The Contrarian Indentured Servant

If a cropduster could follow Buster and I...

2011-08-13T18:44:00.002-04:00

This is the route he would take this afternoon....

<p>&amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://www.mapmyrun.com/routes/view/45949544"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;iMapMyRUN: Aug 13, 2011 5:46 PM&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt; and more runs in Lexington, KY on MapMyRUN. &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://www.mapmyrun.com"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Find run&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;gt;</p>

Pretty cool application, but it suggests that Buster and jumped across Hickman Creek in a few places. We only crossed three times, once was jumping across a small stream, the second and third were the traditional bridge type crossings.

It really is a great run.. 30 minutes to run, 20 minutes to cool down on the porch before I can go back in the house.

If you look really close, when we cross the second bridge, you can tell that I stopped to talk with Paul, Tracy, Finley and Baxter Barth. It was also great to see Kelly Bell there on the bridge with a really cool mountain bike.

Mountain bikes have progressed significantly in the last 12 years since Kelly took me on my first ride in Albuquerque, NM.

25th Anniversary

2011-07-12T03:00:00.001-04:00

Jackie and I are celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary this week. It is really hard to believe that it has been 25 years. Time doesn't really seem to matter much anymore as it passes so quickly.

A friend from Japan just contacted me this week and I realized that he had taken me on a tour through the southern part of Tokyo before Jackie and I were blessed with our oldest daughter. That tour seems like it was just yesterday, another reminder that time passes quickly.

A friend from work was married just this past Saturday reminding me that the duration of a marriage is not nearly as significant as the foundation of the marriage.

As I am writing this, our three children are all at youth camp in Hardin, KY. They are spending time with some people that we have known and trusted for many years to teach absolute truth from an eternal perspective.

I am proud of all three children as they are making choices that will affect the rest of their lives, just like Jackie and I do every day.

In the scope of all things eternal, 25 years is really just a fleeting moment. My prayer is that our children will be able to understand holy matrimony way better than we do one day. Jackie and I have friends that can appreciate this without ever being married to anyone but Jesus Christ.

Jackie and I were blessed to have been raised by families that understand words like love, faith and hope and how a relationship with Jesus Christ and accountability within a community can make 50th Wedding Anniversaries as achievable as 25th Wedding Anniversaries.

As we celebrate for a few days looking back 25 and forward 25, the time that seems most significant is now. That has always been the case for the two of us, for better or for worse.

We are planning to meet our children in Louisville at a wedding that is significant to all of us. As Josh and I have been meeting this past few months, we have been touched on the difference between the titles of bride and wife. They are both significant.

Approaching a wedding or an anniversary or just another day, a marriage has just as much need for bride and groom as it does man and woman or husband and wife.

Your God Is Too Small

2011-07-11T20:31:00.000-04:00

When Jackie and I left Charlotte, NC for the opportunities that awaited us in Lexington, KY, my Sunday School teacher gave me a book that he thought I would enjoy. I read it immediately and appreciate Tommie Mull for giving it to me.

In 1989, I thought the perspective was timeless because J.B. Phillips was writing down truths in 1961 that were relevant to the events and technology of 1989.

On a recent hiking trip in NC, I decided to re-read this book and have determined it still to be timeless in 2011.

C.S. Lewis wrote the Screwtape Letters to help us see how demons are restricted, limited in scope, and how their tactics to speak to us from time to time in the first person as though they were us. A fictional piece that aligned with the truth.

J.B. Phillips works from a different direction. He lists several destructive views of God that we have created in our own finite minds that keep us from understanding the limitlessness of God. Those views are often a result of good experiences with people that have been inspiring and helpful to us.

I'll list a few of those destructive associations that we have made between a limitless God and a limited image of God.

Resident Policeman
Parental Hangover
Grand Old Man
Meek and Mild
Absolute Perfection
Heavenly Bosom
God-in-a-box
Managing Director
Second-Hand God
Perennial Grievance
Pale Galilean
Projected Image
Assorted

A God Sized Promise

2011-03-25T22:00:00.001-04:00

Dustin and Mindi were married in a beautiful ceremony that represented a God sized promise.

Pastor Dave shared an encouraging charge about the details of accessories, recipes and life together as family. Details tie us all together as they are woven together and prepared in a tasteful manner.

No one can know what God has in store for us as His children. The Martins and the Matterns certainly have traveled a path that no man expected for them even though the final destination is clear and full of lots of joy.

In addition to the ceremony, it was good to see so many people from the community that I had not seen in a very long time.

It was also good for our family to be able to all go together to the wedding. Lots of details there to be woven.

MC Escher: Waterfall

2011-02-17T20:04:00.000-05:00

One of my hobbies is to put together 1,000 piece black and white MC Escher puzzles because it just seems like a hard thing to do. MC Escher's work has always intrigued me because of his ability to tie two dimensional art with engineering and physics and visual trickery.

A friend sent me this video and I am so disappointed with myself for not having tried something like this before....

To make up for not thinking about this on my own, I'm thinking I need to do this in a larger scale.

Favorite movies we all watched in 2010

2011-01-04T21:44:00.000-05:00

In order to make this list, all five Ebys must have seen this movie during the year it is nominated. Half the movies that were nominated by individual Ebys were disqualified because they were not viewed by all of us.

Here is the list for 2010:

Unstoppable ( One #1 vote )
Toy Story 3 ( One #1 vote )
Knight & Day
Bounty Hunter
The Tourist
Shutter Island
The Box
Eat, Pray, Love

There were five disqualified movies that were ranked higher than any of our qualified movies.

( Receiving #1 votes )
The A-Team, The Book of Eli, Date Night
We all know that Adam would have liked A-Team, but he didn't see it...
( Receiving #2 votes )
The Social Network, Secretariat
Adam thinks we all would have liked The Social Network, but none of us saw it..

The Tourist was the movie with the greatest spread of votes ranging for #4 to #14.

The worst movies tend to get seen by all of us since Red Box has made it so cheap to watch movies. We are watching these movies at least 28 days later than all of our friends that are watching better movies sooner with Netflix, Cable or Satellite.

Christmas Letter: Take 2

2010-12-15T21:40:00.003-05:00

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Christmas Card by Becca

2010-12-15T16:08:00.002-05:00

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Some birthdays provide gifts for everyone

2010-10-20T18:41:00.000-04:00

The kids are growing up so fast and this week I had to just step back again and admire how God has used trials to grow us all. It was Carmen's birthday, but we all enjoyed the evening together more like a reunion than a dinner or a birthday.

I picked up Carmen up at her dorm on the way home from work and we enjoyed a great birthday dinner even though Adam was at work and not able to join us until later.

Carmen is a private person and not much into her birthday, but she allowed her mother and her sister to shower her with gifts, stories and pictures. It was a fun night just to sit back and watch them interact.

I was also impressed with Becca's desire to make this a special evening for everyone else. For many years, it has been a tradition for me to get the camera out and take pictures of the kids as they grow up. At each birthday, I think the kids have grown up enough that they don't want a rigid picture by a cake, but we do it anyway.

This year was different, Becca already had the camera out and was excited about getting pictures of her sister's birthday. She took a lot of great pictures and avoided the rigid picture by the cake.

Carmen got a lot of books and devotionals and a coat and some other stuff to keep her warm going to class, but we were all blessed with her presence.

Laxville Wins First Tournament

2010-06-20T17:00:00.002-04:00

Adam tried out for a new Lacrosse team in Louisville that was attempting to collect players from many different schools. The team is called Laxville because of its mission to grow Lacrosse in Louisville.

Evan Wright and Matthew Parker heard about the team and Adam decided he wanted to play too. I was concerned about the time it would take to practice in Louisville, but after all three players made the team, sharing the driving duty has made that not as much of an issue for the parents. It's still a pretty big part of ten days of summer for the boys.

I knew at the tryouts that this would be a special team. The coaches all worked together very well to run excellent drills that kept the boys moving for two hours with virtually no down time. Adam was one of several boys that was leaning on his stick in the heat.

The Lax-n-nati tournament was the first time that I got to see the team play together and it was a beautiful thing to watch. Crisp passes and rapid ball movement change the game completely from what I am accustom to watching.

It was a great tournament. Six games in two days at Clear Creek Park on the East side of Cincinnati. The weather was gorgeous and the competition was great.

They played teams from Georgia, Ohio and Indiana on Saturday and went undefeated. They lost to a great team from Cincinnati on Sunday morning and had to beat a tough well matched team from Franklin, TN in a very close game to earn a rematch for the championship.

I really enjoyed getting to talk with parents from all the the other states and meeting all the parents from Lax-ville. It wasn't until dinner on Saturday that I knew the origin of the team was so recent.

For as much fun and as much development as the team has made in so short of a time, it was no surprise that people were talking about looking for additional tournaments.

Carmen graduates from Tates Creek High School

2010-06-03T19:00:00.003-04:00

The ceremony at Rupp Arena was very professionally done and well executed. It seemed so short, much like High School. To watch Carmen parade through one of the lines that received a diploma and a handshake from superintendent Stu Silberman looked more like a synchronized choreography than the graduations that I have witnessed in the past. Did I mention it was short?

In the past few months and years and really my whole career, I have been obsessively focused on objectives that I have set for myself and I have always considered myself very blessed to have a family that is not dependent on my daily direction or re-direction. As this graduation ceremony was executed in a few fleeting moments, I couldn't help comparing it to the four years of high school that went by so quickly.

It seems like just yesterday that Carmen started her freshman year of volleyball and then wrestled with a decision to pursue an aggressive objective of an International Baccalaureate Diploma.

The arena was also roomy. We sat with a group of 11 family members. You can see us at the top of the photograph on the right. Second row: Shirley, Vickie, Buddy, Bud, Becca, Keith. First row: Adam, Peter, Stephanie, Jackie and I.

Matt and Kim were there as well, but we didn't even know it until we saw them afterward. For the 360 or so Tates Creek Graduates and those there to witness it, there was plenty of room and plenty of comfort in an arena built to place 22,000 fans around a game of basketball.

On the right, Carmen's family looks down as her principal approaches the stage and podium. At the bottom, the NCAA Championship banners hang over her, waiting to witness the next four years of her life. I hope those banners know how much they have to look forward to with Carmen. I know that Tates Creek has prepared her well for the next set of four very short years.

Spring Break in Clearwater

2010-04-03T12:13:00.009-04:00

We are not usually a family that likes to go back to the same vacation spot twice, but we did this year.

The first few days were cold and windy, but we shopped for sweatshirts and did things inside instead of laying on the beach and burning.

It was a very relaxing weekend because we had seen most of the things on Jackie's lists and we didn't have to be certain places at certain times.

The only scheduled event was para-sailing on a calm and sunny Wednesday afternoon. In the photo to the left, Carmen and Adam are riding in the Superman chute at 600 feet.

The Hilton did a great job of hosting our vacation again and we love the variety of restaurants that are available in Clearwater within walking distance from the hotel.

Dave Pletcher recommended the Thirsty Marlin in Palm Harbor. Jackie and I drove to Tarpon Springs on Monday, but didn't see the restaurant. We were glad we took the icy (ask Becca) drive to Palm Harbor on Wednesday night with the whole family.

We also enjoyed a Thursday evening walk to Jimmy's Fish House for a sunset dinner.

However, being a morning person, I love breakfast and thoroughly enjoyed every one of them in Clearwater.

