Band of Brothers

I just got home from one of the most inspiring and life-changing weekends I've had in a long time. Our church's men's ministry (affectionately referred to as the "Band of Brothers") spent two days at Bennock Mill Lodge (which is a slice of paradise) for eating, hiking, fishing, shooting, burping, praying and challenging each other to step up our faith in all aspects of our lives. I'm so thankful to be surrounded by such Godly and encouraging men and I left today feeling prepared to take on whatever this world throws my way on Monday morning. I was also reminded that there's no such think as a "Lone Ranger Christian", and we were never meant to take this journey alone. Special thanks to Michael Valadez, Jerry Ashmore and all the guys who made this powerful weekend a success.

A Message to my Students

I just wrapped up teaching 2 public speaking courses at USC Aiken and I've said goodbye to a very talented group of students who are moving on to the next chapter (or semester) in their lives. I taught them a great deal about Public Speaking, but because it is a secular institution, I was very limited as to what I could teach them about life and faith. Now that you (my students) are no longer in my classroom, I have the freedom to share one final lesson straight from the heart. Here are a few nuggets of "wisdom" to help you on your journey...

*Your life will be meaningless without Jesus Christ in the center of it.
*Don't make excuses.
*Don't blame life's circumstances for your failures. Just learn from your failures and build a foundation for success upon them.
*Never focus on your "limitations". They are only as real as you believe they are.
*Be nice to your friends. Be nicer to your enemies. Be nicest to your in-laws.
*When you're married and arguing with your spouse, sometimes you will have to decide between being "right" and being happy. This will make much more sense once you're married.
*Don't be in such a rush that you miss out on the beauty and opportunity of every moment.
*Hold doors open for old people. You'll be old someday (if you're lucky).
*Don't be an angry driver. You can cover more ground in your car in one day than pioneers covered in a lifetime, so you're already moving plenty fast enough without cutting people off in traffic.
*Don't be a crybaby. The world has too many already. Be something useful instead.
*Quit trying to get by on minimal effort and resolve to turn the world upside down by giving your best to something of significance.
*Use things and love people. Never use people and love things.
*Money is the greatest of servants but the poorest of masters. Don't become a slave to it.
*Whatever you are...be a good one.
*Don't expect something for nothing.
*Be the kind of person who makes things happen instead of waiting around for something to happen.
*Laugh everyday-especially when you don't feel like it.
*Be the kind of person you wanted to become when you were a kid.
*Drink more water. Eat more vegetables. Don't forget to splurge on ice cream sometimes or you'll go crazy.
*Remember that it only takes one moment to do something you will regret forever.
*Don't watch Oprah or Dr. Phil too often or you will find yourself writing cheesy, cliched, self-help blogs like I'm doing right now.
*Sing loud even if you're way off key. Imagine how quiet the forests would be if no birds sang except for the best.
*Don't die with any unused potential left. Exhaust every ounce of energy, ability and passion inside of you (most people never come close and never realize what they could have been).
*Never give up.

I wish you all the best and I pray that wherever you go, you go with God.

Patience

I met with a great friend this afternoon at Starbucks to talk about life, work, family and coffee. We're both in the same "crazy" stage of life and we took turns lamenting the fact that it often seems like the days are dragging by as we sit in a "waiting room" waiting for God to finally reveal "the good stuff". I've come to realize that I'm an impatient person by nature and if I'm not careful, I could go through my whole life missing the beautiful "good stuff" that God grants me everyday because I'm so preoccupied looking ahead to the next big thing.
In my quest for that elusive "next thing" that I romanticize in my mind, I realize that I'm not letting myself be fully present in this moment and I'm taking for granted a beautiful season of life when my boys are discovering the world for the first time, my wife and I grow closer everyday, we have wonderful friends, God is growing me up more and more with every passing moment and each day brings new surprises. Sure, I'll be thrilled when I'm not changing diapers anymore and we're more financially set and all of that stuff that comes with age, but in the meantime, I don't want to miss another second of this incredible life that God has allowed me to live. I want to be fully present in every moment and not wish away one second ever again.

I'm headin' South

I just found out that I will be accompanying a team of 15 other folks from our church to Honduras for a missions trip in June. I'm excited about the opportunity, but I'm also a little bit apprehensive about leaving Ashley here with the boys for a week without me. Please be praying for our team's safety and effectiveness as we do relief work in one of the poorest nations in the western hemisphere. Please also be praying for the safety (and sanity) of my family while I'm gone. Thanks to Ashley for allowing me to be away.

Details about the trip...

I didn't know the first thing about Honduras up until a few days ago, but the more I'm learning, the more excited I am about this opportunity. Honduras is a fairly small country (roughly the size of Tennessee) and it's among the world's poorest nations. We will be partnering with an excellent, Christian organization called Honduras Outreach International (http://www.hoi.org/). For many years, this group has been empowering Hondurans by providing food, education, shelter, medical care and sharing the Gospel. We're honored to share in their ministry and we expect to return home with a humbled sense of awe at what God is doing all around our world.

