9/11, the other pilot

This Sunday marks the 10th anniversary of the day the terrorists attacked our country destroying the twin towers. I don't know where you were on that day, but our family was at Disney World in Orlando, Fl. They shut the park down for safety reasons and it was a mass exit out of the park. In the parking lot, we listened on the radio as we heard details of the events that had just taken place. We couldn't move because of the log jam in the parking lot. We just sat there....speechless. Each plane we saw in the air caused us to wonder where the plane was headed and who was piloting it. We were confronted with evil. The trip was supposed to be meaningful, but we didn't expect it would be in this way.

I'm sure you have your own story of where you were on that day, much like the Alan Jackson song "Where were you when the world stopped turning?".

The video below tells the story of the man who at one time was scheduled to be the pilot of one of the planes that went into the World Trade Center. Listening to his story takes me back to the day that it happened and the difference between the day before and the day after.



As a Christian, I can only say 'Amen' to what he says.

Camping at Tugalo State Park, Labor Day

Our family enjoys going camping. We try to go 3-4 times a year. Usually Justin and I go with a tent at least once and we go as family in our camper a few times. Our location of choice is usually Tugalo State Park in Lavonia. It's on the GA/SC border and is about an hour North of our home. There's a good amount of stuff to do from fishing and having a campfire to playing tennis or miniature golf. There's also a field where you can play frisbee or soccer. Some may say that our camping is cheating because you still have water and power, but that's the only way Stephanie will go. :)

I jokingly call our camper our vacation home or lake home. It does sound kinda odd to say that when we camp we still have cable tv, heat, air conditioning, a refrigerator and access to a washer and dryer. It's still a relatively inexpensive way to get away for a few days and spend time together as a family . And when I say together, I really mean together. When we pass each other in the camper we bump into each other. Nothing like family closeness...especially when Justin hasn't taken a shower lately.

Oh yeah, add in there that we also take our dog Daisy with us and you can see that we have all kinds of fun. By the way, she started to chase a dog this time and broke her collar. When Justin and I were playing tennis she sent this text to me: "Daisy broker her collar. had 2 chase her around campground. nice man helped me catch her. hope u had fun w tennis". I don't think that she was smiling much when she sent that.

This year we had a small get together to celebrate Katelyn turning 6 at the campsite. It was kinda a last minute family party. We had given her gifts and had a mini-party at our house on her actual birthday on Thursday (she got a new bike!). We had some family over and had some cake and ice cream. Her Aunt Starlet brought some cake balls that were awesome! Her Uncle Shane and Nanny and Granddaddy were also there. When we asked her what family she wanted us to invite she said "not Aunt Wendy!". We looked at her kinda surprised and then she added: "she hugs too hard!". Her Aunt Wendy couldn't make it because of other plans (like I said, we planned it last minute), but knowing her, I have a feeling that her hugs won't be getting any lighter know that I've posted this, if anything they will get harder.

We really enjoy spending time enjoying God's creation. We didn't enjoy the rain He sent on Monday too much, but it's hard to complain when we need it so bad. We were prepared with a rain suit and poncho though. We were able to visit a local church on Sunday where a friend we used to go to school with is now the pastor.

Here's some pics of the weekend:

Katelyn's Birthday gathering



A new twist on smore's (snickers, we also had Reece's as well)


Justin showing off his Snickers smore


Sitting around the campfire:


This is how we broke camp on Monday. Thankfully, the rest of our trip was dry, except for all the time we spent in the lake, but that was getting wet by choice. :)


Katelyn displayed how each of us felt after the weekend. It was a great time, but each of us needed some rest.

This and That

Hope everyone is doing well. Here's some various items to put a smile on your face. Some of these I may have shown before. Have a good weekend. We'll be at our lake home this weekend (the camper).

giving a rabbit bunny ears





This picture of Winnie the Pooh is not in the kids books:


Walmart has raised it's low prices :)



Pretty sad :(



dog tucks himself in


wow, this is crazy


double backflip off swing, both amazing and stupid at the same time


love kids and ice cream


climbing a rope while hula hooping


Triple Play


As one who loves popcorn, I appreciate this:

Katelyn's growing up, and so am I

Well it was a rough morning at the Harrison household. The crisis: Katelyn didn't want to get her hair brushed. I'll leave out most of the details of the crisis and give you with a brief summary.

1. We only have so much time in the morning before we leave for school.
2. Katelyn wouldn't obey us.
3. We left later than usual for school, but still made it on time.
4. I learned more than she did.

