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Birthday Lunch Up High

The Seattle Space Needle

Well I have the best wife in the world. For my birthday she booked our family seats at the Seattle Space Needle. I can hardly believe that construction was finished on the building way back in 1962 for the Worlds Fair. In my opinion it was a very well thought out building that has withstood the tests of time...Ok so 47 years but still a very cool place to visit.

By the way, the light behind the olive oil has the switch taped to the bottom of the table. It was really fun to watch Liam's face as he stared in bewilderment as to how the light turned on and off by mom and dad simply snapping their fingers. "Dad, turn the snap light off again."

Also the whole resteraunt really does rotate in a circle as you are eating so you can see a 360 view of the area around the Space Needle. So Priscilla placed river on the window sill and in about 30 seconds river would be where I was and I would pick her up. That was fun too.

The Lunar Landing

This desert has been served at the Space Needle ever since its grand opening back in 1962, its called the Lunar Landing. Very fun desert done with the magic of dry ice and water. As you can see the kids aren't sure that if they take a bite that the ice cream might take a bite back.

What a great day! I am 29 years old and I have finally been to the top of the space needle. Thanks honey!

My Trip to Montana Feb 09

Better Late than Never

Well, I thought I would fill you all in on my trip to Montana in February 09. Why did you get to go to Montana you may ask? Well I'm glad you asked that question. So I was sitting at my computer in my office doing the ministry email thing when I get this email that says, "Free trip to Montana with other Bellevue Youth pastors". I immediately rolled my eyes and deleted the obviously spam e-mail. For several weeks I didn't even think about the e-mail again until the church doorbell rang one Friday afternoon.

At the door was woman who didn't look like she needed money or canned good items so I decided to open the door and see if she might be looking for a place for her daughter to get married. She was very excited to be talking to me I could tell and her first inquiry was, "hi I'm with the Luke 12:48 foundation and I was looking to speak to pastor Jebodiah". "Well, that's me" I declared.

Karen went on to tell me about this free Bellevue Youth Pastor get-away to Montana and made it sound really good. But I had a lot of excuses like, "I don't know if I can get the time off, I have a wife and kids, I cant afford the road trip". "Oh the airfare is taken care of." Karen said. After Karen said that the airfare was taken care of I knew I wanted to go.

I left Karen thinking that I was unsure if I would go, but the very next week I put into motion the wheels to get me on the plane to Bozeman. The trip was more excellent than I had imagined.

We all loaded up in the Q-400 Tuesday February 17th. None of us wanted to say much but later on I learned that many of us were thinking it. The previous week a Q-400 went down in Buffalo killing all passengers including one widow who's husband died during 9-11. That kind of stuff always makes you nervous, but it actually was a very pleasant flight.
Although it was very sunny, I could tell it was going to be cold...Look at those lakes!

When we landed in Bozeman I didnt know what to expect, but I can tell you that it was a beautiful sight to me.
After we got off the plan we loaded up in our Lexus' and Infinity four wheel drive vehicles. We didn't know exactly where we were going but we knew it was about a 1/2 hour N. of Yellowstone. We arrived at the entrance of where we were staying. One person asked, "Where is this place?" "We are at the Yellowstone Club private ski club Resort" our driver answered. Our first stop was to the Warren Miller Ski Lodge!
I dont know if you can see, but on the bar there is candy and trail mix and drinks and a latte machine and it's all free!! An interesting bit of information is that Warren Miller built his own home somewhat near this lodge. I am sure it is one of his many vacation homes.
In the Ski shop they hooked us up with our rental ski's and boards. All the guys working there were super excited and would say things like, "You guys ready to shred the mountain!" It was fun. Outside the ski shop was the lift to the top.
Our first night was very exciting. After getting fit for or equipment we headed to the house. The house was more like a small lodge with all the amenities. Our first step into the house was the garage, which was actually the basketball court.
This is us shooting some hoops getting warmed up to play bump to see who got which room. Here are some more pics of this incredible house.
What a great week that I will never forget!

Me Shredding for Jason Hill

Me Snowmobiling

This Is Amusing - 5 Octaves

Shane Lee Sings 5 Octaves

No Pain...Well You Know

Well this is what my shirt looked like after my first day of working out. I cant believe I have been making this sweat mark for over a month already. Running everyday has totally been a huge challenge for me. I Have built endurance but I still get whooped by my wife whenever we jog together.

