Iceman's Insights

I wish I were...

2007-01-10T08:04:00.000-08:00

Do you ever find yourself saying "I wish I were" or "I wish I could" instead of saying "I can"or "I will".Driving the bus the other day, I heard a 6 year old say, "I can't wait until I'm 15 and I can get my permit!"(The thought of this child ever driving, made me check to make sure my seat belt was on tight) Later, I heard a teenager say they wished this school year was over so they could head off to college and have all the freedom they wanted. I helped Dad this week with book sales at the college and I heard a student say they couldn't wait until they graduated this semester so they could finally get to the real world. I caught myself saying to Jessie just the other day, "wouldn't it be nice to be in elementary school again". Being content with where you are at in your stage of life would be a tremendous quality.All the phases of life come with such exciting potential, why can't we embrace where God has put us and take hold of the opportunities given us at the time? God can and will use people at all ages, in all areas, in all social classes, and of all personalities if we are willing to be used where we are. Paul wrote in Philippians about being content in every circumstance and understanding that he could do anything through him who gives him strength. We need to learn to be content with the opportunities and circumstances that God has laid before us. Contentedness does not mean we are satisfied with living a mediocre life for Christ. Paul never gave in to his rough circumstances, but accepted them and used them as opportunities to spread the news of Christ. Use your age, location, relationships, and occupation whatever they may be to further the cause of Christ. Take courage in Jeremiah 29:11 which says, "For I know the plans I have for you", declares the Lord,"plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

Still Here

2006-11-07T10:32:00.000-08:00

It has been a while since I last posted. I am currently a substitute teacher in Wood County Schools and am enjoying that. I will be coaching elementary basketball this year and I am excited for the season. My position at Grand Central has changed a bit. I am still the intern, but my emphasis has moved out of the youth program and is now focusing on starting a young adult ministry with those in their 20s and early 30s. Things are just getting started, but I am so excited for what God is doing and will continue to do with this ministry. Those who are wondering about the Powell Ministry, Jessie and I are still working with that ministry and are excited about how things are going there. We are taking as many as 25 kids and adults to church on Wed. nights and T.A.G. is going great. There is a blog completely dedicated to the Powell ministry. It is powellministry.blogspot.com and the young adult ministry also has a blog- yamatgc.blogspot.com. My blog has been down, so I hope this will be able to be seen.

Scuff Marks

2006-08-17T07:52:00.000-07:00

Sunday morning, I was looking at the front of the auditorium during services and something kept catching my eye. Behind the pulpit at our building , we have our baptistry. On the wall, I noticed multiple scuff marks going up the wall towards where the baptistry is located. Now, I am not one who cares about neatness and I'm actually shocked that I noticed it, but it made me think of when I was a child and I used to leave my scuff marks on that very same wall. As a child, the baptistry is a source of amazement and mystery. Every now and then someone will go back there and get dunked and as a child you notice the excitement and genuine happiness come across the crowd. The person has done something that you can just feel the importance of and you can feel that this experience marked a change in them. As a child, you want to climb that wall and look into this source of amazement and mystery.
Looking at the wall, I realize that kids are still fascinated and still want to know about this mystery and experience this change. If you watch after services, you will often find children boosting themselves up and allowing their shoes to scuff the wall beneath them, but you will never see an adult go to check it out. The mystery disappears a little as you grow older. How do we get people excited about this christianity like a child who would leave scuff marks on a wall?
You won't see a ton of fingerprints on the doors of church buildings from people so desperate to see inside. How do we get people excited about the mystery of Christ? It's most likely not going to come from having exciting worship experiences, moving messages, powerful drama, or magic water. It is going to come from watching people outside the doors who are living extraordinarily for the cause of Christ. People who will go out of their way to meet the needs of others, people who will use what they have not to further themselves but to promote success in others, and people who will stand for something bigger than this world. When people see people living like that, they will excitedly follow them in to the buildings where they worship once a week. And lets not let that be the goal. Let it be the goal that they too will become people who will live out in the community in such a way as to show Christ in their every action. Let their be scuff marks on the doors of our homes, cars, businesses, and hearts where people so excitedly want to know why we live the way we do and lets not leave them in the dark, but show them the excitement of the mystery of Christ.

