What are you doing tonight?

Today is Halloween. What are you doing tonight? Fall Festival, Trick or Treating, Costume Party, hanging out with friends, or nothing at all? Comment.

Warm and Fuzzy Memories with Rob

And now it's time for another Warm and Fuzzy Memory with Rob...

Tombstone Pizzas are normally good. Tombstone Pizzas from the back of a strangers car are scary.

One time Monica and I were driving home from DC. It was late at night and we needed to stop at a rest area. On our way into the bathroom the guy that is sitting by the door (tall guy with a beard and I believe he is wearing flannel) tells us that he has run out of gas. He says he is on his way to VA beach and any money we could spare him would be appreciated. I rarely carry cash and so quickly I responded by saying I'm sorry but I don't have any cash on me. He says to me that if we can give him any money he will repay us with Tombstone Pizzas that he has with him in his car. Tempting, but I don't carry cash for reasons such as this.

I went to the bathroom and on my way out I remembered that I did have a $20 bill on me. Someone repayed me with cash and thus I had some cash money. When I give the guy the $20 he is very thankful and he says to me let me repay you. He then says I have a ton of Tombstone Pizzas in my car and I can give you as many as you want. Now you need to understand that I love pizza. I love all kinds of pizzas, but I looked at his car and it was a beat down hunk of junk. I'm not judging but frozen pizza is supposed to stay frozen. I don't know how he was keeping his mass quantity of pizzas frozen in his beat up hoopty car. It would have been more believable if he said I have a collection of knives and weapons and I'm going to hurt you if you walk out with me to the dark area where my car is parked. I gracefully declined the pizza and went on my way. I did check behind me a couple of times to make sure he wasn't following us. And I locked the doors right when we got into the car.

And that my friends is another Warm and Fuzzy Memory with Rob.

My very own Twix commercial

Have you seen the Twix commercial where the guy says something inappropriate and then stuffs a Twix in his mouth? The idea is that eating the Twix will give you a moment to get out of the situation. If you haven't seen the commercial check it out below.

This past week I felt like I was in a Twix commercial...without a Twix.

I went to the mall to pick up a gift card. I went to the Customer Service kiosk because I wanted a general mall gift card. When I arrived the lady working the kiosk was frazzled. She was having a fight with the computer and the computer was winning.

The lady she was waiting on was legally blind. I know this because she had a seeing eye dog that had a sign on it that said "DO NOT PET ME I AM WORKING". The sign is similar to the one below...

After a really long time and two phone calls for help the Customer Service, employee finally changed computers and printed the receipt the lady was patiently waiting for. The employee was really frazzled and felt horrible for taking so long. She was doing the best she could, but she wasn't very computer savvy. The employee pulls out the printed receipt and says to the legally blind woman "sign here." The woman responds back "where?" The employee says right there, but she doesn't show her, she just says it. The extremely patient legally blind woman said once again "where do I need to sign?" This time the frazzled employee says "on the line." And then she says "do you not see the line on the paper?" The legally blind woman said "No I don't see the line, I'm legally blind." At this the employee pointed to the line (in complete silence) and the woman signed in the general vicinity of the line. I felt like I was in a Twix commercial, but I didn't have a Twix.

Holds up vs. Doesn't hold up

My friend Dan Peters and I have some pretty interesting conversations. They have inspired Monica (my wife) to start a journal of various quotes that have been said during some of our conversations. I would like to include you the faithful robshep.com reader in on one of those recent conversations...

Dan believes, and is adamant, that the show Saved By the Bell doesn't hold up well. In fact he thinks it's awful. He used to like it, but now when he watches it he thinks it's horrible. I still enjoy watching Saved by the Bell from time to time. In fact my counter to Dan is it has to hold up well because it is on TV every single day. I'm not talking about on Nick at Night...it's on every morning. That means that a new audience is watching and enjoying it. So I would love for you to weigh in on the debate. Does Saved by the Bell hold up well or not? Think to yourself, if I was watching this for the first time now would I still enjoy it? Or if my elementary or middle school child watched it today would they like it? Comment.

New Survey

In honor of the brand new NBA season...it started last night...the Lakers won! I have a new survey. Even if you don't like the NBA you should still vote!

Halloween...for it or against it

This past weekend a friend of mine mentioned how they thought Halloween was an evil holiday and that Christians shouldn't participate. I think their exact words were Halloween is a Satanic holiday. I'm curious to know what you think. This Friday will you be boycotting Halloween or participating in some way (taking the kids trick or treating, going to a costume party, watching a scary movie etc.)? Comment.

It's me Mario

It's me Mario. This October Monica and I have been invited to two costume parties two weeks in a row. The first was this past Saturday. I decided to put together a little costume in honor of one of the greatest video game characters of all time...Mario. That is Super Mario!


