did you see this?

some good reading

so, i told you why i dont blog sometimes...so, i thought i would just show you some really good stuff that I am reading on the web...

• Gary Lamb is talking about "change" this week.  This post was pretty much a kick in the junk about being selfish.
• Jon Acuff over at SCL had a great post today!  I love his sense of humor and the truth he conveys.
• Carlos Whitaker showed his heart in this post about his wife and her looking at porn!
• Seth Godin posted an article written by another guy that is absolutely inspiring and phenomenal! 

those are just a few of the things that are stretching me.  enjoy!  

btw...did you notice my punctuation in the above list?  nice, huh...i am growing up i guess...lol

why i dont blog

i come to this page here sometimes, and i get distracted. i read what others are saying before i say anything. then my thoughts get all jumbled up and my time was spent on reading intsead of saying. (which i am pretty sure i learn more that way...lol) OR what i want to say is said much more eloquently some where else...so i just move on to the next project.

not sure if this matters to anyone, just wanted to give you my excuse for today as to why i dont blog much! haha...

i am being stretched as a leader and i am growing/being stretched in my spiritual walk. i just dont know how much of it i want to talk about on here. so, if you are into praying and stuff....i would appreciate prayer.

have a good week!

a little serious...and a lot funny

we went to dinner tonight at angeli's.  i asked if eric would like to pray for us at dinner.  he said, "sure!"  he started praying and about 1/3 of the way through, kinley yelled, "AMEN!".  eric replied, "NO!".  then resumed praying like nothing had happened, saying..."sorry about that Lord...." 

kim and i have had quite the laugh over that all night tonight!

who i am...

who i am...i am reminded today, and quite a bit here lately, about who i am.  fran had left this comment mentioning that she had been digging into a particular verse in lamentations.  It sparked an interest with me...i read lamentations 3 and then i had to do some digging of my own.  who wrote this book, what was the context, who was he writing to...  i kept coming back to chp. 3 though, and i couldnt help but notice the change that occurs in the believed author Jeremiah. he is mad at God at first, or at least he is willing to be honest about how he feels, which is revealed in v. 1-20 .  then something happens, he says this in v. 21, "Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope." this isnt a bible lecture, so i wont un-pack the rest of the text...but the verses that follow describe that hope.  it describes an understanding of sorts, a peace.  

Oct. 24, 1972.  Scotty was born.  my brother...he has been gone nearly 6 and a half years now.  he would have been 36 today.  man, i miss him.  and although i was angry and i don't understand why, i now have hope and i know that it is ok.  and who i am today, is largely due to what God has done in my life, through scotty's death.  that is why i have hope.  that is how i know that Jesus Christ lives.  that is who i am...

(the pic is of scotty and our nephew, julian...several years back!)

watch this!

you have to watch this video!  i would love to know what questions this raises in your mind.

first saw this here

the picture...

i have told several of you the story behind the picture as the header of my blog.  for the others that i havent...here it is.

we went on a family vacation 2 years ago to california.  we visited my sister and her family up around sacramento.  while we were with them we traveled to san francisco for a weekend.  we got to visit alcatraz, ride the cable cars, tour the city, go across the golden gate bridge...as i think about it, we accomplished a ton in a short amount of time!  anyway, the picture came from one of the piers at san francisco, i cant remember which one.  we were walking around by pier 39 and we just decided to walk up a ways and there was this thing(the pic).  i am not even sure what it is called.  there are signs in the pic...but of course, i didnt read those!   the sun was setting and that ship was out in the bay and everything just kind of fell into place for what turned out to be a great picture.  (i took about 20 to get that one...gotta love digital!)

if you are ever out that way, check out the pier.  there is a ton to see there, including the sea lions.  that could have been one of our best vacations.  

have a great weekend!

a touch of conviction...

i might...just maybe...have been a little negative in the posts below. and i am feeling a little bit of conviction now that i have went back and read it. you know what excuses are like, but anyway...here are mine: i am tired of hearing all the talk and no answers for current political and economic situations, i was tired last night and i was watching the debate...JUST ANSWER THE QUESTIONS! (nuff said bout that), i do get a little tired of the wacko christians who come out in uncertain time and try to scare the hell out of people. it is such a pathetic ploy...and it is not sustainable. what happens when the economy turns around and the world doesnt end? party-on i guess...that is another rant and i can feel my blood pressure rising...lol

so, conviction. it is a good thing, it is a frustrating thing, it is almost like a nagging in your soul...the one that you hate to admit to that you were wrong...but you were...so you have to. so, i admit i could have been a little negative and i'm sorry.

but now! i read psalm 24:1-2 today. that made me feel a little better about everything going on.

