2015 Book Reviews Pt. 3

I didn't do a reading review in 2014, primarily because of time, and I wasn't blogging much in Dec. 2014/Jan. 2015. This time, I'm reallyi trying to blog at least once a week. So, I'm dividing my lists into 3 sections:

Military History
Spiritual
Brain Candy

Most of my reviews are a few sentences in length, but, as you might expect since I didn't blog much at the beginning of 2015, either, my reviews for books I read during that time are rather short, too. In addition, these reviews (brain candy) were short because the books were so light, there wasn't much to review. They were either fun or not.

So, without further ado, here's today's reviews of Brain Candy.

1)Tom Swift and the Cosmic Astronauts (by Victor Appleton II). Serious brain candy. *

2)The Westing Game (by ??) - A murder mystery of sorts that I read to Benjamin. *.5

3)Hardy Boys: The Clue of the Broken Blade - * simply because it's the Hardy Boys. I read this one to Matthew.

4)The Hawk That Dare Not Hunt By Day (by Scott O'Dell) - Historical Fiction regarding the story of William Tyndale. Read it to Benjamin. Good story, and brought some good discussion with him.

5)Secret Agent on Flight 101 - Hardy Boys Book I read to Matthew.*

6)Dawn of the Jedi: Into the Void (by ) - This was good brain candy, and a good book in the Star Wars Universe. As the title implies, this occurs centuries before Anakin was born, even before hyperdrives were invented. Good story. *

7)As You Wish (by Cary Elwes)- A great memoir of the making of Princess Bride, with a little bit of Cary's (Westle's) biography and the history of the book thrown in for good measure. This is a fun and funny book, with some poignant parts, as well. It's more than brain candy, yet not deep. It's difficult to put into any one genre - much like Cary says everybody struggled to categorize the movie - so difficult to rate, but I think I'll give this *.5. It's not quite good enough for 4 stars, but close.

8)Law of the Desert Born (by Louis L'Amour) - A collection of short westerns. Good brain candy. .5

9)Sackett's Land (by Louis L'Amour) - The beginning of the Sackett Saga. Good start. I enjoy this author tremendously. Hearing stories about the women he portrays makes me appreciate my wife all the more, as she's got similar characteristics of the women L'Amour portrays: Willing to go on adventures with the man she loves; willing to do hard things; loves the outdoors. Yeah, I'm glad she's my wife. *

10)To The Far Blue Mountains (by Louis L'Amour) - Book number 2 of the Sackett Saga. Continuation of Barnabas Sackett's story, and how he finally died a warrior. *

11)The Warrior's Path (by Louis L'Amour) - Book number 3 of the Sackett Saga. This book follows - primarily - Kin-Ring Sackett, Barnabas' first-born, with a little more about Yance, son #2, as they break up a group of female slavers. *

posted from Bloggeroid

Just Curious

I have a site meter on my site. Part of what it does is track where people who view this blog come from. It's rather amazing to me how many people actually follow these meanderings, and where y'all are from. Some stay on to actually read the thing, while others, I'm sure, came here by accident, looking for something else they googled, and discovering my blog instead. In the last 100 days, people from places like Singapore and Australia have looked at this site, as well as peoplel from CA and OH. It's fascinating to me. I've done the same thing. In my looking for something I'll find a blog that interests me and read it for a while. I've come across some amazing ones that way. So, I'm wondering if maybe some of you who read this could occasionally comment and mention why you're here. I'm not looking to boost my ego, so feel free to mention if it's just because you stumbled here and really have no interest in me or what's written at all. I'm just curious what brings a person to this place. And, if you and I know each other, please say hello, as I haven't told anybody buy my wife that I've started writing again, so I really didn't anticipate people starting to read this again in order to follow our family's adventures, and I'd like to say hello back.

Hope you're having a great week.

