Yet another weekend wrap-up

Did something yesterday I haven't done in quite some time, I played bass for the worship team. It has been well over a month since I had the bass out and for all intents and purposes I was ready to sell it to get other toys but now I think I will not be doing that because it will be getting some use in the next few weeks. On the new schedule for the worship team I'll be on bass every third week. I really enjoyed playing the old thing again and I'm looking forward to the next time. The bass seems comforting to me and holds a special place in the old heart because if it were not for the bass I would not be part of the worship team. That was my start a few years ago and have alot of good memories of those early days stepping out and getting uncomfortable. One of my fondest memories was I believe it was the first time I played in front of people was doing "Days Of Elijah" and Ryan McAllister was playing the REAL drums which I was standing next to and when we got to the "No God like Jehovah" part he started just pounding those things and I could feel it pounding in my chest and I was like "Yeah, this is cool". I miss the real drums, they made such a difference sound wise.

Did a double dose of youth yesterday with both jr. high and high school. There was alot of students there yesterday and I'm looking forward to next week when the new room opens up. After service yesterday went to the new Pizza Hut in Winchester with the Bly's and Brincefield's and enjoyed some time out with other families eating lotsa pizza and drinking lots of diet dew watching the Worlds Strongest Man Competition. Those guys are flat nuts.

Sunday set list
All We Need - Charlie Hall
Better Is One Day - Matt Redman
Grace Like Rain - Todd Agnew
It Is Well - Forget the guy but remember the story
King Of Glory - Chris Tomlin
Oh Praise Him - David Crowder Band* (just got his live cd/dvd and it rocks)
Joy To The World - ? (final Christmas song I think)

I survived, barely.

Yesterday was a crazy day to go shopping, the money and gift cards the kids got was burning a hole in their pockets. I know I used to be the same so what can you do. We headed into Muncie around 11 or so had to stop out at Tammy's work to drop off her phone and took her a little lunch. The plan was to stop back by to show her the loot the kids got but that never happened. It seemed like the day after Thanksgiving all over, people everywhere. Went to Wal-Mart and Tyson did some of his shopping there and was done rather quickly. Off to Family Christian stores for me and got some goodies and even have a bit left for next time. We were there for 15-20 minutes got up to the checkout and I decided against one cd I got and took it back to get another, get back up to the line, which there was only 1 person in front of us but Granny Gert decided to buy 15 boxes of Christmas cards then when she paid for them she decided to put the receipt in her purse without signing it so then she had to DIG it out to finish. Got done there and off to Toys R Us which once again didn't take that long. Stopped in for a few seconds at Best Buy, usually one of my favorite stores but I've been unimpressed the last few times I've been there. It took us longer to park then the time we spent inside. Now off to the mall.

I've said it before but some drivers in Muncie have no clue. Dodging cars and pot holes down McGaliard we went and the first turn in by Target the line started way back, no problem go to the one by Burger King, it started after the first one ended, no problem we will go up to the original turn in, problem, train. With the train our light was red while the other was green, we're stuck all we need to do is turn. Got tired of waiting so we did a big U-turn and headed back and got in finally. The mall was insane, Taylor was doing the shopping here so it took a little longer. She went to Wet Seal and got a pair of pants for like $26 and right behind them was a rack with the same type of jeans for $15 with a deal of buy 2 get a pair for a penny. Nope lets get the $26 ones. Off to Aeropostal where the line went from the register to the back of the store around the back and up to the changing room. Needless to say Tyson and I bailed and she was in there for at least an hour. Now alot of that was waiting in line but next year we either wait for a day or two or like I joked with Mom & Dad whoever gets her the gift card gets to take her.

We survived and got some pizza from Papa Murphy's and a movie for Tammy and I to watch "Burn After Reading" which we made it about 30 minutes in then after hearing the "f word" about 50 times we looked at each other and deciding that this has to be one of the stupidest movies we've seen we took it out and started to watch Wings only to realize we've already watched that particular DVD so we watched a thing on Lighthouses. Got to play a little PS2 with Sprint Cars 2 for a bit so the evening ended on a good note.

