Help Wanted

Monday's w/ Michael

In these tough economic times, there are still some companies hiring. Perhaps some of you would be interested in one of the following careers in sports:

Portugese Bullfighter

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2VkQO3CQGc&feature=related

College Mascot

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CfW69rHtxIo

Basketball Player

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XpVuonwpQA&feature=related

Football Referee

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVgdFv_NEM4&feature=related

Make it a great week!

Aunt Dorothy

Monday's w/ Michael

One week ago today, my great-aunt Dorothy passed away. She was 95. Since she was 65 when I was born, I guess I always viewed her as "old." You may think, "Well, you viewed her as 'old' for 30 years, you shouldn't be surprised she's gone." But in a way, it almost had the reverse effect on me. I always viewed her as "old", she's been "old" for 30 years, I always thought she would just always be "old". It's actually kind of hard for me to grasp that she's gone.

Dorothy never married, but it certainly never appeared to bother her. I think she viewed it that instead of having "x" number of children, she had 19 "children" (her nieces and nephews) and 86 "grandchildren" (her great nieces and great-nephews). I'm sure some of her other great nephews spent a lot more time at her house than I did, but I have plenty of memories of being over there growing up. I probably played more games of "Ghost in the Graveyard" there than anywhere else. I remember playing Connect Four at her house. I remember eating cookies in her crowded kitchen. I remember the entire family packed into her basement to open Christmas gifts.

I have another 95 year old great aunt who never married named Sylvia. I didn't realize it until recently, but Sylvia and Dorothy have been close friends for probably 90 years. (I can't imagine having a friendship that lasts that long). They used to walk to school together. Jane took Sylvia down to see Dorothy a couple weeks ago after Dorothy had taken a turn for the worse. Dorothy brightened up when Sylvia entered the room. Sylvia talked to her for awhile and then before she left, she told Dorothy "The next place we are going is going to be so much better than this."

I know Sylvia is right. This place hasn't been extremely easy on either of them. Dorothy was born with a limp. It was never easy for her to get around. But I'm pretty sure that at 4:50 PM on Monday, March 29, 2010, Dorothy went sprinting into Jesus' arms. I bet she was fast. I also bet she hasn't stopped running since. She's probably been running all over Heaven with her mom and dad. She's probably been running with the 9 brothers and sisters she had to bury at such a young age. She's probably been running up and down the streets of gold. Running like she was never able to do here on earth.

For a lady who never married, never had any kids, and rarely traveled outside of Adams and Wells counties in Indiana, Dorothy touched a lot of people. I know I was certainly blessed by knowing her. Thanks for everything, Aunt Dorothy. We love you and look forward to running with you soon!

Happy 2nd Birthday Sunshine!

It is amazing for us to think that little Deacon is already 2 YEARS old!!

We have enjoyed many special birthday parties for him to celebrate this 2 year milestone, however, we had our own little "Michael Reinhard Family" one for him last night.

We went to the State Park and took a pizza and had a picnic by the lake.

We put candles in a cupcake for him to blow out, and EVEN let him eat it! My heart rate goes up just thinking about it-it was such a mess!

But he had fun, and it was a joy watching him, and that made it all worth it. Feeding the buffalo was fun and Deacon was not even a bit scared of them. He just stuck his hand right through the fence and I screamed (as you can imagine) because I thought that the buffalo would bite his hand off. Michael informed me that just wasn't so.

We then went over to the wonderful playground they have there, and Deacon absolutely loved the slide!

Finn LOVED the swing!!

God has certainly blessed us by giving us our 'Sunshine'!

We love you!

I'm a Teenager!

Monday's w/ Michael

On March 29, 1997, I gave my life to Christ! Today, I turned 13. Although a teenager, I often still feel like a helpless infant. If I had to summarize the past 13 years, I would do so by quoting the song below:

We Fall Down

Cursing every step of the Way, he bore a heavy load

To the market ten miles away, The journey took its toll

And every day he passed a Monastery's high cathedral Walls

And it made his life seem Meaningless and small

And he wondered how it would Be to live in such a place

To be warm, well fed and at Peace; to shut the world away

So when he saw a priest who Walked, for once, beyond the Iron gate

He said, Tell me of your life Inside the place...

And the priest replied...

