It's off to the beach we go. I am so glad after being in Texas for almost a week and then my family being in Birmingham for almost a week that we get to go out of town together for a change. February went fast.

So it's He-man on the DVD player all the way to the beach. We've gone quickly from Batman to SpiderMan to He-Man. They say you relive your childhood with your kids....I'm having a ball. He-Man......who knew?

The weather is warming slowly and already the daffodils and narcissus have begun to encourage me that gardening season is coming. Oh, and Mr. Mauck, there are several good yard work shows on HGTV on Saturday morning. I resent the comment about it being a "girl channel." However, no public apology needed.

Speaking of TV, I hate being tied to it. However, I'm having too much fun with Idol, Heroes, and LOST right now. Soon it'll be tourney time on CBS, but the way my Tigers are playing, that may not take up much of my time. What are you "tied" to on TV, if anything, right now?

I was afraid this Pleonast thing was going to be tough to keep up with. It's so much easier to get on and read instead of type. So hopefully some of you can enjoy reading instead of typing with this one.

How did it get to be February? I guess Christmas, beginning of the semester working in the bookstore, and then throwing out my back planting trees.....oh yeah, and then the stomach bug. That was a fun weekend last week.......right through all four of us.

Laura and the kids then went to Bham to visit her mom, and she gets it. A side note: I was sitting doing my questions for Nehemiah last Wednesday evening. I suddenly remembered I hadn't fed Silas' fish since they left. I am worried about dead fish, and sure enough....I opened his door and this AWFUL smell hits me. I am now fully expecting to make a Wal-Mart run to get a new red Beta. But the fish is swimming around the tank just fine.

Silas had gotten sick on Sunday night or Monday morning and hadn't told anyone. So there's a three day mess on his bed. Daddy is now turning green and heading for the bathroom just in case. I get there, but the other effect of the stomach bug was left in the bathroom, so I'm about to just jump out the window and save my stomach the trouble.

A serious note: My brother Danny needs prayers. He has always suffered from severe stomach pain....dehabilitating pain so that he can't function day-to-day very well at all. He had spent a week in the hospital because things had gotten so severe, and has now hit a brick wall, not being able to get any help from a specialist in Birmingham. His attitude isn't great right now....he quit being faithful to the Lord early in his life. He needs the prayers of Christians, whether he knows it or not. Many thanks.

Parting shot: Silas and his cousin Joe are in the back of the van this Sunday headed to lunch. They're playfully teasing and playing when Silas says, "Joe, you're a hairdresser." Man, them's fighting words where I'm from.

I hope this year you guys will find new strength to fight old problems......thanks to good things happening here in Auburn, I'm fighting mine better. There's always room for more change to the better, but just a little improvement can be a real confidence booster.

Well, it's more like post-Thanksgiving and birthday season. And we're not really suffering, we're just awfully busy. Already.

Case in point: how did Silas get to be four years old? We sat on the couch last week with him after finding some pictures of him as a newborn. The time flies so fast, yet I can't remember really a day without him. Funny, huh?

My wife amazes me pretty consistently. The putting on of a birthday party is an event, not just a couple of hours of fun and a cake. She burned the midnight oil(and some other things) :) and just kept going, even with a few hours less of sleep a night right now dedicated to Elliot and his interrupted sleep. And that doesn't even begin to describe how well she's taken care of the boys, especially Silas and the onset of his asthma. Thank you, Lord, for bringing her to me and for her saying "yes".

This weekend I put up our lights outside. It's definitely the "Griswold Family Christmas" type event. The sad thing is that I can't decorate my house on my own for Christmas. See, Rusty is afraid of heights.....like comically afraid of heights. The friend from work who helps me put those up has a fractured foot right now from a fall. So weekend before last, I decide I am going to get out on the second story porch roof and do this.

I can only describe how I must have looked as this: if my house had been flypaper,I was the fly caught on it. We're talking comically sad. And the thing is, I was mad because I couldn't just do it. Long story short: Jeremy came for Silas' party on Saturday and we put up lights all afternoon. It's finished. :)

Speaking from a family who looks to be chronically busy between now and Christmas....take at least one night to enjoy it. Put on a good movie, some hot chocolate, etc. The time you can get like this with friends, family, or whomever you choose is well worth it.

Parting shot: Thank you Lord for my spiritual family in Auburn, and for letting me be a part of it. I'm glad I'm in the fight along side you guys.

I do not feel good about this weekend's game. I almost put "much-hyped" game, but that's not the case this year, is it?

I'll be sitting with the rest of the faithful, halfway to the sky this Saturday afternoon.

And I don't have a good feeling about it. At all.

