Great Moments In High School Athletics (part one)

Getting To Know You 2008 vol.1

THE DOG STORY FROM LAST TUESDAY

I am writing this for no other reason than to finish a story that I was telling to a couple of friends at church this last week. If you find this story offensive...I'm sorry. Remember that the thoughts conveyed on this blog are my own alone. Also, if you are one of my kids, stop reading this and go do your home work, clean your room or something. To start the story, I'm going to give a little background. I have a wonderful family that includes a wife, a boy, another boy and a little girl. They are the "wind beneath my wings". You know...when you think about that statement...What is that supposed to mean....wings?....I don't have wings....anyway, they are great so back to the story. Along with my wonderful family, I have...a dog. His name is Toby and he is a black lab. Toby is eleven years old. I guess some would call him a good family dog and he has been good with people over the years but that fact of the matter is...he has been a lot of trouble to me. Over the last eleven years, he has eaten shoes, leather jackets, wreaths (long story), entire loafs of bread, steaks (and other people food), toys, balls, and just about anything else that you can think of. He also sheds, tracks in mud, digs for moles, swims in our pool (yes, dogs shed in the pool), sleeps in our bed (wife's fault), is deaf (big problems) and is always under my feet at the worst times. On top of that, over his long (and I mean long) life (he's like 80 in dog years), Toby has cost me literally thousands in vet and food bills. With all that...I'm ready for him to go to doggy heaven(I don't really believe that pets go to heaven but it is a nice way to say that I want him to die). Anyway, last Tuesday, I thought that I had my wish. We were eating dinner and Toby was in our sun room (you can't have him in the room while food is out or it's gone). After dinner I went down into the family room to relax. A couple of minutes later, Julie (the wife) came to me and said, "you need to come into the sun room, Toby is in some kind of distress". Immediately, a smile broke over my face, Julie knew what I was thinking and she urged me not to show my feelings in front of the kids. Into the sun room I went (I was skipping). The scene was indeed sad. Toby could not stand up and his back legs seemed "locked" underneath him. He was also shaking terribly. I felt sorry for him. I may want him to move on but I don't want him to suffer in any way. So I called the vet. Of course, our vet was closed but they connected me to the Emergency Vet Hospital on red bank road (I have been there a few times, very expensive but they do great work). Of course they told me to bring him in as soon as possible. So I picked him up (85lbs of squirming crying dog) and put him in my car. It was pouring down rain on the way down but I was going to get him there as soon as I could. All the way there, he didn't make a sound...he just laid silent in the back seat. While he was laying there, I was preparing myself for what was coming. What was I going to say to the vet if the news was bad? What was I going to tell the kids? No smile on my face anymore. This was truly sad. I got there and went right in to tell them that I was here and probably needed something or someone to help get him out of the car. The lady at the desk replied, "Really? You would be surprised at what the ride here can do." What was she talking about? Ride here? Didn't she understand that my stupid dog was on his death bed? She then pointed out the window to my car. Toby was no longer laying quietly in the back dying but was sitting up in the driver seat fogging up the windshield. I trudged out to the car (still raining) and opened the door. Toby hopped down and walked right into the hospital. Now...I was mad. He had got me...again. The vet said that he had some kind of "geriatric arthritic episode". WHAT? But I was ready....I had my talk all planned out...GERIATRIC ARTHRITIC EPISODE? The vet even commented on how healthy he was for his age....gee thanks. Anyway, so $120.00 later, me and my geriatric dog went home to break the good news to the family...Toby is going to be a round for a loooong time.

How's Your New Years Resolution Going?

So.....Did you make a new years resolution? If you did, you are not alone. Millions of people each year begin the year with a promise to do something (or not do something) that they did (or didn't do) the previous year. Some resolutions are very "high and lofty" and outward focused like, "This year I am going to be nicer to people" or "This year I resolve to make the world a better place". You know, the nice sounding, unmeasurable types. Others go the route of self improvement. They might be education related "I'm going to learn a foreign language", or hygiene related ; "I going to quite picking my nose". But the one that trumps them all is the resolution to lose weight. Maybe you made that one for this year. If you did, I'm here to help!!!
Take a look below at the latest weight loss tool that is sweeping the nation!!!

