Of Greatest Worth

I was running yesterday AM and started going through the to-do list. As I went through it, I began to get more and more anxious. I was even thinking about shortening my run to "get going." Up to that point, I had been having a pretty good start for the day. I was feeling pretty relaxed, was actually praying and then BAM! Anxiety. Hurry. Let's go!

It's then that I think that God reminded me of the pearl analogy that Christ used with his disciples. The Pearl of Greatest Worth.


Matt 13:44"The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field."

I thought about that verse before and I realize that I've mostly thought of the metaphor as a one time event. Finding Jesus, and then forsaking everything else for him once and for all. But as many may know, and I'm just realizing how EVERY DAY I need to sell whatever it is that I have that prevents me from buying the "pearl of greatest worth." Yesterday it was certainly time that I didn't want to sell. I wanted to control each moment to make sure I got everything done. My friend, Corey, mentioned in a message a few weeks back how our relationship with God needs to absolutely primary. It reminds me also of Prov. 4:23 "Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life."

So each day I need to ask myself, "what's not for sale today that needs to be?" You sellin' anything?

A Recurring Dream...

So, I've been having this dream. In it, I'm looking in the mirror combing my hair. Note: I haven't had any real hair to comb in about 7 years. So I start combing and I realize that if I only combed my hair a little different that I end up having a TON of it. Not just a little, but cool long hair.

So I watched the season opener of Desperate Housewives on Sunday night. There is a new character named Orson Hodge (Kyle McLachlan, actor). He becomes Bree's new guy and asks her to marry him. Well, as in all good soap operas, he turned out to be a wife killer. But he has good hair. I'm speaking from a bald guy's perspective.



So on Sunday night. The dream again. This time I have hair like this Orson Hodge character. What does this mean? A few things I know: a. not a wife killer, b. not a obsessive complusive, c. no hair on the lid. So, I can only speculate as to the meaning of this dream that torments me.

Is there such a thing as scalp envy?

The Way Things Should Be

The Superdome reopened last night as the Saints won. I'm not the biggest football fan, but when I watch what this game means to New Orleans and to our country, I'm moved. I realize that something is inherently "right" with the Superdome being rebuilt. There is something inherently "right" with people gathering and expressing joy amidst a region that is still devastated.



When I see U2 and Green Day get together to perform to benefit musicians in "the Big Easy", I think, "Yeah, it should be that way."

I'm reminded that in Revelation, Christ speaks to John and says "Behold, I'm making everything new." I realize that we as members of His body here on earth - the Church. We are responsible for this recreation. We are part of this Heaven to Earth movement that is called "The Kingdom."

It's kinda cool that we can see an example of the "the Kingdom" coming through "The Saints." God is cool...

Half Way There...

Back in early July I got fed up with never seeing any progress made in my running. I'd always start up with good intentions and then fizzle out a couple weeks later. This time, for some reason it stuck. I used to run around 8-10 miles per week. Now I've amped it up to 20 miles per week and I set a big goal. Starting on July 15th I decided to run 400 miles by Dec. 31st. I'm happy to report that I will pass the 200 mile marker tomorrow. In honor of the occasion I purchased some new official running shoes (since I went with style and have been running in trail shoes - NOT A GOOD IDEA!) I'm liking them so far . Asics GT-2110. Good stable shoe. Little stiff in the midsole, reasonably wide toe box. I'm looking forward to the next 200.

I ran in Key Bank's Salmon Chase this weekend. I ran the 10K (6.2 miles). Mostly just for fun. I DIDN'T FINISH LAST IN MY AGE GROUP!!! ...I finished second to last. Oh, well. I beat my goal time by 5 minutes. So I was happy.

Two New Videos to Check Out

Hey everyone!

Lisa and I have really been blessed to use our talents, build God's kingdom, and have so much fun while doing it!!! We have two new clips to share with you. The first was from a weekend service at Granger Community Church this summer where we helped our friend, Corey Mann tell the story of Joseph. We were once again, the Culps.


So much fun to do. Check it out here.

Next, for your viewing pleasure, we have a little treat from a service on Labor Day weekend. We were talking about dating and the movies. I think we took the audience by surprise by starting a drama that seemed normal enough and then switched into a little number from the musical "Grease" - Summer Nights.
The "Pink" Ladies:


And the "T-Birds"!


We really hated to see that weekend end. Check it out here.

