Perpetual Creativity Disease

Do you find that you are most creative when you set out to create something... or do you look at everything around you with creative eyes? There is a difference in just doing creative stuff and actually being creative.

When you walk through Lowes or Home Depot... are you just focused on picking up that gallon of paint... or do you scan the shelves on each aisle imagining what all of the cool stuff could be used to create? When you visit a theme park... do you just stand in line and complain about the heat or the long wait... or do you study the design and color of the buildings and signs along the way to get ideas for a project that you may work on eventually?

If you find that everything around you is a source of "inspiration"... you may just have something called Perpetual Creativity Disease.... or PCD for short. When you have Perpetual Creativity Disease... the whole world is a palette. You will find potential in everything that you see around you. Ideas will just begin to jump off of shelves... through windows... out of your radio speakers. Creativity... creativity... will be everywhere!

WARNING: PCD is highly contagious! You can catch it (or keep it) from hanging out with other creative people... especially children (because they have not yet been discouraged by the adult concept of "one way to do everything"). As a matter of fact... you should surround yourself with others who are infected with the disease. Maybe then you will discover that you are not the only person who looks at life from a different perspective. As a matter of fact... it has been proven that choosing to surround yourself with other PCD infected folks may result in the following positive side effects:

Excessive inspiration
Chronic synergy
Spontaneous "out of the box" thinking
Fresh perspective
Complete loss of creative barriers
Extraordinary fun
Abnormal problem solving skills
Uncontrollable "impulsivity"
Fits of encouragement
and an Endless flow of ingenious ideas!

Simpsonized

I was checking out John Bunn's blog this afternoon and saw that he had been "Simpsonized". So it made me start to wonder what my family would look like "Simpsonized". Well... with a little "tweaking"... this is what I came up with.

End of Vacation... Back to Reality.

Well... we're home. It was so hard to leave the ocean... but I know that it will still be there when we return. The drive home was very LONG. We sort of took our time (maybe too much time) and ended up getting home around 3:00 this morning.

We stopped by John's Island on our way home to see "the oldest living thing east of the Mississippi" (I know... sounds like something from "National Lampoon's Family Vacation"). It is a tree called the "Angel Oak". It is believed to be over 1400 years old. It stands over 65 feet high and covers an area 17,000 square feet. It's longest limb is 89 feet long and 12 feet in circumference. OK... so it was a lot cooler than the Griswold's "House of Mud"... right?

We stopped at a STUCKEY'S somewhere in Virginia for a bathroom/snack stop. While we were there... we ran into some old friends from Grove City, Ohio (from a church in the Columbus area that we used to serve at). Dan and Kim Milam were on there way home from Hilton Beach. What are the chances of running into folks you know at a rest stop along your route home??? I was pretty amazed! It was great to catch up with them and to get to meet their 3 very cool little boys.

Somewhere in West Virginia (I believe) we stopped at the classiest McDonald's that I have ever seen. I know that you can't really make out what the framed prints are on the wall... but they are creative shots of musical instruments. I am really into the whole atmosphere thing in a restaurant. To find a McDonald's with a little class was a breath of fresh air.


Remember... we got home at 3:00 AM? Well... I got a call this morning that the Angel Food Ministries truck was running late and they were needing a few extra hands to unload at the church. So I got up and went over to the church to help out. I knew that I was going to need to pick up my own food order anyways... so why not? Man, was I ever blessed to get to be a part of it! What an incredible ministry! The people who picked up the food were so appreciative. The folks that serve in the Angel Food Ministries are amazing! Wilma Mast and her team are so organized and friendly. I decided to go ahead and stay to help carry food out to people's cars. I had a blast! I had the opportunity to meet a lot of great folks. I think I will volunteer on my own next month.

If you haven't taken advantage of this new ministry of NewPointe... you are really missing out. Check out the link above to see for yourself. You will be helping out people in the community while saving a few bucks on your grocery bill. You can order the food on-line too! Pretty cool huh?

Well... I am going to go practice for tomorrow morning... and then I am going to take a nap. I am beat! The new season of KidStuf kicks off tomorrow! I can't wait! You will not want to miss it! Hope to see you there!

