It was my pleasure this afternoon to add my good friend, Susan Gates, and “The Studio Upside Down” to my Ocean Springs photo-project. Check out the entry HERE.

Hillary has been going to “The Studio” to dance since her kindergarten year, and we could not pick a better place for her to be. Susan (and her husband, Christopher) have a passion for Jesus, and it spills over everywhere, especially in the children who are blessed to spend time with them.

I love Susan in particular because she has fanned the desire to dance in my daughter’s heart. If Hillary has to grow up, I hope at least that she never stops dancing.

The Sturgeon pool and deck show continued today.

Our great friend, Tom (whose friend value quotient is rising astronomically), came back over this afternoon to help me with the deck while Jody and Tom’s wife, Laura, went to the movies. Tom took on the formidable task of actually teaching me some things today, which, as expected, slowed things up quite a bit. But I’m glad he did. He’s a patient teacher, and I’m a problem student, so we make a perfect match.

The pool is looking really good. It finished filling late last night, and I turned on the filter pump today. I’m supposed to take in a water sample tomorrow so we can start balancing out the chemicals. After that, we just need the weather to warm up just a little more.

I’m already liking this whole concept. We decided to do the pool/deck thing not just because… but because we need to (a) get outside more often, (b) exercise more often, and most importantly, (c) spend time together as a family – and with our friends, too…

Without even getting in a pool, today saw “all of the above” happening already…

My 3rd through 5th grade Sunday School class made a trip to the Ocean Springs Nursing Center with the express intent of brightening the day of some residents, and they did a wonderful job of reaching their goal. Three of our boys led a song each, and they did GREAT! And then the whole class put on a skit about “The Fiery Furnace” that received rave reviews from the audience. And then, the best part of all, the kids gave gifts to the residents that they had made, and got to know the names behind the faces. Which is always priceless.

Toward the end of our time, Mr. James (pictured above) told me that after his wife passed away last year he had taken up drawing, and that some of his work was posted on his door in Room 204. Our whole class decided to go check it out, and he has produced some wonderful pictures. Mr. James said he had to have something to help pass the time, and drawing has helped.

I hope a class of talented kids full of life helped him pass this afternoon, too.

Hillary took this picture, and it pretty much communicates the bulk of today. Today was pool installation day as well as the day we began building our deck. Great friend, Tom, came over to help things get started, and I literally don’t know what we would have done without him. After a few glitches here and there, we’re well on our way…

Beginning with my daughter, Erica’s, 14th birthday, my present for her every year is for she and I to do something special together. And we’ve done some pretty big things over the years. Well, she’s twenty now, and tonight was my night with her. The focus of the night was something she’s always wanted to do – go to Biloxi’s famous (and expensive) Mary Mahoney’s Restaurant to eat. Mary Mahoney’s is featured in a couple of John Grisham’s books (most notably Runaway Jury), and it’s history is amazing (the building dates back to 1737).

We began with a shrimp cocktail appetizer, then we both had the stuffed snapper. We even made room for dessert (key lime pie for me, Mississippi mud pie for Erica).

As an added bonus, Bruno called yesterday wondering if I was interested in their two tickets to the Gulf Coast Symphony tonight, which worked out perfectly for my evening with Erica. We had a wonderful night at the symphony enjoying a “Mediterranean Sojourn.”

But now it’s late. And I’m tired. And I better study since some of us have to work tomorrow.

I hope Charles Thomas and the Arkansas Razorbacks have a big second half. They sure need it.

Even with the Razorbacks having a poor first half, I’m having a better second day of the NCAA tournament so far. Good thing I don’t have a sports gambling addiction – I’m not a very good prognosticator.

The first weekend of March Madness is the best weekend in all of sports, but I’ll have to admit that the first two days this year has been much less exciting than normal.

But I’m still watching.

Yes, I realize my mother reads this blog, and yet job security worries me a wee bit more.

