Super Bowl XL

I couldn't resist. It's only miles away from me and honestly how often does this happen?

Cheryl and I hopped in the car and headed Downtown. It wasn't too bad down there either. As long as you know where you are headed, Detroit and the citizens and civil servants are directing you where to go for the most part.

We jumped on the People Mover, which sounds like it may jump off the track at any moment, from Cadillac Center down to the Ren Cen. There we were able to walk around and see all the "Stars," whom are calling the Motor City home this week.

My first job was to head to the NFL Network and snap a few shots of Rich Eisen (far right) for Chris. Chris, the lighting made snapping a good shot tough, but there he is with Boomer (center) from the Bengals and CBS along with Terrell Davis (left) from the Denver Broncos.

As we traveled around the loop, known as "Radio Row," we came upon the NFL on Sirius Satellite Radio. Shannon Sharpe from the Broncos and Ravens was preparing for a special guest, Chris Carter, Hall of Fame receiver from the Minnesota Vikings and HBO's, Inside the NFL. Not to be mean - and I can say this - Carter was not in game shape and was definitely enjoying all the free snacks before the show. All the pics I took of him were him eating and this was the least non-flattering picture of the bunch.
The biggest thrill for me was seeing Dan Patrick. He's old school ESPN. One of the originals on ESPN's, Sportscenter. Dan was doing his show, The Dan Patrick Show, on ESPN Radio. You could actually get close enough to see him. Like I said, it was pretty cool seeing him. The guy knows sports.

ESPN was the main attraction as you walked into the Ren Cen, but nothing cool was going on. On top of that, they had this huge tent covering everything up. It was really tough to get a good shot of what was going on in there. Ron Jaworski, former Eagles QB and now an analyst for the NFL on ESPN was the best shot I could get. He is also co-owner of the Philadelphia Soul of the Arena Football League with none other than Mr. Jon Bon Jovi... he wasn't there, but if he was it would have been my goal to sing, Livin' On a Prayer, as loud as possible. I'm sure he would have enjoyed that.

From the Home of Super Bowl XL, Detroit, Michigan, GO STEELERS!!

Detroit

I wish I had written this, but it's worth a read. We all say we want to leave, but there is something about this place that makes it home.

The Sporting Blog

Detroit Sports thoughts:

1) Love the Marinelli hire by Matt Millen and here's why...

- The guy is going to kick some major arse and that is exactly what these malcontents known as the Detroit Lions need
- Unlike most of the Lion's coaches over the years, this guy is adored by many and praised by his previous players
- He didn't promise anything about the playoffs or wins and losses, just hard work and hard hitting in the trenches (O-Line and D-Line)
- Eventhough he was didn't commit, I think he will give Joey a chance (he loves character, so he should love Joey)

2) Very happy to see the Steelers in the Super Bowl. It will be even better if they win it. It was also nice to see Jerome Bettis, "The Bus," talking about how "great" the city of Detroit is. Thanks Jerome.

3) Not much to complain about with my real true love in sports, the Red Wings. BUT... Robert Lang is lame. The guy looks like he is skating in slush. He takes penalties all the time. I just don't see the fascination with this guy. Everybody talks him up, but he just exists on this team. Stevie would be better off getting his minutes.

4) 33 Wins and 5 Losses... The Pistons rule!

Confession

Forgive me Bloggers. It has been 11 days since my last Blogging.

I guess the thing is, I've not had a lot to talk about lately. There are a few things that normally I would just put out there and share about the deep inner secrets of who I am, but it just doesn't seem like the right time.

There have even been some ideas for Blogs recently. At church last Sunday, we were talking about the new amazingly controversial show, The Book of Daniel, on NBC. I was mere moments away from waxing eloquent about my thoughts on this new show and all the hub-bub it has created, but even that has not led me to Blog.

What is this Blog avoidance that has overtaken me? I am finding that I am not the only one who has been silent though. Many of my fellow Bloggees have either been as uninspired to write as I have been or just too darn busy.

Life is about ebbs and flows. Sometimes you can't stop yourself from doing things and other times it is a struggle. Even the things you love to do can become a task if you are not careful. I guess we all need to allow for times when we just might not have anything to say...

So until the next Blogging inspiration hits, you will have to accept this little confession.

God Bless.

It's Finally Over.

After a season of hopes dashed, the Lions season comes to an end... with a loss. How appropriate.

The losing is over for now. The men in Honolulu Blue and Silver get to pack up and leave Detroit to enjoy themselves until it all starts over again next year. But this next season may not be just like all the others. Too much has happened this year. Too many bad situations to just forget it all and jump back on the band wagon... at least I hope so.

I know one man who has had enough. One of my best friends, Chris, will not be watching the Lions again next year. During the season we talk each week about the ups and the downs of the Lions. Mostly downs, but we break it down and play Monday Morning Quarterback... it's a lot of fun. Next year that is over. You see, Chris lives in Las Vegas, so he subscribed to the NFL Ticket through DirecTV to see the Lions. This horrendous season has helped him wise up and realize that paying to see the Lions is not worth it. Can you blame him?

I get to watch the Lions for free and sometimes I feel like I am paying to watch them. I don't pay with money, I pay with pain. Pain that comes from feeling devoted to this franchise that is in so much disarray that fans would rather come to the games to make fun of the team rather than cheer for them.

Truly, I just wish people would stop coming to the games. I empathize with the players on that somewhat. If you're not there to support the team, move on. The problem is, in this town we are dying for the Lions to win. At this point, we would be happy with a Wayne Fontes season or two, eventhough he was a bigger buffoon then Morningwheg. This town needs a winner at Ford Field!

As I watched the game yesterday, my brother, Matt, asked, "Why do you even watch these guys?" I'll tell you what I told him... I watch because there is that chance that someday this team will win. When they do, all the struggle and turmoil that I watched and sometimes felt them go through will make the winning that much sweeter. I reminded him of what it felt like when we watched the Red Wings continue to lose ever year and then how sweet it was to see them lift the Stanley Cup. Either my stupidity or hope tells me to keep watching, so next season I will be back rooting for the Detroit Lions to make it to Super XLI with their MVP QB, Joey Harrington.

It could happen... a guy can dream can't he?

Ezer Kenegdo

I have a flair for the dramatic. Most people like me do... not saying that I like it or even plan it, but I can make something out of nothing very quickly.

The past month or so has been a real down time for me. Not depression, but true joy and contentment has escaped me. I have had my up and down days. My eyes have not been on the prize and I have allowed the Enemy to creep back into some of the places he has worked his magic in the past. Of course I have felt like a failure, thinking, "Here we go again."

The New Year always brings with it an examination of the past year and a look forward to the upcoming year. Maybe this year I will learn to play guitar or speak Gaelic. Those are fun to think about. Dreaming about what you might be able to accomplish in 2006 and beyond.

