josh wilson pics

Sunday was an amazingly great day at NewPointe. We continued the UnTypical series by looking at what we can learn about untypical courage from Benaiah...but not before Josh Wilson took the stage to do some of his music (including the 3 Minute Song). He's amazing.

Here's a pic I took of him during the pre-service run-through:

After the services we headed to our favorite place to hang out with Christian recording artists like Josh Wilson and Worth Dying For...Daryl and Lee Ann Miller's. Per usual, Lee Ann put out a ridiculous spread. Here's Josh enjoying some of Teddy's famous nachos.

And this is becoming a tradition: Guitar Hero with our guest artists. Here's Josh checking out Natalie vs. Joey.

And here's Josh whoopin' on Big Dan (this, of course, will prompt Dan to leave a comment on my blog)

Later in the day we had an awesome tailgate party (before Josh's concert). And Josh jumped right in, mixing it up with everyone who came. Here's Josh playing catch with the Monkey Boy:

And the highlight of Natalie's day may have been getting to play "pickle" with Josh.

The concert was off-the-hook. Amazing. Afterwards Josh stuck around to meet everyone and sign autographs. He's just a great guy.

And after all that...we headed back to the parking lot for more tailgating...wings, ribs, you name it. Dwight indulged...

As did Josh...and Danny...and Dan...and...

Great day. Great fun. Great ministry. I love NewPointe.

can you identify the animal that left this print?

Took the fam to Mohican on Saturday for a picnic and hiking. Andrew, Natalie, Naomi, and I took a three-mile hike through the forest. Along the way, Andrew asked if I thought there might be pumas in these woods. (Pumas?!) I assured him that we wouldn't have to worry about pumas and he was cool with that until Naomi found this paw print in the mud...

We have no idea what animal this could be. The kids put their feet next to it to offer some size perspective. Too big to be a dog. Big claw marks, too. What do YOU think? Bear? In Ohio? Puma? :) Feel free to share your opinion.

the monkey boy's birthday

Saturday was Andrew's sixth birthday. His big gift: a trip to Cleveland for the Reds/Indians game. If you don't already know, we're Reds fans (Jenny and I grew up in Cincy). So Andrew, by default, is also a Reds fan.

We got to the game early in hopes of catching some BP and perhaps an autograph or two.

Andrew took this sign with him. I bet he had 100 people wish him happy birthday at the ballpark...including Reds first baseman, Joey Votto. Joey saw Andrew's sign, came over to the railing, wished him happy birthday, chatted for a moment and then signed a mini-helmet and his ball cap. And get this, Andrew was the only dude in the ballpark that got an autograph that night. There was no BP due to rain...and NOBODY was signing...except one guy...for Andrew.

I couldn't get my camera phone out in time to catch Joey Votto with Andrew...figures. But here's proof of the encounter:

Mommy and Monkey Boy enjoying the game:
In the third inning Andrew was bugging me to use my phone to take a picture. So what does he take a picture of? Me. Here's his handiwork:

A great time, as they say, was had by all. And the icing on the cake? The Reds won 5-0. Happy birthday AJ!

alive!

The Bunn fam invaded the Alive Festival last night. Here are a few pics and highlights...

Ran into Lee Ann Miller's kid, Joey. I said, "Hey Joey, where's your mom? He smiled and showed me his shirt...

If you know Lee Ann, this doesn't surprise you. The truth is...we knew were Lee Ann was. She was there with Brandon Bunnelle shooting video for NewPointe. The Sunday morning announcement segment at church should be VERY interesting tomorrow.

Naomi and her friend were really getting into Thousand Foot Krutch. Yeah, TFK's soothing sounds could put anybody to sleep. NOT!
The highlight of the evening came when TobyMac hit the stage. Toby always puts on a fun show. Here's a pic (from afar):

The highlight for our kids was when they actually got to meet TobyMac (and get autographs). Lee Ann and Brandon got to meet TobyMac, too. Don't miss the announcements tomorrow! :)

fastpitch natalie

Natalie is on the 7th grade softball team at Garaway. Her first game was a couple weeks ago so this post is a bit over-due. The league they're in is for girls 14 and under. Natalie, because of when her birthday is, could have still played in the 12 and under league this year but instead, she's playing "up."

