Hitchens
This past week humanity saw the death of Christopher Hitchens, one of the great thinkers and debaters of the 20th Century. Many in the faith community didn't like his attacks on religion, the Pope, evolution or any other number of topics. I disagree with Hitchens on lots of things, but one of the things I appreciated about him was his desire to pursue truth (as he saw it) and to ask the hard questions. I know too many Christians who simply 'believe' because it's the easy thing to do, the thing they've always done and probably will always do. It's not something that shapes their lives, their interactions with others or their own thought processes. I think the damage to the Christian faith is much greater as a result of these 'pseudo-Christians' then from somone who's asking tough questions and persusing them to whatever end it takes them, even if that end make us a Christians feel a little bit uncomfortable.
Thoughts? Agree/disagree? 
Money, Athletics and Jobs
Ok as many of you know, I'm a huge fan of Arkansas State University football. What you also might not know is that I'm also a Saint Louis Cardinals fan. Recently both programs had some personell decisions to make.
Saint Louis was working on a contract with Albert Pujols, who is arguably the best player in all of baseball. Pujols has been with the Cardinals for the entirety of his professional baseball career. In 2000 he was in the Cardinals farm system and in 2001 he began starting for the major league team. In negotiations, Albert was looking for a 10-year contract in the range of $19 to $20 million per year. Through the mess of it all, the Cardinals made a final offer of around $200 million over 10 years only to be surpassed by an offer from the Los Angeles Angels for around $250 million over 10 years. Albert ends up signing an agreement with the Angels and leaves the team he has been with for 10 years.
Arkansas State was looking for a new head coach after the previous coach left for a job at the University of Mississippi. There was an intense search, but one night the athletic director, Dean Lee, received a call from Gus Malzahn. Malzahn was the offensive coordinator for Auburn University. The previous year, Auburn had won the National Championship in college football and their quarterback, Cam Newton, had won the Heisman Trophey. Gus was one of the most desired applicants for any open coaching position. It was reported that he turned down a head coaching job offer at Vanderbilt for $3 million per year in late 2010. He could have had most any job with just a phone call, and that phone call was to Dean Lee. It was reported that Malzahn was making approximately $1.1 million at Auburn and was the highest paid coordinator in all of college football. He would sign a contract to become the head coach of Arkansas State University for a base salary of $156,000 plus a series of perks that would be estimated to an annual salary of $750,000 to $800,000 per year.
Now I'm not sure of all the details surrounding the separate deals, but in my mind I see two examples of responses to money that are opposed. One in which money was given priority and one wasn't. Now there's a lot to be said about that, but I would just encourage everyone not to let money be your ultimate reason for making a decision. I've worked for three different companies since I've graduated and I can tell you that money and joy do not correlate.
Adorable Christmas Story
I have nothing to say about this other than it's adorable.
As we learned in the Poteet Class, some aspects of this video maybe inaccurate, but whatever. It's adorable.
Thank You!
Last night the REstore group went to Our House shelter and decorated for Christmas. There was an amazing turnout. I just wanted to thank everyone who took the time to come out or give supplies for this event. Also to the ones who helped with preparations. This year was the best year yet. We had more decorations in better condition and the younger ones made ornaments to put on the tree. Another thanks to the five guys it took to put the outdoor lit Christmas Trees into the ground. I think the residents enjoy the little extra Christmas cheer at their home. The children definitely did. I'm looking forward to next year.
Christmas Movies
I am really bad at posting things of importance here. Get used to it. Nothing is changing today. Normally, I jump on the "REstore current events" bandwagon. It's the holiday season, so I guess I can switch things up a bit. At this time of year I (and the rest of the world) feel like I get so overwhelmed with seasonal events, charity work, and family functions, etc. This leads to me neglect one of my favorite this in the world, movies. Every year I will undoubtedly get into a conversation about the "best Christmas movie of all time." People love to tell you what their favorite holiday movie are. My mothers: It's a Wonderful Life. My best friend: A Muppet Christmas Carol (feel like she should feel ashamed.) Co-worker: Christmas Vacation. Personally, I never really had one. I would claim Home Alone, but that was because I loved it as a kid and gave me a real nostalgic feeling. That movie was watched so many times at the Eisenhart household that the VHS tape was messed up from over use. Fast forward to 2004... I was a Sophomore at ATU and went to see The Polar Express at the Pickwood Theater. From that point on The Polar Express was my favorite Christmas movie. It is a beautiful, action fill adventure with a heartwarming ending. Everything you need to get you in the holiday spirit. Below is the trailer for the movie. I would like to highly encourage everyone to see it; especially, if you have never seen it before. The bigger the TV screen, the better. The animation is larger than life.
If you would like... share with me your favorite holiday movies.
Open Mic Night is Coming!
Open Mic Night is Coming!
Feb 4th that's only 2 months away!!!
So save the date and start practicing and tell your friends!
Happy Thanksgiving!
I'll admit I'm one that has never appreciated Thanksgiving on a very deep level. Sure, I'm thankful for the people in my life, the opportunities and advantages I've had, my wife and family, dogs, ninja skills, etc. BUT... Shouldn't I always be thankful for those things? Being thankful one day a year isn't enough for all the blessings I've been given, right? Thanking God is kind of one of the things people of faith are supposed to do. Or, at least there are enough references in the Bible to lead one to that conclusion. So what's the big deal with having a holiday?
Don't get me wrong, I love Thanksgiving. I love just about everything about it- food, family, football (preferably of the Hog variety), and kitchy videos like the one below. Its probably my favorite holiday next to Christmas. However, what if we could make the holiday something more. What if we used Thanksgiving and the time surrounding it as an opportunity to give someone else something to be thankful for?
Holiday House
I know that many of you attend Holiday House each year, so I thought I would take advantage of the ReStore blog to once again give a shameless plug for the Arkansas Rice Depot. As some of you may know, I serve on a board for the ARD. We will be at Holiday House this year selling our “Simple Pleasures” gifts that benefit our Food for Kids program. Please consider coming by and taking a look at what ARD has to offer. It's a great way to support a local vendors because everything that ARD sells comes from Arkansas companies. I’ll be there for the majority of Holiday House so you will see a familiar face! I'm sure you can contact Christine Millner or Katie Walden to get your Holiday House ticket.
