Wet grass?

Wet grass?!

An Ellis County Sheriff’s Deputy rolled his car the other day after running over wet grass?!

From the WDL:

Deputy involved in wreck on FM 55

A sheriff’s deputy was involved in a one-vehicle accident Friday night.
Investigator Robert Grimes was returning a 2006 Ford Crown Victoria patrol unit to the Avalon sub-station when the accident occurred on Farm-to-Market 55, about two miles from U.S. Highway 77.
“He hit some wet grass that had been left on the road, which caused him to go into a spin,” sheriff’s Capt. Danny Williams said. “As he went off the roadway, he rolled several times. The cage in the car kept the vehicle from crushing when it was rolling.”
The nearby resident who had been mowing the grass witnessed the accident and called 9-1-1, with emergency responders having to force the door open of the vehicle to remove the trapped officer.
Grimes was taken to Baylor Medical Center at Waxahachie, where he was treated and released.
Grimes has served with the sheriff’s office since 1993.
Williams said the vehicle was totaled as a result of the accident.

How much wet grass does it take to make a car spin? And why was the guy mowing wet grass at night? Did he run his sprinklers first? And how did the guy – mowing his grass at night see the accident happen?

StoryCorps

KERA’s “Think” had a great show yesterday with StoryCorps founder Dave Isay.
The StoryCorps project records American stories from all walks of lives by inviting individuals to bring a family member to the booth and spend 40 minutes interviewing them.
Once the session is over, the participants receive a copy of the interview and one copy is sent to the Library of Congress for safe keeping so generations to come can listen and learn from the stories.
From Think:

StoryCorps, the revolutionary project to record American stories, is visiting North Texas and we want you to participate. We’ll spend this hour with StoryCorps founder and MacArthur Fellow, Dave Isay. We’ll also hear a few of the remarkable stories the project has collected since its inception in 2003.

You can listen to the show here
Or find out more and listen to other clips at the StoryCorps website.
Such a great idea. If you’re in the Dallas/Fort Worth area I’d really recommend trying to get a family member to join you during a StoryCorps interview.
Or read the DIY Guide and record stories for your own family.

29 Things you didn’t know about Mike Huckabee

From the special Vertical Day website for Mike Huckabee:

29 Things You Don’t Know About Mike Huckabee

  1. He narrated the Doctor Suess book, Horton Hatches An Egg in a high school play.
  2. He’s a big fan of The Three Stooges.
  3. He’s a great cook.
  4. He rides his bicycle to the grocery store.
  5. He likes Yarnell’s guilt free ice cream.
  6. He likes to snorkle.
  7. He likes the The Colbert Report.
  8. His favorite actor is Robert De Niro.
  9. His favorite actress is Meryl Streep.
  10. He reads a chapter of Proverbs every single day when he wakes up.
  11. He is not fond of heights.
  12. He’s like a kid at Christmas because he wants to open Christmas gifts early just so he can see what he got.
  13. He organizes his socks, and everything else.
  14. He prepares his own breakfast the night before to save time in the morning because getting up no later than 4:30 might not be enough time.
  15. He talks to “the Boys” (his three dogs) and thinks they are listening.
  16. He graduated from College magna cum laude with a 4 year degree in just over 2 years.
  17. His Dad picked him up from school once in a car that had no body, just a frame and wooden boxes for seats.
  18. He does great impressions of Billy Graham, Jimmy Stewart, Ronald Reagan, and Ross Perot.
  19. He was left handed but was made to write with his right hand in elementary school.
  20. He wanted to be an astronaut in first grade.
  21. He was a pretty shy kid.
  22. He can’t sit still. If there is ever a free minute he feels the need to get up and immediately start on a new project, for instance the minute a meal is over he has to get up and start putting things away and doing dishes.
  23. One of his favorite television shows is The Sopranos.
  24. His favorite snack food is movie style popcorn. And he likes it so much his wife Janet bought him a popcorn machine for Christmas.
  25. He gave Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones a pardon when he was Governor.
  26. He loves to play practical jokes.
  27. His favorite movies are To Kill a Mockingbird and Casablanca.
  28. His favorite church hymns are A Mighty Fortress is our God and In the Garden.
  29. One of his dreams is to watch a game in every Major League baseball park.