We're into the second week of school and the kids have been pretty good so far, except for one rough morning last week, but that's another story. The picture above is from her first day of 1st grade, notice the smile and missing teeth. There wasn't much smiling this morning

There came a point this morning where I realized that this was not a 'quick' fix, rather this was something that was going to take a little while, even being late for school. After the usual "you're mean" and "you're hurting my feelings" we were able to make some progress. After telling her to get in the car, she ran to her room and hid in the closet. Up to that point, one of my primary goals was to just get her to school and move on. Obviously, it moved beyond that now. At that point I had to 'invest' in the relationship a little. I'm not going to say what happened in the room, but it ended with her crying and me holding her in my arms telling her how much I love her.

Now here's my question: Who was teaching who in that moment? I would not have planned to have that happen this morning, I would've avoided it at all costs, I did try to avoid it, so did Stephanie, but there came a point where I couldn't. I think that in the midst of the situation God was teaching me more about Himself than I was teaching Katelyn. Let me explain that a little.

God has revealed to us everything we need in this age and the age to come in His Word. Many times we choose to go our own way and God corrects us. He'll do this in a variety of ways, sometimes when we least expect it. Because He made us, we belong to Him and the ironic thing is that when we do as He asks we are actually doing what's best for us. We of course are stubborn in our ways and ignore Him as if we are smarter than Him and know what's best. If you are a child of God who has confessed your sin and trusted in the finished work of Jesus on the cross, then He will discipline you. If you are not a child of God and are wandering in your own direction, you are in a dangerous place. God may get your attention in ways you might not expect it, but then again, he may let you live with your own choices.

I did not want to discipline Katelyn this morning, I just wanted to take her to school, but in the process, he taught me many things.

Like Katelyn, I have disobeyed and tried to go my own way
Like Katelyn, I ran from God, trying to hide
Like Katelyn, I did not want to own up to my sin
Like Katelyn, God pursued me because He loves me
Unlike Katelyn, God did more than give me a spanking, He sent His Son to be crucified.

Notice that this is true both for those who trust in the Lord the first time, but also for the believer who has been a disciple for a long time.

Being a parent is not easy. It is very challenging and can be very humbling. I'm sure that there will be more mornings like this morning. I have a long way to go and a lot to learn about being a dad. As I held Katelyn in my arms, I told her how much I love her, and realized that it's minimal in comparison to the love God has for me and has shown through the death of Jesus.

Definitely Grace undeserved!

This and That

A few short clips for you to enjoy:

Why won't he throw the stick?




Double Knockout
\


very cool cello



very Blueman Show like



Sports Funny and Sad. Some of you may get this, while some of you won't. I understand that.



Have a good day!

What do Osama Bin Laden, Casey Anthony, and CSI have in common?

Have you ever watched "Without a Trace", "CSI", "NCIS", "Law and Order" or any of the other crime shows that are on tv? How about any of the "Judge Judy" type shows on tv? Ever ask yourself why? We occasionally watch these shows, most of them are well produced and draw you into their plot. What are your thoughts on the capture/killing of Osama Bin Laden? How do you feel about the Casey Anthony case and the fact that the jury handed out a "not guilty" verdict?

I talk about this because I think we all have an inward pull toward having the truth revealed and justice being upheld. We don't want to see someone get away with a crime. We want them to serve their punishment. So we are pleased when they are convicted and killed. Likewise, we are concerned when they are let go, seemingly scot-free?

I will share my thoughts and ask you to think about yours.

Recently I've caught myself being drawn into the Casey Anthony murder trial. Has anyone else done this? I knew very little about the case for the past few years as we rarely watch the news... it gets depressing after a while. I haven't watched much of the trial either, but for the past week or so, I've caught myself looking at the highlights of the case, the story involved, the evidence, the lines of reasoning by the prosecution and the defense. All of those intrigued me. I ask the question: Why?

I noticed that the more I watched, the more entangled the story seemed to be. There were allegations of child abuse from the father and brother, there was lying on the part of just about everybody, there was 'alleged' adultery on the part of the father, there was the strange behavior of the meter reader, and more. Casey, the mother of Caylee, who was accused of murder, went as far as to make up a story of a fake nanny, a fake boyfriend, and a fake job at Universal Studios. On top of that she went out partying and got a tattoo of "Beautiful Life" after her child was missing. Not exactly a candidate for mother of the year. It was an extremely messed up case. In the end the jury came back with a "Not Guilty" verdict of first degree murder, aggravated manslaughter, and aggravated child abuse. They only found her guilty of 4 counts of lying. I do believe that the jury made the right decision based upon my understanding of the facts of the case. There simply wasn't enough evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Casey Anthony was the killer and because of that they reached a "not guilty" verdict. So here we have a little girl who was found dead with duct tape over her mouth in a plastic bag near where she lived and no one is going to pay for this? No, I don't believe that at all. God knows exactly what happened. He knows all and sees all. Those responsible for the death of Caylee will have to answer to the judge of the universe for their actions. There will be no excuses on that day. The surrounding family members with their problems will all be set aside and the person(s) responsible will have to answer. It will not be a nice scene.

