ruin a perfectly good comedy with R rated material? It's one thing to make an R rated movie with adult content, but why add it to something that doesn't need it to be funny? What are your thoughts?

Boxing

This morning I was listening to Mike and Mike, a sports show on ESPN 2 and ESPN radio. One of the hosts Mike "Greeny" Greenberg is known for being a whiny wimp of a man. This week he announced that he is taking boxing lessons. They then talked about who he should fight.

That got me thinking. If I could box anyone in a friendly boxing match who would I fight? I thought about celebrities like Sylvester Stallone. I know I would lose, but think about how cool it would be to say "I lost to Rocky". I also thought about musicians like Bono from U2, any of the Hanson Brothers, and the former Contemporary Christian singer Carmen. I mean musicians aren't known for their athletic prowess. After spending my entire workout this morning thinking about who I would box, I settled on a fellow blogger Ben Arment.

Here's why...Ben is a nice guy and a great blogger. His Blog is followed by many people and it is one of my favorites to read. In my mind I imagine Ben blogging about the fight on a daily basis. Because he is nice he would include a lot of link love to me his opponent. Ben is also a great connector of people. So in the end it really wouldn't matter if I won or lost because my blog would get plugged and after the fight he would introduce me to a lot of cool people. So that's who I'm boxing. Who would you box and why?

Starbucks

Did you know that 700 Starbucks across the country are closing? This week I haven't had a lot of time to read some of my favorite blogs, but multiple of them have mentioned Starbucks closing a bunch of stores. I even found (thanks to this blog) a map where you can click on your state to figure out if your Starbucks are closing. Click here to find out if your favorite Starbucks is closing. For my area of VA, we need to say goodbye to the Patrick Henry Mall and the Power Plant Starbucks.

Best Comedies of All Time

I was talking with my buddy Matt Kuchera tonight about movie comedies. We both listed our top five favorites of all time. It's tough to narrow it down to five, but we both did it. Mine are (in no particular order).

• Bruce Almighty
• Elf
• Adventures in Babysitting
• Home Alone
• Dumb and Dumber

What are your top five favorite comedies of all time?

N.O.G.

N.O.G. = Night of Games and it is coming tomorrow night. It's for the Students at Waters Edge and we do this event every summer. It's a whole night of competitive games and I'm super excited about it! Like all N.O.G.'s it is scheduled to rain. Every year it rains on N.O.G. It was even canceled one year because it rained so hard...wouldn't you know it the year we canceled the sky's cleared up an hour before N.O.G. was supposed to start and it ended up being a perfect night. Here are some pics of Monica, Courtney, and Lindsey making our weapons of mass destruction. They may or may not have tested them out and made a wee little mess in the kitchen. It was ha-larious! This game's going to be AWESOME!

What are you praying for

What are you praying for? I think that we pray for says a lot about our view of God. Do you pray a lot or a little? Is God there just to grant your wishes or do you include Him in all the details of your life? Comment and let me know what you are praying for. I would love to pray with you.

This week I have been praying for a few things. One is a specific request that I won't share online until God answers it. I can't wait to see what God does!!! Another thing I'm always praying for is that God would bless Monica (my wife) and I with the ability to love each other the way He loves us. There are some other things that I am praying for, but the final thing I will mention comes from Psalm 119:33. Sometimes I will pray the exact words from the Bible. I encourage you to give it a try.

33 Teach me, O LORD, to follow your decrees; then I will keep them to the end.
34 Give me understanding, and I will keep your law and obey it with all my heart.
35 Direct me in the path of your commands, for there I find delight.
36 Turn my heart toward your statutes and not toward selfish gain.
37 Turn my eyes away from worthless things; preserve my life according to your word.
38 Fulfill your promise to your servant, so that you may be feared.
39 Take away the disgrace I dread, for your laws are good.
40 How I long for your precepts! Preserve my life in your righteousness.

Holy Millions Batman

The Dark Knight, the sequel to Batman Begins grossed $158 million over the week. It's entire budget was $185 million. In the words of Robin the boy wonder Holy break every ticket sales record Batman. This is a huge! It set records for biggest midnight showing opening beating out Star Wars Episode III. It beat the IMAX record. It beat the biggest first day total set by Spirderman III. So the question is did you see it? If so what did you think?

Video Monday

Here is a great video called Jedi Gym. If you are a Star Wars fan you will appreciate this. It's a little violent towards the end, but done in a fun way. Enjoy.

Sunday Reflections

Sunday at Waters Edge we ended our series entitled House - Where Do You Stay. Here are some thoughts about the service...

• Stu did a great job with the talk on protecting your thoughts. I thought it was very thought provoking and applicable. I pray that everyone that heard the talk thinks about what was said... Our actions and behaviors are a direct result to our beliefs. If you change your beliefs you will change your behaviors. Click here to listen the entire talk.
• Worship was excellent as always! Set list - Everybody Praise the Lord by Lincoln Brewster, Everlasting God (Lincoln Brewster's version), God is with us (the North Point Live CD), and How Great is Our God by Chris Tomlin.
• I did the welcome and to set up the talk on protecting your thoughts. I introduced a video that played off the phrase protect your house. Often times in sports players will chant we must protect this house. Jamey Menser came up with what I thought was a funny idea. The video received a dicey response from 3 out of the 4 services. They all laughed, but it seemed to me that people thought we may have gone a little too far. Here's the video to view for yourself.

