Seeing the Big Picture

Last night marked the first meeting of the college-age small group that Brittany and I are hosting through Carterville Christian Church. We had been looking forward to it for quite a while and it did not disappoint. The group meets at our house at 408 N. McCoy in Joplin (from 2nd & Maiden go 1 block west, turn right onto McCoy and the house is on the left side about 6 blocks down) on Thursday nights at 6:00pm - well, we're gathering at 6:00 the goal is to start official activities closer to 6:30 after we've enjoyed some food and some friendly competition on the Wii.

The first meeting of this group went well from our perspective and we look forward to next week. The following are some highlights from our time of study together last night.

With the busy lives that most adults lead it is very easy to miss the big picture of what is going on around us. I find that I am often so caught up in the task at hand or the challenge ahead that I don't realize the larger implications of what God is doing around me and how He is calling me to play a role in that.

The result of missing the big picture can lead to frustration and a lack of fulfillment with our day to day lives, because we're not really seeing what God is doing. It becomes easy to feel like He isn't doing anything around or in us, because we're too focused on what lies ahead. This faulty perspective can cause us to miss a lot of the opportunities God gives us to play a part in what He is doing.

Sometimes we are fortunate enough to have a changed perspective in the midst of what otherwise seems like a boring, ordinary, or even miserable experience. My first summer as an intern was kind of like this. The first 3 weeks in the office were tough, we worked long hours doing tedious tasks that really didn't make sense to me. But then the first event started and I got to see how what we were doing (Summer Conference) was creating an opportunity for those students to encounter Jesus and the life-change that resulted. In a moment my perspective changed. The tasks remained the same for the next several weeks, but with a different outlook on it I was able to enjoy even the most mundane and tedious of tasks.

Jesus was the master of seeing the big picture in an ordinary, everyday scenario. Take the account of the woman at the well in John 4 or Jesus calling Peter to be his disciple in Luke 5. Both encounters were fairly ordinary (except for the fact that a Jewish man wasn't supposed to talk to a woman, particularly a Samaritan) until Jesus looked beyond the obvious and caused life-change to occur in both of those people.

Sometimes the smallest acts on our part can have huge implications for others. We encounter people everyday who may or may not know Christ. How big of an impact will a kind word have on someone who is hurting and doesn't think anyone cares? How much will a small, thoughtful favor mean to an elderly person who is all alone? These things can happen almost without thought on our part, but may be enormous to the person on the receiving end. The danger is that if we're too focused on our tasks or ourselves to see opportunities to do small things for people we'll miss golden opportunities to point people toward Christ.

Scripture teaches that God places huge value on people - so much that He sent Jesus to die for our sins. When we fail to place great value on people - treating others as objects or ignoring them entirely - we're not living our faith. Who did I encounter today that I looked right past? How could I have exhibited Christ's love to someone in a simple way and didn't bother?

Seeing the big picture can be difficult and the busier we are the more difficult it can be. However, gaining that perspective is important to both finding fulfillment in our everyday lives in Christ as well as living out the mission that He has left us with.


If you're between 18 and 25 and looking for something to do next Thursday feel free to come by.

Birthday Thoughts

I think it's official now, I've reached the age where I'd just as soon not continue to have birthdays. This isn't because of a bad birthday experience, but instead because the associated number is now large enough that I'd be happy with it just staying put. One of Brittany's grandmothers said to me yesterday evening something to the effect of, (At your age) you don't look forward to birthdays anymore, the numbers just keep getting bigger. She is a dear, sweet lady and meant absolutely nothing negative toward me or my age (28) - nor did I take it that way, but I thought it was a telling comment.

All in all it was a good birthday. I got lots of emails from co-workers and family members, all of which were greatly appreciated.

My wife got me a gas-powered weed eater, something I'd wanted for a while. She gave it to me last week, but I hadn't needed to put it to use until yesterday. It's totally overkill for the size of our yard, but is a lot of fun and keeps me from having to drag around that cursed extension cord!

My parents got me a very cool gift, but I'm not going to disclose what it is until later - it will get its own post.