At the first game the other team had a pitcher who was flat bringin' it. Natalie was batting lead-off. And I'm thinking, oh man, how's she gonna catch up to that heat? Well I'll tell ya how she caught up to it...she spanked the first pitch of the game over the first baseman's head for a solid base hit.

On her second at-bat she grounded out hard to the shortstop. The third time up, well, Leslie Yoder got a nice shot of what happened the third time up:

Yep. She got plunked by the flame-thrower. You can see the ball on its way to the ground after it drilled her in the side of her butt. Yeah...it left a mark...but she scored later...and had to slide at home, leaving a matching mark on her other butt cheek.

They lost the game...but they've picked up the pace recently, winning each of their last two contests.

And just for good measure, here's a pic of Natalie pitching in the same game:

It's so much fun to watch her play.

niagara (the canadian side)

On Sunday we journeyed across the border to view the falls from the Canadian side. Spectacular. Here are a couple pics I took with my camera phone:

American Falls:

Horseshoe Falls (see the Maid of the Mist?)

As I viewed the falls, I was struck with the thought of what an amazing artist God is. Who but God could think up such incredible, massive, mind-blowing art-in-motion? His creativity is beyond measure. Creation screams at me: HOW BIG IS GOD!?! The power of the falls, the beauty of the blue foam-filled waters, the expansive sky...it's art that penetrates every one of your senses...who but God?

The Canadian side offers a great view...and it's interesting to venture into another country...but everything there is pretty darn expensive (I visited the Harley shop on Clifton Hill...$50 t-shirts...T-SHIRTS!). There are also a lot of crazy, touristy type places (Ripley's Believe It Or Not, Guinness World Records, haunted houses...we didn't do any of that stuff). We managed to spend very little money in Canada ($12 for two blizzards and a small cone from Dairy Queen and $5 for parking). The weather was perfect. More later....

niagara falls

Here's the first installment of some thoughts, highlights, and photos of our trip to Buffalo for my cousin Karen's wedding.

We took the kids to see the falls each of the last two days. Saturday we viewed the falls from the American side.

The mist from the horseshoe falls is visible from miles away. The whole experience is breathtaking.

Here's a shot of Natalie and Naomi standing atop the American Falls (right in between bridal veil fall and the American falls...it's 170+ feet to the bottom)...

Here we see the three crazies mugging for the camera at Three Sisters Islands near the falls.

Today we pack up to head back home. It's been great to see all the amazing sites and do some pretty cool stuff. But the best part, by far, was just being able to hang out with family that we love (and...they really know how to have a good time). It's been awesome spending time with Aunt Jenny, Uncle David, my dad, and my sister Allison (we also managed to squeeze a little time in with my newly wedded cousin, Karen and her sister Jamie). We all decided that we don't see each other often enough. We're going to try to correct that.

blogging from buffalo

I'm blogging from my hotel room in Buffalo right now. We just returned from my cousin's wedding and reception. We had a great time. First-class wedding. Tremendous reception. I ate too much (why do I do that?).

I've got a lot to blog about in the next few days. Here are a few "quick-hit" previews of coming posts:

• It only took us four hours to drive from our house to Buffalo. I honestly didn't know it was that close. We should come here more often.
• My cousin married a really nice guy that works for the Buffalo Bills. It's always great to see family (including my dad and my sister Allison who flew in from Kentucky).
• Speaking of the Bills...the team's QB (Trent Edwards) was in the wedding. Andrew (one of the world's great football freaks) was lovin' it. He got to meet Trent (who was very cool to Andrew). More on that, including pics, in a later post).
• My cousin, Karen, got married at this church: The Chapel at Crosspoint. VERY impressive. I'm hoping we can make it to church there this Sunday.
• We're also disappointed that we're going to miss church at NewPointe this week. Sunday's going to be an absolutely amazing day (including baptisms). I sure hope YOU don't miss it!
• We're going to take the kids to Niagara Falls while where here. I'm looking forward to seeing Andrew's reaction when he sees it (although I'm guessing he'll come home talking more about Trent Edwards than Niagara Falls).

