make sure your spouse knows how to spell...

... your life could depend on it!

My First Date with David Beckham

A group from Trinity went to the Chicago Fire vs. LA Galaxy tonight and had a great time watching the Fire win 3-1! Scott and I both went (along with around 20 others) and had lots of fun with those inflatable noise things they give you. It was a star-studded event featuring Landon Donovan, Brian McBride, and of course, the one and only David Beckham. :)

Marriage Proposal Rejected at BasketBall Game

This is tragically awesome!

Helmet

For all of you who are asking about the helmet...

'Tis the Stage...

...for bumps and bruises!  This one is the result of a header into the baseboard in his bedroom.  Apparently, the more confident he is in walking and running, the more likely he is to get hurt.  This is only one of many, and thank goodness none have been serious!

Dear Mr. Obama

Karen wanted this on the blog. As one of her sons, I've obliged.

Campus Pastor

Sorry about the lack of posts. This is to give you information about my new responsibility at work. I am going to serve as the Campus Pastor for Faith Church - Valpo, our next campus. We were approached by a church in Valparaiso that was struggling and they asked to become a campus of Faith Church.

I am currently giving over the details of conferences and events to a former intern who inquired about possibilities here just as this was happening. (Total God thing!)

I will develop a launch team of Faith members who live near Valpo (about 45 minutes east of Dyer), and current members of WayPoint church. We will find a site, create a volunteer matrix and recruit volunteers, do promotion and everything else needed to launch next Easter, if not before. My job will then be to pastor and lead this congregation.

The Lord's hand has appeared in every detail so far. I am excited for the transformation that will need to happen in me in order for this to happen, the equipping of people who have been on the sidelines and seeing the Lord change lives. Please pray for our family during this time as we have not felt called for Kristin, Anneke, Justin and Kate to make this their church home. (We are planning on worshipping together as a family in Dyer on Saturday nights and me going to "work" on Sunday.)

Did you know Valpo is really close to Kouts....hmmm...Van Drunen's could be involved in the launch of Faith's fourth campus as they were in the first, South Holland location.

(The pic above is where WayPoint currently meets, a former commercial bakery that is 24" concrete at the bottom and 12" at the top. Echoes are unbelievable inside.)

Stephanie Through The Years

I thought that the fam would appreciate these lost photos of Stephanie's yearbook photos. Thanks to the folks at yearbookyourself.com . It's a great place to spend an hour online.

By the way, I DID get her permission to post these pictures, and, in case you think that it's unfair to post pictures like this of Steph without pictures of me...

Sports/Activity Schedules

Nieces & Nephews, we would love to come to your games (soccer, volleyball, etc.) or other spectator activities to cheer you on. Please let us know your schedules.

Rodgers-Palin 2008

If I had to vote for the two most important people on earth right now, they would be Aaron Rodgers (#12 on the field for the Green Bay Packers and #1 in our hearts) and for my political crush, Sarah Palin. You might call Palin the Aaron Rodgers of politics: no one expected her to be in the position that she's in, she's a relative unknown, she's been ready to go for like 3 years and just needed to be given a chance. I also understand that she runs a 4.2 40 split, and can look away the safety in a cover-2 scheme, get single coverage with a simple pump-fake and hit the fly route for an easy 6.

Is it too late to reorganize the Republican ticket? Rodgers-Palin would play very well in Wisconsin. Perhaps they could run against Briggs-Obama. Winner gets the White House, and the NFC North division title.

Clarence Thomas

I thought I would pass along one of the cool things that happened on campus. Yesterday, Associate Justice Clarence Thomas of the Supreme Court came to Pepperdine and spoke to about 700 people about his personal history, legal philosophy, and all kinds of other things including his favorite movies.

A few of the better quotes from the evening:

Speaking of growing up in the segregated south, Justice Thomas said that he didn't really live with the burden of racism ever day. He said of course he couldn't go to the public library or some parks, but "the works I have ever been treated is in Washington D.C., not in Savannah."

Speaking of his tendency to be one of the quieter Justices on occasion - "It's hard for everybody to talk at the same time - someone should listen."

Where do you get your interpretive framework for the Constitution? "...umm... The New York Times?..."

Speaking of race relations: "I've never understood that we need to be race conscious in order to get over our race consciousness... I know I'm black... but I knew that a long time ago."

Anyways, all of you should know that Justice Thomas is a great guy. I even got the chance to meet him briefly after the event. The man has a great handshake.

On Sunday night, I'll be going over to Dean Ken Starr's house for dinner along with 70 other students.



P.S. - If any of you are jealous, you should know that there is some adversity here. I already had to kill a scorpion in my kitchen.