The capture/killing of Osama Bin Laden a few months ago made news headlines everywhere. The man responsible for the 9/11 attacks on the Twin Towers and many other terror attacks was found and killed. What was your reaction to this? Was there a sense of relief? A sense of Justice delivered? A sense of pity? If you were like me there was some of all those emotions.

When the news of Osama Bin Laden broke I was in my bathroom brushing my teeth about to go to bed. There was an alert that important news would be coming from the White House shortly. I didn't have a clue what it could be. Stephanie said "Is Mrs. Obama pregnant?". For the next few hours we stayed glued to the tv as the President explained the raid in Pakistan by Seal Team 6 and the capture and kill of Bin Laden. There was celebrations in the streets, congratulations throughout the media, a sense of American pride, and a feeling of relief. I was one who felt the relief of this extremely dangerous man no longer around to cause harm. The man who was the mastermind behind numerous attacks on American soil was now no longer a threat. Not long after I felt relief, I felt pity for him. He faced the judgement of Americans and others who were hunting for him, but ultimately he faced the judgement of God. I don't think that high fives and celebrations are a way to "love your enemy". Please do not think that I am saying that we should simply shake hands and hug someone who kills our other neighbors. I'm not saying that at all. I'm simply saying that maybe instead of celebrating the death of someone, someone who rightfully deserves death, we should mourn over the fact that his death is necessary, as I believe it was. I firmly believe that the President and Seal Team did the right thing and at the same time am hit with the weight of the tragedy of the situation.

We all want justice to be manifested. This is even more so when it's something personal against us. It's easy to follow something from a distance, brush it off and move onto something else, but when it's personal it's not that easy. For example what if Osama Bin Laden had killed your parent, sibling, or child in one of his attacks? What if one of your kids was murdered or raped by someone? A sense of justice appears within us even when something small occurs. When someone cuts you off in traffic it's easy to blame the other person and point out their fault. It's so easy for us to look at tv shows, and real events like Casey Anthony and Osama Bin Laden, as well as personal offenses against us and seek justice. It's harder for us to look at our own lives and demand the same type of treatment. You see, we have offended those around us. We have committed numerous crimes against others, some of which were found out, many of which were not. How are we going to answer for those crimes? Is saying I'm sorry good enough? What would it look like if Casey Anthony and Osama Bin Laden said "Yes, I did everything you said, I'm sorry, I'll try my best to do better, I promise". It wouldn't matter much. A good judge would not let that slide, they would not let the offender go free no matter how sincere they were because the punishment would need to be paid.

Personally, I view every offense we make not only a horizontal offense against another person, but a vertical offense against God as well. Nothing will escape the eye of God and every person will have to give an account before Him.

Are they deserving of justice, yes, but so are we. How are we going to answer for that?

Do we think that God owes us only good and won't hold us accountable for our thoughts and actions? If so, are the unanswered murders always going to be unanswered, with no one brought to justice?

Are we going to try to do more good things to outweigh the bad, hoping to be 'good' enough? And how 'good' is good enough, is that something we decide on relative terms?You might be 'good' compared to Osama Bin Laden and Casey Anthony, but compared to God are you really 'good'?

I'm not sure how you would answer those questions, but here's how I do:

God's standard is perfection. I was created to be perfect and live for God's glory in relationship with him. I turned from him, taking him off the throne and putting myself on the throne. I decided I was a better judge than him and deserved to rule. While God could have left me in the pig sty covered in sin, he didn't. Jesus came to earth lived a perfect life and died a perfect death to bring me back to God. Through his sacrifice on the cross it's no longer about being good enough, it's actually realizing that I fall way short of being good enough. Being brought low because of my sin was the most uplifting thing that happened. Rather than being told how good I was, I was shown how great God is. The justice I deserve was laid on Christ. I'm trusting in Christ for the forgiveness of my sin and my aim is to live a life of gratitude that reflects that.

Would you want to have a teenager? :)

Would you want a teenager living in your home? Some of you have already been through that stage of your life. Later, I plan on posting some pictures and reflections on Justin finishing up middle school. In this post though I only want to say a few things about some of the advantages of having a teenager. I'll try to stay away from the disadvantages. :)

As you can see from the picture, we now have our own lawn service. Granted we get what we pay for, but still it's nice. We have help getting things moved around the house, from groceries to lawn supplies, an extra set of hands helps.

Recently we added some pine straw to our house and had big time miscalculated what it would take resulting in 9 extra bales of pine straw. After talking with some new neighbors a few houses down from us, they agreed to take the remaining bales. Justin and his cousin Eric walked the bales down to their house. That was pretty cool.