Great thanks to Jill Ulrich, Amy Franklin, Courtney Helman, Jeanette & Kyle Sagarsee, Josh Canfield, Ted Bryant and Ryan Prugh. You all did great!!!
Enjoy!!!

Check This Ouuuuttt!!!!

If you haven't already seen this video, check out the band Ok Go's song, "Here it Goes Again". Very innovative!!! Here's the link.

I'm In...

In response to Corey's blog challenge, here goes:

Favorite Movie Moment:
Shawshank Redemption: The part where Andy Dufresne finally escapes AND puts the warden behind bars all in one fell swoop.

Favorite TV Moment:
Moonlighting: The one where they go back in time and do a "Taming of the Shrew" set in Shakespeare's time. Bruce Willis busts out the "Good Lovin'" in an old church. Classic...

Laugh Out Loud Movie:
I wouldn't recommend it to everyone, but "Waiting" had me belly laugh like I haven't in a long time. The extras on the DVD were amazing as well.

TV show I'd like to be on:
The Office

One of my Favorite Songs of all time:
"Taxman" by the Beatles

One song that I wish I had written:
Linkin Park's "Somewhere I Belong"

A Great Movie that No One has seen:
Luther

A Song that Moves Me:
"Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" by Elton John

A Movie that Moved Me:
Schindler's List

A Movie That I Cried at:
The Passion of the Christ

Most Played Song on My iPod:
"Fix You" by Coldplay

One Movie that I Like that would surprise others:
Father of the Bride

One Song I Know All the Lyrics to:
"Candle in the Wind" by Elton John

Most Recent Song I Purchased:
"Baggage" by Mary J. Blige (for work, we're doing it in a couple weeks)

Thanks for helping me get back at this Corey...

Sophie's Guitar Debut

Sophie has decided. And if you know Sophie, when she decides something, that's that. Guitar is HER thing! She takes "lessons" from her dad every week. Her general sense of rhythm is really solid.

Here is a link to her playing her 1/2 size guitar for her preschool classes' Art Show Program. We're proud at how brave she is playing for others, especially her peers. Way to go Soph!

The Rat Race

I have been reading Richard Foster's book entitled "Prayer". He considers the practice of solitude. I'm loving this quote:

"To be sure, at first we thought solitude was a way to recharge our batteries in order to enter life's many competitions with new vigor and strength. In time, however, we find that solitude gives us power not to win the rat race but to ignore the rat race altogether."

Since I'm an only child, I've got this strange mix of first-born competitiveness and last-born laziness. If you're an only child, can you relate? At times I want to get in "the race" and run hard to prove myself, and at other times I can't get my butt up off the couch. The thing I'm realizing is that whatever race that I'm trying to run often has me looking left and right to see who is my competition. And yet, Hebrews 12:1 talks of: "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us."

I understand that the race is marked out for US. The is a "together" thing. My encouragement of others is necessary. I have a friend right now who is running the race alone. I need to press on toward the goal and not worry so much about how I'm doing RELATIVE TO others. Rather, I should focus on what I'm doing FOR others to help them run their race well. This is the heart of the servant. This is the heart of Christ. Am I giving my best to God and others? I'm still chewing on this.

Anna's First Solo

Anna had a wonderful opportunity last week. She performed her first vocal solo at Darden Primary Center's 1st & 2nd grade concert! If a proud papa can say - SHE DID A TERRIFIC JOB! Such confidence and poise! We're so proud of all that she has done! We pray that God will continue to use this great gift of music that she certainly has. Mr. Copelin, her music teacher, calls Anna his "little star". I pray that this little star's light shines bright. Click here to check out the video. Enjoy!

Baaaaaaack Home

Oh yes...


It's good to be back home. Awesome date with my awesome wife yesterday. Nothing crazy. Just shopping at Plato's closet and Taco Bell for lunch. The strange thing is that after having been married for almost 11 years I sometimes forget how great it is just to hang out with Lisa. I'm so thankful for the blessing that she is to me.

Unbelievable that over the May 13-14th weekend that 833 people committed their lives to Jesus by signing their names on a reproduction of Davinci's Last Supper painting.

My daughter Anna solidified her faith by signing her name. Very cool.

I'm throughly excited to see what Jesus will continue to do in the lives of our sweet daughters. More later.

Greetings from CA!

Hey,

I'm hanging out in Lake Forest, CA at the Saddleback Church Purpose Driven Church conference. We are learning a lot. I thought I'd share a few pics of the people we're learning from.



