Salyer Christmas 2008

Sights and sounds of our Christmas Season!

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

You must read this book.

I just finished reading The Purpose of Christmas by Rick Warren, and it was great!

My mom had given it to me a few weeks ago and I never got around to reading it until today. Once I started I could not stop.

According to Pastor Warren there are 3 purposes to Christmas:

1. A time for celebration
2. A time for salvation
3. A time for reconciliation

I could not do it justice trying to explain all of it, but please, look for it over the holidays, you will not be disappointed.

Anyone seen my Ark? UPDATED 1:30 PM

Wow, what a wet morning. Just very thankful that is was above 32 degrees when I headed out. In fact, when I left Newark it was 32 and by the time I got to Columbus it was 37 degrees. From http://www.weather.com/ it looks like we have got between 0.5" and 0.75" of rain, seems like more.

I know some friends in Chicago got hammered this AM by the weather. I think most are off today or working from home. This place is pretty quiet, a few people working part of the day today. Now they are calling for high winds this PM, what crazy weather, another potential storm coming through Sunday PM, hope Tyler and Rachel make it on Monday.

Tyler posted this on eBay

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=280295419782

And as you can see, someone actually bought it! Amazing what people will buy.

Off next 2 weeks! Looking forward to holidays , but I know I will not want to come back on 1/5, maybe GOD will bless us financially and I can call it a career!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
It is now 62 degrees in Columbus! What crazy weather we are having, must be global warning? NOT!

Reason for the Season. UPDATED

I feel very fortunate to be almost done working for the year. This is my last week working, I am off the last 2 weeks of 2008 for vacation and holidays.

I am also very appreciative of just being blessed with a job right now. One of my co-workers told me today, her husband's pay was being cut between 15% and 25% the 1st of next year! They hope to get it back phased in over 2009, UGH! Not something anyone wants to hear.

It seems like for many people this might be the worst Christmas ever, from a financial point of view it might be. But just turn your radio to a station playing Christmas Carols and escape your troubles, at least for a little while.

I am back in the mood, with the cold weather and constant carols playing on my radio in my office. It will be the best Christmas ever, not because of the presents I will get (OSU Train from Santa?), but because of seeing family and friends and laughing and playing games and eating and sleeping late and knowing that GOD is in control!

Jesus is the Reason for the Season, if you remember that, write down or tell someone what that means to you, it cannot be a bad Christmas

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Update 10:00 PM

Tyler called today to tell us he got a Christmas present from one of his kids. A bag of chocolate covered peanuts, actually it was only half a bag of peanuts, with a twist tie around them. So if you have more than that, you might have a better Christmas than some people!

Church Information

Christmas Sermon Series
Everyone knows someone who struggles during the Christmas season. Join us each Sunday through December 21st to find out how the Bible deals with these issues.This Sunday
December 14th10:45 amGod is in ControlMatthew 1-2 Last Sunday's Audio:Click Here

Christmas Eve Service
Date: December 24thTime: 7:00Location: Worship Center

tonight, heaven touches earth
A Musical Drama for Christmas
Each year our choir presents a Christmas musical that we pray will reach the hearts of the lost and change the hearts of all believers as we're reminded of why God chose to send His only Son to be born of a virgin in the humblest of circumstances. This year is no exception. Invite your friends, neighbors, and coworkers to join us this Sunday night as our Celebration Choir presents:

tonight, heaven touches earthDate: December 14thTime: 6:00 pmLocation: Family Life Center of First Baptist HeathBelow is the forward written by the lyricist, Randy Vader.

The silence since the astounding proclamations of the prophets centuries before has been deafening. The Children of God have relied more on the ritual of the Law than the reality of the Lord. The Messiah seems more like a myth than a coming Conqueror. The Glory of God has been hidden from mankind since the Fall. Even Moses could not look upon the Glory of God and live. He was placed in the cleft of a rock and could only observe the Almighty from the back as He passed by. The world is waiting in a solemn stillness - but Heaven is as distant as ancient promises.
All of that is about to change...
Tonight - God will fulfill His promise in ways beyond imagination. Tonight - the eternal and the temporal will intertwine in a way that can never be unwoven. Tonight - God will show His love in the most miraculous way - through the gift of His Son. Tonight will be the birth of Jesus, the Christ. Tonight - we will once again be allowed to see God's glory. Tonight - Heavenly music and earthly rejoicing will be in concert. Tonight - all creation sings! Tonight - Heaven Touches Earth!

This video explains my job

CONNECT Group Christmas 2008

Really good time of the year!

I just love this time of year. I have 3 presets on my car radio set to Christmas music. I 2 presets on my satellite radio set to Christmas music. I found that station 424 on the TV plays Christmas music.

