Drive time thinking

As I was driving to Virginia today I had plenty of time to listen to my satellite radio. (I usually would never pay for this type of service, but without it the range of the car radio is about 50 feet). A couple of things that occurred to me:

• Why doesn't McCain turn the tables on the liberals and blame the problems this country is in in the DEMOCRATIC congress? The liberals are quick to blame President Bush for everything, but congress has a lower approval rating than the President. The congress has stopped the drill here, drill now, pay less movement, so we are all still paying higher gas prices than we have to.
• I want to know who benefits by all the publicity and emphasis on renewable energy. I would not be surprised if some well know liberal politicians own or invest in companies that would benefit from wind, solar, carbon credits, etc
• I think McCain hit a home run by selecting Gov. Palin. Even with family issues with her baby and her daughter being pregnant, it shows that conservatives are real people with real issues also. We just believe that God and not the government knows best!
• I was listening to a southern gospel radio station in West Virginia, during a break the local announcer came on the radio and called a name to congratulate them on winning the church raffle!!! They won $300+ from the church! Wow, wasn't expecting that.
• I am staying next to Liberty University, from the front of the hotel you can see the big LU on the side of what I guess is "Liberty Mountain" that Doctor Falwell used to talk about.
• Very excited about church, Pastor Dear was right on with his sermon on Sunday. He discussed how we make important decisions when we are voting. If you missed it get a copy.
• CONNECT group still going full speed ahead. Added another table so we can hold 36 in the room. We are averaging over 30 the last 3 weeks, mostly due to the snacks I am sure. Thanks to all class members who are inviting and bringing people. God is pushing me to find more ways for our class to reach out to people who just need christian friends. Angela and I are praying for 2 or 3 more couple who need to get plugged into church and find other christian couple, young and "older" (you know like 40+ years old, LOL)
• Bet I have heard 20 TV commercials for Obama or McCain since I have been writing this. It is going to a long time until November.

Is 1st Baptist Church of Honda, far behind?

this place is going crazy!

I am safely back to the Milwaukee airport waiting for my flight. This weekend is the 105th anniversary of Harley Davidson motorcycles. They expecting 200,000 cycles for this event!!!!

Do you believe that? I knew Harley fans were dedicated but I cannot imagine that many bikers. My hotel was near Lake Geneva 1 hour from Milwaukee, and there were people staying there.

It was exciting to see people crowded on the overpasses waiting for long lines of bikers to pass by. I probably saw a couple hundred, but locals said most are coming in today. They interviewed a couple from Germany who flew to Tampa, Fla, rented a bike and drove all the to Milwaukee to be apart of this event.

I can confirm the cookies on the flight last night were warm and good, but the seat was typical airline seat nothing special. Wonder why they do not offer cold milk with warm cookies? The tickets were 4x the cost to fly into Chicago, so you think they could afford it.

After I got checked in last night (like how I am telling the stories backwards in time?) I went for a walk down by the Lake. Lake Geneva was very nice, some old wooden boats and sailboats on the lake beautiful weather.

The hotel had a patio out back so I stopped and talked to an elderly couple from Chicago. They had just driven up for the day. They like being retired, "Every week has 6 Saturdays and 1 Sunday!" What a great way to look at life, that is how I want to live when I retire!

Watched TV last night, Democratic convention makes me sick, all the speakers talking about good it was when Bill Clinton was in office. It amazes me how blinded people are by there own agenda. They had Obama's campaign manager on the Today show this AM. Matt Lauer asked him 6 questions and the guy never answered one of them!

At least when McCain was at Saddleback forum, he provided straight answers.

McCain better pick a Conservative running mate or he will lose for sure!

Press On! (This the favorite phrase my friend James Page in TN)

on the road again!

Well the travel season for work has started back up. As I write this, I am sitting in the airport waiting to fly to Milwaukee for business. One observation so far, the Columbus airport is a lot less busy then it used to be. I was able to get a parking spot close to the front, the TV monitors that showed departing flights are filled with advertising, no waiting in security line etc. Big change from the past, even flying mid-week.

Over the next two months I go to:

• Milwaukee, WI
• Altavista, VA (next to Lynchburg)
• Chicago, IL
• Casa Grande, AZ
• Sturgis, MI
• Gatlinburg, TN (annual vacation)

I was supposed to go back to Europe in Nov, but since it was going to cost almost $10,000 it got delayed until Jan 2009.

This flight is on Midwest Express, I never flown it before, but I heard every seat is a 1st class seat AND to you warm cookies after take-off! I will give a full report later to confirm this rumor.