I hope tonight’s entry provides a pleasant smile for my friend, Bruno. Recently, when my wife and I visited with Bruno & Linda, we discussed various unique ideas for my Ocean Springs photo-project. I mentioned that I had noticed a new roller derby team had formed in Ocean Springs (The Mississippi Roller Girls), and both the Schroeders and my wife insisted that I include them. I had the pleasure of meeting league founder, Victoria Conway (who skates under the name, Vikki Sixx) tonight & add a most unique entry to my project (which you can read about HERE).

Tonight, for an extra, I hope it makes Bruno smile.

Bruno & I were at lunch together today when he received the call that his close friend, Fred Schumacher, had passed away in Cincinnati, Ohio. I was glad to be there when he heard, mostly to give him a hug as the initial emotions struck, but even more for the poignancy of his receiving the news while we were together. You see, when I first proposed the idea of he and I getting together regularly so that I could enjoy and learn from him, Bruno accepted in particular because, after Fred had moved away from the area following Katrina, he really needed a male friend.

So today, I’m glad I was there for Bruno, though briefly, when he heard the difficult news.

Not many retired pastors would encourage me to go meet the ladies of the roller derby, you see, but then again, not many pastors seem that interested in learning to live life like Jesus, who traveled in all sorts of interesting circles.

Tonight, I’m still thinking about Bruno. And I’m hoping that a picture of the Mississippi Roller Girls will somehow provide him with a unique morsel of much-needed comfort.

I’m up to page 1080 in War & Peace. Only 375 pages to go!!!

I always have two books going at the same time – one for fun (War & Peace right now, believe it or not), and one for “work” (if you will). I’m afraid you’ll have to take my word and purchase the “work” book I’ve just begun: Irresistible Revolution by Shane Claiborne.

I just started it today, and I’m only 116 pages into a 358 page book, but I’m already convinced it’s a must-read for just about everyone in the universe. But I might be a bit biased, which I’ll explain in just a bit.

Here are a few quotes from the book so far:

* “I began to wonder if anybody still believed Jesus meant those things he said. I thought if we just stopped and asked, What if he really meant it? it could turn the world upside down. It was a shame Christians had become so normal.” (p 41)

* “At that moment, we decided to stop complaining about the church we saw, and we set our hearts on becoming the church we dreamed of.” (p 64)

* “We were not interested in a Christianity that offered these families only mansions and streets of gold in heaven when all they wanted was a bed for their kids now. And many Christians had an extra one.” (p 64)

* (quoting Rich Mullins) “You guys are all into that born again thing, which is great. We do need to be born again, since Jesus said that to a guy named Nicodemus. But if you tell me I have to be born again to enter the kingdom of God, I can tell you that you have to sell everything you have and give it to the poor, because Jesus said that to one guy too… But I guess that’s why God invented highlighters, so we can highlight the parts we like and ignore the rest.” (p 98)

* “Jesus doesn’t exclude rich people; he just lets them know their rebirth will cost them everything they have.” (p 104)

* “I learned a powerful lesson: We can admire and worship Jesus without doing what he did. We can applaud what he preached and stood for without caring about the same things. We can adore his cross without taking up ours. I had come to see that the great tragedy in the church is not that rich Christians do not care about the poor but that rich Christians do not know the poor.” (p 113)

And these are just for starters…

Shane has been to Calcutta to love the dying with Mother Teresa before she passed away. He has lived with the homeless in both Chicago and Philadelphia. He has played with children in Iraq while the bombs fell. He has helped inaugurate an emerging church they call “The Simple Way.”

Now why this book resonates with me in particular:

I felt what Shane Claiborne felt in 1993. And I still do. At Christmas 1993, while teaching at a Christian high school in my hometown, I made a firm decision: I was moving to the inner city of Los Angeles to teach kids no one else cared about. I mailed my resume to Los Angeles and decided that I would go to L.A. at Spring Break to look for a place to live, and when summer rolled around I would be there. I did the difficult deed of telling my plans to my mom, but on this occasion I wasn’t seeking advice. My mind was made up.

One week later my entire life changed when I met the lady I knew then as “Erica’s mom.” By May of 1994 I was married and had become the 23-year-old dad of a girl heading into the 2nd grade.

