the Big Hurt

Frank Thomas joined the White Sox while I was still stationed in Korea in the Marines and had a great second season that I followed in box scores in the Stars & Stripes in '91.

I was home in Chicago area for the '92 season on thru the 2000 season and he just mashed the ball.  He could hit for power, average and he walked a ton.  He was the Big Hurt.  Of course now he has deservedly made the Hall of Fame on the first ballot.  He should have.  His numbers over time were up there with the greatest, Musial, Williams, Mantle etc.  But there was a time, 2000 to be exact that I disliked him and that was in 2000.  It was the one year I had season tickets to the Sox and also first round playoff tickets.  He was the opposite of clutch in the playoffs.  The stadium would rock with chants of M-V-P! M-V-P! every time he came to the plate but by the end of the two home games, I was chanting L-O-B!  L-O-B!  as he was constantly coming up with runners on and leaving them on base.  (He went 0-9 with 4 walks in the 3 game sweep by Seattle and we were out of the playoffs that fast).  When we finally won the World Series, Frank was an afterthought, a part of the past, though he would kick around the league a few more years.  In the 90s though, he was the best hitter in baseball and deserves being a first ballot guy. 

Congrats Big Hurt. 

You May Ask Yourself, Well, How Did I Get Here?

Picking up and moving an entire family over 600 miles to the southwest was not anything on our radar going into 2010.  In fact it was probably the furthest thing from our projected future at that point.   Alas, God had a plan for us and needed to shake us up to make us realize it.  That meant a pretty big storm in our lives and some pretty negative things brought down on us by people we fully trusted.   It's water under the bridge at this point and forgiveness abounds but the bottom line is some very negative and wrong things were done to us by people who should have known better and from whom we expected better.   The fact they've done it to others since then makes it all the worse but from our view several years down the road, God used it to put us where he needed us to be and where we needed to be in point of fact.  God doesn't miss opportunities, even when they stem from negative circumstances. 

What's really ironic is about a week before the storm hit my wife and I had an epiphany moment of just how good things were going and how God was blessing us and using us for His will so no doubt Satan had to act.  We went from that epiphany to the abyss rather quickly.  We barely survived it financially, it basically broke us but with the help of family and friends and my great employer we muddled thru somehow.   2010 and early 2011 were a very rough time for all of us.  The kids knew we were stressed and knew things were tough for us all, especially financially.  We were struggling with decisions of how to get out of the hole and yet afford the health care we needed for our new special needs child born in 2009 and in need of several surgeries and special care, and 2 hour drives into and out of St. Louis to get that care with gas prices sky-rocketing and our pocket books emptying.  Insurance alone clobbered us as we went from no cost to over $300 a month for coverage and we were now doing that on about 1/2 the income we'd had prior.   We needed comfort and support but the church where we sought it was also responsible for the situation so that aggravated things quite a bit.  We opened ourselves to thinking outside our normal comfort zone.  I started applying for history jobs all across the US hoping to improve our lot and in early 2011, an opportunity for my wife broke thru the fog.  It was a church in Oklahoma considering her for a call as preschool director and DCE. 

Oklahoma?  It had never been on our radar at all.  But the ministry was intriguing and fit my wife's gifts well and when she got the call, we took a leap a faith and accepted it.   More irony here as folks would be like, your going to Oklahoma, do you like tornadoes?  Actually, we had far more tornadoes in Illinois and in fact, we got the call about the call during a tornado warning in my parent's basement.  Anyhow, I started applying for jobs and soon had a pair of interviews and a job at a college in OKC and we were on our way.  

My wife left in July to start work and tried to wrap up my job and get the house packed up for movers coming at the end of the month.  Things were looking up, so Satan jumped in again and tried to derail our move.  They called last minute and tried to reschedule for a week later which completely threw off our plans.  Finally, they came a day late and we got the boys, thanks to my awesome sisters assistance, to Oklahoma and waited over a week for our stuff to arrive several days late, but it did finally arrive.  We were there and it was hot.