If you don't jog with your spouse I really recommend it. Running has brought Pris and I closer together. I don't really know why other than we are both going through the pain together.

Another bonus to running together means that the kids come along with us. We switch pushing the stroller about half way through our loop. For them to see us exercise (I believe) has been one of the greatest lessons we have taught them lately.

I hope that this running and exercising doesn't end when winter hits. That really worries me. But I guess the only person in control of making it happen or not is...well...me!

By the way I run really slow. If you are just beggining to run don't worry about speed or distance just be consistent. Run every day with giving yourself a days rest. Like I said I don't run really fast or far but I have been fairly consistent and it has paid off. Good luck and God bless.

Eight Years Ago

I was in my sophomore year of college when the news hit the big screen in the lower Johnson Center of Cascade College. I remember thinking, "This is a big deal" and yet not really knowing how big of a deal it really was. However I got a clearer picture of the magnitude of this event in history class.

His name really was Dr. Gross. Our history teacher who in the classroom took no nonsense and was a man to be feared, but who outside the classroom seemed like the most patient and gentle person I had ever met.

Some of us weren't sure if we would even be having class that day with the news of the days events fresh on our minds. We weren't even sure if Dr. Gross would be coming in to teach. However as the class waited patiently, in walked Dr. Gross.

As Dr. Gross unpacked a few things someone from the crowd (probably a freshman) had the audacity to ask the question , "will we be having class today?". All of us sunk further back in our chairs to avoid the tongue lashing we were sure was due us. All save the naive freshman who at the time probably did not realize that their question would receive a response that I and the whole classroom would never forget.

Dr. Gross looked up from his notebook (that was clearly open to teach class) but his eyes were soft and full of compassion. A look that was not familiar in the classroom. Dr. Gross' gaze grew more stern as he passionately replied, "You have lived through a period of time during this nations existence that will forever be remembered in history. All of the history books that your children will own will have this day in it. If you didn't know already now you know people hate you because of the simple fact that you are an American."

All of us were now listening intently to every word. All of us I believe sensed that we were living history in history class. Dr. Gross went on to speak about terrorist and terrorism saying, "The purpose of terrorists is to cause chaos and confusion. Furthermore their goal is to stop the progress of the society they are terrorizing. If we canceled class today they would get just that. They would be successful at stopping the progress of America. But today in the midst of great loss and fear we will continue to live life and progress in free America. Now please open your books to..."

In my minds eye these are the events and occurrences of what happened that afternoon. I'm sure some of what I remember is romanticized. But one thing is for sure; I will never forget the day Dr. Gross and his class stood up against terrorism September, 11 2001 at a tiny little college in a small classroom in America.

Reverent Agnostic

The Year of Living Biblically
A.J. Jacobs (Journalist for Esquire Magazine)

I thought I would post this guys speech. I was very interested in his thoughts about living
Biblically because for A.J. Jacobs God does not exist. I agreed and disagreed with some of his thoughts but one I liked in particularly was his thought on transformational living. A.J. said, "I always thought that when you change your mind you change your behavior. but it is often the other way around; you change your behavior & you change your mind."

I am mostly impressed though that an Agnostic (A person who believes that the existence of God can neither be proved or disproved) found value in following the Bible. He didn't even follow much of the New Testament from what I understand. It just goes to show (In my opinion) that there is truly transformational power in following the Words of God. Even if those words were written before the time of Christ.

Looking for Authenticity

Well I guess I'm one of those Christian basher's now. I found these videos on my friend, Ryan's blog and thought I needed to share them too. Thanks Ryan. I wish I could say that I have never been where these guys are at. Unfortunately though I'm embarrassed to admit that I have been stupid for Jesus. Sometimes I think, "Isn't it OK to be a cheeseball for Jesus?" But then I look at myself from a different perspective and realize that indeed I have missed the point of Christianity. Lord help me to be authentic.

You Spin Me Right Round Jesus?

Why the King James Version is a "Manly" Version

Cartoon Voices?

Jesus is a friend of mine and will zap you any way he can?