Here are some other costumed friends at the the costume party.


My friends D-Reeves and Angela were not even at the above mentioned costume party. They did however stop by the Pumpkin Carving 2008 Extravaganza the night before. They had a costume party on the same night and they dropped by after it was over. I thought their costumes were wicked awesome, so I posted the pic.

How did your football team do?

Some big games this weekend in the world of football. The top five teams stayed the same in the BCS ranking. There were some interesting games in the NFL. And is anyone watching the World Series? The question is how did your team do? Comment.

An Ode to Chad

Top 10 things you may not know about my friend Chad Johnson.
10. Chad was Homecoming King for the class of 96. I was on the court and in my mind I came in second place.
9. Chad holds the world record for having braces on longer than any human being.
8. Chad and his brother once dated the same girl...it was at different times.
7. Chad was accused of pick pocketing at a 7-11 by a police officer. The officer thought Chad stuck something down his pants. He didn't. He may or may not have had an itch that he had to take care of, but he did not stick any merchandise down his pants. It was pretty funny watching the officer frisk Chad down.
6. Chad once ate an entire box of Chip N Dale Rescue Rangers ice cream bars...in one night.
5. Chad once took a step and there was nothing there. It was in the above ground wooden fort at my parent's house. It was getting dark and we were playing guns. He moved into position to shoot my brother and then he disappeared. I looked down and Chad was hanging on for dear life. He caught himself with one leg and one arm. If he hadn't caught himself he would have got seriously hurt.
4. Chad used to have a TV set up on top of his TV. We would watch sports on one TV and play Nintendo on the other.
3. Chad may or may not have mooned his own mother. Long live Francis!
2. It only took Chad 29 years and 364 days to get engaged.
1. Chad is a great athlete, faithful friend, and I own him in NBA Live!

Chad Johnson

This week is a big week for my friend Chad Johnson. He turned 30 and he got engaged to Kim Williams. So in honor of Chad, I would like to dedicate this blog to him.

Chad Johnson is the oldest friend I have. When I say oldest I don't mean that he is old...I mean that I have been friends with him longer than any other friend. When I was in 7th grade my family moved to VA. I moved in the middle of the school year, which is never easy. I had been at my new school for about four months and I didn't have very many friends. Basically all the guys hated me because all the girls loved me. That is a lie. The truth is not many people remember that I was in their 7th grade class. In fact most of my classmates think I came to the school in 8th grade.

One day near the end of the school year I didn't have a seat at the lunch table. Instead of pouting I made a joke of it. I started making a big deal about not having a seat and I loudly proclaimed that "I will create my own seat down at the corner of the lunch table next to this guy I don't know." I was joking around and people were laughing. I pulled up a chair next to Chad Johnson (the table was so packed he was sitting at the head of table). This was the first time I remember seeing Chad. I think I made him laugh because that next weekend he invited me over to his house. I'm not sure what I said or did that made Chad want to invite me over, but he was the first classmate to give me an invite. From that day on we were great friends. Throughout the years I have had many different friends, but Chad is the one I have known the longest. Happy Birthday Chad and congrats on the engagement!

Is this for real?

I saw this video on Carlos's blog. I try not to post what other people post because I don't want to steal their stuff, but I had to make an exception. This video is baffling to me. If you watch it just wait until 2 1/2 minutes into the video. I can't imagine why another human would post this online for the world to see. My thought is that she has to be joking. This girl is either starving for attention or the greatest comedian in our day. What do you think?

robshep.com = VIP

Tonight some of the Waters Edge staff went to a conference at The Wave Church in Virginia Beach. As we were pulling up, the parking lot was absolutely packed. The parkers were waving us towards the packed lot to the right. To our left, was a coned off section that said "VIP Parking." Stu, our driver and lead pastor at Waters Edge Church, rolls down his window and tells the parking attendant, "I think we are supposed to be there," and points to the VIP parking lot. Stu tells the guy that we have Rob Shepherd, from robshep.com. The attendant proceeds to wave us to the left- the VIP section.

The second parking attendant is guarding the cones. Stu rolls down the window and says again, "We've got Rob Shepherd, from robshep.com." The man moves the cone and lets us park in VIP parking, right next to the door. Apparently rolling with robshep.com gets you places. Who knew?

I've Been Tagged...

Here are the rules:
Rule #1 - Link to the person that tagged you and post the rules on your blog. http://thetallestbladeofgrass.blogspot.com/ - this is my sister's blog. She has a pretty witty blog. The theme of her Blog is the Tallest Blade of Grass. She explains what that means on her blog. Check it out.

Rule #2 - Share 7 random and/or weird facts about yourself.

