A few weeks ago, in Florida, a boy was shot by a man who claimed it was for self defense. The press heard this story and ran with it. The way it was reported the man who did the shooting was a villain. A racist, trigger happy, militant neighborhood watch freak. The media didn’t say this, but they drew a picture and let people fill in the gaps. Just the right adjectives and well placed emphasis will go a long way to spin a story. They also chose to only show a 14 year old boy in any of the photos, although the boy who was shot was now much older and much larger then the photo. There was public outcry as to why this man wasn’t charged and arrested for a crime.

Just recently it was leaked out that the “facts” of the earlier reporting were a little misguided. The new leaked information tells a completely different story. A story of a troubled teen and a concerned neighbor who did wait until the very last moment in a physical altercation where he was in fear for his life having his head beaten into the pavement, defended himself with his gun. Suddenly, my heart which held him in contempt was flopped to now pity him for being caught up in that situation. It now seems as though he is not the villain he was painted to be. He, I’m sure, is broken over this situation.

I just think it is interesting how we have this need to story line every situation so that we can better understand it. When we are given a few facts, we fill the gaps with reason and character that we sometimes completely make up in order to find a story to fit the facts. Much like those visual tricks and puzzles work, where the eye is given just the right amount of information and it assumes the details to match it’s perception of what your brain thinks it is seeing. We do that for stories as well, and sometimes it’s wrong. But we do it all the same. Everyone does. Your family tells a story about you. Your employer tells a story about you. Maybe you are someone’s nemesis? What are you doing to actively effect the stories being told about you? Don’t just sit back and let people assume who you are. Make your character known by your actions. Also, don’t be a bit part in the story. Make an impact in the lives of people you interact with. Draw people into your story and make it a good story, a worthwhile story. There are some stories that change our lives. Maybe your story will be that to someone else.

I also started doing micro loans through Kiva.org. I’m new to it, but it seems pretty neat. I got into it through a podcast I listen to called Stuff You Should Know with hosts Josh and Chuch, or is it Chuck and Josh. They talked about it a lot and I looked into it a little deeper and was pretty impressed with the potential of taking a little money and helping make a big impact in one persons life. I’ve started with a fairly small amount of money, but if I keep adding a little each month then by the end of the year I will be able to personally finance home building mortgages in some seriously impoverished areas around the world where 5-7 hundred dollars will add a room or build a one room house. I encourage you to check it out. And if you listen to podcasts, you really aught to be listening to Stuff You Should Know from howstuffworks.com

Today I built a quick little fun project. I have committed to give blood every time I get the chance ever since late last year. It isn’t that hard of a thing to do, but I have to be reminded of when the next time I will be able to donate, because when you donate, you can only donate after a set number of days has past. So, being a programmer, it was easier to code a php file on the web to do the date conversion and show me the next time I can give blood then it would have been to look at a physical calendar and count the days. Also, since it’s on the web and other people can see it, it builds some accountability for me to keep it up to day by donating. You can check it out here at http://giveblood.dev.nxil.com/

I went ahead and scripted it so that people viewing could also find out when they could give by inputting a date and the type of donation they gave. The whole thing was tossed together pretty quick with my eldest daughter watching over my shoulder half the time while I explained the process. I love how you can take something like PHP’s easy date handling and jQueryUI’s interface tools and easily put something together that works on any device and with a little CSS3 to make it look pretty. Oh and I did use a table in my layout, so suck it design snobs. That’s a nerdy inside joke for HTML nerds.

I have been doing a lot more writing on the iPad. I know I trashed it early on, and it still is not ideal, but when you are up late at night writing, it is the quietest device you could use to wright with. I just need to get a real keyboard to go with my iPad or iPod, and then I could see using those devices a lot more for blogging.

Simple, but always enjoyable. Open some chicken breast and stick folded spinach wrapped around artichoke hearts inside the fold. Cover with olive oil and season, then place in a pan of Marsala wine and bake at 400 degrees for about 40 minutes. I served this along with a split pea soup that was delicious.

HomeBudget with Sync $4.99

MONOPOLY for iPad $.99

Angry birds, fruit ninja and cut the rope games $4.99 $2.99 $1.99

What do you think? Any suggestions?

