Growing up in Maryland, my family had the privilege of attending a small church in Rockville, MD. This was not just any church. This church is the church we compare all other churches to. This church was so special to my parents and us that we drove past a half-dozen other Adventist Churches to attend there. The difference was simple… family. We had friends there that we still, to this day, keep up with. Friendships that are so deep, you can only describe them as Family.

As Traci and I leave North Carolina and move to Kentucky, we both agree (my father does too), New Life Fellowship of Chapel Hill was our “Rockville” in North Carolina. We have friends here that mean the world to us, friends that will forever be family.

The memories I have are many, but here are 11 of my favorites…

1. Rafting down the New River, and nearly getting tossed out on the very first Class 1 rapid.
2. Moving into Traci’s home, and 10 of my “family” show up to help us move in.
3. Playing bass in the praise band every week, and performing with Turning Point (Rainey, Dave, Pam, Laura, Doug, Lettie, and Keith, you guys can never be replaced).
4. The race to the alter (Traci and I beat Rainey and Laura by days, so they had to copy us on everything).
5. Sabbath afternoon biking trips down Crabtree Creek, or through Olmstead Park.
6. Cramming 30 people into our little, tiny house for Potluck or Game Night.
7. Dinner out or poker with the guys.
8. Keith, Joe, Jayce, Henry, Jason, and I discover, it is possible to score a 0 in Call of Duty 4.
9. Hitting my best tee shot on the 9th hole, off the light pole, and bouncing back down the cart path as Dave, Brian, Brad, and I all roll on the ground laughing.
10. Friday nights with Doc, Kathy, and Terry just bringing in the Sabbath.
11. Matt, Cindy, and Morgan... guys there are no other words needed.

I’ve now been lucky to have my own Rockville, and hopefully this won’t be our last. But I hope that someday, my children will be able to find their Rockvilles, because they are truly special.

For those who haven’t heard yet, Traci, Susie, and I are heading west. Long story short, we’ve been given an opportunity to move near some of our best friends, as well as a great job opportunity. So we said yes, and are moving next week to Louisville, KY. Over 4th of July weekend we made a trip out to do some house hunting, and were very fortunate to find a beautiful home. I figured I’d take you on a tour of our new home. (these pictures are ones taken for the listing of our house, so this is not our furniture, and probably not how we’ll decorate).

Standing on the front sidewalk, you have to look up to see our home. The house is built on a pretty steep hill, with the driveway to our right as it enters the 2 car garage on the side. On top of the retaining wall is a walkway up to our front door. As you step through the front door you’ll see to your left what will probably be a music room (great place for a piano), the stairs to the second floor are in front of you, and just to the right of the stairs is the main hall to the living room and kitchen. AS you walk down the hall you’ll pass doors to the Half-Bath, Basement , and Garage (plus a closet I think).

When you enter the great room, the Kitchen will be to your left, the Breakfast Nook in front of you, and the living room to the right. The kitchen is large and we can’t wait to have space for EVERYTHING in our cabinets. The breakfast nook has a wonderful view of our back yard. And the living room is very open and spacious, with a gas fireplace and plenty of windows. There is also a door between the Breakfast Nook and the living room which goes outside to a small deck and a beautiful back yard.

Now we’re going to go through the kitchen to the formal dining room. It’s surprisingly big with a large doorway to the Music Room, in case of overflow during meals. Our only complaint here is the ugly chandelier… we’re going to try and change that somehow. As we continue around the first floor we’re back in the Music Room, off the front Foyer.

Let’s head upstairs. As you reach the landing, if you turn to the right you see the master bedroom.

We have a lot of space, a built in fireplace, storage in the eaves, plus a large master bath with his-and-hers closets. What a wonderful thing!

The small bedroom next to the master will be used as a nursery, and has one of the 2 doors to the upstairs guest bathroom (the other door comes from the hall).

At the opposite end of the hallway you’ll find the last 2 bedrooms, though we’ll probably use the Green one for our office, since it has a wonderful view of our back yard, and the Red one as our guest bedroom. The back yard is a little sloped, but not nearly like the front. We love the trees that go right up to our fence line, which with help from the house, will provide shade to our back yard through most of the day.

So that’s going to be our Home. As you see, we’re very blessed, and look forward to starting a new life in KY.

For years we have said that my Grandma (affectionately known as Ma to everyone) should be given Sainthood for her patience with my Grandfather. Stories of torment, like being chased with a dead mouse around the house, are well known and legendary in our family. Ma was a kind soul, a quick witt, and a known worrier. She taught us that family is of great importance, and love for each other will help you get through those worries. She has been in declining health, and on Friday, August 22 she passed away. All of her 3 children, 7 grandchildren, and 10 great-grandchildren will miss her, I'm sure of it.

While it's sad to loose a lifetime matriarch, I have to stop and think... I've been blessed with 33 years with her. Some of my cousins had more, my brother and sister only a little less. My daughter even got the special gift of getting to know her (though she will not remember Ma), but Ma knew who Susie was, and that's just as important. So many people have had far less with a parent much less a grandparent. I got to spend every summer with her. Every Christmas was shared at her homes in New Orleans or Tampa. I have many many memories, enough that she will never be forgotten.

And while I know she's sleeping now, I know she will wake also. She will be woken when God comes, and I will get to spend even more than another 33 years with her. After all, remember, she is a Saint.

So a coworker of mine recieved a call from someone today trying to sell him a warranty on his car. While talking to them on his cell, he pulls up the phone number on this website, and sure enough they're listed as a scam artist. He called them on it, and immediately they hang up.  I LOVE THIS WEBSITE! http://www.whocallsme.com/

As the days get warmer and longer, I'm reminded of a joke I once heard on the radio.  It's been out a while, but still worth the read. 