The Earth is the Lord's, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it;

for He founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters.

i find so much comfort in that. EVERYTHING! that would be money, stock markets, republicans, democrats, oil, gas, people, houses, cars, ...you get the point! He founded it....He founded it....that settles my soul a little, no... A LOT! I think this verse has been used in my life to almost be a justification for things i wanted to do. today i view it as justification for the Lord to do whatever He wants to. it is His and He is in control, there are no surprises coming for Him.

this was good for me, dont know where you are....but hope this helps!

economy, sub-prime loans, presidential campaign...blah, blah

i know all this stuff is really, really, really important.  but honestly, i feel like everyone is just saying the same $h*t over and over! ( can i almost say that on here?)  is this the end times, are we in for an economic meltdown, is the next president really going to change anything, or is it just the times that change....these are all rhetorical, kind of...

i dont really have any thoughts on this stuff, any that matter anyway.  i just wonder who is telling the truth.  on any of it!  i am tired of hearing it all.

sorry...just had to get that off my chest.  

i love our country though!  it may be broken down or messed up...but there is a tenacity to us that you cant keep us down.

redneck...

i am not nearly as big of a redneck, not that there is anything wrong with that, as it seems in the post below!  lol

(i am a huge seinfeld fan!)

lazy ... funny

so i have been pretty lazy this week, in respect to blogging.  i had several ideas throughout the week, but the thought of picking up the computer and hashing it out went by the way side.  i know what excuses are like, but i did have a busy week...so cut me a little slack.

something that was funny, last night, we were out on the deck most of the evening.  had the tiki torches burning, had the big green egg bbq'ing a little papa murphy's pizza. (you would think there were sponsors for this post...lol)  kim's brother and his family were over, the kids were playing outside...we just had a great evening!  

well, after chance and his family left, it was get ready for bed and unwind time for us.  so,  i think i fed the cat and the kids were "be-laxing" in their room.  kim went out on the deck to snuff out the tiki torches, and all of a sudden i hear her yelling.  "daniel!!  come here, hurry!!!"  i ran in to the living room to hear this, " i think there is a skunk out there.  it is eating the cat's food, i almost stepped on it!"  sure enough, there it was. (we will call the skunk pepe from here on out.) as if it were not bothered by anything, just chowing away on poor little sadie's food.

so, i had to devise a plan, quickly.  i went to get my gun, which one to grab?  well, i was just telling my brother-in-law, i need to buy a good shot gun.  so, no shot gun.  in that same conversation, i said, "i wish i had my .22 rifle back."  so, no .22 rifle.  the most logical choice was the .22 pistol.  (i didnt think i need the stopping power of the 40 or a deer rifle...lol) so .22 pistol it was.  kim was right behind me, saying, "you cant shoot that thing on the deck!" well,  i was concentrating on how to get out there, WITHOUT GETTING SPRAYED, all while maximizing my opportunity to get rid of this thing.  the best i could come up with was, wait until it gets done eating and gets off the deck and try to sneek out there and ... well...you know, eradicate this varmint. 

pepe got done eating, waddled all around the deck and finally made it's way down the steps.  i, quietly as i could, sneaked out onto the deck.  and the skunk takes off!  those little suckers can move pretty fast...and it was dark.  (those are my excuses!) i ran after it and squeezed off 5 or 6 shots...pepe was bobbing and weaving as she ran and dodged the lead i was slinging at her...she got away....lucky little critter!

so, kim walks outside, laughing at me, and this is how the conversation went...

kim  " honey, what happened!  you didnt hit it!?" 

me "no honey, i didnt hit it!  did you see that thing's moves?"  

kim "well, the good news is you didnt get sprayed!"

me "well, the bad news is there are probably  some holes in the dora play house!"

we both had a good laugh.  the great white hunter lives to strike another day.  little pepe knows i mean business now also!!  

great weekend...busy week

so, me and eric had a great weekend!! we went camping at my in-laws cabin down at bull shoals lake. just the guys!!! that is b/c the girls were having a girls only weekend and kicked us out of the house!!! but that is another post...lol

there really is nothing like spending time with your son when there are NO distractions. i value that so much and it means so much to me when i see him enjoying himself and having a great time. it was one of the weekends that i will carry with me for a long, long time.