Things that make me Smile.

A smile is a doorway to the soul.

Ashley has been reading my blog posts and she pointed out that most of my recent blogs have had a negative tone. It's true that I often use this medium to rant about whatever is irking me (everybody needs an outlet...I'm sure even Joel Osteen feels like punching people in the face every now and then), but I mostly want this forum to be positive, uplifting and encouraging, so I've decided to dedicate this post to a few of my favorite things. This is an abbreviated list of things that make me smile...

1. Jesus

2. My hot wife and two awesome little boys.

3. Will Ferrell movies.

4. Blizzards from Dairy Queen (particulary Cookie Doh & Cookies N'Cream).

5. Naps on Sunday afternoons.

6. That feeling you get after jogging (though jogging itself is NOT on the list).

7. Mexican food.

8. Old Saturday Night Live shows.

9. Wrestling with my boys.

10. Wrestling with my wife (yeah, I mean what you think I mean).

11. Living 8 hours away from my In-Laws (just kidding...but seriously...).

12. Sunsets.

13. Making people laugh.

14. Australian accents.

15. Good wine (or "juice" depending on your translation of Scripture).

16. Friendly people.

17. Good customer service.

18. Cheering for the Underdog.

19. Well-executed pranks.

20. Babies' laughter.

This is some of my list, but what I really want to know is YOUR list. Post some of your "smile list" under "Comments" for this post. The more we can make each other smile, the brighter this world will be. Remember, most smiles are started by other smiles, so smile more often today.

Too much caffeine

Good morning friends. Actually...I'm not sure if it's morning or afternoon, because my internal clock has been dismantled by a two-day roadtrip with screaming toddlers, no sleep and way too much coffee. I performed a wedding on Sunday afternoon in the beautiful, North Georgia Mountains (Congrats Greg and Patti) and then our family connected with the Rivers (who may be the coolest family on Earth) and our combined gaggle of toddlers wrecked havoc on the quiet towns and cabins on North Georgia. Needless to say, this was a great adventure.

The trip was beautiful and we had a blast, but our boys just didn't want to sleep for some reason, so we left at midnight last night after two consecutive nights with little or no sleep and we hit the road for Kentucky. I was so tired and turned around in the dark mountains that I took a wrong turn which turned into an hourlong detour which led to a toddler-style tantrum of me hitting the steering wheel and saying at least one word that a pastor shouldn't say. I was also delirious and afraid that a crazy-eyed hitchhiker or serial killer was going to jump out of the dark side of the road and drag us into the woods at any moment. I was basically a big baby the whole way back.

Finally, with the help of large quantities of coffee and the support of my amazing, beautiful, encouraging wife (who ended up driving most the way after I wimped out) we finally made it to Kentucky (the Promise Land) this morning. I don't think I've ever been this tired, but the coffee still has me in some sort of weird, artifical awakeness so I thought I would take advantage of my last moments of lucid thought before I crashed for the next 12 hours by logging these details for your enjoyment.

I Stand Amazed

This is one of my favorite songs of all time and I absolutely love this "Stevens Creek" version. Click and enjoy and wherever you are (whether in your office or in your underwear) be amazed by Jesus. When I die, somebody remember to sing this at my funeral!

April Fool's!

Happy April Fool's Day! Today is the day when in offices, schools and homes all over our great nation, people will be pulling epic pranks on one another in the name of good fun. I'm a prankster at heart (I guess I never outgrew it), so I want to pass along some of my favorite pranks for you to pull on those you know and love best. Have fun and if you actually do any of these and live to tell about it, post a comment and tell the rest of us how you did it. Maybe we'll be able to use your tips for next year!

Here's my official 2008 April Fool's Day List:

1. Send a love note to someone in your office from someone else in your office.
2. Take a pictue of your boss's wife from his desk and place it prominently on the desk of one of your male co-workers.
3. Put fake rubber snakes in the office toilets and then put the top down, so that when someone raises the lid to sit on the seat, they'll be in for a big surprise!
4. Start a rumor that someone in your office is pregnant, but tell people to keep it a secret because "she isn't telling anyone yet". By the end of the day, everyone will know she is pregnant but her.
5. Put an ad in the newspaper selling your friend's house.
6. Pour a bunch of the invisible, powder fiber supplement into the office water cooler. By mid-afternoon, everyone will be running to the toilets (and then they'll see the rubber snakes)!
7. Put out a memo from your boss that the office will closed tomorrow in observance of "National Employee Appreciation Day".
8. Create an account on eHarmony for a shy single friend. You can list his interests as things like: "Navy Seal, former male model, fitness professional, self-made millionaire, etc."
9. Have a friend's car towed from office parking lot back to his house and then send out an email that there is an outbreak of car thefts happening in the area.
10. Start a rumor that your company is being bought out and everyone will have to relocate to China to keep their job.

I hope you got a kick out of these! Let me hear about your ideas. Have a great April 1st.