Where things get messy for me is thinking about what needs to be fixed. I can fall down a pit of despair rather quickly when I think of all my faults. The word I used this evening was, "hopeless." As I write it I cringe. As I said though, a flair for the dramatic.

To add insult to injury, I am very stubborn. I dig in even when I know I am wrong. So you add the dramatics and the stubborness and a terrible mixture takes place.

You see, my ever-loving wife, Cheryl, does her best to help me through these times of illogical thought by being logical. Even as I hear and agree with her logical thoughts in my head, I dig in with my stubborness and stay in my pit of despair knowing I am wrong. What is wrong with me?!?

Cheryl stands alongside me and tries to "love" me out of the pit. She never gives up. No matter how much I dig in, she looks at me and sees the man she loves, not this dufus who whips himself into a frenzy.

I read something in Cheryl's favorite book, Captivating, tonight that helped me understand something amazing about her. I always wonder what allows her to stick with me through these "episodes," and I think that the book sheds some light on it.

In Genesis 2:18, it says, "It is not good for the man to be alone, I shall make him a [ezer kenegdo]." The Hebrew scholar, Robert Alter translates ezer kenegdo "sustainer beside him."

The author of Captivating goes on to explain:

The word ezer is used only twenty other places in the Old Testament. And in every other instance the person being described is God Himself, when you need Him to come through for you desperately...

Most of the contexts are life and death, by the way, and God is your only hope. Your ezer. If He is not there beside you... you are dead. A better translation therefore of ezer would be "lifesaver." Kenegdo menas alongside, or opposite to, a counterpart.

You need an ezer when your life is in constant danger...

...He (God) does not want to be an option in our lives. He does not want to be an appendage, a tagalong. Neither does any woman. God is essential. He wants us to need him - desperately. Eve is essential. She has an irreplacable role to play. And so you'll see that women are endowed with fierce devotion, an ability to suffer great hardships, a vision to make the world a better place.

Fierce devotion. Ability to suffer great hardships. Vision to make the world a better place. That is my darling wife. She really is my lifesaver. She'll never leave my side.

The amazing thing is that I learned to love God more tonight. God showed Himself to me through my ezer kenegdo, "lifesaver alongside me," Cheryl.

I need Him desperately. Forgetting that is what leads to the drama.

Chronic - WHAT- cles of Narnia

A couple of weeks ago I spouted my ire over the downfall of SNL... well it's time to print a retraction - - at least for this past week. Jack Black hosted and there was actually some pretty funny stuff, but the best part of the night was the SNL Short of "Lazy Sunday."

Chris Parnell (right) and Adam Samberg (left) are really growing on me. Parnell has done some funny stuff, but you know how funny people can get lost on some of those sketches that run on forever. Samberg is brand new this year and this was his shining moment.

I am not going to give it away, because you need to see it and laugh your butt off a few times.

iTunes is giving the video short away free this week, so bust a move and nab it. If you don't have iTunes, what is wrong with you? Download it!

If you just hate all things Apple, you can watch it here too. Just click on the video and tell me how hard you laughed.

There is one bleeped out word on it, so if that offends you - don't let it offend you... sorry I had to say it.

We Are Family

When I was a kid, I hated visiting relatives. There were exceptions, but when it came to traveling to or spending time with the adult relatives, you could count on me being bored out of my mind.

In 5th grade, we went to Scotland to visit my Uncle Matthew & Aunt Ellen. I have no real memories of that trip and it really bugs me. The main thing I remember is being bored and driving around the country in my Uncles mini-van complaining about how long we had to drive. That is sad. If I only knew then what I know now. If I could transport the 33 year old Scott back into the mind of 5th grader, I would get to enjoy all the breath-taking scenery. But alas that is impossible.

My dad is a bit of a home-body and is very content to just be in his surroundings and I think a bit of that obviously rubbed off on me. There is nothing wrong with that, but we have never been the type of people to take off and visit relatives on a real consistent basis. Cheryl's dad and her brother, Jim, both live about 45 minutes to an hour away from us and even that seems like too far sometimes. How ridiculous is that? For my family everything was close... School about 5 minutes away. Dad's job 5 minutes away. Church, maybe 7 - 10 minutes, tops. Even now, my brother and his wife are literally a mile away and mom & dad are maybe 2 miles.

The thing is, the older I get, the more I love seeing family. My Uncle Gary, Aunt Jeanne and my cousin, Wendy were all here last night and we had a great time. It's just fun to be around them. I used to dread it sometimes as a kid, but now I wish we saw them more often. I always think about visiting them, but I get that feeling like my family that lives far away might think, "Oh, now he wants to visit." That of course is stupid, but it really goes through your head.

There have been many times where I thought about visiting my uncles in Texas and Indiana, but I feel like I would be imposing on them. Like, "Where have you been for the last 15 years?" I guess it is just another one of those things that Satan puts in your head to stop you from enjoying something special that God gave you.

The first visit may be weird, but they will get better and better. Sometimes you just have to take a chance. My trip with Aaron across the country this fall taught me that. I did things and met people that normally I wouldn't have.

So before everyone starts making New Years Resolutions, take a moment and think about some of those lies that have stopped you from experiencing something great that God has put in your life.

Ed Horn

I just wanted to ask for prayer for a guy named Ed Horn.

A friend from our old church put me on an email list that told me about Ed. I checked out his webiste and started reading about what he was going through and God consumed my thoughts with him. So I started praying for Ed whenever God reminded me of him.

It just so happens that Ed went to the same school that Cheryl and I attended. He was a few years younger than us, but when I looked at the pictures on his site I thought, "I know this guy from somewhere." I had just clicked on the link from the email and not looked at his last name up to that point. I finally realized it was him and was just amazed.

Ed was disgnosed with Anaplastic Large Cell Lymphoma on October 6, 2005. Since that point, things have gone up and down for he and his family. Just last week the family prepared to say goodbye to Ed and take him off of a ventilator. The good news is that God had other plans!

I don't want to spoil the story for you, so I will just tell you this... Ed is doing better. God is working miracles, but I am asking you all now to pray for Ed. Pray for his family. Pray that Ed will be CANCER FREE and enjoying his wife and children again soon. God is not finished with Ed yet and his testimony will bring glory to our Father in Heaven, so again, keep Ed in your thoughts and prayers.

Check out Ed's site and sign his guestbook. He and his family love to read your encouraging thoughts.

Thanks.

SNL

What happened?

When did SNL become so bad? I mean, honestly, I can't remember the last time that the show made me laugh with any regularity.

I honestly had given up on the show years ago, but the past two weeks (one of them a rerun) the guests intrigued me. Last week they re-aired the episode with Steve Carrell and this week Dane Cook hosted (by the way, both funny men auditioned for SNL and didn't get on). While I find both hosts funny in most everything else I have seen them do, somehow SNL sucked the funny right out of them.

