Some of you may be wondering why this is my first post in a couple of months, others are probably thinking, "you have a blog?!" Ha ha!

This past winter has admittedly been one of my hardest winters in my battle against what can only be described as "the winter blues." I took the photograph you see above just yesterday and as I walked by this bench, it really stood out to me. My winter blues are much like this pond. In the spring and summer, it’s alive and full of sounds. From the ducks and geese wading through, to the guys that stay out past sunset with their fishing poles in the water, to the frogs croaking at night.

Yet in the winter time, the bench sits empty. The frogs don’t croak, the geese and ducks have migrated south, the pond freezes up, and the fishermen pack up their gear for the winter months. Often times, the only sounds you hear are the crunch of snow underneath your boots and an owl hooting in the distance. In many ways, my winter blues is like that. It feels like with the scenery and animals around me changing, so does my mood.

My luck is beginning to turn around though. While we had a small snowfall the other day, signs of life are starting to return to this pond. The ice is beginning to melt, the ducks and geese have returned, and the smell of spring is in the air. And I begin to awaken from my winter blues as the cool air rejuvenates me, I’m so thankful. And as I walk around the pond I look at the geese who return year after year and I just look at them say, "welcome back, friend."

Our IT guy, Jon, has his beloved Woot Monkey. Well, Woot Monkey has been bored hanging around the IT offices answering the mundane support calls. So he decided to check out the building.

#6 Christmas Vacation

#7 A Charlie Brown Christmas

#8 Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

#9 Home Alone

#10 The Preacher’s Wife

Honorable Mentions
Ernest Saves Christmas
Home Alone II
Prancer
How the Grinch Stole Christmas
The Polar Express
The Shop Around the Corner

I had a weird dream the other night. I dreamt that I was back working at Marsh with my friend calling me over the intercom to stop bagging and help cover one of the cashier’s breaks. For those of you who don’t know, I hated running a register after doing it for years and loved the freedom I had as a bagger to move around. For me, putting me at register was like a prison sentence.

I woke up feeling two things: confused and happy. I was confused because it seemed so real to me and yet I was happy when I realized that it was a dream.

Sometimes in the hustle-and-bustle of our everyday lives, we forget where we’ve been and how far we’ve come. For me, there are things I miss about Marsh. But when I think about it, I forget how relieved I was to get out of there.

That dream was a wake-up moment for me, not to take today for granted. It reminded me to be thankful for where God has placed me and to remind me of the chance I’ve been given. I’m thankful for the reminder…

“Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for.” – Epicurus

• You Gonna Fly – Keith Urban
• Winter Night – Little & Ashley (download free for a limited time)
• Why Wait – Rascal Flatts
• We Will Shine – Matt Papa
• Tracks in the Snow – The Civil Wars (download free for a limited time)
• The Time (Dirty Bit) – Black Eyed Peas
• Rhythm of Love – Plain White T’s
• Only You – Matthew Perryman Jones
• O Holy Night – Future of Forestry
• O Come O Come Emmanuel – The Civil Wars (download free for a limited time)
• No Big Deal – Steadman (download free from the band)
• Merry, Merry Christmas Everyone – Jon McLaughlin
• Dynamite – Taio Cruz
• Christmas Lights – Coldplay

What I’m Watching: I’ve been watching a lot of Christmas movies as of late, still holding out on watching National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation for just a little while longer.

What I’m Reading: After seeing Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1 this past weekend, it encouraged me to re-read the books. I’ve just finished the first book and starting on the second.

What I’m Looking Forward To This Week: I’m hoping to do some fun Christmas-y stuff this weekend, we’ll see if it happens!

Quote of the Day: “Let no one ever come to you without leaving better and happier. Be the living expression of God’s kindness: kindness in your face, kindness in your eyes, kindness in your smile.” – Mother Teresa

I was going through some old home video footage looking for a specific clip to post on my blog when a scene from Christmas 1993 came up on the screen. There was my Grandma and Grandpa Kinnaman at my old house and all of us were together as a family. 

The TV went blank for a second and then it flickered to life again with Christmas at my Grandma and GrandDad Hicks’ house with everyone there including my Great Aunt Rose and Great Uncle Gib. Not to mention that I can hear my Grandma in the background being her normal self, which is something I haven’t seen too much of in the past ten years.

Watching these clips brought back other memories that had been hiding in the recesses of my mind. Then it hit me, things aren’t what they used to be or what I imagined life would be like at this point, and I just began to weep. I missed hearing my Grandpa’s voice. I missed my Great Uncle Gib and Aunt Rose (read more about her). I miss having the whole family together for Christmas and having Grandma there (and altogether mentally).

Watching this video from 1993, I remember what my "normal" life was. Yet as the years have gone by, things have changed and I’ve adjusted as best as I can. Now I have a "new normal." Sometimes it’s hard to look into the past and see what was and no longer is. Yet at the same time, while some things have passed, new and greater things have begun.

