Hang 'em High

Hopefully this is my last meeting as a Grand Juror. One last day of listening to stories of the dregs of Wise County.
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I saw the oddest sight yesterday. A bright orb in the sky shining light on me. I was puzzled but someone told me it was called "the sun." It was fascinating.
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7 DAYS. 1 WEEK LEFT. Next Thursday I'm headed to lovely Colorado, to what might be my favorite place on earth. 7 days of relative peace, fishing, mini-golf, total relaxation. I will enjoy each day.

The Speed of Life

I've got so many things to do and it doesn't seem there is time to hold it all. One might ask why I would stop to write this if I'm running short on time and I would have to agree it's a good question. It's also a good time for me to take inventory and try to turn what seems to be a mess into a manageable workload.

I struggle to get off the wheel, to quit trying to run faster and to start running smarter. I need to take time to build more relationships and strengthen the relationships I have. I need to hear people better and find out what is going on in others' lives.

I can't control life but I can control my response to what happens. I will work on that today and see how tomorrow goes.

Looks Like...Rain

Did we really pack up a town and move it somewhere close to Seattle? I heard about houses flooding in Granbury overnight and wonder when it will let up. I hope no one else is hurt or killed because of the high water.
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A single digit is really helping me think about something other than the rain. The digit is 9 today and it is the number of days left before I leave for Colorado. I am so ready to breathe mountain air, take a walk with my wife surrounded by mountains, play mini-golf with the kids and feel the first trout on the end of my line. I'm ready for a burger and a malt at the cook shack and pizza in Creede. I'm ready to see some of God's most wonderful (in my estimation) creation. 9 days.
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9 days. I think I'm already getting "short-timer's syndrome." It's going to be hard to think about much more than vacation for the next few days.

And The Rain Came Down...

In case you didn't notice, it rained a wee bit yesterday. I got home yesterday afternoon and thought I had bought lakefront property. Water was almost everywhere, rushing down the creek, coming over the road, dropping from the sky. It was about a foot from our front door as we helplessly watched. After several prayers, the rain let up and the water drained off pretty well.

There is more rain in the forecast today and tomorrow. I'm not sure how much more we can take. So many people have had to endure flooding recently and while I appreciate the rain we've had, we really need a break. I will be in prayer all day that what rain we get is manageable rain and that no one has to endure more trouble because of the water.

I'm praying for protection for everyone today. I'm praying that even though our possessions are really nothing, meaningless in the picture of eternity, that God will still protect us from damage and harm.

Finished. Done. Kaput.

Yes, baseball season for my young Roger Clemens/Albert Pujols is over. We wrapped up with a tournament in Lancaster this past weekend where we came out on the losing end overall but played some of our best ball of the year. The best part for me was seeing my son have a really, really good tournament defensively (playing 2nd and pitching) and offensively. It's fun to watch him and see the improvement game after game, year after year. It's what he enjoys and he makes baseball fun.

My daughter is thrilled baseball season is over. She, on the other hand, gets up at 6:00 three days a week to work out with the cross country team. Other than getting up early, I think she really enjoys it and I really enjoy watching her run. I go with her on the 3 days and walk the track while she and the other girls stretch, jog and get ready for their run. I appreciate their dedication to being as good as they can be and I am proud of my angel for working as hard as she does.
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In the past, I have been a current events fanatic - always watching the news shows, reading papers and current event magazines, interested in politics and world events. I'm not that way anymore. I don't watch the news every night, I don't go get a paper everyday, I don't peruse the Internet to keep up with what's happening. I think two things have come together to change my focus. One, we seem busier as a family. Two, I spend more time thinking about things more eternal in nature. I spend more time finding myself in thought about God and in prayer. Now, I don't spend near as much time doing those things as I should but I hope to keep getting better.

There's really nothing to that comment other than a personal observation and, after thinking about what I wrote, I'm certainly not patting myself on the back. I only say it because I was thinking this morning that as each day passes, I want to be closer to God. I look back at my life lived so far and see how off-course I have been so often. I want to be on-course from this day forward. I know their will be struggles but I want to hunger and thirst for God. I ask that you will pray for me that I may stay on that journey and be focused on my Creator and Savior.

Sun or Rain?

Will it be sunny? Is it going to rain? Last night, the weatherman said the computer models were all in agreement for a big rain event next week. That makes me think it will either snow 8 inches or it will be 122 degrees.
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It's Family Fun Night at church tonight for families involved in the youth group. I don't know what to expect (other than fun, of course) but I'm looking forward to going.
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My son got Guitar Hero for his birthday. He seems to love it and I think he's spending a great deal of time playing right now. I hope I haven't created a monster and walk in one day to find him with hair down his back, tattoos covering one arm and part of the other and earrings coming out of his eyelids.
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Kobe Bryant is wearing me out with his trade demands. What team wants a self-indulgent, over-inflated ego, all about me player on their team? Unfortunately, because he can put the ball in the hoop, there will be plenty of suitors.