No children were seriously injured in the filming of this video.

Comparison

Comparing is a dangerously unfruitful game. My dad is better than your dad, my car is better than your car, my church is bigger than your church. It doesn't matter what you compare it's a fruitless thing to do. I try not to compare much but there are times when it's hard. Like the time I wanted to collect friends on MySpace just so I had more than someone else. I ended up with a bunch of people that never talked to me. Oh, I was friends with everyone from Kobe Bryant to Tom (inventor of Myspace), but in the end it didn't really matter. Comparing is always silly to do, and it never produces anything worthwhile. Here's the deal with comparing, even if you have more or are better than someone else someone else is always better than you.

Take this blog for example. I told a friend of mine that I had almost 1,000 different visitors to my blog last month. I felt pretty good about that fact until I saw the list of top blogs on the world wide web. There's a guy that received 40,000 comments in one day. Do what? 40,000 that is ridiculous. On a good day I receive 2 or 3 comments. But I bet there are other bloggers that would love to receive 2 comments.

The point is it is fruitless to compare. It just brings jealousy. Instead of comparing try celebrating someone else's accomplishments. Instead of finding fault with someone who has more than you, find a way to compliment them. Instead of getting discouraged because you don't have something someone else has be encouraged because most likely someone is looking at you and wishing they had what you have. By the way my dad is better than your dad!

MAN SHOWER

MAN SHOWER...that's right. It's not a baby shower, or a bridal shower. There is not a single ounce of sissyness involved. It sounds inappropriate (and believe me every joke you can think of was mentioned).

Last night I attended my first MAN SHOWER. It was in honor of Matt Kuchera who is getting married next month to Kelly Hill. It was a lot of fun. We played poker and ate a lot of food. The girls joined us for the second half of the night and Matt opened manly gifts like tools, we told more MAN SHOWER jokes, and then...we ended up with a photo of all the guys (fully clothed) in the shower. Wouldn't you know it...someone turned it on and got all of us wet.

The night was fun. I was struggling with my Dark Knight hangover (I don't drink alcohol but because I stayed up so late the night before I was exhausted tired and not a lot of fun). Thanks Heather and Kelly for planning it. Great idea! Here are some pics below.

The Dark Knight Review

I hate the hype of summer movies. Every summer I get all excited about a bunch of movies and most of the time I am let down. The Dark Knight had a lot of hype around it. Before it was even released it had critics saying it was a great movie and that Heath Ledger's (the Joker) performance was worthy of an Oscar. It was going to be hard to meet my hyped expectations, but The Dark Knight lives up to the hype!

The Dark Knight is the sequel to Batman Begins. Some of my friends (when I say some I mean one) were confused about how this movie links with the 5 previous Batman films. Batman Begins was a relaunch of the Batman franchise. What that means is that after the dismal Batman and Robin (the fourth in the series) Warner Bros. decided to start over. Batman Begins pretends that the previous four Bat-flicks never happened. The Dark Knight is the sequel to Batman Begins. Make sense?

The Dark Knight is a great film. The story is engaging, the performances are stellar, and the action is intense. Heath Ledger is really good! He's so good in fact that you get lost in his character, forgetting that it's Heath Ledger. You'll have to see it for yourself but my first reaction after seeing it last night is that it was the greatest super hero movie ever. I loved it!

This movie is not for the faint at heart. It's action packed and has intense sequences. It's rated PG-13 and that is strictly for violence. The swears are minimal and there is no nudity or scantily clad women. Personally, I would leave the kids at home with the babysitter watching Batman and Robin, while you enjoy this amazing movie.

Rob's Rating System:
Thumbs up = I loved it, worth paying full price, and I will own it on DVD.
Thumbs to the side = An OK movie, worth a matinee showing, and I may buy it on DVD if I see it in the $5 bin.
Thumbs down = I hated it, wish I wouldn't have wasted money on it, wouldn't own it on DVD.

Midnight Movies

So, it was totally worth going to see the Dark Knight at midnight last night. The crowd was great, cheering throughout the movie. Multiple people dressed up in costume. What else could you want? Here are some pics with my favorite costumes from the night.

Multiple Personalities

So, when I left off last time I posed the question, have you ever wondered why you have the ability to do such good and yet such evil at the same time? It's as if all of us are cursed with the Incredible Hulk syndrome. That is on the one side we are a nice regular everyday person who wants to do good, but inside all of us lives this Hulk that when it comes out destruction ensues.

