Daily Walk 365 – Day 2

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For it is God who is working among you both the willing and the working for His good purpose. — Philippians 2:13 (HCSB)

That seems a bit awkward in structure… unfamiliar, shouldn’t be since Bobby’s camping out in Philippians on Sunday mornings, lets look at some different translations.

for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose. — Phil 2:13 (NIV)

Hmmm… Maybe its because this verse is tucked between such awesome parts of Philippians (verse 2:5ff — “your attitude should be like Christ’s” and 2:14 — “do everything without complaining or arguing”) that I’ve missed it as I breeze through. But its still seems odd phrasing. Can Eugene Peterson do anything with this?

That energy is God’s energy, an energy deep within you, God himself willing and working at what will give him the most pleasure. — Phil 2:13 (Message)

Hmmm. The exhortation to change your attitude (v 2.5ff) seems to also join with Christ in allowing God to work in and with ourselves towards His will. The book adds another quotation (as it does for most of the days… but I won’t always transcribe it here) that seems important as I dwell on this passage.

In God’s plan, God is the standard for perfection. We don’t compare ourselves to others; they are just as fouled up as we are. The goal is to be like him; anything less in inadequate. — Max Lucado

Max always does a great job of clearing things up. Though the exhortation to perfection is a bit disconcerting to those with a perfectionist bent, it is good to realize that our model isn’t our friend, neighbor, mentor, teacher, or critic. Our model is Christ, who when faced with disappointment, exhaustion, pain, and indecision, reached out to God (or as yesterday’s excerpt mentions — call out to God). Even in our imperfection, that method is open to us, thanks to Christ’s sacrifice. And in calling out to God, we also have to be open to listening, hearing and allowing God to work in us and through us towards His purposes, not ours.

I don’t do that enough, may I do it evermore as I run this race.

Peace.

Daily Walk 365 – Introduction and Day 1

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The new school season started today, and yesterday was promotion Sunday.  As I walked into my class, I found a nice present from our Family Minister: Walking with Christ Every Day: 365 daily devotions for men

I wasn’t expecting it, but with the summer winding down, and a few more classes on my schedule (Sunday and Wednesday, and participating in Sunday evening and some blurry Men’s-ministry-that’ll-happen-someday-soon) I’ve been really dwelling on the fact that I’m not that great at two things I used to enjoy immensely: Blogging, and spending time with God. (not necessarily in that order)

So this welcome present, presents an opportunity for me.

  1. Get reconnected with my Savior.
  2. Wonderful blog fodder.

So while I may not actually blog about my daily reading, I’ll keep up my daily reading, and if the spirit moves, I’ll blog about it with the above title — Daily Walk 365 – Day # (If any of my two readers are bored enough to search for this later).

I blog in bursts, so don’t get too involved in reading these that you don’t suddenly get whip-lash reading another post on Survivor strategy, or Lost mysteries.  I blog for myself, you know.

Anyhoo, I hope you enjoy, Day 1, below the fold

Continue reading →

Summing up

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I want to start something new that will hopefully use this blog other than a sucking black-hole of dullness.  But first I’ll quickly summarize what’s happened since the way-to-big tv was bought.

  • It was TOO big.  Conventional wisdom is get the biggest TV in your budget, that is bunk, it should be get the biggest TV that won’t overpower your room and doesn’t make it seem like a big dark cave with a glowing window to other worlds.  Not to say I didn’t LOVE the escapism quality, but this is the living room not a media room.  We needed balance, so we took it back and got a reasonable 46″ LCD and it fits into the room much better.
  • Kids arrived safely from camps, over nighters, and other activities.
  • We didn’t swim as much this summer, a bit longer of a drive, and a longer available season (instead of the Texas pool only open during summer hours season) made it less of a priority.  But we’ll be swimming more during the fall and winter when our pool is still open.
  • School shopping was abbreviated, and we’ll continue with clothes shopping as the budget allows instead of a huge suck from our wallet.
  • All the kids are in school, can you say HALLY-LOO-JA!
  • Co-ed Softball for Angie an I start tomorrow.  I’m still considering whether a season ending injury the first game is a good or a bad thing.

And that pretty much sums up the last month of Summer.  So have fun with that.

Funny thing happened on the way to the theater

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So we got Danny and Brenna off to their 4 day camp, then back home with Lauren and MJ.  Lauren went over to a friend’s house and so MJ, Angie and I were playing on  our computers.  Angie decided we’d sneak out to see Kung Fu Panda with MJ.  But we got a late start and couldn’t make the movie show time.

The next show would start after we’d have to pick up Lauren, so we worked out some logistics, then decided to go to Cosco to fill our larder.  After grabbing some frozen stuff to put in our freezer in the garage, we figured had a bit of time to do some window shopping.

