Jeff Noble's Blog, page 51
November 27, 2014
Thanksgiving past
Have you ever considered that you must look back in order to be thankful? You must remember to be grateful. The good thing about that is the older you get, the more you have to be thankful for. Unfortunately, you also begin to forget stuff you should be thankful for.
In an effort to remember, I looked up Thanksgiving blog posts from years past:
2005: Juanita’s, hot tea, and thee… aaaaah
This blog entry was actually inspired by a visit with Neal Nelson (who nine years later is still not a blogger). The amazing thing is that Neal is now in Blacksburg with us as the associate pastor of Northstar Church. It’s a great entry about friendship and thankfulness.
It’s also the first reference I can find to prove my decades-long love affair with Juanita’s peanut brittle.
2006: Better late than never… thanksgiving
This may be one of my favorite posts as I started listing the top five things I’m thankful for, four people I’m thankful for, and “spiritual mile marker folks.”
2009: What a difference a year makes
This post was our first Thanksgiving in Blacksburg, and we spent breakfast with the Cook family. It includes reflections from the past year’s transition from Arkansas to Virginia.
2010: The Thanksgiving Chair
2011: Very thankful
Written on our trek back to Blacksburg from Arkansas, this post covers laziness, technology, food, entertainment, cheating and football. I saw the movie In Time this Thanksgiving break and had forgotten how good of a movie it was.
2013: Thanksgiving 2013
Last year’s post resurrected the 2006 listing, and it was also a surreal Thanksgiving. I had flown to Little Rock a few days before the family to spend time catching up with friends, and a winter storm prevented Carolyn and the kids from joining us. They spent Thanksgiving in Blacksburg while I spent it in Little Rock. One high spot of last year’s Thanksgiving was learning about Mitch Bettis’ red socks.
2014: This Thanksgiving break has been so full of reunions, viral videos, movies, and even includes my first runs in Little Rock.
On Monday, morning, we videoed “I’m a Bielemer” with Ben Coulter at War Memorial Stadium, and I spent the day editing it. On Monday evening, we met some dear friends from Monticello and Batesville – the Pigotts, Atwells and the Reeds from Batesville – at Shorty Smalls and laughed our way through dinner. All our kids grew up together, and it was fun seeing two of them as collegians, five high schoolers, one middle schooler and one elementary schooler. The adult distinctions were mainly less hair, more weight, and greater joy.
Tuesday found us meeting another family from our days in Garland, Texas – the Ramseys – in Arkadelphia. Our kids got the royal treatment of a tour of Ouachita Baptist University, and Carolyn and I got to see several old friends from college days, including Dr. Kluck, Jeff & Deborah Root, Lori Motl and Brian McKinney. That night, we watched the Lady Tigers dismantle Central Baptist College in basketball.
Our movie stop this year was Mockingjay, Part 1. Interestingly enough, exactly a year before I’d seen Catching Fire with mom and dad.
I hope you spend some time this Thanksgiving reflecting on your blessings. If you have favorite memories, I’d love to hear about them in the comments.
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November 25, 2014
Jumping on the bandwagon with “I’m a Bielemer”
We left Blacksburg Saturday morning and began our Thanksgiving trek to Arkansas, playing it all by ear. Normally, we stop halfway to overnight, but we found the Arkansas vs Ole Miss game on XM radio, and we were already in Jackson, Tennessee before we knew it as we listened and celebrated the Hogs second consecutive shutout of an SEC opponent.
Yes, I’ve soured a little on the Hogs the last three seasons. It hasn’t been fun. No, I’ve not been convinced in Bielema-ball. I am now. Any coach that leads a turnaround like he has this season has now got my vote of confidence. All season long, we’ve. been. so. close. Until we played LSU. And if there’s a team I love Arkansas beating more than Alabama, it’s LSU. The Hogs blanked them two weeks ago. Then we blanked the Rebels Saturday.
When we arrived late in Little Rock that night, we were pooped, but Wally Hall’s sports column in the Arkansas Democrat on Sunday morning woke us up and got the creative juices flowing.
The first song that came to my mind after reading Wally’s column was The Monkees I’m a Believer. I looked up the lyrics, Carolyn grabbed a napkin, and in less than 15 minutes, we had a song. I found a karaoke version of The Monkees version online and sang the new lyrics to it.
It got stuck in our heads.
Then, I knew who I needed to call – Ben Coulter. Ben is a great friend and one of the biggest fans of our family. He’s been an incredible encouragement and supporter – even helping promote my book. He’s also an amazing country singer. I texted him, and before you could call the Hogs, he was all in.