I mean why is it that a man claims he loves his wife and then lusts after another woman? Why is it that a person claims to love themselves only to destroy themselves with addiction? Why is it that a person can be your best friend one minute and then stab you in the back the next? How can the same people who made Raiders of the Lost Ark make Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull or if you liked that movie...how can the same people make The Matrix and then The Matrix Reloaded and Revolutions...or if you liked that then how can the same person be responsible for Star Wars and Howard the Duck? ?The point is that all of us have the ability to do good things and bad.

The Bible gives an answer to this. You see when Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit it was from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Before that man only knew good, but since then man is cursed with knowing both good and evil. You see from that point on man had the ability to do good and evil. It doesn't matter how good you are you still have the potential to do great evil. But the reverse is also true. You see I don't believe that anyone is beyond hope. I think that the worst of the worst have the potential to do good.

I'm not trying to preach or anything, but there are a few things that I have been thinking about with this subject.

1. It shouldn't surprise us when someone messes up. I'm not shocked by the news that so and so did such and such. I have seen too many good people do very bad things. Nobody is perfect and all of us struggle with temptations. It doesn't matter if you are the President of the United States, The Pope, or just an average Joe there comes a time when you Hulk out and wake up the next morning regretting your actions.

2. You have the ability to do great things. Don't limit yourself or let your past mistakes define you.

3. You have the ability to do great harm. We always underestimate the power of sin. Think about it, how many times have you told yourself that you were never going to drink that much again, or that you were never going to do that again, or that this time you've learned your lesson only to find yourself doing the exact same thing. Nobody is immune and so the best solution is to not put yourself in situations where you will fail.

4. I think that discipline can play a huge role in this, but for me it is so much more than just not doing bad things. I believe that when you fall in love with God He puts in you the desire to be more like him and less like the Hulk.

Whether you believe in God or not I hope you can see that's not the point. The point is that we all have the ability to do good and evil. It's a constant battle that will never end, but with God's help we can choose to do what is good...most of the time.

Multiple Personalities

Last night one of my students told me jokingly that they had multiple personalities (at least I think they were joking). I've been thinking about this for some time now, but I believe that we all have multiple or split personality if you will.

Think about it. Almost all of us have experienced the discipline side of us that works out, eats right, and lives healthy. At the same time we have all experienced the couch potato side that considers working out lifting up the TV remote to change the channel, eats everything in sight (making sure we consume the essential food groups of fried, cheese, and extra sugar), and starts wearing pants with elastic at the waste line because they stretch.

We see this in kids. Kids can be cute as a button one minute and then act possessed by Satan himself the next. It's weird to me how some of the most unselfish people I know are also the most selfish. Some of the most laid back people also have the biggest temper. Some of the most insecure people seem to be the most confident. Some of the most Godly people I know do some of the most ungodly things imaginable.

Have you ever wondered why you have the ability to do such good and yet such evil at the same time? To be continued...

The Dark Knight

The pros and cons of a midnight showing. Yeah, tonight I'm going to see the Dark Knight at 12:00 AM at AMC. If you haven't been to a midnight showing then I recommend going. Here are some of the pros and cons that I have found to midnight show.

Pros

• It is the earliest you can possibly see a new movie. If you are a big movie fan this is a big deal.
• It feels like an event. There's no getting to the movie 5 minutes before start time. You've got to show up at least an hour early to get a good seat.
• People normally dress up in costumes. I have been to a few of these and by far Star Wars had the most people dress up in costumes. But people dressed up for Superman, X-Men, and the Passion of the Christ (just joking about the last one).
• The reaction is amazing because everyone is really amped about the movie. People cheer, laugh, and applaud if they like the movie.
• Nobody can ruin the movie by telling you plot points. I hate when people do this and it always seems to happen.
• It costs less. At least at the AMC in Hampton. A movie is only $5 Monday - Thursday and the midnight showing counts for Thursday. Movies are $10 on Friday - Sunday.

Cons

• It's midnight for crying out loud. I fall asleep circa 10:30 PM every night.
• Luckily I have off from work on Fridays because seeing a movie this late is a butt kicker the next day.

I can't wait to see the Dark Knight tonight!!!

Rules

Are you are rule follower or a rule breaker. I'm trying to figure out if there is anything in common with the people who tend to follow the rules and with those who like to throw the rules out the window. What are you and why?

Josh Hamilton

I know a lot of you aren't sports fans and if you are you may not be a big baseball fan, but this story is amazing. Last night Josh Hamilton hit 28 home runs in the home run derby. That is the most ever in a single round. He ended up losing the competition because after 2 rounds they erase your score and start over. The amazing thing though is not his record or even the fact that he lost. The amazing thing is a few years ago Josh was a crack addict. Josh was drafted number one overall in the MLB draft. He was living his dream and many considered him to be the next great thing. After he was drafted he was in a car accident and I heard him say in an interview that at that time he started hanging out with people who made bad choices. Eventually he found himself addicted to drugs. He has been in rehab 8 times. He had lost everything, but the love of his wife. Then one December Josh gave his life to God and God radically changed him. His story has been shown on ESPN, written about in Sports Illustrated, and talked about on every major sports show. In everything that I've seen Josh gives credit to God for changing his life. I know that when celebrities get in trouble normally one of the first things they say is that they found God. OJ did it, Michael Vick did it, Kobe Bryant did it. Josh is different though. He changed and then with God's help has made it back to the pros. His story has been an inspiration to millions. Here's an article that he wrote for ESPN a year ago when he played for the Cincinnati Reds. This is a great story! It gives hope to everyone that our mistakes are not too big for God.