Bed time...I'm out!

weekend miscellany

1. Took the fam to see Prince Caspian last night. The whole Bunn family agrees...five thumbs way up! The movie seemed to get better and better as it progressed. The battle sequences were ridiculously amazing. The special effects...some of the best I've ever seen in any movie. Bottom line: we highly recommend it. There are some "scary" moments in the film (we were wondering about how Andrew might handle them). No problems. Everyone slept well last night (no bad dreams). The theater was packed. We got there early so we could get decent seats (there's nothing worse than having to sit in the front and look straight up to see the movie). It's fun to watch movies when the theater is full. More energy. More excitement. Kinda like going to church at NewPointe.
2. Looks like the weather has walloped the Faster Pastor race again this weekend. I showed up at the speedway yesterday for some practice laps and was informed that the races has been rescheduled for August 9. Oh well...plenty of time to get ready for that one now.
3. Naomi's softball games were supposed to start this week. We had games scheduled for Monday and Friday. Both games were rained out (which is why we were able to go see Narnia last night). I'm coaching Naomi's team. We should be tough. We've got a team full of hitters. If our pitchers can throw strikes (big question mark--it's most of these kids' first year of kid-pitch), we should be okay.
4. We're heading to Buffalo, NY next weekend for my cousin's wedding. We're trying to do it "on the cheap." With gas prices as ridiculous as they are right now, we're re-thinking everything. We've saved some restaurant gift cards for the trip (we even cashed in our Speedy Rewards points for a $50 Applebee's card). So we'll be eating at Applebee's (probably twice). We also cut our nights at the hotel from four to three (another big savings). And really, it's all about the gas prices. It's probably going to cost about $250 just for the gas next weekend.

nomie, john q, and me

Tonight Naomi and I spent the evening together working on her big end-of-the-year school project. It's a reading assignment and an oral report that is to be accompanied by what's called a bio-bottle. What's a bio-bottle, you ask? A bio-bottle is a two liter pop bottle that's been made to look like the historical figure you've read about. The assignment allowed the students to choose any historical figure at all. Naomi chose...John Quincy Adams. She's read the book, she's ready for the report so tonight was bio-bottle night!

We went shopping last week for the craft materials needed in order to transform a Diet Coke bottle into John Quincy Adams. Tonight we put it all together. The result...

phrases i heard uttered in my home today

Andrew while bugging his older sister:
I can't make myself stop.

Natalie while instructing Andrew on football:
Try not to tackle yourself.

Andrew while reenacting a football play in slow-mo:
Okay, pretend I'm me.

Is your family weird, too?

check out my new kicks

So I'm at my grandpa's funeral last week and in walks my nephew, Mitchell. Mitchell is 14 years old and about 6'3" tall. He had some pretty cool shoes on, so I say, "Mitchell, dude, I like your shoes."

Mitchell says, "Mom made me wear them...they're too small. My toes are crammed into them right now."

So I ask, "What size are they?"

He says, "11."

I ask, "What size do you wear?"

"12 and a half."

I say, "Dude, I wear 11's. I'll give you $20 for them right now."

So I've got a new pair of shoes...

my grandpa

My Grandpa, Hugh I. Bunn, passed away Sunday. He was 89. We're going to miss him but we know he's better off. As my dad put it, at 4:00 a.m. on Sunday, Grandpa walked (key word, walked) through the gates of pearl and met Jesus face to face. No more pain. No more discomfort. We're all glad for him.

The funeral was Wednesday. And it was a celebration. The reason we could celebrate is twofold. One, we celebrated because of the life he led. Grandpa was a great guy. And he loved the Lord. And that's the second reason we could celebrate: We're not wondering where he's spending eternity. We know where he is because he had a personal relationship with Jesus.