Brittany's family got me several things, a number of very nice articles of clothing, a gas can for my weed eater, and some much appreciated spending money (I told Britt this was the first time I'd had cash in my wallet in a while).

The gifts and cards are always fun and enjoyable, but I do try not to miss the more significant aspects of adding to my age. I try to make sure I'm reflecting on life enough to at least consider whether God has been glorified by my actions in the last year? Have I been the best husband I can be? (Sadly, no) Have I been the best friend I can be to those I care about? (Again, no, see last paragraph of this post) What does my life need to look like in the coming year to change the answers to the above questions in a positive way?

I think more than anything a birthday makes me thankful for all the blessings I have in life. God has been very gracious to me in so many ways. He has provided more than I ever expected. It is this gratitude, to God and to friends and family, that really makes me want to continue to grow as a Christian and a person.

In closing, I need to apologize to a friend. One of my best friends has a birthday just 3 days before mine. I know this, I've known this for years, I even thought of it last week sometime. But somehow I managed not to remember to call him on his birthday Saturday. I'm sorry, Mike, I hope you had a great birthday. I'll try to do better next year.

Little League World Series

In case you missed it, the Little League World Series (or LLWS) concluded yesterday with Warner Robins, Georgia beating Tokyo, Japan 3-2 in 8 innings (regulation LL games are 6). This is a great event, it brings boys (and for the record there is a girls version that just isn't as widely known, but did get airtime on ESPN this year) from across the US and around the world together to do something they love - play baseball.

I didn't watch a ton of the series this year, okay very little. I did see part of the American championship on Saturday. To be 12 years old these guys are very good. And just when you start to forget they're so young they'll do something to remind you of it - get really excited like kids do or make a error on a routine play (then again the pros do this occasionally as well). It's good baseball and for those who say they don't like baseball because it is so slow I would recommend this as a form of the game to watch. The innings move fairly quickly and they only play 6 (most of the time) so games tend to be much shorter. Plus this is baseball at its highest level (for this age group), this too helps move things along. Plus these kids are playing for something and you can read it on their faces.

I have one beef with the LLWS. The fences are too short for 12 year olds. In the short time I watched on Saturday I saw a kid hit one out to straight-away center that he just barely caught a piece of. No shame in getting a hit on a chip-shot, but at that age they shouldn't be going yard when they didn't event hit it well. The fences in Williamsport are 225' (all the way around). By placing them there I feel like they're featuring the long-ball too much in a kids game. I'd rather see longer fences that would bring things like an honest triple into play (then again I never was a power hitter). There is a hedge out beyond the fence, it looks to be about 25' further from home plate. My suggestion would be to move the fence back to where the hedge is. I think that would eliminate a lot of these cheap home runs and force guys to hit line drives (something they'd better get good at if they want to play in high school and college).

My wife abruptly informed me that the fence depth is regulated for all LL games. I suspect that she's partially right. I'll bet that by the time they get to state and regional playoffs those distances are probably regulated, but I doubt that every LL team is fortunate enough to have a field of their own that has a fence of 225' (to all fields, which is more like a softball field than a baseball field if you ask me). I'll bet there are a bunch of these teams from little towns all over the place that share a field with older teams and play on fields with fences of 300' or more, just because that's all they have.

I'm off my soapbox. As I started with, the LLWS is a great event. Congrats to the team from Georgia for wrapping up the 2nd straight LLWS win for a Georgia team (Columbus in 2006) and the 3rd straight for the U.S (Hawaii - 2005).

Sure, I'll Be Glad to Paint That...part 5

The tables are now back in the living room with most of our electronic gear on them. After letting them dry over night (in the garage) and waiting on the sun to break yesterday afternoon I carried them around to the back porch and left them out in the sun all day.

After putting them out back I got the paint out one more time to touch up a couple of small areas I noticed needed some help (now that I had them out in the light).

Finally about 9:30 last night I brought them back in the house. They still weren't feeling fully dry, but after letting them sit inside for probably an hour I decided to put them back in place with the TV, VCR, stereo, etc. on them. The heavier items seem to have stuck a little, not enough to take paint off, so I think we're good now.

