Monday, January 26, 2009

Hymn of the Week--I Surender All

Per the suggestion of my mom, this weeks HOTW will be I Surrender All. This is a good old hymn that I have sung all my life. This is what many Baptist bulletins call a "Hymn of Response."

On a theological note: One thing that I have become more sensitive as of late are hymns and songs that seem to be triumphal, focused on what I have done and often about the emotion of conversion. While conversion certainly is an experience with passion and emotion and not simply cerebral, the Christian culture has become fascinated with and even focused on the emotive. I think that this hymn borders on that. When we sing it as a family, I will simply ask, "How do we surrender all? Who gives us the ability to surrender all? Do you think that we surrender all to God once and for all?" Sometimes when I ask the kids questions like this, I hope that I am not reacting to my own evangelical/fundamental upbringing and confusing them. If I'm going to err though, I certainly want to err on the side of giving God the credit for my conversion. If it were up to me, I am sure that I wouldn't surrender anything. I certainly wouldn't surrender anything meaningful. Thanks be to God through whom I am able to surrender daily, get up after falling flat on my face, surrender again, and so on.

Hymn of the WeekI Surrender All
Words by Judson W. Van DeVenter
Music by Winfield S. Weeden

All to Jesus, I surrender;
All to Him I freely give;
I will ever love and trust Him,
In His presence daily live.
Refrain
I surrender all, I surrender all,
All to Thee, my blessèd Savior,
I surrender all.

Friday, January 23, 2009

KURTIS THE STOCK BOY AND BRENDA THE CHECKOUT GIRL

Gregg forwarded this to me today. I am not usually one to pass along things like this, but this is a good one. See my comments at the end.

In a supermarket, Kurtis the stock boy, was busily working when a new voice came over the loud speaker asking for a carry out at register 4. Kurtis was almost finished, and wanted to get some fresh air, and decided to answer the call. As he approached the check-out stand a distant smile caught his eye, the new check-out girl was beautiful. She was an older woman (maybe 26, and he was only 22) and he fell in love.

Later that day, after his shift was over, he waited by the punch clock to find out her name. She came into the break room, smiled softly at him, took her card and punched out, then left. He looked at her card, BRENDA. He walked out only to see her start walking up the road. Next day, he waited outside as she left the supermarket, and offered her a ride home. He looked harmless enough, and she accepted. When he dropped her off, he asked if maybe he could see her again, outside of work. She simply said it wasn't possible.

He pressed and she explained she had two children and she couldn't afford a baby-sitter, so he offered to pay for the baby-sitter. Reluctantly she accepted his offer for a date for the following Saturday. That Saturday night he arrived at her door only to have her tell him that she was unable to go with him. The baby-sitter had called and canceled. To which Kurtis simply said, "Well, let's take the kids with us."

She tried to explain that taking the children was not an option, but again not taking no for an answer, he pressed. Finally Brenda, brought him inside to meet her children. She had an older daughter who was just as cute as a bug, Kurtis thought, then Brenda brought out her son, in a wheelchair. He was born a paraplegic with Down Syndrome. Kurtis asked Brenda, "I still don't understand why the kids can't come with us?" Brenda was amazed. Most men would run away from a woman with two kids, especially if one had disabilities - just like her first husband and father of her children had done. Kurtis was not ordinary - - - he had a different mindset.

That evening Kurtis and Brenda loaded up the kids, went to dinner and the movies. When her son needed anything Kurtis would take care of him. When he needed to use the restroom, he picked him up out of his wheelchair, took him and brought him back. The kids loved Kurtis. At the end of the evening, Brenda knew this was the man she was going to marry and spend the rest of her life with.

A year later, they were married and Kurtis adopted both of her children. Since then they have added two more kids.

So what happened to Kurtis the stock boy and Brenda the check-out girl?

Well, Mr. & Mrs. Kurt Warner now live in Arizona , where he is currently employed as the quarterback of the National Football League Arizona Cardinals and has his Cardinals in the Super Bowl.

I knew I liked Curt Warner for a reason. He is an outspoken Christian. And unlike other quarter backs in the league, he seems to not be an egomaniacal hot head. I'll be rooting for the Cards on Superbowl Sunday. How about you?

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Baby, It's Cold Outside

Last night Amanda and I were freezing our tails off. We had all of the curtains drawn our flannels on and we were still freezing. When it's -19 outside, I guess it's going to be cold inside no matter what. Here's a look at this week's highs and lows.


Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Hymn of the Week--Wonderful Words of Life

It was request night last night at the Gammons house. Grandpa Dave requested this weeks Hymn of the Week, Wonderful Words of Life. It is a great selection demonstrating the sacramental nature of the Word of God.

Hymn of the WeekWonderful Words of Life
Words and Music by Phillip P. Bliss
Sing them over again to me, wonderful words of life,
Let me more of their beauty see, wonderful words of life;
Words of life and beauty teach me faith and duty.
Refrain
Beautiful words, wonderful words, wonderful words of life,
Beautiful words, wonderful words, wonderful words of life.

Monday, January 12, 2009

Some audio tests

We got Caleb a new tape recorder for his birthday. This has led to a lot of fun recording sessions. I thought that I would try to figure out how to get some of these online. This weekend I did just that. Here are a couple of short ones that I think everyone will get a kick out of. The quality is not very good, but come on, it's from a cassette tape.

In case I disappear, come looking for the voice on this recording.

I LOVE to hear Matthew laugh. Whenever I hear him chuckle in the back of the house, it makes me get a huge smile on my face. Give it a try.

Friday, January 9, 2009

Dadisms

My post about the clippers made me think of one of the Nagel family's favorite "Daveisms". It's not a phrase, it's more of a gesture. Whenever there is talk about whether someone should go with a generic item or a cheaper item over the more expensive purchase, Dave simply does his gesture (see picture below). He kind of moves the top hand back and forth. Which means he thinks you should go top shelf. This gesture is closely related to "Pay peanuts, get monekys." Dave has a number of these and my dad did too. After my dad died, I spent some time writing and tried to collect all of these sayings of his. It seems that now, they continually pepper my everyday conversation. It is a good thing. Do you remember any of your dad's favorite sayings? To begin the comments, I'll list some of my favorites of my dad's and Dave's.

DON GAMMONSisms
  • "You're almsost as good looking as your dad."--usually delivered on Sunday morning in front of the mirror.
  • "You'd be pretty good looking if it weren't for those two brown spots on your chest."--usually delivered when Joey and I were fresh out of the shower.
  • "It's colder than a well digger's hind end (or witch's titt in a brass bra.)"
  • "You look more nervous than a whore in church."
  • "Giminy Chirstmas!"
DAVE NAGELisms
  • "You run out of money, before you run out of great deals."

Male Grooming

Gregg made a very interesting post about his new safety razor over at their blog and it inspired me to write about my favorite male grooming tool. I have been cutting my own hair (what's left of it) for the past ten years or so. I have owned a number of different sets of clippers. This past summer I was getting a hair cut at the State Street Barber Shop in Alpena, Michigan, while on vacation at my mom's. I asked the barber where I could get a pair of clippers like the ones he had. He recommended the Internet. Ha! So I went online and found the Oster Classic 76 clippers. I also purchased the T Finisher clippers (both pictured above.) The set cost approximately $150. I figured with four heads to trim, these would pay off quickly. I have not been disappointed. These clippers fly through hair like a hot knife through butter. What would normally be a long, disappointing and sometimes painful experience with my old cheap clippers, has now become an quick, enjoyable time.

So jump online and get yourself or your favorite man a set of Classic 76's. You won't be disappointed.