Friday, June 29, 2007

this has been a tough week...

I have to admit. Mentally and physically this has been one of the toughest weeks I have had in a long time. I have been away from my family all week. They have been at VBS and I have been teaching/worship at a Church Camp all week. I have loved meeting these awesome new kids, but it has been much harder than ever to be away from Jen, Maddie and Caroline. I have also found out that I doubled booked 2 gigs on Saturday and don't really have a band to play with for either gig. Honestly, I am tired. I want to quit.

My life is changing. I am not sure how good or bad this is at this point in time. I pray that God knows the why and maybe He will let me in on a little bit of it.

Here is the bright spot in all of this... My daughter got saved, my brother and his wife were baptized and the kids at the camp really responded to worship last night for the first time all week. It was amazing. God gave me a glimpse. I am teaching out of 1 Peter....and last night from 1Peter 4:12-13.. " Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed." Is this a coincidence? I think not. My best friend Eli said that my message was fantastic last night, i have my doubts, but if it were really a good message...it is because I am living that verse right now. I am personally struggling with trials. I am not sure I can be anymore real to these kids than that! But as I told them last night.... James 1:2, baby...James 1:2

Friday, June 22, 2007

did any one watch...

It is funny that I posted the AFI video the other day, because there was an AFI special on last night. It was the 10 year Anniversary of the very first !00 Years, !00 Movies. The had a vote to see what the top 100 Greatest Movies of all time were as compared to what they ranked 10 years ago. it was a night of great movie clips from great classic movies... My favorite movie was #25...To Kill a Mockingbird. Laurence Fishbourne added comments about one of my favorite scene in the the movie. He said, "The only thing they could do in the courtroom was stand. To show their appreciation for Atticus, it gets me every time." That is close to his quote. I love the scene for the very same reason.

Citizen Cane was ranked number one yet again.

Here is a link to the list of movies in the order from the show.

http://afi.aol.com/cgi-bin/afi-top10/top100.cgi



What are your 10 favorite movies from the list? i have always had a Marty's top 20 list...but it woudl be interesting to see how people rank only the movies from the top 100 list.

Did any one watch this show? I hope you catch on the replay or Tivo. Totally worth sitting down and watching. I enjoy the actors comments as much as I do seeing the clips.

Here are my Top 10 movies from the AFI 100 Years, 100 Movies...

1. To Kill a Mockingbird
2. Raiders of the Lost Ark
3. It's a Wonderful Life
4. Lord of the Rings:The Fellowship fo the Ring
5. Vertigo
6. Star Wars
7. American Graffiti
8. Rocky
9. The Shawshank Redemption
10.The Sound of Music

Wow, that was hard to narrow down and put into some sort of order...

Tuesday, June 19, 2007

in keeping with the theme of the last post...

AFI 100 Greatest Movie Quotes.... Great stuff!

this is very cool....

This is very cool. I really dig the AFI 100 greatest movies, 100 greatest comedies, and 100 greatest movie moments, etc. These are great shows if you enjoy classic movies or are just a movie junkie in general. Marko had this posted on his blog and I had to put it here... lots of work to make this happen!

Monday, June 18, 2007

How did she become so much smarter than I...

Last week was just a crazy week in my life. It was the week after a vacation week, so it started off behind. I was behind in the yardwork, behind at work and in life in general. It was my wedding anniversary, it was vacation bible school, and it was very busy at work. It took me the entire week to catch up. I am not sure I have fully brought myself back to where I was before vacation.

I can be honest and tell you that it was not the greatest week of my life for the most part. On Thursday, things started looking up when we went to Vacation Bible School to pick up Maddie and Caroline. When we got there, there was a football game going on between some of the adults, so I jumped in to help. After the younger kids rolled out of the church as we were headed to the car, my daughter Maddie says, "Dad, I asked Jesus into my heart tonight!". I was shocked. All I could do was giver her a hug and tell her I loved her. I must admit that I was skeptical. I hate admitting that fact. But, I took a deep breath and allowed the truth of this news sink in deep before I started questioning. I looked at Maddie and she looked so grown up to me at that moment. But, I still had lots of questions. Did she understand what she was saying? Does she understand the decision she claims to have made? She is 9 years old. How can a 9 year old understand the magnitude of this decision?