Yes, there's extra dishes (lots), extra clothes (lots), and more activities to be involved in (cross country, basketball, church youth group) but that's ok, it's worth it. Plus we get that unique sense of humor that only a teenager can provide.

We're proud to have a teenager in our home and pray that he will continue to grow into the man that God wants him to be. We also pray that we'll be the parents that God has called us to be.

This and That

Sorry it's been a while since I've made a post. I have a few that I'm working on, but we're having computer problems and we can't seem to find a lot of our pictures. Anyways here's some stuff to make you smile:

What was he thinking?


This is so cute:


Strange, but somehow intriguing


Maybe the next time Katelyn wants to play my guitar I should let her :)


Love this by Anita Renfroe:


Good catch

Our family garden

A few weeks ago I gave into Stephanie's desire to have a garden. She said "all I'm asking for is two 16 square foot boxes". I'm not sure if you're familiar with the concept, but basically you have a garden in an above ground box. You're able to maintain it (or so I'm told) better that way. You section off squares in the boxes and plant your vegetables in certain areas. The only problem is that our back yard has a hill. We sat down and started making our diagrams of what it would look like and what the dimensions would need to be. Then I started a list of the materials needed. We sat time aside on a Saturday for a "family project". With a 5 year old and 14 year old you know that sounds like fun. :)

We made the trip to Home Depot in our Toyota Camry. All I can say is that thing has a nice spacey trunk. It fit:

one 2x12x8
two 2x6x16
one 2x4x14
ten 40 pound bags of top soil

And some other stuff as well in the car. Home Depot made the cuts we needed for free.

Then we got home the fun began. We started to set up the boxes based on the prior diagram and all of us forgot that we didn't do so well at geometry. I think Katelyn's ideas ranked up there with the rest of ours. After struggling with the first box, the second was a breeze. And they were put together without bloodshed or yelling and screaming.

It was very cool to be able to do this as a family. Each person contributed a part in the project. I did most of the digging, Justin did most of the topsoil work, Katelyn removed most of the rocks, and Stephanie did most of the planting. Oh yeah, and as you can see by the pictures, our dog Daisy watched the whole time and kept us company.

We're still not sure if we'll have dinner to put on the table, but the project was a good time. :)

Here's what it looked like after the sections and some of the planting. We are hoping to have green beans, tomatoes, bell peppers, squash, zucchini, and sweet potatoes.

Chick Fil-a 5k, Winder

On May 7th, Our family ran in the Chick-fil-a 5k race in Winder. This was the first race that all four of us entered. A family at our church told us about the event. They had 4 of their kids (yes, they have more than 4, but that's another story) running and we decided that because they offered a family rate that it was something for us to do as well. Everything was going good until race day. I had picked up the race packets with our shirts and numbes the day before and everything was a go. Then came race morning. Katelyn decided she didn't want to run. She stayed in a bad mood until we got to the starting line, and even then she wasn't real pleased.

We met up with the other family and chatted before the race. The weather was great and although the crowd was the largest of the Chick-fil-a series (about 6 races or so around the Athens area), it wasn't too crowded.

I'll tell of my race first, and then of everyone else.

I finished first in my age class with a time of 22 min 31 sec, finishing 13th overall. I still have my goal to finish under 22 minutes this year. Those wearing gps watches said that the actual distance was 3.25 miles instead of 3.1 miles, so I guess according to that I would have made my goal time, but until it's recorded by the race officials, it won't count as having made the goal. There was a long slow grade hill coming back that made it difficult to finish strong. I was still very happy to finish first in my group though. Oh and I also won a drawing for a water bottle.

Here I am crossing the finish line and some pics of the award presentation and after. For some reason some of the pics are small, we tried to resize them, but couldn't sorry.








Justin did well in the race with a finish of 25 min 55 seconds, finishing 47th overall. He avoided twisting his ankle this time, like the last race. His mp3 player died halfway through the race though. He plans to run on the Cross Country team in the fall. His time is pretty good for not having run much. He now has a good pair or running shoes which will help too. Here he is crossing the finish line.


Now onto Katelyn and Stephanie. Well, while Katelyn's mood got a little better, her running did not. The picture below shows Katelyn running. Stephanie said that she didn't run much more than that. Actually for some of it she didn't even walk, Stephanie carried her. To finish the race she was promised McDonalds and an ice cream. You can see by the picture on Stephanie's face below that she was ready for the race to end. We decided that unless Katelyn begs us to run the next race then she'll be sitting it out. The funny thing was that when Katelyn crossed the line she said "Daddy, I beat Mommy". I think she beat her not only in the race but also mentally. I won't give there time, but like in the Easter Bunny run, they didn't finish last. :)

MOM

Tomorrow we will celebrate Mothers Day.