Vacation '07: Day 10

Today we decided to get out of the house (and off of the beach) to check out some of the shops around the island and eat out for a change. We have only eaten out twice in the past 10 days. Pretty amazing... eh? We did the whole "groceries" thing and ate in every day. You can sure save a lot money that way.




OK... so we found a little restaurant at the Bohicket Marina today called "Rosebanks". The food was pretty good... but we all agreed that the first place that we are going to eat when we get home is... EL SAN JOSE!

Aly found a Hummer and wanted dad to take her picture with it. She said "It's not black with pink flames... but it'll do".









In one store... we found a bottle of bubbles that boasted "a gazillion bubbles"... so I decided to count them.
My kids (and my wife) think that I am nuts.






One of the shops that we went into had some old toys on display. The photos to the left are of some of the toys that I had when I was a kid. WOW... it sure took me back to see them there. There was the "Big Jim Sports Camper". That used to be one of my favorites. Then there was the "Operation -like" JAWS game that would absolutely freak you out when that crazy spring-loaded mouth full of razor sharp plastic teeth snapped shut. The Evel Knievel Stunt Cycle! Man... I can remember running my Evel Knievel motorcycle up the plastic ramp and through that cardboard cut-out "hoop of flames". I bloodied up many a knuckle trying to crank that thing on the sidewalk. Do you remember that toy? Then there was the Six Million Dollar Man action figure (not a doll) with his bionic eye that you could actually look through. Did you guys have any of these toys? You will be telling your age... but 'fess up! What was your favorite childhood toy?

BTW: It looks like this particular Six Million Dollar Man didn't fair to well with the JAWS game!

After we got home from checking out the shops... we went BACK TO THE BEACH! It is like a magnet!

On our way back to the house from the beach this evening... we found a friend drinking water off of the boardwalk where the shower was. It was a beautiful 6 point buck. He was so tame that he let me walk right up to him to take the photo below. If the guy next to me hadn't yelled to scare him off (I was pretty ticked about that)... I really think that he would have let me pet him. He was THAT tame.

We have really enjoyed being around all of the wildlife around here. This island is just covered with incredible animals and natural beauty.

Well... tomorrow is our last day (sniff... sniff) so we are going to cram in everything that we can possibly do in one day (We always do that... it's a family tradition). Then is it time to load the family truckster and head back to the great state of Ohio (where there are no dolphins, gators, pelicans, crabs... but lots of deer and squirrels - just not any of the "sea squirrel" variety).

One more vacation day to blog about (sniff... sniff).

Vacation '07: Day 9

So last night... after I posted about the "sea squirrel"... we went out (around mid-night) to see if we could photograph any of the deer on the island. At first... we thought that we were not going to see any. We drove for about the first 10 minutes without seeing a single deer. Then they just showed up. They were everywhere! We probably saw around 20 deer. Here are some of the best shots that we got.


We left early this morning to make another trip to the end of the island. We had been out during the evening low tide... but today we wanted to experience the morning low tide... so we headed out on beach bikes at around 6:30. We watched the sun come up over the ocean. There aren't too many things on this earth that are more beautiful than an ocean sunrise or sunset. WOW! Every time I see it... I am reminded of how big God is... and how small I am. The lyrics of an old song came to mind:

Could we with ink the ocean fill,
And were the skies of parchment made,
Were every stalk on earth a quill,
And every man a scribe by trade;
To write the love of God above
Would drain the ocean dry;
Nor could the scroll contain the whole,
Though stretched from sky to sky.

Once again... after arriving at the cove we were not disappointed. There were about 5 dolphins playing there again this morning.

This is the photo that I have been waiting all week to get! Is this cool or what? These dolphins are strand fishing (like I talked about in an earlier blog)... RIGHT AT MY FEET!!! I could not believe that I was even able to get the camera up in time. Right after I took this picture... four dolphins beached themselves right in front of me. The only thing left in the water were their tails. It was so amazing!

OK... so you can tell that I am a little fanatical about dolphins! I have always been fascinated by them.

There was a lady with a couple of dogs watching the dolphins on the other side of the cove. Right after I took this photo... the dogs took off after the dolphins and just about dragged the lady into the water. I wished that my camera was ready for that shot... but I missed it. It was pretty funny though.