Pray for Tyler and Rachel's house to sell or rent. It has been on the market since they got married (this is Tyler's old house) lots are looking but no one is buying. So they decided to rent and use that money to pay the mortgage. Ask Angela or I to tell you the story of a little boy in his class, too sad to put in the blog. Let me say this, HUG YOUR KIDS TONIGHT!

Closing thoughts:

Continue to pray for the church and staff. Our CONNECT group has had over 30 people each of the last two weeks. Pray God will continue to bless, and raise up other leaders to start new classes. There are other exciting things going on at church that will be announced later.

Remember to get your school colors ready. Football starts this week! Go Bucks!

Also, now that regular bloggers have updated there is now a 1 month limit between blogs!

Press On!

Why do parents do this?

I was reading a sports story yesterday about the Fields family who have a 7 year old son named Wrigley. He was going to the Chicago Cubs game yesterday and throwing out the 1st pitch. Why you might ask, well some of you have already figured it out.

The Cubs baseball stadium is called - Wrigley Field, that's right his family named him after a baseball stadium!

I heard also of a boy named, Marvin Gaye Mays, and a girl named Pinkie Fara Fauccett. That is their real names not just nicknames.

When we lived in Tennessee we knew a couple with a son named Rebel and a daughter named Dixie.

What other real people do you know of that have famous names? Reply back in a comment below so all can share.

As much as I hate to do this I need to thank the quarterback of the University of Florida , Tim Tebow. He was part of the team that beat the Buckeyes 2 years ago, won the Heisman Trophy as the top college football player, last year. He is very good.

Every year Playboy magazine honors all of the top college football players for the upcoming season, and Tebow refused to go and participate. Why? Because he is a Christian and believed that would not be good for his testimony! His faith was strong enough to allow him to make the right decision!

So Thank you Tim Tebow! You are a role model for others!

Pray for our "friends" in China.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,405187,00.html


This reminded me to pray for our missionaries who visited with us earlier this year.

Jeff in the Olympics, in case you missed me!

Changes are coming! - updated 9:00 PM

WOW, I bet that got your attention!

Nothing big except I have instituted a new rule for bloggers.

To stay active on my blog list you must update at least every other month! Not too much to ask. So sorry Pastor Wally you are out, and Sean is next, it has been 5 weeks and counting.

A teacher friend of mine told me this week, that during the 1st week of school they collect a form from parents listing many thing, but one thing is food allergies.

One parent put: Sloppy Joe's, yes, their child is allergic to sloppy Joe's, not hamburger or tomatoes or even bread, but somehow when you put them all together it creates something that their little child is allergic to.

Another parent told me their 1st grader had to bring a flash drive to class! Whatever happened to a box of tissues and wet wipes? Times sure have changed.

There is hope!

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,402483,00.html

Never forget!

Uneventful week, sort of

• The week started off busy, we still had little Jacob until Tuesday. He is such a smart little guy, I know this because when I walk into the room he always reaches out for me! He is destined for great things, since he is such a good judge of character!!!!

• Pray for Amy and Jason (Jacob's parents), when thy were gone they got married. Angela has invited them to church and lunch tomorrow and they promised the would come. We know God is the only answer for them and are trusting that God will work in their lives.

Rest of week was OK, nothing exciting until Thursday. Memi and JR came because this is the annual Lake Erie fishing trip! The Brandon, Corey and my nephew Blake (the campfire chef mentioned earlier) are there right now. They are having great weather, not too much luck fishing, that we have heard of. One exciting thing happened this morning, something about Brandon was swinging a cutting board and it hit JR?? More details to follow. One of the best things to happen afterward is the video they make of all that happened, if possible I will post here to share with all. and of course since we have 4 cars and a larger truck here now, they are coming tomorrow AM to seal the driveway, we have cars at neighbors and my parents house.

Angela and I went to see the Batman movie, "The Dark Knight". We both loved it, I was surprised that my arm candy (Angela) also really enjoyed it, good moral about right and wrong and ethical decisions we are required to make, and how nothing, no situation should make us do something that goes against what we believe, even if it makes an "outcast". Definitely some Christian themes spread throughout, by accident? maybe, maybe not.


Today, mowed the yard for the 1st time in 2 weeks. some parts still pretty brown, but others needed it, I needed the exercise, so I made it all the way through. Took a shower and watched a movie trying to recuperate. Got up to work on my lesson and I was so sore! If I did that every week I would be OK and probably a lot skinnier.


Looks like Tyler and Rachel will have to rent Tyler's old house, unable to sell it right now. But God may work through that because they may get enough rent to help pay the current mortgage as well! Like all newly married couples more money coming into the pot is always a good thing.

