Skin Deep: Image & Authenticity

This is one of the best articles that I've seen in a long time on the image-focused reality of the music industry. Please take a few minutes to go to this link and read through the article that Christian Contemporary Music artist Nichole Nordeman has written. She writes about all the pressures that even Christian music artists face to look a certain way.

Happy Anniversary Mom & Dad!

Here's a video that we put together for my parents' 40th Wedding Anniversary last fall. I finally got around to putting it on the internet. Happy Anniversary Mom & Dad and we Love You!

To Write Love On Her Arms

To Write Love On Her Arms

There are times in our lives when we feel like we're all alone. It feels like the whole world's turned their back on you, that nobody could ever love you. You feel invisible & insignificant. You think that if you'd just disappear that everyone else's lives would be better.

But........

There's another way.

There's a better life.

There is infinite, immeasurable love.

There are people out there that have never met you, but love you. There is a God that is listening to your silent prayers because He's standing right next to you. Don't give up. Don't give in to the darkness that is creeping in on you from all sides. Every night eventually turns into day. Every storm passes. Every broken heart can heal.

Give life a chance.
Give love a chance to find a place in your heart.
Jesus died, so you might live.

Live.

Live.

Live.

Marina's New Show Choir Dance

Marina's show choir is learning to do "We're All In This Together" from the High School Musical. I found this video of the cast, hopefully it will help Marina!

Anna Nicole Smith - A Tragic Story

Mary and I were talking about Anna Nicole Smith's death this week. I told her that there was something incredibly tragic and sad about this story. She's been a mother, stripper, model, gold digger, laughing stock, grieving mother, and finally another victim of the porn industry where she got her start. At times she's been the hottest model in the business and other times a laughing stock. What a roller-coaster of a life.







Do you think Vickie Lynn Hogan ever saw her life spinning out of control the way that it did? For a brief time, it appeared that she had it all, and then just as quickly it was taken from her. Can you imagine what she felt when she found her son dead after having just given birth? That story impacted me so much more than I thought it would have. Were her hopes for the future pinned on her children like so many of ours?


Is her story the same as so many others that are involved in the adult entertainment industry? The porn industry tells us that riches and acceptance are within our reach if we're willing to just go to the "next level", but the reality is so very different. This is a true tragedy, just like so many other stories. I can't imagine what it would feel like to lose a child, especially after the birth of another. I can relate to having your life start to crumble around you, but not to the extent that Anna Nichole's did.


The thing that I have to remind myself, is that my story, your story, or the story of anyone of us could be very similar. We all have dirt in our past, all have made bad decisions and it's only through God's grace and forgiveness that we are able to carry on. So may you remember that you're not alone. May you know that there IS a greater power out there and that He has a plan for you. May your heart be open to His voice and willing to accept his plan.

No Regrets

Yesterday a friend and I attended the No Regrets Mens' Conference at Elmbrook Church in Brookfield, WI. (For the record, we used Google Map for directions and they sucked!) It was an incredible experience!!!! The church itself was huge and the worship team was awesome! I loved the moments when the team would stop singing and only the congregation would sing. It was so wonderful.


The Keynote speaker was Gordon MacDonald from CenterPoint Church. He was an eloquent speaker and shared with us his personal testimony. He talked about the story of Jonah and that when Jonah was in the whale's belly how awful it must have been. It must have smelled horrible and Jonah realized how far he had fallen from grace. Pastor MacDonald said, "I know the whale's belly very well" and continued to relate how he had found himself in that belly on many different occasions. It was something that I could really relate to.



The theme was "Finish Strong" and focused on us not coasting through life. It made me think about how many times I have just let the current of life take me this way and that. One of the seminars that we attended was titled "Finishing Strong in the Workplace." It started off pretty slow and I was beginning to wonder if we'd made the right choice coming to this one. Then it picked up and the speaker questioned if we left our faith at the door when we were at work. This is an area in my life that I have been struggling with. Living as a Christian in the Army can be very challenging, although there's no reason why it should be. The speaker asked whether anyone at work would know we were Christians or not. The answer for me would have to be "No." My work puts me in a position of leadership and influence and it's time I started leading the way God wants me to lead.