Here are a few memories of Grandpa that will cherish:

• Going to his house as a kid to spend the night. Grandpa's place was awesome. Everything a kid could want: an in-ground swimming pool, woods to explore, a playground on the other side of the woods, and of course, Grandpa and Grandma.


• Grandpa took me to a fireworks show after I had misbehaved badly one day. He told me I better not tell my parents about it.


• Christmastime carried huge family tradition with it. Every Christmas Eve the entire family would gather at their home for a wild times. Two things highlighted every Christmas Eve: 1. Grandpa posing as Santa Clause outside, ringing a bell and leaving a big bag of presents on the front porch. It was so exciting. 2. The Chicken Dance. The entire family would cluck and scratch around the room to a very cool chicken rendition of In The Mood. This was usually capped off by Grandma laying an egg by the Christmas tree. Fun times.


• One time, after posing as Santa and delivering the gifts, Grandpa got locked outside of the house and couldn't get back in. We were all just yucking it up, having a good time, opening gifts and apparently didn't miss him. He stood outside in the freezing cold until it occurred to somebody, "Where's Grandpa?"


• The spread of food was always amazing at Christmas. Grandpa was a great cook.


• Grandpa was also a world-class eater. I always said, "If eating was an Olympic event, he'd take home the gold."


• Grandpa really enjoyed life. He knew how to have fun.


• As newlyweds, Jenny and I often visited Grandpa at his home on Lake Cumberland. We'd spend hours and hours on the lake, swimming and water skiing. In fact, he's the one who taught me how to water ski.


• I could go on, but one of my fondest memories will be from this past November. My dad had a revival at his church and invited my brother-in-law, my uncle, and myself (all pastors) to preach. On the first night of revival, Grandpa sat in the front row (as usual). During prayer time, Dad opened the altar to anyone who wanted to come forward to pray. Grandpa, 89 years old, with four hip replacement surgeries, basically crawled to the altar and knelt to pray. He just wanted to be close to God.
  

I love my Grandpa. I'll miss him. But I know I'll see him again one day.

this pic is of my Grandpa and my sister celebrating their birthdays during the revival weekend last November

newspaper article about my brother Chris

Many of you know that in November my half-brother, Chris was in a horrific motorcycle accident. Many of you have been praying for him. Thank you all for your prayers and for asking about his progress.

Recently Chris's hometown newspaper ran an article about his ordeal. It's worth the read. Check it out by clicking here.

Chris, man, I'm proud of you! You ARE a fighter. We're all still praying for you!

'boxing at the bunns

We've never had video games at our house. Mainly, we've just never been all that interested. That's about to change. Yesterday, while shopping in Canton, I bought the family a (don't laugh)...I bought the family a (really, don't laugh)...Xbox. No...not the Xbox 360. No, I bought is a refurbished Xbox from GameStop. The way I figure it, we've never had a gaming system, so the Xbox should be a lot of fun for us.

The guy at the store says it's a great system but he tried to warn me saying, "They're just not making any new games for it." I said, "That's fine with me because they'll all be new to us."

So $70 later I left with an Xbox and two games to go with it. They're racing games because that's what Andrew LOVES. I figure it'll be fun for him to race against Daddy.

So...if you're reading this blog saying to yourself, "Sheesh, how lame...an Xbox," and you're finished with yours...feel free to throw some old games and/or controllers my way (the refurb only comes with one controller)...only if you're not going to be using your's anymore. :)

And oh...don't tell my kids. Don't worry...they rarely read my blog.

the wisdom of andrew bunn (thoughts on marriage)

Watched The Nativity Story with the fam last night. Three quarters of the way into it, Andrew's curiosity grew and he asked, "If Joseph and Mary are married, how come they don't kiss?" (Because that's what married people do, right?)

Jenny asked him, "Andrew, when you're married are you going to kiss your wife?"

Andrew's response: "Yeah...if I'm brave."

thankful

Happy Thanksgiving.

