Friday Movie Pick on Saturday Morning: Monsters vs. Aliens

Dreamworks new 3-D animation Monsters vs. Aliens hits screens last night. With its Super Bowl preview and highly touted new Tru3-D technology by Intel, Kari and I went to theaters with gift cards in hand. Directed by Rob Letterman and Conrad Vernon, this film is very groundbreaking. No, it is not some new way to tell an amazing story, but the Tru3-D is worth the $3.50 surcharge (for whatever reason) per ticket. Since we had a gift card, the $25.00 entry charge for two adults (total) did not deter us, especially when the, “Place you 3-D Glasses on Now,” sign came on. All the previews were in Tru3-D and “wowed” us before the feature hit.

Reese Witherspoon, Kiefer Sutherland, and Stephen Colbert kept me laughing throughout the entire film. Witherspoon, who plays Susan, does a great job as normal human turned monster has the opportunity to become a popular woman superhero (and nails it).

Kiefer Sutherland voices for General Monger, a good guy, said the following about the film, “What I liked about it is it was geared to young people and it told them that it is all right to be different; and not only was it all right to be different, but the thing that might make you uncomfortable or make you feel weird could be your greatest quality." I highly agree with Sutherland’s statement.

Stephen Colbert plays the President. This guy cracks me up. At one point…oh, I can’t share it, you just have to see it. Throughout the film, there are several adult jokes, but on the clean nature; including: a reference to Leonard Nimoy (Spock) and the An Inconvenient Truth.

Tru3-D is very amazing. The realism and things “flying” at you “wowed” Kari and I the entire film. We both enjoyed our “gift card date night” and especially the film Monsters vs. Aliens in Tru3-D. By the way, make sure you call the theater first to see if they are showing it in 3-D. We had to drive to Round Rock because it was the closet theater using the new technology.

If you see it, let me know what you thought. Have a great weekend.

Hail Storm in Central Texas

When Did Arrogance Become a Fruit of the Spirit?

Arrogance : an attitude of superiority manifested in an overbearing manner or in presumptuous claims or assumptions.

The fruits of the Spirit are listed in Galatians 5:22-23, “…the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” These tenants are cornerstones in the Christian faith and attitudes that should be reflected by believers on a daily basis. One famous hymn proclaims,

“And they'll know we are Christians
By our love, By our love
Yes, they'll know we are Christians
By our love.”

I am a firm believer that we can wake up every morning and ask God to join us on our journey and He will refine these “fruits” within each of us, but that won’t happen over night and they do happen by choice. If I have a problem with one of these, I am going to need to ask God for help and also proactively make these fruits stronger. We can make this choice to: let someone over on the highway, love one another, etc.; with help from the Spirit was can live fruit filled lives.

There is a second list in Galatians. This list highlights aspects of sinful nature that disqualify people from the kingdom of God. “The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God,” Galatians 5:19-21

Arrogance does not make the fruits of the Spirit list; rather it can be classified under the sinful nature list. Check out these passages of scripture:

“In his pride the wicked does not seek him; in all his thoughts there is no room for God.” Psalm 10:4

“To fear the LORD is to hate evil; I hate pride and arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech.” Proverbs 8:13

“The arrogance of man will be brought low and the pride of men humbled; the LORD alone will be exalted in that day…” Isaiah 2:17

God “hates” arrogance. If that isn’t simple enough, there will come a day when all men will bow and “the LORD alone will be exalted.” My favorite part of Rick Warren’s book The Purpose Driven Life is the first sentence, “It’s not about you.” Too many times we got caught up worrying about if our preacher is a good speaker, weather the band or music leader is playing the right music, or if so and so is tithing enough. “It’s not about you,” it is about God.

I have been pulling my fruits lately and seeing which need water or Miracle Gro. Pull out your fruits, see what you need to work on because I am always finding things in my life that could use improvement and I bet you could to.

Just some “food” or “fruit” for thought. God Bless

Word of the Day: methodical

me•thod•i•cal

Pronunciation: \me-thä-di-kel\

Function: adjective

Date: 1570

Definition: 1 : arranged, characterized by, or performed with method or order methodical treatment of the subject 2 : habitually proceeding according to method

Monday Mixup

As most of you know I work a desk job (for a few more days); I ran 10 minutes this morning for the first time in about two years.

Kari is a full 23 weeks and our baby is kicking like a crazy.

It looked like rain and I thought it was going to rain, but it didn’t.

Reading Clutter-free Christianity by Robert Jeffress; very spiritually challenging read (book review to come).