My personal favorite seminar was titled "Guarding Your Heart and Mind" and discussed pornography and sexual sin. The notes can be found here. This had been my dirty little secret that almost destroyed my marriage and through the works of organizations like XXX Church I've come to see how much I was in the Belly of the Whale like Jonah. They've helped me turn my life around and offer a free accountability software program called X3 Watch. This program sends a report to your chosen accountability partner (for me, it's Mary) that lists all the questionable website you visit. It's only by God's grace that Mary is still by my side. Thank you Lord and thank you Mary. I can never thank either of you two enough for this gift that you have given me.


This will be my first week in the worship team so I need to get going. I'll close with this question, If you died to today, would you be accused of being a Christian?

Last month, the family got their biggest Christmas present ever, a little puppy! Her name is Zoey and our landlords were generous enough to let us have a dog live in the house. They kids love her, and we're all glad that she's a part of the family. Anna, in particular, loves having someone around that she can play with.

My brother on the web

I found my brother Joe on the web today. He is a welder, participated in the International Apprenticeship Contest this year in the Industrial/Welding portion.

This last summer he took first place for the third year in a row! It's a very impressive acheivement that we're very proud of. It was also very surprising to find him on the internet. Way to go Joe!

Are You On Track?

I subscribe to several financial publications. The cover of the latest Money magazine is pictured below.










The headline story is titled "Are You On Track?" The first sentence says "FACE IT: YOU CAN'T HELP COMPARING YOURSELF WITH THE JONESES." It goes on to give tons of stats to compare yourself to. It even gives you a "How You Stack Up" chart that tells you if you're keeping up with your neighbors. This includes comparisons on the value of your home, your income, your debt, etc. etc.

For some reason, this really, really bothers me. If you look at the picture it shows a happy couple smiling for the camera, with the title written over them. Is this what we've been reduced to? Is the our value measured in dollar signs? Or maybe in our physical beauty? Maybe, we measure our value based on the praise of others of our children's accomplishments? Perhaps you're one of those people that only feel cherished when others are lavishing attention on you, and when that attention fades you feel empty.

It makes me wonder, How do we really determine if we are on-track? Who's "track" are we on? Are we on our own track? American society's track? Our family's track? What if there's a better way? What if God's plan for us doesn't involve us counting up all our possessions to determine who's the best person?

Pastor Rob Bell from Mars Hill Bible Church in Michigan addresses how truly blessed America is in last week's sermon, entitled Calling All Peacemakers: The questions of a kingdom. The slides that he used during the sermon can be found here. The bottom line is that the United States possess 21% of the entire world's wealth. At no other time in the world's history has this much wealth been consolidated in one country.


The Parable of the Rich Fool in Luke 12:16-21 says:

16And he told them this parable: "The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. 17He thought to himself, 'What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.'

18"Then he said, 'This is what I'll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19And I'll say to myself, "You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry." '

20"But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?'

21"This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God."


Pastor Tim Lucas, from Liquid Church, in a series titled Money, Debt and the Bible, discusses how this rich man realizes that he has too much stuff and has to build a bigger place to store it. His goal is to retire, eat, drink, and be merry. He isn't crazy, HE'S AMERICAN!!! How many of us have three car garages but don't have three cars? Myself included. One of the fastest growing business are off-site storage places. We're paying someone else to store our extra junk.

It all comes down to this. Many of us don't realize how truly, truly rich we are. 92% of the rest of the world don't even own a car, not to say two or three. The AVERAGE American lives in a lifestyle that only Royalty lived before. We are rich beyond compare. If statistics are to be believed, $20 billion dollars is required to provide everyone in the world with basic food, water, and shelter. The US spent $20 billion dollars on ice cream last year.

Think, just think, of how much GOOD we can do. Think about what God expects out of people that are as blessed as we are. Mary and I have spent over $700 this year on presents. A goat that will nourish a family for a year costs $75. We didn't buy a goat. We didn't. But if I look on the "How You Stack Up" chart, I'm right there in the Upper Middle Class. We're so blessed and we couldn't be bothered to buy a goat. So ask yourself, "Are You On Track with God's Plan for You?"