Wait, need to esplain, no it is too much, will summ up: Our current HDTV has lost one of the color channels.  Unless we like watching smurfs or leprhchans (blue of green) watching our TV had become a little frustrating.  Especially, if like Angie loves to do, you’re watching a home design show and they decribe a vibrant yellow that looks like a muddy green.  So yesterday it was sorta like the TV commercial where the wife says, yeah, we need a new TV, and the guy grabs his keys.

We went to Conn’s, mostly because we have good credit history with them (about to pay off three kitchen appliances we bought in ’05) and started looking.  Our current TV is a 28″ HDTV CRT, and so we started out at around 30″ and just kept going up.  We liked a 46″ LCD, and so asked the salesman to run a credit check.  While he was doing that we wandered to the rear of the store and found some absolutely lovely DLPs.  The price for DLPs is much less than an LCD, the cost is a bit more space (can’t wall mount) and a DLP does have a bulb that will wear out.  So while we were watching the pretty pictures, and wondering around the small furniture section, the sales guy comes back and says, you can pretty much get what you want (he ran the high end of the LCDs we were looking at).  I respond with, “That’s a bit scary.”  We talked with him a bit about the DLPs, then it was time to get Lauren, and try to make the show.

Only we waited to long, by the time we got Lauren and headed back to the freeway, the clock had again ticked past and we’d get to the theater too late.  So back home to do research and discuss some options.  We use our living room to host a weekly American Idol party when that’s in season, and so that was part of the discussion.  We talked viewing angles, and flexibility of rearranging, and sizes, and by the end of the time, we’d pretty much agreed on a moderate sized LCD in the middle of our price range.

We set off to Pei Wei to eat, then back to Conn’s to make the buying decision.  We got back to the store, and start to look and narrow down.  The one I liked from my research was a bit about our agreed upon price point, and so we hemmed and hawed, and wound up back in the back with the DLPs, and a nice console that met Angie’s standards.  The console ended up being out of stock, and then looked at the DLPs a bit more closer, the one we liked was a 60″, but next to it, the same model and features was a 65” a hundred less.  We bit, then added an upscaling DVD player (not ready for Blu-Ray yet) and some cables, and we’re out the door.

We had to drive to almost Irving to pick up the behemoth after dropping off the kids, to clear out the van.  The box filled up the back of the van (with the seats folded), and setup was a breeze.  We obviously need to do some rearranging, and maybe buy different furniture for it.

Once we placed it in the room, we realized how absolutely ginormous this thing is… Turning it on, was surreal, crisp vibrant colors, deep fine features in 1080i from the Verizon FiOS tuner.  MJ, just wanted to play a game, so he hooked up his SpongeBob game contoller and got lovely 16bit quality pixelated video that he played avidly.  Still have to test the Wii and hookup the upconverting DVD.

As you can see from the picture, about 4 of our old screens would fit in the screen size of the new one.  We’re a bit overwhelmed, but I think we can adapt. :)  (link to the TV at amazon)

Happy Anniversary, 15 Years of Love…

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My bride wrote about our courting on her blog. She got it right, but let me add some stuff from my perspective (and because if I don’t she’ll cream me).

The first ‘date/meeting’ was at Marakesh (a Morracan restaurant) in Mission Valley, which is a good 20 minute drive from Pacific Beach where I shared an apartment when I wasn’t on the ship. Also PB (as it is affectionately known) was about a 20 minute drive to work in the morning, and muster in the Navy is usually 7:00 AM, which means park by at least 6:00 AM, walk down the pier to the ship, scramble up ten stories of ladders (they don’t put passenger elevators on those things) get dressed, then back down to get the POD (Plan of the Day) from the XO (Executive Officer) at Officer’s Call before greeting my Division for muster. So yeah, I had to leave a bit earlier than I’d have liked. But I fell in love with her that night. Look at that picture over there, her eyes and smile still captivate me, can you blame me?

And I do remember who lost that Superbowl the next day, in those days tradition was the Buffalo Bills would shred the AFC then pitifully lose the Superbowl against the NFC Champion, often it was the Cowboys that had the privileged, but I believe that year the Redskins had the honor.

It is also of note, apart from cruises, trips or business and family we haven’t spent a night apart since that first weekend. There have been up times and down times, times of uproarious laughter and deepest tears. But through it all, my bride has stuck by me, and I’ve tried my best to pamper her in the way a Princess should.

You see, back in the dark days before the internet, we had ‘handles’ on that 32-line BBS. Mine was pretty plain, being the senior Ensign (kinda like being the oldest Freshman) I had the honorary title of ‘Bull Ensign’ so I chose ‘Bull’ as my handle. Angie changed hers about as much as she changes her Facebook photo, but usually it was some concoction of ‘Princess’. We went to a few of the San Diego Connection parties, their Halloween bash was a celebration of Geekiness, and another party we had to leave early because … well… it WAS California, and we’re talking about a lot of geeky singles. I think there was a CSI episode loosely based on a SDC party.