Brittany brought home a small (like arts & crafts small) brush so that I could do very tiny touch-up work near a couple of the bolts that are the side facing the room. I also need to re-wire everything to eliminate a problem that an old friend of mine commonly refers to as "cable puke".

I'd say the project is 99% complete and I'm marginally happy with the outcome. My wife is satisfied - or so she says. I won't be tying up any further blog space with this project, nor will I be taking on any projects like this one for a while. :)

Sure, I'll Be Glad to Paint That...Part 4

Progress slowed yesterday as a result of the paint not having dried fully yet. It was dry to the touch, but was tacky - due to the humidity. It was still damp enough that almost any touch left a light mark on the surface. Never the less I did manage to get a couple of things done.

Step 7
- Re-assemble the tables. This took about 2 hours. The bolts I had to drive and reverse screw out had to be pounded back in and some had been bent slighting, which made getting the nuts back on a challenge. I eventually got them all back together. For the record, the table I built took far less time than the one dad built because of the bolt issues not existing on my table.

Step 8
- Fine sand uneven areas of the paint.
- I used 400 grit paper and the power sander to smooth some thick or otherwise uneven places in the finish.
- This was when I started deciding that things might be too wet still to proceed. The sander was causing some of the runs to gum up rather than just sanding them off.
- After a quick call to my dad I decided to let them sit overnight again before proceeding.

Step 9
- Carry the tables inside the house where it's not so humid so that the paint can dry.
- By the time dad suggested putting them out in the sun to dry it was too late to do that yesterday, so I opted to set them inside the house (with the feet sitting on Wal-Mart bags just in case anything was wet on the bottom) overnight to help the drying process. It seems to have worked. By this morning, the finish was much smoother and less tacky.


The following steps took place Friday morning.


Step 10
- The second coat!
- I figured out pretty early on that a second coat over most of the surface area would be needed. I opted to do this with the tables re-assembled so that it could be the final coat (hopefully) - by allowing me to see any scuffs I'd caused putting them back together or any areas that hadn't been painted and would show.
- Thankfully this step didn't require much paint as I was about out. I managed to hit all of it a second time and still have just a little to spare in case I need to do any additional touch ups.
- There are definitely some areas up underneath the tables that only got one coat or that didn't get painted at all, however these are areas that will likely never be seen and I chose not to paint them to avoid getting paint everywhere and avoid getting it all over the hardware.

Step 11
- Wait
- They are now drying in the garage. I will probably leave them there overnight tonight and then if we get sun tomorrow put them outside to bake all day. Hopefully that will be sufficient to then bring them inside on Saturday and declare this project OVER or as the interns loved to say "done".

Sure, I'll Be Glad to Paint That...part 3

Wednesday proved fairly productive on the project.

Step 5
- Sand all parts with 320 grit paper using the power sander.
- This took about an hour and yielded pretty good results, it was enough to smooth everything up and prep for the top coat.

Step 5a
- Wipe everything down...again
- This step took much less time this time around, I knew what to do and there was less dust because the finer sand paper took much less off.

Step 6
- Paint all parts with Valspar Dark Kettle Black Satin paint from Lowe's.
- This was the part I'd been trying to get to for 2 days. The first, thick coat took me about 2 hours and yielded fairly good results. I burned through about 3/4 of the quart of paint I bought. I am hopeful that what remains will be sufficient to do touch up work and avoid having to buy another $12 quart that I'll only use a tiny bit of.
- Most of the surfaces that will be visible when the tables are re-assembled will be getting a light second coat to deal with any brush strokes that revealed the Kilz 2 underneath or just look bad. I was able to do a second coat on the top side of one of the shelves last night and it looked very good with a minimum of effort - hopefully the rest will go that well.
- I used an "economy" 3" brush (for all paint types) on this step. I did use a sponge brush for some of the touch up and to get into some smaller spaces. They seem to yield similar results, I'm not really sure it would have mattered which I used on the whole project.

Today I will re-assemble the tables (which I hope will go fairly quickly, but I'm not holding my breath) and then do the partial second coat on visible surfaces as needed. Hopefully by bedtime tonight they'll be done and just needing time to dry...we'll see how it goes.

