She said, “I’m getting ready to get on the elevator.  I’ll e-mail you.” 

Just a quick side note – I’ve always been concerned about people who are too unfit or too lazy to take the stairs in the parking garage…especially on the way down, because the elevator is right next to the stairway and it’s usually quicker to take the stairs.   Anyway, back to the story: I’ve ridden in elevators countless times during my life, but I’ve never “gotten ready” to ride in one.  When I “get ready” to do something, it usually involves some kind of action.  For instance, when I get ready to play soccer, I put on my cleats and I stretch.  

Whatever this lady was about to do was apparently very physically and/or mentally demanding because she had to get off of the phone in order to do it.  As you can imagine, I became very intrigued because I’ve never seen the preparation process for getting on an elevator.   Maybe there is something I’ve been missing all my life.  Maybe there is some kind of pre-ride pressurization technique that helps you acclimate to elevation changes on long, fast rides.   Or maybe there is a way to prepare your joints for the sudden stop when you arrive at the bottom; a special move that counteracts the inertia you’ve gained from moving at a constant rate of speed.  Maybe.

I turned around and watched this lady, expecting for my mind to be blown, but all she did was stand there.   It turns out that prepartion is not necessary to ride an elevator.  I’m so tired of this tricky English language leading me to believe things that aren’t true. 

Moral of the story: Please, choose your words carefully…for my sake.

Almost the entire top deck was delaminated so I took my dremel tool and cut it off. The fiberglass came right off (you can see the bottom part leaning against the wall in the background).  The foam underneath was all brown and rotted. Also, it looked like someone tried to fix some delamination where you put your back foot by injecting resin. I saw a couple of holes on the deck and figured that’s what it was, but this confirmed it. You can see the dark patch in the picture. I had to chip that stuff away with a screwdriver.

I went to work on the foam with my belt sander. I only had to sand down about 1/8″ before i hit the good foam. I was pretty happy about that.

It didn’t take long to sand the whole thing down – maybe 10-15 minutes.

So, now the question is, what do I use to fill up the hole I just created to make it level with the rest of the board? After some research, I decided to go with spray foam. I saw some guy use it on a repair and he said it was a big mistake. Ohhh, oops. I really should learn from other people’s experiences. It just seemed like the easiest and quickest way to do it, so I went with it. I decided to only do half of the board in the event that it turned out to be a disaster…

The spray foam does seem like it might be too soft, as the guy warned. There were a ton of air holes too, which he also mentioned.  I’m starting to think I really should have listened.  After I cut and sanded it down, I covered the whole thing with lightweight spackle to give it some rigidity (<-good word, huh?) and cover the holes. I let it dry overnight and then I sanded that down. It doesn’t look too bad.  I guess we’ll see if it works.

That’s all for now…

The two munchkins and I got into one of those big, bouncy, moonwalk things at the 97x Birthday Bash, and I proceeded to toss them around like ragdolls.  It was complete domination.  They didn’t stand a chance.   If I had to guess, I’d say the two brothers were about 8 and 6.  Eight plus six equals fourteen.  I’m twenty-four.  You do the math.  I win.

          *There were some pictures taken of this outstanding display of manship and superior athletic prowess.  I’ll try and get a hold of them and post them on here.  Oh, and don’t try and rain on my parade by saying something like, “Big deal, you tossed some kids around,” because I don’t care what you think.

Today is Easter Sunday.  I went to my parents’ church today, the church I grew up in, expecting to hear the typical Easter message.  I don’t know why, because Pastor Tim never gives the “typical message”, which I am glad of.  He began with an illustration of himself growing up in Venezuela as a missionary kid.  He went to a boarding school there and one day the children were told that, if they behaved, they would go on a trip to the city and stay in a big hotel and – this was the kicker- go swimming in a swimming pool!  Now, that may not seem very exciting to you and me, but keep in mind that these kids lived in a third world country.  They had never seen a swimming pool in person and the only water they had actually been in was from natural sources -rivers, creeks, swimming holes, etc.  Needless to say, these kids were so excited about swimming in a pool that it consumed their thoughts.  It transformed their behavior.  They had their eyes on the prize and nothing was going to keep them from cannonballs and belly-flops off the high dive.  This hope shaped the way they acted.  It completely rearranged their thought process and redirected their path.  No longer was it worth it to misbehave.  The hope of future bliss far outweighed the satisfaction of acting up and causing mischief in the present. 