1. My sister is the reason that I stopped cussing. When I was in fifth grade I almost cussed at her because she made me so angry. Right after the near mishap I said to myself that if I could slip up in front of my sister then I might also slip up in front of my parents. That scared me and so that was when I stopped cussing.


2. When I was in middle school my dream was to grow up and be a Christian Rap Artist. I was heavily influenced by dc Talk. Soon after I announced this to family and friends Rap went the way of the gangster (i.e. Gangster Rap). Because I didn't fit the gangster persona I gave up that dream.


3. The night I proposed to Monica was the first time I told her I loved her. Before that moment I had never told another female that I loved her in a romantic way. I wanted to make sure that when I said it I meant it.


4. The first music album I ever bought was "He's the DJ, I'm the Rapper" by DJ Jazzy Jeff' and the Fresh Prince. It featured the song "Parents Just Don't Understand". I loved it! I bought it in a mall in Missouri. It was on tape...that is after records but before CD's.


5. I used to work at Subway as a "Sandwich Artist".


6. I was in a band in high school called "Six Day Wonder". We once did a concert at the amusement park Kings Dominion.


7. Because I went to elementary school in Germany I count with my fingers differently then most other Americans do. You know when you add something up and you use your fingers to count? Well I start counting with my thumb as the number one. Most Americans start with their pointer finger as number one and their thumb represents number five.

Rule #3 - Tag 7 random people at the end of your post and include links to their posts.

1. Matt Kuchera - Good friend and my Padawan learner.
2. Jake Holland - Funny dude plus he likes super heroes!
3. Brian Norris - Shares a last name with Chuck...nuff said!
4. John Finkelde - Australian pastor and good blogger.
5. Kyle Walker - Funny Person & Great Friend.
6. Phil Poteat - Worship Leader at Waters Edge and also a ninja.
7. Terace Crawford - Blogging stud!
8. Blake Maurice - my best friend from college. I know this thing said only post seven, but I wanted to do 8!

Rule #4 - Let each person know they've been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

DONE!

Thanks For Reading!

I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who reads robshep.com on a regular basis. I love it when you read! I really love it when you leave a comment!! Thank you!

My blog is kind of like my baby. It's not perfect but it is my own. Sometimes my posts might stink, but whose baby doesn't. Hopefully despite its faults (grammar being one) you still think in its own unique way it's cute. Or at least it makes you giggle from time to time. Anyway I know that everyone who has a baby thinks their baby is the best. I don't. I am humbled and honored that anyone would ever read. So thanks again for reading!

If there is anything I can do to make your experience at robshep.com better leave a comment.

Brian Miller

I would like to introduce the robshep.com readers to Brian Miller. Brian is the Director of Administration at Waters Edge. He is a good writer and I'm excited to see what he adds to the blog world. Check it and tell him Rob sent you.

Attacked in the Night…..Guest Blogger Monica Shepherd

What would you do if you were minding your own business, sleeping peacefully, when all of a sudden the blankets were torn from your body? Some might find this romantic, but I found it confusing. Circa midnight, I woke up to Rob pulling all of the blankets off of the bed and onto the floor. He was beside the bed on his knees yelling, “Ow, ow, ow!” I was still confused. I kept saying, “Rob? Rob! Are you okay? Come back to bed!” I realized that he was asleep, but I was still confused. We haven’t turned our heat on yet, so it was already cold, even with blankets! He never responded to me, but he got back up, threw the sheet on me, and put the rest of the blankets at the foot of the bed. I was still confused and cold! I was too tired to make the bed, so I burrowed into the sheets. I had the giggles a little bit, but still wanted to make sure Rob was ok. I said, “Babe, are you ok?” He responded with a mumbling of words, but was safely back in the bed and was not yelling “ow” anymore. Confused, I went back to a cold sleep. I woke up smiling because I knew it was going to be a funny story. Unfortunately, Rob didn’t remember the dream that induced his attack on the bed. The reason he was in pain is because he took a bad fall a few weeks ago, and his knee is still sore and swollen. Crawling on your knees in the middle of the night on the floor would be painful if you had a bum knee. Good thing I don’t keep a gun or a shank near the bed. So, what would you do if you woke up to an innocent attack?

The Water Cooler

Water Cooler (wa·ter cool·er): a device that dispenses cooled drinking water and often serves as a focal point in a workplace where colleagues meet and talk about popular culture.

Do you ever feel left out because you don't have much to add to the conversation around the water cooler? Here are some highlights from pop culture to keep you in the loop.

