Sunday's Comin'

This coming Sunday we'll be looking at and thinking about some of the ways we reflect God's character when we get outside our building and outside our comfort zones to serve others. We'll also look at some very practical ways we can do that, including some that our Eastside Family members are involved with. It'll be one of those Sundays when we don't have a full-fledged sermon, but I'll have several opportunities to transition between sections of the service, and I'll have one talking section of about 10 minutes.

I like doing this kind of thing, and our praise team rehearsal/devo tonight went really well. Now I just need to get my act together on all the things I'm going to say. Still have time, but I really need to have it down well, because once our worship assembly starts, I'll not have time to catch my breath until the closing prayer. :-)

I think it will be a good Sunday... looking, I believe, at the direction God would have us go to serve our community and impact our culture. May He be glorified.

Lazy Boy

The summer before I entered 4th grade our family bought a house in a brand new tract in Oxnard, California, and that's where I did the rest of my growing up, only leaving to go off to college some years later. At some point my folks bought a 3-piece sectional couch, and it was a mainstay in the living room form most of my memory. When they moved to Cabot in 1979, the sectional came with them, and it's still in my mom's living room... and still looks pretty good. It was probably the best quality furniture my folks ever bought, and the frame is still solid today, in spite of cushioning and springs that sag a bit these days. Lesson learned... good furniture lasts awhile.

Virginia and I have mostly bought cheap furniture over the years (sometimes used), although the couch and love-seat combo we bought in Houston lasted pretty well. Last week we decided to change our ways. We donated the furniture we had to a local charity and bought a new couch and love-seat from Lazy Boy.


The love-seat is a double recliner, and both ends of the couch recline as well. And boy-oh-boy are they comfy!! I'm expecting it'll be harder than ever to get Virginia up to go to bed at night. In the pictures I know it looks like leather, but it's not. We both had gotten our legs stuck on too many leather couches, so we decided we to go with fabric instead. This is one of those new generation micro fibers that's stain resistant. But we really liked the look... sort of like an old leather bomber jacket, but the comfort of fabric. Anyway, come visit and you can test it out.

I have my foot propped up with an ice pack on my Achilles, working on this blog. Well, guess I'd better finish and get it posted. See ya!

Garden Update

Some time back I posted some shots of our newly planted veggie garden. Well, only a couple of beans and one yellow squash so far, but I think we're not too far from some good fresh eating. The plants are growing well. Good shot of the squash and beans below. There are also several volunteer tomato plants... will be interesting to see what variety they are.

We decided to put some tomatoes in pots also this year, and they're looking great. Amazing what a difference some nutrients can make. In years past our potted tomatoes were pretty scraggly... not enough food for them I guess.

This sun-flower was among the mixed flower seeds we sowed in one section. Other things are popping up as well.

Earlier we posted this shot of the apple tree, loaded with blooms. Well, below...

...is the same tree, now loaded with leaves and lots of little green apples. A good number of the little apples are now on the ground, courtesy of the wind, so we'll just have to just wait and see how many of the actually make.

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On another note, we were privileged to help with a "celebration of life" service and lunch at church today. No need to share any details, but I just wanted to reflect that such an experience is certainly a joy when coming alongside a family that shares a common faith. The experience actually becomes celebrating a life more than mourning a loss. God is good!

Mother's Day Memories

Remember when your kids were little... when they would bring home something they had made from school or Sunday school... made just for you? Or maybe they would hide in their room and color a special sheet whose home would become the fridge. Remember those days? Remember how special those creations were? Well, occasionally you get to go back and relive those feelings. Sometimes it's when your grand kids or a child at church do something similar, but this Mother's Day Virginia got to experience that feeling again in a very special way.

Jennifer turned back the clock to those Kindergarten years, broke out some paper and felt and scissors and glue, stirred in some creativity, and made a cool Mother's Day card for her mom.


Needless to say, Virginia moved some photos around to create space on the fridge. The outside is above and the inside below. Thanks, Jen, for loving your mom!

Mudd's

Well, today isn't Mother's Day, but we went to a really cool restaurant tonight. Here's the story... Virginia had done some notary work for Brad and Marla and Charlie and Sandy, saving them some signing fees, so they wanted to take us out just to say "Thanks!" Pretty cool actually... Virginia did the work and I pretty much got to ride on her coat tails.



Well, they took us to this marvelous restaurant in San Ramon called Mudd's. You really should click on the link and look at the web site. Anyway, the food was exquisite and the evening with them was wonderful. All six of us had a great time. Thanks, guys!!



This is the room we ate in.

