Here are the pumpkins we did this year:
And here are some pictures of us carving the spongebob pumpkin. It took about 2 hours to complete. Nathan was really good and helped me a lot.
We got the pattern from zombiepumpkins.com. They have some great templates for pumpkins.
As I’ve mentioned before, Halloween is growing in popularity in our part of Mexico City. The stores are full of Halloween costumes and other things related to the holiday. I think I’ve seen more stuff related to Halloween than Day of the Dead.
Christians, however, have definitely taken a stand-off approach to Halloween. The picture that accompanies this post was taken at ExpoCristiana two weekends ago (click here to see the pic). In case you don’t know Spanish, it says, “Say ‘No’ to Halloween.”
Tomorrow, in my Youth Culture class, we will be having a discussion about a Christian’s perspective on Halloween and The Day of the Dead. I want them to think about their own beliefs instead of traditional teaching. It should be interesting. I’ll report back.
In the meantime, what’s your perspective on Halloween?
Last night was the end of a Cinderella season for the Tampa Bay Rays. It was an amazing run of going from last place to first place in one year. They won 97 games in the regular season this year. That’s amazing.
Since we were in the Tampa Bay area for the summer, I had the chance to watch this season up close. We watched most of the games this summer, and kept up with how they did. It was a tremendous transformation.
The American League Championship Series was something I’ll remember for a long time. Beating the Boston Red Sox is always fun. Now it’s even more fun.
But the Rays didn’t do it the way most teams do. They have the lowest payroll in the league, and they beat teams that had millions more dollars to spend. They did it with teamwork. Their motto all season has been 9=8, meaning nine guys playing hard and working together for 9 innings would allow them to be one of eight teams in the playoffs.
It’s a great life lesson for us. Teamwork is what we need in life. Teamwork is what we need for our families to be strong. Working as a team is what makes our ministries thrive. It’s not enough to have a few superstars working on their own. It takes a team to win. Just ask the Rays.
Last week, Apple celebrated the seventh birthday of the iPod. You can check out a visual journey of the iPod’s evolution here).
Before I had an iPod, I had a little MP3 player (a Diamond Rio) that held about 32MB of songs. I thought it was so cool. Then, I bought a Dell Jukebox, which was a great product with a better price than an iPod.
Finally, a few years ago, I delved into the dark world of Apple and begged allowed my wonderful wife to buy me a “video iPod.” She even got it engraved. I recently purchased a used 1st gen iPhone (which I love). Technology has certainly come a long way in 7 years.
I say all of that to say how much changes in 7 years. Technology surely changes, but also our lives, relationships, and ministries.
Seven years ago, I was a youth pastor at a local church in Florida. Now, I live in a completely different country and have a different job description. Now, I have two sons and a lot of different relationships all over Latin America.
I guess, my question is, “What’s going to happen in 7 more years?” Imagine what the iPod/iPhone will be like in 7 years. Imagine what your life will look like in seven years. I’m hoping that, like technology, my ministry and life continue to advance and get better throughout the years.
(Photo by happylandfill on flickr)
Here are some pictures from our weekend. You can see more on our flickr account.
We basically had a great weekend around the house. Saturday was a cleaning/lawn mowing day, and Sunday was church, football, and the world series.
Is’t he cute?
One of our favorite malls to walk around in.
Sunday afternoon nap while watching football.