Whether it was the Hilton continental breakfast with fresh fish, cheese, meats, muffins and fruit or the cafe across the street for a hearty midwestern two egg breakfast, the morning meal is always my favorite to share with family.

Favorite Movies we all watched in 2009

2010-01-30T10:34:00.004-05:00

Blindside ( Four out of Five Eby's chose this as #1 )
Transformers II
Eagle Eye

As this list gets shorter each year, it is becoming apparent that our tastes are diverging. The kids have seen all the "cool" teen movies and don't want to nominate them to the Eby Favorites.

Examples of divergent tastes:

Adam and I both saw Star Trek on DVD and we know that it was a great movie with a great story line, but the girls didn't even want to watch it. Braveheart, Gran Torino, Amazing Grace and Sherlock Holmes all fall in this category as well, just not as highly rated as Star Trek
Carmen liked Hangover, the rest of us have not seen it yet. Carmen has seen many other movies with her friends that she did not nominate
Jackie and I thought Julie/Julia was in the top 3 but none of the kids were interested in watching it. I let Jackie twist my arm into seeing Have You Heard about the Morgans and I enjoyed listening to her laugh through it.

Coming up with a favorite movie used to be a lot easier when we all went to the movies together. Life was simpler way back then.

New Year, New Colors for Becca

2010-01-02T16:46:00.006-05:00

Becca selected three colors from her "Pillowcase of many colors" for the four walls. Jackie and I thought they were a little intense. Adam offered advice on which color to put on which wall and Carmen cleaned Becca's room while the paint was drying.

Later that night, Becca went through all of her stuff and purged whatever was not necessary. When I say purge, I mean the same thing as what Carmen does on a regular basis. When stuff is not actively used, it moves to Mom's bedroom so Mom can deal with it.

My job is simply to paint and tell. It is an enjoyable job. The first color was Celestial Blue and it covered two adjacent walls. The second color was Pink Frenzy which would drive me crazy.

The third color was "Can't Miss Lime" and I would prefer to call it "Three Coat Lime" since it goes on in streaks and spots as if the pigments they used repelled each other.

I also took pictures of the harsh working environment and tight spaces where I had to manuever behind furniture and pre-purged stuff to reach no less than thirty corners of walls, windows and doors.

I decided not to post those since people would accuse me of whining.

Out with Lavender, Horses and Teddy Bears

2009-12-31T18:30:00.006-05:00

Becca finally convinced her mother to remove the Teddy Bear wall paper from her room this summer. Jackie wouldn't let me paint the room until she was satisfied with the color in the master bathroom, so Becca has been living with her furniture in the middle of a small room for a while.

After returning from Indiana, Becca picked out three colors for her walls and we went to work from there. Over the last two days of 2009, we covered three walls with two colors and it looks like we will finish the last wall with the last color tomorrow so I decided to take a few pictures of the room that has reminded me that our youngest daughter is growing up.

After we finish the new room, I will name the three new colors. For now, it is safe to assume that they are not close to the baby soft lavender color on the walls in these photographs.

It is also safe to say that this sketch from Disney World in a clean white frame will not make it into the teen age room. The subject of the sketch will never be lost in her parents' memory. The tiny little girl with glasses just screams "I'm happy".

The golden retriever in the corner of the picture was added later when she cut it out of a birthday card from Robin. These lighted horses were up year round in her room ever since she got them. They will now become a seasonal display at Christmas time.

Passing the Ping Pong Torch... not just yet.

2009-12-27T17:55:00.002-05:00

Over the years, I have handed many torches to Adam. In 2008 is was the 40 yard dash. In 2009 it was Ultimate Frisbee. With Cousin Ben's assistance, I have nearly relinquished the Ping Pong torch over the Christmas holiday.

At Thanksgiving, I played over 100 games as Adam and Becca both challenged their father. Of all the matches, I only lost one to Adam. Until Thanksgiving, he pull off a game here and there, but never won a match.

Ben and Adam spent time together over Christmas working on spins and change-ups. By the end of Christmas, Adam was able to beat Ben in a game and beat me in more than one match. I won more matches against Adam than he did against me, but the writing is on the wall.

So Ping Pong and Pool are now in transition.

We challenge each other in chess, but that is one that I am hoping to hang on to for a while.

Christmas at home

2009-12-21T20:43:00.003-05:00

The kids are all growing up. It seems like just a few years ago when they were all begging for Jackie and I to get up so they could open presents.

This year, I got up late and had some Wheaties and made some coffee before anybody made any noise.

I think Buster was the most excited of any of us about the presents. He got a chew bone and a new pillow and was really just thrilled to be in the house while we opened presents.

Becca got "Pictionary Man", so we all sat down to figure it out and played a game to 10.

After the game, we had our fourth family meeting where we discussed how conflict was a sign of communication and decided that we still need more communication. Jackie suggested that we go around the room and name something from 2009 that didn't go so well and set one goal in 2010 that would help make sure that same something didn't happen again in 2010.

Everyone shared interesting goals, but it will take some teamwork and accountability for some of them to be able to happen. More demand for communication and chatter.

Onward Christian Soldiers

2009-12-11T10:39:00.003-05:00

As I have reflected on what has happened in the last two weeks, I have been encouraged by how the Christians in Indiana and Illinois formed a single line to minister to the Mattern and McMillan extended families in a time of need.

When I left Northern Indiana in the 80's, the Lengachers and the Andrews were inspiring the community to greatness on the gridiron. As I watched the single line and the people that worked behind the scenes to allow the viewing to occur, I was very thankful to witness those same families move from the gridiron to the kingdom. I am sure the community has appreciated that change for years without my knowledge.

In that line, I also saw Steve Hunsberger, who understands loss in the last few years perhaps as much as he understands how creativity, music and hard work can inspire a church and a community.

I watched Russ McMillan tell people in that line about his daughter's childhood. As the people listened to him, they also shared of how Heather had helped them medically, physically and spiritually. I don't know if I have seen anyone willingly take on anything more difficult than what Russ did that day. His brother-in-law told me that Tish's dad was a tough and powerful man. Russ picked up some of that and added some salt.

Jon Andrews challenged me at the funeral to keep writing. He later provoked me by quoting statistics about the inefficiency of the average Christian to reach a lost world. During this past week, he himself had thoughts of his mother in the hospital approaching the end of her life of service as a mother, wife, friend and pastor.

Jon, I offer you this hope. While the church of America may not be reaching our own nation in dire need of Christ, it does have a purpose. A purpose that you and your mother have carried well.

After seeing the mark that Heather and your mother both left on a community, I am even more convinced that the purpose of the American Christian is to pray, encourage and equip the saints and to send out and support soldiers to the furthermost parts of the earth. There are pockets of people in American cities and public schools, and public universities that are open to hearing what Jesus taught about the Kingdom today, but the evangelistic opportunities are in the battlefields where Christians are persecuted, discounted or misunderstood on a daily basis. It is there that people are most open to hearing about the peace and love that God has to offer.

War is tough and the losses are many and sudden. Those very losses transform civilians into soldiers in a battle that is not about sod, grain, grass, goallines, flesh or blood.

I am especially grateful to the families that have lost loved ones in this good fight, and I applaud our Lord and Savior as they press onward in prayer and service, adding to their number the Matterns, McMillans and the Andrews.

Simple Things of Value

2009-12-01T21:11:00.007-05:00

When you step into Heather's house, you see an appreciation for simple things of value. She placed her value in a relationship with her heavenly father, her family on earth and her church family. She liked to try new things in the kitchen, set colorful china for dinner, and have a coffee bar set up for guests.

She was ambitious to help others through the healing process at a very young age. Part of this came from her expertise in the medical profession, part of this was just her God given helpful nature. I've only known about Heather's accident for a day, so my mind still has not accepted that she won't be there to help Charlie understand what happened.

She was a beautiful bride, a wonderful mother, and a supportive wife.

At Thanksgiving, I shared with Heather that Charlie and Brennan are posted all over our refrigerator door. Each picture was given to Jackie in love and stuck to the door with a magnet with a message that reminds us of the simple things of value that we appreciate.

Many people have met an experience like this with lots of questions demanding answers. I know Heather's family will look for promises of hope as they experience the simple things of value that Heather so enjoyed.

Adam celebrates his 16th Birthday

2009-10-15T22:58:00.002-04:00

Adam celebrated his birthday with cake and ice cream followed by the customary opening of presents... hey... that's not Adam.

Who opened Adam's presents while Matt expressed his disgust?

Senior Night for Carmen

2009-10-08T06:26:00.002-04:00

It is really hard to believe that it was just a little over six years ago that Carmen started her first volleyball season for Southern Middle School as a sixth grader.

Over those years, she has played on eleven different teams and I have many memories as a spectator of each team. As I look at the group of people in the picture, I can't help but think of all the things these girls and their families experienced together. Here are some of my favorite volleyball memories:

Watching Robyn's ability to serve and hit as a tiny little sixth grader.
Observing a large diversity of skills and intensity in the tiny BAVA 13-1 team. I can still picture little Brianna, Carmen, Jessica and Robyn doing wall sits and jumping on bleachers at the YMCA practices.
Watching Carmen, Allie, and Jessica play together on the BAVA 14-2 team
Watching Carmen, Allie and Rachel do very well for Southern Middle in the city tournament as 8th graders. Lindi and Jackie were both active in organizing summer workouts before the season. Cassie played a large role as cheerleader from the bench to loosen up the serious 8th graders.
Watching Robyn, Abi, Hannah [not pictured but not forgotten] and Laura advance as district champions.
Watching Carmen, Rachel and Casey have the best record of any of the eleven different teams that Carmen played on. Janet and Jackie were involved in getting that team to the gym and warmed up before the games. ( Freshman TCHS 13 Wins -3 Losses )
Watching Laura, Robyn, Abi, Allie and Rachel play together as a team at the beginning of a season to finish second in the Apollo Summer Slam.
Spending time with the Sisks and Jones while Casey, Rachel and Carmen suffered through a long season for TEVA 16-3.
Watching Carmen sit down on the Dunbar bleachers, take off her shoes, active ankles and knee pads then pack them into her bag as she had done a thousand times before.

Orchard is down to two trees

2009-09-25T20:54:00.005-04:00

When Keith and I were eating lots of fruits and vegetables and growing very fast, I think that Dad had sixteen dwarf fruit trees including pears, cherries, and all sorts of apples.

This year, as Dad approaches his 84th birthday, he only has two trees in his orchard. While I was back in Indiana for my high school class reunion, Goshen's First Friday, and Mom and Dad's 51st wedding anniversary, I got the rare chance to take a photograph of the tree before Dad picked from the top of a 13 foot step ladder.

This one was loaded down with more apples than I've ever seen on such a small tree.

I talked with Dad a few weeks after the picture and he told me that he was able to pick 13 bushel from this tree.

I was able to take three monster onions, a bunch of green tomatoes for Jackie to fry, a box of fresh snappy potatoes, and a second box of ripe red tomatoes.

We ate well in Kentucky the following week, but we missed the chance for fresh apples.

Becca's 8th Grade Volleyball Night

2009-09-23T20:00:00.002-04:00

I was just picking Becca and Anna up from volleyball practice at LTMS the other night when I came to the realization that I wouldn't be doing that much anymore.

This is Becca's last year of Middle School which means that it is the last year that I will be picking anyone up or going to games at any of the Middle Schools around town that I have been going to for the last seven years.

