NFL predictions for 2009... sure to go wrong! :)

10. According to ESPN.com my fantasy football team will finish ahead of all fantasy football teams, and will be labeled the best fantasy football team of all time.

9. After going 1-3 to start the season the Minnesota Vikings trade Favre to be a back up at Green Bay for a dancing circus act that was performing at all the Packers Half Time shows... wait until you see what the elephants can do!

8. The St. Louis Rams will start 0-6. Looking for answers they acquire Chase Daniel as their new QB. He leads them to an 10-6 season, a division title, and a playoff birth.

7. The Cincinnati Bengals will have to forfeit a game after 2/3rds of their team gets arrested for various reasons a night before a game.

6. The Detroit Lions will go 0-16... again, but this year the Raiders will also go 0-16. However, the Detroit Lions will be removed from the NFL. The raiders will have one year to change... or else!

5. Tom Brady leads the Pats over Peyton and the Colts. Brady says after the game, "If Peyton and I were on opposite teams I would have led the Colts to victory." The next day the two players are traded to the opposing team... Brady doesn't win a game with the Colts (they miss the playoffs), and Peyton wins 6 of 7 games leading the Pats to a 13-3 season.

4. The Dallas Cowboys will need to win their last game at home to make the playoffs. Down by 4 with 4 seconds to go and 44 yards away from the end zone, Romo will drop back to throw a deep pass... but the pass gets tipped by the new jumbotron scoreboard hanging over the field and is intercepted. the Cowboys miss the playoffs.

3. The Falcons and Saints will split the two games they play each other. The score for both games will be 98-77.

2. The Philadelphia Eagles will play at Green Bay for the right to play in the NFC championship game against Chase Daniel and the St. Louis Rams. The two starting QBs get in a fight before the game and get thrown out before the first play. So Michael Vick comes in for Philly and Brett Favre for the Pack (remember he was traded to them in #9). Michael Vick beats Favre and the Pack in Green Bay for the second time in his career.

1. The St. Louis Rams will beat the Kansas City Chiefs in the Superbowl 34-28. It will forever be known as the "Show Me Bowl"... a guy can dream, right?

I looked really hard but I never saw a pony... :(

Isaiah 55:8-9 (NIV)

⁸ "For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,"
declares the LORD.

⁹ "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Do you remember those books and posters that would have a bunch of random lines and waves that "supposedly" had a hidden picture if you looked hard enough... or long enough... or if you put your nose on the paper and crossed your eyes... whatever!

I don't remember what they are called but I do remember one day in elementary school that several of my friends were passing one around. "It's a pony!" I heard one girl exclaim. The next friend grabbed it and after a few moments declared the same thing. I thought they were making it up until the person who owned the picture showed my on the back where it said the hidden picture was a pony...

When it was my turn I tried so hard and saw nothing but wavy lines... no pony...

About a month ago I thought I had found the "picture" perfect job or at least it would be great for now. I had connections to people in the highest of management, they were willing to work with my ministry schedule, and the work was easy and enjoyable. When I looked at it I saw what it was and thought "this is what God wants me to do"...

In the interview I found out they weren't hiring but was told that they might call me sometime in the next couple of months with a position...

This morning as I was praying about an interview at a different place this afternoon, I told God, and kept reminding myself, that I knew the right job would come along at the right time and I asked God to keep me from going somewhere that I would regret a month later. I went to check my phone and saw I had a voicemail from one of my connections to the previously mentioned "picture" perfect job. In the voicemail they informed me that they had closed down after trying to work out some financial situations. They said they didn't want to hire me knowing that they may have to close down son after. I began to pray that everything would work out for them through these trials, and began to thank the Lord for His protection.

While I thought I saw the complete picture, God saw what was going on behind the cool looking colorful squiggly lines.

When life doesn't make sense, when it seems that one thing should happen and it doesn't... or something different happens all together... remember that God can see the "pony" that we can't see. He knows the complete picture! Trust in Him!

Walking by faith... not by sight,

Dean :)

Proverbs 3:5-6 (Message)

Trust God from the bottom of your heart;
don't try to figure out everything on your own.
Listen for God's voice in everything you do, everywhere you go;
he's the one who will keep you on track.
Don't assume that you know it all.

Why I want to blog.

I thought I would share why I want to blog with those of you who really want to know.

1. I love journaling about all that God is doing in my life... but I never find time to do it. I think writing about what God is doing in one's life is such an important Spiritual discipline that I want to do everything I can to do it. Journals don't seem to work for me.... so I will try blogging the goodness of God in my life! :)

2. Because I've been asked to. I had a few students suggest over this summer that I should blog about life, and beyond that, for reasons only explained by the favor of God, I know that I have had many people tell me that my words and my life have had an impact on them. If this is the case I want the opportunity to share my thoughts and life with those who feel comforted, challenged, encouraged, and/or motivated by it. *

3. Our culture is spending more and more time on the internet. If you know me... you know I LOVE to talk. I still cherish a good conversation over a good cup of coffee, but I want to be where people are going. Over the years it becomes more and more difficult to stay in touch as distance and time begins to bring separation to friends. So for those friends that I can't share a cup of coffee with right now, I hope you enjoy this blog until the next time God brings us back together.

I hope to post something on a weekly basis. If I start slacking feel free to get on my case.

Until then,

Dean :)

Psalm 77:11-13 (NIV)

¹¹ I will remember the deeds of the LORD;

yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago.

¹² I will meditate on all your works
and consider all your mighty deeds.

¹³ Your ways, O God, are holy.
What god is so great as our God?

*In no way, do I think that I will have a lot of people follow this blog regularly or that I have any new revelations about God and life to share with those who will read this. I just want to do whatever I can to bring God glory by sharing my thoughts and encouraging others to run the race of their life to win!