I went to Pluckers with my buddy Patterson on Friday night and watched Wake bust my bracket (along with 96% of everyone else on espn.com); great eats & great fellowship.

I am looking forward to the following new movies: Monsters vs. Aliens, Star Trek, Transformers and Public Enemies.

I send my condolences to several people who lost loved ones recently.

I hope my little nephew Daniel feels better soon.

I dislike moving, but it is coming…

Have a great day.

Blog Tour: Don't Let Me Go

And the winner of the contest to convince me why you should receive the book is…

On the cover it states, “What my daughter taught me about the journey every parent must make." Don’t Let Me Go by David Pierce is a heart warming memoir of a three year period the author and daughter’s relationship grew by climbing 5 mountains and running 2 marathons. Pierce and Chera tackle these adventures after she reads a wilderness adventure in which 8 people die on Mt. Everest. This book inspires her to want to climb a mountain and take her father along for the journey. In Pierce’s mind he hesitates, but doesn’t want to let his daughter down, so he agrees.

This book reminds me of Donald Miller’s Through Painted Deserts. It is about sharing a story and through the story life lesson’s are learned and shared. I literally laughed out loud while reading Don’t Let Me Go. As a father to be, I can only imagine (now) thinking similar thoughts and just his description of being sore, throwing up, and falling down are right on the money.

It is an easy read-down to earth story from a Christian point of view that can be as “deep” or “easy” as you want it to be. This book explores deep aspects of life including your relationship with your children, wife and with God. I had a hard time putting the book down because the adventures on the mountains are very exciting. I was inspired by Through Painted Deserts to go to the Grand Canyon (haven’t convinced Kari we should hike to the bottom yet), but the thought of climbing a mountain has now been planted in my brain as well. Maybe my son will want to take some adventures…we’ll see.

...And the winner of a free copy of Don’t Let Me Go by David Pierce is...Keith, Nicole and Cassie. Keith, I am not sure you will read it, but it is a good read. Nicole, I am sure after you read it, we could ship it to Cassie, so everyone wins!

Thanks for the participation…stay tuned for another upcoming book giveaway in early April.

I hope everyone has a great weekend. God Bless.

Camera Phone Picture from Switzerland

My co-workers husband and daughter are in Europe for eight days. Today she received a text message from her husband with this picture attached. They are at a ski resort in Switzerland. What an amazing picture…I just had to share it.

Happy Saint Patrick's Day Mark Driscoll Style

I thought about trying to write a little about Saint Patrick, but than I read Mark Driscoll's blog and thought I would just refer you to his post. Entitled Vintage Saints: Saint Patrick, Driscoll gives a brief history on Saint Patrick that is very insightful. Check it out; here's a quote:

"Patrick gave his life to the people who had enslaved him until he died at 77 years of age. He had seen untold thousands of people convert as between 30-40 of the 150 tribes had become substantially Christian. He had trained 1000 pastors, planted 700 churches, and was the first noted person in history to take a strong public stand against slavery." -Driscoll concerning Patrick

By the way, I am not wearing green! Happy reading.

It’s Been a While – Moving Begins and Other Stuff

I had Friday Movie Pick: Race to Witch Mountain half written, but didn’t complete or post it:

A little known director (to me), Andy Fickman is at the helm of Disney’s revamp of Race to Witch Mountain. Originally released in 1975 by Disney, I remember watching Race to Witch Mountain as a kid. When I saw the preview for this movie, I knew immediately what it was and leaned over and told Kari, “This is a re-make of Witch Mountain, sweet!”

That is as far as I got. Let me know if you saw it and what you thought about the film.

Last Monday my mother came and got my baseball cards and other odds and ends to store at her house. When I was growing up, I think my mother got as excited as I did about baseball card, so she was happy to “store” them and threaten to sell them!

This weekend, my in-laws gladly accepted our Christmas tree, ornaments and three of my large framed pictures to “store.” I hung two Monet’s and one Van Gogh for my mother in law (with her help) on Sunday and they look great.

This week we are focusing on going through our earthly treasures and deciding what is necessary, what is to be given away and what is trash. I inherited the “pack rat gene” from my mother and it is a huge thorn in my side. It is becoming easier and easier to let go of things as I get older, but I have been moving stuff around for a long time. It is refreshing to let these things go, but sometimes I try to keep silly things and I have to remind myself not to keep it.

We have set a move date: April 3rd – April 5th. If you are interested in helping out, e mail me here.