I was feeling old and forgetful or distracted with my workaholic nature until Becca shared that "8th Grade Night" for volleyball is what triggered the same realization for her.

The volleyball game went very long with both the A team and B team needing three games to beat a very tough Bryan Station Traditional Magnet School team. It was a good night to see the team play together well and leave the gym with a victory.

Mr. and Mrs. Kevin Yoder

2009-08-15T18:00:00.003-04:00

It was a weekend full of driving for all of us to be able to see Kevin Yoder marry Bethany Etsinger but it was well worth it. It was good to see all the nine Etsinger grandchildren together in one place celebrating life.

Their pastor tearfully charged them to remember the characteristics of a loving relationship listed in Colossians 3:12 by describing "radical" ways to recognize and develop each characteristic.

Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another.

Later, at the reception, as I listened to some of the older grandchildren coach Ben, Adam and Carmen about college choices by sharing some hilarious stories, I couldn't help but think back to a time when none of the grandchildren were married.

As of August 15th, 2009, most of these grandchildren are now married. With great grandchildren, this 2001 photograph has expanded from nine to sixteen people.

Run. Run for your Life

2009-08-09T16:53:00.007-04:00

I'm wondering if God is wanting me to start exercising after three separate messages to run in twenty four hours:

A friend sent me a link to the Brave Hearted Gospel yesterday and suggested that the "Run" video was the most convicting to him. Watch it!
Kent selected a set of worship songs this morning that featured "Run into the Marvelous Light"
Mike spoke about religion being born the minute that Adam and Eve ran from God to hide.

President Obama Visits Wakarusa

2009-08-05T20:09:00.002-04:00

President Obama visits Wakarusa - More The Indianapolis Star Galleries

Carmen is choosing a university

2009-08-04T19:57:00.003-04:00

We just spent the last two days visiting universities for Carmen to attend next year.

She has already done quite a bit of research and narrowed her search to 18 and then to 12 before she started visiting schools with Jackie last month.

This week we were able to eliminated two. We started with three on the list, but after driving through Indiana Wesleyan's campus, we may have added on. More research is needed.

Becca stayed at the neighbors house so that she could go to volleyball practice and enjoyed a little bit of freedom during the day while we were gone.

I asked Becca if she were ready for us to take Carmen on a trip next year and not bring her back and I got no response. I don't think any of us are ready for that next year or even prepared to think about it too hard today.

It seems like just yesterday that she was our only child scooting around in the nursery at church.

The Snowball

2009-07-25T14:28:00.008-04:00

I'm reading a book about the making of Warren Buffet. Like all of us, Warren is a product of his genetics and the patterns formed by his environment.

The book is very entertaining and I can definitely understand the tendency to focus on something and not let go. Warren started collecting a few snowflakes of money as a child and young man and has not stopped rolling his snowball throughout his adulthood.

I've only read the first nine chapters. I hope for Warren's sake that by the end of the book he realizes just how insignificant his snowball is in the whole scheme of things. If he can see his snowball as insignificant, then surely any of us can agree that our net worth is zero without Jesus Christ.

Another interesting fact about Warren was his interest in solving mysteries with mathematics and numbers. He loved finding patterns, as do I, and tended to jump to ridiculous conclusions just for the sake of adventure. As do I.

Warren was raised by a stock broker during a depression while I was raised by a factory worker during a recession and energy crisis. Warren had examples of extreme optimists and pessimists that helped him to choose what was valuable to him and how to make decisions. I think we all have those influences modeled for us, but Warren's are very colorful and historic.

Electric Motors Corp. at the center of local green summit - The Elkhart Truth - Elkhart, IN

2009-07-24T07:16:00.003-04:00

Electric Motors Corp. at the center of local green summit - The Elkhart Truth - Elkhart, IN

Good example of integrating existing technologies to produce something of higher value.

Speaking to the crush of media, Cashen emphasized he wants to create partnerships with different companies who will supply technology and parts to his manufacturing operation. To date, EMC is working with Gulf Stream Coach in Nappanee and Livernois Vehicle Development in Michigan. Also, Cashen said he is negotiating with General Motors to see, as he put it, what products and divisions are in their trash that he might use.

"Integration of technology is an easier step and it's closer to what this community does on a daily basis," Cashen said, explaining EMC will not be developing components and products that are already available. "We integrate technology that has been heretofore supplied to us, meaning the Elkhart community incorporate, from the Detroit area through the automotive industry."

Hot, Flat and Crowded

2009-07-04T17:36:00.008-04:00

On a rainy fourth of July, I finally finished Hot, Flat and Crowded by Thomas Friedman.

I was interested in the book for a couple of reasons. The first reason was that I thoroughly enjoyed reading "The World is Flat". The second reason, and most important one, is that I am a human being that was charged with taking care of this earth by my creator.

I've been trying to be more efficient my whole life and hate the idea of consuming things. It is a vain chasing of the wind.

Thomas brings to light several examples that make you laugh because they are so ridiculous and several examples that make you cry because they are so shameful and embarrassing. As I was carrying this book around for several months, I got lots of polarized comments from people in elevators, people on the beach or wherever else I found myself reading it.

The end of a baseball career

2009-06-20T22:31:00.005-04:00

It all started ten years ago when Adam decided to play T-ball at Shadybrook park.

He had so much fun playing T-ball that his older sister joined the team the following year before she moved on to softball.

Adam's next step was Veteran's park coach pitch Rookie league. They had a team that lost the championship game by a few runs and developed friendships that would spill over into other sports down the road.

As all the boys developed at different rates to different final sizes, speeds and strengths, it has been a joy to watch them rotate from team to team.

My favorite year to watch one of Adam's teams was his final season as a Pirate in the Cal Ripken minor league. This team know how to have fun winning.

In Adam's final Babe Ruth season as a Twin, he can definitely measure his maturity and struggles on the baseball field side by side with the rest of life.

Baseball in Lexington is an enjoyable but demanding lifestyle and I am glad that Adam had a chance to complete all the city has to offer in this sport.

Ben's Open House

2009-06-08T21:45:00.004-04:00

Ben graduated from NorthWood High School this year. It was good to see many friends who had children that graduated with Ben.

It was also really good to see Ben's whole family there together. Peter and Stephanie just moved back to Nappanee and are settling in. Peter is the youth leader for Living Gospel church.

Bud and Vickie did a great job of decorating the garage with all of Ben's 4H and sports awards.

At the open house, Jackie cut the cake and put it on plates for three hours while I was the photographer.

It was a gorgeous day. Much better than Bethany's was four years ago. Most of the guests recalled that day when a tornado warning and strong winds force an emergency shutdown that included stuffing guests and a 30 foot canopy into a 20 foot garage.

The most photographed subject for Bethany's wedding shower and Ben's open house was Charlie Mattern. Here Charlie is developing some stick skills after watching Adam play for half an hour. It will be a while until Charlie can fill Adam's flip flops, but he has a head start on Lacrosse.

Ego Lessons from Chappy ( Iron Eagle )

2009-06-02T21:35:00.003-04:00

When the kids were young, they watched Iron Eagle over and over. Their whole generation grew up viewing people in authority as default thinkers that never challenged the status quo.

The lessons that Adam learned from this movie now meet reality in High School... OK, I have to take some of the blame as well for the DNA that I gave him and the thinking patterns that I have demonstrated to him.

Please read the following script while imagining the following substitutions:

Chapman is me doing my best Louis Gossett, Jr imitation
General is Jackie wavering between pardoning her son from prison while considering the safeness of just visiting him there everyday.
Mr. Masters is young Adam Eby
Air Force Academy is replaced with Lexington Catholic High School.

Chapman: "Begging the General's pardon, I urge you to reevaluate that decision. Letting this boy loose, would be a big mistake. He already has demonstrated his inability to keep his big mouth shut. I would suggest sending him to an instituion, that can order him to keep that big mouth shut."

General: "Are you saying, we should confine this boy to some kind of penal facility?

Chapman: "As a matter of speaking yes sir, you see sir,.. Mr. Masters has applied to the Air Force Academy an institution well-suited for this kind of treatment, eh, unfortunately his application has some.. resistance. I was wondering if you could eh.."

Technically, Adam has not applied to Lexington Catholic, but it still sounds like a great idea for a young man that struggles with positional authority and can not keep his big mouth shut. He may find Lexington Catholic more challenging than IB at Tates Creek, he already does plenty of creative thinking, activity and social service.

Jackie is working on helping Adam understand his limitations as the middle child by making him read about birth order and I'm trying to get him to spend some time upgrading his PC from Windows XP to Ubunto instead of watching TV.

If he can just change his birth order, he might be a good leader some day.

I also think memorizing Romans 12 would be good. The whole chapter is applicable to life's problems whether you want to lead as a middle child or make friends as an oldest child.

If anyone else has any suggestions, we are grasping at straws.

Becca's 13th Birthday Party

2009-05-15T19:26:00.004-04:00

Becca's birthday party was a huge surprise for her. She went with Carmen to pick up the birthday cake for her sleep over that she had planned for a few friends on Saturday night.

This faux sleepover was carefully approved by Mom and followed by lots of phone calls to make sure that each girl knew that it was not going to happen but there was indeed a party and sleepover on Friday.

Becca came home and headed for the basement to talk to Grandpa and me. When I noticed that she had a couple of movies in her hand, I asked her if she was going to start them now. She told me that we had to wait until her sleepover on Saturday. Several girls behind a counter and under the pool table did not make a peep as Becca expressed her disappointment in me for not remembering that she had a birthday coming up and a sleepover.

Of course, Jackie had games for the party.

The girls liked the games in the back yard, and the neighbors like the scavenger hunt as the girls could only collect one item per house. Somehow, the word got out that Dave Bond had potatoes.

This party was not comparable to Adam or Carmen's 13th birthday parties in one very specific characteristic: V-O-L-U-M-E-! It might be a while until my ears recover.

Green Revolution Hits Wakarusa

2009-05-15T06:25:00.004-04:00

The mayors of Wakarusa and Nappanee have announced plans for EMC to build electric motors in Wakarusa. Nice Job, cousin Larry. Somehow, I bet that Richard Pletcher and Larry Andrews contributed to this.

Elkhart Truth: Hybrid vehicle venture energizes two towns

Electric Motors Corporation

Why Northern Indiana just might be the perfect place to make electric transportation a reality by re-introducing Henry Ford to Thomas Edison:

Labor availability (Absence of RV jobs)
Empty Manufacturing Facilities
Skills match for low volume craftmanship
Slower pace: Horseless Buggy might work!
Astronaut-Farmer connection
- Purdue University Engineering
- Small farm business sustainability tenacity
- Local supply of Ethanol
History of Studebaker
Recent sting from Hummer
Indiana was willing to reduce corporate tax burden for the venture

Here is a Larry Thompson's first cousin (my father) riding a different kind of horseless buggy.

From Aunt Helen's Photo Album

The Noblest Invention

2009-04-30T20:31:00.005-04:00

A friend at work gave me a book entitled The Noblest Invention. This illustrated history of the bicycle is very well done.

The forward by Lance Armstrong reminded me of the first bike (red, white and blue banana seat) my parents bought for me.

It reminded me of the freedom that a Free Spirit ten speed from Sears gave me to ride anywhere in Elkhart County to bail hay all day and return that night. It reminded me of friends that I used to ride with when I was a boy.

