You're Where?

I didn't think I would be In Iowa most of the day Sunday, but that's where it was at.

Many of you know about the flooding going on in Iowa right now. Well, several young ladies at Bethany Baptist Church here in Peoria grew up around Burlington Iowa, and still have families who farm out there near the Iowa and Mississippi rivers. Last week, most of those families completely moved out of their homes, and were later ordered to because of the risk of being flooded. Local residents spent three or four days building up the levees along the Iowa river with sand, tarps and sandbags, only to have it fail, and flood these farms with up to 10 feet of water. As the Mississippi keeps building, risk to farms just down the road is still high, so several folks from my Sunday School Class headed out Sunday afternoon to try to help in building up the levee along the Mississippi river.

Below are two pictures taken by one of these young ladies of her parent's farm. As you can see on the left, you normally can't see the Mississippi from here. But you do now (right).



Sorry for the poor pictures below. I couldn't find the camera before I left (I found it now though, don't worry Mom) so I used my phone. It would take weeks to get copies of the ones others took.

We are NOT supposed to be this close to the river, and it's not our fault!


There must have been over a hundred folks working in the areas we saw. There was a huge group filling sandbags at the church, and then groups like these (below) all along the levee we were working on. A station at one point of the levee would be a distribution center for bags dropped off by trucks. Then four wheelers would take loads of bags for up to a mile or two along the narrow levees to these groups securing the tarps down with them. We did this part along the levee for a few hours, and then went back to the church to make sandbags for another couple of hours.



You can't tell from the photo, but that is an 8-10 foot drop off to the left, so only four wheelers could haul sandbags along the levee.


This is Ben (in green). After Jesus, he's my hero. He helped guide us in the work we needed to do. It was his wife's parents farm that was one of the closest farms in danger.


Jeremy (left). His wife's parents farm was already under I believe.



Yes, it's me. I seldom get decent pictures of myself taken.


Here's most of the crew. We had some downtime if the four wheeler loads got backed up.

Even the British and Cat interns showed up to help. Iowa will take anybody.


Nicole had her game face on. You could tell she wasn't there to be entertained.


These ladies had tons of food ready back at the church for anyone who needed to take a break. Four wheelers were also making runs of their food along the levee, which was several miles from the church. I just think it's cool how they all got up this morning and did their hair the exact same way. What a coincidence!!!


I've teased my friends Sarah and Christin for three years that I really wanted to go see the church they grew up in. I didn't know I would finally see it on such a sad and serious occasion.

Two Races In One Day

After a glorious nap, I was out again for our Career Impact photo scavenger hunt.

Team's gathered at Tim's house and split up from there. Our organizer, Sarah, could not be present as she decided last minute to be with her family in Iowa as their farms are likely going to be flooded this weekend. We missed you Sarah! The hunt clues were excellent and challenging!!



My team's strategy took us out to the Grand Prairie Mall for a few items, then through War Memorial for several more. Peoria Heights and Grandview Drive. Glen Oak Park, then downtown Peoria. Finally Mossville, and back to Tim's house. We made it just in time, and WON the game. Kari's team was in very close second. I've heard some excuse about how Kari had to drive carefully as she is running from the law right now. Pffft.

We met back at Tim's for dinner and review of the proof (pictures). Here are some samples from various teams.

Team Kari

Team Kelli

Team Kevin

Team Josh

Team Becky

Nice Joe


They're all probably still out there as I speak. I'm sorry I'm missing the show. Joe and I headed out to our buddy Paul's birthday party. We missed the pool, but enjoyed some puppy time and "Rock Band" on someone's Xbox 360. I thought my favorite was the drums, but it turns out I kicked butt on vocals.

Touch Down!!

This morning, Peoria hosted the 30-somthingth annual Steamboat Classic 4-mile and 15k races. Andrew duped Storm and me into racing the 4-mile with him, shortly before he remembered it was on father's day weekend, and backed out. That's ok Andrew, there's no bitterness. Say hi to big Atef for me!

Storm, Andrew and I have practiced twice over the last couple of weeks to prepare. My results during the practice runs were not so hot. I was not able to finish more than 2.5 miles.

My friend Timlee was there for the 15k. He did not wear short shorts...in case you were wondering. Thanks for sticking with me for the first quarter mile! The announcer at the beginning of the race sounded British, so it turns out Tim's not the only one around here. Either that, or someone else figured out that chicks dig the accent.