To me that comes down to the writing and deciding what sketches make it to air that week. There are so many poorly written sketches on the show these days that I find it hard to understand why NBC has not canceled this show. While I was at Second City in Detroit, I was able to see sketches written by my colleagues that were so superior to this stuff it's unbelievable. SNL sketches, to me, seem like a bunch of inside jokes. Somehow when these guys are pitching sketches enough people giggle or think that the concept is strange so it gets on the show.

On this past Saturday's show, one entire sketch was all about an itchy sweater. When I write that I think of plenty of possibilities for some funny to happen, but where the amazing writers of SNL take it is not to Funnyville, USA. They just had Dane Cook act like a crazed maniac and eventually do a few pratfalls before crashing through a table. Don't get me wrong, a good table crashing or someone falling down does have laugh possibilities, but is that the best they can do?

The next big problem is the cast itself. With the exception of Amy Poehler, who on this show is funny. Tina Fey has her moments and Horatio Sanz gets my sympathy giggles because he is the "big guy" like me, but other than that, this cast is pretty bad. It's not like this just happened either. It has been bad with a few bright spots for a while now. Will Ferrell, Cheri Oteri, Molly Shannon and Chris Kattan (you love him or hate him) were the last group of funny people on that show. They were all together the last time in 2000. Again, there have been funny people for stretches over the years, but when was the last time a truly great cast was on that show, writing and performing great sketches?

I think you have to go back to the 1990-1991 cast to really see a cast that held up the standard set by the first cast back in 1975. Listen to the group of people on during the 1990-1991 season:

Dana Carvey, Chris Farley, Al Franken, Phil Hartman, Victoria Jackson, Tim Meadows, Dennis Miller, Mike Myers, Kevin Nealon, Chris Rock, Adam Sandler, Rob Schneider, David Spade and Julia Sweeney.

It's hard to believe now that that much talent was all on the same show at the same time. I know that some of it is nostalga for me. That was when I was growing up and hitting adulthood, so I'm sure that I'm biased, but come on, those were some very funny people. There may be some people in there that you detest, but how does a guy like Jimmy Fallon compare to them? He to me has to be one of the worst ever on SNL. His only song and dance was to break character and have giggle fits during sketches, which can be funny when it happens every once in a while, just not every sketch!!

The long and the short of it, is SNL needs to get back to the things that make comedy, comedy. The everyday with a twist. You know what? Itchy sweater sketch could have worked, we've all had an itchy sweater. That being said, an itchy sweater is only funny for a certain amount of time. Learn when and how to end a sketch SNL. That may never happen...

Maybe - just as the Lions did this past week with the firing of the Mooch - it's time to say goodbye to Lorne Michaels. He is the coach and it all falls on him in the end, doesn't it?

Whatever happens, somebody be sure to let me know when SNL gets good again...

What a Disaster!

The Detroit Lions Football Orginization is a total disaster!

Let me just say the only guy showing any class in this whole franchise right now, is Joey Harrington. He keeps taking everything his former coach (Mooch), his lame brained GM (Millen), his loving team mates (Dre Bly, Jeff Garcia, etc.) and the press has dumped on him.

Good thing we have the Red Wings.

Enter the Gates...

Today at my first Thanksgiving dinner, Cheryl's brother, Jim, shared some thoughts that his pastor spoke on regarding Thanksgiving. We read two scriptures...

Philippians 4: 4 - 7

⁴ Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! ⁵ Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. ⁶ Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Psalm 100

¹ Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth.

² Worship the LORD with gladness;
come before him with joyful songs.

³ Know that the LORD is God.
It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

⁴ Enter his gates with thanksgiving
and his courts with praise;
give thanks to him and praise his name.

⁵ For the LORD is good and his love endures forever;
his faithfulness continues through all generations.

Jim challenged us to look back over this year and to think through the things that God has done for us, all that we have to be thankful for. This has been a recurring thing for me this year. To remember what God has done in my life. To praise Him for all he has done and is going to do.

God, thank you for my life. Thank you that you brought me out of a life that was solely focused on myself and vain pursuits to a life of JOY and fulfillment. You have comforted me in my times of sadness and allowed me to step into Your Prescence. Thank you for the man you are making me to be... a man after Your Own Heart. I praise Your Holy Name, for You are good! Amen.

All About Me

Every year as the Holidays roll around, I find myself tensing up a bit.

You see, I am a very selfish person. God is helping me out with that, but I still want what I want, when I want it.

For example: In theory, Thanksgiving is probably my favorite Holiday of the year. You have turkey, Lions football (I don't know why I torture myself) and family time (again, I don't know why I torture myself... just kidding... not really). There are turkey induced naps and occasionally a movie or a little bowling (I'll explain that another day).

BUT... ever since the year 1988, my Thanksgiving fantasy world has never been the same. In 1988, I started dating Cheryl and that is when we started the "Blended Family Functions." Don't get me wrong, I love Cheryl's family but more people in the mix makes "Selfish Boy," slightly uncomfortable.

The dating years were not as bad, because when you are dating you are able to tolerate a lot more. You want to make the future in-laws happy, you know. Then the first couple of years of marriage you have all the "we went to your parent's house last year," fights. After that you start to crave your independence and you want to break away from both families and have your very own Thanksgiving, but unless you have kids there is no excuse good enough to pull that one off.

Let me get to the real issue I have with Thanksgiving. This will key you into how truly dysfunctional I really am. I just want to be able to watch the Lions game. No, I am not kidding, that is really it. That is how petty I really am folks.

Every year, all I want to do is watch the Lions lose a football game. When I ask Cheryl, "When do we need to get to your dad's place?" and she says, "Around 2:00," or when my mom tells me that we are going to eat around 3:oo p.m. I want to shout, "Am I the only one in my entire family who wants to watch football (the answer is yes by the way)?" Don't they know that the game starts at 12:30 p.m. and if we have to drive out to Cheryl's dad's place it takes 45 minutes? Halftime is only 15 minutes and we all know that is not enough time. Can't my mom just push dinner back a bit further to compensate for the game? Can't everyone just bow to the will of Lord Scotty?!?!

It sounds so ridiculous. It is ridiculous, but I still feel that way sometimes.

I'm learning more and more that God is trying to get a message to me... "It's not all about you, Scott." I keep hearing, "So the last will be first, and the first will be last (Matthew 20:16)."

Later on in Matthew 20 Jesus tells the disciples, "It's not about you," after James and John's mother asks for her sons to sit beside Jesus in Heaven. The other disciples hear about this and get pretty ticked off. So Jesus takes the opportunity to remind them that it's not about "you."

(26) ...whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, (27) and whoever wants to be first must be your slave— (28) just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.

