If Dogs Could...

Last Monday, as I drove to work, I noticed a particular billboard. This billboard has probably been there for a long time, and I drive this route every day, but I had never noticed it before. Why had I never noticed it before? you ask (go ahead...ask). Well, first, it is the second billboard of two, and it is the one farther from the road. So naturally I will notice the closer billboard first. Second, it is mostly obscured by trees until you get very close (as you will see in the first picture above - click on it to see a larger view). So you have to work to see it. Third, it is at a sharp bend in the highway, and personally I think it's more important to pay attention to the cars and road than to the billboard. It's a 55 mph speed limit, and we all know I, Jon, interpret speed limits as the LOWER end of the speed restriction. You will rarely catch me going below 55 mph at that bend. (Remember, Keeper always taught me to ACCELERATE into the curves in Pickle's Cordoba. That has become my driving mantra.) So it is very hard to pay attention to billboards at this bend.
It gets worse. Once you notice the billboard, it is almost impossible to read. You see the top of a lady's head with bubbles coming out of it, and in the largest bubble is something she's presumably thinking. But the print in the bubble is so small, you cannot read it until you're about 100 feet away. (Non-math majors, get out your calculators!) - (55 mph)x(5,280 ft/mi)/(60 min/hr)/(60 sec/min) = 80.667 feet per second. So at 100 feet away, you have about 1.24 seconds to read the words in the bubble! It's not gonna happen. I first spotted the billboard Monday, and was able to read "IF DOGS COULD." Tuesday I made it to "IF DOGS COULD DRIVE." Wednesday I was getting the hang of it (and there was no traffic), and made it all the way to "THERE'D BE MORE CONVERTIBLES." Ha Ha funny, now what does that have to do with SCANA (which I had recognized on the billboard earlier)? Thursday I was able to read the text in the upper right, and realized that they're saying SCANA is so dependable, they supply your gas, and you never have to think about it. So your mind is freed up to ponder things like "What kind of car would a dog drive?" So here is the final billboard in all its glory:

Great job SCANA...you're so "off my mind" that it took me four days to read your billboard, and I had to think hard about it a mile in advance so I would be ready to read really really fast. So this got me thinking. Isn't this kinda how I live my life?
At Sparks-A-Rama last week, one of the things the kids (our "Sparks") had to do was yell answers to these questions:

• Who are we? ... "SPARKS!"
• Who for? ... "JESUS!"
• What to do? ... "LIGHT THE WORLD!"

What a good reminder. We who are believers in Jesus Christ are here to light the world, to spread the light of Jesus Christ, to be that candle on the hill (Matthew 5:13-16). But too often we are that billboard by the side of the road. We don't follow the same paths as the world, but are off to the side a little, and we hope those who don't know Christ will see us and find Jesus because of how we live. Most of us (and this includes me) are the second billboard in, obscured by trees, and our print is too small for anyone to see. Yes, we are just like SCANA Energy..."IN YOUR LIFE. OFF YOUR MIND." This is not what a Christian should be. How can we ever make a difference if we don't intentionally talk to people about Christ? We need to shout it from the rooftops and hilltops. Yes, we must live like believers, but we must also GO into the world (outside our cozy homes, or at least bring them into our homes), PREACH the gospel and DISCIPLE those who come to Christ. Those are a lot of action verbs. I have squashed the Spirit for way too long.

Sparks-A-Rama 2007

This year again, Sylvia and Jon had the pleasure of coaching a Sparks-A-Rama team from our church, Pleasant Valley North Baptist Church. We traveled north to Rossville, GA, and competed with seven other churches. Our kids did well, having a great attitude and having lots of fun. As you’ll see in the pictures, there was a lot of activity and a lot of smiles.
We heard a tremendous testimony from a 26-year-old woman diagnosed with breast cancer, and of her trust in Jesus Christ. She has finished chemotherapy and will soon begin radiation therapy. She stood before us, bandana over her bald head, Bible in her hand and tears in her eyes as she told the story of her life and followed it with the Romans Road, clearly presenting the gospel and laying out the way to salvation…Jesus Christ. Wow! What a way to start the day. I don’t know if there was a dry eye among the adults in the gymnasium when she finished.

