Sam " I AM" McGuffie

Sam McGuffie and Daryl Stonum






Michigan Wolverine Football fans, it's time to get excited, very excited. Sam McGuffie of Cyprus Texas has announced he will be attending U of M in the Fall of '08. He is referred to as the number one all-purpose back by rivals.com. He chose Michigan despite being highly recruited around the country, by schools such as USC, Notre Dame and Florida. Watch the video and you'll see this kid's ridiculous speed. Granted his open field run reminds me a bit of Bobby Boucher, but this kid is no water boy.

These videos alone make me very confident in the future of Michigan's football program. I have no doubts that Mallet and McGuffie will be the next Hart and Henne, probably even better. I guess the best football players are grown in Texas, and we've been doing some great recruiting there. His breakout runs are like the runs after eating too much chili, frequent and explosive. I think these videos speak for themselves, and I for one am very excited about the future. Did I forget to mention he's WHITE? I can't think of one starting white RB in the NFL, so hopefully when all is said and done, this guy will be there.

Unlike Michael Hart, I don't think the open field touchdown will be a problem for this kid. He scored 44 touchdowns and rushed for over 3,000 years in his junior year last year, in one of the toughest leagues.

Mrs. Stewart and Mary Lou Schlough

Once again we are talking about Vacation Bible School and today I have pictured above to lovely ladies who were big contributors in making our VBS 2007 a success. Mrs. Stewart (left) was one of the Primary teachers and she is absolutely great with these younger kids. If you knew Mrs. Stewart you would know that she is a very helpful person and goes out of her way to help anybody and everybody. Mrs. Stewart is very good with the younger kids and does a great job coming down to their level and adapting to their needs. Mary Lou Schlough(right) did one of the task that I know the kids most appreciate. She was in charge of preparing the snack time and making sure every kid had a drink and a snack for the evening during the craft time. Mary Lou Schlough was very patient with the kids and did a good job at keeping track that no student got missed. She was also willing to help out when ever the need arose and was always ready on the spur of the moment. One thing that really sticks out is Mary Lou Schlough always had a contagious smile on her face. It was heart warming to see her each night ready to help and equipped with a SMILE. May God Bless these two wonderful ladies for their time and dedication to our Vacation Bible School 2007.

Oshtemo Fun Days

Last Saturday we went to the Oshtemo Fun Days over at Flesher Field Park on 9th St here in Oshtemo,MI. We had a great time visiting the many booths that were set up from various different businesses from the surrounding community and Greater Kalamazoo area. Bryce and I took a ride in the High Rise Bucket on the Fire Truck and Bryce got to check out the many different Fire Trucks that were there. He also got to try on some the Fire Fighter gear. Bryce had alot of fun going on most of the inflatable rides and did extremely well competing on the obstacle course beating alot of the bigger kids to the finish line. It was a beautiful day for an event such as this and we can't wait to come back next year. Maybe we will try the Hot Air Balloon Ride next year.

Dominiquee Stewart

Just as I promised I am going to continue to post about our Vacation Bible School each time I make a blog post. Tonight I would like to tell you about a wonderful young lady by the name of Dominiquee Stewart who was considered our "P.R." person for the week of Vacation Bible School. Dominiquee took many.....many.....many pictures. To be exact she took all of the pictures at Vacation Bible School which consisted of nearly 1000 or more pictures. She also helped with class time as you can see in the picture above. Dominiquee was a person you could always count on to pitch in and get the job done. Many thanks goes out to this lovely young lady as she wants to do what is honoring and pleasing unto the Lord.

Hanging out with Ernie Harwell

William Earnest "Ernie" Harwell is a former American sportscaster, known for his long career calling play-by-play of Major League Baseball games. For 55 years, 42 of them with the Detroit Tigers, Harwell called balls, strikes, and home runs on radio and television.

I remember just like it was yesterday sitting in the dining room at the table or in the living room on the floor at my Grandmothers house listening to Ernie Harwell voice of the Detroit Tigers. He could paint the picture so well with words as if you were seeing the game being played live. We were so fortunate to have such a wonderful broadcaster such as Ernie Harwell.

A Day At The Ball Park

This past weekend my Mom took Tamara and myself to a Detroit Tiger Ball game for my Birthday. It was a great game as the Detroit Tigers beat the Oakland Athletics 5-2. There were 2 homeruns in this game the first one by Marcus Thames in the 1st inning and the 2nd one by Magglio Ordonez in the 6th inning. We had a great view of the entire game. We took a couple self portraits to share with everyone as you can see them above. I also tested my skills at pitching to see how fast I could throw a baseball....... All I am going to say is that I can throw about as half as fast as Fernando Rodney threw which is near 100 m.p.h. I will admit though I did break the 50 m.p.h. mark. It was a beautiful evening for a ballgame and I sure hope we go to another game in the future. Thanks Mom for a great time.... This will be a memory that will surely last a lifetime.