Crazy Month and Top Ten Favorite Movies

2006-06-28T10:36:00.000-07:00

I've realized lately that most people use these blog things as like online journals about what they did from day to day. I, on the other hand, just randomly throw stuff on here after a few months of nothingness. I know I'm very random. The next month is going to be an exciting and tiring adventure so I hope to come back and type a little about those things when it is all over. I just finished Workcamp which was awesome. Next week will begin Mystery Mission Trip to Just Kidding guys I'm not that stupid, then I go to Joe's camp for a week in Barbour County, then VBS at GC, then off to New Orleans to help out there. I hope to be able to share some great stories when I return. I know God wants to use us these next 3 or 4 weeks, just pray that we are willing to be used. Ok, not to disappoint all those who in some way enjoy my randomocity- Here is my top ten all-time favorite movies. (Disclaimer:It does not mean I recommend everyone to watch these movies and if You don't care for one of these movies or have a problem with one of them please realize we may share different tastes and I am not perfect).
1. Tommy Boy
2. Cool Runnings
3. Remember the Titans
4. Toy Story
5. Bruce Almighty
6. Italian Job
7. What about Bob?
8. Field of Dreams
9. Patch Adams
10. Brian's Song
Feel free to comment if we share a movie on our top ten lists!

Weird Discussion Starters

2006-06-06T09:31:00.000-07:00

Donald is a duck, Mickey is a mouse, Pluto is a dog, what is Goofy?

What idiot put the “o” in the front of opossum? What is the dumbest spelling for a word?

If there was a movie made about you, what star would play your role?

If they were to name something after you, what would you want it to be?

What would be worse than having your taste buds at the other end of your digestive tract?

What would be the worst tasting food if it was covered with chocolate?

If “schnagleton” was a word, what would it mean?

If you were president, what would be the first thing you would want to send to Congress to vote on?

If OVU were to change their nickname from the Fighting Scots, what should they change it to?

Which of the seven dwarfs are you most like?

If you could go anywhere in the world for a one week all-expenses paid vacation, where would you go?

What would be the world’s worst occupation?

How many licks does it take to get the center of a tootsie pop?

The "Big Gift"

2005-12-29T11:37:00.000-08:00

Merry Belated Christmas! Christmas is such a fun time of year, but its not quite the same as you get older. I remember as a kid, not being able to sleep imagining everything possible that could be under the tree. I would try to logically figure out where on the globe Santa might be at that time and how long it would be until he got to my house and wonder how he got into my house since I didn't have a chimney. I would finally fall asleep and then wake up at the crack of dawn. I would then run to wake up my parents and brother and head towards the tree where there was usually plenty of gifts, but one gift that would be so big it wouldn't even be wrapped, you know, like a bike or something cool. I always heard it referred to as the "Big Gift".It was the gift that you would call all of your family and friends about because you were so excited about it.
As you get older, there very rarely is a gift that you open on Christmas that sends you to the phone to tell others about.Wake up! We have received a gift that should send us everyday to our beds with great anticipation and excitement. It should cause us to think about when He is coming back and how amazing this gift really is going to be. We know of this amazing gift that we've been given and the promise of its coming should send us to the phone to tell everyone we know. The gift of Christ and all that gift means should not cause us to go back to sleep and forget to tell anyone about it, but should send us on a news-sharing spree. We have got the best gift in the universe and to keep it to ourselves is crazy. Share the gift, there is plenty more to go around!

Fake Chapel Announcements

2005-12-06T10:06:00.001-08:00

The English Department will be sponsoring a symposium that will be held in Room 139 this evening at 6:30. Mrs. Sturm will be speaking on “How to plagiarize effectively”.

The Business Office will be having their bi-annual Day of being Nice this coming Friday. Be sure to attend- hours will be limited.

We would like to recognize our Fighting Scots football team on their undefeated season.

The History Department will be hosting a lecture by Dr. Sturm this evening in the chapel entitled “The Abe Lincoln Story: Through the eyes of a peer”. Everyone is welcome to attend.

Employment Opportunity; Lambert-Tatman Funeral home is looking for some part-time models in their coffin sales department. Sleeping on the job is encouraged.

We would like to recognize all of our athletes who have been named to the All-American team this year. I would like all of the Canadian golfers to stand.

All Dorm Residents: You were right all along. Fire alarms are just a suggestion. You are encouraged to sit in your room and refuse to leave.

