I’m writing this journal entry from Huntsville, Alabama. I’m staying with some old college friends of mine. I was at Big Spring Jam last night. It’s a three day concert. I was able to get some great pics of my favorite band, Better Than Ezra. It was somewhat chilly last night. Fall is here.
We will probably be leaving for the 2nd day of concerts in about an hour after lunch. So far I’m having a great time.
Author Archives: Jeff Whittle
The Last Day
Remember those last days of elementary school where they packed away your desk and chairs and everyone had to sit on the floor for the last few hours of school? Well that is how I’m feeling now, only that I’ve got a desk and chair….and computer and phone. But everything else has been transported home. Today is my last day to work in the office. I’ll be working at home from here on out. I’m gonna have to get a cart or something for my huge 21 inch computer monitor. I don’t dare try to carry it to my car by myself.
Today being Wednesday is pizza day. Every Wednesday night it is tradition for my family to have pizza. It started as a easy supper for my mom to fix before we headed off to church. I’ve been eating Papa Johns pizza for the past several months. I don’t know if I can stomach another one. I’m going to try Dominos tonight. Their quality is usually not very good and the people who work there look like they just got out of prison. Unfortunately Little Caesar’s is no more in Nashville. All the LC’s in Nashville closed for some strange reason. There are a few in surrounding locations like Columbia and Cookeville, but those are way too far out of the way to pick up Crazy Bread.
Moving On Up
It’s moving day. This week I’m moving all my junk from the office to the house. It is somewhat reminiscent of those days following final exams at Lipscomb. I’d always wait til the last minute trying to savor the last few minutes with friends. This time is no exception. I’m dreading having to set up this equipment and am spending the last few days at the office. Plus I don’t care to lug stuff back and forth from work to home. I am looking forward to sleeping late and not having to fight traffic.
The retreat last weekend at Short Mountain was fun. Not anything extremely exciting happened. I got lost on the way down there….ended up going to the Warren County line before realizing I was on the wrong road. We did drive up to the firetower for a great view of the valley. Short Mountain camp is a good camp, although it seems a little packed in together.
At the church Homecoming we had 968 people for worship on Sunday morning…just 32 short of 1000. I didn’t see all that many people that I hadn’t seen in a while….mostly people who I had no relation with at the time they were attending…and I have no relation with now. The afternoon service ran a little long. From having gone on the retreat I was a bit tired and almost decided to go home.
Letterman’s First Show
Letterman’s show last night was very touching. This was the first Late Show since the attack. It reminded me that Letterman has compassion and feelings. Definitely a show to remember.
I’m headed off to a retreat at Short Mountain with another church in the area this weekend. It is definitely a good time to get away from the news and world and focus on things that are really important. Due to my church’s Homecoming being the same weekend as this retreat, I will be getting up early Sunday morning and driving back in time. It’ll be a 90 minute drive.
Church Attendance is Up
We had 605 for worship services on Sunday morning yesterday, but it seemed like much more. There were people there who I hadn’t seen in a while. We have had 5 baptisms during the past 2 weeks and 5 responses of people asking for prayers. In times like this, people tend to look toward God for answers.
Amazing. It took the World Trade Center blowing up for MTV to start showing music videos again. I did catch some of a toned down TRL on Friday. Carson Daily was interviewing P. Diddy and N’SYNC members about their thoughts on the terrorism attack. Seemed a bit shallow to me.
Life is slowing getting back to some sense of normalcy. Tivo has been totally useless during much of this crisis since most all regular TV shows had been interupted for continuous news coverage of the events. I haven’t felt like watching many Tivo-taped programs. On Friday I saw the first real TV show on the broadcast channel – Oprah – whose subject was – of course – the terrorist bombing.
On the lighter side, I found a webpage, nomoreaolcds.com, who are collecting AOL CDs to send back to AOL. Once they have a million CDs, they plan on delivering them personally to AOL. I’ll probably send them some of my own given the time.
Fly Your Flag
I continue to be dismayed about the recent terrorist bombing of the World Trade Center and Pentagon. The pictures coming from the sites are horrific. My friend was six miles from the WTC when it was attacked. He is ok, but a bit shaken up. He said they are stacking bodies on ferries to take them to an island somewhere. He said refridgerated trucks are lining the streets for bodies.
People are displaying the American flag everywhere. On my town’s main road, they have lined flags on the telephone poles. These flags are usually displayed for the 4th of July or Memorial Day. Church attendance last night was up. We had 450 for a Wednesday night service…normally we have around 300.
I noticed that MTV is scrolling a statement at the bottom of the screen saying it is “shocked” at recent events. It’s ironic that this time MTV is shocked.
One Tough Week
It’s been a tough week. On Monday I attended the funeral for Elizabeth. It was very fitting. There were over 1000 people there in the auditorium of the high school she attended. We sang songs such as “It is Well with My Soul,” and “Blue Skies and Rainbows,” just like Elizabeth would have wanted. All of us tried to put on a happy face to this, but deep down we are hurting. A couple of the high school band members played taps at the burial service.
Then there’s the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center and Pentagon. This seems like something out of a movie. Seems so unreal. I was at work when I found out about it. I went down to the cafeteria where there was a large screen tv with CNN on. Several other workers were there watching in disbelief. After a while, I began to feel unsafe in Nashville and headed home to work from home.
Just about all of the cable channels were broadcasting something having to do with the terrorist acts. TNT and TBS had switched to CNN coverage. MTV, VH1, and TNN switched to CBS News coverage. The Home Shopping Network and QVC suspended programming for the day. Walt Disney World was closed. We had a special prayer service at church Tuesday night. Afterwards we watched President Bush’s speech on the big screen, which had managed to tape while the service was going on.
I have found that there are some very evil people in this world. I can’t began to understand why someone would do such a terrible act.
Visitation for Elizabeth
I went to visitation yesterday for Elizabeth. It all seemed so surreal. It was something out of a bad movie. Elizabeth’s friends seem to be taking it as best they could. I was able to see most of them yesterday. I am hoping that some good will come out of a bad thing. If it influences Elizabeth’s friends to live a more Godly life, then some good did come out of this.
I don’t mean to dwell on something indefinitely. If you don’t know Elizabeth, then all of this doesn’t seem personal to you. I appreciate your sympathy, but I do know that it’s somewhat of a knee-jerk reaction when someone tells you their friend passed away.
The funeral is today. It will be a long tough day.
Elizabeth!
My friend Elizabeth passed away this morning after a long fight with cancer. I’ll remember her smile, enduring spirit and positive attitude. Although I am sad for her passing, I know that God is taking care of her now.
Remember the Alamo
It’s 4:45 in the morning. I think the time stamp at the bottom of the logs are off by 2 hours because the server is set to Pacific time. I’ll be leaving for San Antonio in a little over and hour and a half. I’m meeting a college friend of mine. We’re planning on visiting the Alamo and the Riverwalk among other things. I’ve been planning the trip for a little over a month. More will be posted when I get back.