This is Rick Muchow who is often called America's "Most Dangerous Worship Pastor". Things have felt rather dangerous. I really appreciate his heart while I don't exactly resonate with the style out here. If you're looking for a little older-school style but rather tuneful, check out Rick's site



This is Rick Warren who is the author of the Purpose Driven Life. He brings 26 years of experience to helping other churches become healthy. The thing that has struck me the most out here is the global impact of the Purpose Driven movement. There are people here from over 30 countries. I met a couple of guys from Sri Lanka this morning who traveled over 36 hours to get here. Translators in 6 languages! Very cool.

More later.

Mary...

Have you ever had "the scoop" on something. I mean, NOBODY, nobody else knew what you knew. Like when you are the first person in your set of friends to hear about an up and coming band. Or a new movie that's coming out next summer. Or a new restaurant that's coming in on Grape Rd. (yeah, like that's something new...) Or maybe you're the first person to tell your family that you and your spouse are expecting. That is one of the coolest feelings to be the first person to spill the beans. Of course it makes you seem hip and "with it". Here's the thing, though, that feeling seems to wear off. Yeah, only so much time can elapse before calling Coldplay an up and coming new band seems to be breaking news. And so we must search for the newest and hippest thing in order to ride the wave.

Since it was Easter yesterday, I was reading the account of the resurrection in John. The part that struck me most was about Mary Magdalene.

The Message translates this passage:

But Mary stood outside the tomb weeping. As she wept, she knelt to look into the tomb and saw two angels sitting there, dressed in white, one at the head, the other at the foot of where Jesus' body had been laid. They said to her, "Woman, why do you weep?" "They took my Master," she said, "and I don't know where they put him." After she said this, she turned away and saw Jesus standing there. But she didn't recognize him. Jesus spoke to her, "Woman, why do you weep? Who are you looking for?" She, thinking that he was the gardener, said, "Mister, if you took him, tell me where you put him so I can care for him."

Jesus said, "Mary."

Turning to face him, she said in Hebrew, "Rabboni!" meaning "Teacher!"

What struck me was Jesus' perspective. Can you imagine his excitement? I mean, he's just beaten the grave. He's just conquered sin and death! He's got the scoop on the BEST NEWS EVER!!! And now, here's his chance to tell the world "I'm BAAAAAAAAACK!!!!!!!!!" And what does Jesus say to trumpet his resurrection? With overflowing joy (like a parent on Christmas morning getting ready to see the kids open presents) he whispers, "Mary."

FLASH - THE LIGHT GOT TURNED ON FOR MARY. She now knew her Lord had indeed RISEN!

"Mary." So much was said in one word.

You could tack on:

"Mary, I rose for you."

"Mary, I rose for a common street hooker."

"Mary, I rose for the undesirables of society."

"Mary, I rose for women, the 'property' of that day."

"Mary, I rose for people like you who bless me with their sold-out worship." (the jar of nard)

"Mary, I rose for..."

And it continues.

In our context God celebrates each time a person has those "lightbulb" moments of awareness of Him. And so he has said in the past, says now in the present, and will say in the future our names, as we come into greater consciousness of our GREAT GOD! He repeats:

"Dan."

"Lisa."

"Anna."

"Sophie."

"Sylvia."

"Bob."

"Corey."

"Matt."

"Gene."

"Maggie."

"Aaron."

"Dustin."

"Jason."

"Jeff."

"Karen."

"Eric."

"Kim."

"(fill in your name here)."

International Hat Mondays - We're Back Baby!

Oui, oui. We are in Paris! And yes, I consider my wife a hottie!

She's decked out in a Rasberry Beret. The kind you find in a second hand store... uh... except for this is Disney... so it like costs $80 for just about anything, including a hat. We were going to have "Vukmirovich" or "Griswold" or something embroidered on the front of 4 matching ones but we figured that might have already been done. So, we just stuck with the picture.

France in Epcot - Rating = C+

It looks cool but not a whole lot there. A film that's kinda boring and really expensive food. The street entertainment was good last year with acrobats.

Au revoir!

By Popular Request... The Culps Video on the Web

Hey everyone!

Just wanted to share with you a little piece of our lives this past month. We did a spoof on SNL's "The Culps" for our volunteer night at Granger Community Church. We finally had a chance to upload this for your viewing pleasure. Thanks to everyone for their very kind remarks. Here's the link:

International Hat Monday on... Tuesday!!!

