As most of you know, Nashville and the surrounding areas in Tennessee have been hit by severe flooding. Nearly 14 inches of rain fell in just two short days! To date, 29 people have lost their lives in Nashville and the surrounding cities due to the flooding.
As someone who has friends in the city and who has been there each of the past three Junes for CMA Fest activities, this tragedy REALLY hits home. Seeing places that I've visited multiple times such as the Grand Ole Opryhouse, the Country Music Hall of Fame and LP Field (where the Tennessee Titans also play football) has made my heart ache!
Needless to say, this tragedy has made me want to step up and help. If you go to this website Twibbon.com you can put a sticker on your facebook profile as I've done and also donate.
Please keep the people in Nashville and the surrounding areas in your thoughts and prayers.
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Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Monday, May 3, 2010
McIlroy Finally Gets His Phil!
When you're one stroke off the lead going into the final round of a golf tournament and shoot a 4-under-par 68 in very windy conditions to close things out as the great Phil Mickelson did yesterday at Quail Hollow, you wouldn't expect to end up FOUR strokes behind the winner as he did. "Lefty" sank a 40-footer for a birdie on 13, then birdied 14 to get within a stroke of 20 year-old Rory McIlroy. His hopes quickly sank when he walked down the 15th fairway when the kid eagled the 15th hole to push the margin back to three. McIlroy would go on to birdie 16 and 18 en route to a scorching 30 on the back nine and total of only 62 strokes.
Mickelson's performance was good enough to beat everyone but the youngster. The three-time Masters champion is on such a roll now that he could take over the #1 spot in the world rankings for the first time ever with a strong performance at the Players Championship this week.
The win for McIlroy was a VERY popular and much anticipated one. Indeed, many have proclaimed him the player who is going to be the tour's next big star. McIlroy barely made the 1-over par cut on Friday, and then absolutely torched the course on the weekend as he shot a 6-under par 66 on Saturday to get into contention. Yes, he was 16 UNDER PAR on the weekend! Does that remind you of someone? Look out Tiger and Phil... here comes Rory! And the timing on this win is perfect as Tuesday is the youngster's 21st birthday. Congratulations Rory on the first of what we all expect to be a career full of wins and majors!
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Mickelson's performance was good enough to beat everyone but the youngster. The three-time Masters champion is on such a roll now that he could take over the #1 spot in the world rankings for the first time ever with a strong performance at the Players Championship this week.
The win for McIlroy was a VERY popular and much anticipated one. Indeed, many have proclaimed him the player who is going to be the tour's next big star. McIlroy barely made the 1-over par cut on Friday, and then absolutely torched the course on the weekend as he shot a 6-under par 66 on Saturday to get into contention. Yes, he was 16 UNDER PAR on the weekend! Does that remind you of someone? Look out Tiger and Phil... here comes Rory! And the timing on this win is perfect as Tuesday is the youngster's 21st birthday. Congratulations Rory on the first of what we all expect to be a career full of wins and majors!
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Sunday, May 2, 2010
HE's a BIG GOD!
As the days of Francis Chan pastoring at Cornerstone Community Church in Simi come closer to their end, I find myself cherishing my Sundays more and more each week. I know something truly wonderful is coming to a close. The Lord has worked through Francis and his wife Lisa Chan to minister to me and so many others over the past almost 12 years I've attended. Today was no exception. Actually, it turned out to be one of my most memorable Sunday mornings EVER!
I arrived to church a little early today. I ended up sitting right behind my friend Jerry, his wife and lovely daughter, Faith. As I got into the worship, I raised my hands to exalt the Lord. Faith then started smiling at me. And then she did the AMAZING - she started raising HER HANDS to the Lord! It was truly a special moment! And it happened in ALL of the songs we sung both before and after the message!
Francis spoke from the book of Luke this morning, specifically the Parable of the Sower in Luke 8:1-18. The bottom line is that many people know of or hear the word of the Lord, but for one reason or another fall away. In Luke 8:15, it's stated "But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain the word, and by persevering produce a crop. Those truly walking with Him don't let anything in the world deter them from their walk."
Francis brilliantly used the example of Reality Carpinteria pastor Britt Merrick to illustrate the above. Britt's five year-old daughter Daisy was diagnosed with a grapefruit-sized, cancerous tumor this past September after a fall. As one would expect, this tragedy caused Britt and his wife Kate to do a lot of soul searching. Yet through it all, they have remained steadfast in their faith. Britt stated to Him that "I will love YOU! Regardless of what happens. I'll STILL love YOU!" Britt is truly a man of God. From listening to Francis' words this morning and seeing Britt's Twitters this week, there's definitely a huge mutual appreciation between them. What great men of God they both are! I look forward to purchasing and reading his book, Big God. The foreward is written by none other than my pastor, Francis Chan.
