The best laid plans…

I had in mind to continue posting regularly, but life had other plans. Last week was a week which, if ever repeated, may lead to my demise. It was supposed to be a busy week anyway. My teaching responsibilities at King and Milligan began on Wednesday. I was also slotted to preach on Sunday. And, our youth group was going to spend all day Friday and Saturday at the Bristol Motor Speedway selling ear plugs and water to race fans as an attempt at raising money. Was this a full week and weekend? Sure. But it was manageable…until the unforeseen entered into the equation.

I was typing feverishly on my laptop on Monday night. I had spent most of the day crafting a sermon and preparing my notes for OT Survey. So at around 9:00pm, as I paused to reflect on my work, I heard some unfortunate words – “Oh my gosh!! Watch out!!” I lifted my hands from the laptop and looked up just in time to see a bottle of lotion whiz by my head and land squarely on my laptop. Carrie had accidentally dropped this bottle off an overhang and down onto my work area in the family room.

The laptop restarted to the sound of grinding. I knew immediately it was the hard drive that had been damaged. Not wanting to subject it to further damage, I turned the laptop off with the hopes that things could be salvaged. The next morning I tried to start the laptop up but it tried for about 10 seconds and gave me the, “You are screwed. Throw the computer away.” (Note: this was not the actual message, but I am conveying the connotation). So I shut down again and decided to try again later.

In the afternoon I powered up again and after running a battery of diagnostic tests, it did load up, but again the sounds emendating from the hard drive area would make even the most stalwart listener cringe. I quickly threw in a USB drive and started copying files, starting with my sermon, class notes, and irreplaceable pictures of the new baby. Partway through, the Hard Drive locked up and I had to shut down again, but not before getting the most pertinent files.

As it stands today I have replaced the Hard Drive and gotten many of the files off the damaged drive, though I will never get everything off. Some pictures of Elijah are lost. Some pictures of family are lost. Any file over 1 Mb is pretty much toast. But my written down thoughts, lessons, sermons, etc. made the transfer.

I hope to get things back together soon, but am still trying to catch up. Thanks for your patience here at “The Second Call.”

Bizarre Brownie Commercial

I don’t know if you have heard, but Domino’s is running a new promotion where they include fudge brownie bits free with every purchase. You read correctly. Brownie and Pizza.

Let me paint a picture of how it was presented to me on TV. I just got finished watching the trailer for “Crossover” which looks like a combination of “White Men Can’t Jump,” “Bring it on,” and “You Got served” – but I digress. So the next commercial is for these brownie bites, and the delivery guy arrives at the door and “Fudgems” – the brownie mascot – is with him. Of course every time Fudgems touches something, he gets chocolate all over them. It was bizarre to say the least.

However, it reminded me of my time working at “Mail Boxes Etc.” (now The UPS Store) when we would debate on who could “pack the fudge” the best. My brother and Susie Riggs/Finkbiener would usually win the competition. That joke never gets old.

The Calm After the Storm

A storm rolled through last night, and then there was this eerie glow. I wish I had captured it better.

Daily Snapshot

Jaime Wetzel’s blog links to another blog called 10 years of my life that is an experiment in taking and posting a picture every day. I think that is an interesting idea, for a couple of reasons. First, it documents a brief episode from your day. It is history writing in a slightly different way. Second, it makes you more aware of your surroundings, looking for a memorable scene to capture. Finally, it makes you work on your picture taking abilities (or lack thereof).

So, I am going to give it a shot. I am going to try and take more picture of random things. Maybe not every day, but I hope to share a picture with you when I get them in addition to my semi-regular postings.

A Personal Holliday

Today is a special day. It is Elijah’s birthday – 2 years on this planet. Unbelievable that he has been in my life that long. He is an awesome kid – smart, stubborn, funny, full of life, with a touch of OCD for good measure. He has taught me that patience and grace are better teachers than strict discipline. Though he may never read anything I write, he has influenced me more than I or he will realize.

It is also the 2-year anniversary of the inception of this blog. It is hard to believe that I have been posting my thoughts for two years. It is also hard to believe anyone reads them. I enjoy doing it as it forces me to think, to evaluate, to accept criticism, and to be humble when people don’t respond to what I think is brilliance.

Very little has changed, and yet it seems like so much.
I am still serving at the same church, but now with a new minister.
I am still married to Carrie, but now we have two children.
I am still searching for God but am less concerned about finding the “correct” theology.

The journey of life is a journey of faith. Faith that your hopes and dreams will be accomplished. Faith that your life is not a waste but holds a meaning often beyond what you can see. Faith that in the end this is not some cosmic experiment or joke.

This is the faith I hold despite what I see around me. I see a world that is being torn apart by war, hatred, and selfishness. It is not a world that I want my children to see. But I believe in a world that claims God as King. I believe that the reign of God can overcome even the worst evils. And to such end, I will keep searching. Keep journeying. Maybe even keep writing.