I don’t read Shane Claiborne with regrets. Not at all. No “wonder what would have happened to me” ruminations. In fact, I cannot imagine having missed the people and experiences I’ve encountered on my journey. But there are no “I was so stupid and idealistic” thoughts that come to mind either when I read this book. I’m not jealous of Shane Claiborne, just related in some distant cousin sort of way.

What he says remains what I feel. My path has simply been a different one. Mine led through houseparenting at a children’s home, establishing a couple of Habitat for Humanity affiliates, becoming a full-time preacher of all things, and a host of other projects stemming from that fateful decision – including a whole host of experiences from a singular hurricane. I chose a path that involves having a family and a house and cars… But I’ve not given up on the language. Or the principles. And I’m not finished yet.

And thankfully, I’m learning there are others. And thankfully, Shane Claiborne has recorded his experiences so that I can learn from them.

When my family moved to the Mississippi Gulf Coast, we were introduced to all sorts of wonderful seafood. But we missed good barbecue.

That is, until The Shed BBQ came along and saved us…

In the past couple of weeks, The Shed has been in the business of saving a lot more than that. Linda Orrison, mother of the owners (pictured with me today above), took it on herself to coordinate a relief effort to the tornado victims in Enterprise, Alabama. She called schools and churches and city governments, and instead of simply filling The Shed’s 17-foot trailer, she ended up filling it AND two fifty-three foot tractor-trailers.

Our church family was honored to contribute to the effort, and tomorrow the trucks will roll to Alabama.

When you’re on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, you might want to join all the people who’ve “been fed at The Shed.”

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Note: After all your wonderful photography advice, my great friend and excellent photographer, David Watson, went and played with a 4th picture of Jim McVeay and made it awesome! Check it out on my Ocean Springs blog HERE (scroll down to see it).

Okay, to complicate things once more, here’s a THIRD picture to consider. For those that liked the one posted yesterday, this one is just a bit further away. I like that it has “Nam” at the end of Vietnam (since it was the slang anyway) as well as the year 1973 which, in addition to marking the end of the Vietnam War, also marked the year Jim retired. What do you think about this one compared to the one posted yesterday???

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Tonight was a night for basketball. Thirteen men gathered at our church building to eat dinner, fill out our NCAA brackets, and engage in a little hoops action of our own on the church parking lot. Even though I moved as little as possible, I still ended up with a blister.

Basketball used to pretty much be my life, but those days are LONG gone now. It is a bit depressing to even play informal games like tonight. I never played anything halfway, but between the aging out-of-shape body and a long story for another time about a shattered leg and an ongoing fear of injury, halfway is the best I can do now. Which is depressing.

But spending time with a good group of men from our church family… well, as the commerical says: priceless.

Okay, I need a bit of advice from the two of you that regularly read my blog (Hi Mom!). I did a photo-shoot with my good friend, Jim McVeay, today at the Mississippi Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Ocean Springs. I struggled a LOT to select the best picture, and the one you are looking at above is the runner-up. I like the pictures in the background and the expression on Jim’s face, especially given the paragraph I wrote about both Jim and the memorial.

So…

Please go HERE to see the picture that barely won in my personal contest and to read the paragraph. If I royally screwed up and should go with the picture here instead, please let me know. What I like about the “other” picture, by the way, is that it has more of the feel of a professional photo from a magazine feature article. But this was a hard choice…

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We had a GREAT morning with our church family, followed by a fun lunch at El Saltillo. Our old friends, Beverly and Emily Weatherington, surprised us with a spring break visit, and it was so good to see them again. I was amazed at how tall Emily has grown in the past year!

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My Arkansas Razorbacks had the stuffing beat out of them in the SEC finals today by the Florida Gators, but it was amazing that the Hogs even made it to the finals. Even though Florida beat us in both games, I’m pretty proud that the Razorbacks made it to the championship games in both football and basketball this year. And now, in an hour, we’ll see if the Hogs late-season run earned them a ticket to the Big Dance.

Everyone get ready to fill out your bracket!!!