• If someone brings up sports you say "It's a shame the Red Sox lost. The Phillies vs. the Rays doesn't seem like a very exciting series." Extra: That is the Philadelphia Phillies and the Tampa Bay Rays...Bonus this is the first year the Rays have ever made the playoffs and they used to be called the Devil Rays.
• If someone brings up politics you say "Did anyone catch Sarah Palin on SNL (Saturday Night Live)? It was ha-larious."
• If someone brings up the TV show the Office you say "The thought of Dwight pretending to give birth to a baby makes me laugh out loud."
• If nobody is talking ask "Did anyone see the number one movie at the box office, Max Payne? I heard it was horrible!"
• Other notables: Britney Spears released a new video (but it's really the same old Britney who relies on her sex appeal to sell more than great lyrics), CSI is the number one rated show in America, and on week five of Dancing with the Stars Rocco DiSpirito was sent home.

That should give you some info to participate at the Water Cooler...use it wisely! If you have any info that is Water Cooler worthy leave a comment.

How did your football team do?

There was a lot of football action over the weekend. Both college and the NFL had some exciting games. The question is how did your team do? Comment.

Dreams that happen more than once

Have you ever had the same dream more than one time? I've had a version of a dream three times now. The dream is a different setting and there are different people in it but the outcome is the same. In the dream it's a Sunday at Waters Edge Church. I'm getting ready to speak and for some reason I don't know what I'm going to say. I have notes, but it's like I haven't memorized the talk. I get so stressed out and worked up I end up waking up stressed out and worked up.

I had that dream again last night. This time Brian Miller was giving announcements and for some reason we were sharing a wireless headset mic. He was happy with himself for doing a good job with the announcements and he was taking his sweet time taking the wireless headset mic off. I was so stressed that I didn't have my talk memorized I ended up yelling at him. When I started the talk I started stalling to try to get my thoughts together. For some reason we had on stage a bunch of clowns that danced. Some of the clowns at the front of the stage were either little kids dressed as clowns or little people dressed as clowns. My opening line to the talk was I like the clowns as a part of the set...the little ones are cute...a little creepy, but cute. Then I woke up stressed out. I'm speaking tomorrow at WEC. I don't feel stressed about it, but maybe my subconscious is telling me something. Have you ever had a recurring dream?

Heroes

This is not a blog about Heroes...per say.

Do you watch the TV show Heroes? Today I started watching season one on DVD for the first time. There is a part of the show that really resonated with me. One of the main characters...we'll call him Peter (we will call him that because that is his name) thinks he has the ability to fly. After his brother tells him he is crazy for thinking this he ends up having a conversation with a cab driver. He ponders out loud to the cab driver about his purpose in life. You see Peter feels like he is created to do more than just exist. He thinks he is created for something bigger.

My question is do you ever have those feelings? It doesn't mean that you don't like your life or that what you are doing is not good, it just means that you ponder about doing more. Sometimes I feel like Peter...I think I have the ability to fly...no, that's not right. Let me start over. Sometimes I feel like Peter and I feel like there is more to me than what I have discovered. I feel like I haven't reached my potential yet. I don't know what I'm waiting for. I guess I wonder if anyone else ever feels the same way.

Change the World - Week 1

There is a song by John Mayer called "Waiting For the World to Change". Here's the deal...I don't want to wait for the world to change...I want to help the world change.

This week one of the ways I helped the world change was by investing in a students life. I took a student who is struggling with school and lacking a purpose in life out for a milk shake. We spent time hanging out, but I also tried to speak truth into his life. I lovingly challenged him to be all that God has created him to be. I am the person that I am today because God used adults to speak truth into my life. I pray God uses that time to change the world through this student.

Being a faithful reader of robshep.com I would love to hear your story. How did you help the world change this week? Leave a comment.

Protest

I'm not a big protester. I have never knowingly protested anything. If you remember a few years ago the Baptists tried to protest Disney. At the time I was at a Baptist church...I went to Disney on my honeymoon...during the protest. The truth is I think people who hold protests do little good in this world, and yet today I held a protest. Now I understand that I am being hypocritical by protesting, but I think that when you hear my protest you will understand.

