My Favorite Things

An update on some of my favorite things...

1. Titus is walking!!!! Last night I picked Christina and the boys up from the airport. Their plane was late, and their luggage was mixed up, so we left the airport at 7:10 (church starts at 7:00) and didn't arrive at church until about 7:45. One of our volunteers was with the teens in our fellowship hall and we got to just hang out for the remaining 15 minutes of class. I put Titus on the floor in the middle of a circle of chairs and he took a few PURPOSEFUL steps to one of the teens. Then he just kept walking to people. He can stand up on his own and walks like a champ, although he only takes a couple steps at a time. I know this complicates things as far as further baby-proofing the house, but for now we're just excited that our little guy is getting SOOOO big!

2. I really believe Lost is the greatest television series of all time. I'm a big Seinfeld fan, I liked Cheers, but Lost is just an incredible show. It lacks the over-dramatic, somewhat poor acting of 24; it lacks the sexually-charged story lines of Grey's Anatomy (although it occasionally has both); and it's creative, suspenseful, and incredibly addicting. Sure some of the sub-plots leave you scratching your head (polar bears, giant man-eating monsters, etc.), but wow, what a great show.

3. The Yankees. Oh the Yankees. Swept in Boston, then swept in Tampa Bay. Everyone on their pitching staff is either too old or too inexperienced. Maybe Roger Clemens will come back, maybe he won't. A-Rod is on fire, but every other bat is cold as ice. They're now in last place in the AL East.
BUT...it's only April. Nothing matters in April, or before the All-Star break, for that matter. Teams as recently as 2003 (Florida Marlins) were in dead-last place before The Break and ended up winning the World Series. Still, there's this feeling that this year's Yankee's aren't headed in that direction. Mariano Rivera has blown two saves already, Carl Pavano is back on the DL, as is Moose. Wang returned from the DL to get shelled by the D-Rays, and now our pitching staff looks like the patchwork quilt I sewed in 3rd grade art class - ugly, mismatched, awkward, and coming apart at the seams.

Nevertheless, life in the Jones camp is pretty good these days.

Back Home

It's 12:16 a.m. and I'm finally back home from a great trip to Texas. I got to spend an awesome weekend with the high school group from Richland Hills then see my whole family for about 18 hours.

On all the flights and in my layovers I finished reading Don Miller's "Through Painted Deserts." It's a story about a road trip he and buddy took and all that he learned from the experience. It's inspiring and really funny. I highly recommend the book.

He talks a lot about the music he listen's to on the trip, and it got me thinking about what I would listen to if I took a road trip across the country. Here's what I came up with (in no particular order):

- Jack Johnson
- Norah Jones
- Need to Breathe (my new favorite Christian band)
- Coldplay
- David Crowder Band

If I had these five singers/bands, I would be a happy guy traveling across the country. What music would you take?

Something to Talk About

Sanjaya is FINALLY off American Idol. I believe he has to be a nice person, but it was getting painful watching him perform each week. (Isn't it great being the critic sitting on the couch with not even an ounce of the talent he has :).

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The Jones fam flies out to Texas in the morning. I get to spend the weekend with the 24/7 high school group from Richland Hills. It will be a great weekend seeing friends and family and, most importantly, eating at Rosa's Cafe. For those of you who have not experienced the awe and wonder of Rosa's, I pray someday that hole in your lives will be filled by a #14 with beef, chips and queso, a Coke, and some chocolate cake for dessert.

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My accountant friends are coming out of their busy season while me and my fellow youth ministers are entering into ours. We've got a lot on our plate these next few months, but the most exciting news is that I get to go to Malawi, Africa with three teens from our youth group. We were selected along with groups from Washington state, Utah, and Connecticut through World Vision to go on the 2007 Study Tour. We go sometime in July. I CAN'T WAIT!!!!!!

Virginia Tech

A few friends have called asking if we have any former students at Virginia Tech. The answer is no, but there is a young man named Daniel from another area church who is a freshman there. I've not heard his status, but I pray he's okay. Daniel is a wonderful guy.

Why are we so quick to look for someone to blame when tragedy strikes? On the radio all day in Richmond I've heard people complaining about the response time from school and local authorities in Blacksburg. It's as though campus police are to show up everyday ready for a mass shooting to break out. I would not want to be where those men and women are right now and I certainly am not going to second-guess their efforts.

There's a sense of sadness around town today. I feel it too. Most people here have ties to VPI (Virginia Polytechnic Institute) in one way or another. At our church we have many alumni. In Virginia it's known for having high standards of education and ethics. It's sad that "the biggest massacre in U.S. history" will forever be associated with such a wonderful institution.

If we must blame someone, we can blame the gunman. If we want to make sense of it all, we can acknowledge that the world belongs to the Prince of Darkness. If we want comfort in it all, we can remember that we've been saved by the Prince of Peace. May those affected and saddened by today's events take comfort in His Peace.

Hmmm...

So Sanjaya stays on American Idol. How about that.

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Quick Levi story:
We were wrestling on our bed just now and I pulled Levi's legs up over his head. When I did, he "broke wind." He started laughing and I said, "What do you say?" To which he responded: "Good one!"
I don't know where he gets this stuff.

Sanjaya?

The longer Sanjaya stays on American Idol the more confused I become. At first I thought it was just the people from votefortheworst.com, but it seems like people are taking a liking to him - him, not his singing. What if he actually won the competition? What would that mean for the show? Not that it's the most reputable show on television, but if a guy like Sanjaya makes it even into the top five, what will that do to the reputation and standing of American Idol? It's interesting that Americans appear to be taking joy in hijacking the show - voting for the worst contestant rather than the best, just to see how far he can get.

Tonight we'll see if he's made it one more week.

What are your thoughts on Sanjaya?

Great Movie...Sort of

Christina and I went to see "Reign Over Me" the other night. It's the new Adam Sandler/Don Cheadle movie about a guy (Adam Sandler) who lost his wife and daughters in 9/11. The movie itself was okay - a lot of cussing and some unnecessary crude scenes - but it did have a lot of great scenes. I loved the movie because of how it made me think after it was over. The main question I left with was this one:

What things are worthy of my life?

I don't mean that arrogantly, but what is worth wasting my time and energy on? For instance, is it worth my life to get upset by menial things that won't matter a few minutes later? Is sitting around, watching TV all day worthy of my life? (No) So I've started making some lists. I've made a list of things I want to do before I die such as going skydiving, learning a trade, and being responsible for helping a poor man get back on his feet. I also made a list of things that are not worthy of my life such as laziness, selfishness, and getting frustrated by petty things.

If you're going to a movie and don't know what to see, you might check out "Reign Over Me," but be ready to think deeply about your life afterward.