why simon is named simon

several people have asked...not on here of course, but it doesn't hurt to post it on here. simon is a name that my wife rebekah (pictured looking at simon) has loved for a very long time, and when we (she) became pregnant this name quickly rose to the top as a favorite. she loves the story in scripture when Jesus is walking to the hill to be crucified, and a man from the crowd is called upon to help carry the cross. i love the story of the old man in the synagogue who knew that he would see the messiah, and he did! (yes biblical scholars his name was simeon, but it is the same name) the bonus came when we realized, after he was born, that it was also the name of peter before he was peter, (yes, this character is MUCH more recognizable then the other two, but we didn;t think of it) and he has always been a great person in scripture as well.
the name means: he hears God. isn't this an amazing thing to be able to say about someone? it is our prayer that this will be true of simon!
his middle name, hayes, is a namesake of my grandpa on my mom's side. he is incredibly generous, kind and a strong presence in my life growing up. he is also not too strong physically, and we wanted to honor him while we could! the name means: a hedged field. which at first glance is a bit strange, but quite appropriate for the first born male of not just our immeadiate family, but on both sides of the extended family. it is a hope that he will be a protector of other little ones to come!

dare i take the leap?

my brother bryan, older and wiser, has decided to take the time and effort to use his talents, his humor and his time to begin a comic strip about a boy named jonas (link on my blog for more info)...and i have been inspired.
i have been considering writing a book. i have no "reason" to do so other then these thoughts keep swirling and may indeed require some application. the basis of the book would be to set forth the notion that scripture/Jesus does not really deal so much in right and wrong as it deals in life and death. this may seem like a slight distinction, but the point of the book, obviously, would be to flush these things out. (for instance: a picture of God that is constantly saying "you are wrong" does not correlate with scripture as clearly as the God who is saying "watch out!") not having written much beyond letters, school essays and sermon notes this is a bit of a leap, and, while not completely sure where to begin, i am three pages of BIG PICTURE notes into the process and i guess that is a good place to be! i am referencing my own sermons, as well as thoughts that have arisen from books read, sermons given, travels made, conversations had, classes taken, films watched...certain things just stick around! can a 28 year old write a good book? with a little help i hope so...i will need a ton of feedback though, so stay tuned to future posts.

mr. money bags

you should look at u.s. paper money on ebay. it is pretty amazing the things that people are buying/selling, and if you are like me you will start to examine every bill that you come in contact with. for instance...if you have a really low serial number (and the bill is in really nice condition) you could sell it for probably double the amount. a $1 bill with a single digit number is probably worth hundreds. there are also star notes, which have a small star before the serial number. these are pretty rare, and are made because there was an error in the printing of the note, and so the bills needed to be reprinted with a star (the bank knows that certain serial numbers are errors and only the starred bills of that number are legitimate). There are also errors, like big ink splots, or things like lincoln's head on a ten dollar bill. pretty interesting.
my current collection is pretty much made up of smaller...affordable bills. I have tried to get one bill of each denomination in every year printed...I probably have about 1% of that goal realized...and will probably never get close, but it is the way I have my small collection organized. i have also made it a habit to bring home paper money from other countries that i visit. which means that i now have paper money from iraq (dinars, haven't been there, got these on ebay because they had a huge protrait of saddam on them), europe (euro), japan (yen), sir lanka (rupees), thailand (baht), costa rica (colones), romania (leu), us and canadian dollars and of course my favorite...disney dollars from my junior high trip (1990).
i think that i have always had some interest in this because my uncle chris would always give my brothers and i silver dollars, or fifty cent pieces. and i have always tried to keep these things. perhaps i also thought that two dollar bills contained some sort of magical quality, as i have kept every one i have ever had...perhaps a bit pathetic, but there you have it.

simon got snipped

yep...you heard it right. simon went in today and had his little procedure, he technically no longer has as much skin as he used to. it is funny that this is something that God required as a sign of his covenant with abraham. what an odd way to remember a promise...i suppose you wouldn't forget. anyways, the damage is done, and hopefully it will lead to a better hygene and a less dangerous high school locker room experience.
he is supposed to heal in five to ten days. feel free to leave any well wishes for simon!