Magical Monday --- Real Magic Part 1

After my first year of college, my uncle and I went to a small magic convention that summer in Reading, PA. At the end of the convention, they were having a magic auction --- however, many of the convention attenders had left before the auction began, so there were probably only 30 people around when it came time for the auction.

One of the magicians who had stuff for sale at the auction was George Reiger. Some of you may have heard of him as the "Disney tattoo guy" as he has EVERY Disney character ever created tattooed on his body (and continues to add them when new ones are created). He has over 2,000 tattoos in all, including all 101 Dalmatians on his back. He is both a magician and carpenter, and has even built a "Disney house". If you are ever in Bethlehem, PA, you can actually go on a "meet the Disney Tattoo guy tour" and see his tattoos and house. Julie, have you ever heard of him? His website... http://www.disneytattooguy.com/

Anyways, I was able to purchase a zig zag illusion (pictured above) from the auction that George built for only $150.00 (buy it new from a magic dealer would run anywhere from $3000-$5000). The trick can work different ways, and with this particular design I had to use an assistant that was tall and slender.

Growing up I would always have "neighborhood shows" where the kids and some adults from the neighborhood would gather to check out some of my new tricks. One of the girls in the neighborhood that was tall and slender was Kristen, who was probably 14 at the time. So I got my friend Steve from the neighborhood to round up everyone for one of the neighborhood shows to check out some of the things I got at the convention (including the new zig zag illusion). I told him to make it 1/2 hour so I had time to teach Kristen what she needed to do.

So Kristen and I go to the house and start to practice. I put her in the box, push the blades through, take out the center piece, and the trick gets jammed. When I say "jammed", I mean it would not budge! She was completely stuck in 3 pieces and no matter what I did, there was no way for me to put her back together again (kind of like Humpty Dumpty).

I would need my dad's assistance to help me get her out, but unfortunately he wouldn't be home from work for 1/2 hour or so. Kristen graciously agreed to remain in 3 pieces until he returned home. In the meantime, many of the neighborhood kids began showing up at the house. Even though they didn't see how Kristen got into that position, they were quite amazed at what they saw. Of course they all wanted to see me "put her back together again", but that was not possible. Since all the kids in our neighborhood played together, 5:00 was pretty much the standard time everyone went to dinner, so at 5:00 they all left. It was pretty funny as I attempted to hold the phone up to Kristen's head as she tried to explain to her parents why she would be late for dinner. Eventually my dad came home, and after laughing about it for quite some time, he busted a few pieces (which were later fixed) and got her out.

So why was this blog called "real magic"? From this event, something amazing happened. Find out tomorrow in Part 2 in "Time-Warp Tuesday". Here is a picture of George the Disney Tattoo guy and some of his 2,000+ tattoos...

Family/Friend Friday --- 1,000 Visits

Late last week, my blog had its 1,000th visitor! With a site tracker I can tell where the visitors are from and can match their location with many family and friends and know who they are. I was hoping this would be the case with visitor # 1,000 so I could post a story about them, and it was!

So who was the 1,000th visitor?

My sister-in-law Joni (with husband Ron). I had several stories that came to mind from something funny she did playing a game to our long car ride to Kentucky for vacation, but my wife Jen suggested I share something that happened long before I knew her:

The family was sitting around the kitchen table having dinner. Joni was around 4 at the time. Out of the blue, Joni mentioned something that was going on that there would be no way that she should know anything about, so her parents questioned her on how she knew that. Her response was a very matter-of-fact, "Oh, that little girl that lives inside of my head told me". If that little girl is still there Joni, you are working at the right place! (in a mental health office).

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!

Theological Thursday --- A Theological Case for the American Way

Recently a friend of mine returned from a trip to Israel. During his visit, he noticed a very distinct difference in the way different cultures toured the Holy Land. The three types of tours that stuck out the most were:

1) The African Tour - The Africans would spend hours meditating and praying at each site. They would kneel before the temple mount, lie face down in the garden of Gethsemane, and just sit in stillness for hours. They may only go 2-3 places every day during their visit.

2) The American Tour - Which you are all probably pretty familiar with (although there have been some people from Israel, Turkey, Egypt, and other countries that have visited this blog)...basically the bus pulls up and says, "Everyone meet back here in 1/2 hour". Everyone goes, makes sure they see everything at the site, snap a few pictures, spend a few minutes in meditation and prayer, and they are on their way. They may go to 12-15 places in a day.