i wonder if it is like that with our heavenly Father? i wonder if He thinks, "that time I got to spend with you this morning...man, that was awesome. I will never forget that as long as I live!!" (hello...that is a long time) i wonder if he cherishes moments with his kids as much as I do. a smile comes across my face as i think about that. the moments when i have completely let go and forgotten about all the stuff going on and just had great time with Lord. i carry them with me...i have a feeling they are special to him as well. just like this weekend was special to eric...

alas,  now it is on with the busy week ahead. meetings, long days, trial runs, leading, etc... but throughout this busy week. this weekend will hold a special place in my heart, as it will in the place of the Father's. i believe He was with us every step of the way this weekend. you see, sometimes time with Him is not always "quiet time". sometimes it is a special weekend with your son, that somehow becomes...holy. it was as if it were sacred. and i kept telling eric this weekend, "there is no other place i would rather be on the face of this earth, than right here with you!" somehow, it felt as if the Lord were saying that to me as well...

covenants, learning, goodness

i told  my wife that i probably need to go to church tonight.  later today i told a buddy of mine i was going to james river's wed. night prayer service.  we commented on the fact that we both thought that it is the best service they have there.  

i made a covenant with God back in august while we were in san antonio.  as i look back on it and re-read it, my focus was on making much out of God with my life.  but somehow, in the day to day life of things....so much of my focus hasnt been on glorifying God or really even on loving God.   more of my focus has been on trying not to sin.  honestly, just trying not to sin with the 'BIG" ones.  i have been frustrated, un-focused, not being bad...just not actively, seeking ways or even acting on opportunities to glorify God.

let me stop here for a second, i might sound like a broken record...or at least in my mind i do....but can i be honest.  i have a hard time living two lives.  you know, my work life and my spiritual life.  my career and my calling.  its as if Jesus died for my spiritual life and i have to do it myself in my work life.  and since it is me doing it in my work life...i have to rely on me to T.C.B. (take care of business!).  so, if i write with this theme often...it is just me having issues killing the work life and the spiritual life and forging ahead for one WHOLLY life! 

john lindell started out tonight by saying something so profound and yet so simple.  Be strong in the Lord.  As believers it is our job to be strong in the Lord.  and i dont know if he said this exactly or i just wrote it down this way but i will give him credit for it....  "to be strong IN the Lord, you must be strengthened BY the Lord."  man that hit me.  probably because of my lack of consistency in the Word lately...but a commandment is a commandment when it comes from the word of God. and for us to be strong in the Lord is a commandment.

he went on to talk about the promises of God is where we can draw our strength from.  He taught out of Genesis 15 where God makes a covenant with Abram.  it was awesome and for me to try and recount it here would be a terrible dis-service.  but tonight definitely strengthened me in the Lord.  

i wanna try... (anything i say from here on is what i got from JRA tonight, unless otherwise noted)

• Gen 15:9-11 this is one of those passages that intrigue me.  they actually make me scratch my head and say what the heck?  in those days if people were making an agreement the lesser party or lesser king would make an agreement to submit to the more powerful party or kings way of doing things.  the lesser party would say, i am going to make a covenant (to cut) with you.  i am going to cut these animals and separate them and walk in between the halfs...getting all the blood and all the nasty all over me.  if i, as the lesser party, break this covenant...i am agreeing that you(the greater party) can do to me what is done to these animals.  does that make sense?
• Gen 15:17-18 this is where God answers Abram from v.8 . God took the part of the lesser party.  saying if this covenant is broken, i agree that you can do to me what is done to these animals.  you have got to be kidding me?  think about that! of course the covenant was broken...by the isrealites.  so what now?
• Read this.
• through Jesus, God fulfills his end of the covenant he made with Abram.  our freedom isnt free at all.  it came at the highest of prices.  

we took communion after this, and i cried as i thought of the symbolic covenant i held in my hands. (and i am not a cry-er) the price of the covenant that i do not remember so often, i held on tight to it tonight...and it strengthen me in the Lord.  When I try to not sin, even on just the BIG ones, i fail miserably.  I must choose to die to let Christ live...my focus then brings everything into perspective.  why is it that the most basic principles are the ones i constantly need to be reminded of?

THAT is why the wed night prayer service at JRA is my favorite service i think i have ever been to around here!  so, if you dont have a church home, or your church doesnt have a wed. night service....you ought to check it out.