Fight Quest

Have you ever seen the show Fight Quest on the Discovery Channel? These two guys go around to different parts of the world and for 5 days they learn different fighting techniques and moves, then they take on some people from that country that have been using those fighting techniques since they were in diapers. It’s really a neat show. Tonight they’re in the good ole USA learning the fine art of street fighting.

One of the guys is Jimmy, and he seems like he is one of the nicest guys that could kick the snot out of you. I wouldn’t ever want to get on his bad side.

Happy Leap Day!

Happy Leap Day. Make the most of it; you only get one every 4 years!

You Don’t Love Me

I was shoveling the snow off our sidewalk today, and I heard this little kid crying saying “You don’t looove meeee.” I looked up and saw this crying kid getting into a van with his mom. “You don’t looove meeee.” And the mom said, “I do love you, but when I’m on the phone you are to be quiet.”

Obviously this kid had gotten into trouble, and because of this thought that his mom didn’t care about him. Sometimes I act the same way. I don’t mean that I cry and whine, but if someone offers constructive criticism or tries to correct me, I tend to get defensive. I’ve gotten a lot better, but still have to make the conscious choice to react the right way.

How about you?

Rearranging

We have this treadmill that I brought back on my recent trip to Houston. We got it down into the basement, but we have boxes everywhere (and I mean everywhere) down there. This is a temporary situation until we can get a house, so we left a lot of stuff in boxes. Anyway, there wasn’t a spot to put the treadmill. So I spent some time yesterday rearranging and restacking boxes to make some room for the treadmill. Now I have no excuse to get my lazy rear exercising again. As I was moving boxes I opened a few up and found some shirts I forgot about, my “treadmill walking shoes”, and a calculator.

Sometimes its good to rearrange things.

Indianola Church

Today I got to go down to the Indianola Church and preach and share with them what will be going on here in Ames. Their preacher, Tony Brandt, is a good guy and he wanted to give me the chance to share with the people of his church about what we’ll be doing. I have never attended there on a Sunday, but they seem to have a lot of good stuff going on there. The place was full with a lot of young families. It was a lot of fun!

Good Times

My family and I went to a program tonight that was put on by Campus Christian Fellowship. It was held at North Grand Church, and they were doing it as a fund raiser for a mission trip they have coming up to Mexico and one to Russia. They fed everyone supper as they put on the program that consisted of some skits, some singing, some music, some dancing, and other stuff. It was really enjoyable. It was neat to see these young people who are all trying to live for Jesus serve and take part in this. You guys did a great job!

Lunch With A Friend

I had lunch yesterday with a young man that I haven’t seen in at least 3 1/2 years. He’s taking classes at DMACC now and is a really sharp guy. It was good to catch up and I look forward to hanging out with him more in the future. And to top things off, he has the same name as me, so it is easy to remember. It was good to see you Nate!

Snow Men

My youngest daughter and I had some fun yesterday. We went outside and made a couple snowmen. The snow was perfect and we had a great time. She even threw a snowball at me and hit me in the neck and some of the snow went down my shirt. That meant war and I had to put her in her place, but we were able to make peace long enough to finish our snowmen.

I’m Back

I’m back from my bus trip. It was an experience, and wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. But I don’t want to do it again anytime soon. Although I think everyone should have the experience of riding a greyhound at least once in their lifetime.

I was supposed to leave Ames at 1:10 a.m., but the bus was coming from Minnesota and there was quite a bit of snow, so it was late. I left at 3:10 a.m., but I still made it to Houston by 12:15 a.m. There was one guy on the bus who was coming from somewhere in South Dakota, and he had been on the bus since 3 p.m. and still had a few hours left by the time I got off in Houston. I thought I had it bad.

But I’m back safely and glad to be home.

New Experience

I’m gonna be doing something I have never done before. I actually tried avoiding it, but to no avail. I have to make a quick trip to Houston to pick up our other vehicle (my Jeep, which I can’t wait to get), and do some things to the house we have on the market. I’m not flying, but I am actually taking a bus. 24 hours on a bus … not looking forward to it. I’ve downloaded a bunch of sermons to listen to, and have a couple books to read, so it won’t be a total waste. But I’ll be glad to get there.

Adrenaline Rush

These guys are nuts. Can you imagine the rush they get from doing this kind of stuff? Don’t try this without supervision!

Passion

OK. So I met this guy today who is a preacher at an area church. We had never met before today, but we have a mutual friend who wanted us to meet. I walked into his church building, but before I told him who I was, I told him I needed gas money. He said, “Sure. Let’s step in the foyer and talk about it.” Once we got to the foyer, I told him who I was.

Anyway, after talking with him for just a few minutes, his passion for seeing people come to Jesus was obvious. He exuded it. I wish I had half of it. How do we keep our passion for Jesus and leading people to him on fire?

I have a confession

I have a confession to make. It’s kinda hard for me to admit this, but they always say it is good to get things out in the open. So here it goes … My name is Nate, and I like reality TV. I like Survivor. The new season “Fans vs Favorites” premiered tonight. I’m glad Johnny Fairplay was the first to go. Not sure if I could have handled watching him for very long.

My wife and I have never missed an episode of this crazy show. It’s because it’s like a train wreck and it is hard not to watch.

My all time favorite reality show is The Amazing Race. I think it would be neat to go on that show and travel the world.

Snow

We’ve been living in Ames for just over a month now. We’ve had snow pretty consistently, too, which I don’t really mind right now. Yesterday and last night we got about 8 inches or so, so school was canceled and the girls got to stay home.

One thing I’ve noticed that really amazes me is that a lot of people still ride their bikes in the middle of winter time. I’ll see several people all bundled up riding their bicycle down the street through several inches of snow. I like riding my bike, but I’ve never tried the winter version of it. And I don’t plan on doing so anytime soon. It’s crazy.

An Observation

Since we haven’t officially started our church yet, I get the opportunity to visit other churches and see what they are doing. My family and I have been visiting some churches in the area. I love going to church with my family. Usually I’m at the church building by the time they get there to get their duties ready, and afterwards I meet them at the house or a nearby restaurant. So to be able to drive up, get out of the car, and walk in and sit together has been a neat experience.

Anyway, I’ve made an observation. A lot of these guys who have been doing the preaching have been good, and some of them don’t know the fine art of brevity. Now, I am in no way perfect (just ask my wife!), but today we visited a place and I wanted to rip my hair out. The guy spoke for 50 minutes when it should have only taken 15 minutes max. It’s one thing to figure out what to say; but it is a totally different thing to figure out what NOT to say.