MY NEW BEST FRIEND

I would like to introduce you to my new best friend. I know that you might think that referring to a plumbing fixture as my best friend might might seem a little odd but believe me, it's true. You see when you spend such a large amount of quality time with a fixture such as this, you kind of form a bond. This weekend, my family got a visit from the stomach flu. It was a bad one. It started Friday night when I was holding my sweet little girl in my arms while she proceeded to throw up all over me. Nice, I know. She continued all through the night and into Saturday morning. This is also the weekend that Julie had a six hour class on Saturday and then a four hour woman's dinner thing after that. I was holding it all together until Nathan (my middle child) started Saturday evening. Oh what fun! So my little girl was hanging on me while I was introducing Nathan to our new "family friend". I must say that Nathan was a trooper about it and was very good at getting to our "friends house" in time. Kaitlin...not so much. It was getting to be about 8:30pm when I noticed that I had not really eaten anything all day. Why wasn't I even hungry (a rarity for me)? A few hours later, I got my answer. I was literally up all night. At about 3:30am Sunday morning (while I was taking a few moments away from my friend), I realized that I had big problem. Our Worship Arts Minister at our church(Jared) is off this week and I was supposed to lead three worship services for him. I started to think of my options Lead remotely from the bathroom? Port-o-let on the stage? It was then that I drifted off to sleep for a couple of hours. When I woke up, I decided to just try to make it happen, so into the shower and off to church. The ride to church was rough. I was starting to think that this wasn't such a good idea. When I got to my office I broke down and called Jared with my sob story. To make a long (and gross) story short, Jared (whom to me is the "Citizen of The Day), said no problem, he would cover for me. So back home I went to spend some more quality time with my new "best friend". I think that we are now pretty much through the woods. Thanks to everyone that helped out in my absence and allowed me to rest. Don't forget to wash your hands after reading this, I don't what to be responsible for introducing you to a new "friend".

PONCHOT THANKSGIVING

Sorry for the long time since my last post but our family has just returned from down south. As we do most years, the Ponchot family (Dan, Julie, Jacob, Nathan, and Kaitlin) spent our "Traditional" Thanksgiving with Julie's mom and dad down in Florida. What a great week! We have never had such perfect weather. Thanksgiving day was a balmy 80 degrees and we spent most of it down on the beach. (above is the view from the back deck of our condo) The kids really enjoyed the ocean. They spent hours splashing around and making sand castles. Is was really nice to see them playing together so well for so long. Usually when they are together for extended periods of time, it ends up sounding like world war III. It is definitely safe to say that a good time was had by all. I think that my favorite thing about our trip was just spending time with Julie and the kids. God has blessed me with a great family. I really don't deserve them. But I guess that's how God works, He gives us many things that we don't deserve. How awesome!!! Anyway, enough of the sappy stuff. To sum it all up, we had a great vacation. I basically did nothing but sit on the beach, eat, golf (Thanks Bud and Peggy), and be with the family. Here are some more pictures.

CAUGHT IN THE ACT

Yesterday.....I was caught in the act. I have been in turmoil today trying to decide weather or not to share the events of yesterday with the blog world and until this time, I was pretty sure I would take this major embarrassment with me to my grave. So in the interest in the greater good of all mankind, here it goes. Yesterday, I was driving to lunch when I got caught at a stop light here in town. Minding my own business I hear a horn make a short blast to my left. Next to me was a police officer with his window down trying to get my attention. Being the fine outstanding citizen that I am, I quickly rolled down my window. The officer said, "You know, I could give you a ticket for that". Immediately, I started to freak out. I checked my seat belt. It was on and secure. I checked the volume on my radio, fine. I did a quick check of windows, but everything seemed fine. So I glanced back to the officer and said, "Excuse me?". Again, he said (now laughing) "You know, I could give you a ticket for that". Now I was totally at a loss so I replied "A ticket....for what?" By now this fine officer was really cracking up and said, " I could give you a ticket for picking your nose like that in public". Evidently, I had mindlessly been doing some serious mining of mineral resources (booger nuggets). I must say that I really don't embarrass that easily, but this was a whole new level for me. By this time, the guy was laughing pretty hard so I started to chuckle myself. What else can you do when you are caught in the act.
So enough of my embarrassing moments, what about you? Leave a comment on this post revealing one of your most embarrassing moments. I will be good to finally get it off of your chest(and it might make me feel better about myself by laughing at you).

