The New iMac

This isn't a want... it is definitely a need!

You don't care, but this is why I'm going Mac

HERE.

Jack Wisemore

I spent a couple of hours with Jack Wisemore (Northwest College campus pastor) at Kid Valley, a great burger shop. Jack had some great questions for me... One of our greatest gifts in life is the ability to ask great questions. Thanks Jack!

Erik Nielsen

Wow! Blast from the past. Met my buddy Erik in Lacey this weekend. I hadn't seen him in at least 9 years. I am having a blast catching up with so many old friends these days. What a trip.

Rainiers Game

Went to the Tacoma Rainiers game (a triple-A baseball team) with the youth group last night. The fireworks freaked Madeline out.

Ricki and Tiffany

More visitors! Ricki and Tiff stopped by last night on their way to Tiffany's college in Oregon. We got to spend Sunday afternoon with them and had a great time hearing about how the Ketchikan youth group is doing. They both have been very involved in youth since we left Ktown. God has really used them. They left this morning sometime after I went to work.

Ryan, you rock

Spent some quality time with my buddy Ryan McCullough this afternoon... any time spent with Ry is quality. I got to see his beautiful family too and new baby. That kid is (excuse me for shouting) CUTE!!! If you don't know the McCullough family, you are wrong.

A Lost Art

Found a great article by Jeanne Mayo about building people up.

Mountain lion on Revilla a first (Ketchikan Daily News)

The first mountain lion ever reported on Revillagigedo Island was spotted by two Ketchikan hunters last week.

“It was a real shock for me to see that animal,” said Ken Parker, who was hunting with Clark Davis in the Traitors Cove area at the time. “The heart rate went up and my mouth went dry, the whole bit.”

Parker and Davis were out hunting for deer. As dusk began to gather on an evening early last week, Parker spotted an animal on a 25-foot rock ledge about 50 yards away in the timber of a saddle between two mountain peaks.

Madies back...

Safe and sound after a short flight from Ketchikan, Madeline still won't sleep. Yeah, its 10:20 here (9:20 Ketchikan time) and Madie won't let go. Reminds me of all the other nights I can remember. Thanks to all the family for looking after her while she was in Ketchikan. We finally have that hole filled at our house again.

This was taken on our second visit to Neighborhood Alliance. The Smith "promo" picture. 

We miss you Madeline

Glad you're coming home on Tuesday.

Johnny Cash

I stumbled onto this article. Johnny Cash was a grace man, start to finish. His life shows us that the only leg we have to stand on is that of grace. Thank you Jesus for giving us what we could never get for ourselves.

Barry McGuire and Bob Bennett 

William Willimon

Repentace, contrary to popular misconception, is not a heroic first step I make toward Christ, nor is it a feeling-sorry-for my sins. It is the divine gift of being turned toward truth.

Craziness

Last night we began thinking of sending Madeline to Ketchikan with Jenn Maloney when Jenn travelled back to Ketchikan Sunday afternoon. One thing led to another and the plane is pulling away from the airport right now. We think we are kinda crazy but Mom and Dad Smith, Joe and Candi Austin, Jenn Maloney, Grandpa and Grandma Smith and I'm sure others will be looking after her while she is there. She'll be in good hands.

Afternoon in the Park

We spent Saturday lunch and a little of the afternoon at a beautiful little spot about 15 minutes from our house. There is a public park on a lake (I forget which one). We picked up some KFC and headed down there. It was Beth, Madeline, Jeff, Brady and Jenn Maloney. Nice.

Janene Smith's Play

We went to a play put on at Capitol High School Olympia. Janene did great. We were impressed with the cast... the lead guy did a wonderful job. Great job Janene!

Here's the munch at Beachcrest in Olympia. 

Another Visitor

Jennifer Maloney rolled into town yesterday for a short visit after a friend's wedding in Chicago. We are all lazing around this morning and just about to head out of the house for a while.

kids

The face of a child can say it all, especially the mouth part of the face.

Sorry, Another Deep Thought

If you're a blacksmith, probably the proudest day of your life is when you get your first anvil. How innocent you are, little blacksmith.

Deep Thought Time

If you're traveling in a time machine, and you're eating corn on the cob, I don't think it's going to affect things one way or the other. But here's the point I'm trying to make: Corn on the cob is good, isn't it.

Dell Hemmorage

For some reason the CD player in my Dell computer at the church sounds like it might blow when reading a disk. I think if I asked tech support if this was natural they might say that its "supposed to sound like that." This may lead me to say to someone, "Hey! Can your CD/RW drive do this?" (muted explosion from my office)

International Talk Like a Pirate Day

I hope you are gearing up for a very important event. September 19 is International Talk Like a Pirate Day so ye had better gear up and smartly. Unless ye are nothing but a scurvey land lubber. Arrrrrr!! More information can be found here.

MacDailyNews.com

"Apple teaches computers about people. Microsoft teaches people about computers. Apple's way is better for people."

:)

A little girl was talking to her teacher about whales. The teacher said it was physically impossible for a whale to swallow a human because even though it was a very large mammal its throat was very small. The little girl stated that Jonah was swallowed by a whale. Irritated, the teacher reiterated that a whale could not swallow a human; it was physically impossible. The little girl said, "When I get to heaven I will ask Jonah." The teacher asked, " What if Jonah went to hell?" The little girl replied, "Then you ask him."

Image of God

It is the image of God reflected in you that so enrages hell, it is this at which the demons hurl their mightiest weapons.
-William Gurnall

...

