GU Basketball

For some people in Spokane the mere mention of Gonzaga basketball is enough to get their blood pressure spiked to the point where you would think that they were actually playing in the game. I have never been one of these people I guess. I never really jumped on the wagon back in the late 90's early 2000's when they were making their big runs and wasn't really ever going to make it a point in my life to go to a game because of the insane amount of work it is to get tickets. That was until Whit started working at Gonzaga. Now, if you don't know what Whitney does, let me tell you a little first. She is the event specialist for the President of GU. Meaning, she gets to throw parties and plan cool events for everyone who donates considerable amounts of money to the Zags. She loves it, but it sounds like a nightmare sometimes to me. Anyway, back to what I was talking about.


Whit and I now go to the games because she gets free tickets and it has been a blast! I love college basketball waaaaay more than the NBA. Maybe it is because they are still playing for something bigger than themselves and not just a bigger contract, more cars and a bigger house. Now, don't get me wrong, a lot of professional athletes have been excellent stewards of God's money and helped shape a lot of communities for the better across the US. But, the majority are not in the sport for much more than securing their families financial future. Whit and I got to go watch GU destroy Montana State Billings (really) and we are going tonight to watch them take on one of my three alma maters (long story, couldn't decide where I wanted to go to college) the University of Idaho. I am going to bet that GU will probably have a good showing against the Vandals of Moscow, but if you want to see some good GU basketball, don't turn your TV on until the second half. For some reason they don't like to really show up in the first 20 minutes. Maybe they are upholding the long-standing traidtion of their Jesuit founder by being charitable in the first 20??

Finally it hit me

Well, as most of you know, I am a teacher. This means that I am surrounded, in my case, by about 85 different kids in my room throughout the day. Now, 6th graders are not historically the most hygienic group of individuals so you can imagine how sparse our attendance gets this time of the year. My first two years of teaching I maxed out my sick days due to the fact that I wasn't used to being around that many sick kids and that many different kinds of sickness. But today, I have finally fallen victim this year to a bit of a stomach and head bug. I guess I have a couple more years to go before I can boast about my disease immunity. At least I will have a good defense built up by the time we have our own kids!!

KC is out of the sea

  

Well, for those of you who don't know, my brother has been an onboard biologist for the fishing boats in Alaska on the Bering Sea since late August. We have been praying for his safety, as the Bering Sea is slightly higher on the wavy scale than a bubble bath. We are extremely excited to sit down with him and discuss what he saw and who who talked to while he was on his first two boats. It is awesome to see him so excite about the experiences he is getting to have. 

Still Vickless in Atlanta, and loving it!

The above picture is my reaction to the season the Falcons are currently having. I just have one thing to ask you, does anybody else know that the Falcons are now 6-3 without Vick. Is anyone actually missing him? I think I speak for all Dirty Birds in the Nest when I say we are happy to be Vickless in Atlanta.

Epicurean Delight

Last night Whit and I got a chance to go rub elbows with the elite of Spokane and the amazing fund raiser for the Inland Northwest Blood Center, Epicurean Delight. Now, those of you who know me know that I am an eater. I love food. This event featured the best restaurants in Spokane (Clinkerdaggers, Outback Steakhouse, Europa etc.) along with the best caterers as well slugging it out to see who the best of the best was when it comes to food in the Inland Northwest. We had the daunting task of trying all that they had to offer and the even more imposing task of telling ourselves to stop eating the most delicious food we have had in a long time. We got the tickets from Father Spitzer when he sponsored a table for Gonzaga and asked Whitney to use two of the tickets. I love that she works there. Not only for the fancy dinners and basketball tickets, but that she has genuinely found something she loves to do. We also stayed the night in the Davenport Tower as well, taking advantage of the amazing teacher's discount they have. It is only $120 a night for the tower and $150 for the regular hotel. We are not talking a two twin size bed room, we are talking a Deluxe King Room. If any of you who are reading this are teachers, you need to seriously consider this as an option for a relxing getaway right in your own backyard.

God's Mercy

So if you haven't been coming to Timberview over the past few months, shame on you (just kidding), we have been studying the Beattitudes. The funny thing to me is whoever came up with the name for this amazing set of guidelines to live by. Of all the things to call them, they came up with the most simple, yet completely encompassing description. Be these attitudes. I think Christ would like that. A non-imposing explanation for such an Earth shaking set of clues on how we should live, just like Jesus.

Anyway, we studied Matthew 5:7 which says, "God blesses those who are merciful, for they will be shown mercy". And the immediate question comes to my mind, does everybody deserve mercy? What about those people who committ such horrid crimes that our only human reaction is anger and contempt for them. When we want to run out and start judging and sentencing them to death, would God want us to show them mercy? Does God expect us to just excuse them for what they have done to us or to others we may or may not know? Of all of the Beattitudes, this is by far the most confusing for me. At what point does our ability to not show mercy to certain individuals become satsifactory to God? I know that we are ultimately not the final judge for those poor, misguided individuals, but we are only human right?

Well, I was reading Romans 9 today and as God always does, he answered my question a little. Romans 9:14-16 which says, "Are we saying then that God was unfair? Of course not! For God said to Moses, 'I will show mercy to anyone I choose, and I will show compassion to anyone I choose.' So it is God who decides to show mercy. We can neither choose it nor work for it." So, we obvisouly can't show the same level of mercy to those who would receive it, but God tells us that it isn't possible to control the amount of mercy we show others or even the amount of mercy we receive from Him. I think he already gave us a ton of mercy when he died for our sins.

It also goes on to say in Romans 9:18, "So you see, God chooses to show mercy to some, and he chooses to harden the hearts of others so they refuse to listen." So, again, how do we place ourselves in the path of God's mercy? It says in Romans as well that those who trust in Him, not follow his law, will be called Children of God. So just simply following God's laws does not make Him happy, we need to trust in him fully. Just when I think I have answered my original question about God's mercy and how we show mercy to others, I just open a whole other volume of questions yet to be answered. You know the best part though, I have an entire life to build up all of the questions I want to ask him when I get to Heaven someday. Thank God truly that we have hope and he shows us mercy for the things we do though. What would we do without Him?

Romans 8 (God's Love)

This morning I read Romans ch. 8, and was very inspired. This chapter talks about three different subjects: Living our life in the Spirit, The Future Glory we will receive if we follow God's commands and How nothing can separate us from God's love.

On the subject of Living our life in the spirit, the Bible talks about how when we allow Jesus in our life and to control our minds, we are no longer a slave to sin. I think back to how many times I have sinned, it would take to long to actually count so I won't for sake of time, and I know that Jesus was definitely not on the forefront of my mind. A question I have and always will struggle with, why do we sin knowingly? It seems completely counterproductive to our relationship with God, and yet all of us do it. It's like knowing the stove is extremely hot, and then laying your hand on the hottest burner, makes sense to me. I think the most refreshing thing is that we know that if we buy whole-heartedly into God's plan, that he will make us heirs to His glory on Earth. Also, we are basically taking grenades in the trenches for God everyday because we know that he will ultimately protect us and grant us everlasting glory for our faith in his plan.

This was a great reminder to me that even though we are persecuted for the things we believe in, God will take care of us like he always does.