Vote for Pedro!

Napoleon Dynamite, if you haven't seen it you need to. Do it just so you don't feel like an idiot. It will help you get important skills, like nunchuck skills, bow hunting skills and computer hacking skills. Check out the trailer here. Plus as a bonus, you'll learn to build a cake.

The Long Awaited & Highly Anticipated Events of 9/9/2004

Our friends, Dave & Kasey were expecting their firstborn - oddly enough - on Labor Day. She went past her due date and was more than ready to deliver yesterday when they came over to our house for Bible study. We had a cookout last night and so I was standing out front with some of the other guys when they pulled up. Dave got out of the car, followed slowly by Kasey, who smiled and said Hi, but I could tell she would much rather be at the hospital than at our house. She made her way inside and the guys hung out by the grill. After the burgers, dogs and brats were cooked, we all went in and prepared our food. Before we prayed, I asked Kasey if she wanted to have this baby tonight, because I didn't want to go before God Almighty and ask Him to do something that she didn't really want. See James 5:16b So we prayed for our food, and a smooth delivery, asking that it might happen that night. We started eating and were finishing up around 8pm - getting ready to start the evening's study. Kasey was coming downstairs and says that she needs Dave, - they needed to leave to go to the hospital. They were out the door and into their car so quickly that, some people didn't even know they left. We went on with Bible study, went through a very difficult section of scripture (Hebrews 7 - The Priesthood of Melchizedek and the similarities between him and Christ versus the differences of the Levitical Priesthood. It's a lot to say, let alone understand!) We finished up around 9:30, people got their stuff together and not long after, I went to bed. We got a phone call around 12:20. I had been asleep for probably at least an hour, but the phone is on my side of the bed so I answered it. A little background info on me: If you wake me up after I've been sleeping for a while I won't be fully awake/functional/coherent for at least 30 minutes. So, when I answered the phone last night, I definitely wasn't all there. Here's a replay of what I remember from the conversation:

Me: Hello? Kasey: Hi Josh, It's Kasey. Me: Hi. Kasey: I'm a mommy! Me: That's Awesome! Kasey: Yeah, we had a little boy! Me: That's Awesome! Kasey: We were here for about 2 1/2 hours before we had him. Me: That's Awesome! Kasey: He's 8lbs. 10 oz. Me: Wow, not quite a 10 pounder but still. . . That's Awesome! That's 4 times for those of you who are keeping track. Kasey: mrrrphmp, mrr mrw wa wa. Mentally I had fallen back asleep at this point. Me: Uh huh!. . . That's Awesome! Kasey: Josh? Me: Yeah? Kasey: Just let Kirsten know that she doesn't have to let everybody know tonight, she can wait until the morning. Me: Okay, I will. Kasey: Alright Bye! Me: Bye. Kirsten: Who was that? Me: Who was what?

All that to give a big welcome to Benjamin David Firestine. Born last night, apparently just before midnight! Congratulations Dave & Kasey, we know that God will teach you great things about yourself and Him as you raise this child. We love you guys. Oh yeah - they didn't find out until last night what the baby's sex was. I just want to say for the record - I called it. Many others thought it would be surely be a girl, but I was unwavering in my declaration. Apparently - I've got some connections with the Almighty.