Sure, I'll be glad to paint that...part 2

I started on the project (described in my previous post) yesterday morning around 8am.

Step 1: Remove all the stuff that was sitting on the tables (TV, VCR - yes, we still own one of these, DVD player, Dish receiver, PS2, DVDs, VHS Tapes, pictures, Stereo, etc.).

Step 2: Dis-assemble the tables
- This was fairly simple, but took a lot longer than expected. Each one had 8 large bolts per main shelf (3 of these total) holding the legs to the table top. Most of these had to be pounded as far out as possible with a hammer, then reverse screwed out the rest of the way. The ones on the larger table were particularly difficult, dad had obviously only drilled holes just barely big enough for them to fit through.
- When this was completed I had 4 legs at ~18", 4 legs at ~36", 3 main shelf units (2"x4" framed plywood tops), and 1 piece of plywood that makes the lower shelf on the smaller table.

Step 3: Sand everything
- Here's to the power sander!
- I thought this would go fairly quickly, but it took about an hour. The 100 grit paper was fairly effective at removing the original finish. The table dad built definitely had more on it than mine did.
- The end result was a fine powder on everything - the floor, everything in my garage (the Firehawk was parked on the far end of the driveway, I had a feeling this might get messy), and the pieces of the tables. This fine powder resulted in the addition of an unexpected step.

Step 3a: Wipe the powder off everything
- I first tried the shop vac, which was fun and I needed to use to clean the floor anyway. After a call to dad, I ended up with wet papertowels wiping everything down. This added probably an hour to the project I wasn't expecting.

Step 4: Prime with Kilz 2 (water based)
- Finally at about 11:45am I cracked open the Kilz (something I had thought I'd do circa 9:30am)
- I used a sponge brush on this. I'm cheap and they're pretty effective, plus this isn't the top coat so I figured I could get away with it.
- This step took about 90 minutes.
- Had to leave a small area of each shelf unit unpainted so I could set them on that edge while the rest dried for an hour or so, I returned after lunch to finish those areas.
- I'm working with probably 70 sq. ft. of wood, so I was expecting to just about "kill" the quart of Kilz that I bought, but only ended up using about 1/2 of it. I hope that doesn't indicate I didn't use enough. Given that I don't really have anything I'm trying to cover up I think what I did will be sufficient.

That's what I've accomplished so far. I had intended to put the initial coat of Valspar Dark Kettle Black on yesterday as well, but knowing they needed to dry and then be fine sanded first I decided to mow the lawn yesterday afternoon instead.

With any luck today I'll get that sanding done and the first coat of black put on.

Sure, I'll be glad to paint that...

This will be the first of probably two or three posts about my current wood-working project. How I got started doing stuff like this I don't know. I have very little idea what I'm doing, mostly I'm making it up as I go and trying to avoid doing something stupid.

History
Last spring I talked myself into staining and sealing two doors we had hung in our house. The final outcome was pretty good, but it took about 3 times longer than expected.

The Project
-Re-finish 2 tables we currently use as our "entertainment center".

Project History
-When I was in college my dad built a table to fit in a spare closet in my dorm room that I could put things like my microwave, toaster, and coffee maker on. The table measures 36" long x 36" tall x 18" wide. It is made of 2"x4"s and 3/4" plywood. He used screws and some 5" bolts as fasteners. It could easily become a very solid work bench in the garage if the wife ever kicks it out of the house. After moving to Joplin I built a second table to match the first one. The one I built was half as tall (18"), but the same length and width. Dad's had two identical shelves (one at 36", one at 18"). My table (built to be a coffee table) has two levels, one at 18" and one at about 6". They do look like they go together and to have been built with very large, bulky materials, they are fairly well built.

-Both pieces were sealed with a clear varnish, but were not stained.

Reason for the Project
-The clear sealed, white pine doesn't go with all the black furniture in our living room.

The Objective
-Remove the original finish, prime, and paint them black.

- The idea here is that they will roughly look like our kitchen table and chairs, which have an antique black finish.