There was one boy, though, that did not change his ways.  Brian was a troublemaker and continued causing problems despite the constant reminder of the possibility of swimming in a pool.  The other boys did not understand why he wouldn’t just behave himself.  They began to feel sorry for Brian because it was becoming increasingly clear that he would not be joining them on that eagerly anticipated day.  Brian’s own pride and selfishness was obstructing his view of what was coming.  He did not have hope. 

The day eventually came and all the boys were having the time of their lives swimming and splashing and jumping in the pool.  Everyone except for Brian.  Brian stood by himself, in the corner of the pool deck, fully dressed.  He was not allowed to swim because the free gift that was offered to him had no effect on his life.  How foolish! 

We’re being offered a free gift of spending eternity in paradise with God.  If we accept it, then we should live our lives with that in mind.   The hope of future bliss should far outweigh the satisfaction of sinning in the present.  I realize it’s extremely hard to not get caught up in all the seemingly desirable garbage that this life has to offer.  I struggle with it daily.  I’m pretty sure everyone does, but if you’re out chasing the wind, looking for the next worldly pleasure to satisfy your selfishness and greed, where does your hope lie?  What is at the end of your journey?  To die living a comfortable life with lots of toys because you did what you wanted? How empty.  Don’t be like Brian.  Don’t be blinded to future glory by putting your desires before anything else.  When all is said and done, you don’t want to be standing on the outside looking in, because then it will be too late.  What are you filling your life with?  What are you doing with your time?  Will it matter in the end?  Does your life reflect a hope of glorious things to come?

“I’ve decided that the manner in which you pee into a urinal says a lot about you.”

Take from this what you will…

 If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don’t love, I’m nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate.  If I speak God’s Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, “Jump,” and it jumps, but I don’t love, I’m nothing.  If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don’t love, I’ve gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love.               

   Love never gives up.
   Love cares more for others than for self.
   Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have.
   Love doesn’t strut,
   Doesn’t have a swelled head,
   Doesn’t force itself on others,
   Isn’t always “me first,”
   Doesn’t fly off the handle,
   Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others,
   Doesn’t revel when others grovel,
   Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
   Puts up with anything,
   Trusts God always,
   Always looks for the best,
   Never looks back,
   But keeps going to the end. Love never dies.

Inspired speech will be over some day; praying in tongues will end; understanding will reach its limit. We know only a portion of the truth, and what we say about God is always incomplete. But when the Complete arrives, our incompletes will be canceled.  When I was an infant at my mother’s breast, I gurgled and cooed like any infant. When I grew up, I left those infant ways for good.

We don’t yet see things clearly. We’re squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won’t be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We’ll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us!  But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love.

I Corinthians 13 (The Message)

I Corinthians 13 is a pretty popular passage; probably because it’s the best direct definition of what love is in the entire Bible. I’ve heard and read it dozens of times throughout my life - I even had to memorize it when I was in grade school.  Suffice to say, I knew what the Bible had to say about love, but it never really took hold until today.  It was like I was seeing it for the first time.  It’s amazing how things that you’ve known your whole life suddenly take on new meaning when they become applicable to what’s going on around you.   

It came to mind while I was having a conversation with my sister about broken relationships, which turned into a conversation about the sorry state of the world and its inhabitants.  Why are we seeing wives cheating on husbands?  Why are we seeing boyfriends lying to girlfriends?  Is there any greater pain than to have someone that you “love” and confide in turn around and stab you in the back?  It’s everywhere.  It’s all around us, and it makes me sick.  If you can’t trust your closest companion, who can you trust?  Frankly, no one.  Except God.

I’ve never been so aware of the major absence of love in this society.  We only look for what is going to please us right now.  We see something that looks better than what we have so we take it without any thought to the consequence; even if that consequence is hurting another person.  Love cares more for others than for self, and love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have.   Scroll back up and read I Corinthians 13 again.  Read what the Bible has to say about love.  If we were to love like that, how God says to love, I wouldn’t have had the conversation that I did with my sister today.  It’s time to stop thinking about ourselves and start loving others the way we’re supposed to.  We live in a fallen world.  All we can do is trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, and love extravagantly.  Of these three though, of most importance - love extravagantly.

I’m done.

 Drew