Wednesday Adventure

I took Georgia and Annie to the lake this morning.  We caught our lunch.

Heaven

I’ve heard a lot of bad theology at funerals, but it’s not polite to squabble with someone whose loved one has died.  The afterlife is one of Hollywood’s favorite topics, and while many Christians are well versed in scriptures supporting their views on many social and moral issues, they often get their ideas about heaven from television and movies.

Scott Meyer is in the middle of a series on heaven.  Heavy in scripture, light on opinion.  He's not skirting around the topic like so many preachers do and not just making up stuff that sounds comforting like many lay folks, but he’s answering a lot of questions and dispelling many myths.  He has the humility to say, “I don’t know” when he doesn’t, and the cojones to point out “thus saith the Lord” where the scriptures are very clear.

If you are interested in the topic and would like to follow along in this series you can download mp3s or watch video at  http://www.westernhillsonline.org/tp40/page.asp?ID=161055

Heaven: What's Next? from Western Hills on Vimeo.

Laissez Les Bon Temps Roulez

This week's song is for Brant, who is working hard in Louisiana, and for my buddy, Ethan Ribeiro, who knew all the words to this song when he was 6 and used to sing it with me at church.  I'd also like to announce that my new favorite TV show is "Swamp People."

This has always been one of my favorite driving down the highway with the windows down singing it loud songs.
I was fortunate enough to see Mel McDaniel perform at the Grand Old Opry during my Nashville stint. 
Turn it up, kick off your shoes, and go dance in the kitchen.

Jonesy and da Vinci

Jones was our waitress last night. She took our orders for our Wednesday night Taco Bell supper. I took the folder she wrote on and glanced to see the order. This is what I saw:
If you would like to experiment, click on the picture, print it and then hold it up to a mirror and you will be able to read this order.



I took the below article from http://www.mos.org/sln/leonardo/leonardorighttoleft.html about Leonardo da Vinci.

Leonardo wrote in Italian using a special kind of shorthand that he invented himself. People who study his notebooks have long been puzzled by something else, however. He usually used "mirror writing", starting at the right side of the page and moving to the left. Only when he was writing something intended for other people did he write in the normal direction.

Here is a sample of Leonardo's writing as it appears in his drawings.
This is how it would look reversed by a mirror.
	Try it yourself!

People who were contemporaries of Leonardo left records that they saw him write and paint left handed. He also made sketches showing his own left hand at work. Being a lefty was highly unusual in Leonardo's time. Because people were superstitious, children who naturally started using their left hands to write and draw were forced to use their right hands.

No one knows the true reason Leonardo used mirror writing, though several possibilities have been suggested:

• He was trying to make it harder for people to read his notes and steal his ideas.
  
• He was hiding his scientific ideas from the powerful Roman Catholic Church, whose teachings sometimes disagreed with what Leonardo observed.
  
• Writing left handed from left to right was messy because the ink just put down would smear as his hand moved across it. Leonardo chose to write in reverse because it prevented smudging.

Jonesy 2

Jones lost another tooth at school today. Mrs. Woeller helped her pull it out and then sent her to the nurse. The nurse put her tooth in a yellow treasure box to bring home.


This evening Jones rode her bike. She was able to get going all by herself and she figured out how to turn around without stopping or crashing. She and Justin rode around the block before bath time. Another exciting day!

JONESY

This past week was a busy and exciting week for Jonesy. She flew her kite, rode her bicycle without training wheels all by herself, had three loose teeth, had her first bus ride/field trip to the high school, AND she lost her first tooth! Whew. Who is this first baby girl of ours? The days seem long but the years are going fast.

Georgia

I think this is a sweet picture that Annie took of me and Georgia.


I think this is a funny picture that Justin took of Georgia.

Rave On, Buddy

Buddy Holly’s birthday was a few days ago and one of our South Plains readers suggested that I use one of his hits for Song of the Week.  So here it is.

I was introduced to Buddy Holly when I was 12 or 13.  I don’t remember why it worked out this way, but I rode with my Uncle Clyde from San Angelo to Portales.  He had a tape of Buddy Holly’s greatest hits and we listened to it for several hours.  I liked it, and when I got back home I bought my own.  In fact, I still have that cassette copy and have listened to it recently (See Post from March 30, 2010). 

I didn’t know that Buddy Holly was from Lubbock until I moved there for college.  They have a Buddy Holly Avenue, a Buddy Holly Center, a museum, a festival, and there even used to be a bar and a baseball team called the Crickets, named for his band.  From what I’ve read, it seems that Lubbock didn’t really claim him until years after he was killed, but I guess that’s the way it is with a lot of famous people and the small towns they come from.

Maybe it is the same everywhere else, but Lubbock seems to have a strange relationship with its celebrities.  They love to use Buddy Holly’s name and image to promote the city, but I don’t ever remember hearing any of his music on local radio or in a restaurant.  They loved the fact that Natalie Maines was from there, until they found out that she didn’t like Lubbock or GeorgeW as much as they did.  And now, despite the great musical talents and contributions of the Dixie Chicks and the Maines Brothers Band, I don’t think there will ever be a Maines Avenue in the Hub City.  However, there is a Marsha Sharp Freeway, named for the bulldyke coach of the Lady Raiders basketball team.  In that ultra-conservative town, if you can lead a team to the national championship, they can close their eyes to a lot.  They hired and loved Bobby Knight who, although he’s a great basketball coach, isn’t exactly a pillar of Christian character. 

I’ll always love Lubbock.  I doubt they’ll ever name anything after me, but I don’t think they’ll ever disown me either.

I guess happiness was Lubbock, Texas in my rearview mirror. 

But now happiness is Lubbock, Texas growing nearer and dearer. 

-Mac Davis

West 3months

West is rolling over, cooing, opening his hands and discovering them. He is getting to be more alert and he is super sweet and adorable! He is sleeping from 9 or 10pm to 6-8am. He and I have been treating thrush for the past two weeks. His eyes are still blue. He loves his sisters.