How I save 20 days of my life every year

Like a resourceful, diligent mom filing through her coupons and saving the family hundreds of dollars, every October I go to work, having saved some 20+ days of my life.

I'm a sports fan. And yet I realize how fleeting the whole enterprise is- that it will never be more than the candy section of life. However, as every kid knows, we all need candy.

And my theory with sports is the same as with music: given enough time listening to any genre, you can learn to not only appreciate it, but enjoy it. NASCAR is currently on the brink of ruining my theory, but my recent breakthroughs in enjoying golf have given me hope that in time, I will enter the appreciation stage of the left-turn only "sport." And my friend Jeff Thune's recent confession about his love for country music has also confirmed my theory.

Baseball is one of those sports I have come to enjoy. This is a real problem for anyone who's not retired. 

Each team plays 162 games, each lasting around three hours, spanning half the year. Assuming you don't follow any of spring training, watch any highlights or pre-game hype- that's 486 hours, or 20 days and 6 hours. Who has that kind of time on their hands? 

So here's where dad-couponing comes in.

It's simple but revolutionary (not to mention wise): I start watching baseball in October. 

I pick up my remote control in October, feeling great about the 20 days of my life that I just saved. That month saved because I didn't watch a single out of baseball easily justifies the hours of playoffs and World Series which I'm about to indulge in.

And this is where dad couponing can go to the whole next level...

DVR. 

You can consolidate 3 hours of baseball into about 15 minutes- or less. As I've said, if you're playing baseball it's 99% boredom and 1% sheer terror. (Especially in Right, where they put me.) But watching the sport is entirely different- it's 99% relaxation/therapy and 1% adrenaline rush.  

As every frugal mother who's trying to stretch her budget knows, the DVR time savings totally justifies the money her husband spends on satellite TV. 

So I'm just now getting caught up on some of the baseball story lines... pennant races, possible comebacks, epic meltdowns and one game playoffs.

October, here we come.

N.O.B.L.E.

Here's a little video for you. The latest from Jeff Thune. I wonder how he does it... pastor, preacher, and rap artist. Sabino, you out there? This one might be better than yours from last year...

Last night we just passed the 100 mark for people going on our fall retreat! Today we are waiting for God and praying for Him to show up on our behalf this weekend. Please pray with us, for the students to encounter God. For this to be a break through weekend. Pray for Ed, our speaker. He'll also be preaching at Veritas on Sunday morning.

N to the O to the B to the L to the E...


N. O. B. L. E. from Veritas Church on Vimeo.

"Waiting for You" on youtube

Given this article (props challies for vine), I thought I should re-post it via youtube. Don't hesitate to subscribe to Adoleo music

Adoleo's "Waiting For You" Music Video

Thanks to Gabe and Elena Noll (and many of our friends back at TSC in Ames) for their work on Adoleo's new music video, "Waiting for You." Well done.

The end of this video left me sitting in silence, speechless. That's the appropriate visual conclusion to the whole business of waiting for God. Anyone who has ever waited on God has experienced this sort of suspense, tension, and letting go that the video captures so well.

"I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in His word I put my hope." - Psalm 130:5


Adoleo - Waiting for You from Veritas Church on Vimeo.

SDG.

My friend, Dusty.

Last night at Salt Company, I spoke on the life of Josiah- "a dude completely set up with every ingredient in life for a batch of disaster and ruin."

I use quotation marks because those are the exact words Joe Kuphal used to describe his "brother"- Dusty White. (Joe on left, Dusty on right)

I'm re-telling this story that I told last night, because I think there are people that need to hear those words again, "There is hope for you. If you will lay hold of Him with all your heart, Jesus Christ will change everything."

Dusty grew up in Omaha with his grandparents, and occasionally a drunk, abusive father and strung out uncle. By God's good providence, only a small open lot separated Dusty from the Kuphal family.

"He took shelter at our house many times... I remember he spent the night at our house after his drunk father threw a brick at him," Joe told me in a text conversation yesterday.

I asked Dusty for a picture of himself when he was little. His response, "That's assuming anyone took pictures of me when I was little."

It was not the broken voice of a victim who spoke those words. It was the grace-filled chuckle of a confident man.

Dusty was basically adopted by the Kuphal family, where he was constantly confronted with the good news about Jesus, not just in words, but action. Dusty's house was a war zone, the Kuphal home a refuge.

When Dusty was in sixth grade, the Kuphals moved to Indiana. Sally, the Kuphal matriarch, pulled Jeff Thune aside and said, "Make sure Dusty gets to church every week."

"He just kept coming," Dusty said with tears.

During those teen years, surrounded by his church family, Dusty continued to put his stake in the ground for Christ. As a senior, I drove the scrawny freshman to school in my old Accord, rocking out to Keith Green on the way to Burke High. Poised to change the world, our mustard seed faith and love for Jesus propelled us into that school with good news.

Fast forward to today.

Dusty is a pastor on staff at a church in Omaha (Coram Deo). He married (way up!) to Jaci, and they have 4 beautiful kids.

A couple years ago, he told me how his dad was taking advantage of his grandparents. Dusty manned up on his own dad and kicked him out of the house, making him homeless. Every so often, he would take his dad his mail.

"How do you know where to find him?" I asked.
Dusty simply replied, "I know where he parks."

Dusty is a modern day Josiah- a reminder that every person has access to newness of life. When Jesus Christ comes into a person, He changes everything.

He exhorted me to "Preach it! Tell them college kids to get a vision for their life, to shrug off all the dang excuses, and get busy living for the kingdom!"

"Dusty, a dude completely set up with every ingredient in life for a batch of disaster and ruin..." Joe said, ending his text with the simple triumphant proclamation...

"...God wins."

To the praise of his glorious grace!

Veritas One Year Birthday

From our perspective, we just turned one. From God's perspective, we're much older (Isaiah 25:1). There's so much to say, and all the blog space on the internet would not be enough to tell about it. For now, I'll let this video say it for me.

We showed this video on Sunday (except James played the song live with the video behind him). It will never capture all that God has done, but it is a taste of it. This new song "I can't help but love you" is one that James recently wrote. You'll have to wait for the next Adoleo album to download it- which may not be long... December acoustic EP??

If this happened in just one year, what does God have in store in the days to come?


One Year Anniversary of Veritas Church from Veritas Church on Vimeo.

To celebrate our one year birthday on the 10th anniversary of 9/11 was beautiful irony. As evil men tear down with destructive religion, God is building his kingdom through love and grace. May that message be powerfully proclaimed through his Church.

Jesus is the hope of the world.

SDG.

More evidence of the empty tomb

Martin, I'm so proud of the path you're on! I will never forget that Monday morning prayer meeting- you were about 5 hours old in the faith. And to think... about a year later you would stand up and say "yes" to stepping out in faith to plant the church in Iowa City. Your life speaks to the fact that Jesus is alive...

This is my God story - Martin from Veritas Church on Vimeo.