A much needed break

We just got back from vacation and boy did I ever need it. You ever feel that way, like you could really use some time off. An escape from the daily grind? I was feeling that way, not because of any lack of satisfaction in my job, no major complaints about that. In fact, just the opposite, I really do like my job. I just had my annual performance review and it went really well. I asked for some additional training in some software and my boss thought it was a good idea so, I got to buy it. It's always nice to know that your work is valued and there's no better way for a company to show that to an employee than by investing in them. Except maybe an obscene increase in salary. So, I didn't need a vacation for any exhaustion created by my work. I just needed a break. Boy was it a great week. We left on Friday the 20th and drove about three-quarters of the way to our destination before stopping for the night and procuring lodging at a Sleep Inn. Ha! Sleep In! Not on that mattress brother! Anyway, our journey continued after a continental breakfast. (Definitely not a continent's variety, more like a multi-state or perhaps a tri-city breakfast) Anyway, we jumped in the car and completed the last leg of our journey to Topsail Island. Our journey was complete when we opened the door to Shore Thing around 4pm on Saturday. Apparently, if you own a vacation home, that others can rent for a week, you must give it a name. Anyway, we spent the first couple days just hanging out on the beach and in the house playing Hot Shots Golf on the Playstation 2. We went out and bought a boogie board, it didn't really work well, or maybe we just didn't work well with it. Dad bought a new kite after the 19 year old one that he had finally gave up the ghost. Then about a day later he bought another one. The first one he got was your standard - assemble poles, attach string, add wind and you're flying, the second one is an airfoil, so no poles at all, pretty neat. We had fun with those but we couldn't really get them to do much besides fly, no diving or weaving back and forth. I was reading the "Cape Fear Living" book and saw an advertisement for a kite shop called Blowing In The Wind in Wilmington, NC which was about a 30 minute drive. So we loaded in the minivan and headed out. Wilmington is a beautiful old city, beautiful architecture, historic homes with ornate rought iron gates, neat little shops and lots of character. We went into the kite shop and were instantly geeked out. There were some awesome kites, big colorful airfoils, weird shapes that you'd never think would fly and even kites for surfing with. Dad and I both bought 'stunt' kites - these things are really cool. On our way back we stopped at Sticky Fingers for dinner. Let me tell you, if they had a location in the greater Akron, OH area, I would be just as obsessed with their ribs, wings and barbecue as Cooper is with Jamba Juice. When I say 'barbecue' I mean it like they mean it in the south. Pulled pork smothered in sauce. Heaven. Sweet tea. A big 'ole hand towel, instead of wimpy paper napkins. This is what eating is supposed to be like. I highly recommend the Sticky Fingers experience, if you're heading south of the Mason-Dixon line, seriously - GO, you'll thank me later. Back at the beach house, we took the kites out for their inaugural flights just as the sun was dropping past the horizon. Let's just say that it's not very easy to fly a kite with two lines when it's too dark to see the strings. So our first night with the kites had plenty of crash landings. The next morning was much more forgiving and we learned the basics, as the week went on though we definitely got better at having the kites spend a majority of the time in the air, and less time slamming nose down into the sand. Hopefully we'll have some windy days this fall and I can get it back out again. It was a lot of fun, and because of all the crash landings, it was something that Dad, Ben, Nate & I did together. Two of us flying/crashing and the other two, straightening out the lines and getting the others airborne again. When we weren't flying kites, swimming, or craving Sticky Fingers ribs, we spent time watching the Olympics or reading. I started Courageous Leadership by Bill Hybels, pastor of Willow Creek Community Church. It's really challenging me to be a better leader of my ABF (Adult Bible Fellowship or "sunday school" for all you non-chapelites), my small group and in my marriage. The book's premise is that leaders not only direct their gifts to those they lead, but also inspire others, while keeping themselves on track with the ultimate leader - Jesus Christ. On the drive home Kirsten and I listened to The Dream Giver by Bruce Wilkinson. (Thanks again for letting me borrow that one Rockwood!) Another great book. Do you have a dream? Are you chasing it? If you do, and you give it to God, He'll expand and make it part of His BIG DREAM for the world. Really makes me think about what He's doing in my life, with work, my friends and the whole Gitgan thing. The book is part parable and part coaching. If you feel you're made for something bigger than where you're at now, you're right! Turn that dream over to The Dream Giver and see where you'll go. Altogether, I had a great vacation. Kir and I spent some real quality time and I really feel that last week will have a profound impact on the rest of our life together. She read The Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands by Dr. Laura Schlessinger, she thought it was great, maybe she'll tell you about it in her blog? If not, ask her about it. It seems like she really got a lot out of it. If all my vacations were like this I think I might not have a job at all.