Walking the Doggy...

One of the things Elijah and I enjoy doing together is going for a good walk... Here we are about to take Riley for a walk.

Today we're letting mommy sleep in and Elijah and I have been up early watching Caillou on television. We're going to take Connor to school in a minute and then go to the donut shop for breakfast. I only have one tennis lesson scheduled so far today so I will probably focus mostly on administrative duties. Who knows...? Perhaps Elijah and I will take Riley and Roxie both for a walk later this morning.

We have some Thanksgiving photos to publish but they are not downloaded from the camera yet. maybe I'll do that later... That's it for now... Thanks for checking in Coach Sam's Life...!

Thanksgiving 2008

Hello... We are enjoying a nice quiet Thanksgiving today. I've got a turkey in the smoker and we've been grazing on snacks... Elijah has been helping me cook... Right now we're enjoying the 'Cars' movie.

I'm going to spend the next 48 hours just enjoying some relaxing family time....

Honestly, I can't remember the last time I purposefully took off two days from work without being injured or inclement weather... You know what...? -It feels pretty good...!

My Dream Car: 1989 Jeep Grand Wagoneer 4x4

Is this an awesome piece of machinery, or what...? It's in great condition. I bought it for just $500 and had the engine rebuilt. Wow, what a great second car for our family. It's more roomy than our Toyota Rav 4 and the family loves it as much as I do...

It has a little over 100 thousand miles on it and I'm sure it's got another 100 thousand or more.

My 1997 jeep Cherokee is being retired now with 207,000 K.... Oh how I love Jeeps. And this 1989 Jeep is a true classic. I plan to fully restore it. More later...!

Starting a New Job Today!

Today I am teaching my first tennis lessons at the Bayou Club in Angleton... I am very excited. It's a beautiful day out there today. Kinda cold and windy, but not too bad, and I'm sure it will warm up later this afternoon.

YEA...! I'll be writing and posting more about this exciting new change in my career path the next few weeks. For now let me just assure everyone that this is a good thing for my family and I.

I sincerely appreciate the many phone calls and email messages I have received expressing concern and or well-wishes...!

I have some fond memories of working at my old place of employment but those are definitely in the rear view and I am looking forward to making new memories at my new venue in Angleton.

More later... -Coach Sam

Up Late Tonight...

Today has been a good day... I got up early this morning and took Elijah to Bay City with me. That's a regular routine now. He loves playing tennis with his home school friends in BC. We visited my grandmother Mimi... (Elijah's great grand-mother)

Tonight Connor and I are watching sci fi, eating junk food and drinking IBC Root Beer while I cook some ribs and chicken on the smoker...

I'm over my depression about the presidential election results

Now I'm a 'political-activist-watch-dog'....! I'll probably write the white house and my congressmen one or two letters a week for the next four years...

I'm also one of the newest members of the Presidential Prayer Team. Did you even know there was such a thing...? Check out the PPT website. It's pretty cool.

Go to: http://presidentialprayerteam.org/

I invite you to join me in prayer for our country's leadership every day from now on for the rest of our lives...!

Defend Life...!

For more than two centuries our flag has been a symbol of hope in the face of danger and strength in times of peace. One day after terrorists used commercial airplanes to destroy the World Trade Center Towers and attack the Pentagon, firefighters take a moment to unfurl the flag over the scarred stone as inspiration for fellow rescue workers searching through the debris Sept. 12
.

In my opinion, America made a mistake electing Barrack Obama as the president of the United States. The fact that he supports abortion alone is enough for me to oppose His entire platform.

.

Sanctity of life is a 'deal breaker' for me.

.

One thing I know of for sure: This election and it's issues have made activists out of Monica and I. The headline and article below reflect my family's sentiments exactly this morning.

.

Please read this important article.

Advice to Christians: Defend Life, Prepare for Persecution

.

Hey, Check out my Newest Blog: Quotes From Our Founding Fathers

I Think I'm Becoming an Activist...!

What is an activist...?

According to Merriam Webster, an activist is a person who takes direct, vigorous action especially in support of or in opposition to one side of a controversial matter or issue.

Previously I was just someone who 'had an opinion' about stuff. Now, I seem to be writing letters or blogging about issues that are near and dear to my heart pretty much every single day. -I'm always fired up about something...!

-And I just can't keep quiet about it...!

So, what am I taking direct, vigorous action in support of or against today...?

Oh there are so many things I don't even know where to start...

I suppose one of the biggest issues I'm getting steamed up about is the culture clash between Christians who are willing to stand up for what they believe in and those non Christians who are trying to take every reference to and about Jesus Christ out of our society.