Boys' School Photos

My friend, the comedian

My old company executive officer is now a comedian. Just click the area below.

Abortion Banned in South Dakota

I used to think that South Dakota had very little to offer other than the Black Hills and Mount Rushmore. I would have never believed that this state would become the most contested battleground in the war against abortion.

Pro-Family Groups Hail South Dakota Abortion Ban

by Wendy Cloyd, assistant editor


The state now faces legal challenges that will likely end up before the Supreme Court.

South Dakota Gov. Mike Rounds signed into law today a bill that outlaws nearly all abortions in the state. Planned Parenthood has already announced plans to challenge its constitutionality.

The law states that "life begins at the time of conception, a conclusion confirmed by scientific advances since the 1973 decision of Roe v. Wade, including the fact that each human being is totally unique immediately at fertilization."

It also guarantees the rights of the mother and the unborn child and states the only way to fully protect both is to prohibit abortion.

"Guarantee of due process of law under the Constitution of South Dakota applies equally to born and unborn human beings," the law reads, "and . . . under the Constitution of South Dakota, a pregnant mother and her unborn child, each possess a natural and inalienable right to life."

Rounds said lawmakers were right to protect preborn children.

"In the history of the world, the true test of a civilization is how well people treat the most vulnerable and most helpless in their society," he said. "The sponsors and supporters of this bill believe that abortion is wrong because unborn children are the most vulnerable and most helpless persons in our society. I agree with them."

Planned Parenthood, not surprisingly, does not.

"Planned Parenthood denounced South Dakota Governor Mike Rounds' signing of the South Dakota abortion ban today, vowing to fight the ban in court to protect the rights and health of women and families in South Dakota and across the country," the pro-abortion group announced on its Web site. "The Planned Parenthood community is deeply concerned and outraged."

Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, said the decision by the South Dakota Legislature sends a strong message to the nation that "judicial intimidation is over."

"This is how our system of government should work," he said. "The elected representatives of the people set policy that is reflective of the people they represent."

Perkins said technology and scientific information about prenatal development have steadily overcome the myths and lies perpetuated by the abortion industry.

"Give the people or their elected representatives a voice," he said, "and you will find that most of America wants major changes in the abortion-on-demand regime that has stood only by judicial fiat for 33 years."

Bruce Hausknecht, judicial analyst for Focus on the Family Action, said the South Dakota law does directly challenge Roe v. Wade, which gave constitutional recognition to a "right" to abortion.

"The South Dakota law criminalizes all abortion except to save the life of the mother," he told CitizenLink. "If it wasn't going to be challenged in court, the law could go into effect and be enforced."

Planned Parenthood and other abortion groups, he added, will file a lawsuit before the effective date of the new law, seeking an injunction against its enforcement.

"In all likelihood, a federal court will issue an injunction blocking the law, which will be appealed to the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals, and ultimately to the Supreme Court," Hausknecht said. "That process will take at minimum a couple years to complete. No federal court below the Supreme Court is empowered to overrule Roe v. Wade and declare that South Dakota 's ban to be constitutional."

Once the case makes it to the Supreme Court, the outcome will depend on the make-up of the high court at that time. Until then, abortion will remain legal in South Dakota .

"By the time the case makes it to the Supreme Court, one or two liberal judges will have retired, replaced by constitutionalists who will once and for all overrule Roe, which will send the abortion issue to the states," Hausknecht said. "At that point, South Dakota 's statute will also be upheld and any injunction dissolved."

Carrie Gordon Earll, senior analyst for bioethics at Focus on the Family Action, said South Dakota 's stand could just be the first of many. Several other states are now considering similarly sweeping pro-life legislation.

"The pro-abortion Center for Reproductive Rights predicted in October of 2004 that as many as thirty states are poised to pass similar abortion bans once the Supreme Court barrier to such action is removed," she said. "Today's brave action in South Dakota may be the first step in making that a reality."