The Plan
-Take the tables apart
-Sand them down to remove the original finish and smooth rough places
-Prime all pieces
-Paint all pieces black
-Reassemble the tables
-Apply second coat of paint as needed
-Put tables back in living room

I started on this yesterday, my next post will update my progress so far.

Car Care Observations

Observation #1:

Washing a car that isn't really dirty takes less time than one that is.

I washed the Firehawk last night in preparation for the Rendezvous 66 car show this weekend out in Carthage. I did this even though the car wasn't really dirty, just had some dust and some annoying spots on it from the last wash (lesson: a black car needs to be dried inside, for some reason it makes a difference).

Observation #2:

Car care is a much less annoying process when there are no bugs splattered on the front of the car that either won't come off or require a ton of work.


Observation #3:

Washing a car (and drying it) takes less time than all the other little detail things that have to be done prior to a car show.

I've still got to do:
-the interior (30 minutes - it's not all that dirty)
-the tires (5 minutes - need silicon wiped on to make them shine, they are 5 years old now after all)
-the engine bay (30 minutes - I spent a hour plus on this last year and it appears it hasn't gotten very dirty since that time)
-cracks & crevices - (1 hour - it takes more time to find all the little nooks and crannies where dust and dirt can hide on a car than it does to clean them. All of the areas where doors close, hatches shut, or t-tops attach usually need to be wiped out and tend to be over-looked until you decide to open the car up at a car show)

It's a good thing school starts this week or Britt would be fairly annoyed with me for spending so much time messing with the car. Good thing I only do this once a year. If you're around on Saturday there will be a ton of really cool cars out in Carthage at the show - everything from classics to customs to current hot rods.

Tough Crowd

As I was running along yesterday morning I was hit with the realization that something is about to happen that scares me a little.

For a few months now Brittany and I have been planning to start a family group (small group, d-group, call it what you want) for college age people through the C3 Family groups program at CCC (Carterville Christian Church). We met at a group like this at Robin and Jayme Sigar's house a few years ago and were both blessed (more than just relationally) by that fellowship and teaching time each week. So we felt like this was a way we could serve and something we could both get involved in (something we've struggled with for a while).

Last spring we started gearing up by attending the college Sunday School class to meet a few of the students, the plan being to launch our family group this fall. Well, as you know if you read my previous post, fall is about here.

Back to my realization yesterday morning, we're about to launch a family group for college students! Can I just tell you that small groups of people scare me far more than large ones. It is much easier for me to speak to a large crowd than a few (in terms of comfort level). I've composed my top 5 list of reasons why a family group for college students is a tough crowd:

1. College students lives are not terribly consistent from week to week, which makes it difficult for them to commit to an activity each week. That's the "giving them the benefit of the doubt" version. The other way to look at it is that they're non-committal, but I think there's more to it than that. Very often legitimate things come up - like exams and projects - that have to be attended to. The challenge here is trying to build a cohesive group when many of those attending are fairly transient and their attendance may be irregular.

2. College students are smart. You can bluff your way through something you only half-way understand or didn't study very well with some age groups, but not college students. They are at a time in their lives where they've got to be sharply critical of the things they're told/taught so you've got to bring your A-game or they're going to call you on it (perhaps with their feet by just not returning).

3. College culture is a little different than post-college. Everything from schedules to work loads to expectations to lack of funds can be very different for the average under-grad than someone just a couple of years older who is working full-time. Communicating effectively with college students requires some level of understanding of the challenges they face.

4. Every school is a little different. In a town like Stillwater, Oklahoma (which I like to mention as often as possible in my posts) there's really only one school and that school dominates the community. As a result you've got a built-in, shared experience with almost anyone you encounter that is in the age range from 18-25. The Joplin Metro-plex is a little different. Locally we have MSSU, OCC, and Crowder. Nearby we have Pitt State. Down the road is MSU (that would be MO State) and U of A. Students from each of these campuses will have a little different schedule and a little different outlook on the world. Obviously the campus experience for an OCC student is very different than someone across town at MSSU. As a result there is an inherent challenge in finding ways to bridge the experiences and needs of all of those different groups. The good news is that the message of Jesus Christ applies to everyone. This is the specific thing I always felt like Robin was outstanding at doing, he had more people from more different backgrounds than you can imagine and managed to hit them all right where they were at.