3) The Asian Tour - When the Asian tour bus pulls up, you better not blink! The windows of the bus fly down, and you hear, "click, click, click" from all the cameras snapping pictures. They don't get off the bus (too many other sites to see and they can't miss a thing!). So before you know it, they are there and gone. Who knows how many places they might drive by in a day.

My case for the American Way has nothing to do with a tour of Israel, but when I reflect on these cultural differences, I can see how it applies to the Christian life. We must be careful not to be constantly on the African Tour and have our "heads so high in the clouds that we are no earthly good" and spend so much time on ourselves that we miss the command to serve others (1 Peter 4:10-11).

We must also be careful of being constantly on the Asian Tour and focusing so much of our time on "do, do, do/go, go, go" that we neglect our relationship with Him (Mark 6:31). We can make God the one we serve (which is good), but lose Him as our helper (Psalm 63:7), lover (John 3:16), and friend (James 2:23).

You may have noticed I was careful in saying that neither of these tours are bad as long as we are not constantly on them. We may need to jump on the African bus once in a while and take a personal retreat with the primary purpose of refreshment for our souls and nothing but intimate time alone with God. We may also need to jump on the Asian bus at times and do some mission work with the primary purpose of serving. But again, we must be careful not to remain on these tours lest we lose our passion for serving, or lose our passion for our relationship with Him. The American tour has a balance of experiencing (connecting with God) and doing (serving others) which is why I make the case that this is the bus most of our Christian lives should be spent on. Which tour are you on?

USA!!! USA!!! USA!!! USA!!!

What's Up Wednesday --- July 16th

1) We had a great time with Jen's family last week in Gettysburg. See video above for some of the things we got to do.

2) One of my friends and neighbors here at the seminary passed away very suddenly and unexpectedly from a seizure in his sleep while we were gone. He was only 24 and was getting married next March. Please pray for his family and fiance.

3) My blog reached its 1,000th visitor! Sitemeter records all visitors, their locations, how long they stay, how they found my blog, etc. This Friday I will tell you some of the funny and unique ways people have stumbled across this blog. My reason for mentioning the 1,000th visitor --- it is someone I know and will post a story about them for Family/Friend Friday this week. Could it have been you?

Time Warp Tuesday --- The Mouse

One of the things my mom was always afraid of was mice. There was a time she moved out of the house for a few days and stayed with my grandma until a mouse was caught. One of my grandma's favorite stories is the time my mom called her on the phone and was standing on the chair screaming cause she saw a mouse while my older brother (who was only a baby at the time) was laying on the floor crying and my mom was afraid to get down and get him.

So one morning I hear my mom scream and come running up the steps. My dad soon went running down and before long yelled my name to come help him --- my mom and saw a mouse and it was now under our microwave. I was still half asleep and in my pajamas, but my only job was to hold a yard stick and make sure the mouse didn't come out while my dad went to the basement to get some things. Every once in a while it would peek out and I would tap the yard stick on the counter to scare it back under.

When my dad returned, he had mouse traps and a squirrel trap (a big cage that the sides would slam shut when something touched the middle). There was a small area behind the kitchen sink that my dad placed a mouse trap, the squirrel trap, and another mouse trap all in a line. He also filled the sink with hot water so the mouse would have no place to go.

My dad took the yard stick from me and pushed the mouse toward all his contraptions. The mouse ran over the first trap, through the second, and over the third --- none of them went off. My dad slammed the stick at it and again, it ran back through all 3 traps with no success and back under the microwave. I got the stick back while my dad started to fiddle with the squirrel trap and figure out why it didn't work.

As a stood there still half asleep, I didn't realize that the mouse snuck back out to the counter. I pushed it toward the traps, and again, it ran through all of them with none of them going off. My dad told me to push it into the hot water, and I overshot on my attempt and it flew to the floor and started running toward me.

Now at this point, keep in mind I had just gotten out of bed and was barefoot and with the mouse running at me, my dad yells, "STEP ON IT!!!". Um, I don't think so! I did take a nice kick at it though and it flew all the way across the kitchen, slammed against the cupboards and fell to the floor. It continued to stagger toward me, and this time I took the yard stick and a nice full swing at this thing. If this were golf, it would have been a perfect 250 yard drive down the middle! It was enough to put an end to the mouse, and I went back to bed.