How much more clear can it be? If I truly want to be a Christ follower, I have to forget about me and make it all about others. Besides loving God with everything in me, what else is there? I have to love others like I love myself... it's so easy to say, yet so not human to do. My prayer is that the He will increase and I, the selfish Lions game craving Scott, will decrease.

Happy Thanksgiving... Go Lions!

Flippin' Tables

This is a rant. You have been warned.

--------------------------------------------

Larry (of the Daily Castle), an old friend from High School sent a link on to me about an accessory for the iPod Shuffle.

I'm sure that Larry had no idea how disgusted I would be by this thing. This whole thing might be fake, but one of my biggest hot buttons is that I am really critical of things done in Jesus' name. I am amazed at what people "market" in the name of the Almighty.

For instance if you check out the link to this piece of crap, you will see that their amazing marketing says, and I quote, "Just toss your old cap habit, pop on the divine iBelieve and rejoice!"

Divine?!? They even have a verse listed in the top right corner... "But now bring me a man who plays music, and when the man played music, the groove came upon them." That amazing scripture is found according to the site in 2 Jobs 3:15... Pathetic.

I have talked about walking into a "Christian" Bookstore one day and flippin' tables and cracking the whip a few times... I know they are not the Temple, but they are literally prostituting the name of Christ. I will save my Christian Radio experiences for another day...

I worked for a "Christian" Bookstore back in the day, and the things that we would sell just infuriated me. We had "Testamints" for fresh breath, a beautiful unisex fragrance called, "Shalom" and of course my favorite, "Scripture Cookies" in place of the dreaded Fortune Cookies. On top of that, just add on the next big book that everyone has to read or the latest craze in the "World" that we decide to knock off and maybe you can see where I am coming from.

What's even better is you can now get most of this stuff right inside your church. Just walk right into the "Resource Center" and plop down your cash for the latest craze. Then you can go read your new book or play with your iBelieve while you sip on your Frappuccino in the Higher Grounds Cafe (or just insert another clever name like, "He-Brews Cafe") while watching the pastor's "talk" on one of the many plasma screens available for your viewing pleasure.

Obviously, I need some prayer before I let go of this one, but let's be more careful about what we do in the name of our God. He deserves much better.

Close Encounters & Buckeye Crow

So last night we were at Red Robin in Livonia and the place was jam packed with people. One of those people just happened to be the Head Coach of the Detroit Red Wings, Mike Babcock.

Needless to say, I was quite excited. I mean, he was standing literally two feet away from us. He was there with his family and his kids were hugging on him and obviously were very glad to see him. The Wings had just returned from a Western road trip and hadn't done very well.

I kept thinking about saying hello and trying to get a picture with him, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it. All I could think about was that this guy hadn't seen his family in a while and the last thing he needed was some crazy Wings fan bugging him. At one point I got out the camera phone and tried to nonchalantly snap a candid shot, but again, I couldn't do it. Just as I decided against it, his wife saw me and told her son, "That guy is trying to take a picture of your dad," I quickly let her know I wanted to, but didn't. She then responded, "Good choice."

So anyway, that is the second wing I have seen at a restaurant this year. I also saw Tomas Holmstrom at Max and Erma's out at 12 Oaks. But again, family members were present and I just couldn't bring myself to bug the guy in the outside world.

Also wanted to eat some crow for all my new friends in Ohio. Great job today in beating the Wolverines (like either of us had anything to do with it). Try not to set any cars on fire or riot, it's just a football game.

Sorry Penn State couldn't lose to Michigan State so your Big Ten season could be complete. Can't wait until next year... hopefully we'll be able to kick your butts in the Horseshoe.

Day 20 & 21: Marysville and HOME!

Friday night into Saturday morning in Marysville was amazing. We went out to Smokey Bones for Drew's 12th Birthday and then headed over to Derek and Casey's to hang out and have a little worship service. Smokey Bones was really good. I have never been a huge BBQ fan, but now that I have had some good stuff on this trip, I have to say I love it.

We eventually walked across the street from Dave and Kelly's house to Derek and Casey's house and then Aaron busted out his guitar, Derek got on the hand drums and Donovan (Kelly's bro) played bass. We just started singing worship songs and praising the Lord for all that He has done and is doing in our lives. It was so refreshing. We prayed for one another and thanked God for everything He gives us. When Aaron broke a string about 3 hours later, we just laughed and talked together while Triumph, the Insult Comic Dog, played in the background. We all laughed really hard at the sketch where Triumph goes to heckle the people waiting in line days before the premier of one of the Star Wars prequels. Classic. We ordered some Donato's and laughed some more until it was about 3 a.m. Then we headed back to Dave and Kelly's and laughed until about 5 a.m.

Around about that time, Aaron asked me if I would be bummed out if he stayed and Derek drove him back to Detroit later on Saturday. No offense to Aaron, but I could hardly contain myself! I wanted to hop in the car and leave that second... but I slept for a couple hours and darted off toward Detroit.

I never thought I would be so happy to see Michigan. When I saw the sign I let out this scream that sounded a lot like Howard Dean and had a smile from ear to ear. When I saw the city limit sign on 75 for Allen Park, I kid you not, a tear came to my eye. I was telling our pastor that yesterday and he said, "When I think about going Downriver I cry too." No respect for Allen Park, I swear.

Obviously the best moment was pulling up to the house and seeing Cheryl and Bailey standing in the door to greet me. Bailey did a double take like, "Is that really him?" Then as I got closer he crouched down and began to shake his hind end like crazy and jumped all over me as I came through the door. It was amazing to see how big he got while I was away. Then Cheryl and I embraced and held on to each other like we might never let go.

It's great to be home again. I missed my family. I missed my dog. I missed my bed and my own bathroom. I missed a lot of things. The great thing about this trip - there are many great things - is that it really made me appreciate all that I have. It made me realize that home sweet home really is sweet. I have become wiser and God has shown me so much.

I want to thank all the people who prayed for us. God's protection was over all of us and He revealed Himself in so many ways along our journey. I want to thank my family for all their love and support, Jim and Phiona, thanks for the text messages and phone calls to say "Hi." Matt and Sarah, thank you for caring for Bailey. Mom and Dad thanks for helping out and doing some odd jobs around the house when you got bored (retirement is great, isn't it Dad?).

I also want to thank Cheryl, the most precious gift God has given me in my life. She allowed her husband to head out on the open road for 3 weeks. She let me live a dream of mine. I am forever grateful. She's so amazing and encourages me to go after the desires that God has formed in me. We are so in love. Thank you Cheryl.

Finally, thank you God. Your love is amazing. Your beauty is matchless. Thank You for adventure and the thrill of seeing how beautiful this world You created is. Thank You for safety and protection along this journey. Thank You for all that you revealed through the Holy Spirit. Thanks for all the new friends and friendships strengthened. Thank You for the Cross and the cleansing power of Your blood.

