Game Day In Lubbock - Who would have ever guessed?

When you grow up in West Texas football is huge. Either you are a player on the field, in the huge marching bands, a cheerleader, or in the stands yelling until you are hoarse you support your team whether they are undeafeted or winless.

And aliances are formed around the college team you choose to cheer for. And in Texas there are 3 options Tech, Texas, and A&M. Whether you hook'em, gig'em, or have your guns up determines the future for many kids growing up in West Texas because that is where they set there eyes on college. And there is no splitting allegiances!!

So this weekend ESPN Gameday is in Lubbock for a huge game. I have a lot of friends there and you can feel the energy from anyone that has an allegiance to Tech or Texas. Too bad my allegiance isn't for either - well maybe that is good. Tonight is the "big" game. My friends have bad mouthed each other all week in fun and tonight my dad's team the Red Raiders take on the Longhorns where I would love to see Colt McCoy win the Heisman because well frankly he is such a role model and a leader.

So about 11 pm tonight some will be happy and some will be crushed and then just like always there will be a bunch of jesting tomorrow but then life will go back to normal until the next "big" game the day after Thanksgiving where Mr. McCoy has yet to beat my team!!!

Nooma Video

I had never heard of Rob Bell until last spring. The spring of 2008 was a mixture of great times and very hard times. One specific week had been very tough. School was getting overwhelming with classwork, seeing clients, other work from jobs, and other responsibilities. Then one of the students at ACU who was a good friend of one of the student’s in the program as well as a former Blue Haven camper committed suicide and it rocked our world. Not to mention the flu bug was ravaging through the clinic hitting both the students and professors and the somewhat healthy ones were trying to cover for the ones that fell victim to the bug. Everyone was exhausted – physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. During supervision we asked for a self of the therapist supervision session and this was where I was introduced to Rob Bell.

My supervisor brought a video called Rain and showed it to us. You can watch it below (complete with Portuguese subtitles!!):



I didn’t have a clue who this guy was or what this video was going to be about only that it was one of the Nooma videos that my supervisor had been talking about - whatever that was. I come to find out Rob Bell is the pastor at a church he founded in Michigan. His dad was a judge and was associated with Ronald Reagan’s presidency. Some people love him and of course some are very critical of him. I haven't yet formed an opinion nor really think I need to but enjoy his Nooma videos and have enjoyed reading one of his books I have started. I am not saying I agree with everything he writes but I think he makes you think about things from a different perspective sometimes and search out what the Word really does say and to challenge some of our traditional views and to see things as the Jewish World of that time would see things.

So as for the first video Rain – it really helped us through a tough time just being reminded of these things. It makes me think of the 3rd Day song, When the Rain Comes. The rain comes in all of our lives. Sometimes its heavier than others but knowing that we can cry out during these times and God hears us is an amazing promise. I need the reminder often that when I build my life on a solid rock the rains won’t tear it down. There are so many times I wish I had built my life on that solid foundation but what matters is what it is built on now and what it will be built on in the future. So now built on that rock I can come before the throne of God during the rain and cry out and be comforted. That is powerful!!

We showed this at Celebrate Recovery one week and just to remind others that they have a choice whether to build their lives around their addictions of this world or around the love of God and that choice dictates how you are able to handle the trials that come as you move from that house built by your own hands to the way of the Father was an amazing thing for me to see.

He has many other videos worth viewing. Another powerful one is called Name. They can all be found on youtube. (Warning: Bell can be a little dramatic in the videos)

I’m reading one of his books now called Sex God. This book was recommended to me and I thought it was a really weird title for a book but it is the notion that God created everything to be connected to Him, to one another, to the earth etc.

So I look forward to blogging some of my thoughts about his book and maybe some of the other Nooma videos.

New Aunt

Oh and I am going to be a new aunt - my sister in LR will now have to watch the Office episode from two weeks ago although maybe she should not take birthing lessons from Michael Scott or Dwight Shrute!!!!

Vampires

As I've said before I see many psychotic people day in and day out. I guess that motivated me to read a series of books that make the humans in the books wander if they are psychotic (although the author does not go there).

You might have heard of the Twilight Series. My friend Jenn had been trying to get me to read these books for a while but when I asked her what they were about the word Vampires just immediately turned me off. Not my thing. And then when she added the word "romance" I was thinking very cheesy and definitely not my thing. Well then I had several more people talk about how good they are and then someone loaned me their copy to read and I gave them a try.

Here is the thing I read all 4 in the series and these are thick thick books with the last one over 750 pages in less than 3 weeks. And I've been wandering where all my time has gone!! So you ask are they good?

Here is my verdict - decent - good early high school level read. While the plot and characters are pretty well developed and the story line is intriguing it is for sure fantasy which again just isn't really my thing. But shockingly I didn't just get through the books but couldn't put the next one down. There is a romantic theme but it is not too mushy or trashy like all those cheesy romance novels I can't stand and there is enough mystery to keep you going. There is even some controversial subjects and moral issues dealt with all though mostly they are pretty subtle themes. When I finished all 4 books in the series (Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, and Breaking Dawn) I was like well those were ok but it was not To Kill a Mockingbird, Grapes of Wrath, or even Harry Potter but for some reason there was a mystery that mesmerizes you where you have to know what happens and can't put the books down.

So if you want an easy entertaining read go for it. But warning you may not be able to put the books down.