COMING SOON TO LCC STUDENT MINISTRY!

Decompressing Dan

Every once in a while, I have to go somewhere to... decompress. Now many people often feel this need and so they decompress in their own ways. Some go to movies(too expensive), some go golfing (not something that helps me decompress but actually puts me into a mini-rage), some people scrapbook(hmmmm.....no), some people sleep(boring), and others just veg out in front of the TV (I can't sit still that long). While all of those ways are fine to me(except the scrapbook thing), I prefer the simpler things. I like doing things that do not involve a lot of deep thinking, that involve the possibility that someone might get injured (ask Brad about that one), and that involve getting so filthy dirty that you basically throw away the clothes that you are wearing when you are finished. Riding four wheelers gets the job done. Yesterday, me and Hosehead(Brad) went four wheeling. Brad's dad owns a couple and was nice enough to let us borrow them. What a great time. I was especially excited to go because of all of the rain the past few days. Mud+Four Wheeler=Fun. Believe it or not, the ground was fairly dry. I must admit that I was a little disappointed. Trailing through Brad's G-Ma's woods was fun but where was the mud? Eventually... we found it(see picture above). It was good to decompress.

IT SEEMED LIKE A GOOD IDEA AT THE TIME

It seemed like a good idea at the time. How many times in your life have you said this? I can attest that I have said it many times myself. There was the time when I was about twelve, me and a friend thought that a six foot long board would make for a good ramp to jump our bikes off of. We also thought that it was a good idea to start stacking a few railroad ties to make the ramp higher. It worked out okay until we got about seven ties stacked up. Think about it. A six foot long ramp that went about six feet high. When I hit the ramp I went up about twelve feet. The only things I really remember is hitting the ground (still on my bike) and my left pedal breaking off. It seemed like a good idea at the time (I have a nice scar on my left knee that is proof of this). Another was when a group of college friends and I (Julie was there too) decided to enter an unmarked cave in the hills of northeastern Tennessee. The entrance to the cave was in the back of this farmers field. This thing went on forever. We trudged through waist deep water, through small openings on our hands and knees, up small inclines and down others. Of course, it was very dark. At one point, however, the fearless leader of the group said "You may want to stay close to the right against the wall for a little bit". I did as I was told but when I looked to my left with my flashlight, I noticed that we were walking on about a twelve inch wide ledge with about a thirty foot drop off to the side. Again, it seemed like a good idea at the time. I must admit, it has been a while since I have had one of those "It seemed like a good idea at the time" moments....until last week. To make a long story short, last week, I received a call from an old friend. He told me that the Putt-Putt place in Milford was closing down and that the owner wanted to give me something that I might be able to use in my ministry
(I had known the owner for years). My friend went on to tell me that if I wanted, I could have the "Bank shot Basketball" court. I immediately said "OF COURSE".

***BELOW IS A PICTURE TO EXPLAIN BANK SHOT BASKETBALL-THINK PUTT-PUTT WITH A BASKETBALL AND HOOP***

I was so excited! Think of the possibilities of having such a piece of recreation equipment. What could it mean for Loveland Christian Church? What could it mean for my family? My mind was racing. It was then my friend informed me that since I wanted it, it needed to be out of there by the next day. No Problem. I joyfully went off to claim my prize.

After about four hours into taking these stinking awkward things off of their mountings (two ladders, five guys (who hate me now), and about twenty cuts from the fiberglass), I had a realization. Where am I going to put 19 fiberglass backboards with rims? All I can say is that now, when people ask Julie for directions to our house, all she says is, "It's the house with the big pile of fiberglass junk in the side yard that my stupid husband has no clue what to do with".

