· Glad the USA (the Redeem Team) won the basketball gold medal. I wonder if you gave them 6 months to get in shape, how the original Dream Team would do? Play a lot of zone and shoot three’s. Maybe future teams can be recently retired vets?
· The USA network has become my favorite station. Burn Notice on Thursday nights and In Plain Sight on Sundays are killer shows. Mary McCormack is HOT!
· In the words of John Madden, “Brett Favre is Brett Favre.” Could ESPN have beat that story to death anymore? I believe he came back because the Packers will be good and that may make him look bad. I kind of hope he has an awful year. I used to like Bret Favre.
· I saw my 9th grade daughter walking around with a boy at the ball game the other night. That was a first. This will be a new era for the Corder’s. I better pull out the 12 gauge!
· I really don’t like to watch golf on TV but I can’t wait for the Ryder Cup. I predict win US win this year!
· I have had a run of bad luck in August. Someone backed into my car, my son broke his foot and had to have surgery, a water line broke and flooded my front yard, and while eating breakfast in a restaurant, a man a few booths over died of a heart attack! I am ready for September.
· I have a couple of Mexican children that I have become friends with in the last few years. They are Katia an 11 year old girl and her 8 year old brother Jovani. They are great kids and so much fun to be around. They speak two languages better than I speak one!
· I know Michael Phelps was impressive but Dana Torres….WOW!
· Is there any bigger oaf than John Edwards? Everything this guy did was bass ackwards. When they first said run for President he should have said “No, I need to serve my state first.” Then said the same thing when Kerry asked him to be VP. He was so far behind in this Presidential race that he should have taken a pass. He had a natural out when his wife got sick but he continued on. Whoever was advising him should be shot! I predict his next venture will be on the next episode of MTV’s Real World!
· I really appreciate the historical significance of Barack Obama, but that doesn’t mean I have to vote for him. He is a lot like Edwards in that all he has done is run for an office and be a great public speaker. We should make the candidates name their cabinet prior to the election so we can see how they will surround themselves.
· The Democratic convention was almost comical. No way the Clinton’s want Obama to win. I predict we hear a great big “I TOLD YOU SO” about the second week of November!
· I read the book the Shack recently. I highly recommend it.
College football starts this week. This is my favorite time of the year! Have you ever noticed that Southern Cal has this great college football programs yet their players seem to under perform in the pros? I think it is because they take a cut in pay!
GO IRISH!
August 29, 2008
August 6, 2008
From My Friend Burnie
Blind Spots: My Pre-Surgery Thoughts
This past year I saw much of the world through sun drenched and ‘bug splattered’ windshields as I logged over 20,000 miles of highway travel. I could not tell you much about those miles but I probably can recall most of the destinations. I suppose that I focused more on where I wanted to be than where I was at that moment. However, I clearly recall one afternoon several months ago when I was traveling on I-26 in SC. I had been driving about three hours and as habit had checked my mirrors often. I signaled and started easing over to pass a slower vehicle in front of me when suddenly I heard the piercing warning of a horn. Wow, that was an attention getter. My heart-rate jumped as the adrenaline shot through me and triggered the memory of ‘you didn’t check your blind spot’.
I have journeyed through 51 years of life and have mostly focused my attention through the windshield of the future. Dreams, careers, accomplishments and plans to leave a lasting legacy are important in helping us maximize the gift of life. BUT, every now and then something slips into our blind spot and gets our attention in a powerful way. Maybe it’s the loss of a job, the death of a loved one, the ending of a relationship or in my case, a diagnosis of cancer. These events or circumstances that sneak up on us do not have the capacity to make us stronger or to cripple us; they only provide the catalyst for us to choose how we respond to the rest of our journey. I can’t change the triggering event but I can determine my attitude and response.