“If another believer sins against you, go privately and point out the offense. If the other person listens and confesses it, you have won that person back. But if you are unsuccessful, take one or two others with you and go back again, so that everything you say may be confirmed by two or three witnesses. If the person still refuses to listen, take your case to the church. Then if he or she won’t accept the church’s decision, treat that person as a pagan or a corrupt tax collector. (Matthew 18:15-17 NLT)

But it seems to often we turn the cheek on our brother and do the body of the church harm by not correcting the sin issue that caused the problem. I feel guilty of this. Recently I made the choice to walk away from what had been my church home for more then 8 years simply because I didn’t want to make waves or hurt people’s feelings. But there was a sin issue that needed to be addressed, but instead it was denied. If I truly loved the church, I would have followed the scripture above and involved more people. Instead, I walked away quietly, with the best of intentions to not cause division in the group. Now I feel like I witnessed a mugging and didn’t report it. I had thought I was being righteous by not causing more problems, but the truth is, sometimes we are supposed to make a fuss. In the case of sin in the church we are to see it through to confession or to expose the unrepentant soul.

I can make all kinds of excuses about other reasons for breaking fellowship, but in the end, it was a bad call. God has provided for and protected my family bringing us to a new place of fellowship. We live, as always, under His grace and forgiveness.

Here is the guide I am using for the fast.

http://danielfast.wordpress.com/daniel-fast-food-list/

Below I am going to keep a log of how it is going and what I am eating for two reasons. One, as accountability to myself, because I don’t have any friends who are doing this with me, so to help keep me on track I am going to publicly post my journey. Second reason would be to encourage anyone else who wants to attempt this fast and to give them ideas of how to adjust to the restrictions. While I am fasting I am also going to be reading through a couple different reading plans on youversion.com. One that I already started at the beginning of December which is the One Year Bible which helps you read the entire bible in a single year and a Stewardship reading plan to help with one of my new years resolutions. YouVersion has really changed my quiet time which had become nearly non-existent as far as real consideration over what I was reading. I’m not a big fan of the One Year plan because I always feel rushed to pack in so much scripture each day, but I committed to doing it, so I’m going to keep it up and also continue a more topical study on the side, perhaps at a slower pace.

Day 1

This may be the hardest day, because I started a day early it was a real temptation to go ahead and wait another day. The day started with me fixing pancakes and thick cut bacon for the family and then a friend dropped off two dozen fresh crispy cream doughnuts. That combined with all the snacks sitting around from new years, it made for a very tempting morning. But I did good. Didn’t even lick my fingers when handling the bacon. I ate two oranges and a banana for breakfast, and for lunch I had rice, steamed carrots, and olives. I think I could live off olives alone if I had to. For dinner I am fixing the traditional black eyed peas and for the rest of the family, I’ll be making a chili. I also plan on making a nice rich vegetable soup that I can take to work for lunch next week. In preparation for the next few weeks I have a couple bags of apples and oranges laying around in case I need a snack. I need to pick up some peanuts too this week. But in all honesty, this is by no means a difficult fast compared to a true fast without any food. It’s really more about your thoughts about what you are going to eat and fear or worry over how it will sustain you.

Day 2

The caffeine withdraw kicked in last night. Horrible headache and nausea, and I really don’t drink as much caffeine as many others do. It was pretty bad, but it’s over now and I was feeling pretty good today. I had some fruit and oats for breakfast. I stirred the oats into hot water with a little salt. It was like eating glue, but I knew it would help with the big day I was about to have. We took the kids to the zoo for Free Day Monday. It was a lot of hiking. I drank a bottle of orange juice, which I originally wasn’t going to do juice, but it was pure orange, and it was easier to take it then oranges. I also snacked on almonds all day. I just ate a fresh tomato and for dinner zucchini and rice. I’m learning that with whatever you have, there are those who have less and are happier then you are.

Day 3

Had a great day. Feeling good. Snacked all day on nuts and fruit and had some veggie soup for lunch. Also had popcorn as a late night snack. I was surprised that it was on the okay list, but it is and it helps to eat something with a different texture from time to time.

Day 4

I am really enjoying my bible reading plan. Praying hard for some hurting families and friends. Food isn’t as much as an issue,but it is frustrating having to fix a separate meal for myself after fixing dinner for the family. Extra dishes and all.

Day 5

I notice that I’m eating less and less every day. Either I’m becoming more efficient about what I eat, or I’m just getting so board with the same veggies that I have stopped over eating for the first time. For dinner I had hand full of olives, a tomato and some humus. For lunch I had an apple and for breakfast I had a couple bananas. I have really been enjoying my reading time on YouVersion’s iPad app. The kids got bibles for Christmas and they noticed how much I was reading and have asked to read together in the evening, which has been very nice and opened a lot of discussion and questions.

Day 6

Feeling great. Thinking I could stick with this for longer then 21 days. I don’t miss meats as much as I miss sugar. Milk too. I love a glass of milk with a cookie.