They grow some of the food they serve right here in the adjacent garden, and much of the rest comes from local growers.
Mother's Day Joke: So, Abraham Lincoln's mom pulls him aside and says, "Abe, what's with the stovepipe hat again? Can't you just wear a ball cap like the other kids?"

Mother's Day Is Coming

Today is Friday and Mother's Day is coming. Thought I'd share a few pearls of wisdom I've learned from my mom down through the years (I actually got the idea from a creative nephew). So here are 13 gems to remember:

• You always go to the bathroom when stopping at a gas station on a trip, whether you need to or not.
• It's OK to ask for half a cup of coffee and some hot water if you don't like strong coffee.
• It's easier to do something right the first time.
• And... if it's worth doing, it's worth doing well.
• It's OK to use a towel to play Superman in the yard.
• Family is important, but kids don't run the household.
• 'T'aint what you want that makes you fat, it's what you get.
• A diacondra lawn looks best if mowed twice a week.
• Never buy a Rambler with a push-button transmission.
• If you can put your hands in the dish water, it's not hot enough.
• School is more important than a part-time job.
• Appreciate the people your kids marry.

...and (cue the drum roll here)...

• The sword from a King Arthur set has more uses than you might think.

Now you know why I'm so smart. :) More Mother's Day thoughts later...

Early Mother's Day

Ever since our kids graduated high school and went off to college, they have seldom been able to be home for Mother's Day. However, they've always been great to remember their mom with cards, calls and sometimes even flowers.

Wednesday Virginia got this card from Jeremy and Amber. You'll notice it' actually posted on the fridge. The humor is sooo Jeremy.

Jennifer's creativity is different than her brother's, so I look forward to seeing her card too. Guess I'd better get busy myself; Mother's Day is just three days away.

Pepperdine 07

Well I haven't posted in a while. The week leading up to Pepperdine was pretty busy, and the 4 days at the Pepperdine Bible Lectures were just way too full to post. Suffice it to say that the time at Pepperdine was rich. Great classes and general sessions, seeing old friends and making new ones, time with Jeremy and Amber, wonderful weather... just a great week. Of course, we burned the candle at both ends, staying up late, getting up early, and going full tilt all day, so we came home tired, but I'm already looking forward to next year.

The shot above is a panorama from the Drescher Graduate Campus. Here are a few other shots as well.

This flag is at the Hero's Garden that was set up after 9/11 as a place of peace in a turbulent world.

Here are some more photos from Saturday. These are during the first half of the hike.

These moss covered trees would be really spooky at night!!




Under this canopy of brush were probably 40 or 50 moss covered logs just strewn about.

A long descent... stairs on the steepest sections. The problem is that what goes down has to go back up later.

We crossed this bridge on the way to Stinson Beach. On the return trip we took another trail from this point.

We had to duck this tree en route. One of many.

Tomorrow I'll try to post some shots from the return trip.

Muir Woods to Stinson Beach

As I mentioned Friday, Virginia and I spent most of Saturday hiking with Ron and Tresa. What a great day!! I think we were all pretty tired by the end of the day... it drizzled on us the second half of the hike... I'm pretty stiff and sore this evening... but boy-oh-boy was it a great day. As I've said before, when God created the world he seems to have paid a little extra creative attention to the beauty and variety of the Bay area. And we got to see a wonderful cross section between 9:00 and 4:30 yesterday.

Muir woods is northern rain forest at its best, replete with ferns of several varieties, branches covered with rich mosses, and lush vegetation. Stinson Beach is typical beautiful NoCal beach. The five miles between the two traverses hills and valleys with stunning changes in terrain and vegetation. The shot at the top of the page is a panorama of Stinson Beach as we were descending on the Dipsea Trail. Here are a few representative shots.

Virginia and Tresa on an uphill section early in the hike

Looking back after emerging from Muir woods at the top of the hill on the Dipsea Trail. Leaving the woods was like walking from one room to another. Note the low cloud bank.

This blue lupine was growing just as we left the woods. We saw a lot of it on the descent to Stinson Beach, but not in the woods.

Queen Ann's lace along the trail toward the beach.

Let's end with a shot of Stinson Beach at low tide.

More tomorrow...

More Spring Flowers

Virginia's roses and wild flowers are doing really great. Today was her Friday off, and one thing she did was snap these pics. Enjoy!

Tomorrow a hike from Muir Woods down to Stinson Beach with Ron and Tresa. Will be a long hike, but I'll bet it will yield some good pics.

Mr Kaleb Goes to Washington

Our grandson, Kaleb, is spending his spring break in Washington DC. He even flew on a plane by himself. What an adventurous young guy.

On his list to see were the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial, and the White House. I hope he's enjoying the sight-seeing more than it looks like in this pic... I imagine he is. He's probably just doing some deep thinking.

