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| Hello all! Time for my yearly post...I warned you I was terrible about keeping up with these things. I hope you don't have great expectations because I'm not much on giving you great insight or anything...
I think I will confess that now, as much if not more than ever, I can see what blessings the Lord has for our lives. I spent an entire day at home on Saturday, something that does not usually happen too often, and I think I found it one of the most rewarding things...especially spending time with the kiddos. I smoked up some turkey and brisket in my new grill the first of two product placements that I will have in this post, links to follow!  My wife and I agreed that it turned out well.
Also, my wife and I's tenth wedding anniversary is coming up this weekend and we have a short hiatus planed in Arkansas. As bad as my memory is, I cannot think of any time that I have been so happy to be with the greatest wife any reject husband could ever ask for. I can't remember the wedding, I can sort of remember the big events (like the births of our kids), but every day I remember what a gift it is to be with someone so beautiful and so patient and kind as the woman that has graced my life. We have both made a lot of adjustments, and most of them seemed so important at the time, but now all that seems to matter is making sure I don't louse up the next 10 years like I did the first...just so I might see a smile or two from the face that makes you keep going each day.
Now, back to those shameless product placement ads I mentioned...
http://www.chargriller.com/duogrill.html - It is as sweet as it looks fellas!
http://www.endlessocean.com - console game for the Wii. I think this is the best game made for the unit yet...my son and I love this! You can explore the ocean as a scuba diver, click and interact with virtually every sea creature you can imagine, and even collect little items, etc. Truly remarkable.
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| Well, for those of you who might care I went to a LAN party at work this weekend...that is were a bunch of Nerds (which all guys are now nerds, and cool ones at that) get together and play some games on computers and pretend that we are undercover agents and race car drivers. I know, what could be more exciting?  It was pretty exciting...but I had to cut the evening's festivities a little short because of our Sunday AM commitments and when I said that people there kind of responded differently that I expected.
See, sometimes I think I really play the "martyr", sorry for the cliche'. People that I used to work with, that were not of similar faiths as myself, often reacted confused and dumbfounded when I would say things like, "Yeah, I need to be up early on Sunday for services," or "I have to skip it this time to prepare for a lesson I am teaching" or something like that. I would get almost this sense of superiority, if that is the right word, about them not "understanding" the complexities of being committed to a Mutual Edification congregation and it really wasn't worth explaining it...
Well, once again, God shows me who is the fool in need of an understanding heart by putting a mirror in front of me. What was so incredible about this weekend's event was that my co-workers were so...dare I say...excited about my participation in Worship and almost offered encouragement! I have to say that right now I feel like the Lord has given me a blessing in the people that I work with, and for their genuinely kind nature in consideration of other's personal convections. This does not mean that I have to agree with what they all represent or their beliefs or lack thereof...but instead has made me realize the opportunity that the Lord has laid before me in a place that seems more a work of the Devil than any other...a software company. 
I heard things like, "Wow, it sounds like you really enjoy what you can contribute," and "Do you feel like you do a lot of good with the classes that you help with?", things that I had never heard from my co-workers before. It made me take a minute to actually think about what I was doing and give a heart-felt "Yes!" We all have so much to contribute and so many places to share it, why have I wasted so much opportunity!?! Matthew 13 - It is not my place to determine who should hear and not hear, I should give the Word to everyone and God will give the increase in whatever way he determines...
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| Thanks to Curlycountertop for making the first acknowledged visit to my page, that helps remind me that I should post something here! Thanks for the e-props, although I have to question what props actually mean if they are given to such a worthless page as this? 
Anyway, something that is going through my mind of late, in prep for a class... Luke 14:26-35
I bought a printer one time and it had everything that you could want in a printer, including a little LCD screen and that could predict the average flight velocity of a European Swallow. I could print up pictures of the kids, empty ream after ream of paper at 20 pages per minute, even watch it run through it's calibrations to my hearts content! How fantastic! But, as months passed and we let it sit collecting dust amid rabid bouts of paper wasting, I started noticing that the ink cartridges in that crazy thing were only lasting about 100 pages or so it seemed. At $25 a pop, it was starting to add up, and it wasn't something I expected to have to keep up with. That is how they get'cha... Sell this really cheap printer, but make up for it in the tiny cartridges that have to be replaced every couple of months.
See, I didn't count the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) for those pictures of sunsets blocked by runny nosed kids and print screens of cheesy spam emails that have to be forwarded before your grandmother develops fuzzy eyebrows. If I was thinking about that I would have never pressed Ctrl+P to have a permanent copy of "The Jumbo Duct Tape Book". Anyway, sometimes we have to consider the cost on even big decisions in our lives...not just the little things that you pay $ for.
Christ points out that people consider the cost for building things, and generally they consider the value of a war before they start picking a fight (not to get into any political discussions here...). There is a great deal to consider in a life that is lived for Christ, but ask yourself, are you surrendering anything that is ultimately going to give you any greater reward? Sure, some people will call you an idiot for not believing what scientists have "proven", some job opportunities may pass you by because you have a higher priority, maybe even some family tensions my build up...all very difficult things to cope with. But consider those things as a grain of salt in your TCO, so that you don't loose your savor in the Lord!
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| Well, over a year and no updates, not surprising to me. I think I might try to get some more checking done on this since I am able to access this page from work during lunch hours now, through a little bit of redirection past our Proxy. ;)
First, let me explain the nickname... Some guys a work had decided to post a picture of all our team mates, and they had to match a "Lil' Homey" character and mine ended up being a guy with "Sapo" written on his T-shirt. So, that ended up being my name, because basically I look like a Toad (which is what Sapo translates to in Spanish). Somehow I was okay with this, then a guy took to singing "They call him Sapo...El Sapo Grande" to the tune of Barry Manilow's Copacabana (written by Jack Feldman). So, anyway...
Check out sc_ross's page, that is a basic summary of events for me most of the time, since she is my wife. She has postings about the kiddos and such. Hopefully I can get some more conversation items posted and spice this page up a bit soon...
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| Well, hello all. This is obviously my first post, and very well
may be my last. I don't have a problem with these sites or
anything, I am just terrible about remembering to write on these
things, plus it usually just makes everyone see what little I have to
say. But anyway, I heard about this site and thought it might be
an interesting experiment to see what happens. We'll have to see
if I ever have a desire to post anything further...
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