It was just our family at home today...all day. It's been a good day. Turkey, mashed potatoes, pecan pie, pumpkin pie...the works thanks to Jenny Bunn. She rocks. At dinner Naomi asked each of us to share something we're thankful for. I shared...and I'll share some more right here:

• My family. I can't get enough of 'em.
• Jesus. Unbelievable friend and leader.
• A sense of meaning and purpose in my life. As Dwight would say, I've experience success, now God has given me significance. Words can't describe how sweet that feels.
• Good health. I'm pushing 40 and I can still get up and down the basketball court pretty well (can still knock down the 3-ball, too).
• Friends. There's not many things better than sitting down and having a meaningful conversation with people you care about. I got to do that several times this week.

back from ky

Thanks for your prayers. It was a good trip. Got to spend some time with my family. Celebrated my sister's 33rd birthday with her today. We also celebrated my grandfather's birthday...he turns 89 tomorrow. Here are a few more highlights:

• My brother-in-law gave a great message Friday night about worship. Strong.
• My uncle delivered a strong message last night about wells...it was...deep. :)
• Ate at a great Mexican joint for lunch yesterday. Pretty much had the entire Bunn side of the family take over the restaurant (view the pics here).
• Got to ride my brother Chris's crotch rocket Friday. Very cool.
• Got to pray with my dad at revival Friday night. Very cool also.
• Got to preach to a packed house today (Thanks, Dad, for the opportunity).
• Ate like an idiot all weekend.
• It took us 6.5 to get down there...exactly 5 hours to get back. How's that work?
• It's good to be home.

revival in kentucky

We're heading off to Kentucky this morning. I'll be preaching at a revival at my dad's church. It's a family kind of thing...my brother-in-law pastors a church in Indiana. He'll be preaching tonight. My uncle pastors a church in the Chicago area, he'll be preaching tomorrow night. And then I'm preaching Sunday morning. Please pray for me.

raising a teenager? how far is too far (sexually) for them to go?

When I read something helpful, I want to pass it along. Several weeks ago, I mentioned in this blog a book that Jenny and I began reading together: Kissed the Girls and Made Them Cry by Lisa Bevere. The subtitle is Why women lose when they give in.

If you're parenting girls, or you're a single young lady...read this book!

Jenny and I are reading because we're always seeking wisdom and godly counsel on parenting--particularly now that we have a daughter in junior high. We've read the first few chapters and here are a couple of the "scuds" I thought were worth sharing:

• After praying for insight for what she should share about dating, boys, and sex with teenage girls at her church, she said this is what she received from the Holy Spirit: "You are looking for rules to restrict their behavior. Rules will not keep them. The empowerment they need must be born out of relationship. Change their focus from what they can't do to what they can do."


• What can they do? Here's what she had to say about dressing suggestively: She said, "I think [dressing suggestively] is a great idea. Go right ahead and dress like a whore if you want to attract a whoremonger. It's like fishing--the bait you use will determine what you'll catch. So if you want to hook a sleazy guy, by all means dress sleazy."


• When asked the big question: How far is too far? Here was her reply: "You can go as far with your boyfriend as you are comfortable doing in front of your father. For your father is the protector and guardian of the virtue for daughters." Wow.

She said that the whispering and giggling stopped and you could hear a pin drop. Each girl was visiting that scenario in her mind. In front of my dad? What would that look like? Come on, we don't do things like that in front of our fathers.

She continues in the book: This is true, for most everything we would do sexually we'd do behind closed doors, in darkened corners, under the cover of night, in a car, or in a drug or alcohol haze. If we were brazen enough, perhaps we'd mess around in a dark room of our homes while our parents slept elsewhere, but never in the light, sober, right in front of our dads.

She said she'd knew she'd given the right answer to the wrong question from a generation of confused and vulnerable girls.

Jenny and I, as we read this book, we cry together. We long to be the kind of parents God wants us to be. We want to raise God-loving, God-honoring kids. And we need help. 'Cause parenting ain't easy. So I'm just passing along some of the stuff that's rocking our world right now.