It reminded me of my habit to repack bearings regularly so I could ride every Sunday without too much resistance or crank noise.

It reminded me that I was on my bike when I knew that Jackie was God's gift to me long before she accepted that dreaded fact.

It reminded me of the first high end road bike, Schwinn Le Tour, that I purchased used from a guy that needed $50 and didn't need the bike that his parents bought for him for closer to $500. Later when I took that bike to Purdue, it was too high end and all I had left was a cut cable lock hanging on a bike rack at married student housing. I remember staring at the empty rack, wishing that I hadn't sold my Free Spirit for $25 a few years back.

It reminded me of my first vehicle that required insurance and a license, which happened to be a Honda CM400. A simple iteration that allowed me to go to farther places faster.

It reminded me of my second motorcycle, a Night Hawk that I rode two hours every weekend from Purdue to wherever Jackie was in whatever whether was between us. After we were married, I rode it to work and remember a day when Jackie had to wear a snowmobile suit behind me when her car wouldn't start one winter day in Lafayette.

It reminded me of a tall skinny friend on a big orange rode bike that rode everyday when I first moved to Lexington and how I struggled to keep up with him one day while we traveled 134 miles to Bloomington. I foolishly dropped out of the pack two hours into the ride, and had to skip pitstops to catch up or else I would not have made it. After catching them, I never left the pack again.

It reminded me of a friend that invited me to mountain bike for the first time in Albequeque and how cactus thorns release air pressure that makes carrying a bike easier than riding it.

It reminded me of the cost of freedom and independence and how dangerous that can be if not handled responsibly.

I will never be known as a bike racer, let alone the greatest cyclist to ever walk the earth like Lance, but I do agree that a bike has got to be near the top of the invention list. However, like all things created, obsessions can be destructive and erase all the freedom that was originally experienced.

I'm glad that the friends that I rode with last Saturday understand how a bike can be used for real freedom.

Easter Sunday

2009-04-12T13:29:00.001-04:00

Flamingos, Fish and Fruit bats

2009-04-02T16:55:00.008-04:00

Becca and I spent the morning at Tampa Lowry Park Zoo taking pictures and eating ice cream.

Most of the pictures taken did not include Becca, but it just so happens that these do.

The zoo has been called the best children's zoo in the nation and it definitely had a lot of children. The groups of kids and teachers tended to hang out in the covered areas and the petting zoos so we didn't run into too many crowds until we went to get some ice cream at noon.

I got my ice cream in a cone because I am very environmentally conscious about the decisions that I make while I am reading Hot, Flat, and Crowded all week.

Becca may love animals, but she ate her ice cream from a Styrofoam cup with a plastic spoon so she may as well have been killing endangered species with her bare hands instead of warming them to a slow death one plastic spoon at a time.

Angered by her choices to destroy the earth, a giant fruit bat swept her away and hung her upside down in his exhibit.

Becca promised to eat her ice cream from a cone from now on, so the fruit bat let her go.

Who built our vacation spot

2009-04-01T18:06:00.009-04:00

Entrepreneurs and engineers worked together to build an accessible island in this comfortable corner of the Gulf of Mexico that is called Clearwater Beach.

The only concrete section of the first wooden bridge is all that stands today after being torn down in the 1924. Our boat tour guide tells us that a barge served as the gateway to decide whether foot travel across the barge or boat travel while the barge temporarily moved away from the bridge. Today a few birds roost there.

That bridge was obsoleted by the "Million Dollar Bridge" that had mechanical equipment that would lift the bridge to allow boats to pass. When Jackie's family traveled to Clearwater in 1983, they traveled across the $1M bridge. After being torn down in 2002, the remainder of that bridge is being used as a fisherman's pier.

The fixed span bridge that we crossed to reach our vacation spot obseleted the $1M bridge and was budgeted at $30M but ended up costing $90M and using a whole lot of concrete to provide automobile traffic flow and boat passing to occur 100% of the time with more lanes of traffic, but still jammed at both ends with idling cars.

There were two other fixed span bridges and another that had yet to be torn down.

Throughout the tour, there were many landmarks that were remnants of the work of the Army Corp of Engineers as the made the intracoastal waterway in the shallow waters of the Gulf in the 1940's.

The result is a nice place to rest, enjoy sunshine and eat good seafood.

Kyle is a mermaid

2009-03-31T12:39:00.006-04:00

In order to make Kyle feel welcome on our family vacation, we decided to bury him in sand, burn the top of his forehead and sculpt him into the shape of Ariel the mermaid.

While most of us just moved the sand from the area immediately adjacent to Kyle with our bare hands and a frisbee, Adam decided to import some heavier sand that was a little closer to the ocean.

When looking at the picture, Kyle said "That's Tight". I pointed out that it was just cohesion and momentum that gave the appearance of tight. These boys really need to study harder in physics class.

Welcome to Morrow

2009-03-28T09:00:00.002-04:00

With the economy looking like it has no tomorrow, Jackie and I decided to take the family on a "free" vacation before our travel award points expired or the company that honors them went bankrupt as that seems to be vogue.

Jackie booked a pit stop for us at a Hampton Inn along I-75 in Morrow, GA because of its location about midway to our destination of Clearwater Beach.

Kyle Polley, Adam and I were having breakfast when Kyle noticed the double meaning of the sign that we all missed the night before, "Welcome to Morrow".

We discussed the fact that Tomorrow never gets here, but we also discussed that as new creations, we also house tomorrow, yesterday and today within our jars of clay.

The value of quality to a craftsman

2009-02-28T17:01:00.006-05:00

I'm still reading "The Craftsman" by Richard Sennett.

I read this morning that a focus on people within a company can drive the craftsman away. If you want to attract and retain craftsman, a company should instead focus on quality of the product.

Sennett describes Deming as complex and cautionary. The complexity is that to arouse the aspiration for quality and make good on it, the organization itself has to be well crafted in form. It needs open immediate communication, but it needs to wait to bring its products to market until they are really good. Deming knew these aspects of organization seldom appear on management charts of who reports to whom. Deming was not, however, a simple salesman, a booster of quality; he recognized that quality-driven work, focused on achieving good concrete results, does not necessarily unify or sustain organizations.

Lacrosse Scrimmage in Knoxville, TN

2009-02-22T19:36:00.004-05:00

We traveled to Knoxville this weekend for Adam's Lacrosse team to get three scrimmages on Saturday.

The picture to the left shows Coach Andrew giving Adam (#6 Black) some tips before play was ready to start against CHS. Adam looked more comfortable today than he did last fall, but as a freshman, he still has a lot to learn about the game.

They were supposed to have a fourth scrimmage and a full game on Sunday, but the weather did not cooperate.

Adam stayed with friends at a teammate's vacation house, so Jackie and I enjoyed the weekend hanging out with some of the Lacrosse parents.

This picture was taken while Adam (#6 White) had the ball or shortly after losing it. He avoided a body check by getting a little lower than the opponent. Throughout the day, Adam consistantly was able to stay low, but needs to work on keeping his feet underneath him while attacking.

My basketball coaches always told me I was out of control, I suspect that I looked a little like Adam "falling forward" with the ball.

Tates Creek finished the day with a respectable 1-2 record considering the age of the players.

Valentines Dinner hosted by the Youth Group

2009-02-14T22:00:00.001-05:00

The Tatesbrook youth group served twenty some tables in the basement of the church for Valentines day.

Jackie and I went out to eat on February 7th, because we knew we would be in the kitchen on February 14th.

Kelley Thomas, Matt Hind, Kim Foster, Josh Covington and Erin Markert all did a great job serving with the youth that night.

Kelley and Gadis must have worked all day getting tables and decorations into the basement. They did a great job preparing. It wasn't until we started tearing down all the decorations that I realized just how much work it was to move in the furniture and decorate it.

After they served the guests and the guests had left the building, the youth sat down for a spaghetti dinner of their own.

Becca's perspective of Buster

2009-01-28T19:11:00.004-05:00

Becca had a chance today to use her new camera to take pictures of one of her favorite subjects. She slipped on the ice and sort of fell into this perspective. She was quick enough to snap the shutter, so she thinks she may be a photographer some day.

Ice Storm

2009-01-28T17:52:00.005-05:00

We have been buried in ice the last few days and are thankful that our power is delivered underground instead of from poles like other parts of the state.

There are very few original trees from when we first moved into the house and one of them is this Magnolia that is sagging under the weight of the ice. I sure hope it pulls itself up when the ice thaws. We have shot many three point shots through its branches over the years, so it will be hard to imagine the front yard without the Magnolia hanging over the driveway.

Becca and I went out this afternoon to take some pictures of the sun reflecting off and through the ice.

I also wanted to record some of the damage that occured around the house as our gutters were pulled slightly away from the house under the weight of the ice and constant rain snuck behind the flashing against the brick in the back of the house under the main roof.

Taking photos of minor damage seems trivial as the state experiences the second largest power outage in history.

If you can see past all of the damage, the vision is rather glorious.

The kids have also taken advantage of the comfortable 32 degree weather, lack of friction on the ground, and no school for the entire week.

Lots of sledding and sleepovers.

As I passed the elementary school on the way home from work, I noticed many families that decided to have some fun instead of cleaning up trees. Most of the tree cleanup can wait, but you can't sled next week.

The last picture is of the Tulip tree in our back yard. Seeing how this is the Kentucky state tree, one would hope that it would survive Kentucky weather. It lost some branches, but it is fairing better than our Cherry, Lilac, Dogwood and Magnolia.

I Dare You

2009-01-17T20:30:00.004-05:00

While we were staying with Jackie's dad over Christmas, I looked through an old Purina 100 year anniversary book that had some great photography. I saw a reference to a book written by William H Danforth, the founder of Ralston Purina Company.

"I Dare You" was written to inspire the people of his company and the youth of America to pursue excellence and develop themselves in a balanced manner.

He tied these basic truths to the checkboard that helped to establish the long lasting brand on every mill and every bag of feed and on every box of cereal. The four sides of the squares represented fourfold development:

Think Tall - Mental Development
Stand Tall - Physical Development
Smile Tall - Social Development
Live Tall - Religious Development

After enjoying the entire book, some of my favorite parts were references to other great leaders like this statement by Sir Wilfred Grenfell, "If the hardest thing in the world to resist is temptation, we should present a vision of Christ that tempts men the right way..... it intoxicates with deeds of kindness, justice, chivalry, love".

Later he shared a perspective of the story of the loaves and fishes that struck a chord with me. His focus was on attitude, not the work that was done. The attitude that takes account of the resources possessed rather than the difficulties presented. "Measure your powers, not your problems". When the disciples counted the crowd and complained that a few loaves were not enough, Jesus said "Don't look at the hillside, look at the basket. Don't count the crowd, count the loaves." Resources and powers are given to those who use what resources and powers they have.

Through the use of our muscles, our muscles group and harden
Through the use of our mind, mental capacity increases
Through the use of our spiritual powers, these powers heighten

Favorite Movies we all viewed in 2008

2008-12-31T23:59:00.002-05:00

In order to make this list, all five Eby's must have seen this movie during the year it is nominated. There are a few movies that have been nominated by individual Eby's that were disqualified because they were not viewed by all of us.

For example: The Dark Knight, Iron Man, Wanted, Fireproof, Get Smart, Bucket List, Baby Mamma and other popular movies were seen by some but not all Eby's.

