From 5:30-8:30 this evening, there’s going to be trouble. Feet will tap, heads will ache and sweat will trickle down restless foreheads. Starbucks is closing.
6 weeks ago, Howard Schultz took over the reins (again) as CEO of Starbucks. Since then, he’s been on a mission to return the company to its previous form. Today, every store throughout the nation will close for three hours for “remedial espresso training.” Or in Schultz’ terms, “to teach, educate and share our love of coffee, and the art of espresso.”
Wow. What an undertaking! 5:30 – 8:30 on Tuesday nights is a very likely time we’ll be stopping by one of our local Starbucks to grab a hot drink before our community group – as do several others in our group. Might make for restless (or sleepy) meeting time tonight.
Since this news came from CMS – what if our churches closed for one weekend service to focus on staff/leadership etc? What about your place of work – think your boss would close the doors for 3 hours one week to improve your appreciation for your job?
Well, I’m about to wrap up another Monday at work. It will be nice to be back home. Laurie and I started the day off today feeling like we had just left work on Friday. Tired, exhausted and looking forward to a weekend. Too bad the weekend was all over.
She of course has it a bit rougher because she has to leave a full hour before I do and usually takes a good 30-min to an hour more than me to get ready. So while she’s having to drag herself out of bed at 5 a.m. – I’m still hitting snooze on my alarm clock and probably annoying the heck out of her (even though she won’t admit it — to me).
This weekend was a blur for sure. Friday night we enjoyed dinner at Bennigans and thanks to my membership in their e-mail club or whatever they call it I had a coupon for buy one entree’ get one free. So while we usually stick with the basic menu there we both enjoyed their mix and match meal. I had steak and salmon and Laurie had steak and chicken. Although after several broccoli bites (a must) and her baked potato, Laurie had little room for the main course.
After dinner we came home and watched Premonition with Sandra Bullock. A good movie. A number of twists to keep it interesting and not too predictable.
Then around 10:30 I had to rush off to meet Brian to set-up for the encounter 9 event, which was scheduled for 11:59 p.m. on Friday night. We had a great turnout and a great time. We finished the event around 1:30 a.m. and then a bunch of us made a stop at What-A-Burger for late night breakfast and more fun.
Saturday Laurie cleaned house and I headed to the “Jesus Dome” for a CWF show in Rockwall. We had a HUGE crowd Saturday night with close to 200 people in attendance and I would estimate that 60% of them were first timers. It was a great show and everything seemed to go without a hitch.
Sunday was church in the morning with Laurie having to work in the nursery. Sucked sitting by myself on my birthday – but whatcha gonna do? Luckily I had plenty of friends to sit with.
Laurie had 21 women from the church over Sunday afternoon for a Bible study kick-off so I took the dog Geocaching with me. Not much luck, but I got one done and Presley had a good time running all over the place.
After a full afternoon we headed to Mesquite for dinner with our parents. My mom made some of my favorites, Kings Ranch Casserole and Dump Cake for desert. We had a great time and Kara even stopped by before the evening was over.
After a full day we headed back to Red Oak and crashed not long afterwards wondering where in the world our weekend had run away to.
The stepgrandson of an illiterate, barefoot woman in this village of mud huts in Africa may be the next president of the United States. Such mobility — powered by education, immigration and hard work — is cause not for disparagement but for celebration.
– Nicholas D. Kristof referring to Barack Obama’s Kenyan roots
Larry Norman, a legend in the Christian music business passed away yesterday. Norman, a native of Corpus Christi, Texas, was part of the “Jesus Movement” of the 60’s and wrote countless Christian hits, including “I Wish We’d All Been Ready.” The song was covered by dcTalk in the mid-90’s and our praise & worship band played that song several times for various events after that.
From Wikipedia:
Larry David Norman (April 8, 1947 – February 24, 2008) was an internationally recognized American musician, singer, songwriter and producer. Norman’s recordings are noted for their Christian and social subject matter and he is often described as the “father of Christian rock music”. Norman has also been described as having had a significant influence on many artists, secular and religious.
Norman has long been associated with what has been referred to as the Jesus People movement of the late 1960’s and early 1970’s, although it has been reported that “he did not particularly identify himself with the youth–oriented ‘Jesus movement’ of the time”.
Norman began recording in 1966 and recorded numerous albums. Norman’s first album, I Love You , recorded when he was the lead singer for the group People!, was released in 1968. The bands cover version of The Zombies song of the same name reached number 7 on Billboard magazines top twenty list in June of that year as a single. Norman left People! prior to 1969 and has since performed as a solo artist, appearing both on mainstream and independent labels.
In 2001 Norman was inducted into the Gospel Music Association’s (GMA) Hall of Fame as a solo artist. In 2007 Norman was inducted into the San Jose Rocks Hall of Fame (San Jose, California), both as a member of People!, and as a solo artist. At that time Norman reunited for a concert with People!
Due to reasons of ill health, Norman performed on a very limited basis in recent years. A documentary outlining his career as a troubled troubadour will be out in 2008.
Legendary Christian Rocker Larry Norman passed away over the weekend. A day before his death, Larry dictated one final letter. “I feel like a prize in a box of cracker jacks with God’s hand reaching down to pick me up,” Larry said. “I have been under medical care for months. My wounds are getting bigger. I have trouble breathing. I am ready to fly home…”
Here’s a post from Larry’s brother, Charles:
Hello everybody.
Our friend and my wonderful brother Larry passed away at 2:45 Sunday morning. Kristin and I were with him, holding his hands and sitting in bed with him when his heart finally slowed to a stop. We spent this past week laughing, singing, and praying with him, and all the while he had us taking notes on new song ideas and instructions on how to continue his ministry and art …
Yesterday afternoon he knew he was going to go home to God very soon and he dictated the following message to you while his friend Allen Fleming typed these words into Larry’s computer:
I feel like a prize in a box of cracker jacks with God’s hand reaching down to pick me up. I have been under medical care for months. My wounds are getting bigger. I have trouble breathing. I am ready to fly home.
My brother Charles is right, I wont be here much longer. I can’t do anything about it. My heart is too weak. I want to say goodbye to everyone. In the past you have generously supported me with prayer and finance and we will probably still need financial help.
My plan is to be buried in a simple pine box with some flowers inside. But still it will be costly because of funeral arrangement, transportation to the gravesite, entombment, coordination, legal papers etc. However money is not really what I need, I want to say I love you.
I’d like to push back the darkness with my bravest effort. There will be a funeral posted here on the website, in case some of you want to attend. We are not sure of the date when I will die. Goodbye, farewell, we will meet again.
Goodbye, farewell, we’ll meet again
Somewhere beyond the sky.
I pray that you will stay with God
Goodbye, my friends, goodbye.