The kids weren’t the only ones having fun. Even the coaches had to do an event! In fact, they had the referees and line judges come out and do the chicken dance for entertainment. We all had a lot of fun, and followed it with a trip to McDonald’s. Sparks-A-Rama 2007 was a great success!
Photos from top to bottom:
(1) PVNBC Sparks Team
(2) Sparky saying hi to PVN kids
(3) Brian in the Sparky Safari
(4) Jon doing the coaches' Sparky Safari (for entertainment only)
(5) Laura tossing the bean bag to Eli in the Sparky Bean bag In-and-Out
(6) Around the circle on the Sparky Train
(7) Through the legs on the Spaky Balloon Pop

Stephen & the Leotard

Now if you received our newsletter, you know there was a picture of Syndi trying to dress Junior up as a girl. You also know there was another picture of Stephen with one of Syndi’s pink hats on his head, claiming he would not be turned into a sister. Well, Stevie Boy has succumbed to the influence of his sister, and this past weekend was dressed by her in a black leotard, as you see in the picture. She gets a real kick out of this, but Daddy doesn’t find it so funny anymore. And if you think this picture is funny, you should have seen Junior, who was dressed in a matching black leotard, with goggles on his head. At least Syndi saved the pink leotard for herself! (Please let this next baby be a girl!)

Sylvia & GRACE Yearbook

Sylvia spent half of last Saturday at a friend’s house working with other moms on the 2006-2007 yearbook for our GRACE homeschool co-op. She and the other ladies had a lot of fun (NOT what they had expected!), and told stories that made the others laugh till they cried. Best of all, they got everything done that could have been done, even finishing a little early. The picture shows Sylvia hard at work laying out a yearbook page.

Cedartown Fire Department

In early February, our GRACE homeschool group had a field trip to the Cedartown Fire Department. Jon, who works in Cedartown, was able to join them, so the whole family enjoyed the tour. We were able to sit in a fire truck, learn about the ladder truck that extends a basket up to 95 feet, fit all the kids in an old classic fire truck (used for parades only now), and watch a fireman put on all of his gear and explain the purpose of each piece. We saw the kitchen, the room where they hang out, and the sleeping quarters upstairs. (One man had his bed downstairs under the stair well because he snores!) We were able to slide down the fire pole (Weeee!), and Syndi bravely made the slide! They had an educational trailer where they had about 15 kids and parents at a time come in. There they had a “fake fire” as Syndi called it, and had smoke and taught the kids what to do if they were caught in a house fire. Each kid received a fire hat (as you can see in the picture) and a Cedartown Junior Firefighter badge. At the end they drove the ladder truck out and extended the basket (with one of our homeschool moms in it) halfway up (to about 50 feet). The kids had a lot of fun and learned a lot.

Syndi & the Piano

Syndi has been taking piano lessons from her grandmother over the last couple of years. Grandpa and Grandma spend a few months in Georgia every year, and Grandma comes over every week (or other week) and gives Syndi a piano lesson. Syndi is excited about it, and spends time between lessons practicing. More recently, she has gotten pretty good at playing some simple tunes, or even accompanying Grandma. She's even been teaching herself tunes, playing by ear. Here you see Grandma and Syndi during one of her lessons.

Syndi & Junior at Berry College

A friend of Sylvia’s asked a few weeks ago if she could use Syndi and Junior for a college experiment. This lady’s father is a professor at Berry College, and deals with child behavior. For one of his classes he brings in children from the community, talking and asking questions, seeing how the children respond. Last week Junior and Syndi went to Berry College to participate in this class. Junior went, but apparently wouldn’t talk. Syndi talked and did well, not fooled by the professor’s tricky talk. He had water in two short jars, then poured water from one shorter jar into a taller jar and tried to lead Syndi, implying there was more water in the taller jar. Syndi, however, was not fooled, and set him straight. He did something similar with some rolled balls of Playdoh, but again Syndi was not fooled. Sylvia’s friend took this photo while with our kids.

Game Night with the McCurrys

In mid-January, our Pastor and his family came over for a night of fun and games. The kids disappeared upstairs immediately, and we parents had fun talking, snacking and playing games. As you can see in the picture, we played Cranium. We also played Scene It? TV edition. We played men vs. women, and of course the men cleaned up, as Mac and Jon triumphed over Andrea and Sylvia in both games. It was a fun night for relaxing, and one we hope to repeat as we have occasionally over the last few years.