What is the greatest verse in Scripture?

No, not John 3:16. It's John 1:14

"The Word became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld His Glory the Glory as of the one and only begotten of the Father full of grace and truth."

This verse, particularly the first part has haunted me for the last 3 weeks or so. I can't get it out of my head. It circles and circles me. I can't seem to analyze it or pick it apart...it is simply there. "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us..." Is there truly any greater or loftier thought in all of history? "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us" All I can do is repeat and repeat and repeat it.

It also makes me worship. Praise and Glory only to the Father who would bring flesh upon t5he eternal LOGOS and have Him dwell among sinful people.

Buying new cell phone

I got a new cell phone today. While at the mall, I checked out Verizon, Sprint and Cingular. I was amazed by the similarity of all the places in one respect. All of them had 4-5 people working there, usually 3-4 guys and 1 girl. All of the guys were Dungeons and Dragons types who had graduated high school and the girls were unfailingly smokin' hot. Kinda a strange combo

Our time in Tahoe

Our family got back a couple of days ago from 5 days in the Lake Tahoe region. Not Tahoe itself, but we know of a little resort about 15 miles southeast of Tahoe called Sorensens. It's a diamond in the rough. It's got neat little cabins and a restaurant in the middle of nowhere. It's in a place called Hope Valley which is one of the most beautiful places in the Sierras.

After the whole Wisconsin ordeal, getting laid off and getting a new job, our family needed to rest for awhile. I needed the rest to plahy with Christa and the kids.

We went hiking when we were there at Grover Hot Springs State Park. Yes, they have hot springs. Regan went in the backpack (no, it's a baby backpack) and we worked our way down a trail towards a waterfall. Didn;tvget all the way there due to a Caleb meltdown...long hike and no nap. We played by Sawmill Creek.

One things we did there that Caleb really enjoyed was breaking the ice every morning (yes, it was still cold at night and even a little snow). There was a little pond out back which froze over every night. In the morning Caleb and I would throw rocks or take sticks and try to break the ice. Caleb said it was the best thingt to do there.

Did I mention that Sorensens has complimentary glasses of wine in the afternoon? Go find out about it at sorensensresort.com. If you are going to go, please let us know ahead of time. We can claim credit and get a free nights lodging.

The credit union

Now it is time to rant a rave a bit.

This credit union which I worked for was run by the Marx Brothers. I've never seen a company, or at least a department within a company run as incompetently as this one. They started their dealer loan program up in September. They hired a loan officer and got on the CUDL (Credit Union Direct Lending) system so dealers could submit applications. At the end of December they hired 2 people to market the program (myself and someone else) and another loan officer. We had good rate and were told to bring in 12m worth of business a month. Not that tough.

They ran out of money for the program in 3+ months. In the meantime, we began the program looking for what is called 'A' paper. Good credit people. 6 weeks in they switched focus and began to buy more subprime paper.

So this company had no solid business plan for the auto loan department and not even enough money to begin pulling this off. I guess everyone thinks they can put together a dealer auto program these days.

Oh...one more thing. They hired a girl in January to be the admin asst to the CEO. She was brought in as a temp. Now in mid-April she is not only permanent but also the VP in charge of Building Facilities. What??????????????????????????????

A turn for the better

It's nice to be unemployed for 48 hours.

I had an interview this morning with Westamerica Bank and they want to make me an offer. I should get an offer letter in the next day or so. I'll start in a couple of weeks after i take the family away for a few days...probably to Sorensens' resort

Wisconsin...but...and then

Our five-day visit to Jacob's Well church and Eau Claire was pretty amazing. We felt so totally welcomed by the people. The church is growing like a week...1100 right now, 800 this time last year and 550 the year before that. The community is hungry for God...no doubt about that. The interviews, the staff, the small group coaches and leaders...all amazing. This seemed like a home run. My last meeting with the Executive Pastor was on the morning we left and it was all positive. No red flags on their end. No questions at all. No reason why we should not move forward with this. But let's take a couple of days, go back to our respective corners and make sure this is what we want to do. That God is in this.

But...

5 days later I get a call. They don't feel a peace about this. No questions about my qualifications, my ability to do the job or about anything else for that matter. Just no peace. o they passed on me after all of this. Christa and I were devastated. We had even found a house out there and been preaproved for a loan. But no peace about it. More than anything else that is what frustrates us. Give us something concrete! Give us a solid reason! Almost anything more than just a sense of no peace about it.

And then...

I walk into my job at the credit union on Monday and promptly get laid off. For the second time in 7 months. They ran out of money...pure and simple. I will rant and rave about them tomorrow.

So instead of thinking that a lifelong dream has been fulfilled and we are off to Wisconsin, instead I find my self unemployed. Just call me Job

Greek lamb burgers

Every so often I make something that I think will be good and it turns out better than I thought it would be. It's probably because of the salad.

GEt some fresh ground lamb. Mix into it some fresh chopped mint, a little paprika, cinnamon, salt and pepper. Make some patties and grill them. On the side mix some spinach with some chopped red onion and crumbled feta cheese. Put it just a dash of balsamic vinegar.

Put the lamb patties on a bun and top it with the spinach salad. Enjoy this one