That's just wrong

For the last two years the kids have gotten us up at 3 am on Christmas morning to open presents and what not so they were asking what time this year, we said no earlier than 3. Well that didn't work. They came into our room to get us up at 2:15 am!!!!!!!!!!! Don't these kids sleep? Well as I sit here and type at 20 after 3 Tammy is sleeping on the couch and Taylor is asleep (finally, she's been awake since around midnight) and Tyson is building all of the LEGOS he got. Me I'm about ready to go climb back into the warm bed and continue the sleep that was interupted. 2:15 are you serious, anyone else get up that early?

The night before the night before Christmas

'Twas the night before the night before Christmas and outside its a mess
If I didn't have to go anywhere I wouldn't get dressed

Sorry can't think of anymore but its been a few days so I thought of that title and thought I'd share it with you, you know kinda like Saturday the 14th but different, see what happens when you should be in bed but instead your online.

Quick recap of what I can remember of Sundays songs:

Your Grace Is Enough - Chris Tomlin (Actually nailed this one again, woohoo)
Let God Arise - Chris Tomlin (Was rocking out on this one, then Pink threw a curve and went back to the bridge when I was rocking the outro, opps.)
Everlasting God - Chris Tomlin
Joy To The World - ?
Come Thou Fount - Robert Richardson
Oh Come, Oh Come Emanuelle - ? (never heard this song before in my life but it sounded pretty good)
Oh Come All Ye Faithful - ?

I'm glad that the Christmas song portion is done on my part, they have like 10 chords per 6 word lines kinda like G C G C D G C D C G all within 10 seconds. If I don't blog again everyone have a Merry Christmas and enjoy the time with your families and friends.

Gary Hoey: Ho Ho Hoey

A little Christmas music for you. Let's go "Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree" with Gary Hoey.

Happy B-DAY to the little Mrs.

If you see the little Mrs. today be sure and wish here a HAPPY BIRTHDAY today. She turns (fill in the blank) today. I can give you a hint, I can never call her the "old lady" because she is younger than me. No big celebrations planned for today though, we actually have nothing on the docket for this evening but going home getting in our PJ's and watch a little Criminal Minds and CSI:NY. I'm ready for a nice relaxing evening with my birthday girl.

The picture is a couple of years old as she doesn't like to have her picture taken so this is what I could get here at work to put up. Oh the memories of this pic, it was our first real big vacation about 2 years ago I believe when we went to Disney, Sea World, GatorLand, the Outer Banks, and Va. Beach. Good times and interesting enough this picture was taken on Sunday when we first arrived inside the Magic Kingdom and the next day was my birthday which we celebrated with a tropical storm at Sea World.

1st game out of the way.

Tyson played his first 5th grade boys basketball game last night at MCE against Blue River and the result didn't turn out well for the team as they got beat like 24-20 or something like that but it looked like the boys all had fun and were out there hustling and trying their best. Tyson got in for a few minutes in the 3rd quarter and the first thing he does is start up a conversation with the kid he's guarding. Leave it to my son to be the one out there whos always talking. Now this was not trash talking mind you, he was just talking to the kid and who knows what it was about. At least he didn't yell for him when he got away from him like he did at the Y last year. I asked him later what he said to the kid and all he told me was "hello" in a wierd drawn out voice. I don't think he'll make a living at playing ball, he already said next year he wants to be the mascot which is right up his alley, but he was out there running around trying and having a little bit of fun. So if you come to a 5th grade game look out for #5 from the Bears, he'll be the one easy to spot, he'll be the one out there talking up a storm.