It seemed like a good idea at the time.

Thoughts on The Renaissance

In my time at college, part of my education involved a two year block of study called Humanities. It's hard to explain but think of world history, literature, philosophy, fine arts, and composition all rolled into one killer course. There were books to read(from Homer to Sophocles to Augustine to Erasmus to Shakespeare, Keats, Shelley, and on and on)lectures to hear, papers to write, and slide shows to watch depicting the art style of the period we were covering. I must say, back then, I really didn't see the point of all of the ramblings of the professors, endless reading, and the hours of viewing "works of art"....until now. This past weekend, my family made a trek back in history "Brought alive again" to a place called "The Ohio Renaissance Festival". Please understand, I am definitely NOT an expert the Renaissance period. I am frankly surprised that I can even spell it. I think that Renaissance is french for rebirth or something like that. To my recollection, some famous artist of that time were people like Michelangelo, daVinci, and Botticelli (or something like that). That's the depth of my memory but there we were all the same...The Ohio Renaissance Festival. Overall, we had a great time. The food was great ( I highly recommend the soup in a bread bowl)! There were shops everywhere. Wooden swords, clothing from the time, wooden swords, sticks, wooden swords, suits of armor, wooden swords....I think that you get the picture. The place was huge and there were many things to do. There were different shows that ran throughout the day and we were able to take in a couple. One was called, "The Mud Show". It was pretty funny. The one I really wanted to see(and by the size of the crowd, so did everyone else) was a real live joust with horses and everything. We went early to get a good seat. It took a long time to get to the jousting (lots of ceremony and the like). There was an announcer in the middle of the arena on this huge black horse that was trying to get the crowd all hyped up (probably 1,000+ people). The guy basically divided the crowd in two and each side was to cheer for their rider. He evidently picked me out of the the 1,000 people there to chastise for not cheering enough. He stopped the whole thing and pointed right at me and said "YOU!!! YES YOU!!! (he went on to describe me so that everyone knew who the slacker was) WHY DOEST THOU NOT CHEER FOR YOUR KNIGHT?" Needless to say, I cheered after that. Finally, the knights were going to make their first pass (can you feel the excitement?). The one dude dealt a direct blow and knocked the other off of his horse. Game over. All of that for one pass. Oh well. The funniest thing about the whole day was watching the people. Some people really take this whole renaissance thing seriously but at different levels:

Level One (spent 100's of $ on outfit, real sword)- They wore the whole outfit, shoes included. They even spoke with an accent. They drink their beverage (never carbonated) from a real, wooden, mug. These people would never be caught eating a frozen banana(they evidently had them during the renaissance you know).

Level Two (bought a cool outfit but no shoes and fake sword)- From far away they look like level one until you see work boots and wooden sword. These people do however, drink their Pepsi from a brown colored, plastic mug.

Level Three (bought part of an outfit while there, no wooden sword, but a walking stick)-They may have a horned Viking hat or a cloak on over their blue jeans. They Drink from a Pepsi paper cup but do like to eat the turkey leg thing.

Level Four (these people are confused)- A level four person dresses like Harry Potter or Captain Jack Sparrow or might even wear something from Star Wars . They are not really sure about the whole Renaissance thing. They like to eat frozen bananas.

Just a short note, please do not be offended if you are a level one, two, or three person. I think that you are great. If you are a level four person...you need help.

Overall, I guess I would recommend a visit to the Ohio Renaissance Festival. We did have fun, but spent a few bucks. It was also nice to put my education in the Renaissance period to good use (ha ha). Best of all, we can now mark another item off of..."The List"(see previous post).