While the Spurs are boring, I appreciate their work ethic and the fact that we don't see their mug shots or hear their whining.
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Enjoy your weekend. We'll be having family fun tonight and baseball tomorrow.

Walking in the Valley

I've been keeping up with the Tod Brown family by a blog they have set up. Tod describes some of his struggles in understanding why his son lost his life in a car wreck a few weeks ago and his words, his emotions that come through, make me think, wonder, what that family is going through. I appreciate his willingness to share their moments of happiness and times of questioning because I don't understand either. Why would God let a 13 year old who seemed to bring so much to so many die? I cannot comprehend it but also understand I never will...at least in this life.

I do know this. I will go home today and hug my wife and my children and be thankful for the time I have with them. I cherish each day with them...I just need to keep doing a better job letting them know that I cherish them.

A Swing And A Miss

I took my son and a friend to the Ranger game last night for their birthdays where they got their names up on the Coca-Cola board in center field. I'm ever amazed at children. I paid for pretty nice seats behind the Cubs dugout but the boys were happier when we went to sit on the top row of the stadium. I must say I did enjoy the breeze.

Sammy Sosa is swinging away for home run number 600. It seemed apparent last night that he was wanting to hit it against his old team. He was swinging away and struck out his first 3 times at bat. On his final at-bat of the night, he hit a fly ball to centerfield. There was a moment of collective gasp as people hoped it was going out but we saw no history unfolding as the outfielder caught it.

My son and friend went down before the game to try and get autographs. There was a young lady standing next to them wanting autographs also. The boys came back up after awhile because the young lady and a friend nearby used a lot of profanity and the boys got tired of that. I am proud of both of them for their desire to be somewhere out of earshot of that type of talk. My son also informed me, as we left the stadium, that the girl was offering to take off her shirt to get it signed and that "he sure didn't want to see that." He cracks me up.

A Little Less Muggy Please

I could use a little less humidity. I'm thankful for the rain but the humidity combined with any temperature over 70 makes me "perspire."
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It was a party-party weekend for us. My wife's birthday was last Friday, Father's Day over the weekend and my son's birthday is Wednesday. Add in a nephew and brother-in-law birthday and we rolled it into one big event last Friday night. Woohoo! Great food, great family and friends, a great time.
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I'm headed to the Cubs-Rangers game today. It will be fun seeing the Cubs play live (which would only be topped by seeing them at Wrigley) and waiting to see if Pinella blows a gasket of if Sammy hits number 600.

Have a great day.

Open or Closed?

I heard a great message last night about the church helping the hurting to heal. It was a challenge to each of us as the church to care for our hurting brothers and sisters, to love them through hard times even when those hard times shake our own foundation. He told a sobering story about an experience that had happened at the church he attends and how, while suffering a great deal of pain, the church was strengthened through their collective effort to give comfort and support to those most immediately hurt. I have seen it happen in my own congregation and know the power of working together to heal wounds.

The other side of the equation is for someone to be willing to be open about their struggle. That person needs to feel safe. They need to feel trust. They need to feel love.

All of those - safety, trust, love - we have with God but we seldom have with other people. We need to make sure as the body of Christ, we offer that, or more than offer, we resonate safety and trust and love. When we do, when we resonate those things, people will be open, they will seek shelter in God and healing can begin.

I want to resonate safety and trust and love. I want be there for people who are hurting, who are wounded, who need to heal. I do not think it's easy but I do know the grace of God, I have experienced it, felt it, live it and because of that, I want others to know it too.

Prices Going Up

I heard on the news Tuesday night that the price of coffee beans will be going up. Does that mean more people will be sleepy all day long?
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Did you know you needed to keep certain kinds of produce away from each other? For instance, apples are a gas-releaser and tomatoes are a gas-absorber. Keeping them together will make one or both go bad quicker. Fascinating.
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Are you a conservative or liberal? It remains a question that makes me laugh when I think about it. Of course, you are liberal if you are to the left (why the left?) of me and you are a conservative if you are to the right of me. So, unless you agree with me, you may be liberal or you may be conservative. I wonder why we can't just all get along. All it takes is everyone agreeing with me!
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Yes, I heard the combined gasp that just came from all of you after reading my last sentence.
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One more day until I'm the laser tag champion of the world. Yipeeeeeee.

