Breakfast Done Right.

This morning, the men from our church got to spend the morning with Craig Krenzel.

As a Buckeye fan, it was very, very cool to meet and have breakfast with one of my all-time favorite players from my all-time favorite team, the 2002 Ohio State Buckeyes.

As a Christian, I really enjoyed hearing Craig talk about the wonderful things God has done and is doing in his life. Craig and Beth have recently been blessed with a son, Brayden, born in January. Craig was relieved to hear that Luke Underwood would also be attending Ohio State, and that my son would not have to tackle his son.

As a Pastor, it was a real thrill to see this whole thing come together. Several men have stepped up in volunteer roles, and this is the second big event they have put together. Kudos to Matt Kuchers, Rob Heber, Bob Klumpp, Mike Welch, and a whole bunch of other guys. We had around 210 men here at 7:00am for a great breakfast, a challenge from Craig Krenzel, and a Q&A time with the former OSU quarterback.

Thanks also to our neighbors, Jason, Craig, Jordan, and Tyler for coming - and to Jason for taking this picture of Krenzel and me. I thought it was great that Jason brought a biology textbook for Craig Krenzel to sign. This was truly a breakfast to remember!

"Must-See" Television?

Welcome to October, where every other commercial is about how some new show is "taking America by storm." Well, forgive me if I'd rather not be addicted to television.

I don't know what the latest stats are, but you always hear about the "average American" and like 20 hours of television a week. Maybe that number is low.

So, what's on TV at the Underwood household?

Allie's favorites -- Well, we really don't want her to watch all that much. But when we do, it's things like Winnie the Pooh, Clifford the Big Red Dog, and the Wiggles.

Luke's favorites --- anything Ohio State, Pro Football, or simply to sit and laugh at the blank screen.

Jennie's favorites --- The Gilmore Girls. I had no idea how many people watch this show. I can't even tell you what network it's on. I just know that the dialogue is like reading Shakespeare.

Gary & Jennie's favorites --- LOST. The Office (sometimes). College Football GameDay.

Shows we don't want to watch: "Must NOT See" TV - 'Deal or No Deal,' 'My Name is Earl,' 'Grey's Anatomy,' and 'The Bachelor.'

Shows we've never seen: CSI (regardless of location). Survivor (sorry!) - we're just not into the "reality" shows anymore, if we ever were.

We're down to 2.5 hours a week, plus Buckeyes. Just don't have the time, and if we did, it's not worth it.

What are your shows? Do you spend lots of extra time flipping channels? Are you trying out new shows like Studio 60 or "The Nine"?

Are you offended that I did a blog about television?

Do you own a television? Is anything on it a "must-see" for you?

September to Remember...

This was a good month. Can't believe how fast it went, though. October is usually my absolute favorite month of the year, but this year, I'm not even sure I'm ready for it yet. Top things I'll remember about September...

- Labor Day weekend in Akron. Schweitzer time!
- Seeing Allie grow and learn to sing "Hang On Sloopy" and say Bible verses.
- Date night with Jennie @ Ruby Tuesday's, the Mall, and Best Buy.
- Going with Jennie to Pittsburgh and the Hootie & The Blowfish / Better than Ezra concert.
- Ohio State 38, Iowa 17.
- Doing the "Adventures in Prayer" series at our church and the 24 Hours of Prayer.
- Watching Luke smile all the time and laugh when he catches a ball.
- Having my parents let Jennie and me win repeatedly at euchre.
- Ohio State 24, Texas 7.
- Rhett Edwards is cool.
- Eating at Chipotle more than once.
- Falling asleep to podcasts by Ed Young, John Ortberg, and Mike & Mike.
- Reading Isaiah and journaling more frequently.
- Speaking at the ARK college group at Ohio Wesleyan last Tuesday night. Great group!
- Completing my class on Spiritual Growth with Dr. Bruce Demarest @ Denver Seminary.
- Pancho's with Jack D.
- Getting a new cell phone since my old Sprint one was ready to quit.
- Seeing Jennie lead a high school girls' group again.
- Finding out that Craig Krenzel is going to speak at our next men's breakfast.
- Sharing Zeppe's pizza with Hunt and Sommers?
- Having people make nice comments on my blog.
- Seeing Pastor Darrell Anderson recover so well from open heart surgery.
- Learning how to do my own podcast (oh, you didn't know about that?)
- Wondering how life could go any faster than it has this month.
- Dan & Jill Bahry and dinner.
- Seeing some people show great faith and hope in the midst of really rocky times in life (Langwassers, Andersons, Rumbalskis).
- Celebrating my mom's birthday and also Jennie's mom's birthday.
- Ohio State 28, Penn State 6 - and yeah, actually being there at the game was a great highlight of this year.
- Learning more about Grace, Prayer, and the Bible.
- Getting a copy of a small group curriculum written by Tim Cooper.

There. A haphazard list of September highlights. If I forgot something, feel free to let me know. I purposefully left off anything having to do with fantasy football or pastoral meetings. There are some things you just don't blog about. =).

Actually, I did have a meeting with a few pastors last week at Quaker Steak and Lube. Now THAT'S how we pastors kick it.