We'd arrived in the summer of 2011 amidst severe drought and 50 straight days of triple digit temps.  Thankfully, our apartment had a pool and good A/C.  The boys missed our house and their friends but the pool helped.  They had shaky starts at school and some rough times adjusting.  We struggled for almost a year to sell our house in Illinois and ended up taking a big loss on it.  We've been crammed into a three bedroom apartment for going on three years now but we've made it thru the storm.  We pulled together and survived. 

Family is further away and that's been really tough, but our church family here and the ministry opportunity has been wonderful.  God found a niche for us and the only way we were gonna see it as so was to really shake us up.  It worked.    And all before our littlest one added to his needs when he started having seizures.  Now, instead of 2 hour drives to the hospital in St. Louis, we were just 15 minutes from an outstanding children's facility right in OKC.  It has been a huge blessing and the care, therapy and schooling he gets here is far superior to that that would have been available to him in Illinois.  God had a plan for us and we are ever so grateful for what He worked in our lives.  In the end, the storm was the only thing that was going to make us see it, so we are now thankful even for that and how God took good care of us whilst it was raging. 

We may be "laters" in the land of Sooners, but we are here, getting red dirty daily doing all that God has called us to here.  God is good, all the time. 

Amen

Relaunching the PHC

It's been a few years.

Moved my family out of the heart of the Prairie State and resettled in the red dirt of Oklahoma and am all the happier for it.

Thought it might be time to revisit this venture and reignite some of what used to go on on here.  It's long overdue. 

Looking forward to posting on a regular basis again, about my faith, fatherhood, family, film, foolishness, food, and what ever feathers my fancy.

See you soon and God Bless.

TRudat

Sox Home Opener

Well, the beloved White Sox are 3-2 coming into their home opener today and look to have a great lineup, decent starting pitching and a bullpen that on paper looks good though hasn't shown up in week one. Lets hope as temps warm the bats stay hot, the starters stay healthy and bullpen starts to perform.

Heat

Heat Indexes in the triple digits makes for adjusting outdoor activities. The absolute worst is getting into your car at the end of the work day as the greenhouse effect in the vehicle can make it down right oven like inside. I've heard of some new cars that have solar powered fans on the roof that harness that sun and use it to fan out all that hot air. OK, great idea. But wait, why not take this a step further. Harness all that greenhouse effect heat into energy that can actually run my car. Make it run on all that hot air (and on any that I might add once I get in...especially after a Taco Bell run).

Anyhow, I look forward to fall's approach and cooler days and evenings, with window's open and air fresh (and not frigid as that bought air is).

Ka-Bob-u-lated

Does everything taste better when its grilled on a skewer? I'm not sure but I'm becoming a ka-bob everything fan. Next, I might try kid-ka-bobs with pieces of hotdog mixed with meatballs and chicken nuggets (and maybe broccoli for Trevor). It's all good.

The Game

Times change...constantly. Same is true of baseball. Andre "The Hawk" Dawson became a Hall-of-Famer this weekend and correctly pointed out that the game in not broke. A few individuals have sullied their reputations and hurt the game, but they can't break it, according to Dawson and I agree. I still love the game. I love it on radio--it is still the best sport to listen to on radio--and I love it from independent league to MLB to college world series, even little league. It's not broken. The DH is here to stay and will be making its way to the NL if they ever seek to be competitive again. Interleague play has been a great change bringing regional rivalry games plus some great matchups, whilst also proving just how much superior the AL is to the NL. Stats have even helped develop value in players, such as Holds, a great stat (for fantasy leagues and regular fans) puts a value on that 7th and 8th inning bullpen guy just as the Save gave value to notion of a "Closer" in the 1970s. Sabremetrics has brought new insight into how to evaluate players and Fantasy leagues have replaced Baseball cards as the primary means of following players on teams out of your market. I like where the game is now, and I see a bright future ahead.