The race went very well for me, praise the Lord! I knew that the pace I kept up with the boys on Thursdays was not going to work so I slowed it down some more, and it paid off. I ran about 10-11 minute miles, and finished somewhere around 43 minutes without stopping to walk except at water stations.

I didn't see Storm until the end of the race. He did a great job, finishing somewhere around 31 minutes. Thanks Ashley, for getting us psyched before the race, and sitting there doing nothing with Nicole, holding down the fort while we were out... Just kidding. Ashley promised to post some before and after pics of us on her blog soon, so check it out.

Highlights of the race
- Those witty fellows who kept asking "is that beer or water" at the water stations. Ha....ha.
- The ladies jogging in a group playing truth or dare to pass the time. Sounds stupid, but they did pass me.

I learned a few things too. They have these cool sprinkler things near the end (I did not use it) and cool RFID tags to track your time. I also learned a whole new type of chafage!



Mr. and Mrs. Huse joined me for a nice brunch afterwards. Here's storm showing that he did in fact sweat too.














Last night was our Sunday School class's monthly "Friday Night Impact" event. We enjoyed some Rockapella lead by Dwayne, and then a presentation by several men who recently got back from a trip to Dallas.




The guys spent over a week down there where Patrick goes to seminary, developing relationships with displaced Iraqi's and their families. Taking them to a rodeo, and spending plenty of quality time with these very hospitable people. Several of them were very interested in hearing about the Bible. It was great hearing about the excitement and joy these guys had, and the hope of God's future work in those families lives.





I am sorry to report that the chops are gone :-(

Thursday

Andrew almost got us killed this morning. We have a bunch of security guards at work that look younger than I and completely uninterested in securing anything....except...Bernie. Bernie looks like he could pull a gun on you at any time. I don't mess with Bernie. When another guard is at the front gate, the stop sign really just means "roll quickly". When Bernie is there, you stop, get out to make sure the tires aren't moving, get back in the car and pull away slowly.

Andrew has gotten into the habit of trying to get into the parking lot without showing his badge. Even passengers must display their badge to the guard. Andrew is the guy who thinks so little of our security that he has successfully gotten into our parking lot by displaying his badge backwards, displaying his iPod, and even flashing his shoe as ID. Today, he tried to get through without showing Bernie his badge. It was pretty intense, but Andrew gave in.

After work, Storm, Andrew and I hit the ground running on the trails at Farmdale in preparation for the Steamboat race on Saturday. Andrew will be with us in spirit. A wimpy loser spirit.

My friend Amy, who I don't talk to at ALL (sorry Amy!) will be retiring from Cat today after an illustrious three year career to begin teaching Jr. High (most likely) in San Jose California. Amy, I will miss not getting to go to housewarming parties you don't have. Tonight, Amy invited friends to Old Chicago to mourn the loss of our little motorcycle chick. I'm sorry I didn't get pictures, even though the camera was in my pocket. So ashamed. Here's a stock photo from her facebook





On our way back to the car from Old Chicago, Andrew and I explored some of the festivities at steamboat days. I'm sure it had nothing to do with the fact that his fiance was there supervising the event until late tonight.

What is the deal with Elephant ears? If I had a choice between putting "Elephant Ears" or "Funnel Cakes" on a sign, I'd go with #2. They are the "best Ears in town".


Guess what guess what!! It's puppy time! A gracious friend of mine has offered several times to let me meet her German Shepard, Jack. I finally found the perfect time to visit, and we had a ball. What a fun dog. He looks medium size in this picture, but he is 70lbs, and loves to fetch and play. Good boy!!

Wednesday

Wednesday, at work, we had a going away lunch for Jennifer L. at Lorena's. Jennifer was a recent addition to our revamped quality team. Revamped means everyone except Mike left us but it's still mostly women...what in the world, seriously. However, Jennifer couldn't afford to feed me candy every day, so she's going to stay home with her two children. I'm sorta jealous. With Jennifer leaving, we are losing more than just a fun co-worker and great quality manager....we're losing her peanut M&Ms. Jennifer is the one who kicked off her team's candy bribes, if you don't count Anita's Bagel run. Amber and Anita will most likely keep up the bribing and my weight gain. But I will also start offering my own treats. Another co-worker is leaving, and has passed on her candy pail to me.

Bible study
We packed the house this week for Men's Bible Study. I'm so used to having 5 or 6 guys show up for study that I almost failed to have enough food for everyone. Eeek!