I wanted to take a few minutes and personally acknowledge my Mom. She has always been there for me. When it's been good and not so good, regardless of what I've done, she has been there. While this post could go on forever about all of the great things that my Mom has done for me and how great she is, I will only mention a few.

1. Little League baseball

When we lived in West Virginia, I loved baseball. I mean a lot. If I wasn't at practice or in a game I was usually collecting baseball cards or in the yard hitting rocks into the woods with a bat. When by Dad had to work, my Mom was the one driving me all over Webster County for baseball. And when I say all over, I really mean it. We weren't around the corner from the field like we were in Toccoa or in Jefferson. Usually practice or games meant either going down off a mountain and going up another. This not only took a lot of money in gas, it also took a lot of her time. She also would practice with me at our house. She did all that not because she loved baseball, but because she loved me.

2. Military

When I decided to join the military, my Mom let me make my own choices. She was not uninterested in those choices, but she knew they were my choices. She always wrote me letters (as did many others in my family) of encouragement in basic training giving me support. She would send me care packages of snacks and other stuff that she knew I would like. My face always lit up when I got those packages. It was during this time that Justin was born. She was always there for me, helping this new dad when I needed it most.


3. Justin and Katelyn

My mom loves being a grandparent. And her grandkids love her. She would keep Justin and Katelyn everyday if we asked her too. She would cancel any plans that she has in order to see her grandkids. How do I know this? Because she has. I've had to ask my Dad what's going on before I ask my Mom, because I know that she will say "there's nothing going on, bring them on over". Now, I will say that she lets them both get away with way too much stuff. She'll fix them mac & cheese and let that be their dinner along with many other "mamaw" type things. See, she gets to give them back to us after they leave her house. :)

This is only 3 of the many things that I can say about my mom. I'm sure that my brother and sisters can mention many more as well, along with the other grandkids.

I love you Mom and thank God for you!

Easter Bunny run

For some reason in the past year I have picked up running both as a hobby and as a lifestyle. I used to run all the time in the Army and while I did enjoy it some it's not something that I would say that I would do on my free time. I tried to run a few years ago but my knees hurt too much. In the past year though I've not only been able to run without serious injury, I've actually enjoyed it. I've been able to enter some 5k races, placing in my age group and even did well in a 10k. I've had a guy at work talk about a half-marathon for a while now (almost 6 months). I kept saying that there was no way I could do that, that's just too far. That doesn't sound like fun. That's not even a possibility. Well, over the past few months I kept increasing my distance runs on Saturday mornings and felt confident enough to give it a shot. I had considered the Publix Marathon/Half-marathon in Atlanta but decided against it for a few reasons. It was expensive. I'd have to go to Atlanta and even spend the night there, which would not be fun at all. It also fell on the same weekend that our church was having our missions conference that I didn't want to miss. All of those factors led me to a small "Easter Bunny" race in Clemson, SC. It was less than half the price of the Georgia Marathon, a whole lot less runners (under 200 in the half-marathon), and it included a 5k run/walk that Stephanie and Katelyn could participate in followed by an egg hunt. On top of that we could stay at the In-laws house in Toccoa and drive up early the next day. Justin stayed at a friends house that night or he would have participated as well. This seemed like a great fit for our family.

After visiting with Stephanie's parents the evening before, I was very glad we hadn't driven to Atlanta. We were up early the next morning and on our way. Traffic wasn't a big deal at all and we were there with plenty of time to spare to pick up our race packets. Again, I'm glad we didn't go to Atlanta. Can you tell I don't like driving to Atlanta? This was the first race that Katelyn participated in. We weren't sure how she was going to do, but figured the egg hunt afterward would be some good motivation. The half-marathon started first, and then the 5k kicked off soon afterward.

I was surrounded by runners with gps watches and heart monitors. Many also had belt "fanny packs" with water and energy beans/gel. I thought "ok, I thought ok, even with all that, they still have to run though right?". My goal was to maintain a good pace and finish the race. I had never ran over 10 miles and this one was 13.1 miles. I had followed a training program that had you build up to 10 miles till a week or two before the race, then back down your mileage to conserve energy and allow your body to rest. I had also planned to walk for about 20 seconds or so at each water station. The weather was great, a slight chill in the air, perfect running conditions.

After a bumpy start because there were different paces of those in front and behind me, we spread ourselves out. I had figured out early on that my key to doing well was to find some runners to keep a good pace with. I would need those who would challenge me, but not kill me. Fortunately, I was able to do that throughout the race. At times I would pick someone with a little faster pace, sometimes a little slower. We ran through downtown Clemson, along Lake Hartwell, through Clemson University and back to the finish line. At the finish line there was someone in a Dunkin Doughnut costume giving the finishers a high-five. I was happy to finish and gave him the high-five, mainly beacuse I didn't want to be 'that guy' who didnt. :)

My time was 1 hour 42 minutes, well ahead of my goal of 2 hours. I had no idea how the last 3.1 miles would go, but I knew in training that around 10 miles it got kinda rough. My hip started hurting some around 11 miles, but I knew I was close to the finish so it didn't both me that much. I ended up in 4th place in my age group. I didn't get any awards but was very pleased with the finish. Actually, I was pleased just to finish.