Find out more

Our faith makes us

It’s Vertical Day over at MikeHuckabee.com.
Lots of added discussion going on including Mike Huckabee’s thoughts on his faith as a Baptist pastor and the war in Iraq.

Recently, out on the campaign trail, a voter asked if my personal faith informed my decisions. My answer was simple, just as it always has been: my faith is my life – it defines me. My faith doesn’t influence my decisions, it drives them.
Real faith makes us humble and mindful, not of the faults of others, but of our own. Because of our faith, we become less judgmental in that we see others having the same frailties as ourselves. Faith gives us strength in the face of injustice and motivates us to do our best for “the least of us.”
Our forefathers birthed this great nation in a spirit of faith – not a mandate telling us what to believe, but an acknowledgement that divine providence pervades our world.
I firmly believe the greatness of our nation then, does not come from our government or politicians, but lies in the hopeful, optimistic spirit of everyday Americans. Americans who acknowledge that providence has set us apart.
At the beginning of our nation we were ill-equipped for revolution, yet we persevered and gained our independence. Our country was once divided by a costly Civil War, but we survived to heal and build a stronger union. Through the 20th century and into current times we have seen great conflicts and economic upheavals. However, the same spirit that guided the inception of our country continues to lead us out of times of trouble better than we went in. In spite of our trials we remain a people of hope, a people of faith, and we are stronger because of it.

The site shares a message Huckabee gave in Little Rock this past July.
Pretty interesting. Some of it sounds similar to some things Brian and Wayne said last summer (wish we had the podcast back then).
“What we do have to do in our culture is to live in such a way that we don’t try to change the rules so that we can win the game. Many Americans who think that that’s really the goal. If we can’t win the game as it is defined, just change the rules of the game so we can say that we’re winning it.”

And I love this quote from Abraham Lincoln:
“A government that can do everything for you is a government that can take everything from you.”

Get in on the discussion here on on the Huckabee Blog.

Proverbs 24

I’m not sure why – maybe it’s because of the book I’m reading (“Searching for God Knows What” – Don Miller) but I keep being drawn to passages and stories about treating everyone as equal. Treat everyone fairly. Let’s get over this superficial social hierarchy that we’ve developed.
Proverbs 24 is no different.

Prov 24:1 & 2:
Do not envy wicked men,
do not desire their company;
for their hearts plot violence,
and their lips talk about making trouble.

v. 12:
Rescue those being led away to death;
hold back those staggering toward slaughter.

v. 17-18:
Do not gloat when your enemy falls;
when he stumbles, do not let your heart rejoice,
or the LORD will see and disapprove
and turn his wrath away from him.

I heard today that the city of New York has forbidden the president of Iran to visit Ground Zero during his trip to the city and the UN today. I don’t know why verse 17 & 18 remind me of that story but I wonder what’s going on in everyone’s head. Is the Iranian president truly wanting to pay regards or is he gloating because an enemy fell. I’m sure that’s what Mayor Bloomberg thinks at least.

What should our response as Christians be though? What if someone killed a loved one of mine. Maybe it was intentional. Maybe not. What if after they were prosecuted they wanted to go lay flowers by the grave of my loved one. What should my response be.

Proverbs 24:19 & 29 says:
Do not fret because of evil men
or be envious of the wicked,
for the evil man has no future hope
and the lamp of the wicked will be snuffed out.

Hmm. Sounds like I shouldn’t let it get to me. Sounds like I should lay my pride aside and let God handle my enemies and others around me.

Finally,

Prov 24:23:
These also are sayings of the wise:
To show partiality in judging is not good:

Verse 24 goes on to say that we should not judge a man unfairly because of our preference towards him or against him. I believe this speaks directly to a judge ruling over a trial but I think the same can be directed to each one of us. Don’t show partiality. Believe and live as if every man, woman and child are equal to you – or more better yet – more important than you.