Awards

We just got in from Ft. Worth, where Jeremiah took 2nd place in his bracket at the largest Tae Kwon Do tournament in North America. He had an absolutely phenominal time, and has worn his silver medal everywhere! I'll post pictures when I get them off of the camera.

On another note, you may remember my post some time back about making a Freebird's commercial. Here's an excerpt from their monthly newsletter that I just received:

"Award Winnings Ads 2nd Year in a Row It's all about you! - Nation's Restaurant News likes Freebirds Fanatics almost as much as we do. Last year they gave us an award for the Kate and Rita ad. We won again! This year the ad was about Jason, a long-time Freebirds fanatic and two of his buddies that camped out on the sidewalk in front of the Lubbock store the night before it opened in order to be that store's first customers. First of all, we may win awards because of our unconventional ad campaigns, but you are the reason for wins. It's your fanaticisms that are remarkable. We're simply the carriers of the message. So - our hats off to you, our loyal customers, for coming up with such antics that when copied and depicted in foil characters they become inspiring and award winning. You are all winners to us!"

RIGHT ON, Freebird's. Right on...

What would you do?

Today started in a really rocky way. I'm actually at a conference in Grapevine (near Dallas) at the moment. I flew into Love Field this morning amidst a HORRIBLE thunder storm. As we approached for our landing, we hit turbulence unlike any I had experienced before. In fact, it was so bad that the pilot actually climbed to try his approach again, only to realize it wasn't any better with our second pass. After making an announcement to the Flight Attendants that they should stay seated unless it's an absolute emergency, he smashed us down onto the runway, plunging through the storm and to the tarmac. It was one of those moments where the plane was eerily silent (except for the lady next to me whose nervous chatter nearly drove me insane). I had slept most of the trip, but the turbulence woke me up in a hurry and I began to pray. It was simple at first. "Jesus, I may be hanging out with you sooner than I thought." was where it started. It quickly turned to, "Should I start asking the people around me if they are ready to meet Jesus?" It was a real dilemma for me since I didn't want to cause a panic, but at the same time, I really wasn't sure that we'd actually "stick the landing." About the time I decided I should wake the Tech student next to me to ask him how his eternity looked, I saw the runway out his window and we were down. Relieved, I sighed a collective sigh with all the other passengers. As I look back over the whole debacle, I wonder if I missed an opportunity or if I did the right thing. What would you do? No, really, I'd like to know; what would you have done if you had been me? I do know that I have a greater appreciation for life as I write this. I also have a greater appreciation for the shortness of life and the urgency of reaching the lost. There's a lot of work to be done in Lubbock and around the world. And none of us know how much time we have left. So let's get busy.

Two Guys Who Shouldn't Sit Together

This is a legit picture. These guys should really rethink sitting together. It's almost like one guy's shirt saying, "I'm with stupid," and the other guy's shirt saying, "Stupid."