Now we’ve decided to start playing softball in the fall on the co-ed team. Which also brings back some memories of our courting days. I used to play for the ship’s softball team, and drug Angie along to watch, and she met a few of the other girlfriends and wives. One night, I made an error (I know SHOCKING, right?) at second base, and was getting mad at myself, and one of the wives yelled out, ‘Shake it off, Bull!’ but in a really strong Jersey accent. So when you come to a softball game this fall, and I mess up, you’ll probably hear Angie yell that.

Oh… San Diego memories. We can talk about shopping for rings in Horton Plaza. Proposing again for the second time, correctly this time, outside of Sea Port village. Living in her mom’s apartment in the IB (Imperial Beach, home of John from Cincinnati), moving into our cramped studio apartment on G-Street across the street from Sea Port Village, the same weekend we drove to San Leandro to deliver her Mom’s stuff.

Its been quite a ride, baby. Can’t wait for the following 35 years. 🙂

updates

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I guess I should write something, hmmm.

Sorry blog, I’ve been unfaithful, been too busy facebooking to blog. Please forgive me.

This past week has been a blur, so many plan, so little done, but I got the important stuff done.

I spent the majority part teaching VBS (vacation bible school for you peeps not in the belt), part feeding my brood, part swimming and part sleeping. Which leaves a lot un-done. But there is always tomorrow.

The softball team continues to do well, don’t want to jinx it with specifics, so I may post again in 8 weeks. I’ve been more active, and I’m eating less, but I haven’t found another scale to check out progress. I’ll update if I ever find one.

I found an old friends from high school on facebook. Kinda strange, to be more years away from high school than it took to get there. I remember thinking how strange it was for my mother to go to her 20 year high school reunion, and what do you know I’m past that marker. Where does the time go.

My kids rock my world everyday. Lauren is doing an art summer school thing and loving it. Brenna had a great time at VBS and is at a Camp Rock sleep over party. Danny has a humongous speaking part for next weeks music camp, and had a lot of fun being a beach monkey this past week. And Mikey Jon had fun being a REAL VBSer… he ever got to bring home his classes outrigger canoe (sans outrigger).

I’m about tapped out, this morning in Music, I had a ‘moment’, we were singing the slower song, The Word:

In the beginning was the Word
and it was with God and was God
Before an eye had seen or
ear had heard
there was the Word

I know the Bible is God’s Word
His written promises to earth

It is a lamp unto the feet of those
who believe in its worth

The Word is
Perfect Truth
The Word is
what I cling to

Unbreakable
Unshakeable
Word of God

I love the Word
of God

The slow pace, and the symbolic signs (using mostly real signs) just brought it home to me. The preamble of the song quotes the beginning of John 1, and is John’s creation story, and he projects Jesus as God’s word. We also see a parallel in God’s word as his holy scriptures. We were signing the chorus that starts … The Word is what I cling too… unbreakable…

I was overcome, tears flowed down my cheeks, and I had to sit down… hands in my face, sobbing. Its so easy, yet so hard sometimes to cling to Jesus, but its all I need to do. The Word totally has my back, everytime. He is faithful, to the end. I’ll chalk up my emotionalism to just being wiped… but I also know that I’m blessed to have a savior that rocks my world, with such simple words.

Peace.

Graduation Day

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Cell0018

Last night was another right of passage for the Stueve household. Angie previously documented the pre-school graduation for youngest son Michael, tonight was younger daughter Brenna’s turn in the spotlight.

No cap and gown, just a well orchestrated hour long program celebrating the end of elementary school. The beginning of the program had the Principal announce the recipients of the President’s Academic Achievement award (Angie will correct me if I got the title wrong). Brenna and all her close friends (with one exception) all were awarded the certificate (with a signature from President Bush — or a reasonable facsimile thereof) and a lapel pin.

Then each 5th grade teacher (we team teach here in Texas, so even in 5th grade there is a ‘homeroom’ teacher — and they all share teaching duties for different subjects) introduced their homeroom class. Brenna’s homeroom class was last, so her teacher rightfully trumped all other claims to ‘the best class’, simply by virtue of having the last word. Brenna is on the right stage right left, top row — standing next to her teacher. Rightfully proud of a year well done.

Next year her political career starts off, on her quest to be the first woman President of the United States, with a stint as 6th grade representative at the Middle School her older sister will command as an eighth-grader. I’m not sure that school knows what’s in store for them with two Stueve girls in attendance.

Congratulations on all your achievements this year, Brenna. Your hard work paid off!

Bonus Video: 10 second clip of the graduates singing

Brenna – Graduation Song