Selah.

Day 19: Marysville, Ohio

Kansas City was great and I will most likely head back in the near future, but today it was time to inch a bit closer to home. We went through St. Louis and Indianapolis before heading to the Columbus, Ohio area to visit with Aaron's friends Dave and Kelly and their kids(plus their amazingly cute dog).

Kelly is really great. I can see why Aaron loves her so much. Dave, Aaron and I watched some crazy videos on Dave's computer and laughed until we cried. We kept Dave up way past his bedtime though. He's up and out the door by 5:oo a.m. God bless the workin' man...

I also got to have Donato's Pizza tonight. We need this stuff in Michigan. Aaron let me in on a little secret though. Donato's is owned by McDonalds. So is a new favorite of mine from our trip, Chipotle. I'm telling you, McD's must put some sort of drug in their food to make you love it!

It's tough being this close to home without jumping in the car and driving home to see Cheryl, but meeting and making new friends is always fun. I am excited about spending some quality time with all the Buckeye's tomorrow.

I can't wait to sleep in my own bed again... for now, thank you Aerobed.

Day 17 & 18: Kansas City

Well, Aaron and I arrived last night at around 10:30 p.m. and met up with Steve from my home church, Relevant, back in Detroit. Steve works here through the week and flys home for the weekend. Believe it or not, Kansas City is pretty cool. They have a night life and they didn't re-elect Kwame Kilpatrick!! Aaaarrrrggggh!! I digress.

We are staying with Steve, who graciously opened up his digs for us to crash in. We are forever grateful.

As I am writing this I am sitting in the "Higher Grounds Coffee House" at the International House of Prayer in Kansas City, Missouri (from here on known as IHOP). Yes, they have free wireless internet!

Where to begin... Just a little background on IHOP. They have been praying and worshipping God 24 hours a day, 7 days a week since September 19th, 1999. We'll get back to that.

I have been both excited and a bit scared about what I might encounter here at the IHOP. You see I grew up in a very conservative faith. I'm not complaining about that either. My parents raised me to love God and they demonstrated their faith in Christ all the time. They are amazing. Back to IHOP... IHOP is what you would probably think of as a Charismatic church, I hate to label it, but that is the best explanation I can give you right now.

God has been challenging me over this past year on learning to just go with Him no matter how uncomfortable it might be. No matter who might be disappointed. No matter who might not understand. He is the only one that matters... no offense.

So we came to IHOP today around 2:30 p.m. I took a seat and just listened for a while then I joined in on the worship and began to pray. Each team does 2 hour blocks during the day and they a "nightwatch" that does a six hour marathon. The people here are amazing. Everyone seems so full of joy - you know, that Joy of the Lord I talked about. The music was great and it's kind of free form stuff. There are worship songs thrown in there too, but there is also scripture readings and prayer that prompts those singing to create new songs all the time. It's awesome!

During the 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. block they prayed for specific requests and broke into smaller groups for prayer. Toward the end of the block, they asked for those who needed prayer for healing to raise their hands. Remember, conservative faith growing up. Feeling a little uncomfortable. But God kept prompting me to raise my hand. Well, my knees are killing me today, so I thought, "Why not?" Well, my knees were not healed, but God touched my heart so deeply I cannot even begin to explain it. Perfect strangers stood around me and laid hands on me and followed God's lead eventhough I told them I needed prayer for my knees. God revealed my heart to these strangers. The deepest darkest parts of me. My hopes and dreams. It was so powerful. I wept. There is no way to explain it away. It was an amazing encounter with my Heavenly Father.

I am forever changed... again. He never stops healing. He just keeps waiting for me to let Him.

I am not ready to share all of it here on this public forum, but to all those that I know and love, you will soon here about it I'm sure.

Until then, God Bless you all.

Day 16: Arizona, Utah & Denver

So we headed out a little late yesterday... but we saw some of the most beautiful scenery I have ever seen while heading to our first stop on the trek home, Denver.

Going through Nevada to Arizona was very nice, but it does not prepare you for what you are going to see as you go through Utah. It is by far one of the most beautiful places on earth (granted I have only seen parts of America, Canada, Scotland and South Africa).

The mountain formations and colors as well as the enormity of them literally takes your breath away. I only wish my beautiful wife was with me to enjoy it. I felt an awesome responsibility to praise God in that time. He is such an amazing artist. Look no further than the ones you love to see that.

We were listening to worship music in the "shuffle" mode on my iPod and just as we hit the most amazing parts of Utah, an instrumental version of Holy, Holy, Holy came on. I had just prayed moments earlier that God would play what we needed to hear. I didn't even know I had an instrumental version of that on my iPod... The line that blows me away after what I have seen on this trip is, All Thy works shall praise Thy Name in earth and sky and sea... Nothing could be more true!

As we headed toward the outskirts of Utah, the sun began to set and darkness came over the mountains. Once we made it into Colorado I finally relenquished driving to Aaron. I have a huge control issue with driving. I don't trust a lot of people with my life. Plus, there are a lot of bad drivers out there, you know who you are. In November arorund 5 years ago I let someone else drive (against my better judgment) and ended up in the worst car accident of my life. Cheryl ended up with stitches but the rest of us escaped by God's grace with minimal injuries. Trust me though, it was a horrific accident, God had His hands around us. All that being said, we headed from Grand Junction, Colorado to Denver at around 8:30 p.m. The roads on the way to Denver are anything but a straight shot. They twist and turn, go up and down and are generally a pain in the neck. It was totally dark too, so we couldn't even see the mountains.

We arrived to our hotel at 1:00 a.m. after starting our journey at 10:00 a.m. from Las Vegas, Nevada. We had to stop a few times and we gained an hour as we entered Mountain Time, so total we drove 14 hours yesterday. Today we will gain another hour as we head to Kansas City, but we are shooting for a modest 10 hour trip today.

Keep us in your prayers, I know you have been, so thanks.

I'm counting the days again Sunshine.

Day 15: Church and Leaving Las Vegas

My last Blog I was being rushed out the door to head over to the Green Valley Ranch and eat at their famous breakfast buffet. Well, it was pretty good, but it was brunch so I tried some Asian food. Bad idea. The mixture of Sesame Chicken and breakfast was not setting well. Three hours later we went to see Jarhead and the night before D.J. Qualls was on Conan and he talked about how great Movie Nachos are. I am highly open to suggestion, so Nachos it was.

So as soon the movie ended I was rushing out to lose the Nachos and the buffet. When we got home, I slept from 5 pm to 6 am the next morning.

