The Amway of Healthfood

I had a friend call me tonight and talk to me about this new company that is comming out with a gel style nutritional supplement. I guess it is the new rave. The company is growing by leaps and bounds and has spread to more than 16 countries across the globe. The product works like Amway though. You have to purchase the product off of people who are members of the comapny and they try to get others to join. I guess if you are an entreprenuer it might be the thing for you. From what I hear they taste pretty good. Let me know if your interested, maybe I should join and you can be my clientel. Well, enough said, here is the web site http://www.agel.com/ .

Was God Really A Part of Our Nations History?

This was an interesting article about Washingtn D.C. Maybe the founders of our nation really didn't want a seperation of church (Christianity) and state (government).

LAUS DEO: A little history lesson you may enjoy. One detail that is not mentioned, in DC, is that there can never be a building of greater height than the Washington Monument. With all the uproar about removing the ten commandments, etc... This is worth a moment or two of your time. I was not aware of this historical information . On the aluminum cap, atop the Washington Monument in Washington, DC, are displayed two words: Laus Deo. No one can see these words. In fact, most visitors to the monument are totally unaware they are even there and for that matter, probably couldn't care less. Once you know Laus Deo's history, you will want to share this with everyone you know. But these words have been there for many years; they are 555 feet, 5.125 inches high, perched top the monument, facing skyward to the Father of our nation, overlooking the 69 square miles which comprise the District of Columbia, capital of the United States of America. Laus Deo! Two seemingly insignificant, unnoticed words. Out of sight and, one might think, out of mind, but very meaningfully placed at the highest point over what is the most powerful city in the most successful nation in the world . So, what do those two words, in Latin, composed of just four syllables and only seven letters, possibly mean? Very simply, they say "Praise be to God!" Though construction of this giant obelisk began in 1848, when James Polk was President of the United States, it was not until 1888 that the monument was inaugurated and opened to the public. It took twenty five years to finally cap the memorial with a tribute to the Father of our nation, Laus Deo .Praise be to God!" From atop this magnificent granite and marble structure, visitors may take in the beautiful panoramic view of the city with its division into four major segments. From that vantage point, one can also easily see the original plan of the designer, Pierre Charles l'Enfant ... a perfect cross imposed upon the landscape, with the White House to the north. The Jefferson Memorial is to the south, the Capitol to the east and the Lincoln Memorial to the west. A cross you ask? Why a cross? What about separation of church and state? Yes, a cross; separation of church and state was not, is not, in the Constitution. So, read on. How interesting and, no doubt, intended to carry a profound meaning for those who bother to notice. Praise be to God! Within the monument itself are 898 steps and 50 landings. As one climbs the steps and pauses at the landings the memorial stones share a message. On the 12th Landing is a prayer offered by the City of Baltimore; on the 20th is a memorial presented by some Chinese Christians; on the 24th a presentation made by Sunday School children from New York and Philadelphia quoting Proverbs 10:7, Luke 18:16 and Proverbs 22:6. Praise be to God! When the cornerstone of the Washington Monument was laid on July 4th, 1848 deposited within it were many items including the Holy Bible presented by the Bible Society. Praise be to God! Such was the discipline, the moral direction, and the spiritual mood given by the founder and first President of our unique democracy "One Nation, Under God." I am awed by Washington's prayer for America. Have you never read it? Well, now is your unique opportunity, so read on! "Almighty God; We make our earnest prayer that Thou wilt keep the United States in Thy holy protection; that Thou wilt incline the hearts of the citizens to cultivate a spirit of subordination and obedience to government; and entertain a brotherly affection and love for one another and for their fellow citizens of the United States at large. And finally that Thou wilt most graciously be pleased to dispose us all to do justice, to love mercy, and to demean ourselves with that charity, humility, and pacific temper of mind which were the characteristics of the Divine Author of our blessed religion, and without a humble imitation of whose example in these things we can never hope to be a happy nation. Grant our supplication, we beseech Thee, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen." Laus Deo! When one stops to observe the inscriptions found in public places all over our nation's capitol, he or she will easily find the signature of God, as it is unmistakably inscribed everywhere you look. You may forget the width and height of "Laus Deo", its location, or the architects but no one who reads this will be able to forget its meaning, or these words: "Unless the Lord builds the house its builders labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain." (Psalm 127: 1)