This week's topic (don't worry, I'll filter the awkward topics) was the differences and transition from dating to courtship. Key word this week, COMMUNICATION! Ok so it's the keyword like every other week, but mostly this week.

Dating = Observation
Courtship = Depth

Getting too far to fast emotionally and in commitment in a relationship before you are both really there is like sticking your tongue to a flagpole in the winter. Separating from that flagpole will be none too pleasant, and you'll probably leave a little bit of yourself behind. How true.

The teacher in the video series, Tommy Nelson, referenced Psalm 1:1-3 at the end, which was ironically what the Ladies Bible study was studying that night.

Ken and Amy arrived last night from Guatemala with their new baby boy, Nathan. This is their 7th child, five of which (I think) have been adopted. It was wonderful seeing them return and being reminded of their kind hearts and joyful attitudes that makes me so grateful to know them. Friends and relatives packed the airport waiting area waiting for them to arrive.

There they are!

Nathan got passed around alot, and seemed to be perfectly fine with it!




I recently bugged a friend about how I don't know what her parents look like. So she surprised me immediately with pictures of her parents. Here they are since I bet you're also dying to see Erika Child's family.




Look, just because she's short doesn't necessarily mean she was adopted.

....she was

Earlier this week...

(sigh) I have not been using time wisely recently. So now I'm tired AND behind on things, including BLOGGING! Here's a brief update on the week through Tuesday.

Monday's softball games were canceled due to the field being converted to a pool. Very sad, but gave me more time to catch up on things. I didn't.

Tuesday's game was exciting. Bethany's "team from the hood" won soundly 10-3, but it was not without a price. Elise was pitching, cuz she's awesome like that, and got smacked pretty hard by a drive that hit her glove and ricocheted into her face. I'll tell you what though, there's nothing cooler than seeing a serious softball girl put her hands on her hips and spit blood like a champ.

I'm sorry to report that there was no Trey time at the game. Very sad. :-(

So, my buddy Paul finally convinced me that I NEED to get a dog. That's right, I do believe it is a valid need. However, I'm still not sure if I SHOULD. So, to help figure out the situation, I brought home my parent's dog, Tilly, heretofore referred to as, "The Puppy".

When I told Mom that I needed a dog, she said "you HAVE a dog". Apparently I have forgotten that when our first family dog passed away several years ago, Dad and I got over it rather quickly, and convinced (forced) Mom to let us get another dog. But guess who takes care of her, and is DEFINITELY the boss of the house, as far as the dog is concerned? Mom!

It didn't work out horribly well. For one, the strange place made her very anxious. Then, I found out she is terrified of our hardwood stairs. Getting her up once was a pain. I didn't see her come down. After I got her up again the second time, she refused to go near them again. I'm glad she's not as opposed to being carried as she was when we got her several years ago. The puppy is back at home, but I might snag her again some time.

Discipleship group on Tuesday - I'm so undeserving of the guys who poke and prod me to keep my eyes on the prize despite my desire to hold to the way I want things to be. I was pumped to find "the chops" had made it through half of the week, going strong.

Sunday night after the children's program was quite possibly the happiest moment of the weekend, even after the great camping trip. I came to find that after a week long trip to Texas, Jon, my good buddy and discipleship groupie, returned to Peoria with the mutton chops I loved so much. After a two or three year hiatus, they're back! He's keeping them as long as he can get away with it. Please Joy, give them a chance!!

A few days ago

Here's a catch up post. One of a few.

On Sunday, I made it back from camping in time for the second service at church, followed by Sunday school. It was a great sermon and Sunday school class lesson. It's hard to ignore when you know God is trying to hit something home.

Sunday was the Career Impact class' second weekly sand volleyball game of the summer, and my first time attending this year. Very fun and perfect weather for it. Sorry, no pictures because the camera was in the wrong car.

Evening service was the children's program this week. So cute. I believe the theme was "Jail House Rock", based on the disciples faithfulness and joy in imprisonment. Kinda fits our Sunday school class lesson as well. One of these days I'm going to let God's way of handling trouble sink in to my life. Hopefully I don't just try to keep repeating how I handled trouble in the past.... I could be pretty happy superficially if I wanted to, but what good would that do anyone, especially myself? How would God be glorified then?


You can read and see more great stuff about the children's program at the Schellenberg's blog entry