This is truly the most exciting news that I've heard in years! Naturally, the liberals are hell bent on preserving their right to kill the unborn. They are bring in power players like Jane "Hanoi Jane" Fonda and Robin Williams. They have a budget of $8 million and are launching a media blitz on the citizens of South Dakota trying to get them to repeal that law next month.

We, as Christians, have a responsibility to fight for this law. Details can be found on the Vote Yes For Life homepage. I urge any of you who have friends in South Dakota to contact them and explain to them how critical their vote is. If you can donate your time, then consider organizing a missionary campaign (yes, you can do missionary work here within the US!). At the very least pray for the success of this law and for the unborn children that can't defend themselves.

Marina's Volleyball Picture

Here's Marina's volleyball picture for this fall.

Survivor Cook Island: Asian-Americans listed as Favorite Race.

For those of you who weren't aware, this season's Survivor contestants are organized by race. There are four groups, Asians, Hispanics, Caucasians, and Blacks. Now, imagine the conversations going on in our Mexican-Vietnamese Czech household!



I won't tell you what group lost, but the group that finished first today was........ wait for it...... The Asians!!!!! They were followed by the Hispanics, so in my mind everyone in the household won. There was a puzzle near the end and I told Mary that the Asians were going to win because of the puzzle. She threatened and is still threatening to kick my ass, but nevertheless, the hispanics were leading UNTIL they hit the puzzle portion. Mary just hit my shoulder so I hope that the hispanics win next week and the asians come in second.

According to Gambling911, the Asian Americans were listed as the favorite. Now, since Gambling 911 has a huge asian base, this shouldn't be a big surprise. The Asian-American forum, Yellowworld has a ton of comments as well.
There is a lot of debate about this season, but I think it's really interesting. The minorities all feel that they have to represent their race in a positive light, while the caucasians seem more interested in hooking up with each other. We'll see if that makes a difference in the long run.

Oh I have to go now. Anna's asleep and that means Mary and I can get some private time........ TTFN.

Crocodile Hunter

Look, the latest fad! Gator Tagging!

Honoring My Wife

I was listening to a radio interview with Rob and Dianne Parsons, who run Care for the Family in the UK. It is similair to Focus on the Family. Caroly Parson hosts seminars for stay-at-home mothers, where she discusses the many challenges of staying at home. More importantly, she tells the mothers how truly important their services are. My favorite line of the interview went something like this:

"When a person asks me, as a stay-at-home mom, what I do for a living, I like to tell them that I am a Social Director that is currently working with three age groups. The first group are infants to toddlers, which requires a certain amount of expertise in psychology and a lot of hard work. The next group is with teenagers, and I confess that this program hasn't been going as well as we would like. The last group is a gentlemen who's in his late thirties to early forties and is exhibiting all the symptoms of a mid-life crisis. This one requires a great deal of patience anda degree in psychology."

I loved that tale and to me it real captures the importance and complexity of what Mary does every day with the kids (except for the mid-life crisis, I went through that in my mid-twenties so I could knock it out while I still had plenty of energy). There are many times, particularly when money is tight (which is most of the time), that Mary questions the value of what she does. Nevertheless, she is working seven days a week, almost 15 hours a day! If I had to pay someone that it would cost me an arm and a leg. More importantly, everday she is developing our kids into mature, God-loving, adults (the next question is when will I mature?) and there is no greater accomplishment than this.

So, I just wanted to publically thank, my wife, and all stay-at-home mothers, for all the sacrifices they do. It may be thankless to some, but for those that it really matters to, we can't thank you enough.

Podcast Ministries

You know what's incredible? Podcasts Ministries! I know, I know, what am I talking about? Podcasts are pretty much radio talk shows converted into a MP3 that you can download on your MP3 Player. The nice thing about podcasts is that you don't have to have a huge radio studio to make them.

Recently I've been listening to two ministries on my iPod. Focus on the Family with Dr. James Dobson and Family Life Today with Dennis Rainey.


