15 Minutes of Shame

Hey guys!  CMT released a new video at noon today for Kristy Lee Cook's single "15 minutes of shame."  I'm playing the fiddle at the outdoor concert scenes....so go check it out!  

not for the faint of heart

ok guys.  

so I'm out on the road again...and as usually happens on the road...we got a little crazy today.  David Daily ordered a chicken fingers basket which came with coleslaw which Ronnie and I can't stand.  Naturally, we dared each other to take a big bite....and while we followed through...we certainly both lost at the game.  

Enjoy....but I don't recommend watching this before dinner...

How to solve a problem.

Greetings!  I've been a terrible blogger lately and am resolved to fix that today.  Life has been wonderful, unfortunately, wonderful in my world tends to mean busy with not enough time to sit down and record my thoughts.  

Last Thursday night I came across a book called "Practical Theology for Women: How Knowing God Makes a Difference in our Daily Lives" (no...men....this is NOT  license for you to skip the rest of this post.  God is equally important in your daily lives, and none of what I'm about to say includes clever anecdotes about shopping, husbands or any colour of nail polish.)  Although I find lots of merit in the text's notes on the importance of the Word, and on Faith especially...part of what I read in chapter 4 today really leapt out at me and I thought it was worth recounting.

"Have you been dealing with an issue that has sent you into an emotional tailspin?  If you are like me, you have allowed your mind to speed through scenarios of how bad the situation might get and what options you have for fixing it on your own.  In these situations, the first thing we need to do is stop.  We do not have to obey fear and anxiety as if they were our masters.  Change your perspective and refocus. 

Instead of envisioning the problem at hand, we envision for a moment our God, beautiful in heaven, well aware of our needs, and powerfully able to provide for them.  Instead of thinking through our options to fix our problem on our own, we meditate on God's supernatural ability to work out our problems in ways we can not begin to imagine.

The Old Testament saints...understood their lives were about something much bigger than themselves.  It's not that their daily problems were inconsequential.  Rather, they had learned to look at their daily struggles from an eternal perspective that provided the context they needed to appropriately deal with those issues.  We too must train ourselves to take our thoughts captive and make them submit to what we know to be true about God.  We don't ignore the details of this earthly life, but we must always read them in context of our eternal reality.

Once we get off the emotional roller coaster that's directing our responses and refocus our spiritual lens to a God-honoring perspective, then we start anew in light of eternity."

May you all stop and consider Christ, no matter how stormy or high the waves of life may be.

[If you enjoyed this, you can read the author's blog or order the book.]

The road to the White House....

...goes through Nashville.

This coming Tuesday night is the second of three big Presidential debates. This one will be a town-hall style forum of questions from a pool of 100 undecided, pre-screened Middle Tennessee voters. Tom Brokaw will be moderating. It will be held at Belmont University, a mere 3 miles from my house. Keith and I got the opportunity this morning to attend their "open house" event where the public could walk through campus and see the media staging area and the arena where the debate will be held (although the set isn't in place yet.) No, sadly, I don't have tickets. They are nearly impossible to get....and I don't know anyone actually going. However, they are having a "block party" this weekend with lots of special events around town and I plan on attending some of those. Keith took the following pictures this morning on Belmont's campus. I fully expected us to be cuffed by the Secret Service at any moment..but no one seemed to care that we were snapping away.

The front facade of Belmont...decorated for the debate!

              

I'm a Regan baby! (taken in C-Spans "Hall of Presidents" in the rotunda outside the debate hall)

the arena where the debate will take place....sans the set and carpet which clearly aren't up yet.

The building that will house the press.  Every press seat has a phone and internet connection!  It was crazy!  The building is temporary and is built on top of the soccer field!

bleacher type stands for the media to stand on and film the entrance to the rotunda.

beefing up on my "Debate o8" trivia outside the rotunda entrance.

Keith in front of the Belmont Belltower.

and me in front of the belltower.

the downstairs of the rotunda all decked out in banners!

Redecorating.

As you have probably noticed, the blog got a little facelift tonight.  Just thought I'd jazz it up a bit.  Thoughts?

Rollover, Fido!

I absolutely love the type of weather where you can wear a light sweater and jeans and be comfortable outside....breezy in the 70's...where you want to take lazy strolls along brick sidewalks windowshopping with friends while the leaves flutter past your face and you casually swat at them with your hands, pretending to be annoyed, but secretly thrilled that it's fall again and life is simple.  Tonight was simple...simply wonderful.  Dinner at PM with 3 friends...and coffee at Fido with the besty and her little sister.  Mmmmm....may all our days be as peaceful as today.

Amanda and I hanging out at Fido drinking "Rollovers" (the menu description reads: "Double latte, our rich chocolate sauce, and caramel sauce with chocolate shavings")...our drink of choice.