Love/Hate relationship

I've been having a little relational issues going on between myself and my guitars here lately. In the last 2 weeks I think I have pulled them out of the case maybe twice if even that. Not playing in the worship team last week wasn't a big deal, it was my scheduled week off so I was ready for that and thought I'd pull it out when I found out what songs we we're doing this week (yesterday). Then after scheduling issues for some of us it was decided to do a stripped down version which is cool, so they stayed wrapped up nice and cozy for another week. I did play for a bit on Saturday which was cool but lately I've not been excited about playing. Mainly because I'm going through one of those periods where my hands and mind are not on the same page, I know what I want to do and what I need to do but that information does not make it to where it needs to go. Plus it hasn't helped that we have been really busy for the last couple of weeks so there is not enough time. Here in a couple of days I'll probably pick it back up and have at it and hopefully it will be with renewed confidence, which I've been lacking for a couple of weeks.

I'm getting a bit excited about watching Tyson play his first ball game today, Tammy asked him if he was nervous for the game and he said no he's played in front of people at the Y before. Good answer. I hope he gets some playing time today and most importantly has some fun. After his game we will make the long trek down the road between schools and go watch Taylor cheer for the 8th grade girls BB team. Should be a fun filled evening.

Thats alot of people

Just got back a few minutes ago from Taylor's Christmas concert out at the school and let me tell you it was packed. Big props to Mr. Briggs and Mrs. Chalfant for putting together a great evening of entertainment. Now I'm a little partial to the "lil-chick" but I think she did a great job. Her and Emily C. had a little solo in the first song and then to my surprise she got up in front when the boys in the band had a surprise for Mr. Briggs. They busted out Whip It on these chime things and a drum set and it sounded cool. Taylor and Emily got up there and yelled the chorus, it would have been cool if the audience would have sang along but it was still rockin'. The choirs were good and I didn't think that the kids would stop coming out, man there was alot of them. High school band did an awesome job and the evening ended with a band with Mr. Briggs own rendition of Carol Of The Bells with the choir, good stuff. It was good to watch my daughter and quite a few of the kids from youth, plus addmission was a can good which was divided between FFC's food pantry and two other churches. It was a win-win night.

Guest blogger - Perry Noble

Got this from Perry Noble's blog the other day and thought I would share this with you. I am guilty of this myself from time to time and now I am making an effort to not do this. It is entitled KISSING TOILETS. Enjoy and thanks Perry for guesting on my blog.



I shared this story on Friday night at our worship celebration…and thought I should share it here as well.
I was in the bathroom the other day taking a “pee pee” when I turned to my right and there was Charisse staring at me. (It was totally awkard!)
SO…I told her, “Daddy is pee pee’ing in the toliet…you will do that one day.”
She looked at me, smiled and said, “pee pee!!!”
I then turned around to wash my hands, explaining to her that after we pee pee we clean our hands…but when I turned and looked at her she was staring at the toilet.
I was afraid she was going to stick her hands in it…so I told her, “don’t touch.”
BUT…that’s when she did the unthinkable…she leaned forward and kissed the toilet lid!
I wanted to throw up! Seriously…WOW! I told her, “NO!!!” And I scooped her up…and THAT IS WHEN SHE WANTED TO KISS ME!!!
AHHHHHH! What is a dad to do? I LOVE my little girl…but she kissed a freakin’ toilet seat!!! I watched the whole thing…it was SO GROSS…
I was about to put her down when the Lord spoke to my heart and said, “Hey Perry…what you just saw her do…you’ve done many times. You’ve kissed the “toilet” of the world all week long and then came into church and tried to kiss me!”
BAM!
For WAY TOO LONG coming to church was about making me feel better and not exalting a HOLY and RIGHTEOUS GOD. I would “kiss toliets” all week long by the way I spoke about other people, the things I looked at…the places I allowed my mind to wander…and then I would come to church wanting God to make me feel better…BUT COMPLETELY unwilling to repent of the sin that was dominating me.
One of the things that I think we often forget as follower of Christ is that He knows…He knows our hearts…He knows our minds…and He knows the toliets we kiss all week long.
Judas kissed Him…but it was a kissed laced with betrayal and greed. God is not pleased with our church attendance…but rather our repentance.
Just wondering…kissing any toilets? Anything in your life that you know God doesn’t approve of…you refuse to repent…and you are going to come to church this Sunday and pretend that eveything is okay with you & God?
These are tough questions to wrestle with…but doing so will reveal our hearts!!!
One more thing…I LOVE MY LITTLE GIRL! Even watching her kiss a toilet make me stop loving her. It made me sick…but didn’t change the fact that I love her. I don’t love her because of what she does…I love her because she’s mine!!!
I am so glad that God treats us the same way…even through the time when I was kissing toliets and breaking His heart…He never stopped loving me…and it was His patience and kindness that drew me to Him (and still does) and conforms me more and more to who He has called me to be!!!
Gotta go give Charisse a kiss!!!