Both can be downloaded at the links provided. I started listening to them shortly after getting my iPod because I had listened to all of my Doctor Who - Big Finish Adventures and the songs on the radio (yes even on my Sirius radio!) were starting to get a bit repetitious. Lots of time when I'm driving I'm unable to listen to an entire radio show because my drive doesn't exactly coincide with the show. A 20 minute drive just doesn't cover the entire 30 minute . Enter ..... the podcast!

These two ministries have really made me do a lot of thinking about my family and our connection with God. I realize that there were a lot of times that I have not set the best example for my kids by the way I act or speak. I listed to them for about a hour a day and they've also helped me start to begin the process of recovery from a lot of the life's pitfalls that I've found myself in.

Most recently, there has been a series of episodes about raising children in a society that is obsessed with sex. I believe that every parent is concerned about this. What I didn't realize though, were all the wonderful resources out there that help parents connect with both the Lord and their children in order maintain their purity. The Christian Contemporary artist Rebecca St. James and writer Dannah Gresh have set up a series call Secret Keeper Girl that organizes 8 mother/daughter dates to discuss these topics.

Marina seems to have a connection with Rebecca St. James and BarlowGirl, whose concert we will be attending in October. I pray that these positive influences will have a lasting impact in her life. I think the thought of my daughter losing her innocence is one of the most stressful thoughts I can imagine.





Also, there is a very eye-opening book, Teaching True Love to a Sex-at-13 Generation, written by Eric and Leslie Ludy. I read the first chapter and it really made me want to sit down with Marina and build on our relationship. The other thing I realized though was that I have to start these talks with the kids at a much younger age, which means talking with Phillip and Nicholas. Children at their age are being introduced to society's image of sex already. This is a very disturbing thought, but if Mary and I ignore that fact then the influence of TV, music, peers, etc. will be how our kids form their view of themselves and of the opposite sex.









The thought of talking to my two boys about sex, purity, and God is pretty daunting, especially if you know my two boys. I wonder if I can somehow connect it to Star Wars to keep their attention?

August ReCap

Mary and the kids are in Minnesota for Carter's birthday party right now. I wished I could have been there but the Mission Readiness Exercise (MRX) that we've been putting together kicks off this week and it's always busiest right before the beginning. In fact, at this point in most exercises or deployments, everyone just wants to get started and stop overthinking everything. We're training almost 1,000 soldiers over the next couple of weeks! Fortunately, things are finally starting to come together, which is better than we thought about two weeks ago. Also, we're getting a lot of the OC/T (Observer Controller/Trainers) in. These people have a lot of experience and it's really helping with the final stages of preparation. Last night we issued the Operations Orders (OPORD) to the units going through the exercise. It was pretty bloodless, which is a huge change from 3/2 SBCT or 3d ACR, where these sort of things can become quite bloody. The exercise begins in just three days and then things will finally start moving to a steady flow.

Since, I haven't written for a month (and I'm still trying to get Mary to write another submission) here's a couple of big events that have happened in the last 30 days:

1) Attack of the Bees!

Marina was cutting the front yard and drove over an underground yellowjacket hive. She kept driving and was out of the area before the wasps got out of the hive to attack, but Anna was not! They swarmed over her and Mary had to run and grab her, getting stung several times in the process. Between the two of them they had almost twenty stings! Mary had three stings in one earlobe, which made her look like a lopsided mexican version of Dumbo. Both are finally getting better and to quote a co-worker, "Anna has the start of a great phobia."



2) Mary Gets All Four Wisdom Teeth Sawed Out!

Last week the team at Gunderson-Lutheran removed Mary's four impacted wisdom teeth. Ouch!!!!!



3) Mary Meets Her First 10% Weight Loss Goal!

Wow! Congratulations Mary! I'm so proud of you. The Weight Watchers Program has been working great for her, mainly because of the support groups. When she gets to her weight loss goal I promised I would buy her a new wardrobe. I think I'll be happy and sad that day.



4)I Got an iPod!

One of the guys at work sold me his 60GB G4 Photo iPod for $150. I love it and have been playing with it and all the podcasts for the last four weeks.



I also bought a FM Transmitter for it that allows me to use it with any radio.



