Rick Nier...Woo!

"This is ridiculous. I'm sick and tired of all this" Hearing the words come from my 7-year old gave me a sick feeling in my stomach. I wonder where she picked that up, I wonder, as my wife tells me that I say that a lot. I guess I thought when my kids were picking their nose and making tents out of blankets, it meant they didn't hear what I was saying. But I guess my kids are multi-taskers. I'm so proud they have the ability to pick up my bad habits while inventing some of their own. This is different from the fun things I teach my kids to say. It only took my using the word hybrid 'ridonculous' for one morning before I had them using it. Or how I've taught them that the proper reaction to a heavenly baked good is to allow your eyes to roll back into your head while rubbing your tummy and saying mmmmm. But what about the stuff I'm inadvertently teaching them? It got me thinking about what Paul says in Ephesians 5:1 "Watch what God does, and th

So I ran across this article in my hometown paper about being chased by the paparazzi. I have to say that most of the time I hear about the paparazzi, it’s a negative connotation. It’s almost like they are the reporters who failed journalism. Instead of going after news, they find golden nuggets about Brad Pitt’s dog or the Pope’s newest fashion. I’m not sure I’ve ever heard a celebrity talk about how awesome it is to be followed around. Yet somehow there are companies such as Celeb 4 a Day that will chase you around for a day. That’s right, for the low, low price of $729.99, you can be bothered by people with cameras as they chase you around. Yeah, this is what I want to do. My trip to the grocery store with 3 hyper-active children wasn’t exciting enough. I want more distractions. I need for misbehavior to be caught on film. Seriously? Who is paying for this? Are we so insecure with our insignificance that we need the rush of being followed and wanted? I guess I shouldn’t find this al

Today started my favorite 4 days of sports. It's the Big Dance and I'm working all of the next 4 days. Why am I here when where I really want to be is home watching 40-50 games? I suppose you could chalk it up to those pesky bills I have, but it got me thinking. How often am I in one place wishing I was somewhere else? How many times do I wish I was doing one thing while stuck doing something else? I think this is an issue of contentment, of focus, but mostly of desire. And desire really takes us places, doesn't it? I mean, you can read the Apostle Paul's thoughts as he struggles with sin, all the while not wanting to sin. I do that too. I can even tell myself I'm going to do one thing and then go and do the exact opposite. But, aside from not being able to fit in 25 hours worth of stuff in 24 hour days, why do my desires pull in so many directions? It's not even always about sin vs not-sin. More often than not, it's just having too much on the to-do list. P

Shawn McDonald wrote a song called Have You Ever? Not only is the guitar incredible to listen to, the lyrics make me ponder. Here's one of my favorite lines. Have you ever wanted to reach up and touch the sky? Have you ever wanted to pack it up and say good-bye? My problem is that I sometimes answer yes to both of those questions in the same day. I mean, one makes me think I can do it all. The other makes me feel like giving it all up. Why is this? I don't think I'm bipolar. Maybe I am. No, I'm definitely not. I suppose I could go back and forth on that one. I talked with a friend today about how we deal with our limitations. He sounded a lot like the Apostle Paul when he said that he wanted to break free from sin and yet, he still succumbed to it. I know how he feels. I think we all do to an extent. But then he added that his struggles might not seem so bad if he could be sure there was some great point to it all. If he understood that his suffering was going to produ

Have you ever thought of the similarities between teens and toddlers? I have. Someday I might write a book about it. This is just a partial list; - Toddlers often cry for no reason. So do teens. - Toddlers often tell on their sibling or friend for something they just did. So do teens. - Toddlers often have a weird smell emanating from their body. It's not always poo. Alas, teens share this trait. - Toddlers have an innate sense of independence. They think they are ready to do it all. Teens will argue this point, saying they are ready. This only confirms how very much like toddlers they are. - Toddlers don't want to comb their hair. I'm just assuming on this point that this is the reason teenager's hair looks the way it does. - Toddlers have moments when they simply can't be reasoned with. Teens? No doubt! Give it some thought and get back to me. What other similarities can you find?

I listen to a lot of sports talk radio. Recently I heard a story about a player that was throwing a fit about being in trade talks. I guess he felt that was a bad idea. I’ve never been a professional athlete, but I suppose I can understand. If my church started trade talks with other churches and I was listed as tradable, I would be a bit concerned. I’d like to think that, as a youth pastor, I was worth at least two children’s pastors, but I’d probably go for future draft picks and some cash. The MVP-status of my mind aside, this could be a scary prospect. After all, I have a family and a home. The thought of moving does not entice me. I don’t like to travel all that much anyway. So to have to take all my stuff with me only makes the travelling worse. I can imagine that professional athletes sometimes feel the same way. There is a fear attached when we feel lack of control. But somehow I did not get the idea that fear was associated with this particular athlete. It seemed like it was m