Someone who thinks like me

Expectedly, the Steelers lost to the Colts last night. But I found this on ESPN.com's Page 2 today.

Antwaan Randle El ranks 14th in the NFL this season in punt-return yardage, but he trails only Kansas City's Dante Hall in a lesser-known -- but no less prestigious -- punt-return yardage category: Pointless Yards Traveled Running Around In A Circle And Side To Side On Punt Returns That Inevitably Result In Only A Few Positive Yards Gained.

This guy thinks like me...that's scary. For those of you who find humor in the ridiculuous, here's the page. This guy is funny.

Can you believe it's past Thanksgiving already? I always enjoy Thanksgiving. My college friends and I get together over Thanksgiving, rotating whose house it's at every year. It's 4 days of eating, laughing, not much sleeping, eating, playing games, catching up, and...oh yeah, eating. Lots of fun. I treasure those times. I have so much to be thankful for. I have a great relationship with my parents and brother, a great job, a nice apartment, wonderful friends. I'm very blessed.

This weekend is my company Christmas party already. And I'm listening to Christmas music on Accuradio. But it's 65 degrees outside! It had better get cold...and soon. I was so excited to see snow on Thursday morning. It melted quickly, but it gives one hope nonetheless.

Thankful hearts

Okay, so I was going to add some of my own thoughts afterwards, but I think I don't need to. Here is my devotional from this morning. I'm definitely not thankful enough.

The worst moment for an atheist comes when he is really thankful and has no one to thank.
- Unknown

Thanksgiving is the theme song of the Christian. For a Christian not to be thankful is like a dog not to wag his tail at his owner's approach.

Thankful Christians walk around grateful for every breath, every sunset, every new morning, every color in the color spectrum, and every star in the sky. Like an alcoholic who is clean and sober, noticing beauty and taste for the first time, we are grateful just to be alive because we have been dead for so long.

It's hard to think of one vice that the virtue of thankfulness cannot render useless. One does not need to steal when one is thankful. A man does not covet his neighbor's wife when he is thankful for his own. No one craves more when he is grateful for what he has.

In the same way, a thankful heart cancels out pride and arrogance. No need to judge other people when you are thankful for who you are. No need to measure yourself by and compare yourself to others when you are thankful for what God has done in your life. No need to keep anyone out of the kingdom of God when you're overwhelmed that you got in. (God can let in anyone He wants. I am simply glad to be counted among the saved.)

You don't care if you get the important seat at the table when you are overcome with gratitude at simply being invited to the dinner. You don't put heavy weights on other people's shoulders when you are thankful that God has lightened your own load. You are not obsessed with what other people think of you when you are overwhelmed with the fact that God is thinking about you all the time. You don't demand respect when you are thankful for your place. You don't have to hide your own sin when you are already thankful for God's forgiveness. You don't have to protect your image when you are already number one with God. You don't have to condemn other people's blindness when it's only the grace of God that has allowed you to see. You don't have to try for the highest place when you are already grateful for whatever place you were given. You don't have to make a show of spirituality when you are thankful for having received the Spirit. You don't have to clothe yourself in holy robes when you have been already clothed in righteousness. You don't have to be full of yourself when you are thankful that God has filled you up with Himself.

Fearless Five

So the torch has been passed to me. Without any further ado:

Five Places I'd Like to Visit (to which I haven't already visited)

1. Japan
2. Alaska
3. The Grand Canyon
4. Mount Rushmore
5. Victoria Falls

Five Favorite Restaurants

1. Red Lobster
2. The Pizza Grille
3. Cobblestone's
4. Red Robin
5. Macaroni Grill

Five Sporting Events I Would Like to Attend

1. Pittsburgh Steelers home game
2. Super Bowl
3. Ohio State home game
4. Olympic gymnastics competition
   
5. Boston Red Sox home game

Five People from History are Having Dinner at My Place

1. Esther
2. Job
3. Martin Luther
4. Louis Armstrong
5. Adolf Hitler

Five Things I Don't Know

1. What it's like to be in love
2. What it feels like to kiss someone
3. How predestination/free will works
4. Why some people like coffee
5. How to throw a football properly, complete with spiral
   

Alright, now it's your turn Lacky...

Thank you

Oversized sweatshirt: $15.

Comfortable pants: $10.

Box of tissues: $2.

Getting hugs from friends when you need a pick-me-up: Priceless.

Consider this

When I catch myself comparing myself with others or thinking, I could be happy if only I had what they have, then I know I need to withdraw for a while and listen for another voice. Away from the winds, the earthquakes, and the fires of human recognition, I can hear again the still, small voice, posing the question it always asks of self-absorbed children: "What are you doing here?"
Too often I reply to the voice by whining about some of my own Ahabs and Jezebels. And the voice gently reminds me, as it has reminded thousands of Elijahs before me, that I am only a small part of a larger movement and that at the end of the day there is only one King whose approval will matter: "It is the Lord who judges me."
The voice also whispers, Do not despise your place, your gifts, or your voice, for you cannot have another's, and it would not fulfil you if you could.
John Ortberg, "The Life You've Always Wanted"

Why do I despise what I have? Oh, I don't outright say that I despise it. But it's surely not as good as what that person has. And isn't that the same as despising? But when you think that God knows us fully (there is no mask or pretension I can wear to hide my spirit from the Spirit of God), it's an awesome thought. Because God knows me so well, I get the things I truly need...my personality, abilities, spiritual gifts are all "tailor-made" as it were to suit me. So why in the world do I think that someone else's tailor-made qualities would fit me?

"O LORD, you have searched me and you know me...I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well."
-- Psalm 139: 1, 14

In loving memory

Michael Alfred Sample
December 20, 1955 - November 9, 2005

"My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will never be shaken." -- Psalm 62: 1-2

They've gotta stop playing Monday nights

The Steelers that is. They're throwing off my sleep schedule! But unlike Chargers and Ravens fans (sorry MK), I get to go to bed a happy camper. I wasn't sure they'd pull it off. Definitely had me worried. But it's a good time to be a Steelers fan. Right now, the fact that they won is all that matters. :-) But I thought it was interesting to see what people think of Brian Billick and Bill Cowher.

I decided I like Halloween. I haven't properly dressed up for a couple years. But this weekend was the annual Green Door Halloween dance. I made my costume. That's right...the girl who has never sewed anything more than a hem in her life sewed a costume. And not only that, I altered the pattern and didn't have any help from my mom, who sews very well. I was so excited! I made a girls baseball uniform from the 1940's (think "League of their Own"). I was Rockford Peach! How very fun. So I decided (again) that I like dressing up. It was fun to be someone else, if only for a night.

I also decided that if you have to forget to move your clock, it's definitely better to do it in the fall. I was awoken Sunday morning by a friend who had forgotten to reset her clock as well and was at church with hardly anyone else there. So she took a nap on my couch while I went back to bed. It's great to realize that when you thought you only had 15 minutes left to sleep, you actually have an hour and 15 minutes. I love falling back. :-) Don't know how I forgot, though. That's a first. The only problem (well, it's not necessarily a problem) is that now it's dark at 6:00 at night. That's kind of a bummer. But then I remember that shorter days mean winter, and winter means snow. I guess it's a good thing. So bring on the shorter days!