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GOD: St. Francis, you know all about gardens and nature. What in the world is going on down there in North Carolina? What happened to the dandelions, violets, thistle and stuff I started eons ago? I had a perfect, no-maintenance garden plan. Those plants grow in any type of soil, withstand drought and multiply with abandon. The nectar FROM the long lasting blossoms attracts butterflies, honeybees and flocks of songbirds. I expected to see a vast garden of colors by now. But all I see are these green rectangles.

ST. FRANCIS: It's the tribes that settled there, Lord. The Suburbanites. They started calling your flowers weeds and went to great lengths to kill them and REPLACE them with grass.

GOD: Grass? But it's so boring. It's not colorful. It doesn't attract butterflies, birds and bees, only grubs and sod worms. It's temperamental with temperatures. Do these Suburbanites really want all that grass growing there?

ST. FRANCIS: Apparently so, Lord. They go to great pains to grow it and keep it green. They begin each spring by fertilizing grass and poisoning any other plant that crops up in the lawn.

GOD: The spring rains and warm weather probably make grass grow really fast. That must make the Suburbanites happy.

ST. FRANCIS: Apparently not, Lord. As soon as it grows a little, they cut it, sometimes twice a week.

GOD: They cut it? Do they then bale it like hay?

ST. FRANCIS: Not exactly Lord. Most of them rake it up and put it in bags.

GOD: They bag it? Why? Is it a cash crop? Do they sell it?

ST. FRANCIS: No, sir -- just the opposite. They pay to throw it away.

GOD: Now, let me get this straight. They fertilize grass so it will grow. And when it does grow, they cut it off and pay to throw it away?

ST. FRANCIS: Yes, sir.

GOD: These Suburbanites must be relieved in the summer when we cut back on the rain and turn up the heat. That surely slows the growth and saves them a lot of work.

ST. FRANCIS: You aren't going to believe this, Lord. When the grass stops growing so fast, they drag out hoses and pay more money to water it so they can continue to mow it and pay to get rid of it.

GOD: What nonsense. At least they kept some of the trees. That was a sheer stroke of genius, if I do say so myself. The trees grow leaves in the spring to provide beauty and shade in the summer. In the autumn they fall to the ground and form a natural blanket to keep moisture in the soil and protect the trees and bushes. Plus, as they rot, the leaves form compost to enhance the soil. It's a natural circle of life.

ST. FRANCIS: You'd better sit down, Lord. The Suburbanites have drawn a new circle. As soon as the leaves fall, they rake them INTO great piles and pay to have them hauled away.

GOD: No. What do they do to protect the shrub and tree roots in the winter and to keep the soil moist and loose?

ST. FRANCIS: After throwing away the leaves, they go out and buy something which they call mulch. They haul it home and spread it around in place of the leaves.

GOD: And where do they get this mulch?

ST. FRANCIS: They cut down trees and grind them up to make the mulch.

GOD: Enough! I don't want to think about this anymore. St. Catherine, you're in charge of the arts. What movie have you scheduled for us tonight?

ST. CATHERINE: Dumb and Dumber, Lord. It's a real stupid movie about....

GOD: Never mind, I think I just heard the whole plot FROM St. Francis.

So my sister just passed an email to me with an article from the Washington Post in it. This is article supposedly won the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing. It's a long article, and it will take time to read (especially if you read at my pace), but it's worth the time. It made me wonder how often I've missed the "roses" because I was too busy. I think tonight will be a great time to go home and just play with my daughter.

Alright, it's taken weeks, but I've finally posted all the good pictures to our Flickr account from our trip to Puerto Rico. I've also updated the blog entries with pictures too. So if you're interested in seeing what we saw in PR, check these pictures out.

So today started off like normal. I’m late for work, and running around to get everything together. Coffee… check. Laptops… check. IPod… chest pocket, check.  Alright, let’s kiss the family goodbye. As I lean over to pick Susie up off the floor to give her a kiss… thump. That’s right, the iPod slips out of my pocket and lands squarely on the top of her head. It take a minute to sink in, but then the tears begin. The look of shock, and the cries of pain just break your heart as a father. She looks at me like “What did you let happen to me?”  I feel horrible. I try holding her and whispering sweet comforting words in her ear, and it appears to be working. Then I see it… the giggle stick. 

For those who don’t know what this is, it’s like one of those rain sticks, or cow noise makers, except the sound is a little different. It’s a wonderful toy, and one of Susie’s favorites. Every time it goes, she smiles, and this time is no exception.  I grab the giggle stick, shake it a few times, and the smiles return instantly. The tears haven’t even reached the full expanse of her cheeks, and she’s smiling again. I wipe the tears, hand her to Traci, and she’s smiling.

If only we adults could forget something or someone that hurt us that quickly. How often do you find yourself still angry or bitter hours, days, weeks, months, or even years later by something a good friend did or said.  I thought when I became a father that I would be doing the teaching, not the other way around. Obviously I’ve got a lot to learn still.

Here's hoping your Father's Day is filled with as many smiles.

So this morning when I got up at 5:30 to go to the gym, I noticed an interesting smell, and it only got stronger when I went outside. Smoke, definitely smoke. Now before anyone panics or begins to worry, it wasn't our house. In fact, it wasn't even our county. It's from a wildfire almost 200 miles away. Apparently the wind shifted last night, and the smoke from those wild fires out on the eastern shore is blowing back across North Carolina.

Now it's not causing any major problems for us, but it is a bit annoying, and you do feel like caughing every once in a while. But it could be worse right?