This week: Morocco! Yes, we pretty much ran through Morocco this year and took about 20 pictures. Anna is pictured with native head garb. Mostly the photo-op thing this year. Last year, (below) on the other hand, was a bit more special:


Anna, lost her first tooth in Morocco, at the Tangierine Cafe. The crazy thing was that she lost it during a ticklefest with her friends, the Oldenbergs, from Grand Rapids (pictured) that we met down there. She lost her tooth and it was bleeding but we couldn't find the tooth. THE TOOTHFAIRY WAS GOING TO BE A NO-SHOW!!! That didn't sit well with Anna, so we looked all over for the tooth. Yes, the booth we sat at was rather dark, and yes, a main staple of Moroccan dining is rice. A five year old's tooth is about the size of a grain of cooked rice. So, after we searched through much food on the floor that had probably seen time in other people's mouths, we finally found the tooth! And yes, the toothfairy made her first appearance that night! Here's a happy Anna after we found the tooth:

International Hat Mondays Part III!

Ya, fer sure! The Viking Hats in Norway were certainly a treat! One thing I must say about Norwegians, very clean. The movie that you see about Norway makes everything look spic and span. I think I'd like to visit someday, but I think stuff is way expensive.

More later. Just keeping the people happy with this new series that is incredibly important to our lives - no not the Pure Sex series at GCC, the International Hat Mondays thing! Yeah, that's it... Okay... I'll go sleep now....

International Hat Mondays Part Dos!

Mi casa es tu casa... uh... como esta... uh... nachos bellgrande....


Yes, it's Mexico this week. And Epcot's version of Mexico is most cool in the fact that it feels very much like a scene from The Three Amigos when El Guapo holds a fiesta in his own honor. Favorite quote: "Hefe, would you say that I have a plethora of pinatas?" And yes, the Three Amigos taught me a cool vocabulary words PLELTHORA - an abundant amount.

I hate to say it though, the boat ride that they take you on through "modern" Mexico is a movie that kind of plays as you float by. I'm honestly embarassed for the Mexican people by this representation. It's about 20+ years old! Going for retro in the unintentional way. For all it's cheese though, I give Epcot Mexico a solid B rating.

At long last... Foreign Hat Mondays!

As we journeyed around the world last month - okay, it was just around Epcot at Disney - we had some photo ops with hats from each country we visited. Our first entry: Canada, eh! Land of the Maple Leaf, land of hockey, land of a wacked out government run healthcare system...


Did I mention how cool "The Lion King" show was at Animal Kingdom? Oh yeah. Way cool. Disney's finest live show outside of Broadway.

Back from Disney Part I

Yes, it was AWESOME! Okay, we had a couple of days of rain, but our temps hung out mostly in the lower 70's. Not bad considering it's now 2 degress in South Bend!!! Well, I thought I'd share a few photos from our trip.


The second day at Magic Kingdom, Anna and Sophie thought they'd "goof" around a little.

And yes, a pic with the BIG CHEESE himself!

"Why don't you come with me little girls - on a magic carpet ride!?"

And finally, THE RIDE of the vacation for the Vukmirovich family. Did I mention that we went on this ride NINE times! Yes, NINE times! We got soaked only about 6 of the 9. Most fun though.

5 cool things on the trip:
1. The Disney Dining Plan - this is the last I'll mention it, but anyone going to Disney MUST use this plan. SO WORTH what you pay. We truly ate like kings and queens. Le Cellier in Canada at Epcot was a great recommend by our friend Lindsay. Great service, great food, and available through the dining plan. Great Filet and New York Strip.
2. The $11.99 refills for life mug at any of the Disney resorts. You can bring this cup back over and over until you're old and grey and it doesn't cost any more. Good deal.
3. Expedition Everest at Animal Kingdom - check out www.disneyeverest.com for a cool interactive site.

Pic from the start of the ride. Based on the ascent to the top. Watch out for the YETI!

The top of Everest

This is the top of the ride where the YETI has destroyed the track! No way to go except BACKWARD! Yep, you kick it into gear going backward on this ride. Mostly in darkness from this point on. By far, the coolest coaster I've experienced at Disney.
Also,check out how Disney just promoted this www.wdwmagic.com/everest_pressrelease.htm. Pretty over the top, no pun intended!
4. World Showcase Players at Epcot. These people do such a great job with improv. Our kids loved it.

5. The beauty of seeing Sophie play in the ocean for the first time! What a great example of full commitment to the moment. She didn't mind that the water temp in the Atlantic was 59 degrees! It was really beautiful.


More later.