Public Hospital Meeting

I attended my first public hospital commissioner's meeting tonight for the Samaritan Healthcare organization. Fascinating event. I attended because I believe my doctor, along with two others, was wrongfully fired. I was hoping to find some answers, but really not expecting any. I was pretty sure I would get the standard nonsense about not confidentiality, liability, and such. I wasn't disappointed. However, they were polite enough to tell me why organizations in general have that policy. It's not so much for liability as it is to keep a mud-slinging, he said/she said public argument from developing. This, of course, could lead to liability issues, but the initial gag-order is for that reason... or, at least that's the statement one gentleman in leadership made. It was obvious that not everybody there believed him.

I got what I expected regarding the commissioners' reasoning for firing the doctors without warning or a transition time to find a new doctor. I did not expect to find the gamut of people there, and their emotional reactions. I should have known better, but I really didn't think about it. I just assumed everybody there would politely let them commission know their opinion of the deal, and I would be the one having to hold my temper in check. Instead, I was one of the calm and polite ones. There was one professional there who was amazingly rude in his approach, threatening even to try and get a recall vote for the commissioners. I thought about explaining to him that people will have forgotten this issue within two weeks, but decided it would be a waste of breath. Another girl was trying to make the commissioners feel guilty about the fact that her doctor was fired by letting them know she would not go to any doctor now, and it is there fault for firing the only dr. she trusts. Ummm... that's your call, but it's only hurting you and your baby, since there are plenty of other doctors around.

So, there were a wide gamut of reactions, but I think the thing the commissioners needed to hear was that a) people disagree with their decision (no surprise there - they were expecting that), b) that people won't stay and just get new doctors - they'll go to the Moses Lake Clinic or another clinic before they go back to Samaritan Physicians (I think they're going to be surprised how many people don't come back, and how much more money they lose because of it), and c) they're going to have an even harder time recruiting physicians for this community because now they're known to fire doctors with little notice (I have no idea what they think of that idea, or how accurate that perception is). Nothing we could have or did say, no matter how professional and polite, would have brought the doctors back, but hopefully it made them rethink their opinions of the populace and how to manage health care in the future. I highly doubt it, but I'm hoping.

I stayed for the financial report afterwards (the only one of the public who stayed after the comment section), and it was very telling. Not only is the hospital struggling financially over the past several years, but part of the reason for that is that patient numbers in all arenas are down - outpatient, dr. visits, all the way to ICU and ER visits. It's made me question why, and what they're doing about it. Of course, I also question if it's all bad, as good health would lead to less hospital visits, too, but I really doubt if that's the reason for even a small percentage of the decline. So I'm wondering if they're being honest with themselves about the problem, and wondering how they can figure it out.

As for my family and I... for now we will endeavor to find a new doctor at the other local clinic until our doctor, Dr. hammering, decides whether he's going to stay, and where he'll set up shop if he does. If he stays, of course, we'll go with him. If not, we'll see. I hate to stay with Samaritan, especially if their goal is more patients, few doctors, and less time spent with patients over all (the general gist of the letter they sent out announcing Cole's departure). So, we'll try and find a doctor elsewhere. However, as for the hospital, that's a more difficult endeavor. Shari and I will be discussing that one. Our friends don't even discuss it any more, unless it's an immediate emergency, they drive all the way to Spokane. They've had nothing but bad experiences at the hospital, including one family member losing a leg because of a poor diagnosis. We've had nothing but good experiences there (except for one rude nurse in the birthing area), but I hate going there when I know their mentality. I understand hospitals have to make money, at least break even, to stay in business, but it can't be at a patient's expense. Now, how does socialized medicine play into all this? I don't know, but I'm betting it does. Anyway, we'll see how things go as time progresses.

