Save Blue Like Jazz

One of my favorite books, Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller was slated to be a movie. Filming is set to begin later this month, but not unless they raise $125,000.

Some friends of Miller started a campaign to raise the funds. Check out www.savebluelikejazz.com and follow them at http://twitter.com/savebljthemovie

Save Blue Like Jazz!

A Poem to Share

Dear Jesus,
Landon here again,
How's your day been?
All is well here.
Ready to pray for those dear.
Mommy she cooks great food,
And daddy is one cool dude.
Brother, Thanks especially for him,
Because he's now my bestfriend.
Thanks, Jesus, for my family,
They are the best for me.
Goodnight and amen,
I'll talk to you again.

What if: Highland Lakes Camp Summer 2010 Report

Wasp vs. Man: Part Two

Disclaimer: I do not take my shirt off in this post.

Last Friday morning I was mowing the yard. In our backyard we have two old-school clothes line "T" poles sticking up out of the ground. As I turned the lawn mower around I slammed into the clothes line pole. From out of the dark pipe came at least 20 mahogany wasps. As I realized what was happening, I only knew one thing...

...RUN!

I ran out the backyard, nearly across the street to avoid getting stung by those hacked off mahogany wasps. I caught my breath and assessed the situation:

The yard is not completely mowed; I left the lawn mower running next to the clothes line pole; they are swarming everywhere and I still need to catch my breath.

Thankfully, I recently overcame my fear of poison/wasp spray (I didn't want Landon or Logan to be harmed by it if it was on me, but I since learned they would have to drink a lot or bathe in it to be harmed). I went and got two cans of wasp spray and some foaming insulation stuff to plug to holes and went to work.

I successfully plugged four holes on the two poles and killed approximately 20-30 wasps. The exactly number will never been known, because I sealed many of them inside the pole. I did forget to mention, I accomplished all this, thankfully, without being stung.

Hopefully, this will be the last installment in the Wasp vs, Man series. Have a great day.

Must See Pics

Here is one of Logan sleeping. This little boy still has his nights and days mixed...sorta, but when he sleep, he is out. He is getting really big and is already smiling (or maybe it is just gas). It is so sweet. Oh and Logan attended his first football game in Milano on Thursday night.

Here is a picture of Landon at the football game making friends with a young lady. I am not sure where he gets his charm from, but in the words of his mother, "This little girl loved Landon...and I'm pretty sure he loved her..."

It is such a blessing to be raising two little boys. They are awesome. Enjoy the pics!

Thoughts on Luke 18: Part One

"Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. He said: "In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared about men. And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, 'Grant me justice against my adversary.'

"For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, 'Even though I don't fear God or care about men, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won't eventually wear me out with her coming!' "

And the Lord said, "Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?" Luke 18:1-8

We started looking at Jesus' parables in chapel recently and I love reading and soaking in Luke 18. So much so, I decided to write a series on the six sections of the chapter. This is the first part of six I will be writing and posting. Please feel free to comment and share your thoughts as well.

My favorite question in this section of the chapter is, "when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?" What is faith? The Greek word for faith is pi'stis and in this context it is a physical action, based upon a belief and sustained with confidence; relying on God no matter what the circumstances or outcome, complete trust that God will take care of it.

The word faith usually brings on the word belief. The scene in Indiana Jones: The Last Crusade portrays the difference. Indiana Jones is in the cavern looking for the holy grail and comes to a cliff and reads the clue. He looks across the bottomless pit and believes that he can step out and he will live, but does he have faith? He takes a moments, holds his heart and believes and steps forward in faith to find an invisible bridge. For me, this images visually show us the difference between the two.

Isn't it hard to sometimes relinquish all your doubts, fear, worries, etc. to the Lord? Yet it is plain in God's word that our faith is powerful. Matthew 17:20 says, "...I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain..." Christ challenges me to allow Him to take over, operate on faith and know that He is going to take care of everything.

Do we follow the example of the widow and pray/cryout to the Lord day and night; petitioning Him for all our daily needs? In 1 Thessalonians 5:17, we are encouraged to, "pray continually." How's your prayer life? God hears your prayers. Jesus sets the example by praying himself, "During the days of Jesus' life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears..." (Hebrews 5:7). When was the last time you prayed and were moved to tears?

We can have such a loving and passionate relationship with Christ and it starts with faith. I pray yours and my faith in Christ grows daily and the fire inside burns because he will return and is looking for the faithful. Where will He find you?

God Bless and tune in next time.

Landon & Logan Recent Photos

Here are two of the latest photos of my boys. They were taken early this month with Kari's phone and I believe it has been way too long since I have shared photos.

Landon, on the left, is sitting on his toys with wheels while his mother is trying to tell him, "sit down!" He pretty much just looked at her and smiled.
Logan, on the right, is taking a little afternoon nap here. He is a good sleep, but he won't sleep in his bed. He is in his room in this picture, but on the guest bed not his own.