Here is the list for 2008:

Marley and Me ( First Unanimous Winner )
Hancock
Seven Pounds
The Notebook
Jumper
Expelled

Dudley shots - Adam Freshman Football

2008-12-19T20:42:00.015-05:00

Dudley is my hero... I have been going to sports events for a very long time and taking pictures with a "better than consumer" grade camera with lots of lost shots because I am into the game and forget that I have a camera.

Like this "helmet to the ball" hit that Adam placed squarely on a Clark County runner while Jackie, Bud and I drank hot chocolate to keep warm. I really like being a spectator

Adam didn't run the ball much this year, but the Tates Creek offensive line really made some big holes for all the backs against Clark County. Craig really knew what to do with a hole that game. Clark County parents thought that Craig was headed for a Division I team.

It was fun to watch them play this year. It is going to continue to be fun watching these freshmen get better with some more strength, speed and discipline.

To the left is a shot of Adam dragging a Henry Clay defender for a couple of extra yards.

Back to Dudley.... Dudley retired from IBM years ago and as a hobby, he goes to Tates Creek High School sporting events and takes professional grade photographs that are better than any I have ever taken. This service that he provides is a great community builder and school builder and team builder.

To the right is Adam with a little open running room against Henry Clay after a screen pass to the right side. Martrell, our quarterback, did a great job of opening up the field looking at multiple receivers with the time he got from the offensive line.

Adam's best game of the year was against Lafayette.

This picture is just after receiving a middle screen pass, but his contributions to the defense were much more significant where he made several stops of one of the best running backs Adam will face as a Commodore.

Adam played with Bubba at LTMS and this was his first chance to go up against him in a game. I think the Lafayette game was the best game for the Tates Creek defensive line.

He said that tackling Bubba by the legs was like tackling a thrashing machine. Several Commodores discovered that you can't tackle Bubba above the waste during the second half when Bubba led them in a comeback attempt that nearly erased Tates Creek's 24-6 lead at halftime.

The last picture is from Woodford County where Tates Creek walked off the field with last minute loss that set them back emotionally. Woodford County didn't have very many players, but their hearts were bigger and they didn't have many weaknesses.

Less sensationalism, lasting substance

2008-12-04T21:02:00.008-05:00

A few weekends ago, Jackie and I went on a double date to see Fireproof. We had a lot of fun and enjoyed the story, the message and profit margin of the movie. Volunteers put much more passion into their product, and figure out how to do things without spending a whole bunch of money.

At the core of the movie was the word "Love" in the challenge that a parent gave to a child that had no grasp of what love was. "Love" makes us do things for other people at great cost to ourselves.

Leaving the theater, I couldn't have been happier with the people that we attended the movie with. Two people that give, give, give and lose track of what they get of out of any deal.

After a year of sacrificing a lot of time to shore up a company in distress because it chased after the wrong things for a while, it was a pleasant surprise to see someone else that my company has counted on to sacrifice a great deal of time and talent to survive. A short talk with he and his wife revealed it was rare for them to have to opportunity to get away together.

Partly because of the time that I was away from family, and partly because of the economy, and partly because some other members of my family are as busy as I am with other things, there is no movie that all five of us have seen this year at the theater. For our annual "Best Movie of the Year", we may have some older movies that we all happened to see separately on TV or video.

Three Fall Sports for Adam

2008-11-16T22:00:00.002-05:00

Most three sport athletes split the sports into three different seasons, but Adam chose to supplement his main Fall sport of football with two other complimentary sports in terms of skills and skill development, but opposing in terms of time.

Every time that football practice was called off, Adam would go to fall Lacrosse practice. After the football season was over, he got a chance to play in the final fall season scrimmage with six other teams that joined Tates Creek at Kentucky Country Day High School in Louisville.

Adam's third sport for the season was an intramural Ultimate Frisbee team. They lost this afternoon in the tournament after winning the first game last Tuesday night.

If you look closely, you will see that even though the temperatures were near zero, Adam continued to play in bare feet as he always has on Sunday afternoons during the summer.

Ragamuffin Gospel

2008-11-15T15:31:00.003-05:00

Several people have told me that I need to read "Ragamuffin Gospel" in the last 10 years or so, but none of those recommendations were as compelling as Robin Potter acting surprised this past summer when she discovered I had not read it.

I purchased the book with intentions of reading it during vacation in July but failed. A rainy afternoon in November was a good defer.

Brennan Manning sounds like a rebel that boasts of his freedom at times, but I think that is just some of his culture coming out. He has seen life on this earth being raised in a Catholic church in New Orleans. I was raised in a conservative church in the Amish territory of Northern Indiana. One might expect a few misunderstandings that can certainly be resolved by He who created both of us.

So far the words that we can agree on and the words that jump out at me and will challenge me are these:

The institutional church has become a wounder of the healers rather than a healer of the wounded.
The church is not a museum for saints but a hospital for sinners.

He quotes people from 100 years ago, 500 years ago and 2,000 years ago and consistently points out that it all is meaningless compared to the inerrant Word of God that comes from time in the Bible and stillness listening directly to God.

Austin and Hannah Mattern

2008-11-01T13:30:00.001-04:00

From the moment that Adam and drove up on Ross Camp, I knew that it was a perfect day for Austin and Hannah. The old camp was steeped in history and I am sure that it is just as rustic in the winter as it was this glorious fall afternoon full of autumn color.

You could see Cheryl's touch of home with Ball jars of rocks and flowers.

The music at the small chapel and at the reception was provided by a very interesting band that Bill found in Goshen not long ago. Everyone loved the choice: Goldmine Pickers

I also had a brief opportunity to meet Hannah's dad and talk with some of the people that Austin and Hannah hang out with. Austin has always made good choices and it seems that like me, choosing a mate had a lot to do with choosing a family with a Christian heritage of simplicity and hard work.

The location for the wedding was historic as well. It was donated to Purdue University by David Ross in '93 as etched in stone on the side of the dining hall. They probably never imagined it would still be in use in '08. I'm sure it has been rebuilt several times, 115 years is a pretty good return on investment for this camp.

A model T that belonged to Grandpa Jake was the perfect vehicle for this couple to leave a century old Chapel.

Rehearsal Dinner with Jackie

2008-10-31T19:51:00.003-04:00

Jackie drove up to Lafayette on Friday morning to help her family cook pork chops, prepare a meal and serve all the people that rehearsed for Austin and Hannah's wedding the next day.

On Thursday night, I was up until 3:00 AM making some final touches on a video for the reception on Saturday. A video was completed a week before the event, but that was not quite up to Jackie's standards. I complained a lot, but the finished product was worth the effort.

After getting up for work at 5:00 AM, I got home early at 4:30 and packed the Jeep so that Becca could get off the bus at 4:45 and get in the car so we could get to Lafayette by 10:00 PM. Considering all the sleepless activity leading up to the drive, we are very fortunate to have made it all the way without stopping.

We arrived at the Best Western to find that we were sharing the hotel with the Michigan football team and I was encouraged to find out that Jackie had worn out her nieces who are much younger than I am.

It was very good to see family working hard together to celebrate the union of two people that represent hard work. Austin is a man of the soil and Hannah tends to animals. Throughout the course of history those trades have been synonymous with hard work.

It was only fitting that we wear ourselves out for them.

Even though Heidi and Bethany were exhausted, they rose early in the morning to help their color challenged Aunt Jackie pick out a new blouse to better match the rest of her outfit.

They worked well together and enjoyed the day.

Three month sprint

2008-10-29T21:23:00.002-04:00

For the last three months, I have been completely consumed by multiple projects at work, watching the kids play volleyball and football and working to support their teams. During that span of time, Jackie and I have had to put several relationships on hold.

One of the most difficult for me was the Monday night prayer group. We have also missed out on adjustments to the small group that we attended last summer.

After our nephew gets married this weekend in West Lafayette, we should be back to some of the "normal" levels of participation in the church.

One of the lessons I learned during this unhealthy sacrifice is that neglecting a home is an expensive downward spiral. I have about four weeks of vacation that I will be applying to home repair at the end of the year.

The Shack

2008-08-02T22:31:00.003-04:00

Mike Brady read a book while he was on vacation and recommended that we all read it. I'm only about a fourth of the way through it, but it does grab a hold of you.

Girls of '83 gather at Lori's House

2008-07-30T10:54:00.002-04:00

Six graduates of NorthWood High School gathered at Lori's house in Texas this summer.

The temperatures soared above 100 degrees but the girls stayed cool in the pool and the shopping malls.

Jackie didn't talk much about the trip but the pictures of Lori's ranch looked vaguely familiar to me.

Inflatable Kayaks

2008-07-05T20:17:00.008-04:00

While Jackie was making arrangements for rafting the week before we left, she was confident that Adam and I would like to kayak down the river.

Seeing how cold my feet were on Monday, I couldn't imagine how miserable it would be spending a few hours with the bottom half of my body immersed. On Tuesday night, I had several conversations with the kids trying to convince them that we should really do another trip on a different Tsali trail instead of kayaking.

Boy, was I wrong. I had no idea how comfortable a wet suit could be. Once equipped with the proper gear, Adam and I actually had to splash water onto our legs to cool them off as we drifted down the Nantahala in our Fast River inflatable "fun-yaks".

Jackie, Carmen and Becca all served as kayak chasers in the van. Adam and I could always pick them out on the shore for a couple of reasons. (1) Jackie's laugh is hard to stop and hard to miss. (2) Jackie couldn't figure out how to turn the flash off when taking pictures from the shaded shore.

Afternoons tubing down Deep Creek

2008-07-01T19:10:00.001-04:00

After a morning of some sort of biking, hiking, horse back riding, running, rafting or other form of exercise, we enjoyed the 20 minute hike up deep creek and the 40 minute trip down.

I put this off, because I don't like getting wet and it seemed pretty passive, but it really was fun. However, the second afternoon that we went, I volunteered to be the photographer because it gave me a chance to run on the trails and climb up and down the river banks and rocks cautiously avoiding the snakes that Carmen always reminded us about.

Oddly enough, Carmen was the only one to see a snake the whole trip. It was here in Deep Creek and the black water snake was too close for her.

Adam thought the use of a stick for pushing off rocks would help him get down the creek faster. He really worked on some creative ways to ride his tube. This particular shot shows him going backward over a two foot falls. While waiting for the family to get to this spot, I saw many people injure themselves doing backrolls on rocks.

Riding, Riding and River's End

2008-07-01T18:46:00.002-04:00

On Tuesday morning, we separated the family based on interests and ability.

Adam, Carmen and I rode the Thompson loop which is south of the Murphy branch and the Mouse branch trail. We rode it counter clock wise so most of the technical work was going up and most of the speed was coming down the old logging roads in the sun. It was a nice ride even though we had to race under time pressure.

Jackie and Becca rode horses at Nantahala Village while we mountain biked. We dropped them off, drove 15 minutes to the Tsali, rode the loop and packed up the bikes and 15 minutes back to Nantahala Village by noon.

After we picked up Jackie and Becca, we went to the River's End restuarant at Nantahala Outdoor Center for lunch. After lunch we sat briefly in the sun, resting and watching other people get cold and wet below us.

Adventurous Fast River Rafting

2008-06-30T13:30:00.000-04:00

Jackie reserved a green raft and a "guide assisted" trip down the Nantahala on Monday afternoon.