Re-Engaging

Wow! It's been almost exactly a year since I last wrote in this spot. I guess I've just got tired of the FB-type lines, and some of the reasons I write there. Not all the reasons are bad, but many were simply to brag, i.e. to show my pride, and justify my pridefulness. Granted, other reasons were great, such as bragging about my kids (though that's a grey area), and letting people know about what's happening in my life so they could pray, or because they generally want to know what's going on. But, as I've been engaging in life, I simply find myself wanting to say things, even if only one or two people I don't know read this, that can't be cut down to those few FB words. So I'm re-engaging with this blog. I won't be advertising, as I think much of what I'll write will be back to my original reasons for writing - helping me to think through what I'm thinking about - to process it - and maybe, occassionally, come to some conclusions.

So, today is a good day for a start. How often I'll have time to write is iffy, but I'm thinking at least once a week would be good. Maybe, with so many people on FB, and not many people knowing I have this blog anymore, I can be more honest to myself, like some of my heros in youth ministry are (e.g. Mark Ostreicher, Doug Fields, and Seth Barnes). I suppose I could make this a private blog, which would take care of things, yet I want to learn to be transparent like those guys. We'll see.

Tomorrow I start riding my bike to work, at least 2 times a week. I'm also going to start training a volunteer worker in how to use Publisher, with the goal that she would learn how to put together at least the calendar. I've got to let her have her sense of humor, too, though, which will be difficult. Empower, then let go. That's a good leader. For now, I must get back to work.

A few thoughts from Pastor Isabell

At the beginning of May, Pastor Bob Isabell came and spoke to the leadership of GHC. Here are a couple of thoughts I wrote down that struck me.

Judges 8:4-7 talks about Gideon being weary and hungry, but pursuing the enemy anyway, even when discouraged by others because that's what God called him to do. I am certainly weary and hungry lately. However, I must continue to pursue God and His will anyway. Are my priorities God's, even in my fatigue?

"That which speaks the loudest is what usually gets ahold of your heart and sets the priorities." It's like going shopping without a list while your hungry. Trying to lead - or even live - without a plan or vision from God will cause you to lead from whatever "hunger" is driving your life at the moment. Your priorities become that hunger.

Lord, please clearly reveal your vision for Shari and I here at GHC, and in Moses Lake.

Addicted to Caffeine?

Not me.

Wait for it...

I've been thinking about some things lately that I want to share. In addition, I want to share Easter pics and the latest on the job/house hunt. I just haven't been able to make the time. Hopefully this week will find me with a bit more time on my hands in the morning. Tomorrow (Tuesday) I start working at Grace Harvest Church, slowly saying goodbye to the amazing church that has hosted Shari and I since August of '09. I will be staying with some friends for a few days while I continue to solidify a house for us to move to. Shari and the boys will continue to stay at my folks' place until we can get a house solidified. So, I'll probably have some free time to write. We'll see. It will help if I can find a computer, too.

More highlights from the UG Conference

Yesterday I talked about the UG Conference Michael, Shari, and I attended. Here's some more about that conference weekend.

In the 1980's, Greg English believed that God had given him a vision. Greg was my youth pastor at Puyallup First Assembly of God, and we had just finished a brand new church, with a balcony that seated 500. Greg's vision was to see that balcony full of youth.

To my knowledge, Greg never saw that vision fulfilled. Definitely not as the youth pastor. He left there soon after we did, and the group never got over 100. The church eventually folded, unfortunately, and Puyallup Foursquare bought the building. Today, Puyallup Foursquare is an amazing, vibrant, and healthy church, and that building is way to small for the people that attend.

Last weekend, Shari and I got to attend the UG Conference at the church where I was discipled and learned so much about walking with God thanks to Greg and Vicki English. It was wonderful to go back. Another highlight for me was not only coming back, but seeing Greg's vision fulfilled. There were not five hundred, but close to 1000 youth in that building, plus youth leaders and conference staff. It was packed. I praise God that His vision for that place is continuing to be fulfilled, and even more than Greg imagined. God does what He promises, though He doesn't seem to do it like we think He will, or when we think He should.