I’ve realized it’s okay to cherish the past, to remember the good times, and learn from the bad. I learned that I’m living in the here-and-now, not the past, not the future. God has placed me where I’m at for a reason and He’s brought me through an awful lot and for that, I am grateful.

So even though I’m living in a new normal, I have many things to be thankful for:

• For my relationship with Jesus Christ
• For both my parents
• For the time I still have with my Grandma and GrandDad Hicks and Grandma Kinnaman
• For my brothers, their children, and significant others
• For my aunts and uncles.
• For so many wonderful friends who love me so well
• For my job, the people I work with, and the people I get to worship and pray with at church.
• For my college and wrapping up my bachelor’s degree

I guess sometimes it takes a little time to be thankful to realize what you’ve really got.

Every year, Grace Community Church in Noblesville, Indiana shuts its doors, cancels its services and sends its congregation out to do service projects all over the city. This year, myself and a handful of others had the pleasure of writing articles for World Next Door. This is the story I wrote, along with some extra images not featured on World Next Door.

On a chilly Saturday morning in November, hundreds of people huddled in the Grace Community Church parking lot to worship, pray, and go out into the community to participate in over 100 projects. These people would be the first of over 3,800 people to participate in Grace’s third annual Weekend of Service.

The Weekend of Service was born out of a challenge for the attendees of Grace Community Church to live out one of its core values, “to launch people into God’s Kingdom revolution.” And with that, dozens of families packed up their minivans with children, baked goods, cleaning supplies, donated books, paint brushes, and headed down to Ralph W. Emerson IPS School #58. These families were just one of the teams for Grace’s Weekend of Service.

As the families pulled into the parking lot of the school, they were greeting by Grace Team Leaders, Ann Stone and Mary Estrada of Grace Kids Company. Many of these families are active in Zone 2/3 which serves the second and third graders of Grace Community Church.

Anticipation was in the air as families made their way down to the gym where they would meet their respective team leaders and begin their projects. Before work began, however, the families were greeted by School #58’s principal, Vicky Kelly.

“I want to thank you all for being here today. Only a few staff know what’s going on here today, so I think they’re going to be pleasantly surprised on Monday.”

As groups began to split up, I began to walk around the school to see what was going on. When you walk through School #58, you’ll notice that it has a lot of character. Built in 1908, it has three levels, wood flooring, chalk boards, and built-in wooden bookshelves with glass doors. The school has been updated throughout the years with carpet being installed and some other minor things, but for the most part, it still has that old school charm. The school currently serves over 400 students from the surrounding east side neighborhood.

Having gone back and forth between public schools and private schools growing up, I was surprised at the lack of amenities compared to what the suburban schools have. Throughout the school, I noticed how much of an emphasis School #58 put on reading. However, going down to the library I couldn’t help but notice how small their library was compared to the library I used as a student in Washington Township Schools.

“Being so old, this school is a little worse off than other schools in IPS. We’re going to be renovated a year from now, so once we get renovated, our library will be nice,” said Principal Kelly.

I was very encouraged that where the library lacked, teachers tried to make up for it by stocking their rooms with books. In the gym, teams were busy building bookshelves and using glue to decorate them with various patterns. It was fun to watch the kids smear glue everywhere as anxious parents came behind them with a damp cloth to wipe off the excess glue. In another corner of the gym, Becca Wilds and Jan Perrigin were busy organizing books donated to the school through the efforts of Zone 2/3. 

While the bookshelves were being built and donated books being sorted, there were teams of families going from room to room helping to clean. Brothers and sisters were wiping down desks, while parents were helping to organize the bookshelves. Rick and Julie Santiago were busy cleaning classrooms with their two boys, one of whom, is a student at Heritage Christian School. When I asked him how it felt to help students his own age, he said that it “felt good” and he enjoyed it. For last year’s Weekend of Service, the Santiagos helped out at Third Phase.

“I’d love to see Grace do this twice a year, there seems to be such a great need,” said Rick.

Down in the kitchen, the Johnson family was helping to put together “thank you” cards that were to be attached to treat plates for the staff of School #58, over 30 treat plates were put together which included cookies, brownies, and other goodies.

As I walked through the hallways and saw people painting, cleaning, working together, a quote from Mother Teresa kept resounding in my mind, “We can do no great things; we can do only small things with great love.”

Sometimes people think that to be “the hands and feet of Jesus” means that we only need to feed the homeless and clothe the poor. Or to really make a difference, we have to send a family off on vacation while we rebuild their house in seven days. Both of those are great and noble things, but we can continue to do small things which can also have immeasurable impact.

And that’s what I got out of my day at School #58. These Grace families were being the hands and feet of Jesus to these educators and students. For the overworked teacher who has spent all weekend grading papers, she will come back to a clean classroom on Monday. To the student who was looking for that perfect book to read, he’ll find it on the new bookshelves. For the custodial staff who have been working so hard to keep the school clean, they’ll have a cookie tray with thank you notes (and hopefully a little less to clean for now).

