Just one pic - but a great one!

For those of you who can't see the podcast...

I know some of you can't see the podcast and you want to see what's happening at the building site so here's your report...

This is some of the plumbing. This major plumbing work has to be done before the slab is poured. It is about done. I'd say about 80% from what I could tell.

This is just a more expanded picture of the plumbing work. I am standing at the southwest corner of the building (or in the back left corner for those of you directionally challenged (but I could be wrong, I'm not the best at directions myself :)).

 

Another picture of the plumbing work.

You can't really see much by the picture but here is some of the electrical work.  Man, there's a lot of conduit in this thing.  They have this great machine that warms the pipe where it can be easily bent. That avoids them having to use "arms" and connectors which should make the whole thing more dependable. This work being done now makes the whole process of wiring the building much easier and more reliable.  Since it is in the ground this too has to be done prior to the slab being poured.  And this work too is close to being done!!!

Here these first several are of a beam being raised into place.  This is the first beam on the right as you walk up to the building.  The Northwest corner.  

Here is the dig for the pipe that will send water into the building (I think).  

This is the finished product on the beams - or at least the outside beams.

A better picture of the completed beams. There are ten of them total. Five on each side. And the crossbeams at the top tying them to each other and will form the support for the roof.

Now, how neat it that!  This coming week I'm told the roof should go on and the slab should be poured. Of course weather could affect all of that.

There Goes That Dreamer...

They say dreams mean something, so if there's a Joseph out there, help, the rest of you just enjoy a good laugh.

My typical sleep schedule for meetings away from home typically goes something like this: Sleep hardly any the first night, the second night sleep so hard I feel like I've been knocked in the head. And then I repeat that throughout the time I'm away.  I just don't sleep as well away from Melanie and home.  

Well, this past week was worse than normal.  I slept hardly any Saturday night, then Sunday night was just as bad.  (For the many of you - I think that'd include most of Spring Meadows - you participated in that cruel joke on Sunday - this is all your fault!!! I'm sure I was so upset that the building project had been shut down that I couldn't rest!)

I had to get some sleep Monday night to function and I had a truckload of work I needed to get done. So Monday afternoon I went by the Walmart and purchased a small container of Advil PM.  About 9 I took two.  I was out by 10!  I don't know when I was last asleep that early.  The TV was on ESPN.  I think that is germane to the story.  

Sometime - I think (in my drug induced semi-comatose state) about 1 AM I was dreaming so deeply I woke up.  I never remember having a dream so vidid and real.  I dreamt (at least I now think it was a dream) that somehow I met up with Dan Patrick (for those of you who might not know he's probably one of the five biggest guys in sports broadcasting).  We got to talking - he's a really nice guy (at least he was in my dream) and it turned out he needed someone to do SportsCenter with him Wednesday night.  

He asked for my advice.  I recommended Keith Olbermann. The two of them did SportsCenter together for years and were awesome together. I thought I'd be doing sports fans everywhere a favor by having them back on that show!  Turns our Keith had a previous engagement.  And Dan shocked me. 

He said: "Why don't you come on with me?"  WOW!  Doing SportsCenter!  I was stunned.  Amazed.  I think it shocked me so much it woke me up.  I got up and started thinking about it immediately.  Literally I sat up and started planning it. Then I realized I'd been dreaming.  So I lay back down - and - went - right - back - into - the dream!  I had some on-camera tests, a voice test (yeah, I'm sure I'd pass that).  Again, I got pretty stoked about it all and woke up. This time I was thinking about the elders meeting I'd been in that night (of course I hadn't been in an elders meeting) and how excited they were that I'd be on SportsCenter. I told them I thought I could wear my Spring Meadows shirt!  I'm not sure now what was dream and what was conscious thought but at some point I lay back down.

This time I started thinking about telling people about it.  I didn't want to be guilty of vanity or self-promotion but if I didn't figure out how to tell people a lot of friends would be mad cause they'd miss it.  SSSOOOO...I decided to post a blog about it. 

Now folks, I got up, fired up my computer and started blogging. At some point it must have dawned on me what I was doing.  How funny would it have been if I'd actually posted it.  

Now, folks is that crazy or what. Share your favorite funny dream if you will. 

From the pad to the sky...building update #3

Here is the latest, enjoy!

http://web.mac.com/dale3232/Site/Podcast/Entries/2008/4/24_Building_Update_3.html

Let me know if you get it....

I Bit....

OK, I admit it, I'm a little obsessed.  

Many of you who read this blog do not realize how many rather colossal pranks your writer has pulled off. I mean some legendary ones.  Never mean or mean-spirited but real fun and memorable.  I should have known my time was coming.

The last time I had my son, Philip, speak at Spring Meadows I told the church to go up to he and his wife and congratulate them on the new baby - only thing is they are not expecting.  It turned out pretty funny.

