Last week, I bought the new “Everything Glorious” CD by Passion. I’ve been listening to it the past couple of days, and I think I’ve found another winner. This is my fifth Passion CD, and I really like each one of them! I have… “Better Is One Day,” Sacred Revolution,” “Our Love Is Loud,” “One Day Live,” and now “Everything Glorious.” All very, very good worship albums! They have a couple other CDs out there that I would like to get someday.
In other news, today the Cardinals completed a four-game sweep of the Dodgers, and the Braves swept the Padres in their three-game series. The Braves have now won five straight games, and tomorrow they visit St. Louis for a three-game set against the Cardinals, who have won seven straight! So… something’s gotta give. 
The Braves had a pretty awful first half of the season, but I’m not ready to give up on them yet. They’re down, but they’re not out. No question will it be a big challenge for them to make the playoffs again, but I wouldn’t put it past them! If anyone can do it, they can.
Phew. Today I played in a softball tournament in Red Bud with some guys I know from our men’s softball league. At 7:00 in the morning, most of our team met up at Denny’s in Belleville. We ate breakfast, and then we all headed south to Red Bud for our 9:00 game. The first game was really close but we lost it 16-14. The second game, at 2:00 in the afternoon, was more lopsided as we won that 8-0. We played a third and final game at 4:00, and it was another fairly close one that we lost. The final score was 17-13 or something. I ended up batting 6-11 over the day, I believe.
It’s kind of weird — I definitely like to play softball, but I was not at all disappointed that we lost that last game. Perhaps it was because it was 98 degrees outside, I felt pretty drained, and I was pretty anxious to hit the road and get back home. Softball tournaments can be fun, but I would much rather play with a team I know, such as our family team. I’m competitive, but I’m not that much of an enthusiast where I just have a desire to play no matter whose team I’m on.
I’m not back in our air-conditioned house, protected from the hot sun. I love air-conditioning. I think the sun was starting to get to me during the last game and through my drive home. I’m doing fine now, though. I may have withdrawn just in time. 
Well, today we learned great news! James, who has been unable to play softball all season due to a broken foot, visited the doctor this morning, and he got the go-ahead to play! His foot has completely healed, with no surgery of any kind needed. Thank God!! I remember back a few months ago, it seemed surgery was inevitable, and that he would likely have to have a couple of screws put in to help the bones heal. But now… he’s good as new, evidently. Isn’t it amazing how God fashioned our bodies to heal themselves? Pretty incredible, when you think about it. You get a cut, and it doesn’t stay that way. Your skin knows to heal up. You break a bone, and your body knows to mend it.
Speaking of softball… this weekend, I may be playing in a tournament out in Red Bud. A friend asked if I would be interested in playing with his team, and I think I will if they still could use me. At first I was hesitant, but I know a few of the guys on the team, and I think it would be a fun time. So we’ll see how that pans out.
I’ve been spending quite a bit of time lately trying to tighten up SmorgasWord, and I’ve got to say I’m very happy with the progress. I’m at the point now where the game is pretty well good to go, although there may be a couple of minor kinks to work out. It is fully functional, and lots of people have been using it.
For any blog readers who are interested in using it, go to http://www.famteam.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=6060. If you are not a member of the message boards, just create your own account, and then you can log in and check out SmorgasWord. Soon enough, I hope to have it as part of the FamTeam Game Room, which now has three games (Reversi, Tic-Tactics, and Jude’s new game, Wavelength). For the time being, as it’s still technically in “beta” mode — that is, is still being tested and polished up — you can find it by visiting that thread.
In other news, we lost yesterday’s softball game by a score of… 18-6. We’ve been struggling a little bit as of lately, so hopefully we’ll be able to pick it up soon and get back to our winning ways! My average has taken a dip, too, as I’ve been in a mild slump. I’m down to .561. A few weeks ago, I was flirting with .600! Oh well… I’ll just have to get back in the groove.
Last week, I just finished reading “God Doesn’t Believe In Atheists” (thanks, Ashley!) by Ray Comfort. It was a pretty good book; he covered a lot of ground. I’m in the middle of reading “I Don’t Have Enough Faith To Be An Atheist,” which is obviously another apologetics book. It’s a pretty long one, so I may just continue with that. I’m not typically the type who can just sit down and read for hours on end, so I tend to just chip away at them. I’m also reading the court reporting theory book, which is teaching me all the fundamentals in regards to court reporting. So with those books coupled with the Bible, I suppose there’s plenty to read.
