Things have been silent here for a little while as I've been busy with a few side projects that have taken up quite a bit of time. One of the more interesting things I am now doing is functioning as the worship director for our church, which, consequently, gives me a lot of opportunity to think more practically about some of the issues I raised here a few weeks ago regarding worship. About a month ago, we installed a new pastor at our church, and it's been great to talk with him about these things and bounce ideas back and forth.

On Monday I start a new job working as a transporter for Hertz. The job simply entails moving cars between the five or six locations Hertz has in the Orlando area. It should be fun (especially for a gearhead like me), and I'm grateful that they were willing to take me on temporarily until we move.

Speaking of the move, no news has come out of England yet regarding our visas, but we continue to pray that we'll hear something soon. We just want to get over there, and each day we admittedly get a little more impatient as we wait for some indication of how things are progressing. I think the prayers of our church family here are proving effective—they repeatedly tell us that they are praying for England to fall into the sea or something like that so we will stay here with them. All joking aside, though, we continue to ask for your prayers that things might fall into place soon.

In the meantime, we are slowly beginning to make preparations. We've been selling a few things, and starting to pack up some nonessentials just so that when the time comes for us to get everything ready, we'll have had a head start.

As I get settled into my new routine this coming week, I'll hopefully have a few new posts for the blog. One or two are already half-written, so it's just a matter of finishing them up. Thanks for checking in.

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I recently pulled a study Bible off the shelf that I used to use before I got the Bible I use now. I opened it up to discover this rather humorous note. I have no idea who wrote it and put it there or when it was done, but it was good for a laugh.

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8 March 2010 note: I had a professor in college who, for our American history class, thought it would be fun to go outside on a nice spring day and shoot a pellet gun at a target to really get into the context of the American West. If nothing else, it was a lot of fun.

The red circle was my first shot (click picture to enlarge and see). Almost as good as the American cowboys and gunslingers we were learning about. I'm no Annie Oakley, though.

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Well, the boys trying to set the record for watching TV the longest in a restaurant have succeeded. Here's the story from the Grand Rapids Press.

Tuned-in teens beat Guinness mark for non-stop TV watching
Thursday, August 19, 2004
By Tricia Woolfenden
The Grand Rapids Press

This gives a whole new meaning to the term "must-see TV."

In an attempt to set a Guinness World Record, Chris Dean, 16, and Mike Dudek, 17 -- both of Grand Rapids -- spent more than two consecutive days awake and watching television at the International House of Pancakes, 3796 Alpine Ave. NW.

At 7 p.m. Wednesday, the high school seniors logged in 52 hours of constant viewing time, surpassing the Guinness mark of 50 hours and seven minutes.

"We've got a record under our belts," said Dudek, a senior at Creston High School.
Confirmation of the record could take anywhere from a few weeks to several months, said Dean, a senior at Northview High School, because documentation must be sent to Guinness.

Locally, the teens set up a TV in the restaurant's smoking section, where staff, friends and onlookers peeked in with curiosity. According to rules set by Guinness, Dudek and Dean were required to remain awake, with their eyes on the television screen at all times. They were given a five-minute break every hour, and trips to the restroom were permitted only during a 15-minute break, every eight hours.

In addition, the two had to complete their task in a public place and keep a log book and video documentary of their activities. They dined exclusively off the IHOP menu -- taking occasional shots of maple syrup -- because outside food was not permitted.

Dean and Dudek set up their viewing station at IHOP because it is open 24 hours a day and the management was willing to participate. The staff was helpful to the pair and was "entertained" by the process.

"It's a strange thing to want to do," said Virgil Sandberg, a waiter at IHOP. "It's probably one of the strangest things I've ever seen here."

Dean's parents, Gordon and Brenda Dean, helped document the event and said they were proud of their son's unorthodox achievement.

"He has to be good at something, this is just as well," Gordon said. "He set a goal and reached it."

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