Sunday we headed back to the Crossing. I love seeing Chris in his element. He was born to program and add his creativity to help communicate God's word. Don't get me wrong, Chris is also one of the best teachers I have ever heard, but even in that God uses his creativity to look at things with a fresh perspective. After that I finally got to enjoy one of my favorite pastimes... watching the Lions lose with Chris! It was great, I have no Football friends anymore (Don't cry for me). I also got to spend some time talking with Andrea which was really awesome. Their daughter, Quinn, is also absolutely adorable. Whenever you say her name or ask her a question she looks at you and says, "huh?" Unbelievably cute!

Last night we just enjoyed the Karls. They have been so great. They are some of the greatest people that we have in our life. It was also great to see Aaron get to know and love them just like us.

That brings us to this morning. It's time to hit the open road again. I hate leaving Cheryl again, but I know soon I will be back in Motown in my own beautiful home with my amazing wife and man's best friend, Bailey.

Denver calls our name, then we'll spend some time with Steve in KC and visit all of Aaron's friends I have heard so much about in Ohio.

Keep us in your prayers, we appreciate all the support. We'll check in soon.

P.S. Happy Birthday Matthew... hope you have a wonderful day!

Days 8 - 13: Vegas, LA, Good Friends and Good Times .

Well, it's been a long time. Not on purpose, but because we've been busy. We're not doing a lot of "things" necessarily, but we are just spending time together.

Cheryl being here has given me a lot of joy. I love her more and more each day and realize now more than ever that God has brought us together. So saying all that, I am cherishing the time while we are together before Aaron and I hit the open road again.

All that to say, haven't been Bloggin'...

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Let me start with Los Angeles.

The Good: Ocean, the Sites (I'll go into detail in a moment)

The Bad: Smog, Traffic and Gas Prices

I think I should start with the bad stuff and work toward a positive moment...

As we entered California and exited Nevada, gas went from about $2.59 a gallon to about $3.17 a gallon at our first stop in Cali. What is going with this place? Very disappointed with the Terminator.

As we came to San Bernadino there was a haze on the horizon that I had never seen before. Thick gray cloud that covered the mountains and sank down into the valley. Smog. Nasty. It was so gross. You would think with all the left-wing enviromentalists out there that cars would be outlawed by now. Needless to say, I understand the need to clean up the air a bit. Although from what I hear about the temps in Detroit, global warming has been good to us this year... just kidding.

Smog leads me into our next gripe about LA. Traffic. No matter where you live in this great country of ours, you will never really know what traffic is until you have driven in LA. Rush hour never ends, not while we were there anyway. They do have carpool lanes, which we took advantage of, but there was never a time where you could just drive freely in any lane. The other thing that will scare you to death is motorcycles can pass you in between lanes. I was not ready for it at all...

The good thing was Cheryl was with me. We went to Santa Monica Beach and it was beautiful. I love being near the water. It just calms you and makes you marvel at the wonder of God. He definitely knows what He's doing.

Well, I hate to cut this short, but everyone is waiting for me so we can go out for breakfast. I 'll check in later...

God Bless.

Giddy.

She's here! Now let us all rejoice...

Day Six & Seven: Viva Las Vegas!

We made it!

Sorry I haven't Blogged in a while, but we are a little tired out from the journey and have been resting up.

Rob & Nicole have been incredible. I love them both so much. I have truly missed them a lot since they moved here a little over a year ago. They are amazing people that I am blessed to have in my life.

Friday night was our actual arrival to Sin City and we were so tired I can't even explain it. We stopped by the Hoover Dam for a quick look on the way in and it was pretty sweet. It was all lit up and very dark out there in the desert.

Saturday, I ran errands with Rob and Nicole. We took their dog, Bella, to the groomers and then went out for breakfast. Rob headed to the hospital to make his rounds and Nicole and I cleaned up their car, got a car wash and filled it up with gas. Aaron and I had a great talk on Saturday night and rested some more. We are having a tough time adjusting our internal clocks...

Today we checked out Rob & Nicoles church, the Crossing. It was really great. I met some very nice people and got to pet a handsome Golden Retriever named Frisco. He was a helper dog for a really nice woman, Kelly. She allowed me to pet Frisco and it really made me miss Bailey.

Chris & Andrea got back from Chicago tonight, so it will be great to see them. Quinn will probably be so grown up that I will freak out.

The best part of this trip is coming up in just two days... my Sunshine will be arriving. Can't wait!

Keep us in your prayers.

Flaws...

Fatigue brings out the worst in me.

When I am tired, I am very impatient. The smallest thing will send me over the edge. I have become a lot better at not completely losing it when frustration boils over, but there is definitely a change in my demeanor.

This is another case of not living in the Spirit. When we live in the Spirit we bear the Fruit of the Spirit. Guess what? Patience is one of them. I could pat myself on the back and say, "Well, at least I didn't blow up, I had patience." Did I really? Was the patience flowing out of me naturally or did I have to struggle just to muster it up? The reality is, while outwardly I am sort of patient looking, it was not really Spirit led. I relied on my own will to make it happen.

So what's the big deal? That's how we get better at something right? We work on gaining control of it. We gradually get better at the thing we are lacking in.

I have a different opinion...

When we become followers of Jesus Christ, we are given His Holy Spirit. He lives inside of us. Now let me stop for a minute and really drive that point home. The loving, patient and perfect Spirit of God lives in us. Think about that for a moment. You have a Spirit in you that can help you be patient. He can help you be kind. He can help you speak the truth. He can reveal God's word to you. He is your personal tour guide for this thing we call life.

Are you excited yet?!? You should be. The problem as I see it is that we do not give ourselves to Him to be led by Him. We rely on ourselves. "I can learn to be patient on my own..." Can you? I beg to differ. Only when we say, "God, I can't do this on my own. I give up. I give myself to you to be led by Your Holy Spirit. Let my actions and most of all, reactions be Yours," can we truly be patient. You have to let go in order to be led by the Spirit. As Aaron said to me one time, "God is going to knock on the door but He is not going to knock it down." You have to let Him in. Let Him fill you and take over the controls.

Now I know that some people will think this is a little to extreme, but is it really? Is it extreme because we all want control and to think about losing it is very scarey to us? I would just point to the life Christ lived on this earth. He was always in contact with the Father. He never did anything without the Father(John 5:19). He was always led by Him and did what the Father was doing.

Jesus said in John 15:5 (TNIV) "I am the Vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from Me, you can do nothing."

I think that says it all. Remain in Him today.

Day Five: Albuquerque & the Petrified Forrest

Albuquerque, NM

We made it into Albuquerque on Wednesday night. We had no idea what it looked like because it was dark before we got into town. Let me tell you, in the desert when the sun goes down, it gets pitch black. You really can't see a thing.

When we woke up we saw all the mountains and amazingly blue skies. The West is just plain beautiful... I love it out here. I called Cheryl told her to start looking for a new job in Albuquerque. It's a dream, but it could happen.

