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No, we don’t live in the South anymore. It is snowing mightily here in Northern Delaware today. The kids love it and there was plenty of bread and milk at the store. People are driving as if this happens all the time. Well, we rented a movie and it’s time to snuggle and stay warm.

It’s funny how things change. Matt Rhodes and I first spent time together on a Missions’ Trip to Toronto. It was 1997 and I had been a youth pastor for two weeks when we left South Carolina on July 15th. It was on this trip that my friendship with Matt’s youth pastor, Gary Rich, went to a deeper level. Matt, Gary, and I also went on trip’s together in 1998 and 1999 to South Dakota and Washington, DC. I don’t remember Matt and I ever having a blow up with each other, but we weren’t buddy-buddy either. I’m pretty sure I did my best to keep my distance. We were at different points in our Christian leadership development and sometimes they were like oil and water. We really did not have very much in common. I saw Matt live through Gary’s departure and two youth pastor’s after that. I think when Gary left it gave us a common bond because it was hard on both of us. He had been our mentor and there was this huge vacuum left in our lives. Then Pentecost Thursday happened. It was camp 2001 and Matt was getting ready to start college at Southern Wesleyan. That night something changed in all of us. Matt reached out to those he had been at odds with. He showed a lot of grace and humbleness and really took the high road in some of his relationships. He earned much respect from me that night. There had always been an edge to Matt, but after that night, it was gone. Matt was soon serving at a local church and became part of the district youth cabinet. He had good insight because of his involvement as a teen in district events. He became a counselor at camp and was given a greater leadership role as the years passed. Matt eventually made the decision to not go to school full-time, but to seek a ministry position. I was honored that he even asked my opinion on the matter. He became the youth pastor at Easley First Wesleyan and we began to work even more closely together as well as being part of an LDJ group together. As all of this is happening, I had gotten married and we had the twins. Many youth pastors had come and gone through the district and several others had taken a step back. Matt came at the right time to fill part of that void in the district along with some other young leaders. Somehow, Matt was becoming my right hand man just like I had been to Gary. It made sense since we lived close together. Then Deborah came along. She had just finished SWU, got a job on campus, and was helping at camp. They had known each other at school so there was a friendship between them. Crazy things happen at camp though. Even without my 1 inch think glasses I could see the chemistry between them. Matt wasn’t available and I reminded him that as a youth pastor, the relationship rules are a little different. Cheating was out and so was the quick breakup-start dating someone else routine. I can’t remember, but I hope I was a good enough friend to tell him(and Deborah) that they would be crazy not to try to work something out. Then Matt got dumped(my words not his) which gave him the all clear(Youth Pastor dating Manual: page 29-section 2: paragraph b). He and Deb had “the talk” and that was it. They grew in ministry and maturity together and my daughters and I were in their wedding just over a year ago. Our friendship grew as we shared good times(Drake’s birth) and bad times together. We worked closely on camps and conventions and were preparing for both when Karen and I decided to leave South Carolina. This was a concept foreign to all of us. That was a rough day. I told Karen what was going on and then I called Matt. The time had come to pass the torch. The summer months were spent looking back, venting, laughing, experiencing two great camps, job hunting, and packing up a house. We moved to Delaware/Pennsylvania after tearful goodbyes. Then a funny thing happened. Matt and Deborah left South Carolina too. At the end of August, he got offered a position in the Spiritual Formation Department at Wesleyan Headquarters. Just like I told him he’d be a fool to let Deb get away, I told him this job was one of those once-in-a-lifetime deals. So, Matt’s calling me about rental trucks and boxes. Now, Matt has a job that fits him great doing what he has been called to do. Now, I call him to find out what’s going on. Now, HE is the Grapevine. Now, we are brought together by our love for Christ, wives and family, church, and the fact that we are not living near our mommas anymore. That’s hard for two mommas’ boys like us. We’re further apart and yet we’re closer then we’ve ever been. Now, HE’s calling ME to set up a denominational missions trip in the Philly area. He’s hoping to come and be a part of the work that week in July almost 11 years to the day since we left on that trip to Toronto. Some things never change.

Greetings, it’s a crazy Tuesday here.
1.I got excited when I read this Report: Bowden Interviews For Razorbacks’ Vacancy.
And then this story came along Bowden spurns Arkansas to stay with Clemson.
Oh, well, I can’t win em all and neither can Tommy Bowden.

2. Tomorrow, I’ll be posting about my friendship with Matt Rhodes.

3. Don’t forget, the Mullikin homecoming tour begins on December 17th. We will be at my grandparents on the 18th and 19th, but we would love for people to come by my parents’ house to see us and the kids. Plus, National Treasure 2, on Friday the 21st in Anderson.
I can’t wait to get some nachos will jalapenos! Let me know what your plans are and if and when you want to hang out. As long as it involves Moe’s or B-B-Q.