There was some great teachers there, and Shari and I got something out of each of them. However, I think our favorite two sessions were the breakout sessions with Banning Liebscher and Doug Lasit. Banning talked about "Pressure Free Ministry." His key verse was John 3:6:
"Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life."
A couple key thoughts I wrote in my journal:

"The real test is after God has blessed the ministry, and we can do it ourselves."
"If I open the door, the pressure's on me to keep it open. When He opens the door, the pressure's on Him."
"I didn't choose to be in youth ministry or leadership - He did! Therefore, He not only thinks I have what it takes, but what I don't have, He'll create in me." (See the story of Peter walking on water.)

Doug Lasit talked about being a hero to our teens. His key verses were Hebrews 11:1 and 12:1, stating that all the verses in between were simply examples of how these two verses were connected and true. A couple key things I came away with from this session were:

"My three years in Lolo weren't a waste because it wasn't about me."
"No young person should ever walk into an empty stadium. Even if nobody else is there to cheer for them, we should be. That doesn't mean we don't correct, but that we do so as their cheerleader, not just as a law-keeper."

Shari and I came away from that conference encouraged and refreshed, and so thankful that God provided miraculously for us to go. The day before we left, a check came in the mail for $180. Our friends didn't know we needed the money. We didn't know we needed it until only a few days before we left. But God prompted them to give, He provided, and He continues to provide. He is amazing.

Crocuses are coming up...

It's not really spring yet, and I'm still hoping for one more good snow. However, most folks around here (namely, my wife), are convinced that Spring should begin arriving Jan. 1, and should be in full bloom from Feb. 1-Jun 1. For those folks who enjoy that thought, here's a little web site for you to enjoy. Thanks to my mother-in-law for sending us this link. It's fun... and I really do enjoy flowers... starting around Mar. 1.

Just click on the picture, and a blank screen will appear. You can start clicking all over the screen, or click, hold, and drag, whichever you prefer. This picture is a popular one that was spread around the internet several years ago via a PowerPoint presentation about an ice storm that I think occurred on the East Coast (Giving credit where it's due).

Planning to celebrate

This year mom and dad turn 60. This weekend we are throwing a huge party for them. I am going to be spending my time today getting the details ready for the party, including checking on who's coming, buying food and decorations, and making sure we've got all the supplies and tools we'll need to make the event a wonderful celebration of mom and dad's lives. I'm looking forward to celebrating... and being done.

I miss this place.

I know I haven't been blogging lately. It's difficult to make the time when my favorite time to write is in the morning... when I'm either getting ready for work (most days), sleeping in (a few days, when I'm not working or it's the weekend), or spending time with God or my boys. There have been so many times when I've wanted to share something, and I simply was out of the mood by the time I was able to get to the computer. It's also rather rare for me to be able to spend any uninterrupted time here, which makes it difficult to write out a continuous thought. So, all that to say that I really enjoy using this blog as a sounding board, as well as simply a place to write out my thoughts, for myself or those who enjoy reading this blog, and I will get back to blogging regularly when I have a job, and our family has a place of our own.

Until then, here's a quick thought from Doug Fields that I can relate to in multiple ways. I agree with his point, as well as his desire to have a mountain biking coach, or at least somebody who will help me get out and ride somewhat regularly. Even if we both don't know what we're doing, we could figure it out together.

mountain biking & discipleship

For years I�ve had buddies tell me, You�ve got to get into mountain biking�it�s amazing! You�d love it! A lot of ex-athletes wind up doing it.� ...

Happy reading. May God guide and direct you.