Today our staff went to Ruby Tuesdays for a going away lunch for Ambre Delongchamp. Ambre is preggers and is about 10 days away from having a baby. After she has the baby she is not coming back to work at WEC (Rob is very sad). Anyway, at lunch I got the Ruby Tuesday salad bar. The only problem was that they ran out of croutons. Now normally I wouldn't mind this, but the croutons at Rubys are amazing! Brian Miller ,who is on staff with us, asked very nicely for some more croutons, and they told him they were making them. When I got back to my seat with an empty plate I said that I was going to protest not having croutons by standing up until they brought out the croutons. In my mind I thought this would only be five minutes, but five minutes turned to ten and ten turned into fifteen and fifteen to twenty and then it skipped to thirty minutes. I looked around and everyone was almost done with their meals. I decided that if I didn't drop the protest then I may not get to eat another salad because we were going to be leaving before any croutons ever came out. When I came back from the salad bar Stu (my boss) said, "Don't end the protest now. You need to eat standing up." I thought, "He's right I've protested this long, why give in now." Now maybe you are like my wife and you are saying to yourself that what I did was really immature. Or maybe you're like Phil Poteat and you would have been embarrassed and asked me to sit down. I didn't see it as being immature or embarrassing. I saw it as entertainment and a worthy cause. Our waitress came back one last time and asked if she could get us anything else. I said I would like another refill of water. Jamey Menser (also on staff) said "and some croutons." That spurred me on to repeat "yeah and some croutons." Our waitress was very kind. She questioned, "They still haven't brought out the croutons?" I said ever so politely and with a smile, "No, they haven't...why do you think I'm still standing." She said that she didn't realize I was standing because of the lack of croutons. She then went into the kitchen and brought out a whole bowl of nothing but croutons. I was done with my salad, but that didn't stop me from eating the croutons. Don't worry, I wasn't the only one. The entire staff benefited from my protest and ate croutons like popcorn. It was well worth it, and I would do it again in a heart beat. Here is a picture that I didn't know was taken of the protest...

Make A Difference

At Catalyst last week I was really challenged to make a difference in the world. I set a goal and I don't know if I will be able to keep this goal or not, but I want to make a difference at least once a week. Now I know I may or may not do this on more than one occasion during the week, but I want to intentionally do something that I think will make a difference. As a faithful follower at robshep.com I would like to challenge you to make a difference as well. We will share stories on Friday's at robshep.com.

Last week I sponsored a child through Compassion International. That was my way to make a difference in someone's life.

Superheros for nephews

My sister, Sarah, sent me the most recent pics of her kids. These pics are awesome! I told my sister once that when Monica and I have some kids and our brother and his wife have some kids we will form the entire Justice League. I can't wait!

Who is your hero

Did you ever know that you're my hero? That is a line in the song "Wind Beneath My Wings" by Bette Midler from the saddest movie ever made..."Beaches" . Monica made me watch it on Christmas Eve 7 years ago. I digress...

I'm wondering who your hero is. I don't think we celebrate our hero's enough. Who helped change you, who helped you become who you are today, who do you look up to? The question is who is your hero? Leave a comment.

How did your football team do?

This past weekend there were a lot of upsets and big victories in the world of football. How did your college, NFL, or Australian football team do?

Healing In The Name of Jesus!

Apparently God has given me the ability to heal...

Last Wednesday night I was staying in a Hotel because of the Catalyst Conference in ATL. I had driven 9 hours and was exhausted. I slept hard until...I woke up at 4:00 AM to loud snoring. You see I was sharing a room with Bill Sprouse (Director of First Impressions at Waters Edge). Bill was snoring way past his weight grade. You see Bill is a thin guy but he was snoring like a fat guy with a cold.

Now I have been told I snore and in the past I have been rudely woken up by people that I have shared a room with. I didn't want to yell at him, throw a pillow at him, or turn the TV on really loud to scare him. Instead I turned on the air conditioner to make some noise...it didn't help. I laid there for about 10 minutes trying to convince myself that his snoring was just noise and that I could sleep through it. I couldn't.

At the ten minute mark I broke and I tried something I've never tried before. I whispered "Bill, in the name of Jesus stop snoring." He didn't stop right away so I whispered "Be Healed." Bill immediately stopped snoring. I'm not joking. He didn't snore for the rest of the night.

Now the true test was the next night. On Thursday night I anxiously waited to see if this was a complete healing or just a one time thing. On Thursday night Bill was as quiet as a church mouse. He slept like a dead man. Praise God! Heidi, Bill's wife, needs to thank God for using me to heal her husband of his snoring. Who knew that was my spiritual gift?

Catalyst 08

I had a blast at Catalyst O8. This was my seventh year at the conference and in my opinion this year was the best overall. Here are some pics and some thoughts (I am hitting myself because I left my camera at the hotel the first day. Things I missed taking pictures of were Jon Foreman from Switchfoot, speakers from day 1).



Dave Ramsey is a ninja! He was an awesome speaker! If you haven't seen him on TV or read one of his books you should! He is a financial guru and he said that everyone should just calm down. One thing that really stuck out to me was when he said that America is under a spirit of fear and it is from Satan. His talk was one of the highlights of the day!


Lanny Donoho is a great MC! At Catalyst you can always expect he'll do something crazy. He drove a bus in, helped an elephant and a donkey come together, and made a rap video with many of the speakers. Good stuff.


Franklin Graham spoke!


Jeff Foxworthy was there!


This was one of the lunches Chad Johnson hooked my up with... this one was with Mark Batteron and Perry Noble!

Monica and I have talked for years about sponsoring a child through Compassion International...I finally did it at Catalyst. I felt like God led me to. I know that may sound weird but I felt like God said to me to be a blessing to other children while we wait for Him to bless us with our own.

