Our Christmas Wish For All

Our Christmas wish for all !

"I heard the bells on Christmas day
Their old familiar carols play
And mild and sweet their songs repeat...
Of peace on earth good will to men

And the bells are ringing (Peace on Earth)
Like a choir they're singing (Peace on Earth)
In my heart I hear them
Peace on earth, good will to men
And in despair I bowed my head
There is no peace on earth I said
For hate is strong and mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good will to men
But the bells are ringing (Peace on Earth)
Like a choir singing (Peace on Earth)
Does anybody hear them?
Peace on earth, good will to men
Then rang the bells more loud and deep
God is not dead, nor doth He sleep (Peace on Earth, peace on Earth)
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail
With peace on earth, good will to men
Then ringing singing on its way
The world revolved from night to day
A voice, a chime, a chant sublime
Of peace on earth, good will to men
And the bells they're ringing (Peace on Earth)
Like a choir they're singing (Peace on Earth)
And with our hearts we'll hear them
Peace on earth, good will to men
Do you hear the bells they're ringing? (Peace on Earth)
The life the angels singing (Peace on Earth)
Open up your heart and hear them (Peace on Earth)
Peace on earth, good will to men
Peace on earth, Peace on earth
Peace on earth, Good will to men"

See

Five Years Ago

Five years ago today I wrapped gifts for the kids and was getting ready to go to Christmas Eve Service at The Vineyard Columbus at 3:00 PM followed by a friend asking me to her church at 7:00 PM. Will, Peter, and Victoria were going to stay overnight with their mom and come over Christmas afternoon. This gave me a lot of time to reflect. I had driven down to Memphis a couple weeks earlier to meet someone who in short order crushed me. I had no significant other in my life. I had been looking with no success for over 2 years but still didn't have a job. After I got back from the second service, I got on my hands and knees in the middle of my apartment and prayed. Not for a Christmas miracle but for someone who loved me. God told me right then and there to get off all the other dating websites except for Christian Mingle.
And in short order in a few weeks I met the most beautiful woman in the world who became my bride 15 days latter. Not long after that I landed my first job in almost three years. God had told me all along that a relationship and job were going to go hand in hand. And I had prayed pretty specifically fro what I was looking for in a spouse. Well God ripped that up and gave me a lifetime more than I could have ever asked for with my Valerie Geis Horosz. Don't ever give up on God. Don't ever stop praying. I give praise, honor and glory to Jesus Christ. "With God All Things Are Possible".

Who Is Mike Johnston ?

Mike Johnston obviously has lack of control over the Pittsburgh Penguins. The game versus the Red Wings with five Pens in the penalty box. On national TV no less. Discipline starts behind the bench. There was none this game.

Penguins lead the league in penalty minutes. That's a cold hard fact. Most of them have been due to lack of discipline. Quite a few cost us games.

Penguins also lead the league in giving up short handed goals. Well coached teams do not have this problem.

The calls from the referees have been atrocious this season to say the least. In his book Johnston said that you never win an argument with a referee and that it's his and the team Captain's responsibility to get the facts from the refs. Again too many times have we seen Pens who are not the Captain do that and get on the bad side of them. And Johnston should get an explanation and plead His teams case. When this happens you gain the confidence of your team. Didn't see much of this at all.

And the numerous blunders in arguably the most important Pens game since 2009. Putting Sutter in on a critical face off who's only at 33% and Crosby as a winger ? They scored right after that. And before that whole blowing the lead thing, why not employ what even an AHL team can execute to perfection - a Neutral zone trap? Your percentages will tell you that when its executed properly it will shut down even desperate teams. And it doesn't take the top five players in the league to do this.

Looking at Johnston behind the bench. No confidence whatsoever. The players can see that. The opposition sees that. And the fans see that.

Book co-authored by Mike Johnston

Pittsburgh Penguins Season In Pictures

Below are several pictures from the 2014-2015 Season for the Pittsburgh Penguins:

Crosby looking focused during the loss to the Senators 4/7/2015

MAF sporting the new Pens alternate jersey

Loss to the Flyers 4/5/2015

Five Pittsburgh Penguins In The Penalty Box 3/15/2015

Pens Playing Poker







 

Head Coach Mike Johnston

Mike Lange honored for his 40 years as the voice of the Pittsburgh Penguins

Our "Pens Den"

Our "Pens Den"

Our "Pens Den"

The best looking female Pens fan ever !

We Are Not In Kansas Anymore

The past 6 seasons the Pens have been in Kansas heading into the playoffs. "Well Toto it looks like we're not in Kansas anymore".

We've made the playoffs every year since 2006. There's the old saying "to whom much has been given, much is required". When you have arguably the two best players in the world, expectations should be high. This season has been incredibly frustrating from a fan perspective. Look at the record up to 12/31/14 and after 1/1/15. The core of this team is intact.

Everyone asks why ? Why are the Pens playing their worst hockey since 2009 ? Well the well oiled excuse machine has generated several "problems":

Problem is not injuries although Pens have had their fair share.

Problem is not officiating although there have been some horrific calls and non calls go against the Pens.

Problem is not the Pens are not a physical team although they could use a couple of smart big physical agitators.