When your tired from being in the sun all day... there's nothing like kickin' back with your daughter and playin' a little ATV Quad Power Racing on Gamecube. As you can see... she was puttin' a pretty good whoopin' on dad. I think she enjoyed it way too much.

Once again... we spent the rest of the evening at the ocean. As I sat at the waters edge (while Aly buried my left leg in the sand)... I closed my eyes... and just listened to everything around me. I could hear the waves breaking on the shore... the seagulls... the children playing on the beach... and the sound of the ocean breeze. But most of all... I had a chance to just sit and listen to God. I am pretty sure that I heard Him singing over me.

Vacation '07: Day 8

This is the incredible view off of our back porch. I love it... especially in the morning. Now you know why I enjoy reading out there every morning. Today was especially beautiful. The sky was clear and blue and the clouds were puffy and way off in the distance. The waves were a lot better today. We spent most of the day on boogie boards. I almost rented a surfboard today... maybe tomorrow I will.

Speaking of the back porch: Our "sea squirrel" friend was back tonight. He is getting more and more brave each time we see him. Abby actually fed him out of her hand today. They have already named him "Franklin". We may just have to take him home with us................ NOT!

Who knew that squirrels eat "goldfish" and peanuts?






Tonight (around mid-night) we are going to drive around the island and see if we can get some good photos of the deer. They are everywhere! They walk right out into the middle of the street (in front of your car!). I guess that is why there is a 15 MPH speed limit on the island.

Watch for deer photos in my next post.

Vacation '07: Day 7

Aly and I visited a church in Charleston this morning called Seacoast Church. I first heard about the church while reading Chris Sligh's (American Idol) blog. Chris leads worship at their Greenville campus. The church that I visited this morning is their main campus in Mount Pleasant. Their lead pastor, Greg Suratt speaks there every week. At the other campuses Greg is on video and everything else is LIVE. All together... the church has about 8000 folks in attendance.

We stopped by Starbucks on the way to church... so when we got there I had to ask one of the parking lot team members if it was OK for us to take our drinks inside (not every church is like ours you know). He assured me that it was fine... and that they encourage you to take coffee into the service with you. Very cool! He was extremely friendly. The other members of the team that we encountered were very good at what they did... but were not quite as engaging. We found every person that we talked to be very helpful and friendly.

The campus was absolutely beautiful. The architecture and colors were very inviting. I LOVE the palm trees!!! The layout of the campus made it very easy to get around.

They must be growing like crazy. They are in multiple services and had to have police officers an the main entrance to direct traffic. The foyer was a buzz. Lots of excitement. I felt right at home!


As a matter of fact... at the end of the service, Greg actually requested that 20% of the 11:15 service attendees... move to another service or venue... as they need to make room for new folks. Sounds like a pretty good problem... eh? I remember when we had to do that a few times before moving to our new building.



After the service, I had the opportunity to talk with a couple of their tech guys and one of their worship leaders (and Seacoast's Worship Arts Pastor), Jeanne Radekopf. She and her brother, Martin share the worship leading responsibilities at the main campus. They are from Scotland. What a
voice she had! WOW! The whole worship experience was very polished and strong. It was as if you were listening to a recording. The music style was very similar to NewPointe's... maybe not quite as edgy. Overall... I thoroughly enjoyed the worship experience. It is so awesome to have the opportunity to just sit in the seats and worship. I really needed that this morning.

Greg's message was powerful! He talked about what happens when God asks us to do something that we don't want to do. Yup... he used the story of Jonah to make his point. It was a great message.

A couple of take aways:

• Whenever God asks you to do something that you do not want to do... you will always find a boat going the other direction. When God clearly asks you to do something that you don't want to do... there is always something that looks like a better option to take you the wrong direction (Jonah's boat to Tarshish). He said that if you are living in disobedience with your finances... it might be a "sale" boat. If you are living in disobedience in your marriage relationship... it might be a "love" boat. You get the idea.
  
• God probably has an UNEXPECTED way out for us. Greg talked about how living in disobedience always ends up in "puke". There's always a mess to clean up.

After church... Aly and I ate at Ci Ci's (her choice) and we stopped by Wal-Mart to pick up a few things before heading back to the island.