Wrapping up the day, I felt a great sense of hope for School #58. In a small way, our church helped and will continue to provide help. In the next couple years, the school will be renovated which will provide a new library, among other things. I was also filled with hope that those who volunteered would see a need to be involved with IPS or even their local school.

Saturday was just a glimpse of what can happen when the church steps out of the building and goes into the community, but it doesn’t have to happen just once a year. Ralph W. Emerson School #58 as well as other IPS schools are always needing help, here are just a few ways that you can get involved:

• Uniforms are always needed and appreciated (khaki, blue, black pants with red, white, blue collared shirts). People wishing to donate can do so by contacting any IPS school or by contacting the main IPS office.
• School supplies are another need. The most effective way to do this is to participate in the various “Backpack Blast” events that occur in late July and early August prior to the school year starting.
• For those who want to work directly with the kids, after school tutoring is available at various IPS schools and at Shepherd Community Center on East Washington Street.

As I saw how well everyone worked together at IPS, I realized, “we’re all in this together.”

Note: Below are some photos that were taken at School #58, some of them were taken by me, some of them were taken by our awesome Grace Volunteer Photography Team. Thanks so much to all the volunteers who helped capture this weekend in pictures!

One of the things I love about Indiana is how each season has it’s own distinct flavor: the colors change, the smells change, even the sounds change. At the same time, those are the things that sometimes I don’t like about Indiana. Is it weird that you can love things, yet dislike them at the same time?

For example, in the spring the ground begins to thaw, rains bring in that fresh spring air, trees start to bloom, birds return and chirp, thunder rolls in the distance. I wish spring could stay.

Spring then grows into summer where we experience hot weather, swimming pools, cookouts, camping, long bike rides, later sunsets painting a soft yellow glow over the cornfields. I love summer and wish it could stay, but I greatly anticipate fall.

Fall, where the trees turn a bright vibrant orangish-red, the air gets colder and crisper, leaves fall to the ground. Combines harvest the fields and what used to be rows upon rows of cornstalks are now gone. The horizon is visible as acres of fields lay bare in preparation for winter. Foolishly, I look forward to winter.

Winter is beautiful in its own way. The trees are bare, snow blankets the ground, the sound of silence is in the air as all the birds have migrated south and animals hibernate. With the birds gone and the other animals laying low, the crunching sound of boots on the snow seem to be the only sound around. Off in the distance, a wood burning fireplace adds to the aroma of winter… it’s beautiful.

Yet by this time I’m ready for it to be warm again, I long for spring… the cycle starts over again.

Starting to get the picture? I love Indiana and the seasons, yet at the same time, I can’t wait for the seasons to change. I really must be an Indiana boy… Indiana is home.

“To be interested in the changing seasons is a happier state of mind
than to be hopelessly in love with spring.” – George Santayana

A few years ago, I moved to Carmel. In that time, I have seen so much development go up around my neighborhood. On Main Street they have been busy constructing a new mixed-use development across from Bazbeaux and Joe’s Butcher Shop. Just around the corner, they built the Indiana Design Center. And if you go further south you’ll find the Carmel City Center and The Center for the Performing Arts.

It’s been fun to watch these buildings go from a parcel of land to something that will hopefully be around for many years to come. Last night I had the privilege of visiting The Palladium, which is part of the The Center for the Performing Arts which includes The Tarkington and The Studio Theater.

Walking into the building, I was just amazed at how warm and inviting it was. And the performance hall? It was awesome to see a pipe organ, balconies, wood floors… oh man, a thing of beauty!

The designers of The Palladium claim it’s supposed to have the best acoustics in the world, although I think I’ve heard someone say that about Clowes Hall when I sung there. We were treated to Circle City Sound, a barbershop chorus that my Dad and I sung in way back in the day. I will tell you that while I am an audiophile, I couldn’t tell you how the acoustics of this place sound compared to others. But it was amazing to just close my eyes and hear nothing but the sound of those guys singing and it sounded great. As you’ll see in my video and pictures, they have glass panels above the stage that help with the acoustics of the place.

Overall, I really loved going and hope to catch some shows there soon. I’ll post a few pictures, along with the conceptual video of The Palladium and the video I shot. I hope you enjoy!

[Show as slideshow]

Today on Veteran’s Day, I think of my grandparents who served in WWII. My Grandpa Kinnaman was in the Army Corps of Engineers and earned a Purple Heart for injuries sustained in the European Theater of Operations. My GrandDad Hicks wasn’t active very long before the Japanese surrendered. He spent time in Iceland and parts of Europe.

All my GrandDad’s brothers served in the armed forces with Bob and Bill serving in the Marines and my Grandad and Phil serving in the Army.

I’m proud of all my family and friends who have served and those who continue to serve in the United States Armed Forces.