Mrs. Sandy Jackson

Tonight I would like you to meet Mrs. Sandy Jackson. She was our pianist each night as we had our opening session of Vacation Bible School. The one thing I like about Mrs. Jackson is she is very willing to try new songs even if she has never heard or played it before. All I had to do is give her the music and she would take it home and practice it so that she was ready when we started the next night. Mrs. Jackson was a big help because, singing with a piano is so much better that going accapella especially considering the singing voice I have. I want to thank Mrs. Jackson for making herself available each night and really having a passion to serve the Lord with her musical talents.

New PRICE IS RIGHT Host

Actor/Comedian Drew Carey has been named the new host of the multiple Emmy Award-winning The Price is Right, joining the long-running game show when it returns this fall for its 36th season on the CBS Television Network.

I am fairly excited to see Drew Carey take over The Price Is Right! I think he will bring a great entertainment to the viewers. I really enjoy Who's Line Is It? That is hosted by Drew Carey. I wish him the best of luck and may he keep the record of the longest running game show going!

Craft Time

Well each year my wife is in charge of Craft Time at Vacation Bible School. She picks out all the crafts that she wants each of the kids to do each night. Then there is the challenge of everybody pitching in weeks before Vacation Bible School starts to get the crafts organized. We have several people to thank for their help ranging from Tamara (wife), BethAnn (mother-in-law), Tonya Wiedeman (sister-in-law), and a special lady named Blanch who bless her heart stayed up until wee hours of the morning prepping some of our crafts. We also had a few people who jumped on board and helped my wife with craft time. Jill Faber pictured above was a big help with getting some of the kids that came later in the week get started on their projects and really kept them on pace to get everything completed. I am thankful for my wife and her being my life line all through out the week of Vacation Bible School I would never make it without her.

31st Birthday!

Today was my 31st Birthday and I had a very enjoyable day. My parents bought me a very nice Detroit Tiger t-shirt and ball-cap to match. They also purchased me tickets to this weekends game of the Detroit Tigers vs Oakland Athletics. I will take pictures of me in my new Tiger paraphernalia and post them at the beginning of next week. Also my In-laws bought me a new Michigan flag for my front deck seeing that my last flag was totally weather warped and torn. Then my beautiful wife purchased me tickets to the Western Michigan University vs Indiana Football game on the 8th of Sept. What more could a guy ask for something sports related all the way around. Thanks everyone I sincerely love my gifts.

Mrs. Schultz's

Whoever said that since you were in a wheelchair you couldn't be a worker at VBS? Well hopefully you guessed right because, the answer is no one. We have been honored to have Mrs. Donna Schultz work at Vacation Bible School for the past several years. She is a real devoted person and a prayer warrior too. Mrs. Schultz has helped with registration in years past but, now she has focused on counting all the pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters, dollars, and not to mention buttons and every other things that our children have put in the offering plate. You may think that counting change is not that difficult but, you try each night counting and stacking endless piles of change and you soon will realize that it can be a chore. I thank Mrs. Schultz's for her dedication each year to pitch in and help out. She has a real passion for each and everyone of these young kids and I know that she enjoyed watching them participate and get involved. It is great to see a lady such as Donna to give of her time and show that she has no limits and will get involved whenever possible. Thank-You Mrs. Schultz's for being a true testimony and having a passion for the Lord and his service. May God continue to bless you and your husband richly.

Rope Magician

I don't know about you but, I do like magic! I think that people can be very creative in some of the magic that they do. Do I believe in magic? Well that is another questions and I will answer that as NO! I realize that magic is nothing other than deceiving one in to believing something that is not real. Getting your mind to believe when actually is nothing more than the slide of the hand or taking your mind of one object and focusing on another with out you even realizing it. I have a couple personal friends of mine who are really good magicians and I love to watch them perform. I found this clip today regarding a rope magician and I hope you enjoy it even if you don't like magic. If anything the music is pretty jazzy.

RibFest Kalamazoo Michigan 2007

On this sunny afternoon of Sat Aug 4th, 2007 my family went downtown Kalamazoo, MI to the Ribfest. We like to go during the daytime hours because, it doesn't cost anything to get in. We enjoyed a delicious meal from Chicago Barbeque Co. We had ribs, pork, chicken, coleslaw, baked beans, and bread. It was very lip smacking delicious. Other vendors that were there consisted of Big Moe's Barb-a-que, Cowboy's Barbeque, Craftsman Chop Co., Desperado's. Dan Johnson's BBQ, Howling Coyote BBQ, and Rasta Joe's Barbeque. We had a great time soaking up some never ending sunlight and eating some ribs. Then we took Bryce over to the playland and let him cut lose on some of his energy. Now we are back home and getting ready to go jump in the pool for a bit to cool off. Hope you are all having a wonderful day.

