Okay, let me "splain"! I was really tired one night while I was attending the WFX conference and I wanted to have some fun with the Mac laptop that I brought with me. There is this cool program called comic life that I started playing around with. This is my first time actually creating something so enjoy.



Click on the jpg image for a blog you won't soon forget

This morning I woke up early so I could get a start on the day. I am going out of town to Indianapolis. It should be a great trip because I get to hang out with our Horizons Pastoral team. Although I'd rather have been in Myrtle Beach, SC (inside joke) I know that this is going to be a great time getting info. on cool stuff for the new church building.

Grab the Rope!

I just met with a friend of mine at Starbucks today and he is with a church plant that meets in Alexandria, VA. He's a new youth pastor and is like a sponge soaking up everyone's advice. It's funny. As he's asking me a zillion different questions I really started thinking about how we are all on this journey together.

If you can imagine for a moment being on a mountain expedition and you are on a particularly vertically challenging pass. Each of the team members are hooked together linked with a rope taking one step at a time. You are putting your feet in the exact same footholds as the person that is just above you and the person below is doing the same. If someone slips and falls all those above are digging in and holding that person's life in the balance and can pull him to safety.

In our lives we should have people in our lives that have gone before us that have the rope and are holding it steady and giving you advice about how to be a disciple. You should also have others that are struggling and working alongside you would call your peers. You also should have those that aren't as far along as you in the faith that you can lower your rope to so that they can have a safety line. No matter where you are in the journey everyone has that common goal of having that prize before us. Life is not meant to be lived alone. We all need a helping hand. Who's on your rope?

Random Thoughts

It's Monday night and I'm sitting in the comfort of my own home watching the NCAA Men's final on my big screen. All of the kids have left from H2O' Music Team Practice. My kids just got tucked into bed and finally the noise of the house has quieted down to a dull roar.

Missy and I look at each other and chat for a few minutes. We are tired. I always wondered why my parents looked old to me and now I realize that they were just tired, like I am now.

Missy walked upstairs and I am alone watching an amazing overtime comeback. What a game! But I'm sitting there by myself suppressing my yelps because everyone else is asleep.

After the game was over and the TV faded to black I realized something. Whether you are experiencing incredible highs like those kids who won that B-ball game or incredible lows, if you don't have people surrounding you to share in the joy and the pain you have nothing.

We have built in by God's design a desire to be with other people. Some more than others, for sure. Philippians 2 talks about how we should put others before ourselves. It's my desire to be Christ-like because not only do you have a positive effect on others, but it does something to you as well. Share a moment with someone today. Give a word of encouragement. If one of us celebrating a win, we all celebrate with them, and if someone is mourning the loss of a friend mourn with them. It's the way Jesus intended us to be. How do we start? How do we make this a reality? Ask the Holy Spirit for those moments.

Be Jesus for someone today.

Mind you, this all came to me at 11:30 at night and I hope it makes some sense. Have a great week.

Leaving No One Behind...

Where do we learn how to love?

As the coffee was brewing my thoughts drifted toward a person that taught me how to love. My dad was a government man at Defense Intelligence Agency for 35 years. Monday through Friday he'd wake up, work out, spend time with God all before 4:30AM. He'd grab some breakfast head off to work and then he'd do his best to get home in the afternoon when we were all home and spend some time with us. Even though he got up before dark he was the one taking me for drives when I had an asthma attack in the middle of the night. He coached baseball, helped us out with school projects and made a huge effort to be in our lives even in the midst of his very busy career. My dad wasn't perfect but he made every effort to show us how much he loved my brother and I. He did so by honoring my mom and he did so by showing us what love is. He put her before my brother and I constantly and reminded us that she came first. The thing I remember about my dad growing up was that when he made a commitment, he kept that commitment. Each year he was sure that we did a family vacation, and would take weekend trips with us.

It almost sounds like a fairy tale. Why do I say that? Because these days you don't hear about Fathers who think that way. How did my dad learn to love like this? His family split up when he was very young and he never really had a father figure in his life. When I turned 18 my dad sat me down and told me that he did the best he could with me. He told me He prayed for wisdom everyday when it came to raising us. "There it is!" I thought. It says in God's word that if we need wisdom to ask for it. My dad, who didn't have that role model around prayed and God spoke to him. What an amazing testimony of one man's faith in a living God who is the ultimate Father figure!

I find myself comparing myself to my dad because he put up a very high measuring stick for success. Many times I don't feel like I measure up to my dad's standard that he raised. I know that I am to do the best that I can. I want my kids to one day blog about me. About how I made them feel uncomfortable and made them say, "ewww! dad's kissing mom again!" And when they asked me to go outside and play ball with them that I dropped what I was doing to spend a moment in time with them. I want to leave a legacy with them to teach them what it means to be a dad.

Thanks, dad for the legacy you left me. Thanks heavenly father for the wisdom that we can have if we would only ask you for it.