Dwight Schrute Classics

If you're a fan of "The Office," you'll enjoy these clips. Heck, if you're NOT a fan of "The Office" you'll enjoy these. Dwight Schrute is perhaps one of the funniest characters ever on any television show. Click the link to enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BX24F6yfIuU&NR=1

Hey Mr. D.J.

Well, technically I'm not a "D.J." but I will be on the radio. There's a new station starting up in Richmond on 88.1 that will play Christian music that targets a younger audience. Tomorrow I get to go record about a dozen 2-minute devotionals to be played on the air at the bottom of every hour. Here's a sample:

In Matthew 19:16 we read the following story:

“Now a man came to Jesus and asked, ‘Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?’

‘Why do you ask me about what is good?’ Jesus replied. ‘There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, obey the commandments.’

‘Which ones?’ the man inquired.

Jesus replied, ‘Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother and love your neighbor as yourself.’

‘All these I have kept,’ the young man said. ‘What do I still lack?’

Jesus answered, ‘If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.’

When the young man heard this, he went away sad because he had great wealth.”

The problem with the rich young man, among other things, is that he lost sight of the big picture. He had the chance to be personally associated with the Son of God, the co-creator of the universe, the Lion of Judah! He had the opportunity to walk along dirt roads with the Lamb of God. He was personally invited to be at His side. But he passed it up. And for what, some money? How much more valuable would time spent personally with Jesus be than money? If the rich young man had been looking at the big picture he would have given away his money in a heartbeat to be with the King of Kings.

What big picture are you missing in your life? If you were in the position of the rich young man, what would Jesus want you to give up in order to fully follow Him? Would it be your job? Do you work so much that you never see your family? Would it be an addiction? Do drugs, alcohol, or other addictions keep you from fully seeing Jesus Christ? Is it your pride? Is it anger? Whatever it is, ask yourself if it’s of greater value than being with the Son of God. If not, why don’t you simply lay it at His feet, and follow Him?

I'm not sure when it will be on the air, but be sure and tune in if you're in the Richmond area.

On the DL

That's right, folks. Mark it down: Cory Jones is on the DL (that's "Disabled List" for the layperson). For whatever reason, I was inspired Monday night to go for a jog. I took it easy and only ran a mile, just up the road and back in our subdivision. Wednesday morning I woke up early to go run the same mile. Just as I reached the half-mile point things went horribly wrong. I turned to see if any cars were coming as I started crossing the street. When I turned my head I stepped wrong and rolled my left ankle. I went sprawling out on the side of the road - hands scraping, iPod flying through the air...it was an ugly sight. Luckily it was early in the morning so, as far as I could tell, no one saw it.

I stood up, plugged my earphones back into my iPod, and continued my run. My ankle hurt when I fell, but the pain slowly moved to the side of my foot. Before I had run another 1/10 of a mile, I could feel a slight bulge jetting out of my left shoe. It was painful, but just in the annoying way. I was still running okay so I pushed through hoping it would subside. Unfortunately it didn't.

I ran back home (and even sprinted up our cul-de-sac) and got ready for a shower. When I took my shoe off my left foot was swollen and purple. It was beginning to hurt a little more and, after my shower, I was seriously considering a trip to the ER. But I could still put pressure on it so I assumed nothing was broken. I woke Christina up and got her expert Occupational Therapist opinion. She, unsympathetically I might add, poked and prodded at it and said I was fine.

It still hurts. It's still swollen. I'm still annoyed.

I'm annoyed because I actually WANT to go running for the first time in my life. I never understood how people could "enjoy" running, but now I get it. It's refreshing, it makes you feel great, and it gets you outdoors. I'll see if I feel the same way in the middle of July.

For now, this means I have to walk with a slight limp. It's just enough to make someone watch closely to see if I'm actually limping. It also means I have to sit out of this week's softball game.

Maybe after a few minor league rehab starts I'll be ready to get back on the Moody Middle School field in a couple weeks. We'll see.

How are your feet?

Easy Speed Racer

Tonight we planned on having a neighbor over for dinner so we went nuts cleaning the house. Christina scrubbed every inch of the kitchen, top to bottom, and I tackled the living room and guest bathroom. Our dinner plans didn't work out, but after we ate we stood at the sink together washing the dinner dishes and I thought to myself, "It would be great to keep the house clean like this all the time, but it's funny how fast it goes from spotless to disastrous."