Not long after I crossed the line, Katelyn ran up to me and said "Daddy, we won". Stephanie told Katelyn that everyone wins who finished the 5k and in a way, she's right. I'm not going to say where they finished, but I will say that they weren't last. :)

At the bottom are some pics of us before the race. The only thing that I didn't like was having to be around all those Clemson fans, yuck!

We have another 5k race tomorrow in Winder that all of us are participating in. It's a Chick-fila race full of kids activities and I'm sure, their cow mascot. Maybe I'll be able to give him a high-five. I can only hope. :)

God is so good to our family. We're able to do things together and enjoy each others company. These races are only a small part of it.

This and That

More funnies for a Friday:

This is so true:


For those who sit at a desk at work:


Never thought about this before:


Popular brands with their real marketing slogans:







I love this one:


And for the redneck in all of us: a Monster Truck Backflip

It's Friday

It's Friday (Good Friday), but Sunday's a comin

Camp Tugalo Men's Retreat

Tonight a few guys from work will be going with me to a place called "Camp Tugalo" on Lake Louise in Toccoa. We first took the trip back in 2006 and have been going every year since then in the fall, except last year (although I did go with another group of men away from work). We decided this year to go in the Spring.

For a couple of years before our annual retreat we were having Bible studies at work on a weekly or every other week basis. From there we started thinking about 'events' to get away from the office for fellowship and discipleship purposes.

Once we traveled to the pond of an employee's family, had a devotional, ate some chicken and did some bass fishing. We also went to an event on the UGA campus to see Ravi Zacharias speak. Over our Christmas break one year we played a round of golf and met at an employee's house to eat and watch "The Passion of the Christ".

Then we started thinking about something overnight, away from our families. Camp Tugalo was the perfect fit. Basically, it's cabins on the lake that are heated and air conditioned, that will sleep around 14 or so. There's a place to build a fire on the side of the lake and a dining hall to use if we need it. We've had up to 8 take the trip and as few as 5. This year we'll have 6.

The first year we stayed all weekend long through Sunday morning and had a guest speaker. Since then we have changed it to leaving on Saturday evening or Saturday around noon. We also switched to watching dvd's from Tommy Nelson's men's conference and other messages from various people in place of a live speaker.

The speaker that we invited the first year was a great start. He told the testimony of his failed marriage ending in divorce. She had an affair with another guy and ended up leaving him because of it. As he painted the story, you began to really feel sorry for him and disgust for her. Some of the guys in our group had either been through a divorce or had similar experiences and could relate. Then he shocked us all. He said

"you know what I learned during that time, and realize now: while she made the decisions she made and will have to live with them, I made a lot of decisions that led her to make those decisions. I wasn't loving her the way I was supposed to, although I wasn't abusing my wife mentally, physically, and emotionally and not loving her as I should. She left me because I wasn't giving her what I should have been giving her. So although it wasn't abuse, it was certainly neglect. Yes, she made the choice to cheat and leave, but I made choices too".

So here we were thinking how foolish she was, and he was admitting his sin in not leading his wife properly. He wasn't saying what she did wasn't wrong, clearly it was. He was just admitting that he wasn't innocent in the situation. The men in that room and myself needed to hear that. People tend to think that whatever happens is not their fault. We ended up during that retreat around the campfire talking about ways that we could better understand and serve our family. For those who were single, they learned the importance of starting out right. For those who were divorced they were able to look beyond the sin of their spouse and own up (man up) to their own failures. You see, we are all screw ups in some way, the question is, "Will we admit it and learn from it or will we stick our head in the sand and pretend otherwise?".

Each trip tends to have it's own flavor based on the people who go, the topics discussed, the food we eat, even with the weather we get, which looks like rain for this trip, so much for the fire and horseshoes. While each is different, a lot remains the same: we are still men who are sinners in need of God's mercy and grace, and are called, commissioned, and commanded by God to lead our families.

This song by Sanctus Real shows why we take our annual retreats. Yes, we hang out and have a good time, play some sports and eat some food, but beyond that we remind ourselves of who we are and who God has called us to be.I really enjoy this song and plan on playing it at our retreat this year. It's the cry of wife for her husband to lead, the cry of the children for their dad to lead, and then the prayer of the dad to God to lead him in leading his family. I don't know about you, but I can relate fully.