Petrified Forrest, AZ

Our original plan today was to hit the Grand Canyon. We wanted to catch the sun setting into the Canyon then wake up really early and get out to see the sun come up the next day, but we got a late start and decided to hit the Petrified Forrest in Arizona. It was amazing!

Here's the thing... it's not really a forrest. You think you are going to see tons and tons of petrified rocks and the like, but really it is just a ton of some of the most beautiful scenery I have ever seen.

You hear people say this all the time, but when you see things like this you have to know that there is a God. You have to know He loves us. This stuff is just too beautiful to even capture in a picture. I kept looking out and seeing something that took my breath away so I would take a picture and look at it and just realize the only way anyone will ever understand it is to be there. So my advie to you... head out on the open road and check out this breathtaking stuff for yourself.

I want to thank all of you who are praying for us on this trip. God is working on my heart and my mind. There is a lot going on spiritually speaking... growth. Things are coming to light in the silence and in the amazement of God's awesome power and majesty. My prayer is that everyone of you will get a chance to take a journey and enjoy God's creation.

Just a note of encouragement and faith building... Mac, whom we prayed for got some good news about a spot that was possibly cancerous. Praise God and His faithfulness, it was not cancerous. Keep him in your prayers, there is more healing to come!

God is good... never forget it.

Day Three & Four: Memphis, Little Rock & Tulsa

Memphis, TN

We left Lewisburg and headed to the home of Elvis Presley, Memphis, TN. Aaron talked me into stopping to see Graceland and then twisted my arm and we headed to Sun Studios where tons of legends like Johnny Cash, Elvis, and many more have recorded.

I got a great pic of Aaron hanging out in front of Sun Studios...

Aaron, it was worth it. Thanks.

Little Rock, AR

Let me just say to the people of Little Rock, Arkansas... I am sorry that I had a bad time. I hope that what I am about to say about your fair city will not hurt you, but... IT SUCKED!

That is kind of harsh, but a lot of things went wrong there, I just had a horrible time. No offense.

Tulsa, OK

Tulsa was one of those last minute ideas. We were really thinking about heading to Oklahoma City, but Aaron mentioned that it would be nice to stop by and see an old friend of ours, Scott Herrold. He works for a Christian Rock station in Tulsa called the Kross.

We met up with Scott for breakfast at Panera where I was able to tell you updates were coming. After that we headed to the KROS studios, 55 floors up inside the gaudy gold building. This is the same building that Oral Roberts said God told him to build or God was going to kill him... I will leave you to draw your own conclusions.

Tulsa has Oral Roberts hands all over it as evidenced by those giant hands I am standing in front of... all I can say is... WOW!!

We headed back on the road with lofty ambitions of making it all the way to Albuquerque, NM. Google Maps said it would take us 11 hours, but we decided to make a reservation to spur us on toward making it there. We made it and the views in New Mexico were amazing... we will hope for the Grand Canyon tomorrow!

Thanks for the prayers.

God Bless you all and we'll talk soon.

Day One & Two: Lewisburg, TN

I thought I would break the trip down into cities instead of one huge Blog, so read away...

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Lewisburg, TN

As I stated previously, we had many people tell us to expect a lot from God on this trip. From the moment we got in the car and started down 275 I could see this trip was going to be special. The sky was like a beautiful painting that God made for us to send us off in style. He is amazing!

We spent 2 days with Kenni and her sisters, Sally and Sandra. They let us stay with them and they were such a blessing. They are huge Red Wings fans, so we were connected immediately. Their family lived in Motown for a long time before they headed down to Tennessee.

After we went out for lunch with Kenni on Monday afternoon, we came back to her place and Aaron played two songs he wrote for us. They are truly amazing... you'll love 'em. After that we started talking and praying and then... BOOM! God showed up in a big way. We all prayed for one another and just worshipped the Father. You could feel His Presence all around us, it was incredible!

Three hours later... we needed to catch our breath. I wish I could really give you a taste of what happened, but words just can't express it.

We headed over to Kenni's parents house for a home cooked meal later that night and they were both great people that love the Lord. We talked about all sorts of things. Kenni's father, Mac, moved up from Kentucky with his wife to work for Ford Motor Company back in the day, so we chatted about Ford and the fact that my dad recently retired. I found out before we went on the trip that Mac was recently diagnosed with lung cancer.

Aaron and I had talked about praying for healing for him before we even headed out for the trip, so when the time was right, we did. After what we had experienced earlier, one would think one ecounter with the Almighty God was enough for one trip. God decided it wasn't!

As we were praying I kept hearing God say to me, "Just believe, that is all I ask. Have faith." I kept feeling Him prodding me to pray for Mac and speak the words that he laid on my heart. It was a huge step for me, but there I went. We prayed for Mac for quite a while and again, the room was just filled with an atmosphere that I can only describe as God's Glory or His Presence. When you feel something like that you realize you are experiencing something out of the ordinary, something very special.

You hear so many times that if we just "had enough faith" God would do amazing things in our life. Well, I hate to state it this way, but what if that really is true? What if God is just waiting for us to believe He will heal someone or He will rescue us from our circumstances? What if all He is asking of us is to believe? When God was speaking to me that night, I decided to take Him at His word. I believed. The enemy, Satan, came at me immediately with doubts and fears, but I decided to resist and just believe.

This trip is starting a new chapter in my life. My hope is in the Lord. I believe in Him and His promises. I will find my joy, my peace and my salvation in Him. God has never given me a reason to doubt Him, so it's time to cast doubt aside and just BELIEVE...

Tulsa...

Finally!! Internet access...

Hey, just a quick note to say that tonight when we arrive in Albuquerque, New Mexico, there will be much Blogging. I am at a Panera Bread and just about to go to hang out with Scott Herrold at his radio station for a few minutes, but I will talk more about that later.

Bye for now. Check back in the morning.

God Bless.

Confirmation...

It's hard to believe that Aaron and I set out on our journey tomorrow.

There are a laundry list of things that I wish I had accomplished before I left, but overall I have a real peace about this trip. Aaron mentioned on his Blog that many people have given him a word about this trip. Words about what God is going to do, what He is going to show us and who knows what else. The idea of not knowing excites me. I can't wait to share with you what God reveals about Himself and shares with us through His wonderous beauty of creation.

I know that great things are in store, not just because Aaron has heard about it, but thanks to my wonderful sister-in-law Phiona sharing the same words with me at breakfast this morning, I can say I have confirmation!

I am going to try really hard to keep everyone up to date, so check back often. Leave a comment or two to let me know you are out there too. More than anything, when you think of me, pray for me. I covet your prayers.

First stop... Nashville! We'll see if we can't get Aaron to understand how awesome Country Music is... we can hope anyway.

God Bless.

