What a great weekend! I scored some sweet tickets for the Bristol Nascar race, from some of our very good friends. The royal treatment was given to us on Friday night. We spent half the race in Kevin Harvick's pit and the rest of the race in his track suite. It was a great opportunity to just take something completely in from the normal affairs of life. I stayed the night Friday and attended 4 of the local ministries race chapels. It was both boring and embarrassing as a Christian, for the most part. I walked away feeling defeated as a believer. The one thing I stake my life in was being represented in ways I thought were of the past. I believe that the folks running those chapels believe they are doing what is right, but in the same way the scary guy in Manhattan who carries a cross and screams things about Jesus on a corner. It was a wake up call to realizing not only how the world views those efforts, but also why they feel the way they do. Ok, nuff'said, the rest of the day I spent with Zack hanging at the track. We ended up sitting about 5 rows up from turn 2. Incredible seats that I just couldn't believe. We got in early Sunday morning at 4:30am. Got some shut eye and then off to FCC. The morning was everything that we hoped it would be. Most people are getting back from summer breaks and have just gotten their kids in school. If last Sunday were a CAT 4 on the Saffir.....then this Sunday will be a 5. Can't wait. Our lead pastor Greg Oraham is bringing the heat in kool way. I love hearing peoples stories of how the messages are changing their lives. We spent yesterday in creative team gearing up for the baptism service in a few weeks. I can only say .... WOW! If your in the Seneca area, stop by and say hello. We would love to have you.

just say'n

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Tired of:
-Brett Favre coming out of retirement
-People thinking that their hope rest in a government
-The media saying how "perfectly executed" the murder, of two parents of 13 disabled children, went
-False hope and hype over the H1N1 vaccine
-An elected public official who is spending tax dollars to sue over the fact that hurricanes don't have black people names.
-commercials that use fear tactics
-games people play in relationships
-eating chicken
-hot & humid summer days
-not being as content as I should be
-Big Brother reality show
-pre-season football
-the BCS system
-road construction during the day
-lip service
-and lastly.....people who use twitter as their primary source of communication to get something done.

just say'n

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Good morning everybody. It's great to be alive. Seriously! Friday morning the family loaded and journeyed down to the Live Oak, Fl. LOOOOOONG drive, but a great time with the family and opportunity to sort of just reset. My wives Grandma died and she had asked me to lead the funeral. It was a great opportunity to visit with some family and relax a bit. I do not like leading funerals. There is something incredibly unnatural about death and gathering to celebrate it. I think it is unnatural because God never intended for death to be a natural part of our existence. However, it is a necessary part of our story. On the way home we hit a severe rainstorm coming up I-75. We were keeping up with a cramped crowed of cars going about 50 MPH. At one point the car to our left had drifted close to our lane, throwing up an immediate blinding blanket of water on our windshield. My Chevy Avalanche immediately went into a spin, sliding sideways down the highway and picking up speed. I could see cars flanking both sides of the truck and everyone had braced for imminent impact. I stayed off the brakes and accelerator, hoping that cars behind would see what was going on and hold back. I overcorrected the steering wheel, hoping that the tires would some how pick up traction and begin to straighten out. What seemed like forever, I know was only an instant, but I remember thinking, "so this is how it happens". Just before completing a full spin, the truck caught and whipped back the other direction. I semi-corrected the wheel the second time and eventually found myself straightened back up heading North. I am no longer a fan of exploring the 'edge' of life and death. The moral of this blog is fairly simple and cliche. Life is short and dangerous and unfair and fair and certain and uncertain. We are not near as in control as we would like to think we are. Embrace your life and those you love.

just say'n

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It has been sort of a weird week for the Carrs. Jeannie took our oldest son, Andrew, to Camp Spearhead last Monday. I thought I would look forward to a week without him, simply because it is getting harder to parent an older, special needs, child. I have had mixed emotions all week about it and can't seem to really land anywhere on how I feel. I think about him all the time and what the future holds for him. My greatest resolve is that I will simply be able to spend more time in 'foreverland', with Andy being normal, than any amount of time we are blessed to have him here now. We get to go pick him up tomorrow afternoon. I always look forward to the first couple seconds after he recognizes we are there to pick him up. The last time we picked him up from camp, he for the first time looked genuinely interested in and excited about seeing us. He smiled and laughed. He moved toward us and hugged us. Sort of a shy and sheepish reaction, but a feeling of being complete once again.
I look forward to the day when we finally see our maker and Saviour face to face after this long and sometimes impossible journey. A journey that brings both sadness and happiness. But most importantly a journey that will someday end with the feeling of completeness and wholeness. Until then we embrace the unpredictable moments of joy that come through our most important relationships and rest in the hope of one day catching the eye of Jesus at the gate of our eternal destination.

Are you ready?

just say'n

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This speaks for itself.





I'm not particular in agreement with the commentary, but the cars.gov policy speaks for itself. I'd say this kool-aid has extra 'powder'.

just say'n

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I'd love to spend a lot of time on this but I just can't. It has been on my mind and I figured this might help it go away. The two biggest reasons why this issue bugs me is because I've struggled my entire life to get out of debt and second, I've some very close friends who are making enormous sacrifices to do the right thing. The present Cash for Clunkers campaign being sponsored by our government is simply wrong. Ill-motivated and deceiving. The government has put an incredibly tempting opportunity before people who do not deserve to be taken advantage of. I would venture to say that most folks who have a car that is worth under $5000, probably own it. THEY OWWWWWNNNN IIITTTT! They did it right. That means they do not have a single penny owed to anyone....any month....for their car. The government realizes that to get something out of their psuedo-investment of american car companies they have to find a way to generate product. Everyone who thought they could afford a car payment the last 5 years....still have a car payment. They are not gonna buy new....they can't trade in. They are stuck with the car for awhile. The only people who are available to generate action on the assembly lines are those who....own a car. The age of the car is not the issue or its low MPG. That is a smoke screen. An excuse! The reality ....for real for real....is that all these people who had no payment will have to come up with $400 a month for a $20,000 loan or $500 a month for a 25,000 loan....for 5 years. The government wins, the filthy rich car companies win, the dealerships win, THE BANKS win, and "joe" LOSES....big time--every month---for 5 years. That is @450 a month coming out of "joes" paycheck to one bank, instead of family vacations, housing, life, etc. It just ticks me off because I know what most hard working people, who have finagled their transportation for awhile (but own their cars) are thinking during this Cash for Clunker Campaign. It's hard not to give in. But it's the new 'purple kool-aid' and I hope they fight against it. I would like to see the government take that $4500 and pay off everyones car so that that they have no car debt. Imagine a nation that worked together to get more people into a 'clunker' instead of out of one. This is not an effort to get 'bad cars' off the street. ...you know that. I could spend another 2000 words giving examples of how people and dealership are taking advantage of this stupid idea, but I'm sure you can imagine. Especially the 'lease' programs. A huge scam to get my friends into a brand new car at a 'seemingly' low monthly payment. So many 'wrong turns' with that program....as well you can imagine that too. Chances are, as principally right this may be, no one will question, picket, or revolt this issue. The hype will pass, the unable will have been taken advantage of, the car companies will have managed another 12 months of existence, but the customer consequences could last a life time.

just say'n

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