Bad Day

So, yesterday I screwed up. I gooned it up. I flubbed up. I jacked it up. There are many ways to say it, but the point is I made mistakes. In other words I didn't bring my A game. Shoot, I didn't even bring my B game. I was feeling pretty down about it last night. I hate letting people down, and I hate making mistakes.

This morning as I was mowing my grass (7:30 AM. I was gone a full week at camp and then didn't have time to cut it this weekend. It needed it bad.) and I thought about yesterday. There were some great things that happened yesterday despite my mistakes.

1. I received in the mail three books from a guy I barely know. I met him at a graduation party and I am super excited to read the books he sent. He had no idea how great his timing was. This was a God thing.
2. I received a card from my boss letting me know how much I meant to him. He said he was proud of the work that I put into taking the students to camp. The card had a gift card in it to one of my favorite stores Best Buy.
3. My wife loves me. I hope every person has someone who has faith in them even when they mess up. My mistakes had nothing to do with Monica, but she listened, supported, and then checked on me this morning. Most people don't get to see all of my mistakes, but she knows how many mistakes I make a day. Even though she sees or hears it all she still looks at me like I'm her hero.
4. I made some mistakes. I hate making mistakes, but making mistakes can be a great thing. Everyone of us makes mistakes and the real problem isn't the mistake it's if you haven't learned from the mistake. There are some valuable lessons that I learned yesterday. I know I will make a lot more mistakes, but I pray I don't make the same mistakes again.

Micro Machine Showers

So at the camp that we go to (Crossroads is a great camp) we stay at a college campus. The campus is great, but there is one tiny thing that I don't love...

You see I am grossed out by public showers. You have to, or at least should, wear shower shoes. Shower shoes for me are cheap Wal-Mart flip flops. I try really hard to avoid any contact with the shower, fearing I might catch the bubonic plague. I don't like touching the shower curtain or walls. My greatest fear is to drop the soap because I don't know if soap cleans itself after touching the drain in a public shower.

The showers at camp have hot water and so for that I'm thankful. The only problem is our showers were made for crack skinny people. I'm serious. Our showers are so small every time I move one part of my body rubs up against the walls of the shower. Whenever I move my right arm hits the shower knob and adjusts the temperature to either lava hot or freezing cold. My left arm rubs up against the shower curtain at all times. Touching the shower GROSSES ME OUT! I feel like I need a shower after I take the shower.

Here's the deal though I really am thankful for the showers. We live in a country that spoils us. At my house I have two working showers that are clean. This makes me blessed. I've had to tell myself that the crack skinny shower is better than the showers in the majority of the world. This thought alone helps me get through the two showers a day I take at camp. That and the fact that I just saw a middle school boy walk through the bathroom completely barefoot. So far he survived and that gives me hope that I will too.

Ear Hair

I think this is a sign of oldness, but this week I discovered an ear hair. My first thought was to pluck it, but then I got nervous because what if it is like facial hair and once it is plucked it opens the doorway to a bunch of other ear hairs. Before I know it I will be that guy that has an ear goatee. What to do? Does anyone have an opinion that they would like to share?

Is this rude

Here's the scenario. You're working out on an elliptical machine. You are getting your sweat on and all of the sudden someone approaches the person working out on the elliptical next to you. This person isn't working out, they are just hanging out and talking. Sure it's OK to do for 5 minutes or so, but for the next 20 minutes they talk loudly next to you. They could have stood in front of the person they were talking to or to the other side, but nooooooo they stand right next to you. I mean so close they can smell your body odor. You turn up the sound on your headphones but they are talking so loud it doesn't help. The question is what do you do?

A. Ignore it because it's not that big of a deal.
B. Ask them nicely to stop talking.
C. Give them dirty looks.
D. Fall off your machine on purpose making sure you take out the talking person on your way down.
E. Blog about their rudeness so the whole wide world can read about what happened to you at the gym.

Video Monday

Today for video Monday I'm going to post an oldie but a goodie. This is a video that Waters Edge did a few years ago. It was a fun video that we did for a series entitled My Name Is. The series was about knowing who God is. This was a fun segment that we did and I thought I would share it with everyone. Enjoy.

Sunday Reflections

Sunday we started a new series at Waters Edge entitled House - Where Do You Stay? It's about our thoughts and the power they have over us. I think we had a great first week of the series. Stu showed a hilarious video. I posted it below.



It was great to be back at WEC for a full day after being on vacation last week. I missed it last week.

