This has nothing to do with UpStreet

Day 1 of 30 day fast.  

I am only throwing that out in case someone was planning to take me to Ruth's Chris Steakhouse sometime in the next 4 weeks.   

I don't want you to waste your money.  

Wait until after.  

Looks like rain. Again.

Okay, I didn't know I had moved to Seattle. I mean, where is this rain coming from? Last year we couldn't wash our cars because their was no "spare" water. This year if you wash it, well, your waisting your time.You would think that we must be WAY above the normal amounts of rain for this area, but no.  

According to the USGS website, May was the first month this year that exceeded the "normal" rainfall estimates for our area. I find that hard to believe. It has rained a lot. A LOT! I don't remember any year with this much rain in my life, so how are they coming up with "normal" numbers? Anyway, I not complaining, cause I'd rather have rain than drought. My car looks just as clean and shiny as everyone else's, and there is no possible way I am doin' yardwork when its coming down in sheets. Its not hot when it rains, so I am saving on energy bills. Oh, and naps are just plain better in a rainstorm. You know, come to think of it, rain is awesome.

Hmm, maybe I should move to Seattle.

The Gospel of Toy Story

Hey guys, I am re-blogging this from another site.  Thought  would like it...

  Wednesday, 09 June      2009

•  

  The Gospel According to Pixar: Toy Story

  by Todd of The Mockingbird Blog
  
  For those who haven't seen the movie (it is 14 years old!), Toy Story is a tale about the secret lives of Andy's toys. Whenever Andy leaves, a whole unknown toy world comes to life. This is a world of staff meetings, checker games, friends, and Plastic corrosion awareness meetings. Andy's favorite toy is Woody, an old pull-string cowboy. Woody enjoys a charmed life of love and personal prestige. Yet in one day he loses all of this as Andy is given a new Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger toy for his birthday. Woody is a character that has lost his place in life. Buzz has supplanted him as Andy’s favorite toy and Woody is discarded to the toy chest. But Buzz is oblivious of the benefits of being Andy’s favorite toy. He thinks that he is a real space ranger who needs to return to the mother ship.
  
  There's so much to say about this movie: it touches the deep issues of loss, preaching and the nature of evil. But I want to highlight specifically the relationship between Andy and his toys as the pure Gospel message. 
  
  As demonstrated so clearly by Woody and Buzz, the toys derive their value externally through the love and attention of Andy. The most important thing in Woody's world is the place he holds in Andy's heart as his favorite toy. But as Buzz Lightyear's delusions demonstrate, Woody and Buzz are just toys. Woody isn't really a cowboy and Buzz really isn't a space ranger; Woody can't round up cattle and Buzz can't fly.
  
  When Buzz is confronted by the shocking reality that he is a toy, he is thrown into despair. He says, "I'm not a space ranger. I'm just a toy, a stupid little insignificant toy." Yet Wood (the preacher) urges him saying, "Being a toy is a whole lot better than being a space ranger. . . Look, over in that house is a kid who thinks that you are the greatest. . . you are his toy." Buzz looks down on the sole of his boot and sees "Andy" written on permanent marker. Immediately, Buzz springs into action. He is saved from his despair through the assurance that he belongs to, and is loved by, Andy.
  
  In the same way, our value is only found through being loved by God. As Luther said in the Heidelberg Disputation, "Rather than seeking its own good, the love of God flows forth and bestows good. Therefore sinners are attractive because they are loved; they are not loved because they are attractive... This is the love of the cross, born of the cross which turns in the direction where it does not find good which it may enjoy, but where it may confer good upon the bad and needy person."

Cooked!

Motorcycles in church, burgers, wings, and football.  Yeah, thats a pretty good Sunday.  

Thanks to everyone who came out yesterday.  Tracy and Robin...you guys rock!  Thanks for grillin' up all those little bits of heaven we call BURGERS!  They were fantastic, dude. Really.

Hope everyone stays tuned in to this site for updates as we move forward with the summer and ramp up for kicking off full speed in August.  Again, thanks to everyone who has helped UpStreet get where we are!  We love you! 

 

Here's a few shots from "Baton Grill"....