Don’t forget about the book giveaway; I have a few good reasons to giveaway Don’t Let Me Go, but I think a few other reasons could win me over (I do accept free food and gift cards). No seriously, I am about halfway done with the book and I am enjoying it so far.

I hope everyone had a great weekend. God Bless.

Blog Tour Book Giveaway

Next week I am going to be reviewing David Pierce’s Don’t Let Me Go.

“I’m growing up, Dad—what are you going to do about it?” David’s fifteen-year-old daughter Chera announces to her father.

"What my daughter taught me about the journey every parent must make."

Here’s the deal: I have a copy of Don’t Let Me Go to give away, but I have no contest. So here’s the lame contest: just tell me why I should mail you a free copy of this book in the comment section. That’s it…Deadline is March 19th, 2009 at noon, Central Standard Time.

Go.

And the Journey Continues

For the past year, Kari and I have felt we were living in a transitional state. We weren’t sure what God was doing, but we knew a few things. One, God wanted me to work for Great American. I was able to build many relationships in the company and many I suspect will continue. Two, we were supposed to be at the Well; serving, learning, and being loved and loving the wonderful body of believers. It has been amazing to watch the members of the Well be the body of Christ to its community.

On Friday, March 6th I accepted a position at Highland Lakes Camp & Conference Center as Assistant Director of Guest Services.

Back-story: In December, Kari said, “Why don’t you apply at the camp?” It had been a fleeting statement (or so I thought), but in February I felt compelled/moved to inquire about the position. We made arrangements to meet and drove out to camp. Our meeting went well and we set another date March 6th. We had a good feeling about the meeting, but were uncertain about God’s direction.

We constantly prayed about the decision and began to feel a peace about accepting the position. We had our final meeting and the camp told us they felt as we had and we accepted the position. It is very cool that God guided us to the camp and they felt the same about our service there.

We will be moving out of Austin to live at the camp on April 9th. I am very excited about the opportunity to serve at Highland Lakes. This is where Kari and I met, May 2005, and we never dreamed we would be living at the place we met.

Please keep us in your prayers as we make the transition from Austin to Highland Lakes.

Keep it tuned to Insert Title Here. God Bless.

Two Year Anniversary

Two years ago today, Kari and I said, "I do." We had a blast at our wedding. It was a day that we were surrounded by many loved ones and the day Brother Jimmy gave Kari her nickname Karemy. It has been suggested that we name our first born Karemy, but I think we are going to pass.

We are going to mainly just hang out at the house and spend time together. No huge dinner plans or movie night, just a little good old fashion hanging out time. We might put a few wedding pictures into a wedding book, but there's no telling how the day will go.

Speaking of anniversaries, Happy Anniversary to Stan and Windy B. We hope that you guys have a great day too.

Other news: Our baby is kicking ALL the time. Last night my mom, Big Momma, came over and she was able to feel him kick, she was very excited. It is so amazing to be able to feel our baby moving and kicking daily.

God Bless and have a great Tuesday.

Time Change

In our living room we have a mantle clock and a walk clock. We are surrounded by time and the measurement of it.

Will asked, “Is that clock right?”

The mantle clock does not have batteries in it because I haven’t figured out how to stop the hourly chime. We recently noticed that the time on the wall clock is completely out of sync for some reason or another.

In Star Trek: Insurrection Captain Jean Luc Picard witnesses time standing still. Marty McFly goes Back to the Future three times. George Bailey was able see what life would look like without his presence in It’s a Wonderful Life. I could go on and on…

On Sunday morning at 2:00am most of the United States begins Daylight Saving Time, effectively losing one hour of sleep this coming weekend. Don’t forget to set your clocks forward because spring forward is here.

Have a great day.

Friday Movie Pick on Saturday: 12 &Watchmen

12, written and directed by Nikita Mikhalkov, was nominated for an Oscar in 2008. This film, originally released September 20, 2007 is loosely based on the 1957 film 12 Angry Men.

12 is set in a Russian school where twelve jurors are tasked to decide the fate of a Chechen teenager who allegedly killed his Russian stepfather. The defended lost both parents in the Chechnya War and was relocated to live with his stepfather in Moscow. The panel of jurors include: a racist taxi-driver, a doctor, a TV producer, a Holocaust survivor, a musician, a cemetery manager, and six other various members who represent the fragmented society of modern day Russia.

Some reviews say it is a little slow and too political, but I like what I have read and seen in the previews. If you get a chance to see it (it has limited showing locations), let me know your thoughts.

Also opening this weekend, the long awaited Watchmen.

This city is afraid of me. I've seen its true face.