After the message, we saw SEVEN people proclaim their faith for the Lord and get baptized! Awesome stuff! After service, I chatted a little more with Jerry and his wife. I then had some deep conversation with my good friend, Jay Pierson after service. I look at Jay and I see another man of God who is truly walking with Him. No, he's not perfect (none of us are), but I know he truly tries to walk the walk. Friends like Jay definitely help keep me focused on Him. And that's a true blessing! Like Britt, Jay walks with the Lord and doesn't let anything deter him from that walk. I am blessed not only to call Jay a friend, but more importantly, a true brother in Him!
Blessings to you this Sunday and ALWAYS!
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I arrived to church a little early today. I ended up sitting right behind my friend Jerry, his wife and lovely daughter, Faith. As I got into the worship, I raised my hands to exalt the Lord. Faith then started smiling at me. And then she did the AMAZING - she started raising HER HANDS to the Lord! It was truly a special moment! And it happened in ALL of the songs we sung both before and after the message!
Francis spoke from the book of Luke this morning, specifically the Parable of the Sower in Luke 8:1-18. The bottom line is that many people know of or hear the word of the Lord, but for one reason or another fall away. In Luke 8:15, it's stated "But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain the word, and by persevering produce a crop. Those truly walking with Him don't let anything in the world deter them from their walk."
Francis brilliantly used the example of Reality Carpinteria pastor Britt Merrick to illustrate the above. Britt's five year-old daughter Daisy was diagnosed with a grapefruit-sized, cancerous tumor this past September after a fall. As one would expect, this tragedy caused Britt and his wife Kate to do a lot of soul searching. Yet through it all, they have remained steadfast in their faith. Britt stated to Him that "I will love YOU! Regardless of what happens. I'll STILL love YOU!" Britt is truly a man of God. From listening to Francis' words this morning and seeing Britt's Twitters this week, there's definitely a huge mutual appreciation between them. What great men of God they both are! I look forward to purchasing and reading his book, Big God. The foreward is written by none other than my pastor, Francis Chan.
After the message, we saw SEVEN people proclaim their faith for the Lord and get baptized! Awesome stuff! After service, I chatted a little more with Jerry and his wife. I then had some deep conversation with my good friend, Jay Pierson after service. I look at Jay and I see another man of God who is truly walking with Him. No, he's not perfect (none of us are), but I know he truly tries to walk the walk. Friends like Jay definitely help keep me focused on Him. And that's a true blessing! Like Britt, Jay walks with the Lord and doesn't let anything deter him from that walk. I am blessed not only to call Jay a friend, but more importantly, a true brother in Him!
Blessings to you this Sunday and ALWAYS!
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Saturday, May 1, 2010
Lakers Play On, Tiger:EPIC Fail
And yes, that's a Carrie Underwood reference for those of you paying attention to the first part of today's title... If nothing else, the Oklahoma City Thunder got the attention of the World Champion Los Angeles Lakers. Not only did the Thunder split the first four games of the best-of-seven series, but they outscored the Lakers by an average of four points a game in doing so. The embarrassing 21 point Game four loss definitely got the Lakers attention. They came back to post an impressive 24 point win at Staples Center on Wednesday night.
Last night, the Lakers controlled the tempo and the game for all but a few minutes. They took a 53-47 lead into halftime and stretched it to 91-84 with 5:09 to play. The Thunder would not go quietly though. Their raucous, 112 decibel-loud crowd urged them to a 10-0 run over the next 2:39. With Two and a half minutes to play, it looked like the Thunder might very well force a game seven.
But it wasn't meant to be for the Thunder. Kobe hit a tough 20 foot jumper from the left side, bringing the Lakers to within a point with 2:11 to play. The teams would alternate several missed shots over the next two minutes. Kobe rebounded a Russell Westbrook miss with 17 seconds to play. You knew who was taking the final shot... or so we thought. Kobe took a tough, fall away 13 footer from the right side of the key with just under two seconds to play. The shot was a touch long. Fortunately for the Lakers, Pau Gasol was there to grab the rebound and lay it in with just 1/2 a second to play to give the Lakers a 95-94 lead! Westbrook's desperation trey from the right baseline as time expired was well short. The Lakers had escaped! Pau only scored 9 points, but he had the two most important ones to go with his 18 boards. Kobe - well all he did was pour in another 32 to go with seven boards. With their 4-2 round one series win, the Lakers now have a date with the Utah Jazz in round two. Game one is at 12:30 tomorrow afternoon at Staples. Go Lakers!