Computer Labs will be open all night due to so many projects being due.

In other computer news, the computers in the labs will be down due to repairs until tomorrow afternoon.

*I noticed the day I did chapel announcements that nobody really listens to them and thought it would be funny to say fake announcements and see who caught them. If you have agood fake announcement, leave it as a comment. Please keep them nice( a little mean is Ok) and clean.

"Lord, Come quickly!"

2005-10-20T10:10:00.000-07:00

I often hear people pray, " Lord, Come quickly!". As a young child, this bothered me because I knew I was too young to be baptized and I'd already done some bad things and if they got their prayer answered I thought I was in trouble. I remember praying " Lord, please don't listen to them, I need about five more years!"
Now, I have found myself praying at points that same prayer "Lord, come quickly!" because there is something so exciting about the Lord coming and I have confidence that he will be taking care of me. The other night, though, after praying that phrase I thought very seriously about what I had prayed and the effect that would have on some of my friends and family if my prayer was answered quickly. If I truly care about bringing those people with me to heaven and I have a strong desire for the Lord to come quickly, then why am I putting off talking to these people and reaching out to them with a love from Christ. I need to get busy sharing the great news so that my friends and family can also pray confidently "Lord, come quickly!"

Giving like a Child

2005-09-19T19:52:00.000-07:00

Recently, I had the opportunity to visit my nephew, Peyton, for his fourth birthday. We went to church with him and when it came time for the collection plate to be passed(seperate and apart from communion, of course) he proudly put his change in. When I say "his change" of course I mean what he was given by his parents or grandparents, it was not really his money. It wasn't really his to give, but he gave freely and proudly. He did not earn it, or work for it, he doesn't even grasp the complete concept of money yet. It didn't seem fair that he should such satisfaction in an offering that wasn't really his to give.
This got me thinking about how we sometimes look at our christianity and our salvation. As hard as I try, I cannot earn my salvation. I am like a little child, dependent upon my Father to pay the price for me. I sometimes think my good deeds are mine to give and that by doing these things I somehow am saving my spot or furthering my reward. The Lord has given us everything, our talents, our health, our families, our opportunities, and we are called to use these given gifts as a way of giving back to our Lord and his Kingdom. May we offer our borrowed lives as an offering to him as a little child would give of his Father's money, willingly and with an overwhelming excitement.

Defying Gravity

2005-08-25T13:44:00.000-07:00

Have you ever been so excited about serving God you can barely stand it? I have this overwhelming excitement right now that makes me feel all goofy. It is so awesome to get to see God working and to be used by God. Powell is a ministry I have absolutely fallen in love with. Jessie and I came home last night and we were talking a mile a minute because we are so excited to see how the Spirit is working at Powell and through this ministry. Last night, seven kids from Powell came with us to church, which is about normal, but two of the boys came for the first time to an actual service. Now, they have always been willing to go to VBS, get school supplies, and hang out with us at T.A.G., but church was a scary and uninteresting event.
I remember trying to take one of them to church a few years and when we got there he began to cry uncontrollably and made us take him back. I felt that it was an end and that with him we had reached a road block. I don't have favorites at Powell, but I do have my own special connections with some and I have an even stronger desire for these two kids. I have often felt guilty about it, but I decided that if Jesus can pull three of his disciples aside and have his special times with and maybe even saw them as special projects, then it is OK for me to pay special attention to some. I think it is the potential that I see in them that is so overwhelming to me and I can see the impact God is having on them and I can see the potential they have to do some great things in the church. I loved getting to listen to them on the bus as I got to hear a new side of them, a side with their guard down. No longer did I have to joke with them about how shy they were because they were only nodding thei head to all my questions. They were talking like we were best friends and they no longer feel like Jessie and I are some strange people who invade their territory.
I will not share their whole life stories over this blog because they are too dear to them and to dear to us, but I am so excited that they are allowing us to become a part of their life, and though they might not realize it-letting God in too. It has taken four years, but I am finally a part of the community. When I walk around, people don't look at me funny and wonder what I'm doing there. They know who I am and why I'm there and they respect that. It has always been that we've hung out with the kids, but now I'm even getting to talk with the parents, the adults, the older syblings, and the staff.
I was singing with the radio today and caught myself saying these words: "I wanna be your hands, I want to be your feet , Go where you send me" and I realized that though I've been a christian for almost eight years I've only just started to gain that attitude and actually allow God to use me as his hands and feet. I told Jessie that I am so scared that we are gonna get tired because we're riding the excitement now and I don't want to let this community down and I want God to use us. The idea of "what goes up must come down" is something that plays in my head and it scares me. Human nature tells me by the laws of gravity that because I am way up high that I will fall. But thats a human law! If we're truly allowing God to work in us the laws of gravity have no authority.
I doubt many will have made it to this point in this blog because it is extremely long, but I haven't been on here and I have a lot to say. Well, I'll talk about Cincy another time. My fingers are cramping up!

