Life in the Suburban Jungle

The Last Lecture

I caught some of this last night and was pretty touched by this story.  I will read his book. This is from his site on the book:

A lot of professors give talks titled “The Last Lecture.” Professors are asked to consider their demise and to ruminate on what matters most to them. And while they speak, audiences can’t help but mull the same question: What wisdom would we impart to the world if we knew it was our last chance? If we had to vanish tomorrow, what would we want as our legacy?

When Randy Pausch, a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon, was asked to give such a lecture, he didn’t have to imagine it as his last, since he had recently been diagnosed with terminal cancer. But the lecture he gave—“Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams”—wasn’t about dying. It was about the importance of overcoming obstacles, of enabling the dreams of others, of seizing every moment (because “time is all you have…and you may find one day that you have less than you think”). It was a summation of everything Randy had come to believe. It was about living.

In this book, Randy Pausch has combined the humor, inspiration and intelligence that made his lecture such a phenomenon and given it an indelible form. It is a book that will be shared for generations to come.

For more information visit http://www.lastlecture.com

This One Really Got to Me

I ran across this story today and thought about how great our trip out there was this past summer.  I can't imagine the pain this family must be experiencing right now...

4-year-old girl dies after falling off edge of Grand Canyon

By The Associated Press

GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK, Ariz. — A 4-year-old girl was killed Tuesday when she slipped off the edge of the Grand Canyon and fell several hundred feet.

The girl’s father immediately scrambled down the cliffs and started CPR with the help of a park ranger who rappelled into the canyon, National Park Service spokeswoman Maureen Oltrogge said.

The child’s body was 400 to 500 feet below the rim, Oltrogge said. The area where she fell is a combination of sheer drops of 30 to 50 feet, then slopes leading to more drop-offs.

Patrick Henry Hughes

Patrick and his father appeared in Chicago earlier this month at the Leadership Summit in Chicago and he and his incredible story inspired us all! I am not sure which one of them impacted me more - Patrick or his dad. Not a dry eye in the house....

Patrick was born blind and somewhat deformed yet discovered an amazing musical gift. He is an amazing kid with an inspiring story.

Check it out on this You Tube video HERE from an ESPN clip.

Also from Patrick's web site (www.patrickhenryhughes.com):

Patrick is a remarkable young man who was born without eyes and without the ability to fully straighten his arms and legs, making him unable to walk. Additionally, two steel rods were surgically attached to Patrick's spine to correct scoliosis.
Despite circumstances that seem overwhelming to you and me, Patrick has overcome these physical issues to excel as a musician and student. Patrick started playing the piano at the age of only nine months, and also plays the trumpet and sings. He even participates in the University of Louisville School of Music Marching and Pep Bands with help from his father (Patrick John Hughes), who tirelessly maneuvers his wheel chair through the formations with the other 220+ members of the Cardinal Marching Band. Patrick is usually a straight 'A' student, having received only 5 'B's' since 6th grade up to and including his freshman year of college.
        A virtuoso pianist, vocalist and trumpet player, Patrick has won or finished very high in numerous competitions, as well as winning awards acknowledging the circumstances he has overcome to achieve these heights.  He has been featured on ESPN, ABC-TV, Oprah, CBS-TV, FOX-TV, CSTV, People Magazine, Sports
Illustrated, and many, many others.  Patrick has made appearances from California to Chicago to New York and Miami and countless points in between,  even performing in South America and Europe. 

UPCOMING  APPEARANCES  -   Springfield, Illinois
                                            Williamsburg, Virginia
                                            Hickory, N. Carolina
                                            Chicago, Illinois
                                            Houston, Texas
                                            Phoenix, Arizona
                                            Roanoke, Virginia
                                            Perrysburg, Ohio

Back to School

Summer is over. No more lazy hot days at the pool. No more late bedtimes, weeknight sleepovers or sleeping in. New schedules to adjust to. New expections to meet. New friends, new teachers. Plenty of homework. Sports, dance classes, piano lessons, etc.

Whether they realize it the kids are ready to get back to it. They are bored now and ready for the new challenges that school brings. Moms everywhere are relieved, but also have their own adjustments to make. 

The annual rite and all the trimmings known best as "Back to School."

Scott Hannon Memorial Golf Tournament

Seventeen years ago a group of buddies planned a golf outing to reconnect and enjoy each other's company.  One of them (Scott Hannon) tragically died in a car crash only weeks before the event.

The group played their "tournament" in honor of their friend that year - a healing time to cry and remember. Seventeen years later these same guys still come together for a long weekend in Myrtle Beach to remember and reconnect at what has become known as the Scott Hannon Memorial Golf Tournament.  The two day event is invitation only, and regularly boasts over 240 golfers (288 this year) hacking it up to raise funds for the Scott Hannon Memorial Foundation, the non-profit foundation started in Scott's honor to help children in need.  The foundation raised their one millionth dollar at this year's tourney and also announced their intention to purchase 100 acres to build a summer camp for the children that they support.  The camp will serve at least 1000 kids each year. The initial capital campaign for the property is $750,000. I predict that they will have it within 12-18 months. 100% of the monies that the foundation generates goes directly to the kids that they support.