Yowee...It's Hot

We were playing baseball in Sanger on Saturday and I thought I was melting. Man, was it hot and steamy. When we arrived, the mosquitos were thick and the city sent a truck out to spray. Then the humidity really kicked in as the sun came up. I'm ready for fall!
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Were you as interested in Paris Hilton's comings-and-goings from jail as I was? I'm somewhere between apathetic and disgusted about the amount of attention that is paid to her "story." Same goes for that other lady that overdosed not to long ago. I feel sorry for her baby girl but I'm so disinterested in the reporting about her that I can't remember her name.
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My son through out a question on Sunday that left me thinking. "Dad, who are our allies?" Can you name them? We went through a number of countries but there were some I didn't know how to classify. All the while, I'm amazed that a 10 year old comes up with that type of question.

A few weeks ago, I was carting a friend of my son home from a birthday party. We were talking about careers and he stated he was going to Harvard. There was no "I hope" or "I would like to", just "I'm going."

Much better stuff than Paris and the other junk I hear too much about.
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We've got a laser tag birthday party coming up later this week. I can't wait. Last year was paintball and I'd love to be doing that again (it seems that me against 11 year olds is more fair than me against old competition) but laser tag is in doors with air conditioning. I think I love laser tag now!
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Stay cool.

I Want My Baby Back

Our youngest returns from church camp today and both mom and dad are looking forward to seeing him. We have seen a couple of pictures of him at camp and based on the fact that he was standing in a murky creek with a smile on his face indicates to me he was right where he wanted to be. I am looking forward to hearing his stories.

I have missed him but his mom is hurting for him. I wonder if most families are like ours. When our children are gone for a few days, I miss them and am happy when they return but I get the feeling my wife almost hurts physically awaiting their return. I know we both love our children deeply. I am already telling my oldest the virtues of attending the local community college so she will not go off far. Yet when they are gone, it seems my wife and I look forward to their return in the same but different ways.

God was so good when He designed parents. We have different roles and we provide different things for our children. I marvel at my wife and all that she does for her family but particularly I take joy in seeing her care for our children.

I cannot understand why people abuse kids and I cannot fathom the idea of same-sex parenting. I grew up in a home that was nurturing as did my wife. We are trying to provide the same environment for our children, to lift them up, to encourage them, to help them, to prepare them. I am thankful that the people we have as friends are the same, that are families are incredibly important and that the health and well-being of the family is one of our highest priorities.

In the end, I do know this. Both my wife and I look forward to the return of their baby today.

Too Busy To Blog

It's summer and vacation time. Where are you going?

Our plan is another trip to Colorado later in the summer and maybe a few short trips sprinkled around. My son is at church camp this week and my daughter goes to a church camp in July. The kids want to go to Schlitterbaun (don't count off for bad spelling) and I want to see the Bush Presidential Library.
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I heard a great message last night on the lies that Christians believe. The point was that Satan wants to get the church believing things that really aren't true so that he can destroy the church. When you hear some of the lies brought to lie, it's silly that we would ever buy-in to them yet we do at times. I hope each one of us will only buy-in to the only story that is real, the one of our Savior.
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I'm on the road today - it seems I'm on the road waaaayyyyyyyyy too often these days - visiting stores and bringing joy and good cheer to those I see.

Have a great day!

Boats for Sale?

I have wondered what it would be like to live on the coast. I feel like I'm getting a better idea of late while I watch the water flooding through my yard and the question of whether I need a boat to paddle out of the driveway drifts through my head.
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I taught the high school class Sunday morning discussing the topic of hypocrisy. I couldn't help but think of things in my own life that I say and then do something differently. It's agonizing to think about.

As part of the my preparation, I went to dictionary.com for the definition of hypocrisy. Interesting, the Unabridged Dictionary stated the definition as a pretense of having virtous character, moral or religious beliefs that one does not truly possess. Wow! I didn't know only people who put on a show of upstanding character could be hypocrites. I scrolled down the page to find the American Heritage definition stated as the practice of professing beliefs, feelings or virtues that one does not possess.

I don't know that the definitions mattered because we were discussing hypocrisy from the viewpoint of calling ourselves Christian but leading a life that is different from the example of Christ. It left me with a great deal of needed self-examination that still carries forward today.
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I find a lot of negative things to point out in my blog. Those are easy to rant and rave about. So, to find something good today, I look no further than the high school class I taught yesterday. 18 really, really neat kids. 18 nice kids. 18 kids who appear to be sincere in their faith. 18 kids who are grappling with choices and decisions they are and will make. Spending time with them, I am encouraged that they are 18 kids who will make good decisions and will be good leaders in their own ways. 18 kids who make me smile.