One of my favorite parts about Catalyst is hanging out with life long friends that I don't get to see that often. Below is Chad Childress...my former youth pastor. He doesn't normally look like this.

This is Brian Smith. Brian won't admit it but he has grown taller since the last time I saw him. Either that or I hit 30 years old and started shrinking.


Chad Johnson is the man! He hooked me up in so many ways at Catalyst. It seems like everyone (all 12,000) at Catalyst know Chad. Not many of them can say they have known him since 7th grade. In the picture below a older woman put her arm around me and got into the picture. It was weird. The theme of Catalyst was Come Together, so I blew it off as her attempt to come together. It was awkward and weird though.


This is the re-take without the weird woman.


Andy Stanley closed out the conference. Andy is my pastor Stu's hero.


Seriously Catalyst is AWESOME! God challenged me in so many ways. My prayer is that I will be able to apply what I learned. I've got a lot of work to do. I do recommend every human being in the world to go to Catalyst next year! I can't wait for it!

Happy Birthday Dad

Today we are celebrating my dad's 64th birthday. His actual birthday was yesterday. I love my dad! Happy B-Day Dad!

Reasons I Miss Rob: Guest Blogger Monica Shepherd

#10- It's dark when I get home from school.
#9- I have to do all the chores and get the mail.
#8- We live beside the spooky woods, and he's not here to protect me.
#7- I had to take out the trash on trash day (kind of like #9).
#6- I can't watch some of our DVR'd shows until he gets home.
#5- It's lonely.
#4- I have so many words built up and no one to share them with!
#3- I eat too much fast food when he's gone.
#2- I miss my best friend.
#1- I can't sleep.

5 reasons that make him being out of town tolerable:
#5- I can watch my DVR shows immediately.
#4- Sometimes I have a slumber party with Courtney & company.
#3- I get a present each day he's gone (This trip I got some spending money for day 1, he made me an amazing mixed cd for day 2, and Dirty Dancing on dvd for day 3).
#2- I appreciate him even more!
#1- I get to look forward to him coming home!!!

Movie Review and the Elderly....Guest Blogger Monica Shepherd

Nights in Rodanthe is a movie based off of a Nicholas Sparks novel, Nights in Rodanthe. Diane Lane and Richard Gere are two hurting adults that find each other and in the process "find themselves". I'm a Nicholas Sparks fan. I own Walk to Remember and The Notebook. I can usually count on his movies to give me a good cry, which only happens about three times a year for me. I shed a few tears near the end of Rodanthe, but didn't have to reach for the Kleenex. It was a good movie- not amazing. Based on Rob's scale, I give it a "thumbs to the side". I probably won't ever own it on DVD, but it was worth seeing once.

On to my favorite part of the night.....Nicole and I were the youngest people in the theater by at least 30 years. The average age was approximately 78. As we were walking to our auditorium, there was an elderly lady wandering around and she asked us where theater two was located. I told her that's where we were going and opened the door for her. She asked if this was the bathroom, and I replied no, the bathroom was across the hall. After taking two steps in, she asked if I was sure. Signal #1 that we were the youngest in attendance. We were wedged between a couple in their 70's and a couple in their 80's....not even a seat between us (signal #2). To my left was the old popcorn man. With every bite of his large popcorn, he would shake the bag furiously, swirl it around with his hand, and then chomp on it louder than ever imaginable (signal #3). Directly in front of Nicole was the old cough drop man. He proceeded to open one cough drop for at least 23 minutes. He missed the rip it open quickly memo...even his wife told him to be quiet after 15 minutes. 8 minutes later he got it open (signal #4).

Behind us was a woman with emphysema. I was a little worried about her health (and mine...signal #5). We also found it semi-uncomfortable to be sitting between grandparent like people during a love scene. We weren't even related to these people, but it was embarrassing (#6). During the movie one old lady two rows back stated, "what happened?" quite loudly (#7). At the end of the movie, a different old lady goes, "Doesn't anyone clap at the end of a movie anymore?". I gave her a pity clap (#8). Obviously she's never been to a Star Wars movie. There were a few times when me and Nicole had to cover our mouths to keep from laughing out loud, and we expected there to be a senior citizen bus outside AMC afterwards. When Nicole and I are 82 and still going to movies together, we'll be able to learn from their mistakes.

Travel Update

As most of you know, Rob, Bill, and Meredith are in Atlanta, GA, for a conference called Catalyst. I checked in with Rob yesterday on my way to class, and I wanted to share a road trip story that I found amusing.

Rob was driving, Meredith was in shot-gun, and Bill was riding in the backseat. I'd like to note that not only was he in the backseat, but he was in the center of the backseat. Rob's pretty sure it was so he could look into the rear view mirror and gaze into Rob's eyes. Joking.