Hopefully there'll be a trip to visit Nanna and Papa in the not too distant future.

Life in a Hostile World

In the wake of those horrific shootings at Virginia Tech I got to thinking about how commonplace war and violence is in our world. Not only is Iraq a reality for us today, but on this 19th day of May over the years, consider the following...

1587: English admiral Sir Francis Drake entered Cadiz harbor and sank the Spanish fleet

1775: The American Revolutionary War began at the Battle of Lexington, Mass. Eight Minutemen were killed and 10 wounded in an exchange of musket fire with British Redcoats. The shot heard round the world.

1824: English poet Lord Byron died of a fever while aiding Greek rebels fighting the Turks

1943: During World War Two, tens of thousands of Jews living in the Warsaw Ghetto began a valiant but futile battle against Nazi forces

1990: Nicaragua's 9-year-old civil war neared its end as Contra guerrillas, the Sandinistas and the incoming government agreed to a truce and a deadline for the rebels to disarm

1993: The 51-day siege at the Branch Davidian compound near Waco, Texas, ended as fire destroyed the structure after federal agents began smashing their way in; dozens of people, including David Koresh, were killed

1994: Bosnian Serbs seized anti-aircraft guns from U.N. guards near Sarajevo and shelled a hospital and U.N. buildings in Gorazde

1995: A truck bomb exploded outside the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, killing 168 people, and injuring 500.

And on it goes...

About a year and a half ago I wrote about watching the movie, Troy, and remarking that at one point in the movie Achilles is asked, "When will it end?" His reply is simply, "It will never end." And centuries later, it has not ended.

To paraphrase the late Reuel Lemmons, only the gospel of Jesus will make way for the doves of peace to build their nests in our cannon barrels.

Jesus is still the answer for the world today.

Virginia Tech

We sent this prayer request to our PrayEmail Warriors this morning:

I’m sure that, like me, your hearts are breaking for the families of those students and faculty who were gunned down at Virginia Tech yesterday. Let's all continue to remember them, their families, their friends, and their co-workers in our prayers this week. This kind of tragedy is unimaginable and unexplainable, no matter what the facts turn out to be. It is a testimony to the true need for the healing, deliverance and peace that only Jesus can bring. May the people of Virginia know this through Him and may Christians everywhere be the conduits through whom that peace comes.

Please join us in praying for all of these.

Not Too Taxing

April 15 is one of those dates that just has a ring to it. Admittedly, for some the bell may sound a bit cracked because it's ringing that taxes are due, but April 15 rings familiar none-the-less. Well, this year taxes are actually not due until Tuesday the 17th because the 15th is today, Sunday, and there is some holiday or something in DC... so everyone who needs it gets a two-day reprieve this year.

Well, since tax day isn't the headliner today, I thought I'd give everyone some other April 15 things worthy of note.

1452: Sculptor, writer, musician, mathematician, painter and inventor, Leonardo da Vinci was born in Florence, Italy

1892: General Electric Company forms

1933: Actress Elizabeth Montgomery born in Los Angles, California

1955: Ray Kroc opens the first McDonald's restaurant in Des Plaines, Illinois

1957: Four time Olympic Gold Medalist, runner Evelyn Ashford born in Shreveport, Louisiana

1992: Leona Helmsely imprisoned for tax evasion (imagine that!!)

And... 2007: Eastside Church held our 2nd (hopefully annual) Sunday of Service. What a great day! It rained all day Saturday so we were a bit worried, but it turned off sunny and cool and breezy today. Instead of class, we met for worship at 9:00, went to work on the property at 10:30, broke for a hot dog lunch in our picnic area at 12:30, and had all the last details wrapped up by 2:30.

This day is becoming a special one for us... a time to make memories... a time of rolling-up-sleeves fellowship... one more way we can show faithful stewardship of God's gracious gifts.

Happy April 15!!

The Jury Is In

A while back I put 12 Angry Men in our Netflix queue, and it showed up in the mail a week or so ago. Well, today it's been raining, so after a hike with VJ I decided to workout in the house while watching the movie. I finished my workout, and then sipped on some coffee while finishing the movie. I had seen it once before, but it's an intriguing film. The quality of the ensemble cast who make up the jury is easily seen just by looking at the shot above. But that's only the beginning. It's a wonderful character study, and even though the outcome is fairly predictable, it's camera angles and use of stereotypes as symbols is marvelous. Yes, filmed in 1957, it's not as slick as a similar film today might be, but it's a classic treasure. I just love it. If you're a movie buff and haven't seen it, you need to put it on your list.