God is out of the public school, and has been since the 1960's All the 'mess' happened back in the early 1960's before I was even born...!

Now, 50 years later our country is so far removed from what our founding Father's intended it puts me on the verge of tears every time I think about this culture that my children will have to grow up in....

Where were all the Christians back in 1962 when the Supreme Court was legislating God, prayer, and the bible out of the schools...? They were sleeping...!

Well it's time for Christians to wake up and defend what they believe in before it's too late.

All it takes for evil to triumph is for good men and women to do
nothing...! -Edmond Burke, One of America's Founding Fathers

Evil is triumphing in America right now... But take courage. God is still on His Throne. He is Sovereign. He is control.

I'm not going to sit around and do nothing like my parents and grand parents did. They slept.

But I am awake...! And I'm getting Grouchy...!

To be continued....

Button it Up, Ann....!

Interesting discussion... But do you think it would be too much trouble for NBC's Ann Curry to button her blouse...? She's dressed like she is an extra on 'Desperate Housewives' instead of a professional major network journalist.

Compare Veteran Anchor Brian Williams to Curry in the side by side screen shot at the beginning of the segment... Williams dressed up for the occasion and Curry dressed down. What's up with that...? Am I the only one who has a problem with that...?

I know it's a small thing to take issue at but I think she was dressed inappropriately.

Birthday Photo

Yesterday was my birthday... Unfortunately I was pretty sick and we were not able to celebrate it like we had planned. Also, we just got another digital camera and haven't figured out how to use it yet so I'm posting a photo from Elijah's Bday this past summer....

Hopefully we'll have some new photos this weekend...!

It was a nice Bday in that I had my whole family around me to celebrate with and I heard from all my extended family, too... Even those who haven't kept in touch for years, so that was really a blessing...!

My Life is Good....

Up Early Today...

I awakened at 3:35 AM this morning and have to get started preparing for a tournament at the tennis center. I would have loved to have everything prepared last night before I went to bed but that was impossible. I was so sleepy I could hardly keep my eyes open. I was reading to Elijah trying to help him fall asleep and ended up falling asleep with him. Just before I dosed off I prayed to God that He would help me get up in time to fully prepare for today's event, and HE did just that...!

Praise the Lord, I know today will be a good day!

I'm much more of a morning person than a night owl. I'm pretty certain I'll get to bed early tonight, though....!

Well, I'll probably blog a bit more this evening. I gotta get going...! Bye for now...!

Fun Day on Court...!

About My Wife....

I love my Wife. I've never met a sweeter, nicer person my entire life. I knew the first time I ever met her that she was very, very special. I've never once in my entire life not observe her give 100% of herself to the task at hand. She's an awesome mommy to Elijah and Connor. She's a totally devoted wife to me. She always thinks of and places everyone else's needs before her own. She's a beautiful human being both inside and out.

We've both grown very much in our personal relationships with Jesus Christ since we first met. It's really been an incredible journey. I love how we encourage and inspire each other. I love when she prays for me and when we pray together. I am a very blessed man because of my precious wife.

Monica, I know I'm embarrassing You and you'll deny that you are deserving of such high praise, but it's that very humility, kindness, and gentleness about you that sets you apart from the rest of the world and makes you so special. I want everyone to know how special you are, what you mean to this family, and how much I love You. I praise and thank our heavenly Father every day for You and our family. You are a blessing to us!

Tree Limb Down...

This is the worst of our storm damage in the back yard. As you can see, we got off pretty easy at my house. We had lots of branches and spanish moss to pick up...

One of our neighbors had significant damage from a large tree falling on his porch.

The golf course suffered pretty severe damage. They have been cleaning up for nearly a week now and are still not ready to open.

A very large tree behind the tennis center came down. This was one of my favorite trees on the property.

One of our two bulletin boards was demolished by the high winds of Hurricane Ike.

Another Bulletin Board went down at the tennis center.

Connor climbed up in one of the trees to give you an idea of the size scale. We had many, many trees lke this one go down all over our neighborhood.

Back Home...!

Hello Friends and Family, (maybe a few strangers...)

We arrived back home on Monday and the discovered our neighborhood looked like a disaster area. There were huge trees down everywhere. Some were on houses. Praise God our house had really no damage. The only inconvenience we have suffered is no internet at our house. I do have internet working at the tennis shop, though and that is where I am posting from this morning.

It's been six days since the storm and our little comunity is still far from back to normal. Farther south and east of us the situation is even more dire. I'm going to spend today calling and checking up on many of my tennis students.

