“A man does what he must – in spite of personal consequences, in spite of obstacles and dangers and pressures – and that is the basis of all human morality.” — John F. Kennedy

I can see it in my mind…

Rick: Hello officer…I need to file a police report.
Officer: Well, what seems to be the problem, sir?
Rick: One of my pesky neighbors stole my garbage can lid!
Officer: (spits out his coffee…) One of your neighbors did what???

Ok, I think you get the point…

You see, one of my neighbors has the same exact garbage can that I do. The can isn’t anything special…but obviously my neighbor thought the lid was rather impressive!

Here’s how it went down…a few weeks ago, I placed my garbage can outside, lid and all. The next morning after the garbage man came, I went outside to retrieve my can. The lid was missing! I instantly thought to my self, “oh, it must have blown away.”

But no! I look to my left and I saw the lid sitting right on top of my neighbors garbage can. How did I know it was mine? The numbers written on it. I deliberately wrote “368″ in big bold letters on the lid. THEIF! That guy stole my garbage can lid!
(ok, well maybe I’m being more dramatic now than I was back then)

I let it slide. I figured I could do without the lid. That was until we experienced the drought of ’05. The extreme heat has caused my garbage to smell SO bad.

This morning, I came to the conclusion that I really need a garbage can lid. So I found the guys to go down the road to ask for my lid back.

As I got outside and started heading their way, I noticed a bright orange truck in their driveway. THEY’RE MOVING! Drats! I bet that they’re taking MY garbage can lid with them.

As I continued towards them, I could tell that they were pretty occupied with their move. As such, I decided to be the nice on and let them keep my lid.

Hopefully they’ll take good care of it. In the mean time, what does a guy have to do to get a garbage can lid? Do they sell individual garbage can lids at Lowes or Home Depot?

Hmm…i think another neighbor a few doors down has the same can as mine. Maybe I could just take his on garbage day!

Have you ever had such a strong emotional connection with someone that you’ve been able to see beyond the surface? Several close friends of mine are dealing with difficult situations. Ironically, as I had conversations with two friends that I hadn’t chatted with in quite some time. We we talked, I could tell that they were dealing with an emotional situation. But for whatever reason, they weren’t compelled to let me in on it.

Lets face it. Sometimes we don’t want others to know where we are or the sad state that we’re in. But they didn’t have to because I already knew. When you let someone into your world, there’s a good chance that you will reveal things about yourself that you’re not even aware of yourself.

So I’m left thinking if I should have asked the question to these friends…”so, what’s really going on here? How are you REALLY doing?” But in each situation, I’m confident that it wasn’t my place to ask that question.

I conclude with this thought. If I think that I know so much about these two people, imagine how much the God of the universe knows about them and the situations that they’re dealing with.

It’s wild as I think about it…I have something in common with God. He has the ability to look at these two people and tell things about them that they didn’t even know about themselves. I was able to tell that they was something “under the surface” of our casual conversation. But God on the other hand sees and knows WAY more much. Let’s face it, he’s our father. I can’t help but believe that he carries many of the same emotions that our earthly parents carry.

Well, maybe that was a bad comparison, a really bad one at that! I mean truthfully, can anyone of us ever compare to God? Would we ever want to be? Talk about a tough competition!

I have a purpose in this place and time. Maybe my purpose in this situation is to sit back and pray. Pray that my friends will find confidence in our all knowing God.

Hopefully this has meaning to you in some way.

I think I have some praying to do…Good night blogsters!

On Saturday, I did a little bit of grocery shopping at the mega Walmart right around the corner from my house. Sometimes I wonder if they can fit anymore stuff inside their store. But I digress…

I came around the corner with my cart full of ‘blue light specials’ oh wait, that’s K-mart. Anyhow…as I rounded the corner, some woman slammed into my back with her cart full of trapper keepers. Of course she didn’t apologize…but that’s besides the point.

It wasn’t even August 1st and so many people are already out shopping for school supplies? Shouldn’t we still be dreaming of summer vacations and afternoons at the pool?

On Sunday, I was talking to my grandma. She informed me that my step-cousin (is there even such a thing?) starts school next week. NEXT WEEK? Gosh, talk about cutting the summer break short!

Well, in honor of my step-cousin (or whatever you want to call it) going back to school next week, I thought that it would be only fitting to share a great song from my friend Billy Madison.

I think I might just have to watch that movie for the 30th time before I go to bed tonight…

Well, I guess I’ll put this random blog entry to an end. I think this happens to be the most random blog ever!

See ya later blogsters!

Rick

Thanks to the many of you for joining me around town this weekend! This little boy picked up a 101QFL window cling. This dude instantly put it on his shirt. Gotta love funny kids!

See ya later Blogsters!

Mr. Ricardo Hall, Esquire
(ok, well maybe not Esquire…)

Say hi to me this weekend! I’ll be out on the street broadcasting live!

Friday — 2PM to 4PM
Advanced Medical Rehabilitation
1945 Harlem Rd in Loves Park

Saturday — 10AM to Noon
Redeemer Lutheran Preschool
On the corner of 16th Street and 8th Avenue

Saturday — 5PM to 7:30PM
Broadway Covenant Church
3525 Broadway St.