All-Star Game

Well, the Class-AAAA NL'ers finally defeated the true Major Leaguers after a bazillion tries (and one tie) and the result truly reflected that 2010 seems to be a year of the pitcher. Let's see if the White Sox can stay white hot after the break.

An all new heap

Posting on here has been sporadic to non-existent for over a year now. Might as well try and pile some new scraps on this old heap. Consider this another new beginning right here from the heart of the Prairie state.

Being the Boss is Boring

Obviously, based on the lack of posts here, I don't have much time for this anymore. But when my boys say the wildest things, I guess this is as good a place as any to put it so I'll try and blog on that for awhile and see where it goes. I'll subject these all "Things Kids Say," and here's the one that got this going again.

My two older sons, 6 and 5, were playing "Penguins of Madagascar" and the younger told the older one that he, meaning the older one, should be the "boss." The older one immediately rejected the opportunity to be the "boss" by saying:

"I don't want to be the boss. Being the boss is boring!"

In a culture and time that stresses the need to achieve greatness, be the best, be the top dog, I find it refreshing that he came up with this. Being the boss IS boring from a certain perspective. Often times the boss is stuck telling others what to do and they are the ones who actually get to go and do them! Always a great deal more fun being in the midst of the action, unless of course it involves cleaning out port-a-potty's or something like that I suppose.

Raptors Are So Cool!

As part of our library Children's department's Summer Reading Program, READ ON THE WILD SIDE, they had a live Raptor program tonight. My two oldest sons enjoyed it immensely, though the younger of the two had to bail out half way through (attention span couldn't hang in for the full hour + of the program) and joined his mom and baby brother out in the library to read while our oldest stayed for the whole show. We saw a live Red Tail Hawk, Peregrine Falcon, Turkey Vulture, and Barn Owl...including the Owl swallowing a dead mouse whole. Wow. Great program and it was so awesome to get to see my favorite animals, Raptors, up close and personal like that AND especially to see my sons enjoy it too (though they are both more looking forward to the snake show next month).

Standing by the Lake of Gennesaret

Standing by the Lake of Gennesaret,
He handed me a man-sized landing net,
“Leave everything and follow me,”
A fisher of men, He’s called me to be.

Standing by the Lake of Gennesaret,
Perhaps you know it by its sobriquet,
By the Sea of Galilee He stood,
Calling me to a greater good.

Sitting on the Mount of Olives,
He warned me of how a follower lives,
Deceivers and persecutors will attack,
My steadfast faith they’ll try to crack.

Sitting on the Mount of Olives,
The one who by grace forgives,
Told me He would come again,
The Son will wax, as the sun will wane.

At Golgotha, dying on the cross,
He took on our debts, paid all the costs,
“Father, forgive them,” for all to hear,
And with penalty paid, our debt was cleared.

At Golgotha, dying on the cross,
We gained eternity, in what seemed loss,
“It is finished,” and covenant was sealed,
By grace, through faith, we are eternally healed.

In the vicinity of Bethany, He ascended,
But this did not mean the story ended,
For soon after the Holy Spirit came,
So that we, our love of God, could proclaim.

In the vicinity of Bethany, He ascended,
But He shall return, even more splendid,
And in that Judgment Day’s inspection,
By grace, through faith, our Resurrection!

For God so loves the world He created,
And keeps the promises that He’s stated,
By grace, through faith, we are saved,
With Jesus’ blood, our road to eternity was paved

For God so loves the world He created,
And through His Son we were conjugated,
After a long separation due to our sins,
By grace, through faith, eternity together begins!

Playground, Grill, & Camping

Wow what a beautiful weekend. We tried out the new Project Playground at the zoo yesterday after church and WOW is the perfect word to describe it. Lots for the boys to do and I could see them well from just about any vantage point no matter where they went (something the old playground lacked). They had a ball and it looks as though on Sunday's this summer we'll be regulars there after church with a picnic lunch.