Worship set - No One Like You by David Crowder, Noise We Make by Chris Tomlin, God is with Us by Mike Olson (Northpoint Live CD), You Never Let Go by Matt Redman.

Camp is over

So camp is over. We arrived back home around 7:00 PM last night. This was 30 minutes later than what I had told parents. We were right on time until our bus driver had to take an alternate route because of an accident. We ended up going across the James River Bridge and right at the top they raised the bridge for a big boat to go under. Cursid boats. Don't get me wrong I love every minute of camp, but I was on the middle school bus (we took two buses and put all the high schoolers on one). That's right...7 hours of pure middle school madness. The middle schoolers were restless, strung out on sugar, and the zoning out affect of watching a movie had worn out. They had resulted to yelling my name out every five minutes with important questions like "how much longer", "what time is it", "can we watch another movie", "can we stop to go to the bathroom". I'm not going to lie I was ready to pass them off to their parents, but I will tell you this...camp is awesome and I wish I could do it again on Monday. Here is a pic of everyone that went to camp.

Volly Ball Champs

The camp we go to (Crossroads is a great camp) has a lot of activities for students to do during the day. One of the highlights for me is sports tournaments. Here are the list of tournaments and how Waters Edge Students did.

Tuesday
Soccer - two teams competed...both teams eliminated in the first round.
Ultimate Frisbee - at least three teams...two teams got demolished and one team didn't get to play because of a thunder storm that rolled in.


Wednesday
Dodge ball - bunch of teams competed and a bunch of teams lost in the first round.
Volley Ball - two teams competed...both teams made it to the championship. One team became volley ball champs. Guess which team I played on?


Thursday
Basket ball - one team competed and one team lost in the first round. We lost 10 to 8. I played on the b ball team and I have to say that we were the best team to lose in the first round. If there was a losers bracket I believe that we could have beat the other losers.


The moral of the story is that Waters Edge Students are good at volley ball and not very good at all other sports. The volley ball team I played on was the ferocious chinchillas and this is the second year in a row that we won the whole thing. Here is a pic of the winning team.

Advice

Are you a critical person? I try not to be, but it is hard. I'm not critical of all things but there are somethings that I have a hard time not being critical about. Movies are one example. Another example is public speaking. Because I have spoke a lot and I listen to a lot of speakers I have to fight against criticising other speakers. I understand that I am not the perfect speaker, or a speaking guru, or someone who has a national platform to give advice to other speakers. I understand that, but at the same time I feel like I have learned some practical things that if applied could help out other speakers. Here is my dilemma...

Sometimes when I hear a speaker I want to offer some practical advice that I have learned along the way. I want to present it in a loving way, but I do want to give honest constructive criticism. The problem is that I know if someone who I didn't know came up to me and gave me advice I would blow it off. What do I do though if I know that the advice that I can offer would help another speaker. Do I offer the advice and risk offending them or do I just let them continue doing what they are doing?

Hump Day

I understand that I have the sense of humor of a 14 year old boy. I laugh when people say the word duty (it sounds like the childhood word for poo...doodie). Yesterday at camp I was in a small group with the camp director and a few other youth ministers. The camp director said the phrase "excellent duty". I looked around to see if anyone else appreciated the unintentional joke, but they didn't, so I kept the laughing to the inside of my head.

A few weeks ago I was talking with some friends of mine who are engaged and they told me that they celebrate hump day. At that moment a million middle school-esq jokes popped into my head. With a slight giggle I asked what hump day was. They couple told me that Wednesdays are the middle of the week aka the hump. They then told me that on Wednesdays they have a date night where one of them plans a date for the two of them. This is a great idea. They take turns planning out all the details, and this causes excitement because each time the whole date is a surprise to the other person. I loved this idea!

So today is hump day (I recommend a name change to MWD = Middle of the Week Day). Do something different, change things up, if your are married or dating surprise your significant other with a pre-planned date. Celebrate this day and then let me know what you did.

Summer Camp

So today is our first full day at summer camp. We arrived yesterday at 3:00 PM...the students were great. There are 75 of us at camp this year! Our students couldn't be better. They have been respectful, fun, and wicked awesome to hang out with. Some highlights that may later become a blog post are...

• Bus driver with an agenda.
• Toilets that flush while you are still sitting on them.
• Camp food. It's good.
• Micro machine showers.
• And why Rob cries every year at camp. I will tell you that it involves students becoming Christ followers. A Christ follower is someone who has a relationship with God by asking His son Jesus Christ to become a part of their life. It doesn't mean that they are perfect or that they won't make mistakes it just means that they are now learning to fall in love with God, embrace God's unconditional love for them, and learning to do what God wants them to do. We had 13 students last night make the decision to follow Christ! And that my friends is AMAZING!

Sunday Reflections

Today I was on vacation and I missed the morning services. It was weird not setting up and tearing down, being a part of the service, and seeing everyone. I missed it a bunch. Monica and I did make sure we came back early to be at the 6:00 PM service. This was the first time in 4 years that I went to Waters Edge with Monica and I didn't have to work.