While hanging out with Aly today... I learned that she can't wait for school to start... she hopes to be a pet groomer someday and she wants a black Hummer with pink flames airbrushed down the sides.

That's my girl!

We spend the rest of the day... at the beach (where else?) The waves were great! We rode boogie boards until it got to dark to see.

What a great day! More fun stuff tomorrow!

Vacation '07: Day 6

Here are some of my favorite photos from dolphin watching this evening.

There were about 5 dolphins swimming around the cove this evening. At one point I saw a dolphin actually flip a fish into the air with it's tail. They call that strange behavior "strand feeding". The only place that you can see dolphins do this (in the world) is on about 100 mile stretch of the coastline in this part of South Carolina. Where we were standing on the south end of Kiawah Island is one of the best places to see the dolphins strand feeding.









Three pelicans flew past us (in formation) on their way out to the ocean.







This dolphin actually came up long enough to pose for a photo. Man... how I wished for a camera with a stronger lens. I could have caught some amazing stuff out there!








This is my favorite photo. There were a couple of dolphins playing together just as the sun was setting. It was absolutely beautiful! I stayed until the batteries died on my camera. It was starting to get dark anyways... and we had a 3 mile hike ahead of us. What an evening though!

Vacation '07: Day 5

One of my favorite things to do on vacation... is to get up early and go out on the back porch and read for a while. There is nothing like sitting out there with a book enjoying the cool morning breeze and the sound of the waves breaking on the beach. I am a slow reader. Reading is not something that comes easy to me... but I have almost finished Donald Miller's Blue Like Jazz since I have been down here. There are several things that Don said in this book that I am really connecting with on this vacation. Here are a few:

1. Our "behavior" will not be changed long with self-discipline, but fall in love and a human will accomplish what he never thought possible. By accepting God's love for us, we fall in love with Him, and only then do we have the fuel we need to obey. WOW! What an incredible truth. I don't need to be a better person... I just need to fall in love with Jesus... and then I will naturally live like he wants me to live... in obedience. I just want to fall in love with Jesus all over again. Maybe that is what this vacation is all about.

2. Don writes about talking to a friend of his during a time when he was struggling with who he had become. He told his friend that he needed to go away to find himself... and to re-connect with God. He looked at a map and said that he needed to go to a place that was green with lumpy mountains. His friend responded "Do you think God is out there somewhere in the lumpy places?" I am beginning to believe that the "real me" is in the blue wavy places.

3. There is something quite beautiful about the Grand Canyon at night. There is something beautiful about a billion stars held steady by a God who knows what He is doing. (They hang there, the stars, like notes on a page of music, free-form verse, silent mysteries swirling in the blue like jazz.) No matter how many times... or how long I stare at the ocean or look up into that same starlit night sky... I am still absolutely blown away by it all. I am still amazed. It reminds me of the expanse of God's love for me... for us. How deep... how wide... is His love for us? It is beyond anything that we can possibly wrap our little minds around.

Again... I hope to finish the book in the morning.

Well... April and I went on our bike ride this morning. I still wasn't feeling all that great from the sunburn the night before... but it felt pretty good to get out. It was incredibly windy out on the beach. Riding south... the wind was in our faces. What a workout! It was like peddling uphill all the way. We went as far as we could and decided to turn around an head back to the house. With the wind to our backs... it almost felt like we were coasting home. What a difference a tailwind makes.


Tonight... we went into Charleston to eat at a great little seafood place called "Charleston Crab House".
We ate there last year and April had "all you can eat" crab legs. Great stuff! This year... they said that they don't do the "all you can eat" thing anymore. I guess April shut 'em down last year. And she was so ready for those legs too!

Yes... they meant to hang the sign upside down.




When we got back to the house... we settled in to watch the premiere of "High School Musical 2" with the kids. While we were watching TV... we spotted a little "critter" sneaking around out on the back porch. It was a "sea squirrel"! (OK... so there's no such thing as a "sea squirrel") This little guy was so brave. Abby left a few "goldfish" (you know... the crackers) out on the porch and he came right up next to us to eat them. It was almost like he was posing for the camera too. Pretty cool!





Well... "High School Musical 2" is almost over and we are planning on making our trip to the beach again for crab watching. So I had better go for now. More tomorrow!

