Six Lanes of Slush around Six Flags, St. Louis

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

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

Cardinal Connections in College Basketball

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

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

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

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.


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College Basketball in Indiana

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

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"

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

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

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

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:

1. Think Great Thoughts
2. Read Great Books
3. Pursue Great People
4. Dream Great Dreams
5. Pray Great Prayers
6. Take Great Risks
7. Make Great Sacrifices
8. Enjoy Great Moments
9. Empower Great People
10. 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

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

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

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

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:

1. Ultimate Gift ( Carmen, Mom )
2. I am Legend ( Adam, Dad )
   
3. Evan Almighty ( Becca )
4. Bourne Ultimatum
   
5. Shooter
6. Wild Hogs
7. Astronaut Farmer
8. Deja Vu
9. Blood Diamond
10. Surf's up

Bennigan's Restaurant ( Take 26 )

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

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

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!!!