The Town and Dark Colors

2005-08-02T11:00:00.000-07:00

My father's family lived in a small town along the river in West Virginia. My Grandmother still lives there and when we go to visit we get to hear about the people from the town. This is always extremely humorous to Jessie, my mom, and myself. The conversation will go something like this:
Well, did you hear that John Doe, you Know, Karen's sister with the one eye because she got stepped on by a cow, its her middle son, he had the three younger sisters who barely escaped the fire, and the three older brothers, one who died in the war, one who left when he was twelve and they never heard from him, and the other whose workin' for the legislature, he just had his fifth child with Annie Sue Brown Doe. The first two were mute, the third had a tail, and the fourth was deaf and blind, but plays a mean harmonica. This one seems normal for now, except that he weighs 26 pounds and was born last weekend.
Now, I exaggerated it a bit, but not as much as I wish. It has seemed to me that if you lived in that town, trouble was bound to happen to you. My Dad is 50 years old and already more than ten percent of his graduating class has died. It is really weird and very sad. I used to tease Dad about what weird thing he was hiding or what weird thing would happen to him. About a year ago my Dad was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease, a heard of but fairly uncommon disease. The disease affects your nervous system and leads to the most noticeable symptoms of uncontrollable shaking. My Dad is in the beginning stages and seems to be doing pretty well, but this is a trial he will be dealing with the rest of his life. As easy as it is for Dad and my family to get discouraged by this we do our best to look at the positive. Lately, when I've talked to my Dad he has been telling me about different conversations he has been having with people while walking through our community. He has been walking to help keep himself limber as a way of fighting the disease. Knowing a lot about my father's heart I can imagine that he had prayed for years for the Lord to give him opportunities to let his christian light shine in his community and to his neighbors. God answered my father's prayer and gave him Parkinon's Disease.
You might tell me that God doesn't give people horrible diseases, but thats your opinion and I would disagree with you. This thorn of the flesh that God gave my Dad has given him opportunities to encourage, love, and share with people from our neighborhood. Many of my high school friends have seen Dad walking and have walked with him for close to a mile just sharing with him about their plans for life. I can't help but think that God has given this to my father as a gift. Yes, this will be a rough trial to overcome, but it reminds me of the deleted scene from Bruce Almighty. God shows Bruce, Lance Armstrong( Tour De France winner of like 7 times and also Cancer survivor) and tells Bruce to paint a picture like that sometimes you got to use dark colors. Some dark colors have been added to my father's picture, but they are there to paint a beautiful picture for God.

