Weather Channel vs. ESPN

I know what you are thinking, The Weather Channel and ESPN??? Hear me out. If you live in the tri county area of Alabama which surrounds the capitol and even on the outskirts of those cities, you probably know the name Rich Thomas. If you have watched ESPN you probably know the names of Dick Vitale, Kirk Herbstriet, or even Lou Holtz. Now imagine you are Rich Thomas and the dream of ever getting to "that level" of weather broadcasting would be........ above the cirrus clouds. Lets make some comparisons. If you've ever watched SportsCenter or any type of sporting event on ESPN, you will notice the scroll bar at the bottom that updates you on the different sporting events. The Weather Channel has the same thing but lets you know the high's and the low's of your area, future forecasts, and even the wind speeds and humidity associated with those days. ESPN has a SportsCenter every 30 minutes to let you know of the latest sporting updates. The Weather Channel did them 1 up and has the local on the 8's. Not only do they do the local on the 8's to show you your area but they pan around the country and do the northeast, southeast, southwest, midwest, and northwest. Sideline broadcaster's anyone? You thought Suzy Colbern or Desmond Howard give good sideline reporting? Try having a hurricane or a tornado and see if you see anyone of those folks out there braving those conditions. The Weather Channel is just looking for a storm to throw someone out there with an L.L. Bean or Columbia jacket and a microphone to cover the latest and breaking weather conditions. Not only that but thier commercials are about weather safety and UV rays and how to protect yourself. I don't see ESPN teaching safety in thier commercials. All I see is that 1975 version of how to teach your dixie youth baseball team to win thier league 3 years in a row (guys you know what I'm talking about, it has Fred McGriff in it and they are throwing baseballs into trash cans). I don't know if any other channel that can cover live updates changes in our lives as good as both ESPN and The Weather Channel, but I know one thing, if I need to know what the weather is like before I go out and play the links, you better believe there is a weather man with a suit saying how beautiful and awesome the weather is in that area and how being outside is your best option, not to mention they have a golf rating on thier website on a scale of 1 to 10 on whether it is a good golfing day or not. So next time you browse to The Weather Channel, t.v. or Web, just remember the anchors and the hard work that goes behind being a weather man and how very eery and similair the 2 national channels are alike. Stay classy Montgomery; it's 75 in December.

A Father's Legacy

This passage is going to consist of serval different thoughts, all of which to lead to my faith in Jesus Christ.

On May 26th, 2008 betterknown as Memorial Day (what a coincidence) my Dad of 59 yrs of age passed away. I have had 2 friends of mine who have lost one of thier parents both to a type of cancer. My dad has ALS or Lou Gehrig's Disease. His diagnosis was a rare form in which progressed very quickly and only took 2 yrs to claim his life. To give a funnel synopsis of what this disease does to the human body, it takes your motor nuerons (nerve endings that contol the muscles in your body) and breaks them down until you can't move an arm or a finger, wiggle a toe or lift your leg, utter an I Love You or rub my nose. You see, thre are things that you may not realize that your parents do that are so small that you hear or see them do all the time that currently have no significance what so ever but become so precious to you when they are gone from you life. Watching my Dad go through that disease on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis was the most unbelievable, powerful, scariest thing I have ever experienced. Have you ever looked down at your finger and just wiggled it? Can you imagine what it would be like if you looked down at your finger and your brain is sending the signal to move your finger and it did nothing? Imagine that being your voice, legs and arms. Your mind stays sane and you can think just as clearly as you once did before. Watching my Dad go through this made me realize that life is not guaranteed, and that at any day, moment in time that your life can be taken from you in a blink of an eye....literally. It's that realization that made my focus on Christ in my heart so much stronger. I thought my Christian walk was a good one because I thought about God often and had a good prayer life and had a good head on my shoulders in situations and being intuitive. But the fact of the matter is, it took something like that to make me fully realize that if you don't have your heart completely devoted to Christ and he isn't the center of your life then your life is like having that disease and areas in your life are like loosing your voice or your arms or legs. Think about it, you can't just go to church on Sunday and then expect to teach a Sunday School class whenever you feel like it if you don't study the Bible and understand the teachings of the Bible. My Dad's mind was as clear as yours and mine are but could not even move a finger, speak a word, or wiggle a toe yet we have the Bible at our hands and fail to read, understand, and imply the teachings into our lives. That we can do and have the ability to do. I bet my Dad wishes he could have told me he Loved me but you know what, he had to blink his eye and try to smile (which when you smile you have 12 muscles) when I would tell him I Loved him. He might have only been in my life for 28 years and 70 days but he taught me things in my life that made me who I am as his Son. If you've ever wondered whether God has a plan I will simply say this, He does. Was I ever agry or upset that Dad was going through that disease?? I can't say that I ever was but just prayed constantly that if God had a plan that it would be revealed through Dad's life and through this disease. I had faith the entire time and just put everything in God's hands. Most people would look at that as not caring or just giving up but being a follower of Christ, having faith is a part of me. God did have a plan and whether it was curing my dad of ALS or his passing and it might not have been in his life but in other people's lives. For you see, God uses all actions and situations for His Glory and on the day that he passed away, 4:20 a.m., I remember going over there and he laid there and I hugged him so tightly and was still in shock but could still feel his nerves moving in his shoulders. It reminds me of how scripture tells us not to live in the flesh but in the spirit. I met my future Wife Emily 4 days before my dad passed away and the joy and reassurance from the Lord has never been so evident in my life. Emily gives me such a reminder of Christ and being a Christian every single day and I have longed for that and prayed for that and been patient. Dad wanted to meet Emily on Saturday, 2 days before he died, but I told him that she would probably be scared that I was introducing her to the parents so soon. I would have never guessed that I would be this blessed to have Emily in my life. I just want to be a Husband that Loves her like the scriptures say and be Christ-like everyday. Please, take note of the times you spend with your parents because not having them in your life to do the simple things is an emotional turbulance that I can't describe. I now have a father-in-law that I have grown to Love and truly appreciate and look for him to fill that fatherly roll that he has so greatly started already. Tell your parents you Love them and give them a Hug. Do simple things with them. Time is precious, but I know at this very moment I am a little jealous that Dad is in Heaven with the angels and singing. How awesome that must be.