« February 2009 | Main | April 2009 »

March 18, 2009

Carp = Pitching Gold

Cardinals vs. Orioles
64 pitches
4 innings
No runs allowed
1 Chris Carpenter

Posted by Nathan Gemayel at 8:58 PM | Comments (3)

March 17, 2009

Go UTC!!!

Although I'm not that interested in the whole March Madness thing, this year I have a reason to be...MY ALMA MARTER IS IN THE SWEET SIXTEEN!!! The odds don't look so good though, out of 16, they're #16, and they'll be playing U Conn, the #1 team.
Everyone root for UT Chattanooga! Check it out, even Jimmy Fallon is catching Mocs Fever! Go MOCS!

Posted by Nathan Gemayel at 10:15 PM | Comments (3)

March 15, 2009

Cards Getting Ready for a Good Season!

In the past week the Cardinals have lost one of their 6 games! Keep it up Red Birds!

Posted by Nathan Gemayel at 11:12 PM | Comments (0)

Glass House

Posted by Nathan Gemayel at 11:00 PM | Comments (0)

Sweet Dreams...

Posted by Nathan Gemayel at 10:48 PM | Comments (2)

March 13, 2009

Weekend Ideas

There's a lot going on in the St. Louis area this weekend...here's a few ideas if you're bored.

1. Go look for George Clooney, currently making a movie at 50 places throughout the St. Louis area. According to stltoday.com, Clooney has allegedly been seen "harrassing midgits" in Granite City, he's been seen drinking a 40 in Fairground Park, and finally, someone else saw him stab a guy at Popeye's and steal his 3-piece meal.

2. Paris Hilton is in town this weekend! Come meet the richest Hoosier around! She'll be at St. Clair Sqare to promote her new fragrance, Fairy Dust. I wonder if she'll bring papparazzi with her?

3. I'm running in the St. Patrick's Day Run on Saturday, starting at 9 a.m. It's only 5 miles, but it should be fun, there's a parade afterwards...you should come!

Posted by Nathan Gemayel at 8:27 AM | Comments (1)

March 11, 2009

American Idol Line-Up

Every year the judges pull the American public in a few certain directions that can be described as comical. Sure, there are always the really good singers who are genuinely talented, but then there are others that make you say, "What? I saw some lady singing Karoke Christina that sounded better than that." Anyway, here's my own thoughts of what they got this year...

Think Elvis Presley in his Carotenoderma years

I didn't know that Wilson Phillips girl was eligible for the show...

This year's Sanjaya, only worse. It doesn't help that he's a Tarheel fan.

The judges always drop "Justin Timberlake" when talking about this guy, which is kinda like comparing me to Chris Rock

Oh my gosh, this girl is so "corky" and "different," and such a "good singer"

This dude could start his own Lion's Club with the amount of pairs of glasses he owns...

This guy, who's hair is hoping to lead the charge for an Air Supply Comeback Tour, has a decent amount of talent...

Yes, there are others...I'm digging Allison, who at age 16 has already learned to do her best Pink impression, and Lil, who's voice is everything but, and Kris, who will get the obligatory tween vote, and finally, Micheal, I honestly can't remember anything about him...not a good sign though.

Posted by Nathan Gemayel at 10:19 PM | Comments (2)

Way to go Cardinals!

The Cards just won their last two games. Could this be a return for our favorite hometown team? We'll see when they start on April 6! Almost there...Carp is getting healthier and earning his strength daily, well, kinda, and Adam Wainwright is ready to do damage again this year, well, kinda. Both of our star starters are getting there.

In other news, there have been many changes to the line up, only a while back we found out that Kennedy would not be back for a repeat performance at second base, and Chris Duncan is headed back to the outfield.
LaRussa says if they remain healthy, "the worst [they] could be is pretty good." Worries could be in the bullpen though, we'll see what happens. One thing is for sure, St. Louis Cardinals' Fans are the best in the nation. In a year as troubling economically as this one we can still spend $90 million on a baseball team, that's pretty impressive. After 31 years as a club manager Tony LaRussa will be up to sign a new contract again. What will he do? What will we do? We'll have to wait and see what cometh tomorrow. Go Cards! Just around the corner!