Awesome Sprint Car Crash

So you wanna be a race car driver. Dig the in car camera. This dude took a beating but was able to walk away.

Busy Bee

Tammy and I used to look at other people that we knew who seemed like they were always on the go and we used to say, "That's just not our style." Guess what, it is now. Things have really picked up here at the Chalfant house with practices, games, family events, and different activities and for the rest of this week and next week here is a look at our itenerary:

Tue Dec. 9 - I have a meeting at church @ 7, Tammy and the kids going to our nephews Christmas program
Wed Dec. 10 - Tyson Practice until 5, Taylor practice 6-8, Tammy and I small group from 6:30-8:30.
Thu Dec. 11 - Taylor ball game @ 6, Tyson Christmas program.
Fri Dec. 12 - Taylor Christmas program for band
Sat Dec 13 - Don't know of anything yet
Sun Dec. 14 - Church and Youth
Mon Dec. 15 - Tyson ball game @ 4:30, Taylor ball game @ 6
Tue Dec. 16 - Taylor ball game @ 6
Wed Dec. 17 - Tammy's B-day, Tyson practice, small group
Thu Dec. 18 - Tyson ball game @ 5:30 in Selma, Taylor ball game @ 6
Fri Dec. 19 - Youth bowling in New Castle, hopefully I bowl a 204 to Pink's 203.
Sat Dec. 20 - Tammy GS meeting
Sun Dec. 21 - Church & Youth
Mon Dec. 22 - VACATION FOR 2 WEEKS (for me and the kids, Tammy just for a few days)

Busy can't talk now.

Different this weekend

Did something yesterday that I have never done before and after doing it I would like to do it again sometime. I'll start off by saying that I had the week off from the worship team so we got to church a little later than normal so I was hanging out and I saw Stephen Price up at the soundboard so I thought I'd go say hey. When I got up there he asked me if I was doing anything today and if I wanted to help them out. So I agreed and we discussed what they needed help with and I accepted the position of "director" for the internet broadcast and DVD's. Let me just say that I had a blast and it was good to see the service from a different perspective. I really enjoyed that and hopefully there will be a chance to do it all again sometime. It was a little hectic at first having to watch the levels of audio during the service and watching what the cameras were shooting and to try not to get a camera that was moving in and out on the shot, but I got the hang of it and really enjoyed it. I do wish that I had contact with the people running the cameras so I could let them know when to zoom in and when to zoom out. If you watched online yesterday or if you get a DVD of the service I hope you enjoy it and its easy to watch.

Spent a bit of the afternoon at my nephews birthday party having some fun watching him and hanging with the family. Youth was fun as I sat in on half of junior high and then the regular high school one. I did have a bit of fun when Taylor and I finally got there as they were playing Sanctuary DodgeBall, we went to the doors on the side of the sanctuary and waited for someone to lean on them and when they did I opened them and they about fell out so that was funny on my part and it freaked them out.


Didn't even leave the house Saturday which was enjoyable, stayed home watched sports and watched it snow. Friday I finished up the basketball game on JOY FM and then did Solid Rock Friday Night which was fun. Had a couple of requests so that is always good. Had a brief brain fart at the start of the show as Ryan was signing off of the ball game I was playing the outro and waiting for him to hang up so I could as well and he thought someone else was in the studio so I was trying to talk to him but couldn't remember how to get him in my headset and get him to hear me so I forgot to get everything turned on and in its place so the first bit of the first song played was not heard. Got it all under control and made it through except for the TobyMac Christmas song which was a little weak for SRF but its all good.