It is something about the music really gets me in the mood for the Holiday season. That and Angela starts cooking up a storm! Every night this week when I get home, she has been in the kitchen cooking stuff for our CONNECT Group Christmas party. We do a progressive dinner every year. Salads and appetizers at the 1st stop. Get back in our cars and drive to a new house for the main course. Finally we end up at our house for desserts, that's plural on purpose, and games. I think we have over 30 signed up to come this year!

It has been a good week, I finished teaching class on Monday, met with Pastor Dear on Tuesday, had a church council meeting on Wednesday, and just got back from lunch with Pastor Dear and Billy Andrews today.

Yesterday I found that my satellite radio has added a Southern Gospel music (the kind they play in Heaven) station so I listened to it all of the time to and from work. I was also surprised with an award by the DVP of HR yesterday.

Last night, mom called and said they were coming right over. Since she never does that, I was a little nervous. Aunt Rhoda had fallen a couple of times, so they put her in the nursing home. Sad for the holidays, but a relief for mom and dad, since the only option would have been for them to take care of her.

Today was a little different story. I got to work early so I could leave early. Turned off the engine and heard the heater blower still running. I tried to pull a fuse to stop it, but could not. So I took it to a place to get it fixed. The part itself was $300! UGH! Thanks Pastor Wally for selling me a Cadillac! Just kidding, it really has been a good car, just rolled over 200,000 miles and still going strong, I hope, at least until Corey graduates or God gives us another car.

Work today is very slow, actually getting ready to leave early since I have to fly to Chicago on Sunday. Only about 5 people still here out of 20 some.

Looking forward to class party tomorrow night, I'll post some pictures later.

Remember to say "Merry Christmas" as often as you can!

Thanksgiving pictures

UPDATED Happy Thanksgiving!

From my family to yours, Happy Thanksgiving!

I really have been reflective lately of how much I have to be thankful for.

Many people are out of work, have pressing financial needs, or poor family relationships or situations. Unfortunately we all could look around and find someone worse off than we are. The poorest people in the USA, have it better than 90% of the worlds population.

So take the "What am I thankful for?" challenge, make up your own list of the top 5 to 10 things you are thankful for.

Here is mine:

1. My Salvation
2. My wife
3. My sons and daughter-in-law
4. My extended family
5. The warm home God has blessed us with
6. Good christian friends in Ohio and Tennessee
7. A good job that has allowed me to see and do things I never could have imagined (I may get to go to Singapore and China in January!)
8. Good health
9. Soft heart
10. Great Senior Pastor at a Great Church with Great People

If you have trouble thinking of what you are thankful for, watch this video!

This says it all!

Days since Michigan’s last victory over Ohio State in football: 1,828 days.

42-7 was about what we all expected. It was close during the 1st quarter, but then we pulled away.

Hoping for Oregan State to lose and we might get a BCS bowl, otherwise the Capital One bowl on Jan 1 is not bad.

it's time! (pause the player on the right to hear)

ANTHRAX SCARE AT MICHIGAN

Michigan football practice was delayed nearly two hours late this morning after a player reported finding an unknown white powdery substance on the practice field.

Head coach Rich Rodriguez (former head coach at West Virginia University ) immediately suspended practice while police and federal agents were called to investigate.

After a complete analysis, FBI forensic experts determined that the white substance, unknown to the players, was the goal line.

Practice was resumed this afternoon after special agents decided the team was unlikely to encounter the substance again

It's Rivalry Week!

This is the week most OSU fans live for, Michigan Week! I have some great memories of this week when I was in college at OSU. There is always a big pep rally, and the marching band marches through campus.

It doesn't matter if both teams are 0 - 9, this would still be a big deal and a exciting game. This week, I am a little worried about them. They are so bad they are not going to a bowl game, so this is their final game of the year.

There are a couple of famous Woody Hayes (great ex-OSU football coach) stories about Michigan:

• It is told that Woody went to Michigan to recruit a player, while there he ran out of gas, but instead of stopping within the state of Michigan to fill up, he pushed his car across the state line so he would not have to spend money there.
• Woody also never said the word "Michigan", he always referred to it as the "state up north".
• Finally, there was game versus Michigan that OSU was winning pretty easily, OSU scored and instead of kicking the extra point, worth 1 point, he ran the ball into the end zone during the extra point, for 2 points. After the game a reporter asked Woody, why did you go for 2 when you were already winning the game? Woody replied, "because I couldn't go for 3!"

Go Bucks! Game time is Noon this Saturday.