They are both growing like weeds and Kari and I feel so blessed to have these two precious boys. God Bless.

Insert Title Here Remembers 9.11.01

Today is the 9th anniversary of the September 11, 2001; a date that many of my generation will never forget, similar to many who have gone before us never forgot Pearl Harbor, D-Day, or the assassination of John F. Kennedy.

One day I will have the opportunity to explain to my boys what happened on that morning when over 3,000 Americans lost their lives in New York, Virginia, and Pennsylvania.

How do I remember it?

I was sitting in my car in line at the Austin Community College parking lot waiting, listening to a CD instead of Sam & Bob on KVET. I looked up to see my high school friend, Jeff M., wanting to jump in the car. He said, "Are you listening to the radio? The twin towers have been hit and there are several other missing planes." School and work was cancelled that day and I remember watching the news as each new report came out. I think everyone was glued to the TV.

Later that year, I had the opportunity to go to NYC and still remember seeing smoldering at Ground Zero. All the letters, flowers and pictures near Trinity Church at Wall Street was sobering. It was a scene of wreckage, memory and city all smashed together in the heart of Manhattan; images that will not leave my mind.

I continue to pray for those family members who have lost loved ones; the Lord only knows are when it is our time, "No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father," until that time we are encouraged to, "press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me" (Matt. 24:36, Phil. 3:12).

May we never forget those who lost their lives on September 11, 2001 and continue to tell the story. God Bless.

Landon Getting in Trouble...Sorta

Tales from Fatherhood

After much thought, I believe it is worthy of my blog to note two gross firsts that happened to me Labor Day Monday morning at about 5am.

For the first time about five, Logan vomited on me. Kari and I decided to try a little formula with him to see if he would sleep a little better. It seemed to have cause another effect: hence I was vomited on by my one month old. I am sure it won't be the last time.

Later that morning at about 8am, Landon awoke from his slumber. Thinking I could get a few more minutes to snooze, I prepared another Pedialyte bottle for him (we learned that milk products are not settling well on his tummy; uncertain if he is lactose intolerance yet). As I rocked him, we did both fall asleep till 10am, but in those two hours Landon urinated on me.

In less than 5 hours, I had been vomited on and urinated on! What a way to start the morning.

God Bless.

Wasp vs. Man

Wednesday afternoon, I walked into our living room missing my t-shirt and said, "I'm crazy," to Kari, Clay and Jackie.

Prior to this statement I decided to eradicate some mahogany wasp (also known as red wasp or red devils) that had made nest above one of our windows. With a can of wasp spray in hand, I positioned myself near the nest and began to spray up at them. As I closely watched the insects, I noticed two were emerging from the poison foam unscathed. One flew off above the house, but I could not locate the second one.

As I backed away from the nest, I happened to look down on my chest and stuck in the center of my t-shirt was a mahogany wasp. My first reaction was to pull my shirt away from my body and than spray myself and the wasp in order to prevent from being stung.

In the process of spraying, I realized I was spraying myself and gained control of the situation by frantically ripping my shirt off. Not that this was any less crazy, but it made sense at the time. As I struggled to remove my two sweaty shirts, I thought about not getting stung, move faster and what are the effects of wasp spray on humans.

After removing the shirt I promptly threw it on the ground and stomped on it in hopes of killing the wasp. I slowly picked it up, but the wasp was gone. Thankfully I was not stung or harmed by the wasp spray, but I am pretty sure my neighbors think I am crazy now.

Hopefully this made you laugh a little. I have been having a run on these funny little stories lately and am glad to share them.

Dear Jeremy, Happy Birthday

Insert Title Here is wishing Jeremy Hellums: Happy 29th Birthday.

29 years seems like a long time, but really it has just flown by. My ten year reunion was this past August, Kari and I just had our second child and I haven't hit 30 yet; now that is very exciting.

I am already catching flak for almost being 30 from my wife. She smiles really big, sighs and laughs a little and proclaims, "WOW, you are about to be 30!" Thanks honey, I need the reminder.

I am very glad to be 29 years old. No, I don't feel older, but sometimes when I wake up in the morning and my body hurts, I do consider, "Am I getting older?"

I hope everyone has a great day.

Kenny Chesney - The Boys of Fall

I normally don't post music videos, but I love this one. Check it out...football season is around the corner.

Mini Vacation

What turned into a day off here and there turned into a mini vacation. I am so blessed to have Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday off. This will allow me a chance to re-charge my "getting old" batteries.

Sunday we will be attending my brothers couples shower in Red Rock. My brother Aaron and his wife Katie are having a little girl in about five weeks. I am so excited to be an Uncle on the Hellums side of my family. Just seeing some of the pictures Aaron and Katie recently took, just makes me so much more excited for my little brother becoming a father. I am certain he will make a great father.

