Good friends and good music

Often times my tastes in music have come from the people that I care about. This probably began with my friend Anna Manente in high school. Her dad played guitar in a bar band. Music like Eric Clapton, John Denver and James Taylor was always playing at her house when I was there. Tricia was in college at this time and she brought home artists like David Wilcox and Nanci Grifith. I passed along the music that I was discovering. When I got to Taylor I met people like Mike Wooten (Johnny Cash, Springsteen, Dylan, Bill Mallonee, VOL), Ben Arendt (Smashing Pumpkins) and Amanda (Over the Rhine). Over the Rhine is a great example of this. Before I met Amanda I had heard them and even been to one of their shows. I didn't really like them. I didn't "get" them. Once I saw Amanda's excitement for them, I wanted to like them and gave myself over to them. They have become one of my favorite bands and I look forward to each upcoming album.

I have also had the opportunity to introduce people I love to music that I love. Tricia began listening to the music that Anna introduced to me. Amanda has embraced almost all of the music that I like. My friend Jared has become a big Springsteen fan. Bill from work has begun listening to OTR and likes it. I recently passed on some music to guys I'm still in contact with from Taylor and Ryan Adams was a stand out favorite. Probably my most satisfying contribution is to my boys' musical tastes. Ben, Caleb and Matthew are Springsteen fans. Someday they will talk about the music that they listened to growing up. That will be fun.

I am always interested in the music tastes of my friends. To what are you listening? Who has influenced your musical tastes?

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Now playing: Gillian Welch - Revelator
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Gammons family wish list

Following Gregg and Allison's lead, we have gotten a little bit of an Amazon.com list together. The only difficulty with these lists is that not everyone wants to buy all of their stuff from Amazon. If that's you. Send us an e-mail and we'll take what you bought off the list so that we don't get duplicates. Click on the link at the right and you'll see our list. Check back in the next couple of days. We're still working on it.

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Now playing: NPR - Death Cab for Cutie frontman Ben Gibbard in Concert: 05/10/2007
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My personal investigation of creation and evolution

I was raised in a home where evolution was seen as the devil's handiwork. It was a huge shock when I got to Taylor University and found out that all of their science faculty believed in evolution. Since then it seems that every VERY smart person that I have met believed in evolution. So my question has always been, if evolution is somehow true and I believe the Bible to be completely true, how do I reconcile the two? Things like calling the first 12 chapters of Genesis myth or just saying it is all a mystery didn't make sense to me.

Last week we watched the NOVA program Intelligent Design on Trial on PBS. It was very well done and raised more questions than answers for me. I was especially frustrated by the Christians that were involved. The Intelligent Design movement seems like a meager attempt at repackaging Creationism and "backdooring" it into mainstream thought. Many of the people interviewed came out and said as much.

Since, I have been seeking for either some Christians who believed in evolution that could reconcile their views with those of the Bible well or for Creationists who were seeking to scientifically support the words of the Bible. This is when I came across Reasons to Believe. It is an organization that seeks to support a Biblical creation model through science. The founder, Dr. Hugh Ross, is a former CalTech fellow. All of the people on his staff are also REAL scientists. I listened to a debate that was hosted by the Veritas Forum (an awesome organization). In this debate, for the first time, I heard Christians who all believed in Jesus debating evolution and creation. It was great. I think at this point I have come to a few working conclusions.

1. I believe that the Bible is true and does not contain any "myth".
2. I believe that science can and does support claims in the Bible. All truth is God's truth. The more we find out about science, the more it will help make sense of the Bible.
3. These are tough issues for smarter people than me, but I am expected to work on them in my own way.
4. Smart people who love Jesus disagree on these issues.

Have you done any thinking about these difficult questions? I'd love to hear your thoughts.

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Now playing: Mar - Mother Star Sun (Edit)
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Thanksgiving week recap

We are finally home! It was a great week at Mom's in Alpena. The boys had tons of fun with Uncle Al playing in the snow. One day Mom, Tricia, Alex and Davy all went to the mall. Amanda said to the boys, "It's kind of nice to be just our family for a little while, isn't it?" Both boys said, "No." We asked them if they missed everyone. They said, "No, just Uncle Al." Alex is the crazy uncle that plays non-stop with the boys, pulls them on the sled, does crazy photos on Mom's mac and pays great attention to them. He is going to be a great dad to his coming boy.

We also did Christmas gifts with Mom while we were in Alpena. Benjamin and Caleb both got a great Lego set. We spent around eight hours building them both. When the set comes with two instruction books, you know you're in for some time. It was a lot of fun though. Mom got me a Stir Crazy popcorn popper and an ice cream maker. We made our first batch of ice cream last night (cookies and cream). Amanda said that it was as good as any ice cream she's eaten. I would agree. Mom said that there is a Ben and Jerry's ice cream recipe book on Amazon. I'd love to get that for Christmas (hint, hint.)We are excited to try some new recipes.

One downer of the trip and yet a very funny moment was that I got a ticket in Wisconsin on the way back. This is at least the second or third ticket that I've received driving across Wisconsin. The police officer was very nice though and "let me off" with just a city ticket that he said would not affect my insurance and would be no points. When the officer went back to his car Caleb asked, "Are we all going to jail?" Then Ben said, "Dad, I will give you some of the money out of my piggy bank." Amanda and I almost cracked up laughing. They are all such wonderful people and we are so blessed to have all four of them in our lives.

It was a great week and we are so thankful for each of you that are important parts of our lives. See all of the pics from our week here.

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Now playing: NPR - Neko Case in Concert: 04/09/2006
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We're thankful for . . .

Today we are especially thankful for Carrie! Today is her birthday and we are glad that we have had another year with her. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CARRIE! We all love you.

Cousins

There are five children five-years-old and younger here at the Gammons' house. It's a lot of fun, but if you're not used to it, it's a lot. We have had a lot of fun hanging out with the Falder clan. Matthew and Davy are fast friends. Mom bought all of the kids matching camo pj's. Tomorrow is our attempt at a brined turkey. More to come on that. Sharon is down stairs right now yelling at me about getting the salt dissolved in the water.

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Now playing: Neil Young - Long May You Run
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What a view!

As I have written, my mom's house has a beautiful view. She has talked about selling this place. I think the view and not coming back to Alpena would be the things that I would miss most.