The Sunday night service was great! It was fun being parked by the parking team, greeted by the host team, and seeing a few friends before the service. I liked not having a million thoughts swirl around in my head right before church...I missed being a part of the service but it was a nice change. Here are the highlights...

• Mike Dominice is a man among boys when it comes to playing the guitar. The opening of the service was AMAZING! I said to Monica about 32 1/2 times "dang he's good." The service opened with Mike playing the mess out of his electric guitar to the tune of "The Star-Spangled Banner." My face melted off it was so good!
• Loved the band's version of R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A. I especially liked Dean's recorder solo. It caught me by surprise and I liked it!
• Stu did a great job with the segment "Know Your Americana." It was a play off of David Letterman game "Know Your Current Events." It was very funny and Stu did a great job interacting with the audience.
• It meant a lot to me that Stu led the church in a prayer for the students and summer camp. He said that during the 10:55 service a bunch of students cheered really loud. AWESOME!
• Worship - All Because of Jesus by Steve Fee, Mighty to Save by Hillsong United. I loved worshiping tonight. The band was tight and Phil had an extra dose of energy. I love our band and I love how easy they make the transition from fun covers to worshiping God.
• Great cover and video of American Soldier by Toby Keith. I'm always a sucker for these moments and it brought a tear to my eye.
• Stu did a great job talking about honor. You know it's going to be good when Stu pulls out a box of Krispy Kreme Donuts. The best part was at the end when Stu said he wanted Waters Edge to model showing others honor. He then had all of the military wives stand and after the whole church applauded he announced that each of them was going to receive a $25 gift card to get a manicure at a local spa. How cool is that!
• Overall the service rocked! It was so worth coming home early from vacation.

Twitter

For most of you reading this I think I can safely assume that you have no idea what Twitter is. Since starting a blog my eyes have been opened to a whole new world. That world includes Twitter. It is similar to a blog but you can only write 140 words. It's basically updating your status. Everyone (or just about everyone) of the blogs I read has talked about Twitter. So I jumped on the Twitter bandwagon this weekend. I'm giving it a try. You can follow my Twitter by coming to my blog and scrolling down to where it says follow me on Twitter. Twitter will make it easier for me to post when I'm at camp and I don't have a ton of time to write a full blog.

What the BLEEP

Yesterday I heard a song on the radio that received a radio edit. In the song they edited out the word God and kept the word damn. I think it is weird what censors bleep and what they keep. For example whether on TV, or in a song, if someone says a$$ and then follows it up with the word hole, the censors bleep out the word hole. Why is hole more offensive then the other word? What about hole causes the censors to hit the bleep button. I don't understand.

I will say that I do appreciate the bleep button. Whenever there aren't censors around I implement my own. Often times it's in my head, but when I hear a cuss word I like to bleep it out. I started doing this years ago. When I was a teenager I watched a movie at my pastors house and the whole entire family bleeped out a cuss word in the film. It was after the word was said and they bleeped pretty loud. At first I was scared because they did it in unison and they forgot to give me a warning. After two or three bleeps I asked and they explained that it helps them censor things in their mind. This weird but simple action helped draw attention to the words being said. I guess it helped them not become desensitized to hearing certain words. Anyway, that has stuck with me and often times still today I will hit the bleep button in my mind. For what it's worth my bleep button bleeps out a$$ and not hole. I don't find the word hole offensive.

Hancock

Will Smith is the king of the 4th of July weekend movie blockbuster. Right now in life you can count on a few things, death, taxes and Will Smith in a huge blockbuster for July 4th. Think Independence Day, and Men in Black. The 4th of July is the biggest movie weekend of the year and Will Smith has the lock on opening a huge movie during this weekend. In Hancock, Will Smith plays a super hero who has a bad attitude. He doesn't like people, yet he saves them on a regular basis. His life starts to change after he saves Ray Embrey (Jason Bateman...you may have seen him in Arrested Development, Juno, or Teenwolf Too) a PR Executive. Ray has the brilliant idea to turn Hancock's image around. It is a great twist on the superhero movie.

Useless information plug: Hancock is not based off a comic book.

Hancock was a decent flick. I really like Will Smith and with the exception of Wild Wild West you can count on him to deliver an entertaining movie. The movie has a great cast and includes Oscar winner Charlize Theron. Hancock is funny, has lots of action, and a decent story. There are quit a few swears (everyone calls Hancock an a_ _ hole.), a lot of comic book-esk action, and Charlize Theron doesn't like to wear shirts that cover the valley of her chest (you may find this as either a good or bad thing). For me the last 45 minutes of the movie didn't hold up. It was entertaining, but in my opinion the movie lost it's way. I won't give anything away, but I wish they would have kept to Hancock getting an image makeover. When they left this theme the movie becomes less enjoyable. Over all I give it a thumbs to the side (read below for my rating system).

Rob's Rating System:

Thumbs up = I loved it, worth paying full price, and I will own it on DVD.