4. Well, it’s a blistery 35 degrees today with a wind chill of 22 degrees. Why couldn’t I have gotten job offers from Florida? Just Kidding to all you Chi United patrons.

5. Speaking of Florida, we leave for Orlando 3 weeks from tomorrow.

6. Hawaii should be playing in the BCS championship game. Weak schedule or not, they’re the only team that ran the table and didn’t choke all season. Can you remember a season when no one deserves to be the champion? I said this year that this regular season served as a good playoff except that everyone got eliminated. So, now I think it’s time for a real playoff system. Washington politics and college football are very similar: controlled by big money and difficult to change.

7. The Iraq surge and the Huckabee surge seem to be working.

8. I think someone always sees it coming whatever “it” is. Make sure you’re not the one who doesn’t.

9. Whatever happened to Emergent Wesleyan? So much for that revolution.

10. Somehow, I’ve been convinced to venture into the arctic cold and go to Home Depot. BRRRRRR!
Have a Blessed Day!

Everyone always said I was an elf.

So, I took 20 teens from the church to the sixers-wizards game Friday night. Philly won by 1 so now they are 1-1 when I’m there. Hoping to go see the Celtics Wednesday night. After the game we saw a TALL mug walking out and I realized it was former Washington player Georghe Muresan who is 7 foot 7 inches. He turned his head after we yelled his name repeatedly. Couldn’t catch up to get an autograph though. I’ll say it again. Lou Williams is terrible. He made his free throws which helped get the win, but he shouldn’t be on the court during crunch time. I actually saw Muresan play in Atlanta with the old Bullets when Chris Webber and Juwan Howard were on the team. That team also featured Chris Whitney, a long range shooter from Clemson. That was right after Atlanta signed Dikembe Mutombo and they had a decent starting 5. I think Rod Strickland played that night. Wow. That was a night with me and Kerry Traynum at the old Omni. That place was a box in the ground and a dump. Philips Arena is sooo much better. The Wachovia Center in Philly is kinda generic, but so are most NBA arenas. It’s alot easier to make a baseball stadium personal. The family is back in town and it was great to give all my girls hugs and kisses. Drake lit up when he say his daddy. I truly believe we get one chance with our kids and I want to love and invest in them effectively. They are my grand experiment of love. I am working on blogs on some of my friendships. Should be pretty good…like the weekend. May the Lord bless and keep you all.

What a day. What a day. Yesterday and today, it seems like I’ve had my cell phone and home phone to my ears at the same time while typing and reading stuff for the youth convention.
Days like this are stressful, but it’s a good feeling when you’re getting things done. Here’s some other “stuff” I got done(improper grammar intentional).
1. Watched most of the YouTube/CNN Republican debate last night. Let’s be honest. Only a few candidates get any attention in either party. Why they have a stage full of people is beyond me. If you’re going to let candidates appear at a debate then let them participate in the debate. I think that they should just go down the line and let each candidate answer each question. 2 more Mullikin rules for presidential debates-if you mention another candidates name then your mic is turned off and CNN doesn’t get to host any other presidential debates. It’s only a matter of time before they bring out Michael Buffer. I thought Romney and Rudy had some stumbles, Thompson and McCain looked really old and tired, Paul didn’t get the enthusiastic response as the last debate, and Huckabee had some good lines. Tancreado and Hunter are wasting everyone’s time. I believe they picked the questions out of a hat which made the whole thing feel disjointed. The worst answer of the night was Romney’s,”I’d have to ask my advisers if water boarding is torture.” McCain more than likely spoke from personal experience that it IS torture. I agree that you can’t give terrorists a list of what we will and won’t do to them when we capture and interrogate them, but Romney missed the layup.
2. Organized and cleaned out my yahoo inbox.
3. I’ve been working from home all day and the TV has not been on once.
4. Whatever happened to the IPhone? Are people still buying them? This story isn’t helping.
5. I miss my family. I’ve had enough peace, quiet, and Zorro.
6. If anyone knows how to get a Creative Zen Touch mp3 player to work with Vista then please let me know. Also, how to get my Blackberry 7250 to work with Windows Mail. My main two devices won’t talk to Vista.
7. Nana Cain’s mac and cheese better be served at Christmas dinner.
8. Ric Flair made his return Monday night. I also found out their is a pay per view in Greenville next February. Gonna miss that one. We used to get ringside seats every Monday night at the old Greenville Memorial Auditorium. Got to see Magnum TA’s last match just a few hours before his wreck. Good days with Brad Finley, his dad, and mine.
9. Tommy Bowden did indeed get a contract extension so I face a big decision. Then I hear that the ACLU is angry because he had his players at a church. How can I not back the man? Been saying give him one more year since 2000.
10. Going to the McClungs‘ tonight because Comcast doesn’t carry the NFL network on my plan.
11. Pray for Karen and the kids’ safe return on Friday.
I love you all.