Day 7

Starting to get hunger pains in between meals. Need to plan better form meals. We went to the park for lunch and I forgot to pack something special for me. So I picked up a cup of fruit from chick-fil-a, which was awful by the way, and just had that for lunch. So it’s been a week and I’m still going strong. There have been lots of temptation moments and I worry that I will habitually pick up something and eat it.

Day 8

Still doing great. I realize now how much I crave sugar and the unnatural amount of sugar I usually allow myself to eat. I have a deep love for perfectly cooked veggies though, so I have actually enjoyed the opportunity to focus on that. It is still a lot of extra effort to fix food for the family and then think of what I can eat. This really has been a great start to the new year and I am feeling very blessed.

Day 9

Its been great. Really enjoying my life right now.

Day 10

I think I should be eating less, because I haven’t been really hungry yet.

Day 11

Eating the strangest things just to keep from getting board with eating. Can of pickled okra. Can of olives.

Day 12

I made my own granola today. Oats and flax seed in canola oil with a dash of salt. It turned out pretty good. It’s impossible to find cereal with no sugar in it, so I can poor unsweetened almond milk into this and it feels kinda like cereal. I finished my stewardship reading plan and I am 30 days into the bible in one year. So doing pretty good on that end. I’ve even been reading in the morning too, which is hard for me because I’m a night owl and a morning zombie.

Day 13

Starting to feel hunger more often. I’m eating less now, and that may be why. I eat one real meal a day and just snack a when I am really hungry. It’s getting old having to fix a second meal just for myself, so I am more likely to just snack on some fruit and nuts and have less mess to clean up.

Day 14

I feel like today was a milestone. Two thirds the way through and now I am really missing meat. I find myself fantasizing about steaks. Got behind on my reading this weekend. I wish you version had reading plans that were more forgiving about skipping days, especially because I tend to do two or three plans at the same time, so I am not worried about missing a day on one plan.

Day 15

I think I am crossing a line, in that my hunger is not as easily subsided by the same foods I ate earlier in the fast. Either that or I am eating less and just don’t realize it. With a change in habits like this for 21 days, I wonder how it may effect my eating habits beyond the 21 days.

Day 16 – 19

Haven’t been on my website keeping up much. Still keeping with the fast. Took my weight the other day out of curiosity. I have not lost much, maybe 8 to 10 pounds at most. I didn’t weigh myself before I started. But not much considering the drastic change in diet, but it’s probably because I over compensated by eating a lot of veggies. After the fast is over I plan on eating a steak, donating some blood and then starting an exerciser routine. Thinking about buying the fitness game for xbox connect. I played the demo and it was pretty addicting.

Day 20

There isn’t really any one thing that I miss from before I started this Daniel Fast. It really wasn’t that challenging and I highly recommend that others give this a try. It was a great way to start the year and has helped tremendously to set a habit of studying scripture.

Day 21

I kept thinking all day, what time does this end? Can I go ahead and eat a pizza at midnight? But I just waited until Sunday morning to start back on normal foods. Like BACON!!!!!

Beyond 21 days…

I think it’s a mistake to try to pig out after a fact like this. I had waffles and bacon for breakfast with fresh hot evaporated milk syrup all over. Totally hurt my stomach. I guess my stomach shrunk quite a bit through this fast. So I should step back into normal foods slowly. Also, it might be best if I kept my portions low for as long as I can keep that up. It’s amazing, living in America with such an abundance and surplus of food, that we sometimes forget what we really need to sustain our physical selves. Just as easily as we forget and neglect what is needed to sustain or spiritual selves.

It occurred to me the other day that we sing a lot of songs around Christmas about the anticipated birth of Jesus, but we ourselves have grown up in a society that has complete under appreciation for that moment in history. I think that is why Christmas is so easily watered down or distracted by traditions and festive elements. We don’t know the feeling of not knowing. We live in a post Christ  area, where the only thing we are waiting on is inevitable. We await to see Christ face to face. Even if you don’t believe in Jesus, you will get a chance to see his face. You won’t like the outcome of that meeting, but it is inevitable. Even if you are waiting eagerly as I do for the second coming of Christ. About once a day I look into the clouds and pray like, “now would be fine with me, I’m ready to see Jesus.” This isn’t to say that we don’t wait on God for other things in our lives. We wait on God’s timing and guidance, and we wait on him to inter-vein in situations and relationships. But to really wait on something so crucial as for God to lay out a path for your salvation. To see your faith under the foot of an oppressive government and to have this promise of a leader who will establish a kingdom that will never die. To have that promise and be waiting on it. I think you have to picture that to really appreciate what we celebrate at Christmas time.

