There was not a needy person among them...

This Blog Has Moved!

Josh Pratt — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 17:44:53 +0000

I am moving off of this free wordpress account to a wordpress install in my own server. So, please change your bookmarks.

The new location: http://josh.pratthost.com

If you are subscribed to this blog, please delete the current RSS feed, and subscribe to the new feed on the new site.

Why Is It Called A Building?

Josh Pratt — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 13:43:57 +0000

So, why is a building called a building if it is no longer in the process of building but is rather already built? Why don’t we call it a built, or something different altogether? No need to call it what it no longer is.

Brief Encounter with the LDS

Josh Pratt — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 00:35:28 +0000

I went out to eat this weekend at a restaurant in Worthington, MN with some family. As we were awaiting a table, two young men in white button-down shirts and ties and black name tags stepped in the door. I learned something right then and there – no matter if you are Christian, Mormon, or whatever religion you are, everyone has to take a leak.

Rare is the time that Mormons visit our door. So, I took the opportunity to have a chat. I asked a few questions, and let them know some of the funny rumors about the LDS that I’ve heard over the years. It was a good dialog. I would definitely like to talk with them more – to understand the draw towards the Mormon religion.

I am certainly not armed and ready to have a good conversation to try and disarm their beliefs in the Mormon faith, but I still had the opportunity to pray for them right there on the sidewalk outside the restaurant. I prayed that God would work in power to eliminate deception in our faith and our understanding of the Bible. Even I need that prayer – but they do all the more.

Long Time Without Writing

Josh Pratt — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 14:35:17 +0000

I didn’t even realize that it’s been 3 weeks since my last post. I seemed to let things slip, then forgot about it altogether. I’ve been re-evaluating why I want this blog, and I think my original intent still stands. I want it to write out my thoughts. As I mentioned a couple posts ago, I just haven’t been thinking much of anything lately, except work stuff (and not many people would be interested in that…).

I am going through a really busy time with work. I’m having to learn new technologies very quickly, so that projects can get done on time. It’s good stuff – but not when it consumes me. Hopefully it will subside soon.

Fun Friday – Episode 7

Josh Pratt — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 14:26:10 +0000

Frank Caliendo is a pretty kick-butt impressionist. Check him out:

The Mind Is On The Leash Of What You Do

Josh Pratt — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 17:57:09 +0000

I confess. I haven’t spent much time in the Word lately, nor have I spent much time even thinking about life and godliness lately. You can see that by the lack of posts. Not that one’s posting is directly proportionate to how much one is in the Word, but for me it really makes a difference. I don’t want to just post about nonsense.

Example: I spent an hour yesterday evening on a dumb puzzle video game thing. It was a worthless waste of time for me. I went to bed thinking about the game. If I were to have spent that time steeping my mind in the Psalms, or if I had spent the time reading some good Thomas Watson, I would have went to bed thinking on what I had just read.

I am weak and easily distracted. Pray for me that God would do what he alone can do with me and make the Bible much more sweet and desirable than all other things.

Fun Friday – Episode 6

Josh Pratt — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 15:59:44 +0000

Giving Up On Owen – For Now

Josh Pratt — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 12:40:40 +0000

I wrote a post back in early May about a Puritan Paperback book that I picked up by John Owen. I chose it for the title, as it was relevant to what I was reading most about at the time. I’m about a quarter or a third of the way through and I am just not connecting with the book at all. Either I don’t undestand at all what he is writing, or he is ultra repetative, or both. So, I’m giving up on that book for now.

I’ve got a new book that should arrive for me at our church’s bookstore next week. I was given some good advice from the bookstore guy, and a good friend of mine to go with a Thomas Watson book. So, I’ve chosen to go with “A Godly Man’s Picture.” I’m excited to start reading it. I’ve heard that Thomas Watson writes with incredible imagery.

Hugo, MN Tornado #2?

Josh Pratt — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 03:19:14 +0000

As I was reading a blog while Kirstjen was downstairs feeding Shane this evening, the tornado siren went off. Didn’t take long to realize that it wasn’t the first wednesday of the month. I booked downstairs and went outside to see a fairly nasty looking storm.

The neighbors were outside, and they had the television on. Apparently there was a funnel cloud spotted from the city just north of ours. So we stood outside and watched the clouds quickly move in. I went around to the other side of the house and looked west, and I spotted a funnel cloud way off in the distance. Later to find out that I wasn’t the only one to see that one.

Siren goes off again. Kirstjen and Shane are now in the storage closet (safest place in our home – no basement). Fortunately nothing became of anything. All we got was some crazy clouds and some heavy rain. The tornado siren means more now though for us than they used to. Crazy to have this happen twice in less than a week.

Father and Son: Dirty to Clean – The Experience

Josh Pratt — Sat, 31 May 2008 15:43:29 +0000

My wife is out helping some friends this morning, so it is just my son (who is now 13 months) and I. After a breakfast of watered-down apple juice, squash, and banana, I figured I’d give the little guy a bath. I wasn’t aware of the experiences ahead of me.

I got the water going. Shane was naked and standing at the edge of the tub eagerly awaiting to be put in. As I was adjusting the temperature of the water, Shane decided he’d take a tinkle on the outside wall of the tub. Great. I washed it up and put him in the tub. He enjoys trying to grab the stream of water as if it were something solid to grab ahold of. I noticed that my finger nails were getting a bit on the long side, so I grabbed the clipper and did the deed. Shortly after, I noticed that Shane was having some toots. Then he sat still and the toots increased until there was solid tooting for about 20 seconds. He was pushing hard.

Meanwhile the child in me is laughing hysterically at him as the bubbles rapidly rise to the surface of the tub. Then the laughing ceased as I watched a massive deuce shoot out the back door. Tub time was over.

I hadn’t even washed the boy yet. Instead of getting cleaner, he was now covered in toot and deuce residue. So, I quickly pulled him out and set him on a towel as I drained the tub and moved the deuce from the tub to the toilet with large, thick wads of toilet paper. The wads weren’t quite thick enough. My hand now smelled like deuce. I washed the tub out with some Scrubbing Bubbles™ and washed my hands.

Fortunately, no more tinkle or deuce while he was out waiting for me to get things clean again. I started the water again and put him in. I finished clipping my toenails (might as well get it all done), and washed the boy clean.

Then I realized that I’d like to take a shower. So, I got the water going, opened up the drain and hopped in and turned the shower on. I pointed the shower head as close to the drain as I could and moved Shane to the opposite end of the tub. I figured I could keep the splash factor down to a minimum as I got myself clean, and Shane could just play with his toys. It wasn’t going to be that easy.

Shane was intrigued by what was happening with the shower. He looked at me strangely for a bit and then took off crawling towards my end of the tub. He’s not a fan of water on his face, so this new situation he found himself in wasn’t fun, but he didn’t know how to get out of it. I bent down and grabbed his arms and put him back at the other end of the tub. Then he just started crying/screaming.

I quickly fished cleaning up. I then reached down to pick him up and try to introduce him to the shower (there’s way less spray on the face when you are up higher). I think he thought it was pretty cool. I let the shower hit his back and he just stayed there and smiled. I thought we were going to have a happy ending, when I realized that my stomach had drastically increased in heat. I looked down to see that Shane figured it was a good time to take another tinkle.

I washed us both off again and then we got out. I got us both dry and he was showing signs of nap-readiness. So, now he sleeps, and I type. It was a happy ending regardless of what happened. Good memories!