Church Talks & Time

Megs and I had the privilege of giving talks in church a couple weeks ago, and while it had been some time since either of us had spoke, we shook off the rust and gave absolutely stellar discourses. What did we speak on? Megs went first and gave one of the best talks I have ever heard on the subject of prayer.

Now we all know that regardless of how she did, good or bad, in order to be politically correct (and to avoid sleeping in the shed**) I would always say that she did great, but believe this time...

She Rocked.

I mean seriously, as far as rocking goes, Celine Dion ain't got nothing on her... wait...

nevermind.

Anyway, she truly did an awesome job and I was really proud of her. She spoke a bit about the praying process that we went through together when deciding to get married and was SO sweet about it. I love my Megs.

Which leaves me and my talk. So if Megs spoke about prayer, what was my talk on? Naturally, the NFL Draft.

Yes, this NFL Draft...


That's right, no cheesy punchline, no second part to the joke... I'm dead serious, I really gave a talk in church about the NFL Draft. And what makes it even better?...

It was awesome!

Don't worry, I mixed in some scriptures and a few thoughts that were a bit more gospel-centric as well, but it was definitely my comments about the Draft that put it over the top. Just ask BelleMa... she was there and she loved it. :)

Now as great as our talks were, it was a separate announcement given by the bishopric that made the day truly special...

Megs and I were sitting on the stand, waiting to give our talks when one of the Bishop's counselors got up and said the following:

"We would like to let you all know, that as of the first Sunday in June, our Sunday meetings will start at 8:30 am."

As I sat there in shock, my heart rate picked-up and a smile of disbelief and excitement grew across my face. With so many people in the congregation groaning and complaining about the early start, why was I the only happy, nay, ecstatic one about this new time slot? Because the following was the only thing going through my mind...

SUN, SEP 7
Tampa Bay at New Orleans 1:00 PM
St. Louis at Philadelphia 1:00 PM
NY Jets at Miami 1:00 PM
Kansas City at New England 1:00 PM
Houston at Pittsburgh 1:00 PM
Cincinnati at Baltimore 1:00 PM
Detroit at Atlanta 1:00 PM
Seattle at Buffalo 1:00 PM
Jacksonville at Tennessee 1:00 PM

These are the first games played in the 1st week of the upcoming NFL Season. Note the times of the games in bold. Since these times are Eastern, that means that with our new church time, we'll get home 30 minutes after the first round of games start, just enough time to Tivo the games and be caught up by the end of the first quarter! In Other Words... No more taping and/or missing all the games every week!

Needless to say, my smile was 100 yards wide :)


**Note: Per my reference to sleeping in the shed. One might wonder why I didn't allude to the "proverbial couch" that we're all familiar with. You see, some time ago, Megs discovered that due to the fact that the TV, ESPN and Playstation are directly in front of the "proverbial couch", such a punishment as to banish one's husband to sleep on said couch wouldn't end up being much of a punishment at all, whereas banishing one's husband to sleep out in the cold-dark-damp-shed-with-tons-of-creepy-crawlies-that-freak-out-one's-husband-to-no-end would serve as more appropriate chastisement, thus providing the aforementioned husband greater incentive to treat his wife nicer and buy her more clothes and shoes.

Happy Birth-Givers' Day!

On this Mothers' Day I wish to shout out thanks and love to all the mothers in my life, starting with my very own Mum!


As you can see from this photo, I get much of my humor, wit and charm from my Mom. Through all the years, I get glimpses of who my Mother truly is and what she's done and still does for me. But even as I try to put all the pieces together, the full picture of my Mum never seems to come totally clear into view. She is all and more of everything that any woman should ever try to be, and I know of at least 7 other first-hand witnesses who would vouch for her.

So to my Angel Mother who gave birth to this boy...


and helped him become who he is today (which is pretty much just a taller version)...

I love you Mum.

Also I mustn't forget my other wonderful Mom, Belle Ma.


Megs' mumsie has been an absolute angel to me since "tying the knot" with my little Megs. Not only does she take me off Megs' hands when I'm driving my wife crazy, but she takes such great care of me and treats me like her own.

Je t'aime Belle Ma.

I have always been cognisant of my insufficient abilities to relate to mothers in any way or through any medium of comparison. However as I grow older, I find that my inadequate understanding of mothers becomes more and more wanting every year. I don't understand all that mothers do, nor do I get how they do it. But everytime I think about it, I realize that's the way it should be.

Because that's how great true Mothers are.

Ps. Mum, don't forget to re-wrap your Mothers' Day present and then act surprised when you open it up again... :)