Thumbs to the side = An OK movie, worth a matinee showing, and I may buy it on DVD if I see it in the $5 bin.

Thumbs down = I hated it, wish I wouldn't have wasted money on it, wouldn't own it on DVD.

Happy 4th of July

Happy 4th of July. I love America!
I'm currently on vacation celebrating the 4th with some good friends. Tonight we are going to watch fireworks from a boat on the water.

Monica and I are actually ending our trip a little early so we can be back for the 6:00 PM service at Waters Edge. I only get to miss three Sundays a year and this is one of the ones that I am on vacation. Monica and I are pretty excited about the service so we are going to come back a little early so we won't miss it. I hope to see you there!

Is this real

I can't tell what is real anymore. I saw this video on SportsCenter and I could not wait to blog about. But I have since heard that it is fake. Have you seen it? It's amazing! Watch it and let me know if you think it's fake.

High Maintenance Friends

Warning: The following post is about High Maintenance Friends. A high maintenance friend is different than a socially awkward acquaintance, an annoying neighbor, or a person that you just don't like. They are a friend, but they require a lot of maintenance. Do not wonder if this post was written about you. Rob wrote it for all people to think about. If you wonder out loud and then ask Rob if you are a High Maintenance friend then you are being high maintenance. And yes sometimes Rob writes in the third person. This whole post is designed to be fun and make all of us think at the same time.

Do you have a high maintenance friend or two? Sure you do, we all do. Now the thing about high maintenance friends is that most of the time they don't know that they are high maintenance. I've come to this conclusion because if they did I believe they would stop being so high maintenance. Now from time to time everyone of us become a little high maintenance, but there are some people that seem to never learn. I think they don't learn because we (the friend) are afraid to hurt their feelings. We don't tell them how we really feel and so they continue to live their life being high maintenance to you. That's got me thinking...am I high maintenance? I know I have been from time to time, but am I continually a drain on my friends? To help with this question I've developed a little quiz. Take it to see how high maintenance you are.

1. How do you feel when your friends hang out with someone else and you are not included?

a. I love it! I'm glad my friends have other friends because I do too.

b. I get a little jealous but I don't say anything.

c. I get jealous and I call my friend to let them know they hurt my feelings.

d. I plot out ways to get the other friend out of the picture. I'm not above blackmail.

2. Would your friends say you are...

a. Easy going and know how to take a joke.

b. Pretty sensitive, but can still laugh at myself.

c. Very sensitive and over analytical.

d. I'm always worried about what people say or how they are going to perceive what I said.

3. When do you call your friends?

a. Whenever you think about them and for any reason.

b. Mostly when you need something.

c. You don't call your friends. You wait until they contact you.

d. You don't call your friends and you don't call them back when they call you.

4. When you talk to your friends...

a. You listen more than you talk

b. Talk and listen about the same

c. Talk more than you listen

d. Talk more than you listen and interrupt when your friends try to talk

5. In the past week approximately how much have you complained?

a. 0-5 times

b. 5- 10 times

c. 10 -15 times

d. There is nothing positive. Everything deserves to be complained about.

6. When someone gives you a compliment you respond by...

a. Saying thank you.

b. Deflecting the compliment by complimenting them. For example "Your pretty." "No, I'm not. Your way prettier."

c. Nobody gives you compliments so you ask for them by putting yourself down. For example "I'm not pretty." At this point your friend feels the pressure to say something nice about you to build your self esteem. Normally resulting in half hearted compliments about how great your personality is or how pretty your hair looks.

d. Nobody gives you compliments so you make fun of others and put others down. Nobody is safe from your wrath.

7. When your feelings are hurt by your friend you...

a. Wait for the right time to talk to them about it. Your goal though is to communicate not win a fight.

b. Don't say anything because you don't like conflict. Thus you hold onto some hurt for periods of time.

c. Confront them. It doesn't matter when or how. They need to hear what they did.

d. Talk crap behind their back and then pretend everything is OK.

8. Your friends would say the following about you...
a. You encourage them and help them find the good in things.

b. You encourage more than you put down.

c. You put down more than you encourage.

d. You don't put down, you tell it like it is and the truth is everybody is stupid.

9. In the last year you have...

a. Invited yourself over to a friends house or to a function with friends.

b. Think you have received a pity invite because your friends were afraid to hurt your feelings.

c. Had a friendship end because of conflict.

d. All of the above.

10. When a group hangs out does something I don't want to do I...

a. Do it anyway because I love hanging out with my friends.

b. Go, but don't participate because you don't want to do what they are doing.

c. Go and make everyone feel bad for not doing what I want to do.

d. Refuse to go!

11. When a friend gives you a gift you...

a. Thank them no matter what the gift because you are grateful they thought of you.

b. Lie to them and pretend to like it, but talk crap about the gift behind their back.

c. Tell them straight up you don't like the gift. You think they should know what to get you.

d. Throw the gift back at their face.