Hands

I can't swear to when it started. It might have been before I started working for dad, but I don't think so. I know for sure that I started being annoyingly and somewhat painfully aware of it the weekend after I helped with my first seed harvest. I'm talking about what I'm calling a very mild case of "trigger finger." That's not what my dr. called it, so that's not an official diagnosis, but it gives the reader an idea of what it is. Here's a more detailed explanation that I think fits what my dr. told me:

Each finger has tendons and muscles that go all the way from the fingers, through the palm, to connect about halfway up the fore arm, and then some connect at close to halfway up the arm. We use these for opening and closing our fingers (in general). In order to keep those tendons (specifically, in this case) in their place, there are, at regular spaces in the fingers and palm, tendons that cut across those other tendons. They are called pulleys, and they operate sort of the same as the types of pulleys we use to pull up heavy loads. Here's where the analogy works. If all the tendons are in good working order, everything slides back and forth smoothly. However, if the working tendons become inflamed, they jam up against the pulley tendons. This is similar to what happens if you get a small not in a pulley. If you pull the rope hard enough, or the knot is small enough, it will go through the pulley, though it may jam a bit, more or less, depending on the size of the knot. Apparently what's happening is that, during the night, because they're not being used, my pulleys tighten up. Then, when my fingers curl in my sleep (a natural activity), they can't uncurl. I then wake up, and have to consciously "pull" the tendons through the pulleys. This isn't terribly painful so much as it's a pain, and can get painful over time. In addition, it is a symptom of a problem - those active tendons are inflamed because of all the work they're doing - hammering, lifting plywood, etc. It's not muscle pain, but inflammation due to... ummm... I'm not sure what. Currently, I have my middle and pinky fingers on my right hand, and my ring finger on my left (which is probably exacerbated by my wedding ring, for all I know). Currently it's not effecting my day, as the pulleys loosen up as I become active. However, I've got to do something about it. Both sides of my parents' families had various problems with this, and at least one relative had to get an operation. Currently I'm on some anti-inflammatory meds, but they don't seem to be helping a ton. I've also started wearing biking gloves to create some padding to protect those tendons from the cause of the inflammation, but I'm not sure it's helping, and the gloves are a bit of a pain to work with, even fingerless.

So much for Paul's medical fun. I liked it better when I could abuse my body like my boys do, and not have any repercussions. To paraphrase Garth Brooks (I think), "I'm much to young to feel this old."

Yes, cheese with that whine would be appreciated. Then, please pray that God would heal me, and allow me to work with out pain or discomfort.

Aaarrrgggh!

We planned on spending yesterday doing some packing and bringing things down from the garage rafters. Instead I spent practically the whole day running around town looking for a small piece of metal that I would have thought would be in any hardware or building store. That's why I didn't call anyplace first. I thought it would be an easy pick-up. It wasn't. I left at 11:00. I returned around 5:00. It wasn't totally wasted. I picked up a couple anniversary gifts for Shari. I'm excited about the articles, the quality, and the great prices I got them for. Both articles are worth almost $50, and I got them both for $43.00. I also ran some other errands, but generally spent my time trying to find this stupid part. The one redeeming aspect of the day was that I spent that whole time with Benjamin, which was great. He was a real trooper, having a great attitude the whole time. He did eventually fall asleep on the way home. We were able to go to DQ together, though, so that made it all good to him. I did - eventually - order the part. I only hope it's the right one now. Hopefully I'll get some of that stuff done this morning before I head to work that I wanted to get done yesterday.

#400

That last post about our weather was post #400. I started this thing on Jan. 1, 2006. It wasn't too much later that God began the process of moving us to Lolo, and I was able to journal that process, and what God's done in our hearts since then. Now we're closing that chapter of our lives, and beginning a new one. It will be exciting to see what God does over the next 400 posts... assuming the next three years don't make blogs obsolete. Thankfully, I still have one of those old-fashioned journals that you actually write in with a pen.

It's Spring Time in Montana

For those who live in this climate, this isn't unusual. For those of us who grew up in a more temperate climate, or in the South, this may be rather funny and unusual. This is a picture of what we watched during breakfast yesterday. Less than two weeks ago I was in shorts and a t-shirt.