"Guide Assisted" meant that we got to follow a boat that was "Guided". This was very important to Jackie. We had to stay close so that she could ask the guide questions in order to get her money's worth of the extra $7 that we paid for the "Guide Assisted" tour.

We really enjoyed this afternoon even though our feet were numb by the end of the trip. The water that is released from the bottom of Fontana lake to generate the controlled flow of white water was pretty cold.

Tsali Recreation Area

2008-06-29T19:40:00.005-04:00

While most people prefer to vacate or amuse, my favorite thing to do on vacation is to recreate. The Tsali Recreation Area provided an excellent place to do so.

Mountain bikers from around the world come here to ride their $4,000 mountain bikes but we didn't ride as much as they do.

If you added up all the cost of all five of our bikes and helmets and tools for packing and maintaining bikes on a trip, we might be able to reach half that amount, so we felt really good about our decision to start with the easiest route on Sunday.

The whole family rode "together" on a 4 mile portion of the right loop (Blue) on Sunday. Adam led the way and I brought up the rear making sure that everyone made it safely. There was great disparity in the rate at which Adam traveled and the rate at which Jackie traveled.

So much disparity, that we believe Adam and Carmen reached the 3.5 mile mark about the same time as Jackie and I reached the 1.5 mile mark. Becca was somewhere in the middle.

Jackie and I conquered the mountain air with lots of stops and walking up steep portions. We then found Becca at about the 2.5 mile mark, and forged ahead until we reached Adam and Carmen at the 3.5 mile marker where the trail split so we could all ride down the last half mile together.

Lands Creek Log Cabins

2008-06-28T18:21:00.000-04:00

We all headed for the south side of the Great Smoky Mountains for vacation this year. It saved on gas and other expenses associated with vacations like eating out and other entertainment.

We stayed at Lands Creek Log Cabins just North of Bryson City and loved it.

We arrived on Saturday afternoon and unloaded all our mountain bikes, clothes and snacks and climbed to the top of the hill to sit on a swing. Carmen, Adam and I road bike a little that afternoon and it didn't take long to find out that Carmen would need new brake pads if she was going survive all the trips. We went to town to buy groceries for the week and Adam grilled some steaks for supper.

After supper we watched some of the sunset from the porch, but later moved to the picnic table to play Phase 10 near the campfire.

Jackie wanted a campfire every night in order to have s'mores. We all enjoyed the warmth and light it provided as the sun went down in the thin mountain air.

In addition to having clean air to breathe, we also enjoyed some breathtaking purple mountain sunsets when a mountain storm wasn't blowing through. It was amazing to me how easy it was to start a fire with all that wind and I now understand how lightning strikes on a dry mountain can start a forest fire. Wind...

Rob and Sue and everyone at Lands Creek have done a marvelous job of positioning each cabin to be private for the family but sharing the same great sunset and ridge top views. We stayed in the Bobcat and loved it for a family of five.

Eighth Grade Graduation

2008-05-29T18:17:00.001-04:00

Adam graduated from 8th Grade at LTMS. He was one of several students that were honored with the Presidents Academic Achievement award given to students meeting the President's criteria for all three years of middle school in terms of grades and in standardized testing.

He really enjoyed his social studies class because he got along with his teacher, Mr. Holliday (pictured on the left at graduation). I'm glad that this happened. We all need to understand and appreciate history if we have any hope of enjoying the significance of the presence and the impact of our decisions upon the future.

In addition to receiving the president's award at graduation, Adam also was chosen for "Best Hair" in the year book. We are so proud.

After a busy summer of baseball practice, games and tournaments and overlapping football practice for Tates Creek High School, we are sure that Adam will hit the ground running at Tates Creek High School.

Becca's Birthday

2008-05-19T18:02:00.001-04:00

Becca got her ears pierced for her birthday this year. Emily went with her to the store to make it more like a party.

After the ear piercing party, Emily joined us all to watch Becca blow out the candles on her cake and open a few gifts.

Although Becca was hoping for a cell phone and expressing that hope often, she was thrilled with the volleyball net that is fun for the whole family.

She was excited about the ceiling fan that she opened up. The one in her room hasn't worked for quite some time.

The present that she opened with the most expression was from Emily. She picked out a pair of ear rings for her to wear after the long, long waiting period with the earstretchers that she got at the ear ring store.

Happy Mother's Day

2008-05-11T19:23:00.003-04:00

Just yesterday, I finished trimming all the bushes, shrubs and trees around the house and was wondering what to do with the Bradford Pear.

As I was mowing the lawn, I was looking at the weight of what was left of the tree and decided that the tree was going to end up on the house one day if I didn't have a tree service come take it out.

Last night, I told Jackie that we were going to lose the tree and that we needed go ahead and get it removed.

This morning, while we were at church, or while we at Tony Roma's celebrating Mother's day, a thunderstorm took care of getting it down, placing it directly on the deck.

When the family walked into the kitchen after lunch, they thought some fast growing ivy had grown up on the deck while we were gone, but quickly ruled that out as something that only happens in the movies.

I've been wanting to open up the deck for several years, so I guess this will give me a summer project. I already had one project in painting the deck, doors, and other trim to match the new window color. I need more projects.

I saw it as a project, but Adam saw it as a chance to invent a new game called "tree diving". He's in the picture if you can find him. We all thought the "tree diving" game looked fun until I realized that each dive was applying more pressure to Jackie's azaleas.

Resolution of Craftsmen

2008-05-07T20:29:00.005-04:00

I'm currently reading "The Craftsman" by Richard Sennett.

I read tonight about the conflict between the designer and the craftsman that occurred in Peachtree Center in Atlanta. The problem was that the designers used CAD to plan the whole thing and never visited the city to know it was hot outside in the summer. The community of craftsman fixed many of the remote ideal design flaws, but they couldn't fix them all.

I found it quite ironic that I struggled for a week with a very similar issue within one of the office complexes there several years ago. Overall, the combination of design and craft worked well there.

So here is Richard's section on conflicting standards, one of my favorites so far:

What do we mean by good-quality work? One answer is how something should be down, the other is getting it to work. This is a difference between correctness and functionality. Ideally, there should be no conflict; in the real world, there is. Often we subscribe to a standard of correctness that is rarely if ever reached. We might alternatively work according to the standard of what is possible, just good enough-- but this can be a recipe for frustration. The desire to do good work is seldom satisfied by just getting by.

Thus, following the absolute measure of quality, the writer will obsess about every comma until the rhythm of a sentence comes out right, and the woodworker will shave a mortise-and-tenon joint until the two pieces are completely rigid, needing no screws. Following the measure of functionality, the writer will deliver on time, no matter that every comma is in place, the point of writing being to read. The functionally minded carpenter will curb worry about each detail, knowing that small defects can be corrected by hidden screws. Again, the point is to finish so that the piece can be used. To the absolutist in every craftsman, each imperfection is a failure; to the practitioner, obsession with perfection seems a prescription for failure.

A philosophical nicety is necessary to bring out this conflict. Practice and practical share a root in language. It might seem that the more people train and practice in developing a skill, the more practical minded they will become, focusing on the possible and the particular. In fact, the long experience of practice can lead in the opposite direction. Another variant of the "Isaac Stern rule" is : the better your technique, the more impossible your standards. (Depending on his mood, Isaac Stern worked many, many variations of the "Isaac Stern rule" on the virtue of repeated practice.) Linux can operate in a similar fashion. The people most skilled in using it are usually the ones thinking about the program's ideal and endless possibilities.

What's up with Carmen

2008-04-27T20:08:00.008-04:00

Last Sunday afternoon, I spent what seemed like hours watching Carmen polish off the last few kinks of parallel parking so that she could pass her driving test during the week. She was "fearing the worst" like a good student or athlete, but it was hard for me to see any "hope for the best" coming from her even though I knew it was there.

She has now taken to the streets, driving herself to two volleyball practices and I'm hoping that this will take a dent out of our gas expenses with less running around for Jackie.

This weekend, Jackie and Carmen headed to Louisville for a volleyball tournament. They stayed overnight with Alice and Sierra. Carmen and Sierra are playing for the same TEVA 16-3 volleyball team and have lots of history to share together even though they play volleyball for different high schools and haven't spent much time together for the last eight years.

Prior to playing volleyball, Carmen and Sierra performed in some of Jackie's musical performances at church, as I recall, Sierra was a louder singer than Carmen but both were outstaged by Adam's antics.

Years before digital cameras, Sierra attended some of Carmen's birthday parties and those pictures are available to be scanned some day.

Expelled

2008-04-20T21:14:00.003-04:00

Our whole family just got back from the movie theater where we enjoyed Ben Stein's movie.

Well, enjoyed is not really accurate. I was absorbed. Absolutely absorbed.

Adam, Carmen and Anthony got bored with it before the end, but Carmen kept answering questions out loud with her opinion throughout the movie well past her boredom stage so I know she didn't disengage completely.

I'm not sure where Becca stands on her review, but I'll figure that out in the next few days.

If you have an active brain, you need to watch this movie. If you believe in freedom, you need to watch this movie. If you believe in education, you need to watch this movie. If you are under 20, you may be bored with Ben Stein's pace and dry humor, but go anyway.

I just looked at his blog and apparently there are many people that feel strongly about his views and the movie: Ben's Blog

After third round, Cardinal chances still looking good

2008-03-29T11:29:00.004-04:00

An alert reader revealed the fact that I was not counting Ohio, Illinois, Virginia and West Virginia in my Cardinal stats. Each of these states share the Cardinal as their state bird along with the ones that I have lived in: Indiana, North Carolina and Kentucky.

Welcome Xavier, WVU and Kent State to the Cardinal stats.

We know that at least one Cardinal will fall today when Louisville plays UNC...

	Third Round	Teams Left	Remaining Teams
Cardinal	33%	4	Louisville, UNC, Davidson, Xavier
North Carolina	67%	2	UNC, Davidson
Ohio	50%	1	Xavier
Kentucky	33%	1	Louisville
Tennessee	25%	1	Memphis

	Wins	Losses	Penetration
Big Ten	5	4	R1: Indiana R2: Purdue R3: Wisconsin, Michigan State
SEC	4	6	R1: Kentucky, Georgia, Vanderbilt R2: Arkansas, Mississippi State R3: Tennesse
West Virginia	2	1	R3: West Virginia
Indiana	3	4	R1: Indiana R2: Purdue, Butler, Notre Dame
Illinois	0	0
Virginia	0	0

Second round strips Indiana of its State Bird

2008-03-26T21:08:00.004-04:00

I'm not sure how Butler, Purdue and Notre Dame all ended up losing in the second round, but they did. Butler's loss to the only remaining SEC team was particularly embarrassing.

I had lunch with a UofL graduate today and he seemed to think Louisville's chances in the tournament were unrelated to their Cardinal status. We'll see.

	Second Round	Teams Left	Remaining Teams
Cardinal	50%	5	Stanford, WKU, Louisville, UNC, Davidson
Kentucky	67%	2	WKU, Louisville
North Carolina	67%	2	UNC, Davidson
Big Ten	50%	2	Wisconsin, Mich State
Tennessee	50%	2	Memphis, Tennessee
SEC	17%	1	Tennessee
Indiana	0%	0

Indiana University let me down yesterday

2008-03-22T11:43:00.006-04:00

I went to bed last night with great confidence the coachless Indiana University Hoosiers could come back against the champion of the SEC conference, but was disappointed this morning to find that they couldn't pull it off.