5) MAJOR Mike

Looks like the Army has finally got desperate enough to promote me. Actually it was really wonderful because both sides of the family were there. The last time that my parents were at an Army ceremony was when I was first commissioned. Here are a couple of pics.






6) Attack of the BATS!

Bats number three and four were in the house last week. Number three was dead laying in Marina's room. We think the ceiling fan killed it. Marina found it when she was laying on the floor and Phillip saw it right next to her head.

We first met number four while watching a movie and it flew through the living room. We couldn't find it that night so the kids all slept in our room. The next night while Mary and I were going to the bathroom at 2AM it flew by me and I chased after it and killed it with my Daisy-Wilson combination bat extermination weapon. It's actually my tennis racket and BB gun.

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Well, gotta run and get ready for church.

Lifest!!!

Hope everyone likes the changes to our Blog.

For our vacation, we went to a Christian concert in Oshkosh, WI. It was one of those 5-day concerts and in true Pavek style we went for one day.

The day before we had come home after spending a week in MN with Abuela and going to Leah's wedding. It was my third trip from Minnesota so we were all a little tired and decided to sleep in later than originally planned (we were going to leave at about 7 AM). However, after everyone deciding that they wanted to eat and us going through our normal chaotic decision making process that resulted in 3/4 of the family eating at the local Kwik Trip and the rest eating at Subways, we left at 10 AM. Still, it was going to be a long day so there was no sense in getting toooooo upset.

A few hours later we made it up there and we were all excited to get going. Mary suggested that Phillip take out his Razor scooter and ride it around. I thought that it would be best if he kept it in the van until we got a chance to see around. He took the scooter.

The first thing that we saw there was actually the Kids Zone play area. It was a pretty neat setup, however, there was one ladder and slide that kids were racing up and down. The workers at the bottom were timing them to see who went the fastest. I thought to myself that this was a recipe for disaster. Just as I thought that, one young Einstein thought that it would be faster to skip the slide portion and just jump off. I thought to myself, "that's going to hurt" as he screamed in agony and was carried away. My kids, on the other hand, had a good time.


Nick at the Kids Zone

After that we went to a panel with the band BarlowGirl and Rebecca Saint James. It was called a Purity Panel and discussed maintaining a teenager's virginity and modesty. I really liked what they had to say, even if I didn't agree with it all.

After that we went to the Worship Together booth to listen to some live music. Afterwards we went to the Grandstand to listen to the first concert. A woman was nice enough to point us to an open area in the second row!!!! The first concert was Todd Agnew. I really love his voice, although the crowd wasn't as into him as they would later get for the follow-on acts.

BarlowGirl came next. This was my favorite show of the night. They had a lot to say and they sounded fantastic. After the show we got in line and got their autographs.






Afterwards, Rebecca Saint James performed. Mary really loved what she had to say and her show was also really great. Her brother, who was one of the background singers, reminded me of what Phjllip might be like when he gets older. Of course, we got her autograph afterwards as well.




The last show that we saw was Michael W. Smith, although I didn't see much of that because I was in line for Rebecca St. James. TobyMac played after Michael W. Smith, but by that time it was already 11:30 PM and we were all feeling pretty tired. I wished I could have stayed and saw the show, but was glad that I left when I did, because Mary and I were pretty slap happy on the ride home.

All in all it was an experience that left a huge impact on us. It was so incredible to be surrounded by people that were there to worship Christ and hopefully we'll all be there for next year's concert.

Sorry France!!!!!

Today was the World Cup Finals with '98 World Cup Champ, France playing against Italy. Italian player De Rossi was responsible for the vicious elbow to US Player Brian McBride. Consequently, FIFA suspended De Rossi for 4 World Cup matches! The best part, however, was when a French player "accidently" elbowed De Rossi in the head, taking him out of most of the game.

Later on in the game, star French Player, Zidane got into an argument with an Italian player that resulted in the Masters of the Universe style headbutt that you see. It resulted in Zidane receiving a Red Card and getting ejected from the game. When the game went into overtime and later into a penalty shootout, Zidane's absence resulted in France LOSING the match! Viva la France!!!!!!!