About a year or more ago somebody sent me a link to an "add" for a new video game called Song Leader Revolution. Well, today I received an email with a link to the the new 2007 version. Click here and you can see both the 06 and 07 versions. They're both a hoot. Enjoy!

Cell Phone Saga

Until last week Virginia and I have been with Sprint ever since we entered the cell phone family of users back in 1999. My old Palm device died recently and it was time for new phones anyway, so I decided to get one of those "smart phones" that is a phone, pda, and can do email, surf, etc. Sprint's reward for our 8 years of loyalty was to give me a deal just slightly less attractive than what they would use to entice a new customer, so we were done with Sprint. One kid uses Cingular and the other Verizon, so we decided to look at those providers... at least we could call one of them for free.




We settled on Verizon for a couple of reasons: 1) anecdotal testimony indicates that Verizon has the best signal in our area, and 2) a very helpful sales guy who got me this phone (Samsung i730 - last years model) free! It indeed had all the functions I desired, so I could sync with Outlook on my computer; I could also do email, etc. from this phone in the future if I want to by simply adding that service. However, the design was not easy to use, and it had a tendency to lock up once in a while, so I decided to take it back and buy another phone I had looked at.



This one, the Pantech PN820, is much more suited to me. It's a "clam shell" design, so it's not as bulky, and it still syncs nicely with

Outlook. And, with a sale and a rebate, I ended up getting it at a little less than half the price... not free, but much better than anything Sprint had to offer.

Maybe the best thing about the whole deal was getting to keep our old numbers. Having to get a new cell # might have been reason to stay with Sprint... or not.

That's all for now. Happy talking, wireless buddies!!

Happy Easter!

He Is Risen!

A Hike, a Picnic, and Our Friend, Marube

Today was our annual Easter Egg Hunt and Family Picnic out at the Black Diamond Mines picnic area. Virginia and I decided to hike over the hills to get there, backpacking our lunch with us. We headed up our street and and over the hill at the public access to the park area off Grimsby Court. When we got to the top, instead of going down the trail to the Contra Loma Reservoir like we usually do, I had the bright idea to head across a cow path, hoping to intersect with another trail that would take us to Black Diamond Mines, saving us quite a few steps... or so I thought. We were welcomed to the pasture area by this bull and several cows, all grazing peacefully as we entered their space thinking of the California Happy Cows commercials.




This route gave us a new view of the reservoir.

However, this route did not intersect with the trial I thought it would. Instead we ended up climbing a very steep trail along a fence row, arriving atop a hill with no apparent way forward. Not wanting to go back, we finally climbed a barbed wire fence (video of that would be worth the price of admission), and worked our way down a very steep section, eventually arriving back at an official trail. Honestly, we could have used some rope! Here's a shot of VJ with our recent descent in the background. Let's just say the shot does not do it justice.

We finally made it to the picnic area, treating ourselves to some beautiful views along the way up some pretty steep trails. The panoramic shot at the top is one. I think if you click on it you'll get a larger pic to view. We got there, ate our lunches, visited with people, and when things broke up, Virginia hitched a ride home and I hiked back with Nyabuto Marube. I know, I know, most of you are saying, "Who?" First a picture, then an explanation.

The shot above is from the Ridge Trail as we hiked back, but let's back up. For many years not Eastside has supported Marube, a native Kenyan minister, in his work near Nairobi, Kenya. A church in Oklahoma paid his airfare, and he was able to get a visa, so he left his family for a 4-week trip to the states to visit friends and churches who are either involve with or interested in the Kenyan work. He has bee staying with Virginia and me while in Antioch, and it's been a joy getting to know him... such a sweet Christian Spirit. He'll teach a combined adult class and preach tomorrow. Monday evening he'll fly to Portland, then on to Ohio and Illinois before flying home from Chicago on the 23rd.

He and I enjoyed the hike back home. Arriving at the Contra Loma Reservoir meant we were getting closer.

I'll leave you with an unusually shot. We ran across a momma duck and some little ones swimming along the edge of the water. They even agreed to pose for the shot. :-)

Well, that's it for today!

Happy Easter everyone! Praise God for the resurrection!!

More Flowers

The flowers continue to bloom, so I thought Good Friday was a good time to post a few more pics while they are at their spring best.

A red rose on one of those mature bushes I mentioned last time.

Here's a beautiful flower holding an almost as beautiful golden rose from one of the new little bushes.

A close-up of 3 of those golden roses.

The ice plant (a succulent for those uninitiated to such) that grows on the hill that runs along the south side of our lot blooms for a brief time each spring with beautiful small purple blooms. Here's a shot from the front, and a close-up of one of the blooms below that.

Well, that's if for now. Have a wonderful Saturday and a meaningful Easter!