As for the other sports news of the day. Well, in case you didn't hear, Tiger Woods not only missed the cut in the golf tournament at Quail Hollow... he had what could only be termed an EPIC fail of an effort! The world's #1 player shot a 79 in his second tournament back from his self imposed leave from the tour to get his life in order. It was pretty sad to see. Very obviously, his focus is just not there at the moment. Contrast that with the play of 2010 Masters champion Phil Mickelson, who is at six under par after a second round 68 despite battling a nasty infection. Lefty's only two off the lead held by Billy Mayfair at the mid-point of the tourney. For Tiger, it's only his 6th missed cut in 241 career tournaments.
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Last night, the Lakers controlled the tempo and the game for all but a few minutes. They took a 53-47 lead into halftime and stretched it to 91-84 with 5:09 to play. The Thunder would not go quietly though. Their raucous, 112 decibel-loud crowd urged them to a 10-0 run over the next 2:39. With Two and a half minutes to play, it looked like the Thunder might very well force a game seven.
But it wasn't meant to be for the Thunder. Kobe hit a tough 20 foot jumper from the left side, bringing the Lakers to within a point with 2:11 to play. The teams would alternate several missed shots over the next two minutes. Kobe rebounded a Russell Westbrook miss with 17 seconds to play. You knew who was taking the final shot... or so we thought. Kobe took a tough, fall away 13 footer from the right side of the key with just under two seconds to play. The shot was a touch long. Fortunately for the Lakers, Pau Gasol was there to grab the rebound and lay it in with just 1/2 a second to play to give the Lakers a 95-94 lead! Westbrook's desperation trey from the right baseline as time expired was well short. The Lakers had escaped! Pau only scored 9 points, but he had the two most important ones to go with his 18 boards. Kobe - well all he did was pour in another 32 to go with seven boards. With their 4-2 round one series win, the Lakers now have a date with the Utah Jazz in round two. Game one is at 12:30 tomorrow afternoon at Staples. Go Lakers!
As for the other sports news of the day. Well, in case you didn't hear, Tiger Woods not only missed the cut in the golf tournament at Quail Hollow... he had what could only be termed an EPIC fail of an effort! The world's #1 player shot a 79 in his second tournament back from his self imposed leave from the tour to get his life in order. It was pretty sad to see. Very obviously, his focus is just not there at the moment. Contrast that with the play of 2010 Masters champion Phil Mickelson, who is at six under par after a second round 68 despite battling a nasty infection. Lefty's only two off the lead held by Billy Mayfair at the mid-point of the tourney. For Tiger, it's only his 6th missed cut in 241 career tournaments.
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Friday, April 30, 2010
When God Sends His Angels...
I'm a firm believer that God is always putting people into our lives to help direct us and get us through. He puts these Angels into our lives to help grow us and make us better people. If we're listening, we also end up growing closer to Him as a result. Sometimes, it seems like these people are sent in bunches, while other times you just keep plodding along with the people He's already put into your life.
When I look back at the past couple of years, I have to admit that, for the most part, my walk was not been the best with Him. I would have times where I felt encouraged, and He did keep putting great new people into my life to help me focus on Him. Four months ago, I could finally feel the Lord working on my heart. He was slowly transforming me, and He was mostly working through the people He had recently put into my life to help do this.
Over the past almost two years, I can think of five people who God has placed into my life who have had a profound impact. The saying "people come into your life for a reason, a season, or a lifetime" resonates with me, because it so applies with me. One of those people He put into my life was definitely for a season - a 10 month season. She's no longer part of my life, but I'm thankful for the time He had her in my life as she's the one more than anyone else who knew there was life beyond work for me. Not to mention she also was the one who planted the seed into my head about going back to school. We shared lots of laughs and thoughts many a lunch hour. I think I helped her too though as I was ALWAYS encouraging her... she also admired my passion for working out and pilates.
Another of these friends I haven't seen in over two months now. She's another ex-employee friend of mine. You talk about a great encourager! Although we didn't see each other all that often, the times we did spend together at work were amazing! From fun times and laughter to VERY deep and personal conversations. It was the whole spectrum! We still keep in touch via mutual friends (she's not a computer person at all). Hopefully one of these days soon our paths will cross again.
Those two Angels were put into my path the second half of 2008. In part two, I'll talk about the special people He put into my path last year.
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When I look back at the past couple of years, I have to admit that, for the most part, my walk was not been the best with Him. I would have times where I felt encouraged, and He did keep putting great new people into my life to help me focus on Him. Four months ago, I could finally feel the Lord working on my heart. He was slowly transforming me, and He was mostly working through the people He had recently put into my life to help do this.
