Blaise Pascal was a French mathematician that lived in the mid 1600s.  He heavily influenced the areas of geometry, probability and mathematical philosophy.  He was also the originator of a logical way to view God and Faith. 

Pascal’s Wager is the thought that a person should live their life in God, because in doing so that person has everything to gain and nothing to lose.  If a person lives their life in God and there is a God, a good life was lived and the reward is Heaven.  Everything is gained.  If a person lives their life in God and that person is wrong, i.e. there is no God, a good life was lived and the person dies, and with no afterlife, just relinquishes their body back to the life cycle of the Earth.  Nothing is lost.

This is an interesting argument and one that I have used with professed atheists.  What do you think?

 This is one of the craziest stories in the Bible.  We read Ezekiel in our 90 day Bible reading this past week and came across this story found in chapter 37…

¹The hand of the LORD was upon me, and He brought me out by the Spirit of the LORD and set me down in the middle of the valley; and it was full of bones.

   ²He caused me to pass among them round about, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley; and lo, they were very dry.

   ³He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord GOD, You know.”

   ⁴Again He said to me, “Prophesy over these bones and say to them, ‘O dry bones, hear the word of the LORD.’

   ⁵“Thus says the Lord GOD to these bones, ‘Behold, I will cause breath to enter you that you may come to life.

   ⁶‘I will put sinews on you, make flesh grow back on you, cover you with skin and put breath in you that you may come alive; and you will know that I am the LORD.’”

   ⁷So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold, a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to its bone.

   ⁸And I looked, and behold, sinews were on them, and flesh grew and skin covered them; but there was no breath in them.

   ⁹Then He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD, “Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they come to life.”‘”

   ¹⁰So I prophesied as He commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they came to life and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army.

The Vision Explained

   ¹¹Then He said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel; behold, they say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope has perished We are completely cut off.’

   ¹²“Therefore prophesy and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD, “Behold, I will open your graves and cause you to come up out of your graves, My people; and I will bring you into the land of Israel.

   ¹³“Then you will know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves and caused you to come up out of your graves, My people.

   ¹⁴“I will put My Spirit within you and you will come to life, and I will place you on your own land. Then you will know that I, the LORD, have spoken and done it,” declares the LORD.’”

A frivilous post I know, but I just wanted to share.  The best bubblegum you can get: 5 Elixir.

5 is the brand name and Elixir is the flavor.  Go check it out!

I haven’t been to that many places in my life, but if I had to choose a place that I felt like I was in the Garden of Eden, Costa Rica would definitely be the place.  Months ago, Caitlin asked me to surprise her with our honeymoon plans, so I decided on Costa Rica upon the recommendation of several friends. From ziplines 1100 feet in the air to volcanoes to a beach straight out of Jurassic Park: The Lost World, we loved it.

If any reader happens to stumble upon this blog because they too are planning a trip to CR, leave me a message and I can send you some more details on why I think this might be one of the most beautiful places on Earth.

My grandmother died on Sunday.  Or maybe it was Saturday.  We are not sure.  She was found on the morning of June 28th when she was unusually late waking up and one of my uncles went to check on her.

It makes me wonder if someone can consciously stave off death in anticipation of a particularly important event?

We celebrated the 4th of July this weekend- complete with fireworks, cooked barbecue, and red, white, and blue plastic cups.  Aside from my recent wedding, it is the first time my Dad’s family has gotten together since Easter, or maybe even before that.  Nanny came and everyone was so excited that she could make it out.  But I don’t think anyone was more excited than her.  She had been sick for a pretty good while.  Then, on top of that, she broke her hip and has been smoking for years upon years.  So, we were all thrilled that she came out.

Aunt Joann pulled up close so Nanny wouldn’t have to go far once she got out of the car.  She sat at the top of a small grassy hill- or maybe ”small grassy rise” would be a better description- in the sideyard near the food tables (Moffitts never stray that far from the food table) and pool and surveyed all she had made.  Everyone went around and spoke to her and she was very engaging with the whole family.  I had not seen her this happy in a long time.  She went home for only the 2nd or 3rd  time in months and is finally getting the good rest that I am sure she has been missing for some time now.

The reason I asked the above question is because I really think that Nanny was happy and peaceful Saturday night when she lay down her head.  She had gotten to see her family, and she was finally home.  She was at peace.  When I heard the news, Caitlin and I were talking about how amazing it was that every person at Uncle Bill’s Saturday night never would have been there if not for her.  Taking it a step farther, Steve, Bill, David, Joann, Charles, Josh, Ross, Jesse, Jessica, Danielle, Lisa, Sissy, Matt, Joe, Kyle, Samantha, Brian, Larissa, Charles, Sam would never have existed as well as Tom, Brady, Clay and Aaron who were in Louisiana where they live.  Twenty four people gone.  Plus their wives or husbands.  That house would never have been there.  The pool would never have been dug.  No food tables, either.

It is amazing the impact that one person can have on the world.  Nanny always cared, always listened, was always ready to give. 

The last time I saw her she was getting in Aunt Joann’s car, inspecting her new Costa Rican thimble in the yellow glow cast by the dome light.

Some memories I associate with Nanny…

Brown shag carpet
Massive heating unit that could practically melt your skin if you stood too close
Tin tool shed out back
Football with the cousins
Mowing
Climbing the pine tree and spying on neighbors
Baseball games in the heat that were watched
Always the double recliners
Boxing
Ice storm shelter
Thanksgivings
Christmas
Jelly beans. Jolly Rancher jelly beans.
Pop
Tools
Lots of homemade food
Thimbles
UT
Miami
LSU
Crabby Road
Sleeping on the sofa bed
Roses
Birthday landscaping
April Fool’s cardboard cakes
Great grandchildren
Papa John’s and banana peppers
Sewing
Wedding Dress
Clothes line
Running into said clothes line
New clothes
Post pitching lessons visits
“Here’s $20 for Virginia/Canada/Costa Rica/Caitlin/new suit/date/movie/pizza/haircut…”
Birthdays
Pillow slides down stairs
Toilet seat that never stays up
Dentures
Cousins
Aunts
Uncles
“Look what Santa dropped outside…!”
Wall of Fame
Hummingbirds
Evenings on carport
Being unable to back my stick shift Jeep out of the driveway

There are more, I am sure, but I need to get going with lunch. Nanny would never have wanted me to go hungry on her account!