Awe

I cannot remember a time that the weather in Michigan has been so beautiful for so long. It feels like an amazing gift from God. I am sitting out on our deck in the backyard typing this and the breeze and the sunshine along with the birds, trees and leaves changing color is reinforcing some teaching that I had this week.

Aaron and I have been going through a message series by Mike Bickle on Tuesday mornings. This week he talked about the Fear of the Lord and the Joy of the Lord.

There is a lot of confusion when it comes to the Fear of the Lord isn't there? I mean, for me at least it was always this idea that God - we're talking Old Testament hellfire and brimstone here - could crush you at any moment or send locusts to devour your land. Is that true? Of course it is, it could be argued very convincingly that God's judgments are happening all the time all over the world right now.

So are we supposed to be running around scared of Him, hoping that He doesn't vaporize us? There is truth in that, God is calling us to have respect and awe for Him. He is our King. We've lost that reverence for Him. There is not the same feeling in our land of "democracy," no one technically "rules" over us. Not too many people respect the President or are in awe of him.

The way I see it in Christian circles is that we have gone so far the other way - having the Joy of the Lord - that we are missing out on some amazing things in our relationship with the Father. The Joy of the Lord is delighting in the knowledge that we are sons and daughters of God. That He loves us, cares about us and delights in us. If that doesn't make you happy, start praying now. Beg for God to open your eyes and cast out lies that stop you from having that Joy of the Lord. Seriously, go ahead, I'll wait...

The problem, as I see it, is that we have lost site of His Majesty. We see Him as a Father, which is great, but we also need to see Him as King. It can go the other way as well, but I see myself falling into the Joy category a lot more than the Fear side of things.

Mike Bickle says it this way:

We are not just sons and daughters, we are servants too.
He is not just our Master, but our Father as well.
We can't just delight in His love, but also be in awe of His holiness and majesty.

God is both awesome in power and gentle and loving toward us. Have you ever been singing a song about His awesomeness or His power and majesty and just felt the Spirit stir in you? It's amazing when we think or sing about it!

I love the Chris Tomlin song Indescribable. There are some lines in that song that always move me in that song. They talk about the awesome majesty of our King...

From the highest of heights to the depths of the sea
Creation's revealing Your majesty
From the colors of fall to the fragrance of spring
Every creature unique in the song that it sings
All exclaiming

Indescribable, uncontainable,
You placed the stars in the sky and You know them by name.
You are amazing God
All powerful, untameable,
Awestruck we fall to our knees as we humbly proclaim
You are amazing God

Who has told every lightning bolt where it should go
Or seen heavenly storehouses laden with snow
Who imagined the sun and gives source to its light
Yet conceals it to bring us the coolness of night
None can fathom

Indescribable, uncontainable,
You placed the stars in the sky and You know them by name.
You are amazing God
All powerful, untameable,
Awestruck we fall to our knees as we humbly proclaim
You are amazing God

Shuffling

This morning as I clicked on my iPod, I decided to just let fate have its way and put the my playlist on shuffle. Love Song by Third Day was the first to play this morning.

I am the type of person to like a song because it sounds good. I tend to overlook lyrics a lot. Which means I can hear a song a hundred times and still be that guy on a road trip singing gibberish to a song. It also means that sometimes out of nowhere when I actually listen to a song the words nail me right between the eyes (all in God's time I guess).

It happened today. I am reading through the Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, in the Bible. Studying the life of Jesus. Trying to understand the mysteries of who He is. So as I clicked on the iPod, I finally heard the lyrics to Love Song. I have to share them because it's amazing how much He loves us...

I've heard it said that a man would climb a mountain
Just to be with the one he loves
How many times has he broken that promise
It has never been done

Well I never climbed the highest mountain, but I walked the hill of Calvary
Just to be with you I'd do anything
There's no price I would not pay
Just to be with you I'd give everything
Oh I'd give my life away

And I've heard it said that a man would swim the ocean
Just to be with the one he loves
All of those dream are empty motion
It has never been done

Well I've never swam the deepest ocean, but I've walked upon the raging sea
Just to be with you I'd do anything
There's no price I would not pay
Just to be with you I would give everything
I would give my life away

And I know that you don't understand the fullness of my love
How I died upon the cross for your sins
And I know that you don't realize how much that I give you
And I promise I would do it all again

Just to be with you I've done everything
There's no price I did not pay
Just to be with you I gave everything
Yes I gave my life away
I gave my life away

Just to be with you

It's Back!

Two sporting posts in a row... "wah-happened?" If you get that reference consider yourself a true professor of the funny.

Anyway, the Wings were back in action tonight. In fact the entire NHL played tonight - all 30 teams. It was a great way to welcome back all the fans who waited while the NHL and the players hammered out their differences.

Nice to hear the, "Let's Go Red Wings" chant again.

Cursed?

Anyone who follows the Lions must have asked themselves that question at some point. Are they cursed? How can one team be so bad? Can everyone that has come to play for this franchise for the last 50 years be that unlucky?

Over the past few years I have become a big fan of the NFL. Originally I was a die-hard Hockey fan - still am. The NFL has become my favorite all around sport of choice. I will watch any NFL game I can get my hands on... but honestly, I should have said I am a die-hard Red Wings fan. Now that I not only watch the Lions on Sundays and Monday nights, but the rest of the NFL as well, I have something to compare them to.

Honestly, I am not and X's & O's guy, I just know what I see. What I, the average sports fan, see is a group of talented individuals doing their own thing. I don't see a team.

In Detroit we blame Goalies in Hockey and Quarterbacks in Football. It is a storied tradition we will not soon relinquish. I find it extremely annoying. How can one man win or ruin a season? Even the biggest superstars of our lifetime had supporting casts when they finally won it all. Look at Michael Jordan... probably the closest to doing it on his own in any sport, but eventually he learned too. He needed a team. A group of guys that would band together and win together.

Winning changes everything. In this town, Scotty Bowman threatened to ship hometown hero, Steve Yzerman, out of town. The city would have none of it, more importantly, neither would the owner, Mike Illitch. When Stevie adjusted and won his first championship, everything changed. There were still problems now and again, but the team was able to co-exist because they had tasted victory together. They had fought and won the ultimate prize.

The question then becomes how do you remedy a history of losing? Is there some way to get over the hump and move on to greatness? Does hard work eventually pay off? What about oodles of hyped up first round draft picks? Is it having the right coach? The right owner? Better replay officials?

My thought is all of the above. As in any situation where success happens, many things line up and come together at just the right time. There is no magic solution. Hard work, determination, lucky bounces but most of all a TEAM. Those who are willing to go to battle together and put their differences aside on gameday. If McNabb and T.O. can do it, why not Mooch and Joey... or Joey and Charles... or Joey and Roy?

In the infamous words of Rodney King, "Can't we all just get along?"