That got me thinking about all the times I've thought things happened quickly. Here's what I came up with:

1. In my last post I wrote about a scary moment on a whitewater rafting trip. Our guide kept telling us how amazed he was at how fast things can go wrong on the river.

2. I erased April on my wall calendar at my office and filled in the month of May. I thought, "When did it become May? For that matter, when did we live through February, March and April? Those months sure went fast."

3. We think Titus said his first word. He waves and says, "Ay!" We interpret it as "Hi." When we officially declared it his first word, I said, "He's not supposed to be talking yet. That happened too fast."

4. Someone recently asked how long I've lived in Virginia and I told them, "Almost six years." I then immediately thought, "Six years?!?!?!? Jeez Louise that went by fast!"

5. And, of course, our boys grow up SOOOOOO fast. Levi is doing something everyday that makes him seem so much more like a grown boy. Titus, as I said, is starting to form words with thoughts and is starting to experience so much of the world.

With all the complaining we do about things naturally happening so fast, it's amazing we don't strive for a slower lifestyle. We're always hurrying, always rushing out the door, always telling Levi to "hurry bud, we're running late!" We've convinced ourselves that stillness is the equivalent of laziness and silence means you're not contributing to what's going on around you.

Jesus had a different opinion on those subjects. Stillness away from the busy crowd meant you were spending your time wisely; silence meant you understood who controlled your life (even for the Son of God!!!). I'll confess I have to consciously force myself to slow my mind during the day to spend time with God, time with His Word, and time laying my praise and concerns at his feet. With each year it seems to come less and less naturally. In coming out of that stillness and silence, though, I find renewal and a new focus on my day.

If only 3-year-olds could grasp the concept of stillness. It might make it an easier practice for many of us :).

Whitewater Rafting

This past weekend I went with 11 other guys from church to West Virginia for a rafting trip (yes, we both heard and made plenty of "Deliverance" jokes). Anyway, it was quite possibly one of the greatest trips I've ever been on without my wife (no trip is complete without her).

I LOVE being on a river. There's something about rivers that gets me going more than a lake or even the ocean. Rivers are alive and moving and going somewhere. They're dangerous yet peaceful. If a river is surrounded by mountains I think there's not a better place in the world to be. Luckily, the New River in West Virginia weaves through the old coal mining mountains of that state and offers the most breathtaking scenery I've seen since moving to the east coast. Make all the jokes you want about West Virginia, but it's a BEAUTIFUL place.

One scary moment came on the first of our two trips down the river. We were entering a series of rapids called the Upper Keenie's when our guide told us that it was the most rigorous area on the river. He said if we fell out to swim hard to the left to avoid some undercurrents and some rocks. As we passed through the Upper Keenie's into the Middle Keenie's, we hit a huge wall of water just as our guide turned the boat hard left. John Newhouse was sitting the third seat back on the left and the momentum of the water combined with the sudden turning of the boat sent him tumbling into some intense rapids. The look on our guide's face told us all that the situation wasn't good. He immediately threw a rescue line to John that missed by about five feet. John went flying downstream, bobbing up and down as he went. Our raft made it to an eddy on the other side of Middle Keenie's and waited to see where John was going. We thought he made it onto some rocks on the side of the river and, after a few tense seconds, we saw him come racing over a huge rock right back into the middle of the rapids. Our guide shouted a few expletives and commanded us to "paddle forward and dig it in!!!" We once again missed grabbing him by only a few inches. Another boat got to him right as he entered another series of rapids and he caught hold of their rescue line. Unfortunately he caught it as he was entering the rapids, so he was stuck holding a rope that would save him while being submerged in water that could kill him. He went under for a few more seconds before popping up one last time. When he did the other boat grabbed his PFD (personal flotation device) and hauled him in, gasping for air.

It was intense.

I loved being with the guys from church and bonding with them over experiences like this one. It feels good to be a man of God, with men of God, doing what God intended for men to do. (Women, roll your eyes here).

I can't wait for our next men's adventure trip - tuna fishing in the Atlantic!