This post is titled: "Dan Does Not Really Feel Like Writing Today So He Is Just Going To Post An Old Video"

RENOVATE: Night Number One

Last night...was cool. I case you haven't heard, last night, our student ministry at LCC, kicked off a new season long series entitled RENOVATE. It was also the first official night of IMPACT (our Sunday night student "thingy") in our new schedule format. I must say that in the hours prior to starting, I wasn't sure what was going to happen. I'm glad it wasn't up to me. God did some really cool things. We started off with our Jr High students and all I can say is that I had a blast. They were so much fun to be with and they really responded to our talk about renovation. After that, we had our combined Jr/Sr. High worship. I must admit, I had to do a double take when I walked through the doors to the worship center. There were teens every where. It was good to see several new faces and other faces that I haven't seen much in the last month or so. Worship time was good. Our kids really know how to honor God. Our Senior high talk time was great. Again, it was good to be with them. We had some good discussion and there were times of humor as well as deep contemplation. I think this new series is going to change some people (me included). Can't wait for next week!

Excitement Abounds!

I have not been this excited since High School Musical 2 came out (insert sarcastic laugh here). I can't sleep, I can't eat (yeah right), and frankly, I can't sit still (nothing new there). Why? I thought that you would never ask! This Sunday, the LCC student ministry is kicking off our fall IMPACT season. This year, we are doing a season long series entitled RENOVATE. It is also the first week of our new schedule.

6:30-7:30pm Jr High Only (6th-8th Grades)

7:10-7:40pm Combined Worship (All Grades)

7:45-8:30pm Senior High Only (9th-12th Grades)

If you have no idea of what IMPACT is, I will try to fill you in. IMPACT (Illustrations, Music, Prayer, and Christ Teachings) is our student Bible Study, fellowship, and worship service. Basically, anything goes (that's Biblical). The best way for me to explain IMPACT to you is for you to check it out for yourself. If you have any questions or need more information, please email me at http://dponchot@lovedtolove.org.

Since you are reading this, I feel that you and I have formed a bond that allows me to ask something of you, trust me, it's not money. I would like to ask you to pray for the student ministry. Pray for our students, our sponsors, and our staff. Pray that God's truths will be heard every week this fall. Pray that programming and schedules will not replace the moving of the Holy Spirit. Got it?? I will pause for a moment for you to pray right now....(insert your prayer here).....AMEN! THANKS!!! I really believe that God is going to do some cool stuff this year and that students lives will be changed. Excitement abounds!!!

The List.....

As we approach the time of year when deciduous trees drop their leaves, when kids are back in school, when the air is crisp and clear (except in southern Ohio), and when the local stores have had their Halloween items out for a full two months, it can only mean one thing. Summer is over. As I look back to what was the "Ponchot Family Summer", I am drawn to a mysterious writing that I have never actually seen with my own eyes, but it's effect on our family has been profound. It's called...the List. You see last spring, my lovely (and wise) wife Julie, put together "The List". The "List" was simply a gathering of all the things that she thought that we should do during the summer as a family. Usually, summer flies by without making a sound except for maybe a weeks vacation. Not this year. I think she is on to something. The "List" contained many items. Some were very simple, like buying an ice cream from the ice cream truck. Others were more involved, like a three day camping experience. The "List" also included trips to parks, trips to farms, going to a drive-in movie (I hadn't done that in years), having kid movie night at home, and many others. You might think that it made for a highly regimented , scheduled summer but it wasn't like that at all. I don't even think that we made it through the entire "List" (especially since I have never been privy to read it) but I do know we gave it a run. All I can say is that this summer was great! I highly recommend that you hire my wife next spring to help you make your own "List"(just kidding). I will add a short word of caution to all guys, the "List" was not all fun and games. There were also some home projects on the "List". Be ye warned. Uh Oh....something just occurred to me...is she working on...the fall... "List"?