Once we got home, got the grill out and cleaned up and tried out my new charcoal chimney (one match lights the newspaper and no need for lighter fluid). Worked great so we enjoyed the first burgers/dogs outside on the deck last night as well. Of course this was after the boys spent most of the afternoon digging in the dirt under the deck looking for buried treasure. Man were they dirty! Oh well. Bath before supper and they ate their dogs and followed up with a few roasted marshmallows over the remnant coals. What a beautiful weekend God blessed us with!

Now we're in gear up mode for our annual Dads & Kids camping trip (our 4th annual) which should see us break through the 100 attendees mark easily. We'll be at a new site to accommodate the big group. Hopefully God again blesses us with nice weather.

Stone Him!

Well, the 2009 Baseball season is underway and already I miss last year. I don't get any of the sports channels so I usually only get to watch one game a weekend when its on national TV but love to listen to the games on the radio. Last year, my beloved White Sox had a great tandem of radio announcers with Ed Farmer & Steve Stone, two former Sox pitchers and both entertaining and informative. This year, Stone has switched places with Sox TV announcer, Darrin "DJ" Jackson and the broadcasts are about as exciting as when DJ was on TV (read: BORING!) Oh how I wish I could "Stone" him (as in make him a better announcer like Steve Stone)

Fidrych, Frampton & the Freedom Train

I just learned that Mark Fidrych has died in an accident on his farm. Sad news. Prayers go out for peace and comfort to his many family & friends who mourn his loss today. I never knew Mark the man, the person, the human being. I did know the "The Bird," the iconic ball player who along with Peter Frampton (and his '76 release Frampton Live) and the Bi-Centennial America's Freedom Train, became forever etched in my memory as defining artifacts of 1976. Oh yes, a peanut farmer running for President is up there too, but it was the year of "The Bird" that truly made me, a 9 year old boy, fall in love with America's game as America celebrated its 200th birthday. "Baby, I DID love your way" on the mound and you gave all of us fans, both young and old, a special summer of joy. Thanks for the memories Mark, I'll cherish them.

Sweet Baby Trey

Our newborn is 4 weeks old tonight. He spent this Thursday & Friday in St.Louis at Children's Hospital getting a shunt to relieve a hydrocephele situation in his head and came home this afternoon. He is doing very well for having just had neurosurgery yesterday. God is good, all the time! What a great place Children's Hospital is and we are very thankful for all the prayers and well wishes we've received this week. Hopefully, this shunt will resolve the issue long-term for our little boy.

World Baseball Classic

I see from this morning's paper that it will be Japan vs. South Korea in the World Baseball Classic. But honestly, I haven't cared a bit. I caught a few innings of a Netherlands/DR game at the hospital 2 weeks ago while my wife and I were waiting for the baby to be brought back to the room after some tests and that was it.

WBC = one big giant yawn from this baseball fan.

Honestly, the real World Baseball Classic is in October. Its called the MLB post-season and culminates in the WORLD Series. The best players from around the globe are represented...they make up the rosters of the teams that play. Why try to create a spring marketing tournament where players can get injured playing for NOTHING. It is time MLB calls this fiasco off. Let spring training be spring training and let April bring us "Play Ball!" and summer bring us to exciting afternoon and evening games and October bring us another fall classic.

Life-long Readers

My oldest son and embarked on a journey a couple of weeks ago. Instead of the usual nightly reading of a books that were short, wherein we could read 3-4 entire books each night, he opted to start a much longer chapter book, Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie, and so each night we would read a chapter or two until last night when we finally finished the book. The challenge for him was to remember where the story left off and pick it up again the next night, sometimes with major cliff-hangers. He thoroughly enjoyed the experience (and of course, I thoroughly enjoyed sharing a love of books with my son). Our middle son would join in too on several nights, though he's not quite ready for stories that don't end right away. So after we would finish reading a part of the Peter Pan, I would usually read a short book or two with him as well.
Last night my oldest was so thrilled to have actually finished the book that he immediately wanted to start another long one. He dashed off to his room and retrieved another classic from his bookshelf, this time Sir Walter Scott's Ivanhoe. We embark on our journey to 12th century England tonight!