Don't ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and go do that, because what the world needs is people who have come alive.
-Gil Bailie

The Power of Honesty

God built us for honesty. There is almost nothing more refreshing that sitting down with someone who cares and spilling your guts. It just heals you.

Outlaw by Larry Norman

some say He was an outlaw that He roamed across the land
with a band of unschooled ruffians and a few old fishermen
no one knew just where He came from or exactly what He'd done
but they said it must be something bad that kept Him on the run

some day He was a poet that He'd stand upon the hill
and His voice could calm an angry crowd or make the waves stand still
that He spoke in many parables that few could understand
but the people sat for hours just to listen to that man

some say He was a sorceror a man of mystery
He could walk upon the water He could make a blind man see
that He conjured wine at weddings and did tricks with fish and bread
that He talked of being born again and raised people from the dead

some say a politician who spoke of being free
He was followed by the masses on the shores of galilee
He spoke out against corruption and He bowed to no decree
and they feared His strength and power so they nailed Him to a tree

some say He was the Son of God a man above all men
but He came to be a servant and to set us free from sin
and that's who i believe He was 'cause that's who i believe
and i think we should get ready 'cause it's time for us to leave

Me Too Doug

I want to know the magnitude of God's love for me and to share that love with others.
-Doug Giles

Make it Count

It is easy to die for Christ. It is hard to live for him. Dying takes only an hour or two, but to live for Christ means to die daily. Only during the few years of this life are we given the privilege of serving each other and Christ.... we shall have heaven forever, but only a short time for service here, and therefore, we must not waste the opportunity.
Sadhu Sundar Singh

Flu

Madeline came down with the flu yesterday. We started noticing her face was red and she was a little lethargic at lunch. She was pretty warm for a while but she did pretty well today. I think she is on the mend although not 100% yet.

Apple is Back

I think I caught them uploading some new information on their home site. Caught em with their pants down!

Apple site down?

Is the Apple Computer site fallen? I just checked their site in Firefox and then IE and it won't show up.

Qualities of People I Respect

Here is a random listing of qualities of people I look up to:
Full of love
Have convictions about things that matter
Not uptight but relaxed
Understanding
Know how to have fun

There are a few. OK, I'm done for now.

The Dark Side

I thought it would be fitting to let you know that I have started another blog. The purpose of which is to vent feelings that I would never tell you, the reader of this happy blog. Things are not always what they seem (Matrix fans, you may cheer). I feel slightly schitzo for doing so, but safety first campers. Thanks for the idea J.

Sacred Parenting

I continued reading "Sacred Parenting" by Gary Thomas this afternoon. It is turning into a great experience for me. Although I'm only in the second chapter it has been very soul searching so far. He says that parenting is not only about raising kids it is also about being shaped by God in the process of building character into your kids.

I think his approach will do far more than a "how to" book because it works on the heart of a parent, not the methods we use to leaverage our kids. If we spent more time working on our heart of hearts we would be a lot further along. Let me make that personal. My heart.

Hot, Hot

Its 93 degrees at almost 7pm here in Olympia. That should be hot enough for us. I get to the point where all I'm good for is staring off into the distance when it gets this hot or at the very least moving my fingers to type this message. I had a good day at the office.

Northwest Heatwave

It promises to be another barn burner hot day today and another hot week. We are going to take advantage of it by having a day at a lake with the youth this week.

No more FrontPage

Because of the move to Lacey, I had to give up MS FrontPage for web design. I am using a trial version of Contribute to update the Smith family personal site. Contribute is a super stripped down version of Dreamweaver but I'd say its still head and shoulders above FrontPain for ease of use and it's non-twitchy use. You want twitch, go Microsoft. No Microsoft = No Twitch; Know Microsoft = Know Twitch.

Yep, Beth is starting to show

There is no doubt anymore, Elizabeth is pregnant. Not that there ever was any doubt, but she is starting to show! She's getting comments from checkers at the grocery store. January here we come. I'm not ready for two kids but who is, right?

Mac

By the way, the next computer I buy will be a mac. I debated for a while but have made up my mind to go mac next time around. I would get an imac but the emac is so much cheaper for the same computer that I will be going that way unless Steve Jobs decides to go psycho on lowering prices for the imac. I am curious to see what the September rollout of the imac will be.

Palm Zire 71

I haven't been using the Zire like I used to. It has been super helpful for the regular phone number needs and things like that, but it seems with our change of pace the date book isn't getting quite the workout it used to. Having said that, I still play the occasional game of solitaire and bookworm. I hope to start using it a little more to publish web site pics for lack of a better camera.

Guitar Pickup - end of the story

So I ended up going LR Baggs on you but not with the blender system that I had originally thought. One of these times when I was down in Seattle, I tried out a guitar that is identical to mine with the Baggs ibeam in it. I am duly impressed. So I ordered one and Beth and I put it in (I needed her slender arms) and it sounds great. It isn't perfect but it is very close to what the guitar sounds like in my living room. At the very least it is a vast improvement over the Fishman piezo disaster unit. I played the ibeam against the fishman blender it was better.

Bottom line: less feedback, more realistic sound, and Bob is indeed your uncle.

Thurston County Fair

We went to the fair this afternoon and had a great time. Madie got to see goats, cows, sheep, pigs, chickens, bunny rabbits, parrots and who knows what else. We had corn dogs, pop and curly fries. Lots of fun! Madie especially liked petting and feeding a friendly goat. We took video. Beg us for it and we'll see what we can do. :)