5. College students tend to be simultaneously intensely practical and relentlessly inquisitive. The challenge here is balancing discussion of topics that interest them - in this case within the context of Biblical study - with viable, practical applications. College students - some of them - love to sit and talk theory, the how's, why's, and what if's of life. But if that's all you ever get to you'll lose them because they eventually need to know how it applies their life, how it impacts their existence.

Did I mention this scares me just a little? The good news is we've set this thing in motion and we're going to give it our best shot. Plus, my wife is awesome and can probably handle this in her sleep, so I'm sure it'll be fine.

If you're interested the group will meet on Thursday nights, food and fun at 6:00, study from 6:30 - 7:30, hanging out thereafter (until Brittany makes everyone leave) starting on August 23rd (wow, that sounds closer than I thought it was!). Even if you've already left your college years behind you are welcome to join us. We will meet at our house at 408 N. McCoy in Joplin until the group gets too large, then we'll relocate.

Starting School

Yes, it is 101 today.

Yes, it is supposed to be 103 tomorrow.

Yes, it seems like summer just got started.

But school starts next week!

Why would I dedicate a post to school starting, I don't have kids afterall? Because I'm married to a teacher, so the school starting rush is just as real at our house as I suspect it is in homes where there are young students. Brittany has been spending fairly a lot of time at her classroom in preparation for school to begin. She had to get her room ready, had to start lesson planning (a process that never really ends and seems to have to be re-done every year), then on Friday had to start preparing items for her students.

I remember the days when August meant back to school for me. Now it means different things. Now August means that I have some time off coming up, that Summer Conference is over for the year, that Believe and SuperStart are around the corner, and that my wife and I will soon be back on the same schedule.

One of the drawbacks of having a spouse off of work all summer is they tend to want to stay up late and sleep in. I can't say I blame her and she really doesn't stay up that late or sleep that long, but it's just enough that I end up going to bed alone and to the gym by myself in the morning. These aren't terrible things, nor are they things I would want to have go on indefinitely.

Soon I'll be hearing all about the heart-breaking situations that too many of her students face, the funny things they do, the rotten things they do, and everything in between. If I've learned one thing about being married to a teacher it is this: it's never boring! Sometimes we're all the way through dinner before I even get started on what I did all day. Then again, sometimes it's the other way around.

Yes, school is starting soon, I'm sorry for all of you dreading it. But look on the bright side, school starting can only mean one thing: football season is almost here! Mark your calendars, August 31st the Webb City Cardinals open their season at Kickapoo, then comes the home opener against Carthage on September 7th. That should be a fun one in the new Cardinal Stadium.

Okay, so really, this post was just an excuse to talk about football.

Rooting for a Rival

Yesterday I found myself hoping a guy who plays for the Mets would win a game. Yes, you read that correctly, I was actually rooting for Tom Glavine in his bid to become the 23rd pitcher in Major League history to win 300 games. See Tom was a part of my childhood/adolescent years as a member of the famed Atlanta Braves starting rotation of the 90s.

I have always felt like I had a fairly normal childhood. In the summer I would play outside all day and then at night I would watch baseball on TBS (looking back at it now I'm a little surprised we had cable that far back, but we did). In the 80s watching the Braves on TBS was more about love of the game than winning, they didn't do much of the latter. But in 1991 something got into a young group of pitchers and they propelled a team that had been the worst in baseball in 1990 all the way to the World Series (they talked a lot about going from "worst to first" - they're the only team in history to go to the Series one year after having the worst record in baseball). As a matter of fact, the Braves lost game 7 of that series 1-0 in 10 innings behind 7+ shutout by John Smotlz who was out dueled by Jack Morris. The NL Cy Young winner that year? Tom Glavine.

As I've watched baseball evolve over the years, through the labor disputes and strikes (that's labor strikes, not pitches in the zone) I've grown to respect Tom as a player and a professional. I don't claim to know a ton about him, but he is one of those guys who has consistently gotten it done while maintaining a level of professionalism and class that is rare among high profile athletes. Perhaps part of the key to that is that he never seems to care about the high profile part.

