Monument BLOG

I was at church Sunday morning and I was asked if I was in my less busy time now that the Speech and Debate season was over. I chuckled and said that I was flying to Phoenix that afternoon to do a 4 day camp, then Baton Rouge the week after that, then San Jose the...

A lot has happened this week. We just completed Rhetoric in the Rockies, and it was a great camp. The facility was wonderful, and the event itself was incredible.  The big news of the week though is that long time Senator Lindsay Graham passed away suddenly and...

We had a great weekend with our family. We celebrated Independence Day at my son's place and we did our own fireworks there. Our city, like many others, banned fireworks within the city limits, but almost no one followed that decree, as evidenced by the vast amounts...

My Monument Monday is out a bit later today than normal. Mainly because I went to see my cardiologist today for my post echo visit. The doctor said I was continuing to do very well. So well, in fact, that he took me off ALL of my heart medications!!! I was hoping for...

Hello from Hanoi, Vietnam, a city of 9 million people, and 7 million scooters, and where it is currently Tuesday morning for me, and Monday evening for you right now. It has been quite the experience so far. The people here are so very kind, the tournament staff has...

My family got together yesterday (Sunday), which is very normal for us. It usually begins with 4 to 5 hours of volleyball at a park, but the weather looked to be too windy, so my son decided to cancel this week. So, we got together in the early afternoon and played...

A lot has happened this past week. I had my follow up echo, which I already wrote about. I finished Matthew and Mark over the weekend and today. And my home club had our end of year party for which I smoked brisket, pork, and ribs. It was a great time. The parents sat...

What a great past couple of weeks I had. First it was NITOC, and I got to see a bunch of people that have been praying for me and said they were glad I could make it this year. I am glad as well. Then my wife flew in to Birmingham and we went to visit my daughter,...

NITOC for me and my club and students was quite successful. There were some goals made, some exceeded, and some surprises and disappointments. And that is the case for all competitions, and for life in general. I had a team of senior policy debaters that had a goal to...

I am almost done with Jeremiah. The chapters I read the past few days really showed a contrast between several groups of people in Judah. The ten tribes of Israel are long gone and Judah has had a number of visits from Babylon and most of the people have been taken...

Wow. It is hard to believe we are in May already. NCFCA is now in the Regional mode, and Stoa students are prepping for NITOC. Graduation Ceremonies are on the horizon, and these students will be looking to their next calling, whether heading to college, tech school,...

I just got back from Houston and our domestic World Schools Debate tournament. It was run by Miha Andric, an internationally known coach from Slovenia. I met Miha in 2018 in Stuttgart, Germany when my daughter Abbie competed in Worlds. For some reason, Miha took a...