In preparation for the trip, Rob bought a bunch of yummy snacks to pass time and stay awake. As Meredith was munching on some classic peanut M&Ms, she began choking. Apparently a piece of M&M tried to sneak down the wrong pipe. As this is happening, Bill is on his cell phone making volunteer work calls.

Meredith and Rob try to signal for Bill to get Meredith a drink from the cooler in the backseat. Although she asked for a diet Mt. Dew (which Rob believes is worthless), Bill is on the phone and hands her a Sprite. They tried again to get his attention since they couldn't reach the cooler, asked for a diet Mt. Dew to ease her choking, and Bill passes her a regular Mt. Dew. In his defense, he's in the zone on the phone. Meredith tries again to get his attention, and Bill says to the person on the phone, "Hold on for a second, I'm in a car with a gal who's choking", or something along those lines. We'd like to point out that he called her a gal, and we wonder what the person on the other line would have thought.

Meredith did eventually get her diet Mt. Dew, she did stop choking, and all three WEC staff members shared a good laugh. Never a dull moment with the Director of Community Groups and Students, Director of First Impressions, and the Director of Preschoolers and Kids. I'm pretty sure those are their titles at least.

Passion Part Two

Mark Batterson in his book In A Pit With A Lion On A Snowy Day writes, "Christ followers ought to be the most passionate people on the planet. To be like Jesus is to be consumed with passion". On a scale of one to ten...one being not very passionate and ten being passionate...how passionate are you for God? Leave a comment.

What are you PASSIONATE about?

What are you passionate about? I believe that everyone is passionate about something. You can tell what a person is passionate about simply by listening to them talk or watching them live. Some people are really passionate for work. They spend a tone of time there and their job consumes their thoughts. Others are passionate about sports. They think about them, watch them, go buck wild crazy for their team. Some people are passionate about their family. So the question is what are you passionate about? What gets your blood boiling? What do rant about? What would you fight for? The answer to those questions will tell you what you are passionate about...leave a comment.

Catalyst

Today I leave for Catalyst. I can't wait!!! I love this conference. The conference is in Atlanta GA. One of the things I love the most about Catalyst is the time I get to spend with my friends. I can't wait to see my boy Chad Johnson! I'll keep you posted as to how the conference goes. If you want to take a behind the scenes look at Catalyst click on the image below.

How did your football team do?

There were a lot of big college and NFL games over the weekend. How did your team do?

Things I saw on the news today...

I don't normally watch the news, but today at the YMCA I heard some of the top headlines. Obama said he was going to celebrate his 15th year of marriage with his wife when it is really his 16. The Cubs lost to the Dodgers and the curse for a World Series remains. Tina Fay will not reprise her role of Sarah Palin this week on SNL...but that is because it is not showing on Saturday. Miley Cyrus turned 16 over the weekend and celebrated at Disney. I guess I can be thankful that a lot more is not going on in the world.

Video Monday

In honor of our new series at Waters Edge , Video Monday is dedicated to The Perfect Kid. Seriously...this is going to be the perfect kid. He already knows Karate.

I Survived The New Kids On The Block...

On Thursday, October 2, I experienced my first ever New Kids On The Block Concert. I went with my wife and my sister-in-law, Nicole. There were approximately 20,000 women at this concert and 6 guys. The New Kids made up 5 of the guys and I was the sixth...just joking. There were probably a dozen guys with their wives. Here are some of my thoughts about the night...

We are really high up.

The picture above is a picture of our seats when we first got there. I bought tickets for Monica on the day they went on sale and this was the best we could get. Before we left for the concert I received an email saying there were still tickets available for the concert. Do what? I checked and they had seats available on the floor. For $20 more we could move from section 402 to the floor. I thought it was sold out! So after circa 2 minutes I left and went to the Box Office and exchanged our seats. Below are pictures from our new seats. I'm not sure how this happened because the concert looked sold out.

The opening act was a 19 year old name Colby O'Donis. Song you may have heard = What You Got. Colby is really talented.

During the opening act we discovered make out couple. They made out during the whole first two acts and then throughout the rest of the night. I guess she was rewarding him for taking one for the team. Gross.

The second opening act was Natasha Bedingfield. She can flat blow. She has a great voice. Song you may have heard = Unwritten.

Then came the New Kids. I have never heard screams like I heard when they first came out. It was deafening. The crowd stood for the entire 2 hour performance and they screamed the whole time. The picture below is make out couple...they are now standing.

Our new seats were 29 rows away from the stage. That was a good seat, but mid-way through the concert the New Kids came to the center of the stadium and they were circa five feet away. The girls around me went nuts. It was disgusting.




For most of the rest of the night make out couple made out. Sometimes he stayed in his seat and she stood...somehow they still made out. I'm not sure when this picture was taken, but I think it was near the end of the night.