Something I've been pondering: As an AU fan, would you give back the LSU victory to have won the rest of them? It seems to me that we hit a shatterpoint at that game. Yes, we won, but the rest of the season has been largely forgettable(and that hurts to admit.)

I dislike the corndog Louisiana Tigers and their heathen fans as much as anyone, but that game seems really to have changed our season....or maybe was just the catalyst for lower results. I don't know.

I hope we don't have to use our thumbs to hitchhike out of there early on Saturday.


Everyone be careful over Thanksgiving. Be safe, and be thankful for everything that we have as fellow inheritors. Through the worst day or failing in this world, it is good to be called a child of God.

Have you ever felt like Pleonast was your pseudo-psychiatrist? I think that's one of the things that attracted me to the concept. You have however many of your brothers and sisters that read and comment....it's a modern day encouragement tool. You wonder what the likes of Paul, Timothy, and Silas could have done with it.

First, I am so proud of and happy for Chad Ennis. He confessed his faith in Christ this week and became a child of God. I couldn't be happier for him. Chad has been Laura and my adopt-a-student for the past couple of years. The University church lets couples "sponsor" new college students every year....just to help provide a feeling of home away from home. He made me very proud of him....and I'm glad he's our brother.

And now, for the long selfish post....

I missed both services yesterday, and am kind of discouraged about it. Men in my family on my Dad's side have a long history of stomach troubles. My brother has things worse than I do....he's gone through several surgeries and many, many tests to finally figure out how to treat his problem. While mine is not that bad, it is a real letdown for me when I can't function properly. It's not something you just tell everyone, which is the reason I haven't had it announced at services, but I have grown weary of this problem. If you could, pray for me that this will improve. And for my brothers and sisters that might read this, I am not forsaking you. I'm sorry if my sporadic attendance has been a discouragement for you in any way....I just feel like as more people know, the better understood the situation might be. I'm taking a few things that have helped, so hopefully this will become distant history for me. I'm hopeful.

This next part was a tough decision. I don't know if Pleonast is exactly the right place to ask for advice, but I'm going to throw it out there anyway.

We have not had elders at the University church for several years now. The transition was difficult but has been mostly successful and runs smoothly now. I feel like I have let many people down because I haven't attended business meetings held by the men. In the couple years that these have been going on, only two men have asked about my absence and I have told several on my own accord. I feel like there might be some disappointment in me from others, so I want to ask for advice as well as input from anyone who cares to read this far in my blog. :)

After much study about the issue, I have many questions about the church's authority without elders. I know that men are given leadership in the church, and, without elders, men have decided over time the best way to carry out the business of the church is through a meeting of the men. There are many aspects of this that do not cause me any concern. Men taking care of financial matters, taking care of class instruction, and building upkeep are not issues that cause me worry.

I have questions about when men collectively approach making decisions about "shepherding the flock." If a group of men could do this in a business meeting, why would the Lord's church ever need elders? The obvious answer is that elders are qualified from the Word to take care of that work and they operate with the confidence of the congregation behind their authority to do so. The Lord went to a lot of trouble to list several times the qualifications of men His church were to have as elders...that specifically qualified them for this work.

I think that the responsibility falls to us as individuals to watch and care for each other. "Now we exhort you, brethren, warn those who are unruly, comfort the fainthearted, uphold the weak, be patient with all." I Thess. 5:14 "Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth, and someone turns him back, let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins." James 5:19-20. Then it would be the collective responsibility of the church to discipline one who has not responded to individual efforts. I just don't feel comfortable including myself when names are brought before men that are operating as a collective entity. To me, that is what God meant alone for elders.

The most frustrating thing to me is that the Word is silent when it comes to churches without elders. Yes, we have principles that men are to lead in the church....but how far does that go? How do we operate if business meetings aren't the way to go? These are questions I don't have answers for, and it's why I remain gladly and with no problem whatsoever a member at the University church. It's not an issue that to me could divide fellowship...we are all simply doing the best we can under the circumstances.

It seems to me that if the Lord had ever intended His church to be without elders, He would have included those directions for the first century church. However, His instructions through Paul example were to set up elders in every church(Acts 14:23). Why are we as the 21st century church not able to achieve what the first century church had? I don't fully know the answer.

All this said, I have had an up and down couple of years as far as my attitude goes. There are times when it doesn't affect me as severely, but most of my concern is because of perception. I don't want any of my sisters or brothers(especially) to think I don't either care about the work, or am not on fire for the Lord. I have some of the best Christian examples to be with in Auburn....I just want them to know they don't have a weak link with me.

I haven't voiced these concerns in person to anyone for fear I would be taken the wrong way. I just want to serve the Lord the way He commands....the same as all of us. I don't want anyone here to be upset or think I am stirring up controversy. I just have questions that I can't answer alone.

Thanks for reading.