Indiana was the only team in Indiana to lose, and the only team in the Big Ten to lose. Indiana and Kentucky were the only teams in my "Cardinal Connection" group to lose.

I used to wear a shirt that said I cheered for two teams: "Purdue and whoever plays IU", but last night they really let me down.

I'm still a believer that this is the year of the Cardinal. Eight teams left... but I think the second round could give the state of Tennesee a chance to move up a few notches in this list.

	First Round	Teams Left
North Carolina	100%	3
Cardinal	80%	8
Big Ten	75%	3
Indiana	75%	3
Kentucky	67%	2
Tennessee	50%	2
SEC	50%	3

Adam heads to Washington

2008-03-09T18:11:00.002-04:00

Adam left Thursday night on a school field trip to Washington, DC. They drove all night and had a tour of the White House on Friday morning to start out a three day weekend. Adam's Uncle Keith planned on walking down to see him on Friday but it was raining.

The two of them hooked up on Saturday: Adam in DC

As I read Keith's blog about him buying Adam an Oreo McFlurry, my mind raced back to the evening that we spent with Keith's friends during 2001. That evening, Adam made chocolate milk shakes for about 10 people and climbed all over everyone. I think he thought he had about four extra Uncles.

In 2001, Carmen was tougher than Adam as she demonstrated by wearing shorts on a cold day.
In 2001, Adam's hair was the same length as his Uncle's.
2001 was only seven years ago....

Six Lanes of Slush around Six Flags, St. Louis

2008-03-04T16:55:00.002-05:00

I made a trip to Rolla, Missouri on Tuesday to speak to the Tau Beta Pi engineering honor society at the Missouri University of Science and Technology and the interview some candidates on Wednesday morning. As I headed around the Southeast side of St. Louis, the traffic crews closed the roads while they cleared trucks off the hills near the Six Flags exit of I-44. I migrated my way around several tractionless trucks and stopped at the St. Louis Bread Company to have lunch and read 300 emails that had accumulated in the first six hours of my trip.

Bradford Pear: Designed to break

2008-03-02T19:23:00.003-05:00

While we were in Nashville a few weekends ago, there were strong winds there overnight. Apparently those same winds made it to Lexington on Sunday morning and pruned a Bradford pear tree in our back yard.

It took Adam, Becca and I two weekends to get this cleaned up, but it is done now.

I cut up small branches for Becca to carry to the front yard, but I couldn't get her to stick at it very long. The only way I could motivate her to help was to suggest that she play a game with Buster while moving the sticks.

Adam, on the other hand, motivated himself in a couple of different manners. First, the opportunity to use a hatchet and second, the potential of creating a fire.

The picture on the right side is the "fire pit" after it sat outside a week in the rain. Obviously, he never got around to the fire part.

Now to the question... Why would God design a tree to break?

These trees are the beautiful flowering variety that are found all over the commonwealth of Kentucky. Yet, in every ice storm or windstorm they are the first to go.

We purchased our house with one in the front yard, but it collapsed before we moved in. Inspecting the bark, a neighbor pointed out that this particular branch had started to fall away years ago.

This is the tree that the kids climbed and swung in while they were growing up and I was always telling them to be careful with all the contraptions that they put in the tree because of its weakness.

Looking back on the two weekends of work to remove the branches, I now think I was wasting my breath with the kids. Although these trees were designed to break, knowing that a half damaged branch could sustain that much weight through the torque of many storms, makes me believe there is nothing the kids could possibly do to damage a 20 year old tree with weight or leverage from swings or stands.

I'd still like to keep Adam's hatchet and fire away from all of our things in our yard.

Pictures from Aunt Helen's Photo Album

2008-03-01T22:43:00.002-05:00

Cardinal Connections in College Basketball

2008-03-01T09:47:00.003-05:00

I've only lived in three states. All three have two things in common, basketball and state birds. This restricts my mobility, but it does give me a unique view of the top 17 college basketball teams in the country. ( BTW, those youngsters at Purdue are hanging in there....)

I think the nation should be watching out for Louisville, they have a multiplying Cardinal factor. The might even get cubic cardinal points if you consider the fact that Louisville has a high concentration of catholic residents.

Rank	Team	Record	State	Cardinal Connection
4	UCLA	25-3	CA
8	Stanford	23-4	CA	Mascot
15	Connecticut	22-6	CN
11	Georgetown	23-4	DC
12	Indiana	24-4	IN	State Bird
14	Butler	26-3	IN	State Bird
16	Purdue	22-6	IN	State Bird
17	Notre Dame	21-6	IN	State Bird
6	Kansas	25-3	KS
13	Louisville	23-6	KY	State Bird & Mascot
3	UNC	26-2	NC	State Bird
7	Duke	24-3	NC	State Bird
9	Xavier	24-4	OH
1	Tennessee	25-3	TN
2	Memphis	27-1	TN
5	Texas	24-4	TX
10	Wisconsin	24-4	WI

Eby Family Heritage

2008-02-26T20:08:00.008-05:00

Converting Dad's slides to digital pictures was a lot of fun and I sent DVDs to my cousin Gene Klein. Gene went up to his Mom's recently and took these digital photos of Aunt Helen's photo album.

These photos of my Dad (Kenneth) with his pet cow and my Grandpa (Charles Victor) with his mules explains at least partially why Becca loves animals.

I wish I had a bigger picture of the old mules or workhorses.

Thanks for sharing these, Gene!

Lunar Eclipse

2008-02-20T20:59:00.004-05:00

I took a few pictures of the moon from our front porch and something got in the way... I've been assured that it won't block my view again until 2010.

Impact Tournament in Nashville

2008-02-10T19:08:00.001-05:00

Carmen will be playing at the Impact tournament in Nashville next weekend. It doesn't look like there is much to do in the area other than play volleyball in what I hear is a very congested matrix of courts.

View Larger Map

College Basketball in Indiana

2008-02-09T17:19:00.002-05:00

I've only lived in three states my entire life. All three have a high respect for the game of basketball.

I was born in Indiana where high school basketball was the biggest deal going. High school basketball took a drop down when the IHSAA decided to have 5 champions instead of one.

I moved to North Carolina where college basketball is king. That state has several schools that hold National Championships and the whole state watches college basketball and neighbors align with one of the several choices: UNC, Duke, NC State, Wake Forest, UNCC, etc...

I then moved to Kentucky, which worshiped UK Basketball at the time. Now it seems like the fans are tearing it apart piece by piece.

One of the things that happens in Lexington is that SEC is elevated above every other conference in order to make everyone believe that UK Basketball has a harder time than say a team like Purdue.

As Purdue faces Wisconsin tonight to battle for the top position in a lesser conference like the Big Ten, I thought I would look at the rankings and I noticed that there were 4 teams from Indiana in the Top 25.

It looks like basketball in Indiana has moved from High School to College in the last 20 years.

I wish I knew which teams were in the SEC so I could count them.

Rank	Team	Record	State
5	UCLA	21-2	CA
9	Stanford	19-3	CA
19	Connecticut	17-5	CN
6	Georgetown	19-2	DC
16	Marquette	16-5	WI
10	Butler	20-2	IN
14	Indiana	19-3	IN
22	Notre Dame	17-4	IN
24	Purdue	18-5	IN
15	Drake	21-1	IA
4	Kansas	22-1	KS
20	Kansas State	16-5	KS
11	Michigan State	19-3	MI
2	Duke	20-1	NC
3	North Carolina	21-2	NC
13	Xavier	19-4	OH
21	Pittsburgh	18-5	PA
1	Memphis (72)	22-0	TN
7	Tennessee	20-2	TN
23	Vanderbilt	19-4	TN
12	Texas	18-4	TX
18	Texas A&M	19-4	TX
17	Washington State	17-5	WA
8	Wisconsin	19-3	WI

Gathering in Columbus

2008-02-03T15:47:00.000-05:00

I'm exhausted after a weekend of watching 8th, 9th and 10th graders praise God, learn how to share their faith, share their faith, confirm they dedication to the Kingdom and help each other.

Because of some last minute changes the day before we left for Columbus we added several adults to the trip that had not planned on going. One of these folks was Don Vanzant who is starting a church near Hamburg.

While we gathered in Columbus, I thoroughly enjoyed hearing his testimony, calling and methods for planting a church in an area of Lexington that is exploding.

If you would like to check out his church, please do so: The Gathering I love the name and the people oriented, relationship oriented purpose of a church in equipping the saints.

I would suggest the best way to meet Don would be to seek the truth by attending Bible 101... studying truth is one of the best ways to interact with a stranger because the truth will be a constant in any stage of any relationship.

I hope Tatesbrook will eventually be able to offer some of the same foundational teaching as a part of our outreach to the community around us.

Dare2Share "Survive"

2008-01-31T22:03:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow, we will be heading for Columbus for Dare2Share. There are over 30 eighth graders and graduates from Southern Middle School. Some of these teens will be experiencing this weekend training for the first time and some have been there several times.

We will be staying at Beechwold Christian Church. This is the third year that they have hosted a group from Lexington and it is exciting to see the similarities in their vision, the calling that God gave to me when I was a teen, and the theme of this year's dare to share.

It is also exciting to see these friends of my children desiring to know God.

Future Quarterback

2008-01-29T21:49:00.000-05:00

This young man was very patriotic in 1971 as he participated in the 4th of July parade in Wakarusa. At this point in his life, no one would have guessed that he would lead his high school football team to a State-Runner up finish and compete with Jeff George to replace Jim Everett in the Cradle of Quarterbacks.

Jim Everett headed for the Los Angeles Rams where he would hand the ball off to Eric Dickerson who later returned to the Indianapolis Colts. Jeff George won the position at Purdue for one year, but then transferred to Illinois.

Can you name this little fellow?

Digital Memories for Keith's Birthday

2008-01-22T21:17:00.003-05:00

My little brother will be turning 40 next month and he asked me to go through mom and dad's slides and get them converted to digital for his birthday.

It has been a lot of fun looking at these pictures that have only been projected faintly on a silver screen. With color correction, these memories have come alive.

Happy Birthday Keith!

Read Great Books

2008-01-19T20:50:00.000-05:00

While shopping for a Christmas present for Jackie in a bookstore, a book titled "Good to Great in God's Eyes" caught my attention. The subtitle was also intriguing: "Ten Practices Great Christian's have in common".

This book grabbed me from a couple of different angles. The title and appearance were very close to one of my favorite books, "Good to Great" which transformed the way I believe a successive company should be developed over a long period of time.

The subtitle also reminded me of a book I read back in 1992 by Kent R Hughes that interviewed great Christians to see what they had in common.

It also said "Ten" things, which implied there was a list. I love lists.

So, I bought the book to see what Chip Ingram had to say.

In the picture on the left, I put "Disciplines of a Godly Man" on the bottom of the pile to point out the books that I have read after knowing what Godly men read. I put Chip's book very near the top since it represents a second opinion about what men that are "Great in God's Eyes" do.

Note: this is not a complete stack of my favorite books. It's just the top 10% of what I have here in the house. Some of my favorite books are loaned out to friends and some are on a bookshelf at work ready to be referenced.