Pray for Kenya Team and their families, good reports so far, but Sunday will be a big day for them I am sure, supposed to come home this Wednesday.

Press On!

Is it time?

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2008/05/12/activists_push_to_repeal_state_income_tax?s_campaign=8315

Is now the time to repeal the state income tax in Ohio? This article describes a similar effort going on in Massachusetts. It would save a typical tax payer over $3,600 per year there. That is $300 per month for my SEC friends. That would buy a lot of $4.00 per gallon gasoline and $4 gallons of milk.

When we moved here from Tennessee we were shocked at how high the taxes are in Ohio. You see Tennessee does not have any state income tax. Their roads are better than ours and the schools are no worse.

I am not sure how this could get started but I would be happy to sign a petition if someone has started this campaign. My guess is most politicians would be against this because they love to spend our money and instead of trying to find ways to save it, they are always wanting more.

Forbes magazine also just listed the top 10 fastest dying cities, and 4 of 10 were in Ohio! Do you think the residents of those towns could use a tax break?

This may be the year in Massachusetts, why not Ohio also?

Weekend update

It seems like I am getting the habit of updating on the weekend, but that works for me. At least I AM updating unlike some unnamed other bloggers.

Wednesday: Kenya Mission Team left today, 7 people from church will be their doing God's work. Pray for them and their families that are here for protection, wisdom, guidance and strength.

Thursday: Little Jacob came to visit while parents are Las Vegas, he is still here and will not go home until Tuesday. Aunt Angie has been a real trouper because I have not been much help due to ...

Friday: Was the 1st Annual Thomas-Salyer boys night out! We camped out over at the farm. Blake cooked a great dinner over the fire topped off with smores and peach pies, boys went fishing, and we spent a lot of time relaxing. Look for more pictures to show up in the family video. Sleeping in a tent, my 1st time on a loooooong time, went well, Brandon snored louder than me! A good time was had by all.

Saturday: Got up at camp, Corey tried to fillet the fish they had caught, no luck. We still had a great breakfast of eggs, bacon, toast, and potatoes. Take Blake with you if you go camping, he is a great campfire chef. Saturday afternoon I had to do a project for work. I have mastered the art of removing labels from cans, I worked until 11:30 PM last night. UGH!

Sunday: Good day at church new couple in our class, met 2 more new young couple after Church. Got a call that my shift was cancelled on the removing labels project, so do not have to work tonight! So I took advantage of the time to make my fantasy football keeper league picks for Tyler's league. FOOTBALL STARTS TONIGHT! Yeah! The Hall of Fame game is on, let the season begin.

Read this article in the paper and it about made me sick.
http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2008/08/03/baptism.ART_ART_08-03-08_B4_61AU3UV.html?sid=101

God please forgive us! Help us to reach these people, soften their hearts towards you!

All for now, getting ready for church and then football!

REDEMPTION!

What a weekend!

Wow, what a whirlwind weekend.

It started on Friday night, with a trip to Genji's Japanese steakhouse, with Tammy, Gary, the twins, Brooklyn, Corey, Brandon, Angela and Big Daddy (me). There is nothing like the look of a child's eyes in a place like this. We were celebrating the twins birthday and they love this type of restaurant. The boys kept asking "where is the fry guy"? before our cook showed up. It was a great show with flipping shrimp, flaming tower of onion rings, and birthday pineapple "boat". A good time was had by all.

Saturday started out uneventful. Corey played in an alumni soccer game for GCA. We went and saw some old friends, had a good time. The Knox's showed up to scout the GCA soccer team, Mike is the soccer coach at Lakewood. Afterwards, we all went to Whit's for some ice cream to cool down, then headed home.

A couple of hours later things got very bad very quickly.

Corey went to the Knox's house after the ice cream while he was there and Amberly fell off the pool ladder and hit her side on the trampoline. She was having trouble breathing and was turning white, so Mike and Kim rushed her to Children's Hospital.

We got to Children's about 10 PM and Pastor Dear was right behind us and George's and Hall's were right behind him (Sam and Amy also came to LMH during the time we were trying to find them.)

To make a long story short, Amberly spent Saturday night in ICU so they could monitor her vital signs. Luckily things are going well, she is eating and has been moved to a regular room until probably Friday. Then 3 months of limited activity while she recovers.

We didn't home until early Sunday AM, but made it to church. Corey fell asleep during prayer time and dreamed that Gracie, 1 of the Thomas family's 3 dogs, jumped on him and he flinched big time. Audrey was sitting next to Corey and she jumped, I was sitting next to her and I jumped!! Luckily we were in the back row and no one saw us.

