Poker Update

I am FINALLY posting the pictures of the finished poker table. I know it is two weeks overdue and you are all anxious but my math classes have been consuming me!! I have to say...I am thoroughly impressed with their work. The first game was officially held on Monday, October 13. Kyle had about 10 guys over and my mom and I made some awesome goodies! :) Kyle won the first game and Bob won the second...I'm not sure what that says when the pastors are taking people down in poker...haha.



I wish I would've taken the pics while everyone was there...but I waited until the end of the night.

Poker and Big XII

I can't wait to be done taking classes so I can come home and just relax after school..and BLOG!

Kyle has been working vigorously on building a new poker table and somehow sucked Aaron into helping him. My parents are visiting this weekend (yay!) so he has intentions to finish it by Monday so he can have a tournament while my dad is here. (he also plans to sucker my mom into helping with the upholstery tomorrow)


Jo pretty much thinks he is crazy and that he needs to get out of his house.

I've been pulling weeds today...and took a break to watch OU vs. Texas. I love football. And I'm super excited about the Big XII this year. I guess it is natural to be a Big XII fan, being from Texas and all, but we are dominating the polls!! 3 of the top 5 are from Big XII...with TTU right behind at #7.

1. Oklahoma
2. Missouri (3 in the AP)
5. Texas
7. Texas Tech
16. Kansas
17. Oklahoma State

It's going to be an exciting year!!!

We have been keeping busy doing all kinds of crazy stuff every weekend! Last weekend we had a Lock-In for the youth! We had about 60 kids show up which was AWESOME!! (I only stayed til about 2:15) Last night we went to a trivia night for our soccer girls...which is a great fundraiser idea that we had never heard of until moving here. And tonight is the 2nd annual chili-cookoff at LifePoint! I'm super excited!

Random Thought

This is just a random sidenote in the life of the Parkers. (mainly I am home alone...for the 2nd occurrence of this incident...and have no one to prove me right so I just feel the need to share)

Our next door neighbors...or someone on this street...smokes weed. I was picking our common, yard weeds in the backyard a couple of weeks ago and I continued to have a whiff of it here and there. My neighbors had a lot of people over and were in their screened in porch...so my assumption was it was leaking out of there.

Today I'm sitting here at the computer...searching for how to use vector space axioms (YUCK) and the smell comes through our windows. So, I go to the backyard and...knock me down, blow me over, call me high. Definitely not just whiffs today. Maybe, just maybe, sitting in my house getting high from 2nd hand weed smoking will help me understand these stupid math problems. :)

National Stay at Home Week

Did you know it was National Stay at Home Week? I think it should be National Stay at Home and Do Nothing Week. I'm having no problem being at home...but I feel like all I'm doing is stupid math work and studying for stupid tests. And now, as you can see, I'm writing some stupid random blog just so I don't have to study for the stupid tests or do stupid math work. (I think one of my rules in PE is to come in with a positive attitude...ha)

It is also the season premieres for a lot of TV shows including some of my favorites: CSI: Vegas & NY, Criminal Minds, and Grey's Anatomy. Yes, I think I am pathetic for watching Grey's...it is just as bad as the soap operas...but yet, I'm so excited for it! I just knew that it wouldn't be a simple process for Derek and Meredith to get back together. geez...

Meanwhile, Kyle and I have had some exciting weekends. Two weekends ago my Aunt Wanda and Uncle Jerry visited us from Texas! We had a great time with them and got to show them a few things of St. Louis. Then, this past weekend we flew to Dallas, TX for Kyle to marry a good friend of ours, Hillary. It was a beautiful wedding and Kyle did a great job! He also learned to not let me type his notes...I forgot to change a "her" to "his" when I copied and pasted...only a minor stumble. :) We also had a little extra time on Saturday to hang out with Kyle's family at Lake Texoma and ejoy Mike's awesome new boat a little more. It is the best layout boat ever.

Slavery

I am so excited for our new series "Hostage" at LifePoint. I'm almost certain it is going to go hand in hand with the devo book I'm reading, Breaking Free, by Beth Moore. Meanwhile, here are some thoughts that I've read recently from the book.

Galatians 5:1
So Christ has really set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the law.

