January 23rd and 24th, 2011 - 45th and 46th day

Sundays are always easy to be nice.  This Sunday I had to give a 20 minute talk.  I really wasn't nervous, because I liked my topic.  I spoke on recognizing and appreciating what God has given us.   I told the congregation to imagine they were at the beginning of a large dirt field that stretched on for five miles.  The field had very large trees at the side. They were there with their family, and none of them had a drink or eaten anything in two days.   At the end of the field was plenty of life saving food and water for the entire family.  They were given the choice of three things to help them on their journey.  First, an SUV, loaded with gas, and lots of food and vegetables, and a five gallon jug of water.   2nd, a chainsaw and enough apples for the entire family and two quarts of water.   3rd, a metal detector with a 15 foot arm, and no food or water.  Which one should you pick?  The SUV of course!  However, I then gave them more information, three miles into the field was a 200 foot deep crevice with jagged rocks at the bottom, and the only thing to cross it was a very old, one foot wide rickety board that may or may not hold even one member of your family.  Now which one would you choose? (Hint, the chainsaw, to cut down the tree and make a plank to carry to the crevice).  Then I gave them more information, the field was a mine field.  Would that now change your choice?  I then related it to life, and how sometimes we think we bummed that everyone has an SUV loaded with stuff, and all we get is the dumb metal detector, yet God knows each of us, and he gives us the tools we need to get through life.

Sunday night was nice, Nicole and Kelly Anderson went up North to help Amber go wedding dress shopping tomorrow, so I invited Mike over to have some barbecue sandwiches for dinner.  Then, Hunter and Logan and I sat around and talked and played pool.  It was a nice evening and I wasn't even tempted to be mean to anyone.

On Monday Amber and Nicole and Kelly went dress shopping and they found a really nice dress.  It was at a place called Pamela's and they don't sell their dresses, you can only rent them.  So, Amber is renting her dress, and she's happy, and I'm happy.  The boys and I were alone for Family Home Evening, so what did we do?  What any group of guys would do when left alone, we decided that we needed to go to the store, pick out any treat, and eat that treat.  I picked an entire half gallon of Reese's Chocolate Peanut Butter cup ice cream!  How good is that.  Then we came home, ate our treats, and played pool and watched "Chuck" on TV.  Fun night.  Things I learned yesterday and today.  1st, I'd rather go through a mine field with a metal detector than an SUV! 2nd, It's nice when you have friends that feel comfortable enough to come over, eat with you, talk for a few minutes, and leave, without feeling like they are imposing.  Mike's one of those kinds of friends.  3rd, I love this rent-a-wedding-dress idea!  How cool is that, get a nice dress, save some money, everyone wins!  4th, Reese's Chocolate Peanut Butter cup ice cream rocks, literally! (I loved it, but I looked like a rock when I was done).  5th, Fighting the fluff by eating Reese's Chocolate Peanut Butter cup ice cream and Milk Duds is like trying to save the dolphins by not eating tuna fish (Does the word fruitless come to mind?)