Spent Sunday afternoon in the Thomas pool trying to relax and get ready for this week.

Thanks to all who prayed for Amberly!! I know Kim and Mike really appreciate it.

Pray for Kenya Mission Trip, we have a group leaving our church this Wednesday.

That's all for now.

Great article about new church Jeff Moore is starting

http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/faith_values/stories/2008/07/25/Niche.ART_ART_07-25-08_B6_FIAQF05.html?sid=101


read last 5 paragraphs

Dog days of summer are here!

WOW! It is hot today, and of course I needed to be outside.


Brandon came home today and played in a softball tournament at Geller Park in Heath. Dad and I went and watched for awhile.


I came home after the 1st game and mowed part of the yard. There was a little breeze, but still hot. I came inside and cooled down a little and went back to the ballpark to watch game #3. Brandon did very well hitting the ball but still cannot run, due to his ankle. They were losing game #3 but I needed to work on my lesson for tomorrow, so I came home. Last thing I saw at the game was Brandon hitting a ball to the fence to clear the bases, maybe they came back. They had 1 more game to play. Softball is definitely a young mans game.


NOTE TO SELF: Ask Pastor Dear if he knew one of the teams in the tournament was Heath 1st Baptist! That's where we go, but I did not recognize anyone on the roster.


Tyler called and said the official wedding pictures are on the web at http://www.zackzoeller.com/ anyone can look at them and order any picture you like. Angela and I would be glad to autograph the pictures of us for a small fee, to offset the costs associated with the trip!!! (just kidding, autographs are always free for our blogger friends).


Tomorrow is the Salyer Reunion and Angela has been cooking all day, it is going to be hot again for it, but it only comes once a year and it will good to see some of my cousins, aunts, and uncles.


Angela watched Jacob the other day, here is one of the pics we took.



Finally, my baby brother started his own blog, make sure you check it out on the blog list at the right, it is titled "the other salyer family".


Did I mention it is HOT today? Go to church tomorrow!

New favorite links

Have you ever noticed the column on the right? It has a lot of interesting information. Underneath the blog list are some of my favorite links to websites I use or would recommend.

I added 2 more over the weekend:
Pew Forum - the location on some interesting information about each of the candidates and their views on issues important to Christians

American Family Association - another website that is one of the leading organizations supporting the Christian worldview.

Please take a minute to check them, and all of the others, out!

California burning!

I made it to Fairfield, CA today. As we were coming in for a landing I could see the mountains on fire out the window! It looked like one side was burning and the other side was black, already burned. Luckily this area is flat, lots of farm land, no fires.

BUT it is 107 right now! Very hot, not a dry heat either.

Got a wonderful blessing with my rental car. I got a 2008 Ford Mustang convertible with 180 miles on it! I couldn't believe it, I double checked the name and it was for me! So I put the top down, the AC on full blast and drove about 2 hours from Sacramento to Fairfield.

Flight down was pretty uneventful sat by an elderly couple, had to help the lady with her seat belt, but otherwise no problems. Meetings at the plant start tomorrow!

Later!

Happy 4th of July!

Well, here it is, a cold & rainy day. We are getting ready to to the Thomas's for a cookout and the annual family fireworks display. This year we have over $1,000 worth of fireworks to set off! It will be bigger and better than ever.


I was reflecting on what we are celebrating today and the price that has to be paid for the freedoms and liberties we take for granted. So thank you troops and military people all over the world, thanks for for defending this great country.


I was also thinking about the word "pledge" as in "Pledge of Allegiance". If we really pledge ourselves to something, doesn't that require us to do whatever it takes to fulfill our commitments to God, family, country, etc. It seems like we want to keep our commitments when it is easy for us, or little personal effort is required. But a pledge involves much more.


I was reading Sports Illustrated and there is an article that contains the "Pledge of Success"


Today is a new day, a new beginning.
It has been given to me as new gift.
I can either use it or throw it away.
What I can do today will affect me tomorrow.
I cannot blame anyone but myself if I do no succeed.
I promise to use this day to the fullest by giving my best, realizing it can never come back again.
This is my life and I choose to make it a success.

I wonder how many lives would be changed today if we all took this pledge and then kept it!

I also wonder if we looked back over our lives and could recall all the times we have pledged to do things for God, but bad choices or poor priorities have kept us from fulfilling our commitments.

Why not recommit yourself to being successful in God's plan for your life, then you will have the ultimate success.