Problem is a lack of leadership on the ice and behind the bench. The game against the Red Wings was one of the greatest examples this season of the lack of leadership with 5 Pens in the penalty box. Total lack of discipline and composure. Last night’s game against Ottawa was truly epic. When you are up 3-0 in the most meaningful game in years, you don’t blow it. You treat it like a Game 7 and do everything you can to win. You don’t put in Sutter to take a crucial faceoff with the game on the line. You block shots. And you make decisions like employing a neutral zone trap to shut them down.

Numerous blogs employ graphs, charts, and excellent breakdowns. No fault with any of them but this doesn’t take a Ph.D. to discern what is wrong with the Pens.

Shero has created problems that will take years to resolve. Hind sight is always 20/20 but if the Pens just fired him and reigned in Byslma, we would not be at this point. But Byslma was guilty by association. Shero was probably the worst GM the Pens had with JR not too far behind. There had to have been better GM candidates than JR but the reason he was hired is that they are grooming his assistant to take over in a year or two. That's not going to work. The only move that JR did that has worked was the Neal trade. Everything else has been an epic failure. And the bungling of hiring MJ was a sincere joke. If you remember, JR had picked out the one assistant coach of the Kings - but they locked him up. Plan B was Desardins but he bolted for the Cannucks when he was told he couldn't choose his staff. We ended up with Plan C in MJ who is great x's and o's guy but a poor motivator. My feeling is that the Pens should have pursued Guy Boucher but he was under contract I believe.

I'm a die hard Pens fan through and through but there will be significant changes that are needed to get them back on course to make a serious run for the Cup. Good luck to them on Friday against the Islanders and hopefully in the playoffs. Let's Go Pens !

Pens Den

The "Pens Den" was in planning from the moment we bough the house. A great deal of thought and careful planning turned this into something truly special.


The walls were painted Sherwin Williams "Scone Gold" to match the gold that the Penguins use. Unfortunately, this came at a cost as the first color that was chosen came out pea green.The Pens logo is from Fathead. I was very leary of putting it up on a textured wall until I found "Command" strips by 3M. I placed those along several key points on the outer edge of the logo and it worked beautifully.












"A Great Day For Hockey" took a great deal of effort to come about. I found a company out of state that would do this but I needed to not only find but buy the font and email it to them this took several days but I found it. I followed the company's directions to the letter and it went on without a hitch.



 









The picture of Sidney Crosby is one I found on the internet. I sent it to a company that puts pictures on canvas. It looks incredible on the wall !














On the left side of the TV I have two VHS tapes from when the Pens won the cup in 1991 and 1992 along with a DVD of the 2009 Championship. The shelf below has a book about Mario and the box from NHL 2002 featuring Mario on the cover.
















On the right side of the TV I have the two DVD collections of the Pens Greatest Games. Below that is a Dan Byslma and Olli Määttä bobbleheads.












On our couch I have Penguins blanket.The 2009 Stanly Cup Champions plaque in a copy of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette the day after the Pens won the Cup and is sold by them.

Future purchases include a rug with Penguins logo, the 1991 Stanley Cup Champions plaque, black curtains, Penguins ornaments, and additional artwork.













Please feel free to visit my two 'Pens Den' pages on Facebook to get up to date Pens news and in game updates.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/pensden/
https://www.facebook.com/pensden





Let's Go Pens !

Happy New Year 2015 !

Wishing all my friends a safe, healthy, and blessed New Years 2015 !

Use and practice these words more often in 2015: love, joy, peace, encouragement, gentleness, patience, kindness.

Pray often.

Worship wherever you are.

Read God's word.

Be a friend.

Enjoy family.

Encourage, support, and love your children.

Take care of the temple that God has given you.

Tell your spouse, children, and family that you love them. Directly as in 'I love you and thank God for you being in my life'.

Set attainable and realistic goals for yourself.

2014 Highlights.

We moved into our new house in March and can't thank God enough for blessing us with this opportunity.

Jessica was able to buy our previous house. We are so proud of her !

I was blessed with a new job in July working for Publix Super Markets which is consistently one of the top 100 IT places to work in the USA - and I love it !

We were blessed to have Will & Peter move to Florida in August and have enjoyed spending time with them.

Peter was blessed with his first car in late August - a 2005 Honda Accord. Pray for God to open a door for Peter to secure a job in early 2015.

Will has an excellent job selling cell phones at Costco. He has really found his niche and is doing well.

We all enjoyed seeing Victoria in December and spending time with us ! From seeing 'Winter' the dolphin in Clearwater to dinner at Maggiano's where Jessica got to meet Victoria.

We enjoyed hosting Christmas Eve at our house and had a excellent time with Val's family.

Continued the Christmas Day tradition of dinner at Mitchell's Fish Market - this time with Will & Peter joining Jessica, Val, and myself.

I experienced my first full year without my parents here on this earth. Not a day goes by that I don't think of them, their positive impact on my life, and thanking God for them as my parents. Love you ! Love you !

I can't thank God enough for my Valerie. The Christmas card I got for her said 'without God I would have never found you'. It is so true. Day in and day out her love for me blows me away. God tells me the way I can thank Him is to be a blessing to her everyday - on the good days when it's easy and especially on the bad days when it's not so easy. Val tells me that 'we make a good team'. So very true ! We truly compliment one another. Can't wait to celebrate our fourth wedding anniversary!

I leave you with these scriptures for 2015. Pray they will help you praise God, give you God's peace, and be a blessing to you !

“ ‘ “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.” ’ (Numbers 6:24-26 NIV)

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. (Philippians 4:8 NIV)

13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.(1st Corinthians 13:13)