Powell goes to Church

2005-07-28T06:46:00.000-07:00

We have been working this summer at Powell Apartments with the T.A.G. (Teaching About God) program on Thursdays and have been enjoying the friendships and relationships we have begun experiencing. Last night, we took a few mini vans up to Powell to pick up any kids who would like to go to church. We had seven extremely excited children go with us. They love T.A.G. and the chance they get to sing songs, make crafts, learn lessons, and eat snacks and they wanted more. They wanted to go with us so they could experience the place we come from. A few barely stood the excitement as they approached the building. They were fascinated by the experience to be in a building and to sing and hear peple speak. They were in awe as we were let out for class time and we began to take them towards their classrooms. Jessie took them to their classes as I headed to teach the teen class. She told me later on, that when she got to one of the classrooms with a group of the kids from Powell that the teacher was absent and one of the deacons hurried to put some material together and asked Jessie to sing some songs as he made some copies up stairs. After singing a few silly songs, the deacon came in and the youngest girl that we brought from Powell asked something to the effect of "Now are we going to get to learn Bible stuff?" She wanted to learn, she was ready to hear what the Bible said. When we took them back to Powell that night they all told me how exciting class was. I asked them what they had done and one boy with a frightened look told me he had left his paper in by the fountain and asked me to jump out and get it before we left the carport. I ran in and grabbed a half ripped piece of construstion paper with glue stains and a paper laying nearby of Jesus that had barely started to be colored. I took it to him and he was so excited to have it back. He looked at it as we went back to Powell and excitedly took it with him when we dropped him off. He had done something at church and was going to hold onto it. They all told me they would come today to T.A.G. and that they would be back next week for church. I thought about the girl who wanted to learn about the Bible and the young boy who wanted to take back what he'd done in Bible class and realized that this ministry is so worth it. These kids see an excitement and love in our group and wanted to get that experience again. When given the opportunity to experience it they looked forward to learning about God and holding on to what they could get from him. Showing others God's love and compassion works, but you can't stop there you need to take it a step further and give them the opportunity to learn further about God and receive the many gifts that God wants to give them. I don't know if any of these students will become christians later on in life, but I know that seeds are being planted and that God is doing some great things through us for these kids and doing some great things for me through these kids.

Mexico Mission

2005-07-28T06:30:00.000-07:00

This week, a group of our teens and adults, along with a group from Delaware are working in Mexico to build a meeting place for a church there of about 15 members. I have been left behind in West Virginia, but have been encouraged to look at the pictures and hear the stories on our youth group blog and on Matt Wilson's Blog, the youth minister at the Cedars church in Delaware. Looking at the pictures, I see an excitement in the chance to serve God. The work they are doing looks to be extremely tiring and I know they are working in some extremely hot weather. Hot weather + Hard Labor+ Teens and adults= a horrible experience? No way! They truly understand how to work for the Lord and realize it is a great and exciting privelege. I am very proud of their efforts there and wish them the best of luck. They are in my prayers. I ask that anyone who would read this blog would also continue to pray for their safety and for the success of the work now and to come in Mexico.

My top ten favorite Jack Handey Quotes

2005-07-19T15:23:00.000-07:00

The following are from Jack Handey:
10."It takes a big man to cry, but it takes a bigger man to laugh at that man."
9."Probably the earliest flyswatters were nothing more than some sort of striking surface attached to the end of a long stick. "
8."If trees could scream, would we be so cavalier about cutting them down? We might if they screamed all the time for no good reason."
7."Many people think that history is a dull subject. Dull? Is it "dull" that Jesse James once got bitten on the forehead by an ant, and at first it didn't seem like anything, but then the bite got worse and worse, so he went to a doctor in town, and the secretary told him to wait, so he sat down and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited, and then finally he got to see the doctor, and the doctor put some salve on it? You call that dull? "
6."If you ever fall off the Sears Tower, just go real limp, because maybe you'll look like a dummy and people will try to catch you because, hey, free dummy!"
5."You know what would make a good story? Something about a clown who make people happy, but inside he's real sad. Also, he has severe diarrhea."
4."Sometimes I think I'd be better off dead. No, wait, not me, you"
3."Whenever I see an old lady slip and fall on a wet sidewalk, my first instinct is to laugh. But then I think, what if I was an ant, and she fell on me. Then it wouldn't seem quite so funny."
2."I love to go to the schoolyard and watch the children jump and scream, but they don't know I'm using blanks."
1."To me, it's a good idea to always carry two sacks of something when you walk around. That way, if anybody says, "Hey, can you give me a hand?" you can say, "Sorry, got these sacks."
Jack Handey ( Pure Genius)- This blog is dedicated to the person I discovered Jack Handey with...Daniel Jonas.

Why are you walking, Bird?