Mr. Stewart

Today meet Mr. Stewart our Junior/Youth Bible Class Teacher. Mr. Stewart did something a bit different this year that made class time so much fun. Mr. Stewart had the kids act out the lesson each day. As you can see even Mr. Stewart himself got involved and played the role of King Nebuchadnezzar. The kids really got involved and went all out to role play each Bible Lesson. I think it gave the kids a better understanding of what actually happened and gave them reason to listen and learn. Mr. Stewart also is another person I know I will be life long friends with. He Loves God and he values people just as they are. Mr. Stewart was kind enough to treat me to a round of 18 holes of golf on one of Northern Wisconsin's nicest golf course. We had a great time of fellowship and getting to know one another better. Although the best part was praising God together for his excellent greatness and his mighty acts. Thank-you Mr. Stewart for all your hard work.

Mr Tison

Meet Mr. Matt Tison my right hand man at VBS 2007. Mr. Tison and his family were a new family that helped out this year. Let me first start of saying that I made a life long friend with Mr. Tison. He is a very down to earth guy and loves serving the Lord. Mr. Tison was our Game Leader this week and he was in charge of keeping track of all the points for each team. He did a very good job getting the kids involved and active in each game and kept the pace moving right along. Even when time looked like it was running out Mr. Tison picked up the pace and made sure that each game was completed and that each kid got a fair advantage in participating in each game. I want to say a BIG THANKS to Mr. Tison for all his help and willingness to go the extra mile when and where ever it was needed. I am going to try and do something about VBS each day so you all can get a better understanding of the workers and kids and what actually took place at VBS. It was a great week and I would do anything to go back and do it all over again.

Rescue Zone 2007 VBS

WELCOME TO VBS 2007 "RESCUE ZONE"

First Place 4000 points ALI FENTON

Second Place 3400 points Bryce Cooper

Third Place 3200 points Ben Wiedeman

Well we just concluded Vacation Bible School last week up in Knapp, WI at Gospel Mission Baptist Church. Our theme this year was "Rescue Zone" Saved By God's Power. We had a great week with two teams competing Police Officers vs Fire Fighters with the Police Officers winning by a slim 400 point margin. We had over 50 kids enrolled this year which is a great turnout considering we were in a town of only 421 people. The kids were battling for individual points this week and our top three winners are posted above. All the kids did very well and worked hard this week. We Sang Songs, Had Bible Class, Crafts/Snacks, Game Time, Bible Challenge, and we had a special Rescue Guest each and every night. On our last night we had an awards program and gave out lots.... and lots of prizes.... each and every kid went home with something. Then we had a wonderful dinner. I am so looking forward to next year already as we will be Dinosaur Detectives. Thanks for all your prayer and support. You all played a major role in making this years Vacation Bible School a success for these kids. I know each and every child was impacted in a very good way. Praise God ! ! !

FAMILY

I ran into a stranger as he passed by,
"Oh excuse me please" was my reply.

He said, "Please excuse me too;
I wasn't watching for you."

We were very polite, this stranger and I.
We went on our way and we said goodbye.

But at home a different story is told,
how we treat our loved ones, young and old.

Later that day, cooking the evening meal,
my son stood beside me very still.

When I turned, I nearly knocked him down.
"Move out of the way," I said with a frown.

He walked away, his little heart broken.
I didn't realize how harshly I'd spoken.

While I lay awake in bed,
God's still small voice came to me and said,

"While dealing with a stranger, common courtesy you
use, but the family you love, you seem to abuse.

Go and look on the kitchen floor,
you'll find some flowers there by the door.

Those are the flowers he brought for you.
He picked them himself: pink, yellow and blue.

He stood very quietly not to spoil the surprise,
you never saw the tears that filled his little eyes."

By this time, I felt very small,
and now my tears began to fall.

I quietly went and knelt by his bed;
"Wake up, little one, wake up," I said.

"Are these the flowers you picked for me?"
He smiled, "I found 'em, out by the tree.


I picked 'em because they're pretty like you.
I knew you'd like 'em, especially the blue."

I said, "Son, I'm very sorry for the way I acted today;
I shouldn't have yelled at you that way."

He said, "Oh, Mom, that's okay.
I love you anyway."

I said, "Son, I love you too,
and I do like the flowers, especially the blue."

FAMILY

Are you aware that if we died tomorrow, the company
that we are working for could easily replace us in
a matter of days. But the family we left behind will feel the loss
for the rest of their lives.

And come to think of it, we pour ourselves more
into work than into our own family, an unwise investment indeed,
don't you think? So what is behind the story?

Do you know what the word FAMILY means?

FAMILY = (F)ATHER (A)ND (M)OTHER (I) (L)OVE (Y)OU