Within an hour, he’d already texted me an audio version of him singing it – Delta music style. We loved it. Plans were made, dreams were drum..
Monday morning found us at War Memorial Stadium. It’s a unique place full of history. For those who don’t know, the Razorbacks have two home stadiums – one in Fayetteville where the UofA is, the other in Little Rock.
The Arkansas Razorbacks are undoubtedly one of the most unique programs in all of college sports. With a mascot unlike any other, an unusual battle cry that rolls through the Ozarks, and an entire state focused fully on the Razorbacks, it’s only fitting that the Hogs have essentially two home stadiums for football.
Since 1948, the Arkansas football team has made the three hour drive to Little Rock to play games in War Memorial Stadium.
To people that aren’t from Arkansas, this may seem like to oddest thing, but to Arkansans, it’s basically tradition. (Source)
The result of our morning efforts was I’m a Bielemer. We laughed our way through the shoot, and Ben was incredible. Coach Bielema, as an aside, we found a soccer ball on the field, and I kicked a 20-yard FG on my first try… I’ve still got four years of eligibility left.
At any rate, I hope you enjoy the video and song as much as we have:
We’d appreciate the shares and comments as well! Make sure you visit Ben’s website and look at his music there too.
If you’d like an uncut, iPhone 6 shot of the song, here’s that too:
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November 23, 2014
10 Recommended Books (that you may not have heard of) #4
If you’re older than 35, you’ve probably heard of this book. This Present Darkness by Frank Peretti is one of those classic books that shook up Christians during the late 1980s. It was the first of its genre (that I’m aware of) since C.S. Lewis’ Screwtape Letters. It starts off as a sleepy tale of a young pastor and his wife in the small community of Ashton. As he begins to lead his first church, problems start developing that appear innocuous. However, the reader is soon introduced to what is actually occurring in the spiritual realm, and the story that ensues reminds you of the New Testament’s clear teaching about the reality of evil personified in Satan and demons and their opposition by heavenly forces.
Though the books received a lot of criticism when released due to their intensity, they are helpful to the Christian in communicating the urgency of understanding what the Bible has to say about spiritual warfare and the Christian’s role in resisting evil.
This book is not for the squeamish. But for page-turning spiritual suspense, it’s hard to beat.
A few years after its blockbuster sales, Peretti released a sequel Piercing the Darkness that was just as good as the original. I’d recommend both for your reading… in a well-lit room.
Also in 10 Books You’ve Never Heard Of
Want to add some books to your reading list that you may not hear about elsewhere? Jeff offers you 10 great books you need to read that you probably haven't heard of.
10 Recommended Books (that you may not have heard of) #10
10 Recommended books (that you haven’t heard of) #9
10 Recommended books (that you haven’t heard of) #8
10 Recommended books (that you haven’t heard of) #7
10 Recommended books (that you haven’t heard of) #6
10 Recommended Books (that you may not have heard of) #5
10 Recommended Books (that you may not have heard of) #4
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November 16, 2014
November 11, 2014
Ode to a staff team
Today was another interesting day around the Northstar Church offices. Taylor Swift’s Shake It Off may or may not have inspired some video that may or may not wind up being posted somewhere. On top of that, I confessed to everyone that I’d been making decaf coffee for over a week. No one had noticed. Then there was the strange experience of going into the guys’ bathroom and discovering it smelled like a Christmas tree farm. I asked around, and Cody first said, “It’s because I ate a Christmas tree.” Then he explained that there’s some sort of spray on top of the paper towel dispenser that he decided to use.
There’s never a dull moment.
It’s an incredible joy and privilege to serve God and His people with a group of leaders who are humble, joyful, committed and talented. I’m the senior adult on staff, but our wide range of age demographics doesn’t seem to impact our cohesion or our enjoyment of each other.
At a staff retreat last month, a few of us talked the others into doing a role play as a fun group exercise. We convinced the rest of the staff that it was a skit, and we proceeded to hand out assignments that were, well, completely made up on the fly. The result was this:
Then there was the time I hid in the kitchen cabinet and scared one of our interns to death…
Each day brings some new moment of hilarity and adventure. We need it because some days are simply hard. Ministry is taxing emotionally, spiritually and mentally. It’s no accident that the apostle Paul wrote:
“As for you, brothers, do not grow weary in doing good.” (2 Thessalonians 3:13)
Some days are plain disheartening as you hear of folks making poor decisions, receive scathing emails, and see the underbelly of church life. It’s on hard days that it’s encouraging – deeply – to have a great team.
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