Vacation '07: Day 4

We spent the whole day at the beach yesterday. It was probably about 95 degrees and sunny with a few puffy clouds. The water was 85 degrees. It was a beautiful day... so beautiful that I was "lulled" into a false sense of "I guess I'm not going to get any sun today." Well.... sometime around 3:00 in the afternoon I started resembling a LOBSTER! I mean I was turning bright red! Then... last night... I really paid for it. I got sick! I was chilled and felt achy all over (plus the pain of the sunburn). I could not get warm enough. I slept under about 4 blankets. It wasn't until about 4:00 this morning that I started feeling normal.

So needless to say... we didn't go crab watching last night.

Well... April and I are off to the beach for a bike ride this morning. So... I had better get.

More to come!

Vacation '07: Day 3

We went crab watching on the beach again last night. It's really a lot of fun. When you shine your flashlight out into the surf... they scurry everywhere... like cockroaches. Some of them are tiny... and some of them are BIG... well... not as big as the photo to the left... but still pretty big.



I DID get to go kayaking today. We walked about 3 miles (each way - carrying the kayak... aauuughh!) to the end of the beach to see of the dolphins were feeding at low tide... and we were not disappointed.

There were a couple of dolphins playing when we got there. I chased them around the cove for about an hour... but the closest they would let me get was about 50 feet. It was still a lot of fun. They were absolutely beautiful!

Brandon and Ryan waded out into the water until a guy came along and told us they had pulled a 6' shark out of there a couple of days ago. (So Jeff Conn: you were prophetic with your comment on my last post.) They said that the sharks follow the dolphins into the cove at low tide. You should have seen how fast the boys got out of the water!

On the way back to the house... we took a little time to practice our sandcastle building skills. But instead of just building a castle...

...we built a KINGDOM!

Pretty cool... huh?





OK... OK... so we didn't really build it. On our way back to the house... we came up on a couple of very creative kids working on this masterpiece... and asked if we could have our picture made with it... just to mess with the Bunn family. So John... you guys remain the master sandcastle builders!

We were all so tired by the time we got back to the house that everyone is crashing early tonight.

So... until tomorrow...

Vacation '07: Day 2

Well... we spent the morning in Charleston picking up groceries for the rest of the week. We found a Humongo Wal-Mart that had everything that we needed! (They just keep makin' those things bigger and bigger.) We made it back in time to spend the biggest part of the day at the beach. It was a beautiful day. It was so hot (104 at one point) but still a beautiful day.

Aly tried her hand at building a sand castle. Not bad for a first attempt... but it looked a little more like she had buried the little gnome guy from the Travelocity commercials... than a sand castle.






The Bunns are the "master sand castle builders". Check out the pictures of their castles on John's blog! Oh well... it's early in the trip... we'll see what we can come up with once we find the right tools.


Trying to catch any waves today was just frustrating. The ocean was as flat as it could be. Nothing real exciting going on out there. I did manage to ride this one wave all the way in to the shore. (Well... OK... so maybe I just acted like I did.) The point is... it was a pretty boring day for boogie boarding.


Oh yeah... another random thought. CHEERWINE. Have you ever had this stuff? You can only buy it in the Carolinas. It is amazing! It is a lot like a Cherry Coke... only "cherrier". When April and I travelled for Trevecca Nazarene College... we would pick up a case of this stuff every time we toured North and South Carolina. Good stuff!






I just love this photo. It's Aly hangin' out with her big brother. Brandon turns 18 next month and April and I were just talking about not really knowing how many family vacations that we actually have left together. Seeing Brandon spending time with his little sis' on this trip... is priceless. OK... let's change the subject. Tomorrow... I am going to get my kayak off of the van. I am hoping to paddle along side of dolphins. I'll let you know how that goes.

Until tomorrow...

Vacation '07

Well... we packed the "family truckster" this morning and headed out for South Carolina and... the beach! As hard as we try to get out of town early... we can't seem to hit the road until after 10:00 AM.

It was a long 12 hour drive for our crew.






Driving through West Virginia was absolutely beautiful. The hills were gorgeous! We pulled off of the interstate long enough to take in some pretty amazing scenery along the way. It was a beautiful day and we had perfect weather for the drive.






