Amateur Predictor

Something this morning reminded me about the bold predictions I made for the 07 baseball season back in April and I looked up that post to see how I did. And the answer is ... not bad. Better than a lot of guys who get paid to make predictions.

I had half the playoff teams right, which in an odd year like this one, isn't too bad. I had the Red Sox, Yankees, Diamondbacks and Phillies right. I had the Sox and Phils as Wild Cards and the Yanks as East champs, so it wasn't exactly precise, but I made it up for it with the bold D-backs pick. That one was solid! Picking the Phillies showed some foresight as well, but the Yankee and Sox picks weren't exactly risky.

I did have the Sox winning the World Series though, so I get bonus points for that, even if that was as much me being a fan as me being a prognosticator. I got close, but missed, on the Tigers, Mets and Cardinals. Picking the Rangers to win the AL West is the lone embarrassment. I don't know what I was thinking. I have no excuse.

All in all, I'm pleased with myself. Maybe I have a thing for this! I won our office March Madness pool back in 2005 despite not getting the winner right thanks to a ridiculous run in the first two rounds. (Yeah, I had Vermont in the sweet sixteen). Back in 1992 I picked every Triple Crown winner in horse racing. But don't worry, friends and supporters, this is strictly for fun -- no money is involved!

Moving on to other topics...
-- The Global Missions Health Conference was a blast, despite my "questionable" attitude going into it. We had more and better contacts than last year. There were several really excellent inquirers with a heart for church planting and a willingness to take initiative and pioneer new work. I'm actually excited to follow up with them and optimistic we'll be able to help some or most.

-- I'm going to become a lean, mean fighting machine. Yesterday I had my first trial kempo lesson and I decided to take up the classes on an on-going basis. Should be fun ... and good for me. And who knows, maybe with enough work I can parlay this into a gig on the UFC!

-- I had something else to talk about here, but now I forget what it was.

-- This wasn't it, but bears mentioning: Anyone else notice how Kelly Kapur has all the good lines on The Office now? (The trash-talking last night was good, but nothing tops "Ryan used me as an object" from a few episodes back). All in all, this season isn't measuring up to the last two, but it's still good for a chortle every now and again.

Random Thoughts

-- A couple days ago I was in my car listening to talk radio and someone mentioned a spreadsheet in a discussion on sports betting. I immediately felt a craving to open up Excel and build a fun spreadsheet using lots of cell formulas. Does that make me a nerd or what?

-- Naomi and I have been going to birthing classes for a few weeks now. Interesting stuff. The most whacked out part of it though: they have a plush baby doll (plastic head, but the rest is squishy), a plush pelvis (for stuffing the plush baby through) and a plush placenta with umbilical cord that velcros to the plush baby's belly (I'm not making this up). All you parents out there are going, "Yeah, so what's the big deal about that?" while the non-parents are probably as astonished and slightly grossed out as I am.

-- We now have a crib living in the corner of my office. A box of diapers is in the closet. The stroller is downstairs next to the dining room table. And the boy himself is doing his best "Alien" impersonation -- it's a little weird to see Naomi's stomach contorting as the boy wiggles around. This is for real.

-- What a great time to be a Boston sports fan. The Red Sox won the World Series in convincing fashion. The Pats are, without a doubt now, the best team in the NFL (with a decent chance to be the first undefeated team since the '72 Dolphins). And the Celtics have the big three and have opened the season with a flourish. I'm enjoying it while it lasts (which could be for a while).

-- Tomorrow I'm headed up to Louisville, KY for the Global Missions Health Conference (GMHC), which is easily my most frustrating regular stop on the conference circuit. It's frustrating because we could be doing so much in combining medical missions with church planting, but we just haven't had the leadership and initiative to do much with it. So I'll meet a number of well-qualified people tomorrow and Friday, but probably won't have the capacity to place them on the field with us. It's just too labor-intensive and I don't have enough time to devote to it. I wish we had a well-placed, full-time person who could concentrate on mobilizing medical-oriented church planters from the U.S. for PIONEERS teams around the world. On the plus side though, I get to spend quality time with Rod Froseth, who at Urbana was sporting the best mullet I've seen since about 1989. I don't know if I like him because of his modern mullet masterpiece or in spite of it.

-- Serious question to chew on: How many excellent missionaries never make it to the field because they are excellent evangelists/leaders/administrators/entrepreneurs, but horrible fund-raisers? How many good people are we losing because we require all our field people to be good at whatever they're going to do on the field AND good at raising funds? I shudder when I think about it.

-- It's really hard to type when your cat is lying across your forearms ... and licking one of them. How much is she going to freak out when we bring home baby?

Off to bed with me now...