Here's the list of ten practices that Chip proposes are common to great Christians:

Think Great Thoughts
Read Great Books
Pursue Great People
Dream Great Dreams
Pray Great Prayers
Take Great Risks
Make Great Sacrifices
Enjoy Great Moments
Empower Great People
Develop Great Habits

In chapter two, he closes with the following statement attempting to inspire the reader to develop a curriculum of reading.

Books have shaped my perception of God, my confidence in the Bible, my marriage, my ministry, and my relationships with other people. They've done the same for countless other Christians throughout history, some of whom have impacted the kingdom of God on earth quite dramatically.... that's why I'll never regret the practice of reading great books.

As I was reading chapter three, I decided to compare my favorite books with the list that a great person like Michael Card has read. I fall short. I need to read more great fiction and more great history.

A quiet, cold day at home

2008-01-19T10:18:00.002-05:00

Today is one of those rare days where no one needs anything right now and there is no noise. A day like that defines all people.

Adam took off yesterday to spend some time with some great people in Hardin, KY. I don't know what Bob will be talking about but the people that gather there are incredibly interesting and I always leave there inspired to be a better person.

Jackie and Becca took off this morning for Nashville, TN with some great people. Emily, one of Becca's friends, invited Becca to go along with her to Nashville while Emily's class headed for Chicago. Looking at the weather this weekend, I think Emily made the right choice. Jackie talked with Carol and just yesterday decided that she would go along to make it a foursome. Jackie and I will be spending many weekends with Carmen at volleyball tournaments in the next few months, so this is some great Becca time and Jackie couldn't pass it up. I'm sure there will be some great Carol time as well.

Carmen will sleep late and be quiet and productive all day long, so there will be peace and order with Carmen. Of this, I have no doubt.

After seeing Jackie and Becca off this morning at 9:00, I shut all the TV's off and read for half an hour in uninterrupted peace.

Appreciation for Mothers

2008-01-12T17:24:00.000-05:00

As Jackie hits the job market, I think this video points out why just about any mother that can raise three kids in today's world deserves great appreciation.

I found this on a blog from someone in Kenya, and find it very ironic that I also heard from some missionaries on furlow in the United States from Ecuador that the energy that is required to raise a family in the United States is excessive. (crazy?!)

Somehow, the best mom's have the energy to do this and creatively eliminate their stress and motivate others to do better.

Jackie dusts off her resume

2008-01-12T12:27:00.000-05:00

No one needs to get out any tiny violins for us, but 2007 was a difficult year financially. Anyone that has spent any time with me, knows that one of the five biblical financial principles that I teach and live by is "Spend less than you make".

As a Christian, I believe the proper perspective is to be grateful for the income and always address the expenditures since that is what He commands us to do well until God changes the income. That is a hard perspective to teach, learn or live. For whatever reason, I believe that God has a reason for the Eby family to live on less income these last few years and I am grateful for the opportunity for Him to continue to teach us how to do this as a family.

The kids' college savings dropped to half the 2006 value. This is my own fault for making investment choices that I continue to hope will recover to a point that will be able to help the kids. This is by far the largest financial impact to us and it has been difficult for me to trust God to restore those investments that we have made a little bit at a time over a period of many years. ( I also am wondering if God has intended for our children to work their own way through school as we did. We benefited from that experience, why wouldn't they? )
We had both of our vehicles demand some attention. ( 100K+ miles cars from the 20th century )
In October, we turned around and "suddenly" our daughter was 16 and we will be paying higher premiums for car insurance next year. (50% higher if she doesn't get a car, 100% higher if she gets a car )
In November, we had wind damage to our 20 year old roof that cost us $5K that we had hoped to spend in 2009 or 2010. We thought we could put that off until at least 2008 even after the visible exterior damage but water damage to Adam's bedroom ceiling forced us to action.

So... with each drip, drip, drip of financial events of 2007, Jackie threatened to go back to work, and I pulled equity out of our home to make ends meet. Although this is a violation of several principles, I think it is prudent while we consider more sustainable options that I have suggested like downsizing our home.

She worked full time from 1986 through 1991 as a medical lab technician before having Carmen and continued to work very part time through 1993 before having Adam. When she left the position in 1993, she suspected that she would never get back into medical lab business, but didn't know what new business it might be.

In the first position she has accepted in 15 years, she will be working a flexible schedule at close to minimum wage for a company that makes sure us consumers buy stuff at retail stores because evidently that is something that employees of retail stores don't do. I'm not a big fan of this new job, but I'm grateful that she has taken the initiative and hopeful that it will pay for groceries or gas or the last few years of sports while we trust God to tell us what we should do next.

Favorite Movies we all viewed in 2007

2007-12-29T13:58:00.000-05:00

In order to make this list, all five Eby's must have seen this movie during the year it is nominated. There are a few movies that have been nominated by individual Eby's that were disqualified because they were not viewed by all of us.

For example: Spiderman 3, Amazing Grace, National Treasure 2, Alvin and the Chipmunks and other popular movies were seen by some but not all Eby's.

Here is the list for 2007:

Ultimate Gift ( Carmen, Mom )
I am Legend ( Adam, Dad )
Evan Almighty ( Becca )
Bourne Ultimatum
Shooter
Wild Hogs
Astronaut Farmer
Deja Vu
Blood Diamond
Surf's up

Bennigan's Restaurant ( Take 26 )

2007-12-27T22:00:00.000-05:00

Every year since 1982, Jackie's friends from NorthWood High School have picked a restaurant in Northern Indiana to meet and catch up with each other between Christmas and New Year's Day. Mark and Michelle picked the Elvis room at Bennigan's this year.

This was one of the smallest groups, but we still had fun.

Fayette County Public Schools listed as #16

2007-12-22T08:31:00.000-05:00

As a parent of three students in Fayette County Public Schools and a friend of many teachers in Fayette County, I was pleased to hear that Forbes magazine listed Lexington as one of the top 20 places in America to receive a public education.

Well done, Fayette County!

Forbes Top 20 Public Schools

Educators that attend Tatesbrook that are fighting the good fight in the FCPS:

Duane Keaton
Jordan Johnson
Mike Brady
Robin Potter
Ronnie Brock
Tony Jones

Since Jackie and other "stay at home" mom's often receive little performance feedback, I think this would also be a good time to recognize all the volunteers that help make the school systems better in our community...

Oh, we've got "T"rouble

2007-12-20T19:41:00.000-05:00

Mothers of River City!
Heed the warning before it's too late!
Watch for the tell-tale sign of corruption!
The moment your son leaves the house,
Does he rebuckle his knickerbockers below the knee?
Is there a nicotine stain on his index finger?
A dime novel hidden in the corn crib?
Is he starting to memorize jokes from Capt.
Billy's Whiz Bang?
Are certain words creeping into his conversation?
Words like 'swell?"
And 'so's your old man?"
Well, if so my friends,
Ya got trouble,
Right here in River city!
With a capital "T"
And that rhymes with "P"
And that stands for Pool.
We've surely got trouble!
Right here in River City!
Remember the Maine, Plymouth Rock and the Golden Rule!
Oh, we've got trouble.
We're in terrible, terrible trouble.
That game with the fifteen numbered balls is a devil's tool!
Oh yes we got trouble, trouble, trouble!
With a "T"! Gotta rhyme it with "P"!
And that stands for Pool!!!

Merry Christmas and a Happy 2008

2007-12-19T13:39:00.000-05:00

In lieu of a lengthy letter, this year the Eby's wish you and yours a spectacular season celebrating the birth of Christ our Savior.
( Thanks also to the folks at OfficeMax )

Dan poses as Charlie Brown

2007-11-27T20:32:00.000-05:00

Dan Dedrick had family in from New York over the Thanksgiving holiday and the Herald Leader photographers got this shot of him hauling off a tree.

Front page article

Guess which co-worker turned him in?

The World is Flat ( Missionary 3.0 )

2007-11-25T22:06:00.001-05:00

The World is Flat.

I've been reading this book that compares Columbus' discovery of the world being round to the fact that today's world is flat.

Columbus was looking for a short path to India for trade back in 1492, but today, smart people from India, China, Russia and all over the world are learning and working effectively from wherever they are with businesses that were founded in the country that Columbus mistook for India.

Last night, I received an email from Michael Harrington who is serving as a missionary in Africa about how he taught an African family to use a yo-yo. That same night, I received an email from a friend with photos from a zoo that she had visited in Singapore.

Certainly, because of the factors that are discussed in this book and the experiences that I have had in the last 15 years and the last 15 days, I can truly say that the world is flat.

Happy Birthday Dad!

2007-11-11T18:37:00.000-05:00

My dad turned 82 today. When I called to tell him Happy Birthday, he told me that the lady from Human Resources at Lycro Products asked him if he was really going to be 82 this weekend.

He responded with a short and affirmative, "Yep!"

She told him that he was a pretty incredible person to be working at his age.

As Dad was telling me the very short story, I was imagining what was going through the mind of the lady from HR and how different that a small company can be.

I do agree with her. My dad is an incredible person. He worked 37 years for the first company that employed him while he was working and living on Grandpa's farm and establishing his own home later.

He has now worked nearly 30 years at the second company.... that is loyalty.

Adam Recognized in Fayette County Newsletter

2007-11-05T20:32:00.001-05:00

As a parent and volunteer guest teacher in the Fayette County Public School system, I believe it is important to listen to the leadership. The school superintendent really does a great job of communicating on a regular basis.

Here is the text from the "Kudos" section:

To Southern Middle School students Adam Eby, Tyler Farquhar and Lauren Shields for placing 7th in the Leadership Challenge team event during the 2007 National Technology Student Association (TSA) Conference.

Old Men in the Balcony

2007-11-03T20:49:00.001-04:00

It has just recently come to my attention that a peer of mine and I have been compared to the two old men in the balcony on the Muppet Show.

Having watched that show as a kid, I was sure that the people at work who made this comparison were mistaken.

Shopping for transportation

2007-10-28T21:09:00.000-04:00

This afternoon, Carmen and I drove around town looking at potential makes and models of cars that would be satisfactory to her. She started out with a Jeep Wrangler because it is different from her friends and it ties her to her cousins Heidi and Bethany.

Seeing how Carmen doesn't like us to leave in windows open in the mini-van and likes to have the temperature "just right" all of the time, I'm not convinced that a Wrangler is the right car for her.

Her Uncle Bill, her mother and Carmen all went to a car show in Cleveland in 2004 and saw a Pontiac Solstice and her Uncle Bill believes that is the car for her. I think it is a nice looking car, but I can't find any that are five years old with 80,000 miles.

Seeing how I bought my own first car for $1,500 when I was a freshman at Purdue, I have a hard time looking at these prices...

Vehicle Description	Blue Book Value	Candidate Price	Candidate Miles
1999 Ford Tauras SE Sedan 4D	$3,625	$3,795	111,466
1999 Pontiac Grand Am SE Coupe 2D	$3,810	Not Priced	124,212
1999 Volkswagen Jetta GL Sedan 4D	$5,400	$7,450	88,732
1999 Nissan Altima SE Sedan 4D	$5,470	$5,900	127,473
1999 Volkswagen Passat GLS Sedan 4D	$6,745	$7,000	97,000
1999 Jeep Wrangler	$7,875	Not Priced	127,158
2006 Pontiac G6 GT Sedan 4D	$12,300	$11,950	49,035
2006 Pontiac Solstice Convertible 2D	$16,565	$21,977	16,517

She won't be able to drive by herself until April, so maybe I can buy a motorcycle and just let her use my Jeep.