Browser Business

The above picture is of course the logo to Mozilla Firefox, which has been stomped out as a crop circle. Firefox is quickly becoming the most used browser in the world. For those who don’t know, it has automatic pop up blocking (Internet Explorer just recently added such a feature). It also has tabbed browsing which means I can have another page loading while finishing the page I am on.

Anyway, this isn’t a promo for Firefox (though if you don’t use it, you should). I work on quite a few computers getting viruses, spyware, and various other annoying features off. And more than likely, if I have to fix the computer, the person doesn’t have or use Firefox. That is pretty annoying and cuts into my productivity, but I make it through.

So, this post doesn’t really have a purpose, except I saw the above picture, thought it was cool, and took the opportunity to voice my opinion about Internet browsers.

***All of you Opera and Safari users need not post how much better you think your browsers are.

Statement of Faith

I may have mentioned that I will be teaching Old Testament Survey at King College in the fall. Since they are affiliated with the Presbyterian Church and I am not, they have asked me to include a “Statement of Faith”. Having never written one, I googled it and found some interesting things. Some of which I agreed with, some of which I did not. What follows is a work in progress – a first draft if you will detailing my statement of faith. It is similar in some areas to other statements, but diverges in others. I am looking for constructive criticisms on where it is good, where it is weak, and what is lacking.

Statement of Faith

The basis of my faith is in the revelation of God through His actions in the world, through the Incarnation of his Son, and through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.


There is one true God, eternally existing who, out of his love, created the world as good.
Despite sin entering into the world, God seeks the redemption and restoration of His creation to return it to its original state.


Jesus Christ, the living Word, is perfect Deity and true humanity united in one person forever.
He lived a sinless life, clearly displaying and fulfilling the greatest commandment to love God and love others.
He voluntarily atoned for the sins of men by dying on the cross as their substitute, satisfying divine justice and accomplishing salvation for all who trust in Him.
He rose from the dead and ascended into heaven to sit down at the right hand of God the Father, where He continually makes intercession for His own.


The Holy Spirit has come into the world to reveal and glorify Christ and to apply the saving work of Christ to men.
It convicts and draws sinners to Christ, imparts new life to them, continually dwells within them.
Its fullness, power and control are appropriated in the believer's life by faith.


The salvation of man is wholly a work of God's free grace and is not the result of human works or goodness. God imputes His righteousness to those who put their faith in Christ for their salvation, and thereby justified them in His sight.
Jesus proclaimed and instituted the kingdom of God which is good news to the physically and spiritually poor, oppressed, and sick when forgiveness and liberation occur members of the kingdom repent and live out the good news.
Every believer is called to live in the power of the indwelling Spirit that s/he will not fulfill selfishness but will bear fruit to the glory of God.

Stork Mail

She’s here!! My little girl – Sophia Caris. The first granddaughter on either side. It only took 7 tries. Fortunately, my sister is also having a daughter in a couple of months so she will not be alone. Everything went extremely well. For those “in the know”, Carrie went from a 5 to full delivery in 40 minutes. Unbelievably fast.

This baby is quite different than Elijah. Elijah was wide-awake, wanting entertainment and food immediately. Sophia, though she has the biggest lungs in the nursery, has slept a ton and really does not enjoy keeping her eyes open.

We have been teaching Elijah about a new baby, and how to treat it. He helped me roll Sophia into the room to see mom, and then he laid down on the bed with his head against the baby and said, “Nice” with a bit of a lisp. After poking her in the eye and saying, “Baby – eye,” he hopped down and ran around the room for a while. I think things will be just fine. (I have pictures of it all on my website).

A small note on the name selection. I am a big language guy, so the name has to have significance. Sophia Caris is Greek for “Wisdom” and “Grace” – two of the things I love about my wife. Hopefully Sophia will emulate her mother and live up to her namesake.

Carrie and I didn’t say it until after the birth, but we both really wanted a girl. Yes, we would have been fine with a boy and have felt blessed, but something about a girl to go along with our boy is awesome.

Thanks for your prayers and concerns.

An Update

Teen week went well. The students and I both enjoyed the activities. I am looking forward to what the fall has to offer including a renewed commitment to the body of Christ (by both the students and myself) and excitement about the young leaders that are present in the group.

Carrie and I are going into the hospital tomorrow at 6:00am so that she can be induced. That is one day after the due date, and she is more than ready. There have been no complications thus far and we are very thankful. I don’t think Elijah is ready for what is about to enter into our household, but we shall see.

So, I will be posting news of the new baby when they come. Stay tuned.

Full Week

The posts this week will be sporadic, if at all. This week is “Teen Week”. Basically, I planned a different event each day with the youth group leading up to their returning to school on Monday. All credit for the idea goes to my youth minister, Andy Timm, who dedicated a week every year to taking us to do all sorts of things. Sunday was the lake. Monday was a crazy scavenger hunt. And today was Laurel Falls. This, in my opinion, is one of the most beautiful places in the world. Hope you enjoy the picture.