Some people think Watchmen is one of the greatest comic book's written. I have never read it, but the concept and previews do look good. Reviews so far aren't very nice, but who really reads those anyway.

Go see a movie and have a great weekend. Don’t forget, we spring forward this weekend. God Bless.

Does Someone Know Russian in Our Government?

I read this article and can't believe how stupid our Federal government is. I am sure there is someone on the Fed payroll who speaks Russian, why didn't they run it by them first?

The Obama administration symbolic “pressing the reset button,” has instead made our country look like idiots.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton greeted Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov with a red button with the Russian word “peregruzka” printed on it. Peregruzka means overcharged not reset!

"I would like to present you with a little gift that represents what President Obama and Vice President Biden and I have been saying and that is: 'We want to reset our relationship, and so we will do it together...We worked hard to get the right Russian word. Do you think we got it?" - Secretary of State Hillary Clinton

“You got it wrong, it should be “perezagruzka” (the Russian word for reset). This says ‘peregruzka,’ which means ‘overcharged.’” - Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov reply to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton question.

I guess the Obama administration doesn't preview or double check things that are important.

Top 10 on David Letterman presented by Team USA

10. Jimmy Rollins: "Due to economic crisis, we all have to share same pair of pants."

9. Curtis Granderson: "Japan has one of them crazy robot shortstops."

8. Dustin Pedroia: "Because it's an international event, our right fielder is Secretary of State Hillary Clinton."

7. Chipper Jones: "The winning team plays Neptune in the Galactic Baseball Classic."

6. Roy Oswalt: "It's fascinating seeing how players from other countries scratch themselves."

5. Adam Dunn: "You'll be part of a cherished baseball tradition dating all the way back to 2006." (Letterman added: "Oh, the stories they can tell.")

4. Ryan Braun: "Because of the metric system, games will be 6.83 innings."

3. Kevin Youkilis: "Before each game, get to sit through 30 different national anthems."

2. David Wright: "Australia's secret weapon: a fastball-throwing kangaroo."

1. Derek Jeter: "What else are you going to watch, hockey?"

Check out the World Baseball Classic website for more info on Team USA.

Say Hello to Lydia Grace

This morning at 7:44am, Kari and I became aunt/uncles again to Kari’s sister Ashley’s second child Lydia Grace. She was born to James and Ashley and has one brother, Daniel.

She weighted in at 6 lbs 6 ounces and is 19 inches long. She is doing fine this morning and looks like her mother.

Kari left this morning at 6:30am and arrived soon after she was born and they sent these pictures to me.

I hope that everyone has a great day.

God Bless.

Thanks for Your Votes

It has been several weeks now since the poll closed, but I wanted to thank everyone who participated in the poll. I was surpised to see so many votes, which is very exciting!

Ultimately boy won out in the end and 57% of you were correct. Keep an eye out for a new poll coming soon.

Have a great Wednesday. God Bless.

Baby’s First Teddy Bear

“Someone from Missourah loves me.”

Yesterday in the mail our son received his first Teddy Bear from Aunt Kim. Technically it is the second “bear” he has received (the first bear he received was an Alaskan bear, very cool), but this guy is a “teddy bear.” He is wearing the blue shirt with the above quote and a diaper. He has the classic teddy bear look and custom made for baby boy Hellums.

I got to thinking why I found this moment so significant and I think it stems from a stuffed animal I received from my Granny. I am not sure how old I was, but as a Christmas gift from my Granny I received a skunk. Thankfully this skunk did not stink. I was not like Linus, but my skunk did help me fall asleep at night.

Another significant stuffed animal is a bear from FAO Schwartz in New York City. I am not sure when Kari and I bought him, but he is a very fluffy and soft dark brown bear. The bear does not sleep with us, but can be found on our bed or the guest bed from time to time.

Each of these items left lifelong impressions on me and created wonderful memories. I am looking forward to our baby creating memories and these bears will likely be some of his first memories. What an amazing thought!

Do you have a stuffed animal that brings back a memory?

Have a great Tuesday. God Bless.

Good Morning Texas Independence Day!

On March 2, 1836, Texans celebrated the adoption of the Texas Declaration of Independence. Happy Texas Independence Day!

Baby Stuff: Kari has been feeling him move around now for weeks, but I have not been able to feel anything. Saturday night at about 11pm, he was moving around a bunch. I watched intently in the general area he was moving and saw him move Kari’s belly. At this point I knew I could feel him kick. A few minutes later I was able to feel our baby kick several times.

I hope everyone had a great weekend. God Bless.