Here's the story behind the song by the lead singer Matt Hammitt if you're interested.

The Story of Jonah as Told by The Cutest Little Girl

More than a story of a big fish swallowing a man, Jonah is a story of a self rightous man running from God, thinking he's better than other people and God relentlessly pursuing people in their sin and changing them for His glory. Simply put:

We are sinners who run from God, but He is merciful and loving and pursues us. This of course is only possible because of the shed blood of His Son.

I love this story told by this little girl. Hope you enjoy it as well.

This and That

I used to have this kind of Gameboy, and I had some accessories like this kid. My, how the size of electronics have changed.


Speaking of electronics:


And of facebook:



The Great Chuck Norris:


There's no way our cat would be able to do this:


This is pretty cool:


I love this rhyme about the best story ever.

G.O.S.P.E.L. from Humble Beast Records on Vimeo.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

My anniversary, dancing in the minefields

Today is my anniversary. Nine years ago today on March 23, 2002, Stephanie and I got married. Many of you know the story of how God brought us back together. I will save that story for a later time. I will say a few things though looking back over the 9 years. Those of you who have been married for decades probably just laughed at that saying "ha, he thinks he knows something after 9 years". Yes, it's only been 9, but there have been lessons learned, and I will continue to learn more.

Marriage is not primarily about us, it's about God.

It's about loving someone who doesn't deserve to be loved.

It's about forgiving someone who has sinned against you, and will continue to sin against you.

It is only as I realize that I am the one who doesn't deserve to be loved and have sinned not only against Stephanie, but against God that I am able to properly love and forgive her.

In the Bible, God talks about the church (the body of believers, not the building) being the "bride" of Christ. He is the bridegroom who has perfectly loved his bride, and will continue to do so. That love cost Him his life.

Yes, God cares deeply about our marriage, but there is more at stake than that.

Like I said, Marriage is not about us, it's about God. We love each other and thank God for our marriage but realize that after this life, there will only be a marriage between the real bridegroom (Jesus) and his bride.

While Marriage is not primarily about us, it is important to us.

We enjoy spending time together, living life together, celebrating successes together and comforting each other when we fail or suffer loss. We don't do this as much as we should, but are learning. We are looking forward to going camping together this weekend to celebrate our 9 years. Hopefully that will involve tennis, fishing, and a hike, the weather suggests that might not happen though.

I love this song from Andrew Peterson. Yes, there are minefields, but it's worth it. I look forward to the many years to come.

Stephanie, as the song says "I will walk with you in the shadow lands, till the shadow disappears"!

Taste 10k

Recently I competed in the Taste 10k in Athens. One of my resolutions was to complete a 10k race and this one looked great. It was close to the house, on a Saturday, and was early enough that I could still enjoy the day with the family. The weather was great, a little chilly at first, but an excellent day to run. Having never ran in a 10k, only 5k's, I really didn't know how to pace myself. I had ran at the gym and had been increasing my distances on the weekends, but those were just runs, not races.

This picture was the starting line. There were 279 runners that finished the race that day. 299 were registered, so 20 either didn't complete it or didn't show up. Too bad, they paid for the registration but didn't get the t-shirt or after race goodies.




This picture is around the 2 mile mark. I'm the third one back in the picture. Like I said earlier, I really didn't know how to pace myself so after a while I just found a comfortable, but challenging pace with those around me and maintained it. The first mile or two I ran pretty quick, because it was mostly level and downhill. I usually start toward the middle and work my way to the front. This was done the same way until after the 2-3 mile mark.




Finally, the finish line. I finished 43rd overall and 3rd in my age group with a time of 46:34. I was happy to see that finish line!


Here's some of the goodies that I was talking about. Good muffins, good coffee, and good fruit. I actually went over for a snack a little later and all the bananas were gone. I heard this conversation:

Runner girl: Do you have any bananas?
Volunteer at the table: No, we had some earlier, guess you should've ran faster.

I couldn't believe this girl had just ran 6.2 miles in a race and this dude said that. He got reprimanded by his assistant, also a female. :)



Here's my picture of the 30-34 age group. I have no idea where the other guy went to. The prize was a little wine glass. Just what I wanted ;)


I was extremely pleased with the results. I didn't plan on placing in my age group and I didn't plan on my time being that good either.

Next, a half-marathon in April?

This and That

Another round of this and that:

Self-injury



Although you can't understand a thing they're saying, it's still hilarious. I had to watch it twice!


The Kevin Bacon extended version, I love it!


You've probably already seen this, but if not, this is for you:


hmmm


And Finally, a little Chuck Norris:

Katelyn's cast

Well it was a restful Sunday afternoon in the Harrison house. We had a great morning at church and was getting ready to go to our Sunday evening small group bible study. That was when it happened.