One of the things that I always appreciated about Glavine (and Greg Maddux as well) was his ability to get hitters out and win games without overwhelming batters with his stuff or power. I don't know if he ever broke 90 on the gun or not. I don't think anyone ever claimed he had the best stuff in the game (stuff here refers to movement of pitches that makes them difficult to hit). But he has always had outstanding location and he can consistently out smart hitters (when things are going well). He is a finesse pitcher (perhaps part of the reason he has had such a long career, though Roger Clemens and John Smoltz do defy the theory that power pitchers burn out quickly) and a lefty at that (only the 6th left hander to win 300).

Off the field, Glavine was among a few players respected by their peers who were integrally involved with labor negotiations in the 90's. While other players have a hard time staying out of jail, Tom managed to navigate very tenuous negotiations with class and dignity. In on camera interviews he is always composed, courteous, and well spoken. He's the kind of guy you can see either being an analyst or going to work in the front-office for a team.

SportsCenter suggested this morning that he might be the last 300 game winner. Their reasoning is fairly sound - trends in pitching combined with a small number of pitchers over 200 wins that legitimately might pitch enough additional seasons to reach that mark. I'm not sure I'd go that far, no one ever thought someone would hit 715 home runs, then came Hank Aaron. I've got a feeling that there will be another 300 game winner at some point, maybe several. But the relative scarcity of pitchers with that kind of win total is really a tribute to the longevity and brilliance of Tom Glavine (and others, Maddux and Clemens among them that have also reached this milestone).

Congratulations Tom, when you're done in New York, please come back to Atlanta where your legend began.

The Big Citgo Sign

There's something about having the end in sight that helps us as people carry on a little longer and work a little harder than we could if we couldn't see the finish line. I think this is true in things like running, where almost without fail runners who have struggled along the way and may be walking will quicken their pace when the finish line comes in to view. I also believe this is true in a more general sense when we take part in big activities in life.

Christ In Youth Summer Conference is a major undertaking. Pulling off 21 events in an 8 week period on 13 sites with 20,000+ people takes a tremendous amount of work. The work starts months, really more than a year before the first truck unloads. The work only intensifies until finally the final event comes to an end, gets loaded out and the staff returns home.

We're on the cusp of the final event ending today. Illinois 3 ended last night, which leaves only Oregon to finish tonight. There is still work to do, trucks to unload, shirts to count, equipment to put away, etc., but once the final song is sung and the lights go out, the finish line is in sight.

I remember something I was told when I went to Boston several years ago for the marathon. A veteran runner told me that if you could make it to the Citgo sign you were home. At the time I had no idea what that meant, but (and if you ever watch a Red Sox game at Fenway on TV you'll see this sign out beyond the wall in left Center) there is literally a huge Citgo sign sitting near one part of the course that is located near the finish line (close enough anyway) that you can see from miles away (like 6 or 8 on a clear day). This runner knew something that I would soon learn. In a race like that, you need a point to navigate to, a reference point for a goal you can't yet see. He knew that by the time I hit "the wall" around mile 21 I'd be able to see the Citgo sign and it could serve as a reference point to help me mentally get through the last 5 miles. The tough thing with most marathon courses is that you can't visually see the finish line until you're within about half a mile (or often less) of it. In this case, I could see where I was going much further out and that was a real motivator at a critical point in the race.

Life isn't always so simple as marathon running (if only it were!). But I do believe that at times God provides reference points and markers to help us keep moving when we're tired and ready to quit. The ultimate reference point and motivator is the return of Christ and our "promotion" to Heaven. In a little different context, the writer of Hebrews instructed readers, "Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another - and all the more as you see the Day approaching. (Heb. 10:25)"

Whether you are in the midst of a challenging, defined period of labor or find yourself struggling for motivation in the mundane day-to-day of life be encouraged to know that in Christ "the Day" is approaching. We don't know when that will be, but we can look for reference points along the way that God provides for us.

To those who are still laboring to bring Summer Conference 2007 to a successful conclusion: hang in there, the end is near at hand and there is rest (and Gatorade) just days away.