Later that night, I tucked Maddie into bed. We talked about how it happened. What was said? Who was there? Why she felt like she needed to make this decision now? Maddie had an answer fo reverything. I am not sure I have ever been more proud of her in my life. How did she become so much smarter than I? I was almost 30 years old before I understood enough to make a decision. Maddie is nine! It was obvious that she understood the magnitude of her decision. She was exctied. She knew the responsibility. She is awesome.

I was upset that I was not there. I was dissapointed that I did not get to be the one to reap the harvest. How selfish am I? As soon as the thought crossed my mind, I remembered that sometimes we plant seeds, sometimes we just get to water the seed, but we don't always get to harvest the crop. My prayer is that some of my water is what put Maddie on this path to make the most important decision in her entire life. I am blessed by realizing that fact.

My prayer for Maddie is that she continues to grow in Christ. That she realizes that there will be things along the road that get in our way. We will make mistakes, make bad decisions, and completly mess up. Through all of that, God still loves us so much that He accepts the truth about our sinful nature. He loves us so much that He just loves us in spite of our faults. I pray that Maddie takes her decision and never fails to shine for Christ. Never be ashamed of your decision, always be prepared to share your hope with others. Always show Christ's love with your actions, with your life. Always share with compassion, because Jesus has compassion for us.

"But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect," 1Peter 3:15 NIV

One of my previous posts, I said I was lost. It is amazing how God answered that prayer. Maddie found Christ. I am no longer lost.

Monday, June 11, 2007

Happy Anniversary!

Happy Anniversary! 13 years! I hope you have a great day!

Love,

Marty

it has been a while...

WOW! I can't believe it has been this loong between posts. We have spent the last week in Florida on vacation. I got sunburnt. Then I peeled. This is typical when i dont have a good tan before I go to St. Pete. We had a great time. All we did was lay on the beach, lay around the pool and swim. It was simple, but relaxing. My sister got married in Naples, on the beach. We went to the beach on Fort Desoto. It was beautiful there. I washed the car. We ate at a great restaurant called Snappers. I got to eat at my favorite place, the Alvarez. I ordered the No.7. I swam with Maddie and Caroline...alot. We built sand castles. I showered with a lizard, as the rest of the family screamed and pointed...at the lizard. We played tennis. We walked on the beach, every morning. We did not buy Jennifer anything for her birthday. I played my Baby Taylor daily. We played Minature golf and Smugglers Cove, Caroline and Maddie both had hole in ones. Jen won. Smuggler's Cove was the big winner, we payed 10 bucks a piece to play. We met Uncle Phil's daughter Tonya and her two kids. We were spoiled at the Naples Grande Resort. We were spoiled by Judy and Phil all week long. Phil took us on the boat tour around Teirra Verde. There are millon dollars homes wiht million dollar boats on the docks in front of them. They are all on the water. We drive by them and wonder how poeple pay for all of these things. We went past one house that burnt to the ground later that day. Here is the story...

http://www.tampabays10.com/video/news/?aid=42909&sid=56541

We drove, and drove, and drove some more. We drove through rain and lovebugs. I had to wash the car. Phil taught me the proper way to wash the car. We caught Pin fish off the dock at Phil and Judy's to feed the Blue Herron that camps out in their yard. We saw cows in the fields, each with their very own Eggret. We had a great time. It was just nice to have quality time with the family. Maddie and Caroline faught like cats and dogs. Jen wore her cowboy hat I bought her in Dallas. HOT!

My highlight of the week was hearing about a Charlie Hall concert at Calvary Chapel. This church was awesome! It was in an old Walmart building. The concert was great. Jen and I had a great time. I got to chat with Charlie for a few minutes after the show. Was very cool. Jen took our picture. Charlie and his band were fantastic. I learned so much worshipping with them. This was my week in little snippits. It is 1:48 AM and I can't sleep.