We heard the crash around the stair and the crying of Katelyn. As a parent you know the difference between the fake, whiny crying and that "I'm really hurt" cry for help. I was in the kitchen and Stephanie was in the the office. We immediately dropped what we were doing and ran in her direction. When we got to the stairs we noticed Katelyn stretched out at the bottom of the stairs and Justin's metal ammo box (airsoft gun) lying nearby. She was also in her cowgirl boots. She was trying to get some ammo for one of Justin's guns (nerf) so she could shoot it. She made it most of the way down the stairs when she tripped and fell. Stephanie started saying "she broke her arm, she broke her arm". I wasn't sure if she did or not, but I knew that if she kept saying that she was going to scare her more. We sat her on the couch and put some ice on it. The crying didn't last too long, although she said it still hurt. That's when Stephanie asked me "What should we do?". I love the fact that I have very limited medical experience, but still have to make that call. :)

We decided to wrap it up and see how she did later, hoping it was only a slight sprain. The next day she said that it still hurt, but not as bad so we sent her to school with it wrapped. That evening (Monday) it was a lot better, but still sore. We thought we were on the mend, so much so that the next day we didn't wrap it. The school called us later that day (Tuesday) saying that Katelyn tripped and fell. Guess what, she landed on the same wrist. That night we discussed what to do. We were almost going to take her to the Doc, but then we saw her cocking one of Justin's guns like her wrist was not hurt at all. By the way, the whole time Justin's been telling us "she's faking it, she's faking it". We decided to send her the next day to school with it wrapped as well (Wednesday). That day the Recreation department (where she goes for afterschool) called and said that she fell again and landed on the same wrist. Good grief are we going to teach her how to walk, either that or put her in a bubble. At this point we decided that after falling down the stairs, having the ammo box fall on her wrist (we didn't see this, but that's what she said happened), and two falls over the next few days, we were going to take the hints from God and take her to the doctor, mainly just to confirm that it was only a sprain.

We went to the Orthopedic clinic that night to see the Dr and get some x-rays. She came in and asked Katelyn what happened. Then the doctor said "Well, I don't know which fall did it, but on one of them, you broke your arm". I was shocked. It wasn't a big break, more like a bend, or bulge, still though, it was a break. We think it might have been the ammo box that landed on her wrist, but who knows for sure.

She was able to pick out a pink splint. The Dr. wanted to give the injury a few days to let the swelling stop before putting the cast on. A few days later she was able to pick out the purple cast in the picture above. She was pretty excited about having everyone sign the cast, as you can see the signatures above.

We're thankful that it was still a minor injury and that it appears that it will grow back normal. The cast comes off next Wednesday, March 16th.

We're also thankful that she hasn't figured out that her cast can be used a weapon!

Clayton's Story

Some of you might have seen this before, but my guess is that many of you haven't.

This had a big impact on me a few years ago. I hope that it will on you as well.

Truth from an Atheist

I found this statement in a blog and thought I'd post it on here. This is from an Atheist named Rick Gervaise:

"My point being, I’m saying God doesn’t exist. I’m not saying faith doesn’t exist. I know faith exists. I see it all the time. But believing in something doesn’t make it true. Hoping that something is true doesn’t make it true. The existence of God is not subjective. He either exists or he doesn’t. It’s not a matter of opinion. You can have your own opinions. But you can’t have your own facts."

I fully agree with the majority of what this guy is saying. I think the latter half of the statement is something that Atheists and Christians can and should agree on.

Just because you believe in something doesn't mean that it's true. I can believe that if I can jump off a building and fly, but that doesn't mean that I can. What you place your belief in, the object of the faith (belief) matters. I agree with the guy that God either exists or He doesn't. It's not a matter of opinion. The same logic can be applied to his position. He can believe that God doesn't exist and won't hold him accountable for not believing in Him if he wants to, but that doesn't mean he won't.

With so many people today saying "my God wouldn't" or "my God is" I think it's important to step back and make sure we know what we're saying. Just like the existence of God is not subjective, that is "if he exists" so is the person of God "who he is". We need to be careful that we don't make God into someone we want him to be and therefore serve our created idol, instead we need to humble ourselves and submit to who He says He is as revealed in His Word.

Imagine that an Atheist and myself agreeing. I have a feeling he would disagree with my a lot of what I said though. :)

This and That

Here's another edition of "This and That", random stuff that I want to share, enjoy!

I thought this was really cool!


For those of you who work in an office:


For those of you that never liked Algebra


Here's some cartoon characters all grown up:

Snoopy


Charlie Brown


Calvin from "Calvin and Hobbes"


And a few video's that caught my attention:

Trick shot Quarterback



This is cool, but a little weird, synchronized goldfish swimming