We ran into a celebrity along the way... it was SHREK!!! ... and of course we had to have our picture made with him. We couldn't believe it! What was he doing at Chick-fil-a? Who would have thought that Shrek liked chicken? I thought he was into maggots and leeches and stuff.

Oh yeah... he was a lot shorter in person too.





Just for the record... Chick-fi-a has the best sweet tea anywhere in the whole world! (Fazoli's runs a close second... but Chick-fil-a is da' bomb!)










Well... we made it to the house and unloaded the truckster. As a matter of fact... we have already made a night trip to the beach with flashlights. Crabs were everywhere. A really big crab took off towards the girls and scared them to death. So there we were... trying to be quiet because it was so late... and the girls let out the biggest (unison) scream you have ever heard! I would have given anything for a camera! It was hilarious!

Now we are getting ready for bed. I just had to take a little time to blog about the trip down.

There's lot's more to come... so stay tuned!

American Idol Audition Update

Well... Dave didn't make it past the "cattle call" in Dallas, Texas this past week... but he has another shot at it this next weekend. I can see why it would have been tough in Dallas though. He said that the auditions were held in the Texas Stadium. He arrived at the stadium at 6:00 in the morning and sat in the 90+ degree heat with 12,000 other vocalists until his audition at 12:00 noon. He said that he wasn't feeling very well going into the day. He had the starting pitch for his song on his cell phone... but he thought that (because he didn't feel well) the key that we had selected was too high. So he said that he just didn't sing the song very well.


Well... Dave flies to Charleston, South Carolina this next week for his 2nd audition. The trip to Charleston is the one that he actually won in the local competition. He is going to have a couple of alternate pitches on his cell phone this time. One for "feeling good... let it fly" and another (a little lower) for "not feelin' so hot... so let's back it off a little". Going through the process in Texas last weekend was probably the best experience he could have had to prepared for the Charleston audition. He should be a lot more relaxed and should go into this audition feeling like he knows what he's doing. Stay tuned... and I'll let you know how it goes.

Passion

Dewitt Jones spent 20 years as an award winning photographer for National Geographic. At the Willow Creek Arts Conference this past spring… he was the opening speaker. This is what he had to say about creativity: “Creativity is just a moment… that moment where we look at what we see everyday and see… not redundancy… but opportunity. That moment where we look at the ordinary… but what we see is extraordinary.” Isn’t that powerful? He said that Creativity is just “falling in love with the world”. When we are in love with the world… we are in touch with the source of incredible energy called PASSION. God created each of us with creative gifts. He never meant for us to just “slap things together” or “fly by the seat of our pants” or "crank another one out". He created us with something called passion. He said to “throw yourself into your tasks…” 1 Timothy 4:14. That means to give it all you’ve got. It is all about having a PASSION for what we do.

pas·sion: [pash-uhn] - a strong or extravagant fondness, enthusiasm, or desire for anything: a passion for music. Any powerful or compelling emotion or feeling.

Do you have passion for what you do? Do you have the inspiration that comes from connecting with something larger than yourself? When you sing, act, paint, play an instrument… do you just create from your head (what you know)… or do you play from your heart… or your “gut” (what you feel)? It is important to use both… but the most important of the two… is to “feel” it. There is a huge difference in a singer who just sings a song that they know… and a singer who sings a song that they feel. When it comes from deep down inside… THAT is when it translates. That is when others can share in the experience… and actually be changed by it.

Dewitt said something else that I thought was very cool. He said that National Geographic’s charge to him (before they sent him out for any photo shoot) was to “Celebrate what is RIGHT with the world”. I like that! We spend entirely too much time focusing on the negative stuff… and missing out on all of the beauty and amazing experiences that surround us every day. I think that is a great way to approach each day of our lives. Celebrate what is RIGHT with the world.

I am leaving for a vacation this next week… and I plan on doing just that. Believe me… I am going to be taking in all of the creativity around me. I am going to make a conscious effort to celebrate what's right in the world. I need that right now. There are way too many negative voices surrounding me right now… and I need to just get alone with God and refocus. I can’t think of a better way to do that than to just sit by the ocean for a while... clear my head of all of the junk... and really seek God’s face…

...while enjoying His amazing creativity.