Upon a Porch

An aging bulb flickers, then lights,
As it does on many summer nights,
Several moths come in to sight,
Attracted to the weak porch light.

The rhythm of a metallic creak,
Accompanied by occasional squeak,
Provided by the porch swing chain,
As it swings with nary a strain.

Forward, back, and forward again,
The swing returns to where it has been,
As cicadas buzz, and bull frogs croak,
A breeze rustles branches of a nearby oak.

Evening cool gentles the scene,
Darkness falls upon the green,
The porch is now the perfect nook,
Time again to crack open the book.

March Madness

Congrats to the UNI Panthers! My alma mater is back in the big dance this year! Go Panthers. Now we have to wait a whole week until they release the brackets to see which team they'll have a shot a upsetting in round one!

My Three Sons

Call me Fred MacMurray...I've got three sons. As of 6:53PM Friday, our third son, Trey, and what better date of birth for third child, named TREY, to be born on 03/06/09! GOD IS GREAT! Mother and son both doing fine.

I Remember This!

With the advent of a dedicated education hour on Sunday's at my church (beginning with 2009), I've been teaching on Sunday mornings during that time and my boys have then gone to Sunday school while I teach. We go to Saturday evening service and there is Sunday school during the worship on Saturday's which they had always gone to but we've tried starting to get my soon to be 6 year old to stay in worship the whole time and then go to Sunday school during the education hour on Sundays. We've had a mixture of success and failures in the few weeks we've tried.

Tonight, the service was built around 1 John 2: 18-29 (warning about antichrists) using the Yellow Light as a symbol. In front of the church was a large traffic signal with the yellow light illuminated and so, though my son had insisted on the way to church he didn't want to stay in worship with me, once he saw that, he said he wanted to find out more about it.

He really did pay attention to the sermon and its message connections to traffic lights. I was really surprised at how well he did and seeing a 5year old connect with the message of the sermon...great stuff. Before that though, he had a break through moment as we recited the Apostle's Creed as a congregation (something we don't do very often on Saturday nights due to the contemporary nature of that service). As we said the words, my son looked up at me and said:

"DAD! I REMEMBER THIS!" and he listened with mouth agape, as in awe and wonder over being connected to what was going on in worship. Behold the power of liturgy! As stated in 2 Timothy 13 (NKJV):"Hold fast the pattern of sound words which you have heard from me, in faith and love which are in Christ Jesus" There's something to be said about the power of liturgy in reaching even a child of the 21st century.

PHC ~ The Second Year

Ok, I took a few weeks off after concluding the first complete year of this blog to refresh, renew, and reexamine. When I started this, I established a calendar rotation to provide structure and force me to think and work on things that I needed to work on. So I set out the first year with Sundays dedicated to devotion to Our Lord and Savior, Mondays to my beloved wife and our relationship, Tuesdays to my wonderful children and our relationships, Wednesdays to my family of believers, the Body of Christ, and Thursdays to my role as a Man in God's plan. Fridays I kept it light with some wit and/or poetry and Saturdays I took the day off. This year I think I will remove a bit of the structure, and though I'll often post a devotion on a Sunday or talk about my beautiful wife on a Monday, I won't be limiting myself by the day of the week but rather share whats on my heart and mind as it comes up. This is more a reflection on growth in the last year, and I do think the structure was useful and necessary to get me to this point. Now I'm better prepared to take it from here. I therefore might miss a day or two, but then return with three or four posts on a day. Besides...a heap shouldn't really be so rigid and structured now should it?