My initial response to cancer sneaking into my life was just the same as when I tried to occupy the same space as the car next to me. My heart-rate went up and I wanted to run but then I realized that my destination had not changed. My focus has been shifted so that I am more keenly aware of my present surroundings but I am still headed for home. Sometimes God has to slow us down to remind us of the joy in our journey. What joy I have found in friends who have given of their time to encourage me and to petition God on my behalf. Gifts of love demonstrated by phone calls, emails, financial gifts and cookies have brightened my day. (Although no one is stepping up to take on Jan’s perpetual ‘honey-do’ list.) J
My kids have made extra time for me to do special things for me. Megan’s taking on the responsibility of taking care of her siblings and running the household. (Don’t forget to lock the doors and turnout the lights.) Briley called and said that he was taking a day off from his work at Blue Ridge to come home and spend the day with me. What a great day that was, one that many dads never get to experience with their 18 year old son. Kelsey, took my new IPOD (which had been in the box for one year) and uploaded more songs that I probably know so that I would have something to occupy my mind when the pain gets tough. She even put together play list including praise music and classic rock. She knows her dad likes to row on both sides of the musical canoe. Tanner who knows what the pain of surgery is like asks me a least three times or more a week how I’m feeling. And Jan……well let me just say that this journey would loose much of its joy if she were not constantly by my side. Her strength, encouragement and compassion are the balance that I need. She knows that my greatest desire even beyond being cancer free is to contend strongly for the faith. It is my ultimate destination and the only lasting legacy that I can leave.
“Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of your affairs, that you stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel.” Philippians 1:27
The Apostle Paul encouraged the church at Philippi with these words and I too am encouraged and seek to stand fast in Jesus Christ.
My encouragement comes from knowing that in the very next chapter of Philippians, Paul tells of how Christ humbled himself to come to earth as a man. Jesus did not exchange His deity for humanity but He did set aside or renounce His privileges in some areas. I am amazed at His love for us in that He would give up the glory of a face-to-face relationship with God the Father and the personal enjoyment of that glory. As a man, Christ identified with basic human needs and weakness, but yet He was without sin. He knows my desires and my fears because He to experienced the pain of a broken body. In John 17 Jesus prays for Himself.
“And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was” John 17:5
Jesus Christ stepped out in obedience on a road that was difficult and out of the comfort of His Fathers Glory. Because of Christ obedience, God was glorified and Christ was restored to His original glory.
So the way up is down. If I am to stand fast and contend for the faith in Christ Jesus, I must walk down this road. It’s not the road that I would have preferred because it is out of my comfort zone. It doesn’t matter that I didn’t see this coming what matters is that I do not journey alone. Jesus Christ, the Great Sheppard walks through the valley with me. It is a journey through and not a place of dwelling. I know now what it feels like to be under the wing of the all Mighty God. What a traveling companion. He has given me peace that I shouldn’t have and that I can’t understand, just like He promises.
“Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind me and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:12-14
I can do nothing to obtain or deserve such love from God my Father. I am a child of the King simply because of His precious amazing grace. God be praised for His grace is sufficient and His mercy everlasting.
Burnie Whitson
August 5, 2008
This past year I saw much of the world through sun drenched and ‘bug splattered’ windshields as I logged over 20,000 miles of highway travel. I could not tell you much about those miles but I probably can recall most of the destinations. I suppose that I focused more on where I wanted to be than where I was at that moment. However, I clearly recall one afternoon several months ago when I was traveling on I-26 in SC. I had been driving about three hours and as habit had checked my mirrors often. I signaled and started easing over to pass a slower vehicle in front of me when suddenly I heard the piercing warning of a horn. Wow, that was an attention getter. My heart-rate jumped as the adrenaline shot through me and triggered the memory of ‘you didn’t check your blind spot’.
I have journeyed through 51 years of life and have mostly focused my attention through the windshield of the future. Dreams, careers, accomplishments and plans to leave a lasting legacy are important in helping us maximize the gift of life. BUT, every now and then something slips into our blind spot and gets our attention in a powerful way. Maybe it’s the loss of a job, the death of a loved one, the ending of a relationship or in my case, a diagnosis of cancer. These events or circumstances that sneak up on us do not have the capacity to make us stronger or to cripple us; they only provide the catalyst for us to choose how we respond to the rest of our journey. I can’t change the triggering event but I can determine my attitude and response.