We fall down, we get up

We fall down, we get up

We fall down, we get up

And the saints are just the Sinners

Who fall down and get up

Disappointment followed him Home; he'd hoped for so much More

But he saw himself in a light He had never seen before

Cause if the priest who fell Could find the Grace of God To be enough

Then there must be some hope For the rest of us

There must be some hope left For us

We fall down, we get up

We fall down, we get up

We fall down, we get up

And the saints are just the Sinners

Who fall down and get up

I am so thankful for a merciful Father who is always there to pick me back up when I have fallen.

Misc Info

Monday's w/ Michael

Here are a few pointless updates:

1). My brackets are terrible. I filled out 8 brackets and had Kansas and Kentucky in the Championship game on all of them. Well, Kansas got beat yesterday. I hope none of you took my advice from last week.

2). We had our official weigh-in on Thursday. In the past 2 months, I've lost 23 pounds. Thursday was a lot of fun. I decided to walk from Nesco to the clinic for the weigh-in. Then I walked to the Snug for lunch (a salad and diet Pepsi) and walked back to Nesco. As much as I love coming home to Jane and the boys every day for lunch, I thoroughly enjoyed my walk.

3). Depressing thought for the week: I teach 3rd grade Sunday school. The oldest student in class had a birthday last week. He turned 10. That means he was born in March of 2000. That means that none of my kids were alive for Y2K! It doesn't seem that long ago to me, but none of my kids would have any idea what I'm talking about. Wow, do I feel old!

Make it a great week!

Bracketology

Monday's w/ Michael

Well, yesterday started one of the most exciting weeks for sports fans. March Madness had officially arrived! Since I'm sure all of you are busy filling out multiple brackets, I'll give you a few of my pointers.

1). Don't pick a team to win if it has the word "State" in the name and it isn't really a state. It's ok to pick Michigan State or Ohio State, but Southwest Christian State has never won a game. So for this year's bracket, take West Virginia over Morgan State, Baylor over Sam Houston State, Kentucky over East Tennessee State (they're trying to trick you here, but East Tennessee isn't really a state), Vanderbilt over Murray State and Tennessee over San Diego State (ok, so I'm actually a little nervous about that one. Considering cities in California are probably larger than most states, maybe San Deigo State doesn't fall into this category).

2). Don't pick a team just because it has a cool mascot. Grizzlies are cool, but don't pick Montana to beat the New Mexico Lobos. (Lobo is Spanish for wolf, so not only is it a pretty cool predator, but it's also in a foreign language!)

3). Always pick against the team you want to win. I know most of you disagree with me on this one, but if you pick the team you want to win and they lose, then you are really down. But if you pick the other team, then no matter who wins, you can be happy. That's why I'm picking Siena to beat Purdue in the first round. Yes, that's right folks, you heard it hear first.

4). On the flip side, never pick the team you don't want to win. You should never root for your enemy. Ever. That's why I'm not picking IU to win a single game this tournament!

Hope this helps as you fill out your bracket. Oh, and if you happen to use my logic and fill out a perfect bracket and win the $1,000,000 from Yahoo...don't forget about me.

Make it a great week!

Presidential Proposals

Monday's w/ Michael

The following stories come from Uncle John's Bathroom reader.

Lyndon Baines Johnson met Claudia "Lady Bird" Taylor in 1934. Johnson was an aide to Texas Congressman Richard Kleberg and was in Austin for business. They went on a single breakfast date, at the end of which Johnson proposed. "Lady Bird" said she'd think about it. Johnson returned to Washington and sent her letters and telegrams every day for 10 weeks until he returned to Austin and she accepted.

Thelma "Pat" Ryan was a 25 year old high school teacher and a member of an amateur theatre group. In 1938, Richard Nixon, a 26 year old lawyer, joined the theatre group thinking that acquiring acting skills would help him in the courtroom. In their first performance, Nixon was cast opposite Ryan. He asked her out and proposed on their first date. They were married three years later.

Joe and Jan O'Neill lived in Midland, Texas. They were childhood friends of Laura Welch. In 1975, another childhood freind moved back to Midland after being away for a few years. His name was George W. Bush. The O'Neills bugged Laura to go out with George, but she declined. She finally agreed to meet him at a backyard barbeque in 1977, when she was 30 and he was 31. George was smitten; Laura was too. They were married three months later.

In 1989, Michelle Robinson was working at a Chicago law firm and was assigned to mentor a summer associate from Harvard named Barack Obama. Not long after, Barack asked her on a date. She finally relented and after dating for a few months, she suggested marriage. He wasn't interested. During a dinner date in 1991, she brought it up again. Again he said no. But when dessert showed up, there was an engagement ring on one of the plates. They were married in 1992.

Make it a great Monday!