I hope everyone get’s a chance to get away from the noise and sit alone with God and just quietly ponder on the long awaited Savior. Generation to generation passing down a promise, putting complete faith in a man who hasn’t been born and a God who’s timing is not always understood by us, but was so perfect that it split the history humanity into two parts and grew a kingdom that has yet to be put down and grows constantly with every surrender of burden and shame and acceptance of grace and freedom. To Mary and Joseph it was baby Jesus, but to the wise men, the shepherds, the angels and to you and I today, it was King Jesus. He didn’t grow to become special, he was special from the beginning of time. Christmas isn’t a rags to riches story of a man born in a barn who makes it big the big city. It’s the story of the King of Kings, foundation for the existence of all matter and life, time and space, stepping down to the lowest of positions to fulfill a promise and to make the ultimate sacrifice. To teach us what love is and to show us ultimate love to start a never-ending relationship with you and me.

Touch A Truck

This fund raising event is “free” but they take donations for a food for kids program. It’s a great chance for a small boy to see every truck he has ever read about.

Zoo Free Days

When it is a little cold outside the zoo will often offer a free day, sometimes when it’s not cold at all they offer a free day on a Monday or Tuesday because zoo traffic is typically slow those days. The best way to find out is to follow the Oklahoma City Zoo’s Facebook page.

Child Safety Fairs

The city of Edmond during the summer will offer a few of these safety fairs around town, usually in a grocery store parking lot. The bomb squad robot or police dogs are always a fun thing to check out, and if it’s a big safety fair there will be a medical helicopter there. If you get there an hour before it starts and hang out, you will also get to see the helecopter land.

Edmond Arts Festival

This is a big event. It’s a good chance to check out some local artists and if you are a fan of fair food, they typically have a good selection of the latest least healthy treats that you can deep fry on a stick.

45th Infantry Museum

This is open year round. They accept donations, but it is free to the public. It’s a great chance for little kids to see tanks, planes, and army trucks, but it is also a good chance to talk to older kids about world history.

OKC Spray Grounds

During the summer, Oklahoma City runs several community spray grounds, which are public playgrounds utilizing water. When it hits 100° outside during the summer, these are a must.

OKC Everything Goes Dance Student Show

This was a lot of fun. I think you can follow them of facebook to find out about shows, or you can check out their website.

Liberty Fest Car Show

Liberty Fest is hard to ignore if you live in Edmond. We take Independence Day pretty seriously. The car show is a great chance to see (not touch) some awesome cars. It’s free and usually located in a campus parking lot at UCO.

Liberty Fest Parade

Edmond has one of the best 4th of July parades in the nation. I have lived here all my life, so I tend to take it for granted. Pictured above is our favorite part of the parade. The Star Wars fans. I don’t know who these people are, but I thank them for there efforts in the parade, and for battling the empire.

LibertyFest Fireworks Display

No need to argue this one. Unless you hate awesomeness, you’ll love the fireworks display. Never disappoints.

OKC Riversport Challenge

Our kids got connected to this and LOVED it. It took place over several weeks of training for a final 3 part race of boating, biking, and running. A lot of fun and a great experience and absolutely free.

OKC Latino Festival and Parade

It was a great little parade and lots of activities up and down the strip in the capitol hill area south of downtown. More information here. http://www.fiestasokc.com/

Metro Library Events & Concerts

The Metro Library is always up to something. They print a book each season with a list of activities and concerts that you can be a part of. The downtown library pictured above was having a big Christmas program and even when they are not doing events, that is a beautiful building to hang out in when you are downtown.

Sam Noble Museum of Natural History Free Day

You have to watch their Facebook page to learn about these free days, but they are usually twice a year. This is a great place with lots to see. Plan to spend about 4 hours just to see everything and there is a children’s  discovery area with crafts and demonstrations at scheduled times.

Edmond Pumpkin Chunk’in

Who doesn’t enjoy seeing pumpkins getting hurled through the air and smashing into little pieces. Each year this event grows, with more activities and more pumpkin guts.

OKC Museum of Art Free Day

We have been to a couple of the free days at OKC MOA, and I’ll be honest. It’s usually when they are renovating a gallery space. It’s a little disappointing to find out that 1/3 of the gallery space is off limits. It may be better to go on a non-free day, but it isn’t the most kid friendly place either, so I don’t think I want to pay money to stress out about my kids not touching stuff. But for a free day, a little art and culture never hurt anyone.