Tony Dungy's Speech to Athletes in Action

Tony Dungy's talk to Athletes In Action

This was a speech given by Indianapolis Colts Coach Tony Dungy at the Athletes in Action breakfast on the morning before Super Bowl XL, February 4, 2006 in Detroit, Mich. Dungy was welcomed with a lengthy standing ovation. He thanked the crowd, shared an anecdote about the honored guest at the breakfast, then told the crowd, "It's great to be here," adding with a laugh, "I just wish I wasn't here in this capacity so many times of being just that close to being in the game and just being an invited speaker. "My goal is to have our team here one day and have a couple of tables with all of our guys here. Because we have a special group of young men, a great group of Christian guys. It'd be wonderful to have them here so you could see their hearts and what they're all about. "It hasn't quite happened yet, but we're still hoping one day it will."
He told them he was going to talk about lessons he had learned from his three sons. The crowd fell silent. Then Dungy spoke- for most of the 15 minutes the room was silent except for Dungy's voice.
He spoke of his middle son, Eric, who he said shares his competitiveness and who is focused on sports "to where it's almost a problem."
He spoke of his youngest son, Jordan, who has a rare congenital condition which causes him not to feel pain. "He feels things, but he doesn't get the sensation of pain," Dungy said. The lessons learned from Jordan, Tony Dungy said, are many. "That sounds like it's good at the beginning, but I promise you it's not," Dungy said. "We've learned a lot about pain in the last five years we've had Jordan. We've learned some hurts are really necessary for kids. Pain is necessary for kids to find out the difference between what's good and what's harmful. "Jordan, Dungy said, loves cookies. "Cookies are good," Dungy said, "but in Jordan's mind, if they're good out on the plate, they're even better in the oven. He will go right in the oven when my wife's not looking, reach in, take the rack out, take the pan out, burn his hands and eat the cookies and burn his tongue and never feel it. He doesn't know that's bad for him. "Jordan, Dungy said, "has no fear of anything, so we constantly have to watch him."
The lesson learned, Dungy said, is simple. "You get the question all the time, 'Why does the Lord allow pain in your life? Why do bad things happen to good people? If God is a God of love, why does he allow these hurtful things to happen?' Dungy said. "We've learned that a lot of times because of that pain, that little temporary pain, you learn what's harmful. You learn to fear the right things ."Pain sometimes lets us know we have a condition that needs to be healed. Pain inside sometimes lets us know that spiritually we're not quite right and we need to be healed and that God will send that healing agent right to the spot."Sometimes, pain is the only way that will turn us as kids back to the Father."
Finally, he spoke of James. James Dungy, Tony Dungy's oldest son, died three days before Christmas. As he did while delivering James' eulogy in December, Dungy on Saturday spoke of him eloquently and steadily, speaking of lessons learned and of the positives taken from experience.
"It was tough, and it was very, very painful, but as painful as it was, there were some good things that came out of it," Dungy said.
Dungy spoke at the funeral of regretting not hugging James the last time he saw him, on Thanksgiving of last year. "I met a guy the next day after the funeral," Dungy said. "He said, 'I was there. I heard you talking. I took off work today. I called my son. I told him I was taking him to the movies. We're going to spend some time and go to dinner.' That was a real, real blessing to me."
Dungy said he has gotten many letters since James' death relaying similar messages. "People heard what I said and said, 'Hey, you brought me a little closer to my son,' or, 'You brought me a little closer to my daughter,''' Dungy said. "That is a tremendous blessing."
Dungy also said some of James' organs were donated through donors programs. "We got a letter back two weeks ago that two people had received his corneas, and now they can see,'' Dungy said. "That's been a tremendous blessing."
Dungy also said he received a letter from a girl from the family's church in Tampa. She had known James for many years, Dungy said. She went to the funeral because she knew James. "When I saw what happened at funeral, and your family and the celebration and how it was handled, that was the first time I realized there had to be a God," Dungy said the girl wrote. "I accepted Christ into my life and my life's been different since that day." Added Dungy, "That was an awesome blessing, so all of those things kind of made me realize what God's love is all about."
Dungy also said he was asked often how he was able to return to the Colts so quickly after James' death. James died on December 22, and Dungy returned to the team one week later. Dungy said the answer was simple. "People asked me, 'How did you recover so quickly?"'' Dungy said. "I'm not totally recovered. I don't know that I ever will be. It's still very, very painful, but I was able to come back because of something one of my good Christian friends said to me after the funeral. "He said, 'You know James accepted Christ into his heart, so you know he's in heaven, right?' I said, 'Right, I know that.' He said, 'So, with all you know about heaven, if you had the power to bring him back now, would you?' When I thought about it, I said, 'No, I wouldn't. I would not want him back with what I know about heaven.'
"That's what helped me through the grieving process. Because of Christ's spirit in me, I had that confidence that James is there, at peace with the Lord, and I have the peace of mind in the midst of something that's very, very painful.