Wednesday Morning: Spam, Opossum, and Dark Roast Coffee

I love Wednesday mornings! Every Wednesday, I have the opportunity to meet the chairman of our Elders for coffee and conversation. I know that to a lot of you that may seem a little weird. Meeting the "boss" fun? It's actually the highlight of my weekday mornings. I have told other youth ministers about meeting with chairman of the Elders for coffee and its always the same reply, "So what did you do?". I then tell them that I have met with him every Wednesday morning for the last few years and the look of astonishment is priceless. The truth of the matter is that meeting with him has really helped me in my ministry here at LCC. A lot of the spiritually impactful things that we have done in our ministry have come from one of our Wednesday morning talks. I look to him for advice not only in my ministry, but also in just about every aspect of my life. Now don't get me wrong, the talk is not always high brow and intellectual, far from it. In fact, we often change topics of conversation minute by minute. It can go from insights on the ministry of Jesus to what's on sale at Bass Pro shops to how to cook opossum to any other off the wall concept. One thing that you also need to know about the chairman of our elders, he is a Half-Price Book Store "junkie". This year alone, he has probably given me about ten books. Some are very spiritual in nature (maybe a book about Biblical truths), some are not. My favorite is a book titled "SPAM- A Biography". I really never know what we are going to talk about. Probably the best part of the Wednesday morning though is spending some time in prayer. It is a great mid-week pick me up. I am so glad to be at a church where I can be so open with all of our leadership, especially "The Chairman". God has truly blesses our church leadership with some awesome people. Well, I hope that this look into what is known as the Dan Ponchot Wednesday Morning Experience was insightful to you. Hopefully it might explain why I am a little goofy at about 9:30am on Wednesdays. A few cups of dark roast has that effect on me.

15 YEARS AGO TODAY...

Fifteen years ago today:
A first class stamp was $0.29, the song/record of the year was Tears in Heaven by Eric Clapton, the top sitcom on television was Roseanne, a gallon of gas cost $1.47, George H.W. Bush was in the White House, the first web sites were being created on the new Internet, hurricane Andrew just hit south Florida killing 23, and the super Nintendo was the big gaming system. I know, thanks for the history lesson.

While those events are huge in the day that was August 29th, 1992, none can compare to the big event of that day. You see, 15 years ago today, Julie Horan agreed to become my wife. Over the years, when people have asked me how long I have been married, I often joke, "ten(or whatever it really was)but it feels like thirty" (ha ha). The truth be told, today, as we celebrate 15 years of wedded bliss, it seems like yesterday. In fact, to look at my wife Julie, it could have been yesterday. Even after shuffling from Tennessee to Ohio, job changes, house changes, three kids, and two (stupid) dogs, the girl hasn't changed. She looks the same, smiles the same, and even acts the same. Even her easily recognizable "Julie" laugh is the same (I can hear it a mile away). Being around Julie, I feel like I'm still a goofy teenager (no offense to all of my goofy LCC teenagers), at least until I look in the mirror or get on a scale.

I hear people talk all the time about "soul mates", "the love of my life", and things like to refer to their significant other. To me, those phrases pale in comparison to what my wife of 15 years means to me. You see, 15 years ago today, God gave me the second greatest gift ever. He gave me Julie

Someone is watching you.

Now don't take the title of this simple blog to mean something weird. I am not going to ask "Have you checked the children?" or "Do you want to see something really scary?" or any thing else that is related to some cheesy horror movie. In the course of my ministry, I have used the phrase "someone is watching you" many times to illustrate that people watch us, and what we do as Christians, to see how a person of God is supposed to act. True statement but recently in my life, I have noticed that the "Someone is watching you" thing has gone to a whole new level. Not only are people watching me but some people are mimicking me. Mainly, my kids. Sometimes, I look at these wonderful children and I see....me. Nothing that Hollywood could produce in the horror movie genre could frighten me as much as watching my kids act, talk, and eat the same way that I do. My oldest son has a great sense of humor (not from me) and often does (and says)the goofiest things. I tell my wife "I don't know where he comes up with this stuff" and she says..."He's just like YOU". My middle child, Nathan, hates to lose, AT ANYTHING! Again, my wife informs me that he is competitive... just like me. My youngest (a three year old female terror), likes to sing random songs...just like me.
I must admit to you that sometimes when people tell me that my kids are like me in this way or that, a small sense of pride comes to my mind. It's fun to hear that my kid eats his peanut butter and jelly...just like me or he has a goofy sense of humor...just like me or she sings random songs...just like me but what I really would like hear someday is....Man your kid's love Jesus....just like you.

LCC CRIBS

We did this video and laughed the whole time during the shoot and the editing. Evidently it is more humorous to the participants than to the general public.

New Series For This Season Of IMPACT