Terrible Two's

Dedicated to a friend who is enjoying his last day with his 1 year old today

The two's, the two's, the terrible two's
Start singing the blues, cause daddy will lose
You can turn the screws, and try new shampoos,
But the two will excuse, then accuse, and refuse,
Take the bad news, and the occasional bruise,
Child abuse?, a good parent eschews,
Just pay your dues, and enjoy the cruise,
Perhaps you can use, my fatherly ruse,
When trouble brews…pretend to snooze,
And let mommy take care of the trouble!

Year Two of PHC begins

Well, year two begins today as it was a year ago today I started this blog. How appropriate it falls on Thursday, the day I focus on manhood as it was very much a part of the manhood plan I created a year ago as part of our Men's Fraternity first year class to achieve an authentic Christian manhood to focus this blog on being a better man, husband, father, and brother-in-Christ. I've obviously still a long way to go, every day presents new challenges on the journey and I hope again to share some of the ups and downs of that journey here each day.

First Year - Final Post

Wow...

I started this blog on January 8th, 2008 and admit, it was not the first time I started a blog (more like the 3rd or 4th time). However, this was the first time I've stuck with it. First Day's post There's been a few readers along the way and I appreciate the sporadic few comments I've received, but I look forward to another year throwing more on the heap.

wii mania II

My oldest son had a ball playing a Cars racing and driving game on his aunt & uncle's wii over Christmas. They had the steering wheel holder for the wand so he could sit and really drive his car around town (thankfully damage didn't effect play as he smashed into everything!) It was fun to see him sit on the floor and throw his whole body into trying to make a sharp turn. His birthday is in April...so maybe my sister--my bride won't have to wait too long for a wii! Though she may not get a chance to play it until after the boys go to bed at night.

wii mania

My sister--my bride got her first taste of wii entertainment during our visit to my parents over Christmas. My little sister and her husband got one and were sharing it with the rest of us and both my older son and my wife were quite smitten with the non-sedentary video game. She wants one bad now (mainly wants to bowl) and when our friends in town got one for Christmas as well...it added to her passion for her very own. I predict we will not depart 2009 without one...though her birthday is not until November! Patience is a virtue my sweet.

Snapping In

During my six years serving on active duty as a Marine back in the 1980s, one of the annual requirements was to re-qualify with our rifles. This was actually a two week process with the qualification day coming on the Friday of the second week. In fact, we would not fire a single round on the range until Monday of the second week; the whole first week was spent snapping-in (and making our targets, etc.) Snap-in week basic involved several hours in the various firing positions around a white barrel with target silhouettes painted on it. We worked mostly on tightening our sitting position and on breathing while squeezing the trigger. To call it boring would be an understatement. But, by the time you got to the range on the second week, and then especially after the 4 days of firing leading up to Qual Day on Friday, we were all ready. Our joints and muscles stretched and attuned, our breathing controlled, and very few of us failed to qualify…Marine Corps marksmanship.

1 Peter 1:13-22 (NIV) ~ Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy." Since you call on a Father who judges each man's work impartially, live your lives as strangers here in reverent fear. For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God. Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart

As Christians, we need to snap in as well. We need to prepare our hearts and minds. It may seem boring or unnecessary. But it is our duty

Ephesians 4: 21-32 ~ Surely you heard of him and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body. "In your anger do not sin": Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold. He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need.
Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

We've got a long way to go on this journey of faith...time to snap in and get ready!


I always qualified as a sharpshooter, which was a step below expert, the highest level of marksmanship. I think it was because I liked wearing a cross over my heart.

23 Years Ago

Tomorrow morning it will have been twenty-three years,
That I stood in formation surrounded by peers,
Fourty-two of us in all, and all volunteers,
When we were dismissed to uproarious cheers,
And though we were tough, we shed many tears,
As we had all made it, overcoming our fears,
As many looked forward to toasting with beers,
Earning the title MARINE, and starting our careers.

Ooo-Rah my brothers of Platoon 2106 who all earned the title MARINE on Jan 3, 1986 after twelve weeks of boot camp at MCRD-San Diego. And a big thank you to our DIs, SSgt Garcia & Sgts Guy, Martin, and Harris.