It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year…

It’s that time of year.  Michael has sequestered himself in his basement drinking Shamrock shakes and studying all the brackets and coming out with his most plausible outcome.  He is challenging you all to create your own brackets and take him on.  Many of you have already been invited, if you have not seen an invitation, please email T immediately.  The next four weeks will be some of the greatest in your life.  MPA promises to take Big Blue all the way.

Wednesday Dinner

Please sign up with Joy to attend dinner Wednesday, 5:15 at the church. We will be hosting two of our missionaries, we need to come out and support them in their endeavors.

Date the Save

I know, I know, it’s been a while.  I am writing to let you all know that we have the opportunity to share dinner with two of our missionaries on Wednesday, November 10th.  Details   will be   forthcoming, but everyone needs to put it in their iPhone/droid/smartphone/planner now.  John and Mike will be using all their musical talents to entertain us through the dinner hour.

My Magic Eight Ball Needed Batteries

So after all the effort and analysis that goes into bracketology, here we sit.  With the new girl and the eight year old handing everyone else their lunch.  While this tournament has been great to watch, it was murder on everyone’s bracket.  So our hat’s off to Mason and Emily, hopefully they will duke it out until the end.  As for the rest of us, I created a second chance bracket, (now we can see how bad we can mess that up) that everyone is free to join.  (Yes John I am aware that I have not posted in a while and you knew that I would about this.)

Josh’s Sunday Farewell

It’s better to be a pirate than to join the Navy – Steve Jobs

While it seemed that this day would never come, it is now upon us.  We have been watching the weeks go by, knowing each one brings us closer to Josh’s departure, and alas, it is here.  We will miss Josh and all his Wednesday candor, the group will never be the same without him.  For that, we will be having breakfast in honor of Josh from 8:30am – 9:15am Sunday.  If you have not signed up to bring anything, please contact Joy.  As is tradition, we will be sending Josh off with a gift, so please see the powers the be to settle on that matter as well.  Don’t be late, the food and festivities will start promptly at 8:30.

Rally for the Road

When you come to a fork in the road, take it. – Yogi Berra

You are cordially invited to the C&C  Road Rally Saturday afternoon, 1:30pm at the church.  After the festivities we will be enjoying refreshment and advanced fellowship opportunities.  This is a cabbage free event, so there are no excuses for your lack of participation.  Please RSVP with the Ashcrafts or the Rowes via email, telephone, or FB.

The Power of Blue

Swallow your pride, you will not die, it’s not poison – Bob Dylan

John came across an interesting article today, and it has the utmost of importance.  In summary, blue M&M’s save lives.  The help in repairing broken bodies,  broken lives, and broken dreams.  Research has now shown that blue M&M’s will stop a chemical that kills healthy spinal cord cells surrounding a damaged area, an event that has been shown to more damage than the original injury.  You can link to the article here.

I know, I know, I am asking myself the same questions.  Could Michael have been back on his feet sooner this summer after sustaining his back injury if he would just break down the walls and injest blue M&M’s?  Is another injury inevitable?  Will he be able to recover from the next one at all?  Should he start on a strict diet of blue M&M’s with every meal?  Would it not be Christian charity for all of us to give him our blue?  Does he regret the rejection of our gift last fall?  For his families sake, let us all pray that he will be able to overcome this barrier to live a long and productive life.

Michael’s Favorite Website

Michael in his basement

Real Life Example

In the absence of clearly-defined goals, we become strangely loyal to performing daily trivia until ultimately we become enslaved by it. – Robert Heinlein

One thing that you hear frequently in group is the importance of setting goals, whether they be spiritual or secular.  Every December and June you know that you will be challenged as to where you stand at that moment in relation to where you stood six months ago.  Have you moved forward?  Backward?  Some of you pay attention and take it to heart, while others roll their eyes and shut down, waiting for the clock to reach 8:15.  I came across this real life example last week of someone that took goal setting seriously, and where she ended up.  I thought I would put it out for all of us to read.  If you have any questions, please direct them to John, he was just telling me on Sunday how much he loves to read and talk about this stuff.

Constructive Dating

After a number of years dating, we decided we were good partners. – Melinda Gates

 

As promised, here are the constructive dating points that we discussed a couple of weeks ago.  If you were not there, Rob will be happy to give you a recap.

 

1.  Remember your relational responsibilities.

2.  Seek a deeper friendship first.

3.  Watch, Wait, & Pray

4.  Define the relationships purpose.

5.  Honor parents.

6.  Test & build the relationship in real-life settings.

7. Reserve passion for marriage.

(Dating Goodbye, Harris, p203)