A few people have asked me recently (after I posted these pictures on my Facebook page) when I started supporting Obama. My response to one person was something along the lines of, "When the republicans decided that lying to everybody was a good way to run the country."

Well, I saw something today that only reinforces my opinion that McCain must think we’re idiots, and that the crap he pulls won’t show up on the Internet for all to see:
http://www.salon.com/news/primary_sources/2008/09/24/mccain_letters/
http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2008/09/24/mccain_letters/index.html

Yesterday I got a tiny glimpse of what those who got hit by hurricane Ike dealt with. Here in Ohio we felt what I can only guess was the very edge of the storm, or something... I don’t really know because I didn’t have any power to find out what the heck was going on. It wasn’t even until I tried to go out to get some dinner that I realized how widespread the outage was. We had trees down in our neighborhood and limbs falling from on high, but once I started driving around after dark I realized how many places where without power. And then I realized that everyone else on the road was probably doing the same thing that I was - trying to get some food. With only a few restaurants open, they were crowded and quickly running out of food. In all of the craziness - downed power lines, trees split down the middle or completely uprooted - I just keep thinking that this is nothing compared to what those in the South are dealing with, and I’m thankful that my family is safe and I hear that the power is back on at the house. I pray that those in Texas and Florida can say the same things soon.

Doug, I don’t know if you would remember be or not. I was a freshman when you were a senior. I looked up to you like everybody else did. You leadership and skill were superior to everyone else. I have told stories about the way you wrestled to many young wrestlers - you left quite an impression on my life, and probably never knew it. You are the kind of man that legends are made of...

I just heard the other day that you were shot and killed in Fallujah. It saddened me to hear that you had been killed in a war that is what it is. I was glad to hear, however, that you continued to make an impact on people’s lives. The stories I read about you made it clear that the person I knew in high school, only got better. You were respected and loved. I haven’t seen you in a long time, but you will be missed.

Doug Zembiec - thank you for being you.

OK, so I’ve ben meaning to write this post for a long time now. I was recently back in Phoenix visiting family and friends, and a few things are pushing me to start writing again. So, here’s where I have been for the last 20 months...

After many discussions with the leadership of onePlace and my wife, I made the decision to step down form my position as pastor and take a step away from full-time church ministry. With this came a slew of decisions: are we going to stay in Phoenix? can we stay in our house? how are going to pay the bills? what in the world are we doing?

Let me explain what has become of my life by trying to answer these questions (and maybe a few more).

**Warning: I can’t guarantee how interesting what follows will be, but I need to write it - so there.

After the decision to leave onePlace, the first thing that needed to be decided was what we were going to do. Well, as most people who read this (or use to read this) blog know, I am a bit of a computer enthusiast (Debbie probably would have said nerd). So, taking this to heart, I decided to go back to school to finish the computer science degree that I started over a decade ago. With the decision to go back to school, we quickly realized that we were not going to be able to continue to pay the mortgage on our house, so we decided to move out, rent the house and move in with family.

For a number of reasons we decided to move in with Debbie’s family back in Dayton, OH. So, we packed up everything we had (after a pretty significant garage sale) into a moving truck. My dad and I headed out in our car, with the dogs and Debbie followed a day or so later by plane with Zane. So, 2000 miles and one speeding ticket later, we were in Dayton, unloading the truck that we had just packed a few days earlier.

So, there I was - in between jobs, living with my in-laws, in the middle of winter in Dayton, OH. I started doing some freelance web design work, but that wasn’t really paying the bills, and there was no good option for health insurance for my family. So, off to Starbucks (which I recommend if you need a good part-time job with benefits). My job history since I left Phoenix: Freelancing, Starbucks (almost full-time), LexisNexis Co-op (part-time)/Starbucks (part-time), LexisNexis Contractor (full-time), Starbucks (full-time), LexisNexis Contractor (full-time). It’s been a crazy year.

And that was just work - Debbie and I have both gone back to school. I will finish my computer science degree from Wright State University in December, 2009. Debbie (who started back to school after me) will finish the massage therapy program at SHI Integrative Medical Massage School in November, 2009 and then take her licensure test in December.

The best thing that has happened in the last 20 months is Xander coming home. That kid is freaking amazing! I’ll have to write more about him later.

Well, I guess that brings me to where I am now - back in school (and actually enjoying it for the most part) and just trying to make it. I feel like my life is on hold in a sense. Hopefully in about a year, when school is drawing to a close, a new life will begin. A new life for me, for Debbie, and for our family. This thought is both liberating and extremely frightening.

Well, hopefully this will be the first of many more entries to the crap - so, maybe this is a new life for this blog...