one - three

The Suns lose, again. Not an excited fan am I. The Suns have such incredible potential, and it seems to be wasting away at the beginning of this regular season. Elton Brand, Sam Cassell, Sean Livingston, but mostly Corey Maggette, beat us. They out-played the Suns. They had solid shooting and good teamwork. Sam Cassell is a jerk, but he's good. He can bait almost anyone into jumping into the air, then he jumps, and the refs call the foul on the jumper. In this game, three Suns players (Kurt Thomas, Leandro Barbosa, and Raja Bell) fouled out of the game in the last minute of the game. The Suns finished the game quite frustrated: 114 - 108. They weren't destroyed, but being down three games to one is not how anyone thought the Suns would start the season. We still have 70 some odd games left. GO SUNS!

game four

The Suns head to LA to play the Clippers for the second time this regular season. The Suns won their first encounter by eight. We've got the ability to do it, but we'll have to see how dedicated our good players will be to keep up the energy the whole game and pull out a solid win on the road. GO SUNS!

did i say dominate?

Alright, so the Suns lose and are now 1 - 2. The Jazz look like they're going to be a formidable force this year. Couple solid players to look at for now and in the future. Props to them, but it still sucks for us. We, once again, had a 15 point lead in the 3rd quarter, blew it, and lost the game in the end. We've got to figure out a way to keep our stamina and our leads. Enough from this non-athletic man. I'm out.

game three

Suns play the Jazz tonight. The Jazz started their franchise in New Orleans, which makes sense to me. They now play in Salt Lake, UT. They started this season by beating the Rockets by ten. This should be a pretty good game for the Suns, but only if they put in the effort that they are capable of. We should dominate. GO SUNS!

star trek

Oh to be a trekker. Not only do I love Star Trek, but I am teaching my 7 month old son to love it, too. He doesn't understand much communication, but he definitely watches the shows that we record and then watch on our media center run by my computer. Oh, yeah. Gotta love it.

van leeuwen crest

I've been looking online for my original family name's crest/coat of arms. I have a hard enough time finding van Liew, let alone van Leuuwen. I can't even find my mom's surname: Bonsack. My wife's maiden name, Ogle, is very easy to find. I'd like to make a combo of van Liew and Ogle, but I can't find van Liew. Anyone able to help? Leave me a comment if you can. Thanks.

bloggin' it

I just spent a while looking around people's blogs. It's quite educating. Some were in the coolest looking languages ever. Some were from Canadians. One Canadian was half Chinese and headed to Beijing. How cool is it that we can read the journals of so many different people and get a sense what they think and how they view their world. There is absolute truth; why will they not listen?

ccc

I am, right now, an unofficial sponsor for the Christian Club on Campus. I am excited about what the Lord is going to do on our campus here at DVHS. We met yesterday after school to talk about vision, get into the Scripture (ii timothy), and encourage attendance at the Monday morning meetings. I'm going to be praying for specific, big things that only God can do so He can prove that it was Him and show His character off. How cool is that? More updates on CCC will be coming.

one - one

The Suns defeated the Clippers last night, 112 - 104. The record now stands at 1 - 1, .500. There were some good things seen in the Suns last night. They played solid ball for most of the game, even getting to a 14 point lead. They still can't hold large leads, letting the other team right back into it, but they pulled this one out by 8 points. The Suns play the Jazz next on Friday. GO SUNS!

phx suns

The Suns are supposed to have a great season this year. I was extremely impressed and excited as they plowed through the Lakers in the first quarter to reach 41 points. That was one of the highest scoring quarters that I've, at least, seen. After the first quarter, though, the Suns did nothing impressive and only ended up holding on to a slim lead at the half, lost the lead in the third, and lost the game in the end. I still saw some promising things about the team overall, but I am frightened that this starting strong then ending down will continue. It was a recurring theme when the Suns did lose games last year, and we started it off this way again this year. Clippers are here in Phx tonight. GO SUNS!

where's the logic?

I got to chat with a student of mine today. We were talking about his relationship with his mom. He seems to have a lot of bitterness built up about her. He's trying to think through his next move, but he is being hasty. As soon as he is 18, he plans on moving out directly. He'll change back to his old high school because this one is "gay." I still don't get why that has become a term meaning "not-to-my-liking." Maybe I do. It is still not loving, though. I hate when I know I can't do anything to get myself in control of a situation. I know the Lord has it planned that way, though. He wants devotion and dependence. He wants me to understand that I can't do it. I need to be on my knees, lifting up these students and situations up before His throne. The more I deal with others, the more that I see that simple logic will not work to persuade everyone. There's got to be more, and it can't come from this flesh I find myself existing within. *Lord, open this young man's eyes to see your glory. Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in Your law...the most excellent way: agapé.*