I've been to a lot of concerts and this was the biggest production I have ever been to. They spent a lot of money on this tour.

The New Kids are good performers. They entertained their fans for two hours straight. Girls would go crazy at every little move they made. I told Monica that I hope she gets that excited to see me when I'm a 40 year old like the New Kids.


Step 3...it's just you and me...

For their second encore they came out in Celtic Jerseys. Being a Lakers fan I booed, but nobody could hear me because the screams were so loud.

At the end of the night I had survived. I laughed a lot at the concert. It was funny to me how excited the women would get over the New Kids. The only time I felt really uncomfortable though is when one of the New Kids did a solo song and sang in a wind machine that blew his unbuttoned shirt open. I'm not gonna lie, I wanted to punch him. It just didn't feel right having a 40 year old man dance in a wind machine with an unbuttoned shirt. Besides that I can say it was an experience. I felt like I was a part of history because the crowd was so crazy into it. I have never seen my wife have so much fun, and for that it was worth it.

NKOTB

In about 15 minutes Monica and I are leaving to pick up my sister in law to go to the New Kids On The Block Concert in DC. Having a wife gets me a pass into this concert (not a literal pass, we paid good money for these tickets). You know what I'm talking about? It's like the guy who watches Project Runway and likes it, but blames having to watch it on his wife.

My wife is so excited about this concert. When she was like 12 she saw the New Kids... two nights in a row at the Hampton Coliseum. She owns every one of their tapes including when they officially changed their name to NKOTB. It's crazy to see the power the New Kids still have on some girls. Apparently the New Kids have said that mid to old woman are flashing them at their concerts. I will yell keep your clothes on to anyone who even thinks about doing that... including Monica...just joking. She would never do that. But I do think she has a crush on Joey.

Christian Movies Part Three

I apologize for ranting on this for three posts now. I think that Christian movies lower their standards and get excited about low quality movies and that bothers me.



My bitterness started back in 2001. The two biggest books of the year came out with movies. Harry Potter and Left Behind were both massive hits as books. When the movies came out Harry Potter made over $300 million. Left Behind made $4 million. That is ridiculous! It started when instead of having a major company produce Left Behind they settled for Cloud Ten Pictures. Instead of hiring a top notch Director or Producer they hired people I have never heard of. To top it all off they got really excited because they hired Kirk Cameron as the star. At the time Kirk hadn't done anything for years. When the movie came out I received promotional material to promote the movie in my church. I did. Against my better judgement I promoted the movie. I even took a bunch of people to see it. I told the students to invite their friends. I should have known better. At the time I think Left Behind was one of the most expensive Christian films ever made. Compared to Harry Potter it sucked!



I'm not saying that you have to have huge stars to make a movie big. But you do have to spend money. Case in point The Passion of the Christ. It didn't have any major stars, but the production value was top notch. Granted it had Mel Gibson attached to it, but he wasn't in it. It's just embarrassing to me because Christian movies typically are low budget, low standard, low quality films. I grew up hearing dc Talk sing that "If it's Christian it ought to be better...Omit a bit , it should be the best." Just because you can make a film doesn't mean you should. If the message of the movie is great then the production needs to be great so it can reach the most people. I would rather a company not make a film then to settle for a cheap movie. That is just my opinion. What do you think?

Christian Movies Part Two

I didn't mean to bash on the movie Fireproof (see post below). I have heard the content is good. My real problem is what the commercial did with the movie. What does #1 Inspirational movie in America mean? It just seems like a false advertisement. It wasn't number one in anything. When your the only Inspirational movie out you are not only first you are also last. You are not only the best inspirational movie you are also the worst. Go ahead and celebrate the opening for a small film...I'm all about that. Just don't twist it to make it look bigger than it is.

Christian Movies

Today I got mad!
OK I tend to get a little passionate about how I feel about Christian movies. I just think that it would be better not to make them then to produce low quality crap. There are some great Christian movie/products that are innovative and do a good job. Veggie Tales is one of them.

Anyway today I saw an add on TV for the new Kirk Cameron movie called Fireproof. Now I will not bash on this movie because...
a. I haven't seen it.
b. I try not to be negative.
c. I used to love Growing Pains.

I will say the add for this movie made me mad. The add said go see the number one Inspirational Film in America. Seriously? The movie opened in 4th place for the weekend with a total of almost 7 million $'s. I just hate that someone has turned a rather lousy opening for a film into a success story and they are trying to get me to go see it because it is the number one inspirational film in America. It's basically saying that the best the Christian world can do is produce a 4th place movie and we are happy about that. I hope the movie makes lots of money and I will probably rent it when it comes to DVD, but don't lower your standards so far that a 4th place finish becomes a selling point. Just my opinion.