Another reminder

If your looking for a little entertainment this evening say around 9:30-10:00, you can always turn your radio to 88.9 or if your surfin' the net at that time head on over to 889joyfm.com and check out Solid Rock Friday Night with your host, ME. I, being the dork that I am, have kept a little log sheet of all the times I have been over there doing SRF and I made a more advance list thingy and found out that I have played more different Pillar songs then any other artist. I have played 91 different artists in my time over there for the last year and a half. That number is probably bigger than that because one of the nights I was over there and actually did the whole 3 hours of the show I played 47 songs from 45 different artists but I cannot find my sheet for that show. The song I have played the most is "Fiction" from Indiana's own Kids In The Way, that song is a great song and has been requested 4 out of the 5 times I've played it, all 4 happen to be from my house with Tammy, Taylor and Tyson each requesting it at some point or another. I look forward to adding to the all of the list tonight.

Boomin' out your stereo

Tomorrow night once again I'll be hitting the airwaves of east central Indiana and western Ohio at 88.9 on the FM dial and streaming worldwide on the internet at 889joyfm.com from sometime around 9:30 to 11:00 doing another stint at Solid Rock Friday Night. I'll get over there at 9 or so to finish up the board for the first basketball game of the season then the rockin and rollin will commence. Join me if you can. I think I'll do a little "Back In The Day" kind of thing with some music from artists that aren't around anymore from particuallarly the '80's, been listening to some old jam tapes I made years ago and its been bringing back some good memories so I think I'll do a little spot on that tomorrow night. Go ahead and break out the spandex, bandanas, and big hair.

Christmas Story-Fa ra ra

Over at Rick Brown's Blog he posted his 3 favorite Christmas shows and asked what was others, this is my all time favorite, A Christmas Story. So here is a little snipet of some wonderful Christmas time music. ENJOY

Back at it

Back here at work after 9 days off and let me tell you, its hard right now to get back into the swing of things. Just about the time I'm back in the swing we will be taking another break this time for 2 weeks as of now, that can all change but right now it doesn't look like it will. That will be real hard to come back from 14 days away but I'll manage. There is a blizzard of paperwork here on the old desk and I've got to get last month closed out and then concentrate on this month, wow it's December, where did the year go?

Church was different yesterday and I mean that in a good way, Francis Chan is an amazing speaker. Everything I've heard has just been off the hook. I could listen to him and Perry Noble, Steven Furtick, Ed Young, Charles Hill, Shannon O'Dell, & Brian Houston as well as PK and our pastoral staff everyday. Amazing men of God. Youth was fun and the excitement of the new room is growing each day, I'm pumped to check it out. Had quite a few kids last night and I'm sure in the coming weeks there will be more and I pray that they will be hooked on youth not just because of the cool room and all the people hanging out but also get hooked on Jesus.

Braved the crowds for a short bit Friday morning, our morning started at around 4:30 in Wal-Mart with a coat for Tyson and we were out of there at about 10 after 5. Saw the Skillman's there and they had been there since 10 pm Thanksgiving night, now thats insane. Left there to go to Target and the parking lot was pretty empty then we noticed that they didn't open until 6 and the line to get in went around the building. Went to eat instead then came back and the place was packed and what we went for was gone so we were back home around 6:45 and back in bed by 7 and ended up spending less then $20 for the day.

Sunday songs:
Trading My Sorrows - Darrel Evans
Lord, Reign In Me - Brenton Brown
King Of Glory - Chris Tomlin
Come, Thou Fount - Robert Robinson
Here I Am To Worship - Tim Hughes
Glorious - Chris Tomlin
Joy To The World - ? and not 3 Dog Night