2005-07-15T10:06:00.000-07:00

I don't know why I'm starting my blog by continuously discussing birds, but I got to talk about how dumb birds have become. I remember when I was a kid when birds used to fly. While I was walking on the ground, birds were moving around using their wings to soar in the sky. It seemed like a pretty cool thing to me and if I had the opportunity to flap my arms and avoid the traffic rush, I think I'd take advantage of it.
Quick sidenote: I am not a fan of birds, in fact, I have been known to despise these flying torpedoes of fur. It started when I was a child and I was out in the yard one day, minding my own business pretending I was Leonardo(the turtle not the artist) fighting Shredder. A bird just so happened to be enjoying the berry buffet that my neighbor had left for him in his garden. He then deviously looked over at the idiotic kid in the next yard who was pretending to order pizza while busting out some of the most awkward karate moves known to bird. I can see him now chirping over to one of his bird pals with a grin " Watch this!" Then takes off, lines himself up, figuring out windspeed and velocity, and squeezing in to release the berry feast upon my head. I, being the dignified 6 or 7 year old, screamed bloody murder. My father being the sincere parent comes around the corner of the house and begins hysterically laughing at his son who looks like he had just gotten out of the Smuckers' family pool. After a while, he calmed his laughing to a mere giggle and took me inside and washed me up. I had found nothing of this to be funny. The idea that all I could see was a sort of purplish gunky bird leftover suprise out of my eyes was quite irritating to me. After being cleaned up, I then plotted my revenge, grabbed a stick and a rock, and hid under our carport for the rest of the afternoon in preparation for its return which never came.
Today, birds tempt the little angry boy inside of me. Instead of flying when anything moving comes at them, they now stop, ponder the meaning of life, do some multiplication, say their ABC's, and then slowly WALK out of the way. Apparently some of them try an extra step, by the number of birds I've seen lying on the road lately. This seems to be a phenomenon that has happened in the past few years in the bird world. Some of the birds must have gotten together at the annual Summit and reached a verdict that they had used too many Frequent flyer miles and that they should join the rest of creation by walking. I am afraid that this phenomenon is leaving the future generation to be lazy and maybe even worse not realizing that they can fly and that this is a tremendous ability that has been given to them. What if birds are beginning to forget that flying is an ability that they have and that it is something extremely special. Now, this does give more opportunities to swerve and earn some points(joking). You may be wondering where I'm going with this, but hopefully not.
How many times in our lives do we look around at everyone else and see how their doing things and conform? How often in our christianity do we see a successful christian that is great at something and try to repeat what that person is? God made everyone special and he has given us unique abilities that we can serve him through them. Ministry is not just for people who can speak, lead worship songs, or pray beautiful prayers. Ministry is about how we use our gifts to serve our Lord and others in our own unique and beautiful way. Birds need to realize that though walking works well for us, that they have the great ability to fly. Are you walking like everyone else when you could be using your wings to fly?

Smacking the Window

2005-07-14T07:13:00.000-07:00

I was just sitting here in the office when all the sudden I hear this fantastic thud. Much to my enjoyment a bird had hit my window and flopped to the ground only to shake himself off and head in another direction. I truly enjoyed that moment today when my mood was not terrific. I know that sounds like I'm weird, but if you know me, you already knew that. It brought a smile to my face. Now, I know I should feel bad for the bird, this experience could cost him a withdraw in his self-esteem account not to mention the bills he will accrue for the future beak job and counseling visits. The bird has just had an experience that I have had before and I know the poor bird will survive atleast until he takes a rest on the wrong electric line(I'm sorry, couldn't resist).
How many times in our lives have we smacked the window? We are sailing through life and think we know just where we're heading when POW we smack into the unexpected. At that point, we sputter around trying to figure out where that came from and realize where we were heading wasn't what we thought. We then have the choice of staying put and questioning God on why he wouldn't allow me to go on this great path we had planned out for ourselves or getting up and flying down another path that is full of adventure and giving God all the praise for guiding you to a new path. Rejoice in the bumps on your head and thank him for allowing you to get up and fly again.

Thinking Out Loud

2005-07-13T08:20:00.000-07:00

Letting your thoughts be read by complete strangers is such an odd thing. It is one of those bad dreams you have when a teenager where you go around the school having everyone laugh at you because every thought that you have is being broadcast to everyone in the school either by a screen on your forehead or maybe being announced over the intercom system. What would our lives be like if every thought that came to our minds was immediately available for everyone to see or hear. Would we be more careful about what we let come into our heads? Would we be embarrassed or ashamed daily because of the evil and repulsive things we let float around up there everyday. God knows our every thought and sometimes he must be saddened by the things that we spend our time pondering on. What if we truly set our minds on things from above and not on earthly things? What if our minds constantly were focused on the things in which God wanted us to reflect upon? How different would our actions and daily rituals be? Would Christians be easier to spot?