Posted by Nathan Gemayel at 9:27 PM | Comments (0)

March 8, 2009

Charlie the Unicorn

Posted by Nathan Gemayel at 11:35 PM | Comments (4)

Follow the Signs

Posted by Nathan Gemayel at 3:02 PM | Comments (0)

The New City

Today the Chancel Choir performed a song entitled, "God Shall Wipe Away All Tears." If there's one thing I can say about my new job it's that I've been brought to my knees in humility. Everyday I'm asking myself an array of questions: How I do I make a decision regarding a child's placement? How do I think positively when things seem hopeless? How do I encourage a child to obey the rules and not run away? How do I move someone to continue with counseling despite their denial of any need to do so? Then come the basic questions: How do I get to North county when I'm supposed to be in South City thirty minutes later? How can I get a healthy meal when all I have time for is a hot dog from QT? How do I ensure that a day care gets paid when I've filled out all the right forms and communicated with all the right people in Jeff City and the main office, and yet the day care hasn't received a check? These and many other questions permeate my daily work activities in a way that is not unlike the constant drop of water used in torture practices of the second World War.
It seems that every week there is a different crisis to be dealt with. While I can't go into specifics this past week finally brought me to my knees asking God why? and how? I sat in church today during the choir performance celebrating St. John's vision of the New City coming to earth and cried. As tears ran down my face I couldn't help but think of cases where the need for renewal is so evident. "And I, John, saw the Holy City, new Jerusalem coming down from God out of heav'n, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband," they sang. I can't imagine what these words would mean to someone in foster care. I'm sure it would have a different meaning than what comes to mind for me. The fear of abandonment and giving up might be constantly knocking at their door. How would the Gospel speak to them? Although each experience is different, no generalizations can be made, the need for Jesus is amongst us all, even those who do not believe.

The last words of that song, "There shall be no more crying! No pain! For the former things are pass'd away. Forever and ever, Amen," are hopeful. Although we all have a Spiritual Father that is real, we were given a need for earthly parents as well. Some people aren't blessed to have that, and thus pain and hurt can often times be a part of their reality. They seek to fill the void by acting out in various ways, and thus continue in a perpetual cycle of hurting others and getting hurt. If there is one thing I could say, it would be that the pain is real, and the anger is righteous. God doesn't intend for people to adandon their kids. He expects us to raise our children with love, care, compassion, and concern. When this doesn't happen it has the potential to destroy a soul. If I could I would meet them in the darkness and help them to hold Jesus' hand. He is the undoing of wrongdoing, He is the One who will bring former things into the pass, forever, and ever. His work is done, He sits at the right hand of the throne...we just have to believe.

Posted by Nathan Gemayel at 2:15 PM | Comments (1)

March 4, 2009

Ash Wednesday

This past week I went to an Ash Wednesday service at The Church of St. Michael & St. George. It was a quiet time of reflection and prayer as I prepared my heart for the Lent season, a time when Christians get ready to morn the death and then celebrate the resurrection of Christ. It is a time of extra thoughts, if you will, towards Christ and our sin and thus our great need for atonement to be made on our behalf is illuminated. Like everyone around me, I hate the thought of spending time out of my day to think about the ways that I shun God on a daily basis. It is shameful, embarrassing, dark, and evil. The positive thing is with this time of year, (No, I'm not thinking of Fish Fries, although that's definitely a positive), just as the season of Lent ends, my sin will end eventually as well...the only difference is that once sin finally leaves this world it will never come back...it won't be a seasonal thing!

I really like a prayer that I heard during the service:

The Prayer of Humble Access

We do not presume to come to this thy Table, O merciful Lord, trusting in our own righteousness, but in thy manifold and great mercies. We are not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs under thy Table. But thou art the Lord whose property is always to have mercy. Grant us therefore, gracious Lord, so to eat the flesh of thy dear Son Jesus Christ, and to drink his blood, that we may evermore dwell in Him, and He in us. Amen.

I can see how someone would read that prayer who is not a Christian and think to themselves, "Wow! They really think of themselves as pions of the earth." I feel like Paul's word's exude the message of this prayer, "As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath, But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions-it is by grace you have been saved." (Eph. 2:1-5) Obviously we make mistakes and sometimes, often times, we do things that are not kind to our friends and family. We tell white lies, we alter our schedule so we don't have to help out our friend who's moving, we suffer from addictions and don't do anything about it, we spend money we don't have, etc., etc. We've got to do better people. We have to seek a life of purity because we've been given a life where we can say with confidence, "Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of Hosts: Heaven and earth are full of thy glory!" We have come to know the truths of Christ and our eyes have been opened, we now have a new standard. It is only through Christ that we can have a clearer sight, a vision, if you will, of what is true today and what will come tomorrow. Seeing as how we can recognize His graciousness and glory, we must learn to also recognize our sin in an effort to see Him better as well. It is through times of solitude and quiet, even if that's in your car during rush hour, you will grow to praise Him more, you will come to seek His glory over your own. I wonder if Paul would have provided us with so much encouragement if he had an ipod, xm radio, a Blackberry, cable television, and everything else back then? Would he have been so aware of what his current reality was? I don't think so. Maybe I should remember that. Everyone knows that I love music and movies and pretty much anything on the entertaining side of things. What would it look like for me to drive without sound? AAAAHH, I almost can't bear the thought. Maybe I'll try tomorrow. May God guide you in a direction that pulls you through the darkness of sin and towards a clearer vision and genuine gratitude of Christ during this Lent season.

Posted by Nathan Gemayel at 9:24 PM | Comments (1)