Failure is stepping forward

I've been gone for over a month, and I don't know how often I'll be able to post over the next few weeks. There's a ton going on, including a conference this week, track practices and meets every week until the end of May, and the normal message prep and ministry struggles and rewards. Still, I've got much to say, and many good things to talk about, especially the fantastic job my three oldest are doing on their respective baseball teams. I will post more later. For now, though, this quote struck me today, and I thought I'd share it as a way to enter back into the blogosphere. You can go here for the full article by one of my favorite speakers and writers (of books and articles).

"What occurs to me is that Jesus must have planned to use an experience of failure to teach Peter a lesson that he apparently could not learn any other way.

There's a thought here. If the Lord desires that a person grow, it looks like he doesn't mind allowing that person to make a perfect fool of himself or herself if the process leads to better things. Christ-followers who judge themselves or others by only a standard of perfection might want to consider this."

Feel free to let me know what you think. It feels good to be sharing life with folks again. Of course, that begs the questions about how narcissistic that makes me, but that's another issue.

He will be missed

One of my favorite radio personalities, and a newsman I'd actually stop and listen to, even if it cost me some time.

"The Rest of the Story"

Not so obvious or public effects of that wonderful drink

Earlier last week, Marko reminded me of this wonderful gem of a web site that will tell you just how much of your favorite caffeinated drink (and a few others that aren't caffeinated - there are tons of options) you'd have to drink in approx. 4 hours before you'd be pushing up daisies. Some of my favorites include:

Coke Classic: 375.87 cans
Hot Chocolate: 2593.5 cups
Brewed coffee: 120.63 cups
Espresso coffee: 168.41 shots (With an average of 2 shots for every 16 oz. mocha I get, that's really about 84.2 orders... maybe less, since mine has chocolate in it.)

So that's a fun little toy. However, here's an interesting article from last week's issue of "The Week" that gets a bit more serious and realistic... though I still think I'm probably safe... or maybe it's been too late since way before I started drinking coffee.

"Caffeine can make you nuts" According to a study by psychologists at Durham Univ. in the U.K.,

"Hard-core coffee drinkers (those who consume an average of seven cups daily) were three times more likely to report seeing things that weren't there, hearing voices, and feeling as if they were floating above their bodies."

There's another interesting one in that same magazine about Vicks VapoRub and kids under 2, but it has nothing to do with coffee. For both these articles, you'll have to scroll down a bit.

Still awake

Well, it's 4:00 AM now, and I'm still sitting here blogging. On the plus side, I've been able to blog on a few things that I haven't had time to. On the negative side, I'm going to be a basket case today, and probably for tomorrow's Super Bowl, too. I'm thankful that I've got somebody leading Sunday School for this Sunday morning. I have to be there, but I don't have to be fully awake.

There's a wind storm going on outside. Is it a bad thing when I can feel the breeze on my cheek sitting next the window? We've put plastic over the kitchen window, and one of the downstairs ones, but we can't do these front windows due to how they're built with the blinds. So, at times like this, a little... er, actually, a lot of cold air gets through. About 2:00 am, Shari and I heard a loud crash. We didn't go out and check, but we looked out windows and didn't see anything. I'm wondering what the wind blew down out of our trees out front. Hopefully there's no damage to the house. One good thing about it being so cold this time of year is that it's not raining out if there is damage.

Happy New Year

You would think that, what, with Christmas Break and all, that I would have more time to post. Nope. Instead, I've spent a lot more time being with my family - playing watching new videos, building snow forts, etc. I haven't even read all that much. Some of that is because I didn't get any new books for Christmas (sigh!). It's been a good break. While I haven't really been on vacation, I've had some wonderful days off with the family. Hopefully I'll make some time in the near future to blog about all that. Who knows - maybe I'll run down to our local coffee shop and just spend a couple hours catching up... maybe. Anyway, it's been a great Christmas break, and I'm looking forward to what God's going to do in 2009. Happy New Year everyone.