RussHutto.com

Am I the only person who can look at someone and peg them for having a fake tan? I know it’s getting “near” spring and summer time, but geez!

I’ve been seeing a lot of young ladies (I live in a college town) walking around (since January) with faces that look like they’re about to crack and fall off.

Do they not look in the mirror?

Do they not realize that in just ten short years they’re gonna be the spitting image of beef jerky?

Ok, Ok, to each their own, but seriously.

Really?

Do they not know they look like an old school oompa loompa?

Do they not realize that laying in an oven for what adds up to hours on end is not really good for your internal organs, let alone skin?

Really?

Do they actually think it looks nice to be the color of a navel orange?

I remember back in my day, sheesh I’m not that old, but it is a different day and age then when I was in college. Girls used to actually lay out. and get sunkissed. None of this laying out in the sun until you look like the mascot for the Syracuse Orangemen. None of this spray on or tanning bed “bronze” that makes you look like a nerf basketball, you remember the ones, the ones with the little hoop you could put on the top of your door…but I digress.

Thankfully I live with a woman who has creamy, ivory skin. It’s the way God made it. Does she like to get a little color? Sure, but she likes to generally stay in the same ball park of shades. I’ve seen some girls lately that literally look like they slipped and fell into a vat of orange sorbet. It looks good chilled in a cup, but as a skin tone? Not so much.

Ok, enough of my ranting, if you’re a fake tanner, more power to you. My hobby is video games. I’m sure in some shape, form, or fashion I can link video games to some detriment to my health as well, but at least I don’t look like a british guitar amp.

My husband Mike and I attended your Easter service this past Sunday and were
truly amazed. We have never felt so welcome. We enjoyed the mug and the home
baked cookies that were delivered yesterday. We plan to attend House of Joy.

Mike and Donna ******

Wow. I love that middle sentence: We have never felt so welcome.

Here at House of Joy we truly do try to go out of our way to make visitors feel welcome. It’s usually one of the first things people say when asked to describe HOJ.

What do you do to make your guests feel welcome?

Ok, so I’m having company tonight, a bunch of college kids, so I decided to go a little “bachelor meal” on ‘em.

Tonight we’ll be having a really simple Tater Tot Casserol, Cheesy Rice & Broccoli, and for a little bit of nutritious content, Steamed Baby Carrots.

Try this sometime:

Throw 1 pound of ground beef into the skillet.

Brown it with some chopped onions (I use frozen for convenience).

Drain.

Cover the bottom of your baking pan, I use a medium size one, with the beef.

Cover the beef with tater tots (I don’t even thaw them).

Mix up a can of Cream of Chicken Soup and a can of Cream of Mushroom soup. Add a splash of milk, and a handful of shredded Cheddar, and season to your liking.

add that soup mixture on top of tater tots. Spread it around.

Bake for 45-60 minutes (keep a handful of cheddar to throw on top for the last 5 minutes or so).

And voila. Simple, easy, and pretty tasty.

Enjoy.

There’s an interesting discussion going on over at The Worship Community about using music stands during “worship” sets.

HT to Fred for blogging about this earlier today. I just couldn’t stand idly by and not say anything about the merits of standing up for what I truly believe will stand the test of time.

Honestly, I’m sure this topic can stand on it’s own without me adding any grandstanding to the melee but I just thought I’d like to throw in my two cents and let you know where I stand on this issue.

The issue on the witness stand today is whether or not a worship team should use music stands during their actual times of congregational worship. Whether we are sitting or standing, it’s obviously a very large part of the visual picture that people see as they begin corporate worship.

Some would say that they are an eye sore and don’t stand a chance in being incorporated into their beautifully designed stages and sets. Others would say that they don’t stand up to excellence standards that we as creative types should be pursuing. Still others stand by their obsessive need to have their noses glued to their music so that they don’t get lost during the worship time.

Personally, I could go either way. Normally I don’t use a music stand. At all. I just have one of those “music memory” type of things – you know something similar to photographic, but not quite as cool. Oh, it’s definitely not like genius or savant level either, I just have a really great memory when it comes to arrangements and worship sets. Sure I goof sometimes, but I’ve always been great at remembering how many times we sing the verse, pre-chorus, and chorus, before we hit the bridge and tag, or the unexpected modulation.

So, in that respect, I’ve not needed music stands at all for most of my worship leading journey.

But, there are others, maybe even innocent bystanders, who get stood up in this whole debate. Well, maybe not, but it was fun thinking of a way to use “stand” yet again. I do think that as a team that reaches out to several different levels of skill, we are very non-demanding about the stand issue. I let everyone know each week that I’d rather they not use them, but if they need to to go ahead.

Some weeks we’ll go standless, others there will be 2 or 3 stands on stage.

Our singers NEVER use stands. They pretty much stand on their own without any music in front of them. I always tell our singers that if they can drive down the road and sing every lyric of the latest, greatest tunes on the radio then they darn sure can memorize their lyrics for Sunday. And they do.

So whether we are standing firm or not standing at all, one thing stands: creating the best environment for our worshipers to worship. If that means using a stand every now and then, we do. If it means trying to go without them we do.

What is your stand?

Have you ever been in one of those seasons in your blog journey where you just felt ho-hum about blogging?

I’m there now.

Though, I continue to read blogs daily, hourly sometimes, I’m not finding any huge desire to blog right now.

A few thoughts are jumping out at me as I type this…

1) Maybe I’ve got nothing to say. That could be it, and Hey! That’s okay!
2) Maybe I’m in a “normal” season. Maybe everything’s going along pretty smoothly and nothing’s jumping out at me that is even remotely worth blogging about.
3) Maybe I’m not “ok.” Maybe this is an indication that I need to stop and smell the roses. Take a break and recharge. I don’t know.

Have you ever stumbled into a season like this? If so, what was your perspective on it? How did you move out of it?