The photo above is a prize on one of the par 3s for a hole in one! No one won it this year.

For more information about the tournament or the foundation please go HERE.

FAMJAM! Concludes Successful 2nd Season

FAMJAM!, a ministry of East Lake Community Church in Columbia, SC, closed out their second successful ministry season with a Saturday evening finale guaranteed to keep kids and parents excited and talking about the virtues through the summer months! The ministry exists to encourage and motivate parents to actively participate in the spiritual development of their kids.  The program is designed for elementary aged kids and their parents - a shared experience that gets them talking about the virtues that the program features monthly.  These are the same virtues that the kids are learning each week of the month in Sunday School - no coincidence there either. 

Saturday's program introduced the virtue of Endurance - sticking with what you started even when it gets tough. Photos of the program are in the sidebar photo album. Enjoy!

Kudos to the Fam!

Kudos to Caroline, Aaron (10) and Anna (7) for gutting it out on an 8-mile round trip hike on the Ramsey Cascades Trail in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park! The Ramsey Cascades Waterfall is one of the largest in the park and certainly worth the energy to get there. The kids will tell you that our hike featured 4 wild turkeys, 9 squirrels (including one mad one and one nice one), one small snake and one chipmunk!

 

Forgiveness

The bereaved husband and father faced an eternity of sorrow, the teenage driver 30 years for manslaughter. Now they are working together to prevent deaths by reckless teen drivers.

ST. PETERSBURG - The packed assembly hall at Faith Covenant Church in St. Petersburg is hushed as Bruce Murakami tells his story. In 1998, he says, his wife, Cindy, and their 11-year-old daughter, Chelsea, died when a speeding car slammed into their minivan and turned it into an inferno.

Murakami saw the smoke from the family's nearby home and got to the van while it was still burning. As he watched his wife's and daughter's lives end, his life changed forever.

Tears tremble in listeners' eyes. The silence deepens as another man takes the stage, nodding to Murakami as they trade places.

Justin Cabezas was 19 when he made an instantaneous decision to drag race in a rented car on Hillsborough Avenue in Tampa. His life changed that day, too, he says: He is the man who killed Cindy and Chelsea.

"This is a story about what not to do," Cabezas says. "Because of what I did, two people are gone."

It's a story he has told dozens of times for Safe Teen Driver, the organization Murakami founded to smack young drivers between the eyes with the consequences of being reckless.

"It really gives you both sides of the equation. That's what's different about our program," Murakami says.

But Safe Teen Driver is also a way for Murakami and Cabezas to survive and move on.

Murakami spent three years and thousands of dollars pursuing Cabezas, pressing prosecutors to charge him, hungering for justice.

After Cabezas finally was charged with vehicular homicide, Murakami had a change of heart. He pleaded for mercy from the judge. Cabezas avoided jail time, but as part of his sentence he was ordered to do community service by speaking at Safe Teen Driver presentations.

Now, Cabezas says, "My hours are up," but he's still standing up there, telling his story.

"You have to deal with your anger or it will destroy you," Murakami says. "If I hadn't found a way to forgive, I would have been a third victim."

Cabezas says, "It's hard for me to admit that I was an idiot at some point. But it's a small redemption."

Read entire story HERE.

By COLETTE BANCROFT
Published July 9, 2004
St. Petersburg Times

Based on the response to their early  presentations, Bruce founded www.safeteendriver.org and has continued to speak with Justin nationwide. Last week Hallmark aired the Murakami's story in a television movie entitled Crossroads.

Go West

We have talked about how great it would be for years, and finally we are going to make it happen.  This summer I am taking the family out to the western US for three weeks. Our itinerary includes a weekend in Las Vegas, Grand Canyon National Park, Monument Valley, Arches National Park, a week at the Sundance Trail Dude Ranch in Red Feather Lakes Colorado (lots of horseback riding), the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone National Parks.

We have decided to fly out and back, rent a car while we are out and stay in hotels while on the road. We will start out in Las Vegas and work our way east and north and end up on Yellowstone. We looked pretty hard at the RV thing but getting out there in one was going to eat up a lot of time and be pretty hard on the driver (yes, that's me). Flying in and renting an RV was pretty expensive, but booking hotels in the National Parks has been and continues to be a challenge.  I would advise booking sooner that we did - about 4-5 months out. I would love some input or tips from folks that have been out there about what to put on this list or avoid altogether. More to come as plans develop.