Over the past almost two years, I can think of five people who God has placed into my life who have had a profound impact. The saying "people come into your life for a reason, a season, or a lifetime" resonates with me, because it so applies with me. One of those people He put into my life was definitely for a season - a 10 month season. She's no longer part of my life, but I'm thankful for the time He had her in my life as she's the one more than anyone else who knew there was life beyond work for me. Not to mention she also was the one who planted the seed into my head about going back to school. We shared lots of laughs and thoughts many a lunch hour. I think I helped her too though as I was ALWAYS encouraging her... she also admired my passion for working out and pilates.
Another of these friends I haven't seen in over two months now. She's another ex-employee friend of mine. You talk about a great encourager! Although we didn't see each other all that often, the times we did spend together at work were amazing! From fun times and laughter to VERY deep and personal conversations. It was the whole spectrum! We still keep in touch via mutual friends (she's not a computer person at all). Hopefully one of these days soon our paths will cross again.
Those two Angels were put into my path the second half of 2008. In part two, I'll talk about the special people He put into my path last year.
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Thursday, April 29, 2010
School, School & Some Pilates
Yes, that's my Monday-Friday life these days. Well, not really but it just seems that way and it's quite alright with me! I'm very much enjoying my time as a student at Cal Lutheran University. In another three weeks I'll be 3/8 of the way to getting my Accounting degree! This term, my Finance class is going well, despite it being a lot of work. My Advanced Accounting is actually going a little easier than the Intermediate Accounting did. For the summer term, I'll be taking three classes, though one is only two units. My midweek nights will be booked though as the classes are on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.
One of these days I'll hopefully not have a Thursday night class so I can make it to Trissa's pilates class at 24 Hour Fitness. Before school started this past August, I was one of her most consistent students. Next term will mark the FOURTH straight one I've had a Thursday night class at CLU. Bummer, I know. That said, I'm not being starved at all these days in the pilates department. Tomorrow will mark the fifth straight day I've had either a class at 24 Hour with Linda or a private session with Romina at the GREAT Teague Pilates studio I just joined. If you have any interest in pilates, I strongly recommend you check Teague out! You'll be glad you did!
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One of these days I'll hopefully not have a Thursday night class so I can make it to Trissa's pilates class at 24 Hour Fitness. Before school started this past August, I was one of her most consistent students. Next term will mark the FOURTH straight one I've had a Thursday night class at CLU. Bummer, I know. That said, I'm not being starved at all these days in the pilates department. Tomorrow will mark the fifth straight day I've had either a class at 24 Hour with Linda or a private session with Romina at the GREAT Teague Pilates studio I just joined. If you have any interest in pilates, I strongly recommend you check Teague out! You'll be glad you did!
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Wednesday, April 28, 2010
The Lake Show RETURNS!
Just when I thought it was safe to write off my Lakers, out of nowhere came perhaps their best overall game of the season. The "Lake Show" jumped out to a 10-0 lead and never looked back as they took on the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 5 of their best-of-7 series last night at Staples Center. They built their lead to 31-16 after the first quarter and 55-34 at halftime. The Lakers needed to make a statement after their embarassing Game 4 loss and they more than certainly did in that first half!
Just how dominant were the Lakers in the first half? They shot a stratospheric 65%, while holding the Thunder to an abysmal 26%! Yes, that's crazy dominance! The Lakers continued to keep the pedal to the metal in the third quarter, pushing the lead to as many as 32 points. The fourth quarter was all "garbage time" as the late, great Chick Hearn would say and they cruised to a 111-87 win to take a 3-2 lead in the series.
More important than the win, is that it looked like the Lakers may have gotten that swagger of theirs back. The much-maligned Ron Artest looked like he escaped the "Bermuda Triangle" for the first time in quite a while last night. Maybe he's doing some cramming so that he can finally fit into coach Phil Jackson's complicated offensive scheme. Game 6 of the series is in Oklahoma City on Friday night. Go Lakers!
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Just how dominant were the Lakers in the first half? They shot a stratospheric 65%, while holding the Thunder to an abysmal 26%! Yes, that's crazy dominance! The Lakers continued to keep the pedal to the metal in the third quarter, pushing the lead to as many as 32 points. The fourth quarter was all "garbage time" as the late, great Chick Hearn would say and they cruised to a 111-87 win to take a 3-2 lead in the series.
More important than the win, is that it looked like the Lakers may have gotten that swagger of theirs back. The much-maligned Ron Artest looked like he escaped the "Bermuda Triangle" for the first time in quite a while last night. Maybe he's doing some cramming so that he can finally fit into coach Phil Jackson's complicated offensive scheme. Game 6 of the series is in Oklahoma City on Friday night. Go Lakers!
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