If anyone else has any memories, feel free to leave them. I know there are people who spent a lot more than my 23 years with her.

Love you guys and I hope my memories brought a smile and not tears to your faces.

Josh

It’s been awhile since my last blog due to my marriage and honeymoon. More on that later. Anyways, I found this awesome optical illusion on the internet and thought I would share it.

Believe it or not, the two colors that appear to be blue and green are actually the same color!  I didn’t believe it myself until I opened it in Paint and zoomed in on the colors.  And, sure enough, it is true.  See below.

I used the Paint tool “pick color” to copy the color and make a circle with what I picked up.  Crazy ain’t it?

Wow.  I can’t believe that is has been a year since I was sitting in my parents tree house home wondering if, despite my up and down senior year, I was going to get drafted.  The previous year I was sitting on a bus near Alexandria, Minnesota wondering the same thing.  I had just pitched 4 innings in relief against the Alexandria Beetles of the Northwoods League striking out 7.   My coach asked me if he needed to pick up another player in case I got drafted; I gave him a simple “No” because my junior year had even been more up and down that my senior year. 

My waiting was in vain the second time around as well.  No phone calls, text messages or e-mails about playing baseball.  BUUUUUUT…

I am happier now not playing baseball past the college level.   It has taken me a full year probably to realize that.  A few days here lately have been tough as I stare out my cubicle into the blue sky and wishing my job involved throwing a 5 and 1/4 ounce white ball with red seams as hard as I could, but I quickly get over it.

It all has to do with my marriage on Friday.  I am to marry my middle school sweetheart on June 12th, 2009 because I have a career, and medical insurance, and a dental plan, and a good income.  According to minorleaguebaseball.com, the most a player can make in his first season is $1,100 a month.  That is $13,200 for the first year.  Minus taxes.  Minus insurance.  Minus a car note.  Minus car insurance.  Minus rent.  How in the world was I going to marry Caitlin or even expect her to want to marry me making $13,200 – taxes – insurance – car note – car insurance last year?

The Twins were the team that was most intersted.  They have a rookie and A team in Fort Meyers, Florida where I probably would have ended up.  Problem is, that is 826 miles from Nashville.  How was I supposed to marry Caitlin when I was 826 miles away?  Yeah, wasn’t going to happen.

Since June 8th, 2008 I have…
- Not been drafted
- Played adult league baseball with Eric
- Played right field for said adult league team
- Got the hat trick for said adult league team
- Went to Tunica
- Went white water rafting down the Ocoee
- Went to Caitlin’s graduation
- Played church league softball
- Played TVA league softball
- Played tournament softball
- Played in a volleyball league
- Got schooled by a girl who played volleyball at Alabama in said volleyball league
- Went to Destin
- Bought a truck
- Powerlifted
- Gained 30 pounds of 95% muscle
- Had a real 4th of July
- Played tackle football
- Played golf
- Volunteered at a homeless shelter
- Tutored homeless kids
- Wrote many blogs
- Attended Chris’ graduation
- Attended Jake’s graduation
- Taught an inner city Bible class
- Hit home runs
- Have not had to take Advil because my arm hurts
- Coached a middle school baseball team
- Made my middle school team run sprints for not hustling
- Wrote programs for a nuclear reactor
- Grew a beard
- Was home for Father’s Day
- Coached a softball team
- Taught Sunday School
- Got another tattoo
- Built a TV stand
- Military pressed
- Threw high pop flyes at baseball practice without caring about warming up
- Developed a taste for green tea
- Learned to cook (a little bit)
- Get a loan pre-aproval for a house
- Learned that eating a cup of peanuts everyday will make you fat
- Played basketball at the Green Hills YMCA against all who dare with Eric, Chris, Jake, and
Steve
- Typed a letter to be printed in The Tennessean
- Did not get said letter printed in The Tennessean
- Learned to turn off the water before unplugging the water hose from the back of the
clothes washer.

The list could go on and on, but the thing about the above list is that NONE of this would have happened in the last year if I was playing Baseball still.

And most important of all? I wouldn’t be marrying Caitlin this week.

So thank goodness for bicep tendonitis, pulled pronator masses and strained rear deltoids because I am getting married on Friday!  Yaaaaaaay!

According to digg.com, here are the top 10 passwords used online.  Do you use any of these?

1. password
2. 123456
3. qwerty
4. abc123
5. letmein
6. monkey
7. myspace1
8. password1
9. blink182
10. (your first name)

An article  I read on cnn.com this morning is about the latest sign on how American’s are getting fat and out of shape.   Of course, that is not how it was put, but that is what I get out of it.  The newest injury sweeping the nation?  Cell phone elbow.  That’s right, no longer are people getting tennis elbow, they get cell phone elbow.  A quote from the article:

“People who have this condition, called cubital tunnel syndrome, can feel weakness in their hands and have difficulty opening jars or playing musical instruments.”

I can’t imagine being so out of shape, that talking for extended periods of  time on my cell phone meant that I couldn’t open a jar of peanut butter.

One doctor is quoted as saying, “It’s like anything else, any sporting activity.”

No it’s not!  Get out and exercise and maybe actually try a sporting activity!