12. When you call a friend just to talk and they don't answer you...

a. Leave a message and wait for them to call you back.

b. Call again in 5 minutes.

c. Call every number you have for them until you reach them.

d. Call every number you have for them and leave multiple messages circa Jim Carey in the Cable Guy.

13. You ask a friend to go to a party with you. When they say no because of a prior engagement you say...

a. I understand, maybe next time.

b. Cancel your plans and come with me!

c. What the ____! (And then you pout and make them feel bad).

d. I hate you and everything you stand for.

14. On a road trip your friends would say...

a. That was fun let's do it again!

b. That was fun, but we need a little time away from each other.

c. Never again!

d. I hate you and we are never speaking again!

15. When it comes to being on time...

a. I'm right on time.

b. I like to be early to everything...the earlier the better.

c. I'm never on time and I make everyone wait on me.

d. Sometimes b and sometimes c, but I don't call to let anyone know I just show up.

Score: a = 1 point, b = 5 points c = 10 points d= 15 points

Add up your score.

If you scored 15 to 50 points - You are low on the high maintenance scale. You're probably laid back and your friends like having you around. Expect a lot of calls from really attractive people.

If you scored 55 to 75 points - You are pretty laid back, but at times your maintenance runs high. Avoid people when you are tired, hungry, or in a bad mood.

If you scored 80 to 150 points - You are HIGH MAINTENANCE!!!! Your friends like you, but talk about you behind your back. Every once in a while they forget about your high maintenance ways and invite you on a trip. Don't get excited. After 25.5 minutes of the trip they are praying to God that your head spontaneously explodes. There are still times where your friends like you but after long periods of exposure to you they feel drained and exhausted.

If you scored 155 + points - I'm proud of you for being this honest, but WOW. If you scored this high then your high maintenance levels are off the chart. You are everything the 80 to 150 point section is on crack.

Forgiveness is Divine Part Two

"Forgiveness is Divine but never pay full price for late Pizza." Michelangelo The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle.

Forgiving someone who hurt you is incredibly hard. I wish there was an easy answer or way to do it. The following are the things that I have done or think about to help me forgive. Comment and let me know what you think. Do you have someone you need to forgive? What helps you forgive others? Let me know.

• Saying the words "I forgive you" out loud. I don’t know why this helps, but when I have become bitter (bitterness = unwillingness to forgive and holding on to the hurt that another person caused you) at another human being this has helped. For years I held onto some bitterness against someone. One day a few years ago I was thinking about how this person hurt me, and I was pretty upset. At that moment something clicked in me. You see some of Jesus last words were "Father forgive them...". He said this out loud for everyone to hear. Why? I don't know, but saying the words "I forgive you" out loud worked for Jesus and so I gave it a shot. I said out loud I forgive ______ for doing _______ to me. My relationship with this person hasn't been the same since. I've truly forgiven them and saying it out loud is what aloud me to finally let it go.


• I once read that forgiving someone has nothing to do with the other person it has everything to do with you. When you are bitter towards someone it doesn’t affect the other person. They don’t think about it, know about it, dwell on it etc. But when you are bitter you hold onto it, carry the burden with you, and it affects you a ton! Learning to forgive is about not carrying that burden any longer. It’s about letting go. Decide in your heart that you will no longer carry the burden and then let it go.


• Learning to understand how God forgives us. Our poor choices (or sin) are what put Jesus on the cross. We sin all the time and it is in complete rebellion to God. Yet, when we ask God to forgive us, somehow God forgives us and loves us like it never happened. Understanding that God is not bitter at me helps me learn to forgive others. Jesus forgave a cruel group of self righteous men who basically had Him murdered on a cross, He forgave one of His closest friends who denied Him, He forgives me when I rebel against Him. That is challenging because I've never been hurt like that. If Jesus can forgive then I need to.


• Pray for that person. Jesus said to pray for our enemies. It is difficult to pray for someone you hate.


• Understand that people aren’t perfect. People are going to let you down 100% of the time. They will. At some point every human will let you down. You can either understand this and offer them God’s grace (grace - freely given unmerited love of God) or you can fault them for being imperfect. Now I believe that the Bible teaches us to be wise. If someone continually hurts you or doesn’t have your best interest in mind then you should remove yourself from them and not allow them to hurt you. But if someone hurt you and it was either because they are imperfect and made a bad judgment call or because they had your best interest in mind, but it wasn’t what you wanted then understanding that humans are imperfect helps alleviate some of the pain.

Forgiveness is Divine Part 1

"Forgiveness is Divine but never pay full price for late Pizza." Michelangelo The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle.

I received an email recently from a friend of mine asking me how to forgive someone. He wanted to know how to truly forgive and love someone that hurt you. I think that is a great question! I don’t believe in simple answers for complex problems. I have some ideas based on what has worked for me. I will post those at another time. For now, I will say that to truly forgive is a divine thing. That is a great quote from Michelangelo. Divine means "godlike; characteristic of or befitting a deity." When we forgive we are truly being divine. God forgives us! Even when we don't deserve it, God forgives us. To forgive someone is to model what God does for each of us. To be continued...