Kari, the boys, and I will be spending time in Milano with her parents. Honestly, when I get to Milano I shut down. I go into complete vacation mode; I know that there is going to be sweet tea, rest, great food and since it is fall Friday night high school football. Logan has not attended his first high school football game, so we will be looking to put that notch on his belt.

A trip to College Station is scheduled to celebrate Kari's grandmother birthday, September 1st.

Today, Logan is one month old! It is amazing how fast he is growing. Landon and Logan are both a little sick, so please keep them in your prayers.

God Bless.

The Red Couch & White Couch

When Kari and I were first married we bought a living room set. When we saw it in the store it was set up in such a way that the full size couch was white and the love seat was red. We loved the setup because the rug tied the entire set together, so that is the way we bought it. We still love our living room set, but we confess that we did not consider children (or a messy man) when we chose a white couch.

Kari is away visiting her family right now, but I can truly say, "she is still at home."

The other evening I went to the kitchen to get a dinner/snack and found chips and salsa. As I walked into the living room I debated in my head which couch to sit on. In my head I heard, "Jeremy, please sit on the red couch since you are eating salsa," and I listened.

I pressed play on the episode of wrestling I was watching and started snacking. On the second chip, somehow I knocked the entire bowl of salsa out of my hand and it went everywhere...except on the white couch! I raced to the kitchen to grab towels to scrub up my mess.

I am thankful for several reasons: a) I was't sitting on the white couch; b) you can't even tell I spilled anything; and c) I learned listening to your wife is actually a good thing (even when she is not present).

I hope you have a great day and know that probably 95% of the time, your wife does know what she is talking about. God Bless.

Psalm 8

O LORD, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory
above the heavens.

From the lips of children and infants
you have ordained praise
because of your enemies,
to silence the foe and the avenger.

When I consider your heavens,
the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
which you have set in place,

what is man that you are mindful of him,
the son of man that you care for him?

You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings
and crowned him with glory and honor.

You made him ruler over the works of your hands;
you put everything under his feet:

all flocks and herds,
and the beasts of the field,

the birds of the air,
and the fish of the sea,
all that swim the paths of the seas.

O LORD, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!

Retreat Season & Family

After August 15th, camp officially went from summer camp season to retreat season. This means a few things for the camp and staff around Highland Lakes Camp. For me several things happen: less 17 hour days, two days off, scheduled PR work and less running sound.

One exciting aspect is I am able to spend a lot more exclusive time with my family. During the week, we often get off at 5pm allowing for an evening of fun with everyone at the Hellums household.

A typical evening could look like: arrive home at 5:02pm, put the swimming trunks on, eat before or while we are at the lake, try to keep Landon above water, head home, give Landon a bath, bedtime from Landon, and Kari and I take a moment to slow down while taking care of Logan's appetite and find bedtime about 11 or 12pm.

Landon loves water. Swimming in the lake, pool or bathtub daily is something he loves. We tell him, "kick, kick, kick," and he will get on his belly and raise his head up and kick and swing his arms. It is an awesome sight to see.

Friday morning, Kari and I watched Logan dreaming and half smiling. It was one of those moments where our "alien baby" is becoming more human. It was a precious moment. Logan is almost one month old and time has flown.

I am so thankful for my family and the Lord allowing us to serve in such a place where I am able to have so much interaction with my family.

I hope everyone has a great weekend. God Bless.

Old Man or Sick Kid?

I recently caught myself telling stories about poop and vomit and thought a couple of things: I am getting to be a sick old man or I have a sick kid.

For the past several days Landon has had diarrhea and been throwing up. I just want to say thrown up milk is one of the worst smells, textures and hardest things to clean up. When thrown up milk gets on you, the stink does not go away. I sat next to John Mark the other morning in chapel and had to apologize for vomit smell I was wearing.

Enough about vomit...Landon is doing better. I got home from work yesterday and Kari exclaimed, "Landon had a solid poop!"

Logan is doing great. No poop or vomit from him, yet, but he is getting bigger (he does poop, just not diarrhea). We are scheduling a one month photo session with Cordsen Photography, so we will have some new pictures posted soon.

God Bless.

The Report

The doctor said all her symptoms are normal. The bruising on her tummy is a blood vessel that burst after surgery. She did tell us to keep an eye on it, but in about ten days it should return to normal.

The bleeding is said to remain at a maximum of four weeks and the swelling is from all the fluid they pumped into her.

All is well. Thanks so much for the prayers.

God Bless.

A Prayer Request

Please keep Kari in your prayers today. Those symptoms I described in an earlier post have prompted the doctor to ask Kari to come in. Please pray for the doctor to figure out what's wrong and pray the Lord heals my wife.

God Bless.