Facing the Giants

My family and I watched this movie over the weekend. WOW! You will need to give some grace to the actors - but considering that they are all volunteers they are phenomenal! We are so used to Hollywood. The story is suberbly crafted and there are numerous layers to ponder and discuss or think about later. Very inspirational! I am so proud of the church that put this together! The following tells their story:

A Unique Vision
Michael Catt, the Senior Pastor of Sherwood Baptist Church, has a vision. He believes his church can "reach the world from Albany, Georgia." For that to happen, you need to be creative. Fortunately, the church's pastoral staff includes a pair of brothers with a lifelong dream to make movies.

The result? Sherwood Pictures, the church's decidedly unique film making ministry.

Alex Kendrick and Stephen Kendrick, associate pastors at Sherwood, along with their brother Shannon, grew up in the Atlanta suburb of Smyrna. Their neighbor had a Super 8 film camera. "We played with that camera for two or three years until camcorders came out," Alex said. "We created our own entertainment."

Through trial and error, the brothers learned visual angles, editing, and eventually began making their own short movies. Later, as a communications major at Kennesaw State University, Alex talked some of his professors into letting him substitute videos for term papers. After college, Alex and Stephen still were making movies as they moved into ministry roles. Alex shot short films with college students; Stephen shot camp videos with his junior high youth group. Their productions premiered at their church on makeshift screens of paper tablecloths.

In 2002, Alex read an article citing a study by George Barna that said the most effective communication to this generation is movies. As the media minister at Sherwood, Alex proposed making a family-friendly movie that could be filmed affordably in Albany. "A huge segment of people love movies but leave theaters disappointed in the profanity, immorality, and messages that trample their family's values and faith," Stephen said. Pastor Catt agreed and the church created Sherwood Pictures.

Their first movie was FLYWHEEL, which was filmed on a $20,000 budget that came from private contributions. Using an all-volunteer cast of actors, the movie utilized local homes and businesses as sets. The wardrobe department amounted to each actor's own closet.

Yet FLYWHEEL took off. By then, Alex Kendrick had narrowed the potential plots for a second movie to what he felt was a can't-miss mix of high school football and faith. He and Stephen began to write FACING THE GIANTS back to front, a la Alex's writing style of starting with the final scene. To fold in a woman's perspective on impossible hurdles, the brothers included the issue of infertility.

All-Volunteer Movie Cast
Because so few of the cast members had time to be a volunteer movie lead, Alex Kendrick plays the role of Grant Taylor, Shiloh Academy's head football coach. Art imitated life when Shannen Fields, wife of the Sherwood Academy high school football coach, took the role of Grant's wife, Brooke. Although not wheelchair-bound in real life, Steve Williams plays his everyday role as a dad encouraging a son to trust God and risk something new as Larry Childers. The Kendrick brothers drew that character from their own father, Larry Kendrick, who has battled Multiple Sclerosis for more than 20 years.

High school senior Bailey Cave played place kicker David Childers. Like his character, Bailey was new to football. Jason McLeod, plays Brock Kelley who shines in the memorable "death crawl" drill scene, is now a junior at Georgia Southern University. Tracy Goode, as assistant coach Brady Owens, picked up coaching tips from the coach of a local high school football team. The movie's football teams are the local school squad, whose uniforms, stadium, practice fields, and spring schedule were essential movie backdrops.

Bobby Lee Duke and Mark Richt
The Giants' flamboyant coach Bobby Lee Duke is the creation of Jim McBride, executive pastor of Sherwood Baptist Church. Borrowing from colorful past careers that included being a carnival barker and a professional wrestler, Pastor McBride created the wild-eyed character and his memorable adages.

University of Georgia football coach Mark Richt is also bigger than life in Georgia. Yet he humbly volunteered to fly from Athens to Albany for his cameo appearance. The coach's huge popularity in Georgia and strong faith made him an ideal cast member. Coach Richt was willing to be part of the production because FLYWHEEL is one of his favorite movies.

The Big Shoot
The filming of FACING THE GIANTS lasted six weeks and was done in and around Albany with a two-week break midway through. Sherwood Pictures rented video and film equipment, including camera lenses, dollies, lights, sound equipment, and work trucks. They also purchased a computer to edit the film. The movie was shot with one high-definition Panasonic Vericam Camera and edited on a PowerMac G-5 computer using Final Cut Pro HD software.

The production used local media outlets to solicit extras for the large-crowd scenes. For the final game between the Eagles and the Giants, Lee County High School's principal, a fan of FLYWHEEL, offered their field and stands, which matched the script's vision. School leaders also generously offered uniforms, equipment, football players, and cheerleaders.

Background Music Pushes the Movie to the Front
Provident Films entered the frame when Sherwood approached Provident Music Group, a Nashville-based music label, for permission to use songs by Provident artists Third Day and Casting Crowns.

What began as a routine viewing for publishing approval led to Provident's president opening discussions with Sherwood to oversee the film's distribution. Provident Films, which is a joint venture between Provident and Sony, showed the film to Sony Pictures, who loved it. Through its relationship with Sony, Samuel Goldwyn Pictures agreed to distribute the film nationally, beginning September 29.

See the movie!! www.facingthegiants.com for more info.