This past weekend, I spent some time along a lake up in upper Wisconsin. The weather was perfect. You know how it was like 110 degress in Rockford? Well, it was only like 78 degrees where I was. Man, it was great!

So great that I just had to bring something home with me to remember the trip by. It’s a little painful to carry this around with me…I brought home a nasty sunburn. It’s Wednesday and I’m still hurting!

I must think I am invesible to the sun’s damaging rays. I think the only time that I have put sunscreen on was when mommy was around to put it on for me. Do I want skincancer? Is that the outlook that I want for my life? Of course not!

“Remember, wear sunscreen!” (click here for audio…)

By any chance, did you leave your windows rolled down during this morning’s huge storm? Of course, I was driving down the road with my windows down when the storm rolled in. As I continued to drive down the road, I laughed as I remembered the funny weather dudes on TV. The wind was whipping around so much that I expected to see a Weather Channel guy on the side of the road wearing one of those blue ponchos. Then I continued to laugh inside as I pulled into the radio station parking lot. Only stupid radio people hang out at a building that’s right next to a HUGE tower. I mean, come on! If there’s a thunderstorm, chances are that lightning is going to hit it, right?

Needless to say, the storm eventually came to an end and we were all able to come out of our basements.

Major props to my new friend Cassie. Last night, she taught me a word in sign language that I really shouldn’t do while posing for a picture. Thanks Cassie!

See ya later bloggers!

Usually I won’t reprint someone elses words in my blog. Come on! This blog is all about me, right? Just kidding…I received this devotional email from the people that represent artist Todd Agnew. Powerful stuff here!

“I the Lord do not change. So you, O descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed.” — Malachi 3:6

So, God doesn’t change. Big deal. I’ve known that for most of my life, and I can’t say it’s affected one decision, one emotion, or one change in my life. But look at the effect it has in the verse in Malachi: “So you, O descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed.” Now that’s huge! People miss destruction because God doesn’t change. That’s massive. But how or why does this occur, and definitely, how does this apply to me?

Growing up, my Christianity was always about me. I wanted to be better for God. I was going to change how I lived. I was going to honor the Lord with every aspect of my life. As I got older, it became harder for me to reconcile these ideas with my constant failures. I began to ask many hard questions. How do we “approach the throne of grace with confidence,” as it says in Hebrews? How can we leave behind our own guilt and shame, confident in our forgiveness? How can I say in complete trust, “Be it done to me according to Your word,” as Thomas a Kempis did? How am I supposed to step off of this cliff, to take that risk, to leave this place, to try something new, when everything in me says it’s too dangerous? How can I quit this sin, which is one of the few things that makes me feel good… for a while? How can I have the kind of faith that changes my life and changes the world around me? Throughout my entire life, I tried to develop a faithfulness in my life that led to this kind of radical difference, but I always failed. I thought if I could just be better, more stable, more consistent, then this was what God was waiting for. I thought that was what my Christianity lacked. But I was wrong. The center of this issue is God’s faithfulness, not mine. The crux of Christianity was not me, but Christ.

God knows He is the center. The verse in Malachi even starts with “I the Lord.” My problem was I didn’t have Him at the focal point. I had me at the focus, and I am terribly unstable. My faith wavered continously because I thought it was dependent upon me. Since I was struggling in my faith, I turned to other things in my life for fulfillment and support: girls, friends, sports, music, etc. But they all let me down. Even the church and family still have human failures. But God is constant. He is the core, “I the Lord,” and He is the foundation, “I the Lord do not change.” We can build our whole lives and faith on that rock. It’s funny that after all the Sunday School lessons, and all the times I sang that song in church about building on the sand, I still tried to establish my faith on something inconsistent: myself. We have to believe in the person of Christ the Rock and trust in His promises. He had promised the descendants of Jacob that He would not destroy them, and since He never changes, that promise is trustworthy and unwavering. Nothing they could do could change that. Our sin does not have the power to change God’s character. We have made ourselves the centerpiece of our story, every nuance of our lives hanging in the balance of our successes and failures. But we are not the hero. God is. Our lives are an epic about His power, His holiness, His justice, His love, and His grace. The turning point in the story is not our decision, but our rescue.

The stability of our faith is not determined by our ability to hold on, but by how much we depend on His immutability. The more we lean on Him, the stronger we are. We are not destroyed, not because we achieved something but because of who He is. We are not shaken, because we are built on a solid foundation. We are loved completely because God is love and He will never change. “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows,” James 1:17. This unchanging character of God can bring us hope in our failures, peace in our struggles, and even greater joys in our successes. So, yeah, it’s a pretty big deal after all.

Written by Todd Agnew. Click here to check out his new cd!

This morning, I woke up with eight emails from people wondering what’s the latest with my eyebrow. I’m happy to inform you that it’s almost fully grown. If you didn’t hear the story, I accidently waxed off my ENTIRE left eyebrow. Once I removed the wax strip, it was totally gone. Now, I know you’re wondering, “why did HE wax his eyebrow?” Peer pressure?

But as I said before, it’s almost fully grown. Lesson learned. Never wax your own eyebrows.

(I can’t wait to see the comments to this one…)