After learning the old song on the way to their first game, the girls had a “ball” tonight. A group of maybe 10 inflateable mascots were there for between inning entertainment, including Harry Canary in the pic with Livi below. Ava couldn’t believe the 3rd base coach threw us an official ball right before the last inning…….her eyes just lit up when she saw it coming through mid-air into my glove, lol. Livi was kind enough to let Ava blast through the door at home and share stories and the ball first with Marla. Oh yeah…….the Clippers won, lol.

I had one of the best times with one of my daughters I have ever had last night. Ava was turning four today, and knowing I wouldn’t see her until around 5:30 or so this evening – I wanted to give her a special time sometime…..so last night it was. I asked her if she wanted to go on a special date with just me and her……..and to see her eyes light up and get excited really makes life worth living. I asked her where she wanted to go and she said “on a walk”.

So off we went down the road to the park. She had a blast – on my shoulders as we walked through tree branches and on top of the rocks through the creek. She was laughing hysterically until we got into the creek…….but I was able to talk her into getting down and touching the water. Off to the park to swing and onto Dairy Queen for a cherry covered vanilla cone! She wanted to be on my shoulders again on the way home – so we made that happen through some soreness, lol. I think one of the greatest things God has given us is time – and why not use it to give those you care about most undivided attention? God has done quite a good job as a model for us fathers…….some days I really do understand that He loves our attention!

Oh yeah – I thought I’d share a recent photo of Tony Stewart (http://www.tonystewart.com) fishing over at Eldora Speedway a few weeks back. The race was rained out and postponed, but it was fun to chat with Tony and see how laid back he is.

I’m not too sure how united I am with the direction our country is headed. Immorality, separation of state from church (not church and state or church from state, lol), and so many other things just seem to be going downhill these days. In the past few years I have teamed up with the http://www.aia.com ministry on a united front to share the testimonies of athletes and military individuals in an effort to reach the lives of those that do not yet know the Lord. I’ve helped out with the sites at http://www.unitedpassion.com and with testimonial brochures for various athletic events. This year is the second year I have helped Texas A&M University’s AIA ministry (led by Jim Roselius) out with sets of testimonial sports cards, posters and a football brochure.

I was talking to Jim this morning on the phone about the direction God is giving me with the work that I do. As you have noticed in last week’s blogs, I have been a little down and out at times. Jim prayed for me over the phone and reminded me of last year’s outreach, which led 11 people to Christ. He then continued to inform me that this year’s outreach helped lead 12 to Christ so far. Some people have attacked me in the past, trying to inform me that these efforts might not bring the ministry results that other services could. It’s funny how some people out there just have nothing good to say, and even the negative things they do share end up amounting to a hill of beans.

The design of the cards isn’t what led these people to the Lord. It’s the testimonies on the back. It’s amazing to me that the sports photos that might intrigue our culture on the front of the cards pale in comparison to the power of these lives on the flipside. Thanks to God that I am able to be a part of this outreach – and to these military and athletic individuals for sharing their lives like this! Feel free to check out the cards from the past two years at http://www.taviano.com/tamu and http://www.taviano.com/tamu/2006. You can also read more of their AIA ministry at http://cru.tamu.edu.

This weekend turned out to be a good one, with Harvick winning the Busch and Nextel races at Phoenix (after winning the Busch race last week at Nashville).

This racing season is definitely alot more exciting for us Harvick fans. I won’t continue and bore you non-racing fans with more details. I am going to be able to go and watch Harvick race twice this summer, once in June at the Nextel Prelude at Tony Stewart’s track here in Ohio (http://www.eldoraspeedway.com) and once in August at the Busch and Nextel races at MIS (http://www.michiganspeedway.com). I finished up a few new sites this week and will blog more about them soon. You can check them out at http://www.unreined.com and http://www.shopragz.com. Thanks to those folks for allowing me to help them out!

NEW VAN AND BUCKS W

We’ve been looking at trading in our 98 Buick Regal LS for a mini-van this past week. I never thought the day would come where I would be driving a mini-van, lol. The three girls’ car seats just fit into the Buick and they aren’t going to get any smaller. I drove up to Lima and picked up my brother Tug around 7:30 am to go look at more options. We were able to meet with Tim Barrows – a softball teammate – at Lima Auto Mall (go see him if you need a ride) and he was able to give me a better deal than I could get anywhere else. I made a few calls to Marla, letting her know I couldn’t find a better deal if I tried to. Tim was able to get me a deal on the 2005 Dodge Grand Caravan pictured below. I ended up driving it off the lot – all thanks go to God for providing the van for us! He amazes me every day of my life!

Tug and I picked up Eric Stevenson in Lima and headed up to Ann Arbor, MI. We then picked up another friend, David, and headed to the Ohio State vs. Michigan basketball game last night, thanks to Tug’s friend Jamar Butler (pictured below). It was a crazy game with Michigan pulling out to a lead of maybe 21-8 or something. OSU then went on a spree I have never seen before, hitting 11 of 12 three-point shots before halftime. They went into the locker room with the lead 49-43 over the Wolverines. Jamar ended up having an excellent game, scoring 20 points and shutting down Michigan’s point guard on defense. Jamar’s a sophomore at OSU and his game just keeps getting better. Thanks for lettings us come up and watch Jamar!