"That's my prayer today, that everyone in this room would know the same thing."

Where's the Badman?

This link went around the e-mails at school today. By clicking on this link you can see where any sex offenders work or live in relation to any address in Indiana. It is interesting and scary at the same time. It was really comforting to know that a registered rapist lives within a mile of my home. http://www.indianasheriffs.org/

Time to Get in Shape!

Over the weekend I decided I needed to get back into shape. Well, actually I have known that for quite a while and so I have been researching bicyle trainers. I found one that I thought looked like the best product for the money and drove down to Bicycle Garage of Indy and bought it this week. It is called a CycleOps. I put it on my bike last night and tried it out. It was a really good workout. After about 23 minutes of riding and five miles later I decided my first workout was over. I hope to get up to where I am riding 25 miles every other day, we'll see. My wife told me since I spent so much money on it I better use it, so maybe I'll have some extra motivation.

Our Photo Album

Lisa and I have a photo album on yahoo. Check it out if you want to see what all has been going on in our lives. The latest pictures are the ones of our new home. http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/adamd7998/my_photos

North Dakota?

I was on a field trip the other day and the bus driver was talking to me about this tower. It is the tallest structure in the world and it is in North Dakota of all places.
I found this article about it on this site http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World's_tallest_structures

The tallest currently standing structure on land is the KVLY-TV mast near Mayville, North Dakota, at 629 m (2,063 ft). It is a transmission antenna, consisting of a bare metal structure supported by guy-wires. The Warsaw radio mast at Gabin-Konstantynow near Warsaw, Poland at 645 m (2,115 ft) was taller, but it collapsed on August 8, 1991. Masts such as these are generally not considered 'tall buildings', primarilly because they are not self-supporting. They require guy wires to remain upright. For greater detail on communication masts, see either List of the world's tallest structures, List of masts, or Table of masts.

Party at the Longs

We had a great time last night with our friends Jesse, Erika, Derek, Heather, Andy, and Leah. All of these fine people were able to come over to our new home for the Superbowl. Lisa and I wern't sure how many people would be able to make it on such short notice, but we had a decent turn out. It was a great time. The women made some awesome food too! I think the meatballs were the best! Love ya hun. The game was pretty good, but I didn't really catch all of it, between talking to everyone and looking up odds and ends on the computer. Rolling Stones was a hoot! I can't believe they're still singing and moving so well in thier 60's. Thanks to all of you that made it. We hope to have another one next year and hopefully we'll have a bigger crowd.