Turkey Update

I kicked that turkey's butt.
Juiciest, tastiest, turkey ever to live.
Boo ya.

Quote of the day:
"It's probably north of the breast, where you've been for the last twenty minutes."

101 Things I'm Thankful For

1. My beautiful wife.
2. Mountain Dew.
3. Jesus (I feel a responsibility to say that these are not in order).
4. A good job.
5. Dave Morgan Haikus.
6. The color blue.
7. Comfortable shoes.
8. Minesweeper.
9. A beautiful apartment.
10. Clean socks.
11. My freaking awesome wife
12. Letter openers that really work.
13. Stand up comedians.
14. Family.
15. Friends across the country.
16. My time in the "man house."
17. Contact lens.
18. Uncertainty of the plural spelling of lens.
19. Coffee.
20. Cool coffee cups.
21. Lost.
22. The Office.
23. An ability to grow facial hair.
24. Naps.
25. Raspberries. The fruit, not the tongue thing.
26. Raspberries. The tongue thing, not the fruit.
27. Kisses.
28. A good pen.
29. A sense of accomplishment.
30. That I don't go to High School anymore.
31. Rewriting stories to make myself look good.
32. A good shave.
33. The letter "A."
34. A nameplate that looks different than everyone elses.
35. Legos.
35. Eggo waffles.
36. Thanksgiving.
37. The Ballance's opening their home to us.
39. God providing in amazing ways as we moved out west.
40. Staple removers.
41. Zombies, in fiction and in real life.
42. The numbers!!! 4 8 15 16 23 42
43. When people write on my facebook.
44. Scratching a good itch.
45. Sleeping in.
46. Any day I don't receive a stupid text message forward.
47. Stanley cup victories for the Detroit Red Wings.
48. A good hockey fight.
49. Youtube clips of Patrick Roy getting humiliated.
50. The grin I get when noone realizes until now that I skipped #38.
51. Remembering serenading my wedding, and Geoff's wedding.
52. Hitting John Lotterhos's car that one time.
53. Crazy Trinidadians going the wrong way in go-karts.
54. Winning free stuff.
55. John Jurries proclaiming my post = win.
56. Jessica Notenbaum yelling at me for not posting.
57. When I beat the Fantasy Guru's predicted score by 60 points.
58. Spring.
59. Flip flops.
60. Bonfires.
61. New groups of friends who haven't heard my jokes 30 times.
62. Friends that don't know I stole a joke from someone else.
63. Moes Burritos.
64. A good yawn.
65. Coffee. Again.
66. Monday Midnight Prayer.
67. Trendy glasses.
68. Small groups.
69. Not using the word "moist."
70. Ipods.
71. My stunning wife.
72. The Sports Guy.
73. Tuesday Morning Quarterback.
74. Sunflower Seeds.
75. Cholula Sauce.
76. Wolfgangs.
77. DVD's.
78. Youth group memories.
79. Power tools.
80. Growing up.
81. Black olives.
82. Digiornios pizza.
83. Scott Adams.
84. An empty inbox.
85. Days off.
86. Presents.
87. Automatic doors that make me feel like a Jedi.
88. Lord of the Rings being better than Star Wars.
89. Surprises.
90. The time I put jolly ranchers in Jamison's shower.
91. The time I drunk wrestled Steve and won.
92. Proposing.
93. Making our wedding our wedding.
94. My groomsmen.
95. Hookahs.
96. My gorgeous wife.
97. That this list is almost over.
98. That 101 is more catchy than 201.
99. That M&M's melt in your mouth, not in your hand.
100. That's what she said.
101. Your name here!

Watch This - 4

Winter Song (with Ingrid Michaelson) - Free videos are just a click away

Random Thoughts - 14

Maybe growing up has to do with learning how to cook your own turkey.
(THATS WHAT SHE SAID)

Carrying on, I'm cooking a 20 pound turkey this week. 20 pounds of turkey, according to the USDA, should feed about 20 people. That means, according to my calculation, that me, my wife, and my wifes friend must eat 7 shares of turkey a piece.

But I'm thinking about how strange it is that I'm cooking a turkey. After all, my dad does that. And here I am, about to cook it in four days.

And here's the crazy thing - I sort of know how to. And I don't mean just "throw it in the oven," but real tips - like rubbing herbs between the skin and the meat, and cooking the turkey upside down, and in a bag.

I think I picked it up by osmosis from my dad. I used to watch him and help him on Thanksgiving, and now I know how to cook a turkey.

So here's the takeaway - I picked up information/facts/truth from a relationship, not in the context of a lesson or teaching.

Maybe the best way to learn about God is the same way - in the context of a relationship, being close and watching Him. I grow more and more doubts about learning about God in a classroom setting where God doesn't seem to be moving very much.

Now watch me set the turkey on fire and invalidate this whole post.

Somebody Smarter Said - 22

"The greatest thing about Facebook, is that you can quote something and totally make up the source.” - George Washington

Random Thoughts - 13

Here's a curious question:

Why do I seem to do fine with new posts on this blog when I'm not expecting to do any,

But when I write out a plan or an idea, my posts immediately drop in content/quality?

For your review:
September: 31 posts.
October 01: Post reviewing 31 posts, promising even more for October
October: 10 posts.

Same pattern in 2008.

It's weird. Maybe it has to do with this idea that I recently read - our brains need spontaneity, in order to stimulate the correct brain side. The book (Intuitive Leadership, review coming soon?) talked about how in any creative endeavor, more time and more effort do not equal more of a succesful endeavor. You can't force creativity, you can only nurture it.

If you can't "solve" your creative puzzle, go read a book / play football / watch simpsons. Then come back and be amazed.

Silly Christianity - 1

Christians have several terms for people who aren't christians: lost, damned, pagans, unholy, etc. The term "Unreached People Groups" covers all of these categories. When I was in college, I learned an acronym that helpfully puts all the UPG into one easy to remember term:
THUMB
THUMB acronymizes (word?) into Tribes, Hindus, Undeclared (agnostic or atheistic, but THUMB is easier to remember than THAMB), Muslims, Buddhists. It also helps us as christians strategize in our secret planning meetings - cries of "I've got U under control, someone else take B!" are not unheard of.

I think that this list is incomplete, lacking traditionally one of the most unreached people groups in the world.
I would modify it to THUMBZ - Tribes, Hindus, Undeclared, Muslims, Buddhists, and Zombies.

Based on my exhaustive research, there are currently ZERO christian ministries primarily focussed on saving zombies, and the zombie population remains at a 0% conversion rate.

For shame, christendom, for shame.