gubernatorial race

It is time for change in AZ. Janet Napolitano has consistently upheld her own liberal views of government and freedoms and become Arizona's highest vetoing governor. This simply depicts a governor who is detached from the desires of our state and people. The more wholesome and responsible bills that come her way, the more she pulls out her veto stamp and gets to work smashing what has taken our legislative branch weeks in preparation to get just right for our state's benefit. We have a democratic governor and a republican legislature. We are a conservative state which loves limited government and our consitutional freedoms. We need to be consistent in who we choose for governor. The man running in opposition to Janet, a man whose hand I have personally shaken, whose confidence is in the Lord, whose love is for his family and country, is Len Munsil. Desire progress in our state? Vote Len. Want to stop having the worst crime rate in the nation? Vote Len. Want a secure boarder? Vote Len. Want to change our educational system from being ranked dead last in the nation? Vote Len. There has been little accomplished the past four years. It is time for the right man to take the job. Visit Len's webpage at http://www.lenmunsil.com/ for his personally written blog, information about him and his family (consisting of his wife and 8 children), his goals for AZ, and much more. This man has my confidence and my vote. God bless America; God bless Arizona.

aims

I don't mean to talk about my goals for life in this post. When I mention AIMS HS, I mean Arizona's Instrument for Measuring Standards for High School. Back when I was in high school, I had to take the AIMS test, but it meant nothing for me. It had no real consequence attached to it back then. Now that all of the suits have made there way through the court system and appeals have been dealt with (I'm sure more are still coming), last year's senior class was held accountable to the AIMS and had to pass it in order to graduate. I am now here at DVHS in Glendale, AZ, proctoring the new pilot AIMS writing prompts. I've read a few of them, which I am, by law, not allowed to discuss, and I actually am pleased by their simplicity as well as their ability to still give you plenty to write about. One of the responses that I read a bit of dealt with Young's Farm, which I've already mentioned on this blog once before. I've always hated the AIMS; I think it was because I had to take it for no good reason when I was in high school. At least I passed it the first time and didn't have to keep trying over and over again to do so. We'll have to see how well these students perform and if they can make the cut to graduate from our 50th ranked AZ educational system.

malloween

It is that time of year again. Malloween time. Actually, I stole that "malloween" bit from Homestar Runner. The guys behind www.homestarrunner.com are hysterical. I've been viewing and laughing for years now. I would say that I am truly an avid fan. Why don't you check it out? I don't know, maybe my humor is just that bad. Let me know.

sm@ncc

I teach at Northwest Community Church in the StudentMinistries. I taught three times this October. I'd like to share with you the messages that the Lord laid on my heart as the sm@ncc was headed through James. Head over to www.znotaboutme.com and click on 'messages' at the top of the page. You can find what I've taught, as well as the other teachers from our StudentMinistryStaff. Another site you might want to visit, maybe even for sermons, would be www.nccphx.org, which is the site for NCC. The messages from our main services are available on that site, and you can find information about our church and the ministries taking place there. Are you involving yourself for the purpose of loving other people? Don't forget:

Love God, Love Others

discipleship

Amy and I have been leading our respective discipleship groups since these young adults were in 7th grade. They are now seniors in high school, and looking at what the Lord has for them in the future. I must say that I am proud of my guys. They've been an extremely important part of my life for the past 6 years, and I can't thank them enough for all that they've taught me when I've been the one that was supposed to be teaching them. I'm looking forward to what the Lord is going to be doing in each of their lives over the course of the next few years. I am asking that my great God would do some great things in their lives and through their lives, and I believe He will.

Pray Large, Pray Specific

God's a pro

God's a pro :: He alone changes hearts

I thought that was a pretty cool idea. I'm gunna make a shirt out of that someday. "God's a pro," He knows what He's doing and He will do it in due time. "He is not slow, as some consider slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but for all to come to repentance" (ii peter 3.9).

young's farm

This is a picture of my wife and son taken in Dewey, AZ, at Young's Farm. Annually, they've had a pumpkin festival for 21 years. This is their last year in AZ. They are moving up to Oregon to ranch as a family from now on. Best wishes to the Young family; we will miss them. At least Aidan got to experience it once, even though he was only 6 mos old. We had a good time, got a few pumpkins, ate some kettle corn, and got to take a few pics of Aidan. Overall, it was a great day. May these fall days find you all seeking family and friends, and may you be blessed.

son of mine

I was married at 19. My wife and I waited to have children for a couple years, then we felt it was time to start aquiring arrows for the quiver. Vaughn Aidan Van Liew, III, was born on March 31, 2006. He is almost seven months old now. Sometimes, he drives us nuts. Most of the time, Aidan is wonderful. He is darn cute, I must say. Amy is pregnant again. #2 is now 12 weeks along. We are really excited about what the Lord is doing with our family unit. The more the merrier!

lazy day

I have just been so lazy today. I didn't want to get out of bed; I didn't want to come to work; I didn't want to teach students; I didn't want to grade any papers; I didn't want to deal with any crap. There are just those days, aren't there? Think about it. When was the last time you had one of those days? Did you give in? Did you "overcome"? I think I might just need some coffee.

another beginning

It has been hard to find the time to blog to this point, but, Lord willing, I will fight my way to it so that I can have an electronic journal for the viewing pleasure of family and friends. Love you all. Don't forget to visit www.lifesphoto.com for Life's Story Photography information and www.lifesphoto.com/family/index.htm so that you can view family pictures updated as often as possible.