Life

It was like the day was burning
Everywhere he turned, he saw the fields on fire
Captive by the wire

Home fell like breaking china
Fear was the only thing they shared at all
Bearing every soul

Oh, give me rest tonite

– Hoi Polloi, “Rest Tonite”

Texas is in the midst of one of the worst droughts in the state’s history and suffering through one of its hottest summers. Here in the DFW Metroplex, we racked up 40 days straight of triple-digit high temperatures in July and August, two days short of tying a record, and have so far had 57 days total over 100 degrees, with that number climbing daily. Further south, it’s much worse. Austin has already had 69 days of 100 degree-plus weather and much less rainfall. Losses in crops and livestock due to the drought have cost Texas $5.2 billion, and much of the state is under severe water restrictions.

And there’s no sign of relief any time soon. While the temperatures will eventually subside in a month or so, meteorologists are saying we’re probably in for another drier-than-normal La Niña winter. Which means things will probably get a lot worse before they get any better.

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As if I didn’t feel old enough already, today is the 30th anniversary of the launch of MTV. Let that sink in for a minute.

Of course, trivia buffs know that the first video ever shown on MTV was The Buggles’ “Video Killed The Radio Star”. But the first video I ever saw on the basic cable network (you know, back when they actually showed music videos), was “Centerfold” by The J. Geils Band.

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It was exactly one year ago today the I broke my leg. One long year ago. But I’m still reminded of that moment daily.

Our house backs up to an undeveloped greenbelt, and we have a 4-foot wrought iron fence along the back. Because the HOA wouldn’t do any landscaping behind our house (like they were supposed to), we had a hard time keeping the grass trimmed along the fence, so I took matters into my own hands and decided to trim it myself, which required climbing over the fence because we didn’t have a gate at the time. While Christy was busy studying for school and the girls were watching TV, I climbed up onto the fence and hopped over. And that’s when everything went to hell.

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Welcome to summer! I’m officially 9 months into my year-long commitment to read through the Bible, and perhaps more importantly, I’m officially done with the historical and prophetic books of the Old Testament. After falling behind in Jeremiah, I moved on and came back as soon as I had the chance, and now I’m happy to report I’m fully back on schedule. Which means that after five months of being in the Old Testament, I can finally get back to the New Testament starting this week. I’m really looking forward these last few months as the remaining books are probably the most applicable to day-to-day life. (Not that I don’t love books like Habakkuk and Obadiah, of course.)

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While I don’t have a son, I do have two young daughters, and any father of young kids can instantly relate to the lyrics of the song below, “Follow Me” by Remedy Drive. There are times when kids ask deep and complicated questions that are difficult to answer, but more often than not, they just want to spend time with their daddy.

I try to be the best father I can for my kids, and as the song says, I don’t want to let them down. In the end, I hope I will have done enough and set the right example for my kids to follow. But more importantly, I pray that they’ll keep running toward “this hope that I can’t see”, Jesus Christ.

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Quick, what is the longest book of the Bible? If you’re measuring strictly by the number of words, it’s Jeremiah. Now, what is the book of the Bible that I seem to be stuck on? You guessed it: Jeremiah.

I’m about halfway in but have hit a wall. After spending the last 12 weeks plowing through 1 and 2 Kings, 1 and 2 Chronicles, and 13 other prophetic books of the Old Testament (including the 66-chapter Isaiah), I’m having a hard time getting through this one.

I feel like Man v. Food‘s Adam Richman, staring down the barrel of a 5-pound burrito with only 30 minutes left to polish it off. (Mmm, burritos….)

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