God’s primary purpose is to set us free from eternal destruction. (to get us out of the danger zone) But saved people can still be in bondage. (not just explicit sins…but attitudes, past hurts, etc…Beth Moore defines bondage as anything that hinders the abundant and effective Spirit-filled life God planned for us) Christ is our Savior – One that keeps on saving.

At one time in my life I had a screwed up idea that since I was a “Christian”, I shouldn’t be struggling with temptations. I thought once you were saved it should disappear. Finally, thanks to the prompting of a guy named Douglas Runkels, I realized that it doesn’t just go away. Instead, we gain a relationship with the One that has supernatural power to help us overcome the temptations. And that DAILY I have to rely on His power.

Luke 9:23
Then he said to the crowd, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross daily, and follow me."

I remember one of my teachers in grade school teaching us about slavery. She told us that when the slaves were granted freedom that a lot of them stayed on the plantations and continued to do the same things because they had no idea what to do with their freedom. I remember thinking that was the stupidest thing I had ever heard. FIGURE IT OUT! Right? But how true is it in our world today? So many saved people stay in the same bondage because they don’t know what to do with the freedom. It’s a big, scary, unfamiliar world out there. But, if we will just step out and allow God to guide us…the benefits are indescribable.

Beth Moore describes 5 benefits we should be experiencing as children of God.
1. To know God and believe Him
2. To glorify God
3. To find satisfaction in God
4. To experience God's peace
5. To enjoy God's presence
Are you experiencing all the benefits? Or is there something (even small) still holding you captive?

Gold and Glasses

WOOHOOO!!!!! Check out the new gold medalist of the pentathlon and new world record holder.
Long Jump - 2nd w/ 6.4m
Discus - 1st w/ 52.3m
Shot Put - 1st w/ 14.4m
100m - 1st w/ 11.56s
400m - 1st w/ 56.39s



BEIJING, China - After falling just 16 points shy of the world record in the men's pentathlon (P44) at the Paralympic Trials in June, Jeremy Campbell (Chula Vista, Calif./Perryton, Texas) came to Beijing with a plan to break it once and for all. Tonight he succeeded - winning gold and setting a new world record with 4,662 points (4,447, previous WR).

"I've been working so hard and was nervous this morning," said an elated Campbell. "To say that I broke the world record at my first Paralympics - there aren't words to describe what I am feeling right now."



This was definitely a bright ray of sunlight on my crazy day today!! The glasses part is referring to the fact I had a bullying issue right after my class that resulted in a student having his glasses shattered and the arm of it sticking in the side of his head and a major amount of blood on the ground. Any day you have to call the ambulance to your class is NOT a good day. I'm definitely learning how to deal with emotions that I have never had to deal with. Being completely transparent...I cannot explain to you the anger I feel towards the student(s) responsible. I cannot explain to you the hurt that I feel for the victim. I cannot explain to you the picture I have stuck in my head of what I saw as I came back into the gym. But I know that God is good. He has me where I am for a reason. And I am learning huge lessons right now...especially in forgiveness and love. Even in the midst of everything I know God is taking care of me. He is our eternal Rock.

Olympic Village

So what happens to the Olympic village when it's all over? I'm not 100% sure, but I know just a couple of weeks later over 4,000 more athletes from around the world gather to compete in the Paralympics. This competition is for those amazing athletes that have overcome huge obstacles in their lives to compete at a very intense level. What an inspiration!!

You may remember a mention in a previous blog about a good family friend of mine, Caleb Campbell. (drafted by the Lions...which by the way, if you keep up with sports period you know that the Army changed their policy and Caleb was called back to WestPoint the day before training camp) His younger brother, Jeremy, is just as much or more talented in his athletic ability. Jeremy has had a prosthetic leg since a baby but has never let it hold him back. He was an all-district athlete in basketball, football, and track for 3 years. He had the opportunity as a 17-year old to move to Seattle and begin training, but chose to stay with his family until graduation. (when he moved to CA to train full time) So now at 21 years old, he is competing in the pentathlon and discus in Beijing. In the trials he won first in the pentathlon and was 16 points off the world record. I'm super proud of him and had to brag about him to all of you! :)

For you Tulians, Jeremy & Caleb's father, Gregg Campbell, is the son of the late Nancy Hamilton and brother to the late Kay Sturgess.

visit universalsports.com to see broadcasts! (track & field starts Tuesday)