That's about it. I have many photos to post and I'll try to get around to that as soon as possible.

More later...

Coach Sam

Hurricane Aftermath

It breaks my heart to see some of the damage from Hurricane Ike. Wow… Galveston really suffered a lot of destruction. According to reports from friends who stayed behind, Columbia Lakes suffered quite a bit of damage. There are many fallen trees, power lines, and the electricity is out.

We are still in Dallas. We were planning to return on Sunday afternoon but may delay that return if our power is still out.

More Later…

Coach Sam

Evacuation Blog

In anticipation of Hurricane Ike, we left the gulf coast area Wednesday night to avoid any traffic issues... We arrived at our destination about midnight.We're in Dallas right now resting comfortably. We've been watching Galveston begin to get pounded this morning.

We're glad we're not there.

Earlier this afternoon we went to Dinosaur World in Glen Rose, Texas. We just barely missed touring the Creation Evidence Museum.

And we were not able to visit Dinosaur Valley State Park. I think we'll definitely come back for another visit sometime, hopefully under more favorable circumstances.

Tonight we've been watching the live coverage of the hurricane's landfall non stop, but I'm pretty worn out and think I'll go to bed pretty soon...

That's it for now... More tomorrow...

Coach Sam

God Created the Heavens and The Earth...

As seen from outer space, Earth looks like a bright blue ball. The blue is water, which covers most of the surface of Earth. Clouds and bodies of ice, such as Antarctica, appear white, while land forms look brownish. None of the other planets in our solar system are capable of supporting life. But in contrast, millions of different species are able to thrive on planet earth.

.

I simply refuse to believe that all this happened by chance. It is preposterous to consider that all life, all this diversity of living is evolved over millions and millions of years.

The bible clearly states: In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. God created all life. Humans are the highest form of life on this planet. What is our purpose here? Why did God make us? Why did God make You and Me...?

The answer to that is for us to know Him, to tell others about Him, and honor Him with the way we live our lives. We are no accident.

Today I simply marvel at the Greatness of God, and humble myself before Him. God is Great. God is Good. God is in control. He truly does have the whole world in His hands.

Dear Heavenly Father,

Lord I love You. How Great thou Truly are. My King I submit to You. I seek only to do Your will. Father God You are the Maker of the universe. You are the Author of Life, the Giver of all good things. You are my Comfort in times of trouble. You are the Everlasting, All-Powerful God.

Father God I give this day to You. Thank You for another day of precious life. Thank You for another opportunity to make a difference in this world. I recognize that everything I have and everything I have accomplished is from and because of You. Lord I live for You.

And I pray these things in the sweet name of Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior. Amen.

Nice Weekend...

Wow... I awakened around 7 AM this morning and stepped outside for a moment and the temperature was a crisp 68 degrees...! I'm not sure what the humidity level is but it must be a little lower than normal. Although I'm certain that we'll still have lots more dog-hot days, a cool morning like this morning signals that fall is just around the corner...!

The weekend is starting off nicely. Yesterday was a good day. Today should be pretty good, too. I'm about to head out for lessons. Ive got a busy schedule today so I probably won't complete this post until this evening sometime.

Any way, I just had to take a moment to remark about the weather...!

OK, that's it for now. I've got to get to work. More later....

To be continued....

Art Teacher

Here's a photo from earlier this summer when Monica conducted an art class during tennis camp. Teaching art is now a budding career for Monica as this fall she is working with many of the local home schoolers in our area. Today is her first big day of classes so I wanted to honor her in my blog this morning.

I think she is an awesome teacher. Really, she's one of the best I've ever seen. But that doesn't surprise me because her mom is a retired teacher from California who won the California State Teacher of the Year award on more than one occasion.

Today is also a big day for Elijah... He's participating in his first day of school today, too...!

So this morning the house is quiet. Really Quiet. I'm enjoying some extended blogging time.

But I have quite a bit of work to do today, too. I'm teaching in Bay City all afternoon and evening and I have plenty of things to keep me busy in the mean time...

So I'll close here for now... -Coach Sam

My Next Vacation Will Be to the Cross

Wow... I just discovered there is a 19 story cross and a stations of the cross 'park' located in the Texas Pan Handle in Groom, Texas off of Interstate 40 just outside of Amarillo, Texas.

This Cross was erected in 1995. I can't believe that I haven't heard about it until now...

Here's a website link with more information.

What an awesome witness...!

In addition to the CROSS, there are numerous bronze statues depicting scenes from the life of Jesus all around the property.

Amarillo is a pretty long drive from here, but I think it would be well worth it to visit this incredible testimony.