I was gone Sunday, preaching in a very enjoyable meeting in Lexington, TN.  One of the things I knew I'd miss while I was away was going out to the property and seeing progress on the building.  We're in a pretty critical stage where it seems something is happening or at least poised to happen every day.  So, I go and make pics and then share them with you.  I was anticipating some really pretty days (which we've had).

So imagine my pain when one of the key guys in the project left me a message Sunday afternoon to call him - it sounded rather urgent.  So I did.  He told me how the inspectors had been out to the property and the "pad" had sunk 4 to 5 inches and it appeared our new building might be on a fault line and per the county's instruction all work had been stopped while they decided how to proceed.  We might have to re-dig and pour the footings, we might have to completely relocate the building putting us back a square one. 

Man, the word is "miserable"!  I was heart sick and began to pray about my attitude. How impatient I had/have been, how perhaps I've put too much stock in the importance of the facility.  

That afternoon, I talked to Melanie and she said it sounded kinda rough, then got a message from one of the elders (I won't tell you his initials, but his name is Tom Campbell - man, I can't wait till he comes up for reaffirmation :)).  

I waited. Nothing the rest of the day Sunday. I did talk to one of our deacons who assured me, bless his soul, it'd all work out).  

Monday - nothing.  Only beautiful sunshine - sunshine that we could have been building in!

Tuesday - by 9:30 I'd had it. I called David back.  

"Well, just checking in - what's the latest?"

David: "You've heard?"

Me: "Heard what? No?"

David: "Yeah you have, you've talked to your son."

Me (confused): "Yes, but he didn't give me any news." 

David: "You've talked to someone."

Me: "No, I haven't..."

David:  "They're supposed to start with the metal today."

Me: "What?"

David: "We got you good didn't we?" (or something alone that line).

Yep, I had it coming.  Seems Philip involved the whole church in this thing.  He told them to set me up!  Spin this story of the work being stopped.  And I bit!  The elders, deacons, David, Philip, even Melanie!  David even called the contractor and let him in on it just in case I called him for an update!  THE GUY who led the closing prayer even prayed I wouldn't take this too hard!!!! Unbelievable! Spring Meadows members - I can't believe not a one of you helped me on this!  Larry and whoever led the closing prayer are the only ones who get even the slightest break :)

James, Dan, Tracy, Andy, Kathy, Tommie, Scott, Larry - I know you all need to send those folks a thank you note.  And I hope you enjoyed this...I'm sure you did.  

Oh, but they better brace themselves...I'll get them all back!  And it will be good.

I'd like to read the best pranks, practical jokes, etc that have been pulled on you.  Comment below.

Building Update #2

My second experiment with podcasting - click here and PLEASE let me know how it sounds and if it works for you and all.  

A podcast attempt....

OK...here is my first personal podcast. Trent and I are still planning on doing a podcast together soon but I decided to do a little experimenting...please let me know what you think and give your suggestions.  It's brief a little under 3 minutes.  Click HERE to HEAR and SEE 

or click on this if you use an apple product  My first attempt...

Various News...The week in review...

Today I've got all sorts of good news and info for you:

First up: Sunday at SM.  Great crowds and great preaching - Lonnie Jones did a super job and Andy did wonderful on Sunday night. I've heard nothing but good from the reports from them.  We hit up around 275 for our fourth Sunday straight.  Good stuff.

Second: I enjoyed preaching in a meeting at Glasgow, KY this week. The folks there w

ere wonderful in their encouragement and the meeting went well. There was one response. I totally enjoyed the time that I got to spend with Steve and Blaine the two ministers there.  I got an email from

 Steve this morning and he tells me it was their best attended meeting in 20 years.  I don't believe it was the preaching, even though I think their encouragement made me do better than normal. It was because of the directed decisions of the leadership there. Here's how Steve expressed it to me a couple of weeks ago:  "I also thought I’d tell you that you’re being used as a guinea pig.  Our meeting attendance has been terrible the past several times.  So what the elders have done is they got up before the congregation, told them how the attendance has been poor, and without the support of other congregations, we wouldn’t have had hardly anyone present.  So they challenged the church in this way…They told the congregation that they were not going to do any advertising.  They were going to put the meeting in the hands of our own members.  They said this meeting is for us, not for area congregations, and that since it was our meeting, we needed to attend and invite and make it a success without relying on other people.  Soooo….  We’ll see what happens.  Oh, and the clincher is that Monday night is the Basketball finals." So, sometimes when we put a new spin on what we are doing good things can happen. I appreciate their effort.  

By the way...Steve blogged about the meeting, you can see that at his site: http://preachinghelp.org/?p=28 He even put some audio clips on it - wow, he's good!

He also really got me good.   Those of you who have heard my sermon on being blessed by the Bible might get this one - if not, just enjoy - here's why I don't wear tanktops :)  

I liked that we had fun together and think that contributed a great deal to the success of the meeting...BUT STEVE WATCH OUT, I will get you back!!!!

The luncheon Monday at 21st was wonderful. I will blog on that very soon.

And there has been action at the property this week while I've been away.  We'll have pictures right away on that.

God is good, and I am blessed to serve...