My initial response to cancer sneaking into my life was just the same as when I tried to occupy the same space as the car next to me. My heart-rate went up and I wanted to run but then I realized that my destination had not changed. My focus has been shifted so that I am more keenly aware of my present surroundings but I am still headed for home. Sometimes God has to slow us down to remind us of the joy in our journey. What joy I have found in friends who have given of their time to encourage me and to petition God on my behalf. Gifts of love demonstrated by phone calls, emails, financial gifts and cookies have brightened my day. (Although no one is stepping up to take on Jan’s perpetual ‘honey-do’ list.) J
My kids have made extra time for me to do special things for me. Megan’s taking on the responsibility of taking care of her siblings and running the household. (Don’t forget to lock the doors and turnout the lights.) Briley called and said that he was taking a day off from his work at Blue Ridge to come home and spend the day with me. What a great day that was, one that many dads never get to experience with their 18 year old son. Kelsey, took my new IPOD (which had been in the box for one year) and uploaded more songs that I probably know so that I would have something to occupy my mind when the pain gets tough. She even put together play list including praise music and classic rock. She knows her dad likes to row on both sides of the musical canoe. Tanner who knows what the pain of surgery is like asks me a least three times or more a week how I’m feeling. And Jan……well let me just say that this journey would loose much of its joy if she were not constantly by my side. Her strength, encouragement and compassion are the balance that I need. She knows that my greatest desire even beyond being cancer free is to contend strongly for the faith. It is my ultimate destination and the only lasting legacy that I can leave.
“Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of your affairs, that you stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel.” Philippians 1:27
The Apostle Paul encouraged the church at Philippi with these words and I too am encouraged and seek to stand fast in Jesus Christ.
My encouragement comes from knowing that in the very next chapter of Philippians, Paul tells of how Christ humbled himself to come to earth as a man. Jesus did not exchange His deity for humanity but He did set aside or renounce His privileges in some areas. I am amazed at His love for us in that He would give up the glory of a face-to-face relationship with God the Father and the personal enjoyment of that glory. As a man, Christ identified with basic human needs and weakness, but yet He was without sin. He knows my desires and my fears because He to experienced the pain of a broken body. In John 17 Jesus prays for Himself.
“And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was” John 17:5
Jesus Christ stepped out in obedience on a road that was difficult and out of the comfort of His Fathers Glory. Because of Christ obedience, God was glorified and Christ was restored to His original glory.
So the way up is down. If I am to stand fast and contend for the faith in Christ Jesus, I must walk down this road. It’s not the road that I would have preferred because it is out of my comfort zone. It doesn’t matter that I didn’t see this coming what matters is that I do not journey alone. Jesus Christ, the Great Sheppard walks through the valley with me. It is a journey through and not a place of dwelling. I know now what it feels like to be under the wing of the all Mighty God. What a traveling companion. He has given me peace that I shouldn’t have and that I can’t understand, just like He promises.
“Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind me and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:12-14
I can do nothing to obtain or deserve such love from God my Father. I am a child of the King simply because of His precious amazing grace. God be praised for His grace is sufficient and His mercy everlasting.
Burnie Whitson
August 5, 2008
August 2, 2008
Thoughts for our High School Seniors
The primary way the gospels present Jesus with his disciples is as people on a journey. Jesus is always moving quickly from place to place, with his poor, sometimes dazed and confused disciples stumbling along after Him. He calls disciples, not to sit down and rest with Him, not to build great stone buildings where they can settle down with Him; rather He calls disciples to move with Him.
Our commitment to you is that we are here to help you along your way. You are beginning your college journey and as adults know, college is just one small beginning not the destination. God’s blessings on you as you continue to grow in Christ, as you continue to live out your new college life. We are confident that you will not simply survive, but you will triumph and have a life over flowing with joy.
We hope what makes you special and what gives us all hope is that when you hear Jesus say, “Follow Me” you know he means you and you dare to follow!
Our commitment to you is that we are here to help you along your way. You are beginning your college journey and as adults know, college is just one small beginning not the destination. God’s blessings on you as you continue to grow in Christ, as you continue to live out your new college life. We are confident that you will not simply survive, but you will triumph and have a life over flowing with joy.
We hope what makes you special and what gives us all hope is that when you hear Jesus say, “Follow Me” you know he means you and you dare to follow!
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