Why you should never believe what you hear on TV

http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/11/13/msnbc-retracts-false-palin-story-duped/

Hello from Canada, eh? updated Friday with picture

Well I am in beautiful, Brockville, Ontario Canada, located on the Saint Lawrence river. It is 125 miles due north of Syracuse, NY.

It is one of those places where you can't get to from Columbus without flying through somewhere else. So I had to fly to Washington, DC, then to Ottawa, Ontario and then drive an hour to Brockville. One good thing about Canada is that there are Tim Horton's on every corner, Brockville has 6 and it only has 5,000 people! They brought in Tim Horton's coffee and donuts for the class, so it started the day off great!

My hotel has a great chef, last night was a bison burger with sweet potato french fries. It was so good I had to have dessert, which was Angela worthy to tell you how good it was. It was a mini date cake with sticky toffee pudding covered in homemade caramel and homemade whipped cream! The only problem was, it was a small portion, but it tasted great. I told Angela about it and she said she probably had 3 or 4 recipes for it! I said, well make 1 or 2 of them so I can compare!

Class today went fine, it was on understanding yourself. We used a personality profile assessment to talk about how differing personalities cause communication and conflict issues. Tomorrow is on the traditional change management class I teach.

Just talked to Tyler, he said Rachel had a minor fender bender today going to school. She didn't call Tyler or even text him about it, she waited until she got to work and then sent him an email! Tyler has planned to talk to her about this tonight. So we will see how it goes.

Tyler also said he and Rachel have already bought and opened and are using their Christmas gifts for this year. They bought each other guitars and have been playing them.

Before I left, I got to actually got to meet Brandon's friend Mandy, she does exist and seems OK.

Well it is 6:00 PM and I think I am the last one in the plant offices, which is odd. Time to go see what the chef is cooking tonight!

Weekend update

Well, it's Saturday night all the kids are gone to Blake's' 18th Birthday party. Angela is in bed catching up on her reading and I just got finished grading papers for my college class I am teaching for Mount Vernon Nazarene University.

The class is going well. I like the idea that I get to have devotions before the class starts. It helps me practice sharing my faith in a safe sort of way. I wonder if all in the class are saved, so I am praying for them to re-examine their spiritual walk with God, while they learn a little about Human Resources Management (that is the name of the class I am teaching).

Today I had grade a 25 question quiz I gave them and a paper they had to write for week 2. tomorrow, I prepare for this coming Monday. Need to write another quiz and review the material one more time.

This week was pretty long. We got back about 11:00 PM last Sunday from Gatlinburg. We drove from Gatlinburg to Nashville and spent about 4 hours with Tyler and Rachel at Opry Mills Mall. Ate an early dinner at the Rainforest Cafe and headed home about 4:00 PM. Monday night I taught class until about 10:00 PM and Wednesday I had a meeting and choir practice at church so another late night. Thursday night we ate dinner with Tammy and Gary and the twins at Olive Garden.



Friday Corey got a 10 point buck!



John and Pam came up for pizza also on Friday, nothing special just good to see them again. Tammy and Gary went to Indianapolis for a special purchase, details to follow.

The Buckeyes won today, Tennessee lost to Wyoming? and Auburn lost to some high school team I think. Penn State got beat so we could still win the Big Ten and go to the Rose Bowl if Michigan State beats Penn State and we win our last 2 games.

Go to church somewhere tomorrow! God will bless you for it!

PRESS ON!

Gatlinburg Photos

Please do not vote!

Now that I have your attention, please do not vote in the upcoming elections unless you know something about the candidates: local, state and national.

Too many people just vote for a party or a person without really understanding their positions. To prove my point, I listened to a clip someone sent me about a radio disc jockey who sent someone out to ask people who they were voting for. Almost everyone that responded said Obama, but then the interviewer listed all the positions and had the person again pick which positions matched theirs. Most of the people picked McCain's positions and were mad at the interviewer for tricking them. No, they are uninformed and only voting for a name.

My son Tyler, did the same thing with his 5th grade class as part of their discussion on thinking for yourself. Most of the kids said they would vote for Obama, but when Tyler listed there positions on the whiteboard and asked them to pick which side they agree with most, they picked McCain.

So ALL of us have a responsibility to be an informed voter. Just about any news website, Foxnews, MSNBC, etc, have a voter guides of position comparisons. For Christians, the AFA and local organizations can also provide a voter guide to accurately compare the candidates. My suggestion is start with the Bible! It tells what is important. Opposition to Abortion and Homosexulaity, are 2 examples of where the Bible is clear. We need to vote for candidates at all levels who support biblical truth.

REMEMBER: A lot of the focus is on McCain & Obama, but the Congress can Stop any crazy ideas from bring put into law. So those elections are just as important as the President.

SO, get informed and then VOTE!!