Surprise Guest in Class Today

This week I'm taking a week-long course at Southern. Basically, it's an 8-5 class for a week. You do almost the same amount of reading and assignments as you would in a semester-long course. Right now, I'm taking a really practical course called Discipling Adults. Dr. Hal Pettegrew is the prof. Obviously it is a challenge to keep students engaged for eight hours a day, and Dr. Pettegrew is doing a great job of it. He has wisely brought in guest speakers in the afternoons to talk about different topics pertaining to discipleship.

Today we had a break just before the guest speaker came. I was sitting in the classroom with a few other students as the guest speaker walked in. He wasn't anyone famous (to my knowledge, at least) and yet he treated all of us as if we were the famous ones. This man, who had to be in his seventies, came to meet each of us before the class started, walking around to greet each of us. After meeting each of us and learning our names, he responded with "Glad to know ya."

As I sat at my computer, waiting for the break to be over, this man looks over my shoulder and says "Gig 'em." I was caught off guard. I wasn't expecting something like that. I looked down and he was pointing at my ring. Then, he pointed at his hand which had a smooth gold ring on his finger. He grinned at me and said, "class of 1956." His ring didn't look quite like mine. The year and shield had worn off, and you could hardly tell it was an Aggie Ring. I shot a "Gig 'em" right back at him, and I listened to him speak for about an hour and a half. I learned much about pastoring and discipleship, and I really appreciated his humility, as I learned from his actions as much as his words.

The McDonald Coaching Legacy

Here is a link to a story about my Dad.

For the lazy, here are some snippets:

This offseason has made it abundantly clear. The McDonald family is firmly established as one of the top basketball families from the San Marcos area.

Donny McDonald, son of legendary Texas State head basketball coach Vernon McDonald, was named one of the Dean Weese Outstanding Coaches of the Year for 2007, the girls 4A Texas Coach of the Year, by the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches.

His brother Lynn, the head coach at Clear Lake High, earned the boys 5A honor.

And here I am upholding the legacy with 7th and 8th graders...


The legend lives on...

Aggieland...

Summer is Coming

Helen is down to 3 1/2 weeks of teaching left. I have two finals this week, one take home and one in class. Then we are done for the Spring semester. I'll be taking two J-Term classes... Discipling Adults and (against my better judgment) Hebrew Exegesis of Song of Solomon and Ecclesiastes. After those two classes, we'll have a few weeks before we move.

Summer has several good things in store for us.
1. My parents are visiting at the end of May for about a week.
2. My brother and his wife are going to help us move. We are going to meet them in Chicago and watch the cubs, then drive back to Louisville and move out.
3. Several good movies are coming out... Shrek 3, the Simpons... what else do you need?
4. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows comes out in July. Will Harry make it out alive?
5. Texas.

Summer is the best time of the year.

All in the Family

My uncle Lynn and Dad sporting their trophies for 5A Boys Coach of the Year and 4A Girls Coach of the Year respectively. Way to go!


PS It looks like Dad has an idea with that light above his head. Haha!

We Bleed Maroon

From the outside looking in, you can't understand it. From the inside looking out, you can't explain it.

Thanks for Playing Mavwrecks

The Mavs were eliminated by the Golden State Warriors. The Mavs were the 1 seed and the Warriors were 8 seed. This is the first time an 8 seed has beaten a 1 seed in a 7 game series. It's just the third time an 8 seed has ever beaten a 1 seed in any type of series. The Mavs won 67 games this year, which is the most regular season games won by a team eliminated in the first round. This is for all the arrogant, loud, and ignorant Mavs fans, for the players, and for the whiny, annoying, bratty owner Mark Cuban...

Good luck next year. Thanks for playing.