We were in for quite a surprise on Saturday evening! Three hot air balloons landed on our property, deflated, and packed up. It was quite the sight to see! That was definitely a first for us.
I got quite a bit of video of the whole ordeal, so that might just make it as a Video Of The Week sometime soon. Speaking of the VOTWs, we’ve had some interesting ones lately — one of me feeding a cracker to a giraffe, and the current one is a highlight reel of the fireworks show we put on during the 4th of July party out at our place. The next video just might feature hot air balloons.
At lunchtime today, we “broke in” our new dining room table, as the family gathered around for lunch. The table worked just great. It looks beautiful, and it just fits perfectly in the dining room. Good going, James. :-
In other news… there’s not a whole lot new! God is very, very good. Very, very faithful. This past week was really fun and exciting, and I look forward to seeing what next week is going to bring!
Yesterday was unusually gorgeous. I was spending some time out in the creek, sitting on one of the rocks there, praying as I watched the water trickle through. The sun was shining through the trees that shade the creek, and there was a really pleasant breeze blowing through the area. As I sat there, I just thanked God for such a beautiful area. This is in my back yard? Wow. Thank You, God!
This past week, I’ve been thinking how it’s really interesting what we’ll do, as “adults,” to make somebody smile or laugh. Especially with chubs — it’s funny what we’ll do or say just to get a laugh or a giggle out of the chubs. Especially with regards to our two youngest brothers, five-year-old Peter and three-year-old David, I’ve been kind of struck lately at how silly or childlike we’ll act just to get them to laugh. Somehow, we don’t mind making a fool out of ourselves when you get a gleeful chub out of the deal. It’s fun having chubs around.
What a memorable 4th of July — for a variety of reasons. Some of which include a very fun party we had, with a bunch of friends and family members visiting. We had a big storm roll through the area in the evening, and it actually knocked out our power for a while! The power finally returned after being out for an hour or two, and shortly after that the rain had subsided.
Our fireworks show started about an hour late because of the wet weather, but the show turned out really well nonetheless. My role in it was as a lighter for some of the big shells or cannons. Wearing safety glasses and armed with a lighter, I set off many big blasts.
I… it was a really special holiday, but for some reason I’m just keeping it to a few short paragraphs here. Maybe it’s ’cause I’m tired. There were a lot of unexpected, yet pleasant, surprises throughout the day. 
The party went really, really well despite all of the rain, and it was just an overall wonderful day. Of course, it’s just such a privilege that we live in the land of the free, where we have freedom to serve God and to obey Him. There’s so much to be thankful for!
Today, James put the finishing touches on our new dining room table that he built from scratch. Mom and he went to Lowe’s a few days ago, purchasing some lumber and hardware, and James has been feverishly working on this for the past several days. It has very much been his “baby.”
After staining the entire thing and applying a few coats of polyurethane, the new table was ready to be moved into our dining room. This evening, Dad, John, Mark, Jude, James, and I all got together to move the thing (it’s heavy!) to its permanent home. It now rests in the dining room, and it looks great. James did such a great job! Honestly, it could pass for a very pricey store-bought or Amish-made table. Finally, our family can fit around one table.
Well, tomorrow (technically today) is the 4th of July, Independence Day. We are hosting a party with a lot of friends and family members. We even have quite a fireworks show planned. It should be a great time, really!
Oops… I usually make an effort to make a post at the beginning of each month, or else this little problem occurs. I really ought to fix that, anyway.
Yesterday, we got a lot of work done around the house. I spent several hours staining the back deck, James spent all day working on the new dining room table that he’s building, and John, Mark, and Jude worked on a concrete pad that we’re pouring in our back yard.
We’re hosting a 4th of July party, so it seemed like a good time to take care of these various tasks around the house. I was a very hot day (96 or 97 degrees), and I walked away from the deck-staining job with a big sunburnt patch on my back. I… guess my arms aren’t as long as I thought. Oh well.
Yesterday, Mom, Dad, and Paul went over to Busch Stadium to do some more work for the upcoming Softball Classic. They interviewed Royals second baseman Mark Grudzielanek, who was one of the three Cardinal players at last year’s Classic. I think they’re planning to interview Reggie Sanders this afternoon over at the ballpark, so that would be neat!
By the way, you may or may not notice that this is one of the first posts in a long time that’s not cross-posted onto Xanga. It’s not a mistake. I’m just sorting some things out.